A real answer - how to become a price guide analyst and grader
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
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12-19-2011, 12:54 PM
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