BGS vs PSA question

[Keegan]

Should I crack it out of the PSA holder before sending or send it in the PSA holder?

I wouldn't for fear of card damage... I would just stick with the current grade you have.

[doniceage]

Here a good read:

https://www.sportscardforum.com/artic...ding-industry/

DON

[Keegan]

Here a good read:

https://www.sportscardforum.com/artic...ding-industry/

DON

thank you Don, was a fantastic read.

[dogzman]

I wouldn't for fear of card damage... I would just stick with the current grade you have.

I want BGS holders which is the issue. I don't like PSA holders. I'm hoping they come back BGS 9.5 rather than the PSA 9.

[dogzman]

Does SCF do bulk submission groups?

[doniceage]

I want BGS holders which is the issue. I don't like PSA holders. I'm hoping they come back BGS 9.5 rather than the PSA 9.

LMK how they come back.

Does SCF do bulk submission groups?

They have not but I inquired on this and BGS and PSA would probably give us discounts if we started too.

DON

[fleemur12]

Great read that hits a sore spot with me. I was inspired to write a follow-up. I hope I don't sound like I'm bashing PSA unfairly or being a cry-baby.

Don White’s article questions the ability of card grading companies to fairly and consistently assess the genuine physical condition of a trading card. He gives an alarming example of the same card being awarded two significantly different grades by the two titans of grading, PSA and BGS. Mr. White suggests that this may be due to the lack of industry standards, human error, or even more nefarious factors.

I have a personal experience I'd like to share, which supports Mr. White’s assertion that there is a lack of industry standards. Here, I go one step further in saying that the lack of standard guidelines may lead to inconsistencies within the same company itself.

My story starts when I submitted 23 Canada Post cards to PSA for AU certification and card grading. 14 cards were returned to me encapsulated this way:


The other 9 cards were encapsulated this way:


This being my first experience grading cards, I proudly posted them on my favorite board, SCF. It was the responses from several experienced members that basically asked me, “why aren’t they all encapsulated in the same direction?” that made me realize perhaps an error had been made.

I contacted PSA’s customer support, and their reply was, “we could fix the first card you sent an Image of (The Jean Beliveau card), but the other ones we would not simply because we wouldn’t have the autograph upside down.”

According to this logic, 9 of the cards they graded were encapsulated incorrectly. Their autographs were “upside-down” like the Jean Beliveau card. What exactly did she mean that if they re-encapsulated "the other ones...simply because we wouldn't have the autograph upside down."? Also confusing; why only offer to “fix” one card and not the other 8?

Then what about the cards that have an autograph like this?



How would re-orienting this card cause the autograph to be “upside-down”? At this point, I hope that you are seeing why her argument makes no sense. Either she was trying to pull one over on me and just go away, or she cannot conceptualize the process of encapsulation. This is not a good reflection on a company when their public liaisons either are untrained or just do not care. As a paying customer, I wonder where my money goes.

About now, some of you may be asking, why is this guy being so picky about this little detail? The orientation of the information tag is a relatively minor point. I even asked myself if i was being too picky, and convinced myself for a while that everything was acceptable with my set as is. I rationalized that my cards were carefully analyzed to establish that they were not counterfeits nor doctored, and the grade given to them was based on a logical and consistent protocol.

However, I pose the argument to you that if PSA cannot even consistently encase 23 cards so their tags are in the same orientation - for the same customer and from the same set - how are we to trust them to perform the highly detail-oriented process of grading? PSA did not appear to be following a set of rules or guidelines for encasing cards, and this resulted in a minor, yet noticeable, mistake. To me, such sloppiness suggests that no standards are being employed and this will result in obvious grading discrepancies. It is no secret that a card will receive a different grade depending on which company it is evaluated by, not on it's actual condition.

Mr. White's found that the grading services provided by PSA and BGS were unable to provide a consistent evaluation of the condition of exact same card. Obviously something was wrong with the card grading industry, since the two main grading companies obtained two different results. Over 3 years later, there are still major flaws evident in the service of at least one of these companies. I seriously question whether there has been any significant progress made in the grading industry. Yet grading companies survive and thrive on our continued business. I encourage any other collectors to honestly share their experiences with the hobby as a whole. It is apparent that now more than ever, it is our responsibility to keep this hobby fun and wholesome.

[dogzman]

Fleemur12,

Thank you for the insight to your experience. Hopefully more will share.

[Keegan]

fleemur, thank you for your input, puts a different perspective on this issue

[Krazykanuk]

This has turned into a very interesting thread. Thanks for all of the insigt and differentiating view points. The only problem is who to use?

Bulk submissions seem to be the best way to go however. I know I would be interested in getting a few cards done (if bulk option befomes availble on the site) but has never made sense to only send a few from Canada....they pin you for a lot of fees!