Grading Companies (Overview & Opinions)

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Posted By: Jason

Well I've been collecting since 1987, and I remember PSA coming around in 97 or so... I stopped collecting from 98 until this past May. So I never owned a graded card until this past May. (Learned a lot since then a more to go)

But here is goes.

1). I like SGC. When I first got back into collecting this past spring I signed up with PSA and took advantage of the six free grades. When I got them back I wasn't happy with a couple. It was my lack of knowledge in the grading process that was the problem but PSA wasn't willing to entertain my questions or concerns. So I went to SGC. I've submitted 50 cards and been happy with them.

2). Best Resale... Overall PSA really without question. The set registry success insures this. However when it comes to Pre-war especially T and N cards I think SGC does just as well if not better in some cases.

3). At first I thought a negative but now I think graded cards is a positive. Being where I live I have to buy everything online as there is nothing local. Having cards graded gives me a better idea of what I'm bidding on vs. raw. I can't tell you how many cards I bought in 97-98 that claimed to be Near Mint or higher ended up being EX or EX-MT.

4). Depends on what high ends you buy. I remember an article of 1951 Mantles selling for high dollars only to drop in price by 60K as more appeared. That doesn't seem like such a good investment. However a PSA 9 or any rookie hall of famer and such should always be a good investment I would think.

5). I like graded now. To be honest sure I pay more but I know what I'm getting and it really does make collecting funner.

6). I like SGC for consistency. PSA I don't have many issues with but I do have a few PSA T201's that I'm leery of crossing over to the same in SGC, but I won't know for sure until I find out. I only have one GAI card and I hate the holder and I'm leery of the mark it got again though I won't know until I try and cross it.

7). Bias... hard to say. SGC seems to be pretty fair across the board, and I find them accessible and they come across as nice guys. I've heard of dealers going to GAI for the .5 grades and getting deals, and I know some PSA guys that defend that company to no end, so it makes me wonder but nothing I could substantiate.

8). Can't see graded cards coming to an end. Its too popular for that. And its helped us understand the sets we collect a lot better. For instance you'll see 50's and 60's commons go for huge dollars because we've learned that that particular card is really hard to come by in high condition in comparison to its counterparts.