BVG grading

[Leon]

I think BVG does a good and conservative job of grading in the vintage arena. I don't think, at a corporate level, they are as interested in the vintage market as they used to be. And I am not a fan of their executive management whatsoever. From what I hear Neither are some of their employees. Their holders are bulletproof but not that aesthetically pleasing to me. But to each their own on that. I regularly buy BVG graded cards with no qualms or concerns. That being said, yes, as all other grading companies (and humans) too, they have made a few mistakes. Overall they grade well, to me.

[Sean1125]

After purchasing a T206 O'hara ST Louis that turned out to be FAKE and taking a $1k loss on a $8.8k investment because Beckett refused to refund any expenses incurred in finding out the card was fake I would NEVER buy a card graded by them again. It is obvious their graders are clueless with pre-war. There was a fake Joe Jackson recently pointed out that I put into managements radar (as I believe several other members did as well) - I believe it is still available...


Edited for grammar.

[t206hof]

Ha, Sean, I will take all of your Beckett graded cards. For free that is. Being you have such a low opinion of them.

[Mikehealer]

Originally Posted by Sean1125

It is obvious their graders are clueless with pre-war...

Some buyers are as well.

[glchen]

Sean, I'm sorry to hear about your situation with Beckett. Unfortunately, all of the top TPG's make mistakes, and there was a recent thread where PSA botched it, and holdered a fake W551, Link, admittedly a lower cost card than the ones that you mentioned. I use all of the TPG's, including PSA, SGC, and Beckett. In fact, I just sent a twenty card submission to Beckett a couple of days ago. Sean's examples notwithstanding, I've found that cards that are slabbed by Beckett are authenticated correctly. Sometimes Beckett is a half grade to a grade generous w/ their grading, so as with any graded card, you need to judge the card and not just the holder. As most everyone has said, Beckett's holder is the best in the business. It is rock solid, practically impossible to crack without noticeable compromising the holder, which you could do relatively easily with the old PSA holder and the SGC holders. Due to the Beckett insert, there is no float for cards, which happens quite frequently for PSA and SGC cards which do not fit their standard size inserts. Most collectors do say that SGC's holder looks the best of the three, which is probably true, and some say that Beckett's looks the worst, but it's pretty close w/ PSA. On resale value, PSA owns vintage (say 1950-1980), SGC (probably slightly ahead) and PSA own prewar (1950 and previous), and Beckett owns modern (1980+). Therefore, if you are looking for later re-sell your 1950's cards in the future, PSA will probably give you the most return, especially given that many collectors are looking to fill in their 1950's Topps sets through the Registry. However, if you like the look of one of the other holders better, or they make more sense from a cost perspective, that would be fine also. Frankly, even if you use the Beckett raw card services to get a grade, that would probably be fine for most collectors since they will know that the card is authentic and what the grade would probably be if they send the card into a TPG. Good luck with whatever you decide.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Originally Posted by Sean1125

After purchasing a T206 O'hara ST Louis that turned out to be FAKE and taking a $2k loss on a $8.8k investment because Beckett refused to refund any expenses incurred in finding out the card was fake I would NEVER buy a card graded by them again. It is obvious their graders are clueless with pre-war. There was a fake Joe Jackson recently pointed out that I put into managements radar (as I believe several other members did as well) - I believe it is still available...


Edited for grammar.

They didn't buy it back?

[Sean1125]

Originally Posted by I Only Smoke 4 the Cards

They didn't buy it back?

They bought it back but refused to pay any expenses from regrades etc.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Originally Posted by Sean1125

They bought it back but refused to pay any expenses from regrades etc.

The 2k loss was in grading fees?

[ethicsprof]

I have bought bvg cards without any problems. I prefer sgc for the holder aesthetics and for good customer service.

best,
barry

[Sean1125]

Originally Posted by I Only Smoke 4 the Cards

The 2k loss was in grading fees?

It was grading fees and expenses to bring the card out to the show (I had brought 3 cards, this accounted for roughly 50% of the value). Also, I mistyped it should not have said $2k, it was $1k. I edited the previous message to reflect that. I had gone to the show to grade out 2x E90 Joe Jackson's and the O'hara, and would loved to have walked the floor and hopefully made some deals. Since I ended spending the entire day at the SGC booth, the auction house where I purchased the card (Bill Goodwin did all he could to help in this situation), and then later the Beckett booth before I had to leave. I was unable to walk the floor or do anything due to the problems arising from the O'hara, I viewed what I was asking for as fairly reasonable - but they wouldn't even pay the $250 regrade fee.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Originally Posted by Sean1125

It was grading fees and expenses to bring the card out to the show (I had brought 3 cards, this accounted for roughly 50% of the value). Also, I mistyped it should not have said $2k, it was $1k. I edited the previous message to reflect that.

That would be frustrating but I can understand why they might not refund those expenses.