I think grading is a complete scam. If you have been reading this blog, you know that is the case. Every single time I read something about a card going for ridiculous amounts, solely because it receives a certain grade, I laugh. I laugh because of how much value people put in a process run by and monitored by humans, humans which have marketing agendas and customer satisfaction to consider when grading cards. To say that bias and emotion does not enter this process would be silly, and yet people are still willing to pay through the nose for a card that has a high grade on it.

Without going too in depth, my feelings on grading come from obvious conflicts of interest inherent to the process as well as insider info given to me by people who have experienced the things that I feel. Basically, when you see the price and the publicity that a card like the Joe Montana RC BGS 10 received at the national convention, as well as similar publicity received when the Strasburg super entered BGS’ hands, its tough to put stock in a process that human nature and emotions factor into. Remember, when a card is graded what it is, the only thing that comes into play is the person or persons involved in the review of the card. It is not done by a machine or a computer program, but instead is run by a guy that has every bit of knowledge as to the ramifications a high grade can present. On top of that, no one would ever question a grade once its in the case, simply because there is no reason to ever test its merits. If your Joe Montana gets the 10, you arent going to crack it and send it through again, right? You just accept that it is what it is. Because the standards for what makes a 10 versus what makes a 9.5 are so similar, it has actually become a common practice to try re-submitting a unfavorably graded card to get a better grade. All one has to do is crack the case and send it again, and hopefully a better grade will result. Once the card receives the higher grade, it becomes that number, because of what I was discussing before. The standards are so indistinguishable, in fact, that collectors live by the number on the slab instead of the examination of the card.

Many people say that based on comparisons between the grading companies, a standard of value has been established, but my argument is that when you factor in the ulterior motives for grading cards higher than normal, those standards DO NOT matter. If I submit 1,000 cards a month to any of the grading services, you would think that due to the number of grading services in existence, the companies would be a little more lenient to my order considering that I could take my business elsewhere if I continued to receive unfavorable results. Also, with bigger orders, its understood that less time has to be taken with each card, so you have to understand where the problems come about.

BGS has also been known to sell their own graded cards on eBay, something that presents an incredible conflict of interest, even if the cards are sold through consignment. This is piled on top of the existing conflict of interest presented in grading a rare card with a high(er) grade than deserved because of the publicity it will receive.

All of these feelings were brought even further to the forefront of my mind after reading about recent auctions of many high grade vintage cards, including a 1914 Cracker Jack nigh-complete set that sold for a whopping $500,000+. There is no doubt that the high grade nature of the cards factored into the sale price, and that is something that has completely baffled me. Why someone would pay what they would for a raw card, but pay an exponentially greater amount for one that was deemed “higher than mint” or “pristine.” Yes, BGS has actually created a condition that supersedes the original top grade of mint, and again, it confuses me as to why people put so much stock into it. Its not like many people would be able to prove the EXACT reason why one example received a grade of 10 and a price 100 times that of the one graded 9.5, and that is why this auction was so shocking to me.

Guys, I completely understand WHY someone would grade a card before selling it. It makes sense. But people have to realize what grading has become and WHY it has become that. Grading was originally created to prevent the problems caused by selling over the internet. It was also a time where digital cameras had mega pixel resolution that was LESS than most camera phones. In other words, because you couldn’t photograph or display high resolution pictures online, grading was created to help collectors avoid problems when buying in absentia. Now that scanners and cameras can actually present higher resolution than what is visible by the human eye, grading has become a way to solely drive revenue for the grading companies and for the people that sell graded cards. There is a slight protection issue that can be solved by encapsulating cards in those hideous slabs, but all in all, grading has become ALL ABOUT THE MONEY.

That, in addition to all the other points discussed here, is it really in your best interest to pay multiples of the original value of a card just because some guy in Texas spent thirty seconds examining it? There is no regulatory body that enforces any violations, so there is no responsibility to provide an unbiased service. Think about that next time you are about to hit that enormous buy it now price on eBay.