Is this really a PSA 4?

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Posted By: Howie

The Clemente card looks great because you're looking at a low quality scan. Obviously there's something wrong with the card to be a VGEX 4. If you remove cards like this from the holder and buy and sell based on their look from a yard away then buying becomes much more of a crapshoot like it was before grading. Grading gets it correct and close for most cards and will satisfy most collector's demands. You don't have to agree with the grade given on every card.

You don't buy a VGEX 4 graded card and hope it happens to be a MINT card. You don't expect to get a card that's really only VGEX when you were given the impression that the card was MINT based on a description or bad scan. With a graded card and a good scan you're much more likely to get a card that won't disappoint. Just think what EBAY would be like if grading didn't exist and you had to rely on the seller's marketing skills. You can buy 100 graded cards from 100 different sellers and not be disappointed. Imagine buying 100 raw cards from 100 different sellers who don't know about grading or don't believe in it. What are your chances? What are the chances of a newbie?