Do you care about the authenticity guaranty provided by grading companies?

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by bnorth

I voted NO because they do their best to not honor it so for the most part it is almost worthless anyway.

While I agree that the grading companies do everything possible not to honour their guaranties, I think their business was built on these sham guarantees. Why else would collectors/dealers have started submitting their cards en masse?

Originally Posted by bnorth

Plus in the real world I have noticed there is a WAY bigger chance of a graded card being altered than a raw one being altered. There is a WAY bigger reward for getting an altered card into a slab than altering one to keep raw.

I believe it. That's certainly the way it seems. After all, why bother doctoring a card that isn't going to sell for nosebleed prices?

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

While I agree that the grading companies do everything possible not to honour their guaranties, I think their business was built on these sham guarantees. Why else would collectors/dealers have started submitting their cards en masse?



I believe it. That's certainly the way it seems. After all, why bother doctoring a card that isn't going to sell for nosebleed prices?

I have been collecting for longer than the grading companies have been around. I personally don't know a single person who bought a graded card because of the guarantee. At least no one has ever said I bought it because of the guarantee. Every single graded card was purchased because graded cards are worth more money. Funniest part is most collectors don't get how grading really works when it comes to value. Even funnier is many that constantly complain about grading companies only collect graded cards from the company they constantly complain about.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by bnorth

I personally don't know a single person who bought a graded card because of the guarantee. At least no one has ever said I bought it because of the guarantee. Every single graded card was purchased because graded cards are worth more money.

Yes, but that's begging the question. Why do slabbed cards fetch more money? That phenomenon had to start because buyers were happy to get a card guaranteed by an "expert" third-party. This made the buyers confident that they were getting the real thing and they were happy to pay to get this confidence. The phenomenon then snowballed. But what got the snowball rolling for the higher prices fetched was the guaranty.

Originally Posted by bnorth

Funniest part is most collectors don't get how grading really works when it comes to value. Even funnier is many that constantly complain about grading companies only collect graded cards from the company they constantly complain about.

A certain Vulcan would describe such behaviour as "Illogical".

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by bnorth

I have been collecting for longer than the grading companies have been around. I personally don't know a single person who bought a graded card because of the guarantee. At least no one has ever said I bought it because of the guarantee. Every single graded card was purchased because graded cards are worth more money. Funniest part is most collectors don't get how grading really works when it comes to value. Even funnier is many that constantly complain about grading companies only collect graded cards from the company they constantly complain about.

None of it makes any sense, does it? I constantly like to stress to people the importance of becoming your own authority, but we're too late in the game for it to matter. TPG this, TPA that. Ugh.