Grading Standards - New vs. Old

[kcohen]

I have learned over the years from hobby veterans that, back in the day before 3rd party grading, condition assessments practiced by card dealers were, shall we say, more lenient.

The listing to which I have provided a link below has a description and listing title (EX++) substantially out-of-line (in my opinion) with the photo.

Would this be representative of an example of grading criteria of the days of yore? Or is this just an example of "salesmanship?"

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...#ht_500wt_1288

[EvilKing00]

i guess condition on a raw or even a greade card is in the eye of the beholder, IMO thats a good at best prob a week good / aka psa 2 / sgc 20

[Leon]

I would maybe call that old hobby grading from cards I have bought from Frisch and other old timers. Personally, if I were selling that card I would call it gd-gd+, maybe vg- ....

[HRBAKER]

GD/VG but it is "Virtually Defect Free"
Always important to read the entire description

[jcmtiger]

Probably vg

Joe

[steve B]

I'd have trouble calling it any better than G because of the creases. But it's not a bad looking card.

Steve B

[Matthew H]

I personally don't see a need to grade cards, whether it be raw or in a slab. Everyone had a scanner now... Does anyone still buy cards sight unseen anymore?

[travrosty]

i agree, no need to grade cards, you can see the condition, doesnt matter if you call it good or pristine, it is what you see. and you can offer and pay for it accordingly. grading is a scam.

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by Matthew H

I personally don't see a need to grade cards, whether it be raw or in a slab. Everyone had a scanner now... Does anyone still buy cards sight unseen anymore?

When I was putting together my Sixties collection, I would routinely buy commons with out scans from top shelf guys (with a return policy in place). That's about as far as I would take it.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by travrosty

i agree, no need to grade cards, you can see the condition, doesnt matter if you call it good or pristine, it is what you see. and you can offer and pay for it accordingly. grading is a scam.

I disagree completely. Since you don't collect cards you have probably never paid 5 figures for a raw one with a guarantee, sent it in for grading and authentication, only to have the graders find some alteration you didn't catch. Then returning the card and getting your money back all the while saving thousands of dollars on the returning of it. I have.

[Jlighter]

It is hard to tell if a card is trimmed from a scan on a computer.

If I'm spending like, 5 dollars for a card, yeah I'll take the risk of it being fake or not. If I'm spending a 100 dollars, I would like a guarentee from a established company, not from someone that I've never met.

If I ever have to sell a card it is much easier to sell a graded one, then a non graded one.

[vintagetoppsguy]

The card in question looks G/VG to me.

I disagree about not grading cards. If I'm buying a card of any significant value online, I look for graded cards only. I don't care how good the scan is, sometimes a scan doesn't pick up tiny surface wrinkles or, as the previous poster stated, trimming.

However, if I'm buying the card in person, I don't mind buying raw at all. I've been doing this well over 25 years and I can spot just about anything in person that I might otherwise miss in a scan.

That said, I crack and display raw most of the graded cards that I buy.