Whats a good rule of thumb for grading?

[campyfan39]

Thanks, everyone, for the input; it's been great.

I have found some to send, and I am more curious than anything. I will definitely write down my grade guesses and post them here, then reveal what they are when they come back.

I just wish it was simplified, as I saw a pic of a nine and a seven 59' Aaron, and they were indistinguishable.

All we need is what we always had:
Mint
Excellent
Very Good
Good
Poor (authentic but beat to death)

[raulus]

Good luck!

Hopefully you don't get the grader of death...

I will observe that I do grade cards, but rarely for resale with a need for a specific grade, so my approach tends to be different. Almost all of my graded cards have been rare oddball pieces with only a very few ever having been graded, and where I needed them to round out my personal set registry collection.

In a few cases, I do acquire some rare oddball pieces not for my own collection, but because I figure I can use them as trade bait for a similarly rare piece that I actually need, or else make some money off of them, assuming the right player collector comes along who is willing to pay handsomely for it. But usually the grade isn't that important, since usually the stuff that I pick up with this strategy is difficult to find in any condition. Whether I get a 3 or a 5 often doesn't make a huge difference in the price if there are only 3 others that have ever been graded, and they all graded at a 1.