grade or not ?

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by larietrope

SCG wants an estimate of value from the owner before they grade. A way of making more money.

Not really. SGC wants to know your estimate of value for purposes of insuring your card(s) while in their possession. All graders have been known to drop, damage, and yes just outright lose cards from submissions. It can be confusing, as yes, PSA does regularly use your "estimated value" to upcharge you on the grading free if you send in (for example) a card thinking it's probably a 5 and you somehow get a 7. But at least to my knowledge, SGC doesn't do a lot of this type of upcharging after the fact. It may have something to do with paying upfront for your grading at SGC, and only when the cards have actually been processed at PSA.