How exactly does one become a card grader

[kmac32]

Question of the day. How exactly does a person become a card grader? What background/ education does one need? Is there any special training?

[ErikV]

This question has piqued my interest for some time. A couple of years
ago, PSA was accepting job openings for card graders. I was interested
in a part time gig, but I couldn't give up my current job, so it never did work
out for me.

I too am curious if there's a training period, qualified testing, or recurrent
training associated with this position?

ErikV.

[kmac32]

Erick, where in California are you? Wonder if you would need to live in Orange County and go into Newport Beach every day or if you could work from your home and mail things in? Intriguing question as I am disabled due to spinal stroke. Would love to play with ball cards all day.

[glchen]

I would think that grading, especially at PSA, would be like a sweatshop, where you would need to grade thousands of card each day. The only benefit might be that every now and then you might see a really interesting prewar card, but probably 99.99%, you'd have to deal w/ all of these vintage and shiny cards.

[Fred]

Seriously, you guys don't know how to become a card grader? It's quite simple for PSA. You request a job application and submit it in person. If you have a pulse you've passed the first requirement. If you wear glasses then all you need to do is make sure you bring in your latest prescription to show that your glassses are up to date. If you're vision isn't great you can still be hired but don't bring your seeing eye dog with you because that increases the chances of the dog getting hired....

I think that PSA performs an ink blot test on the applicants to see if they are capable of subjectively determining exactly what the blotches are...

Seriously, how much training would it require? PSA obviously doesn't provide their graders with the same criteria that they publish on their website, but then again perhaps it's not a requirement to be able to read if you get hired on as a grader for PSA.

Crap, I almost made it until December 31 without saying something negative about PSA, there goes that New Years resolution... but then agian, I didnt' really impart anything that negative about PSA, in fact, I consider what I wrote a compliment based on how I really feel.... does that mean I didn't screw up my New Years Resolution???

[Ladder7]

[Gradedcardman]

I believe Steve has it !!

[kmac32]

Fred, if I/we became graders at PSA, would we need to worry about you mailing anthrax spores to us for grading? Guess I better apply to SGC for the job instead. LOL. Less chance of letter bombs or suspicious packages.

[thejuanscards]

I have a real answer to this question, at least BGS. Back in 2001 I had been laid off from my job in the petroleum industry. I was 30 years old and knew that I didn't want to sell oil, gasoline, and propane for a living anymore. While paging through the monthly Beckett, I found a blurb saying that they were looking to hire price guide analysts. I thought, what the hell, and sent them an email with my card experience. I had been selling & buying on ebay since 1997, and before that was running my own monthly email auctions. I started collecting in 1984 and only stopped for a brief time during college.

I got a call from Dan Hitt, who is still the price guide Sports Data Publishing Manager. I did two phone call interviews with him, and although I don't remember a lot of the details, I do remember having to tell him the rookie year of mulitple players from football and baseball. I must have done well, because he invited me to come to Dallas for a face to face (I live in Wisconsin).

Beckett picked up the tab for my flights, plus a great hotel Friday-Sunday. My interview was on Friday. There was also a rental car waiting for me at the airport when I got to Dallas. So, I make my way to Beckett headquarters, and am given a great tour of the facility, including the grading room. I met Bill Sutherland and a few others who are no longer with the company, and then did my formal interview. The part of the face to face that I really remember was when I had to highlight cards from different sets. Dan picked 5-6 vintage sets from different years in football and baseball, and I was to highlight with a marker the cards that I thought should be tracked on a monthly basis to track actual value. I don't remember which sets I had to mark, but I do remember highlighting the rookie cards, short prints, high numbers, Hall of Famers that had been in the news recently, Mantles, Mays, Koufax, etc...you get the idea.

Four of us them piled into Dan Hitt's recently purchased Cadillac, and they took me out and wined and dined me. They introduced me to Pappadeaux's restaraunt, which we don't have up north, and then we bar hopped and took in some great live music. Then next two days were on my own to explore the city of Dallas, so I explored The Edgeman's retail store. That alone was a great experience.

The next week I got a call from Dan with an offer to become a Beckett Football Price Guide Analyst. Starting pay was $35k per year, and they offered $3 to $4k to pay for moving expenses. I had told my new wife to pack her bags if the offer was in the $60k range, so I declined the offer. Part of the deal was that I would not be allowed to ever sell another card on ebay or though any other outlet.

So, after turning down the price guide analyst position, he then offered me a BGS grader position for the same pay. Again, I turned it down.

I still have mixed feelings about turning down the job offers. Although the pay was not where I wanted it to be, I know I would have enjoyed the opportunity. As it goes, I am now entering my 11th year in the Pharmaceutical industry, and still spend all my free time dealing in vintage cards on ebay and COMC.

John
thejuanscards

[vintagecpa]

That is a remarkable story. Thanks for sharing. It is always fun to dream of turning your favorite hobby into your 8-5 job.