Whats the "safest" grading company???

[barrysloate]

Shocking that the company whose cards seemingly sell for the most money are only garnering 2+% of the vote. What's wrong with that picture?

Just jumped to 4.7%. Nevertheless, not a lot of confidence with the #1 company.

#1?... IMO PSA could not pour piss out of a boot with directions on the heel. SGC is by far and way the best of them. Customer service is excellent, turn around time is reasonable, and the black mat makes even terribly faded cards pop.

Ty Phelan

[jimivintage]

Originally Posted by pariah1107

#1?... IMO PSA could not pour piss out of a boot with directions on the heel. SGC is by far and way the best of them. Customer service is excellent, turn around time is reasonable, and the black mat makes even terribly faded cards pop.

Ty Phelan

True, but until SGC figures out how to manage their population reports and registry better, PSA will always lead in that department. I prefer SGC over PSA with prewar stuff, but let's face it, people often buy PSA because of their more aesthetically pleasing registry. I'm floored that SGC has yet to hire someone to do a complete overhaul of that portion of their website. Shocking really...

[steve B]

Originally Posted by jimivintage

True, but until SGC figures out how to manage their population reports and registry better, PSA will always lead in that department. I prefer SGC over PSA with prewar stuff, but let's face it, people often buy PSA because of their more aesthetically pleasing registry. I'm floored that SGC has yet to hire someone to do a complete overhaul of that portion of their website. Shocking really...

Diferent tastes I guess. I like SGCs registry visually, especially the arch of cards you can scroll through at the top of a collection page.

Functionally there's a few things I don't like- listing T206s alphabetically by the players first name is one. And a couple sets are usually broken- can't add cards to the T206 backs set.

But this thread is about security, and neither PSA or SGC have particularly secure slabs. Beckett is a very solid slab, I haven't tried cracking one, but it looks like it would be hard to get apart without obvious damage. I think all three are about the same as far as accuracy goes. Some trims will get past anyone on occasion, and there are sets that are more challenging than others. But I figure they're all at about the same success rate if you figure in their volume.

I'm not sure just how they'd fix the security of the slabs. If they all went with something like Beckett people would complain that it's just to get everyone to reslab the cards. Something more technical would probably drive the cost up to where it wouldn't be competetive. (Maybe as an option on cards over a certian value?) The problem is that if there's enough money in it the fakers would get it figured out pretty quickly. Governments spend boatloads of money trying to stop counterfeitters, and the "new " bills are sometimes available as fakes right around the time the new real ones are released. Faking a card and plastic holder would be easy.

I've actually thought a lot about this stuff, I've thought about starting a super premium grading service with a few features that aren't used now. But it's just too complex and gaining any traction would be very very difficult.

Steve B

[JollyElm]

Off topic, but it's a shame that the grading companies don't take a high quality photograph of each card after its graded. It would be nice to have access to that database to see which cards have been broken out and regraded, etc.

[queencitysportscards]

Originally Posted by jimivintage

True, but until SGC figures out how to manage their population reports and registry better, PSA will always lead in that department. I prefer SGC over PSA with prewar stuff, but let's face it, people often buy PSA because of their more aesthetically pleasing registry. I'm floored that SGC has yet to hire someone to do a complete overhaul of that portion of their website. Shocking really...

Personally, I love the SGC holder and superior customer service. They are currently working on upgrading their registry and will be making changes soon. I believe they are accurate, fair and more importantly, always deliver with courteous professional service.

[ullmandds]

i answered BVG...from a "safety" standpoint...in that their holders are by far the most tamper proof...and I just haven't seen many errors or gross mis-grades.

I prefer SGC for my grading whims...although their holders can be ridiculously easy to open...and PSA just sucks all around.

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

i answered BVG...from a "safety" standpoint...in that their holders are by far the most tamper proof...and I just haven't seen many errors or gross mis-grades.

I prefer SGC for my grading whims...although their holders can be ridiculously easy to open...

Big +1 to the above.

Cheers,
Blair

[Wymers Auction]

Originally Posted by jimivintage

True, but until SGC figures out how to manage their population reports and registry better, PSA will always lead in that department. I prefer SGC over PSA with prewar stuff, but let's face it, people often buy PSA because of their more aesthetically pleasing registry. I'm floored that SGC has yet to hire someone to do a complete overhaul of that portion of their website. Shocking really...

Bob Freeman owner of Simple Auction Site is redoing most of the SGC website.

[jimivintage]

Originally Posted by Wymers Auction

Bob Freeman owner of Simple Auction Site is redoing most of the SGC website.

Thank goodness. I didn't mean to slam SGC though. They are my favorite, but just felt it was time for a makeover.

[Clutch-Hitter]

As for SGC, I've been seeing too many cards sliding behind or in front of the black inserts, and a couple their cases were not secured at all a few months back, well, maybe several months now. No drop, etc picked them up to scan and fell open. You should fix that.

[HOFAUTOS]

Originally Posted by Clutch-Hitter

As for SGC, I've been seeing too many cards sliding behind or in front of the black inserts, and a couple their cases were not secured at all a few months back, well, maybe several months now. No drop, etc picked them up to scan and fell open. You should fix that.

Ain't that the truth. I had a case pop open out of nowhere. They need to upgrade the plastic they use. Seems really weak as well as prone to scuffs and scratches with the only handling being taking out of the shipment box.