Sgc vs psa for card grading

[Oscar_Stanage]

I now have about 25 T-206 cards. I would like to have them graded, mainly for peace of mind. I am concerned about altered cards, and I do not want to keep buying at this pace if my cache already has a bunch of trimmed cards. So this will be a scorecard on how well I have done buying raw, and allow me to narrow my sellers...

my question:
I understand that PSA graded cards generally sell at a premium. However, is this true for T-206 as well? I thought SGC might be better for pre-war and specifically tobacco.... I only want to use 1 grading company, and I prefer SGC, but do not want my cards to be worth 50% less just because of the slab.

i am not planning on selling, but I do record my cards at their market value, and so do not want to mark them down by grading with the wrong company.

[swarmee]

If you're using grading to determine whether or not you're accidentally buying trimmed cards, good luck to you. PSA would owe half their stock valuation in refunds if all their trimmed cards were sent back to them under the grade guarantee. But at least they still have that guarantee... ;-) SGC got rid of theirs because they do not trust their graders to determine if a card has been altered either.

Because of the set registry, PSA cards currently sell higher than SGC. If the FBI investigation really hampers their trust level in the collecting community, that might change in the future. But as of now, PSA is still king of valuation. Even in pre-war. Sure there are some outliers where a nicely presenting SGC card outsells a PSA, but it is the minority. If you really want to check, buy a subscription to VCP and do your own research. SGC's terrible website and disdain for providing a searchable Pop Report and Set Registry for the past 3-4 years is really hurting them.

[Oscar_Stanage]

Originally Posted by swarmee

If you're using grading to determine whether or not you're accidentally buying trimmed cards, good luck to you. PSA would owe half their stock valuation in refunds if all their trimmed cards were sent back to them under the grade guarantee. But at least they still have that guarantee... ;-) SGC got rid of theirs because they do not trust their graders to determine if a card has been altered either.

thank you for the comment..., then this is a conundrum. It makes buying graded cards pointless, and also getting my cards graded is pointless! The amount of trimmed cards given a numerical grade must be overstated. Most seasoned collectors can spot a trimmed card, I'd imagine TPGs catch a good 80% of them. I would settle for showing my cards to a knowledgable collector, but unfortunately that is not really possible now*

[swarmee]

Not overstated. There are a ton of threads on blowout with before and after pictures showing exactly how cards were cut down. Well worth a read if you're thinking about spending any money with grading companies.

[Empty77]

Originally Posted by Wid_Conroy

....Most seasoned collectors can spot a trimmed card, ....

Not so. Anymore. Except maybe the worst of them.

Also seems to be at odds with your earlier post that you yourself aren't sure and that at least part of the reason to consider grading was to double check yourself, unless I mistake your meaning.

Originally Posted by Wid_Conroy

....I'd imagine TPGs catch a good 80% of them ....

Not sure how you figure the imagined number, but even if so, you might consider all the more reason that all your raw cards might be even more likely already altered, and possibly the worst of the bunch, if they've remained raw from already being rejected by a TPG, unless you got them straight from the attic of an estate sale or something.

[Oscar_Stanage]

I hear what you guys are saying, and I have seen the stories and pictures that have been posted on this site. Grading is definitely not perfect.

However, there are clearly some things that experienced people can spot, and there are plenty of articles written up about it. One of these below is from Beckett, so clearly they do have some tell-tale signs of alterations. if a TPG is magnifying a card and looking for threads on the edges, that is way more i am doing,... Now, if they hire bad graders, or have a lazy process that is another story. but either way, I imagine they will be better at than I am. If I sent in 25 cards and 5 came back "A", I'd stop buying cards altogether. If 1 or 2 came back "A", I would be pretty comfortable, and probably learn how to spot them.

https://www.beckett.com/news/sports-...-and-avoid-it/

https://allvintagecards.com/how-to-s...mewhat%20slick.

[Empty77]

Originally Posted by Wid_Conroy

.... If I sent in 25 cards and 5 came back "A", I'd stop buying cards altogether. If 1 or 2 came back "A", I would be pretty comfortable, and probably learn how to spot them.

Yes, but I think some critics in the forums would caution that this perspective doesn't validate the existence of "false negatives", to put it in the current medical parlance popularized during covid.

So for instance of the 25 hypothetical items you send in, only one comes back "A" but it doesn't mean they themselves didn't miss the other four that there actually were (if someone had a crystal ball with all the answers), which is the quantity that you estimated could swing your view of things...