It’s been a long, long time since I’ve had much to do with baseball cards, but out of curiosity I’ve been scanning the net lately to try to see the worth of some cards I have.
One thing that cropped up that was new was this rating system. For instance, there might be a Ken Griffey card auction on eBay that has “PSA GEM MINT 10” attached to it. Taking a look at the image for it, it looks like some authority graded the card. Fair enough.
Is this something that is done locally across the country? I can’t imagine that cards worth, in theory, hundreds or thousands of dollars are shipped someplace to be graded for a relatively small fee like that. I can understand that you don’t want some collector present, harassing the guy doing the ratings to bump him up a level or whatnot, but the potential for disaster if you send your cards to this “PSA” organization has to make you wary.
Or, in greater likelihood, it’s not like that at all because my understanding of the process is incomplete. Anyone ever had their cards graded in this manner? What actually happens – and does anyone have any pointers or recommendations?
The coin collecting hobby has been subject to third party grading/authentication for quite some time. While not strictly knowledgeable about baseball cards, there are a few general reasons why it’s a good idea.
Condition is subjective, ask anyone who’s tried to sell items back into the collecting hobby. The main reason for third party grading and encapsulation is to provide “sight unseen” commodity style trading opportunities.
Theoretically, at least, there’s no longer any argument about the graded condition of the item, whether you’re selling or buying. With coins, at least, it’s not uncommon to crack open early “slabbed” coins for resubmission in the hopes of a higher grade, since grading standards have loosened a bit over the years. You might expect the same in the Baseball Card authentication and grading services as well if it’s a new phenomenon.
The whole process is dependent on the credibility of the grading service. As far as I know, they go to great lengths to maintain the integrity of their services. Generally, it’s only profitible/necessary in fairly high priced items- hardly worth the time or effort to slab an item that costs only $50, for example.
Yes, people do send their cards away to PSA. They are graded on 4 criterion (Surface, corners, edges, and gloss, IIRC) and then giving a “grade” on a scale from 1 to 10. They are then sealed in a protective casing. More on that at PSA’s website
I considered doing it, but decided against it. If you are looking to sell your cards and they are in very good shape, then it might be worth your time. However, they tend to charge ~ $10 per graded card. If you have lots you want to be graded, that can quickly add up.
Tedster is right, the main advantage is that you can sell a card as a PSA 7 or a PSA 8, and you know for a fact exactly what you are getting before you even see it (great for internet sales / ebay).
PSA is recognized as the standard in graded cards, but Beckett (yes, the same folks who put out the price guides) have been offering card grading for a while now and they are generally regarded as the “toughest” grade – Therefore, if you have two of the same card – one graded PSA 9 and the other is a Beckett 9, the Beckett 9 will fetch more money if you decide to sell it.
My 2¢ – if you are just a casual collector it’s probably not worth you time. I recently got back into cards and am looking to complete a Roberto Clemente collection. I steer clear of the PSAs. I just look for cards that are in pretty nice shape, and that have Hi-res scans on ebay. I’ve bought about 10-15 that way, and have not been disappointed yet.