BGS getting SOFT.

[MoezTavern]

Five years ago, I submitted an autographed card to BGS for grading.
This was when they were considered to be nefariously difficult graders and also when they incorporated the quality of the autograph into the surface grade.

My card came back a BGS 8.5 - which I was thought was ridiculous.
All but one of the corners were pristine, the edges were clean, the surface was spotless and the signature was crisp - and the centering, well it was difficult for me to judge, but didn't seem off.

I cracked the case and put the card into a CardSaver and into storage.

Earlier this month, I resubmitted it to BGS, hoping that it would come back a 9 due to rumors that BGS is getting a bit more relaxed, and that the auto would get the 10 it deserves.

I got the results today.
The card is now considered a Gem Mint 9.5 with a perfect 10 auto.
The corners got a 9 and every other field got a 9.5.
Now I'll be getting it back with a beautiful gold Beckett label and the card should sell for at least $50 more on the open market.

I'm hoping I could start a thread where others could share other stories of regrading. And what do you think of BGS now that they are no longer the OCD group they used to be. BGS Gem Mints are still selling at a premium but how long might it be until collectors dismiss BGS altogether?
Is there any consistency left in grading?
Discuss!

[drtom2005]

This is why I do not buy graded cards. It is subjective. The company that list card prices also grades them. Well that is pretty sweet. I wish they would just make sure cards are real. Too many fakes of older cards.

[70sbestcardboard]

yeah, that was a bad time for BGS. I sent in some Topps finest at the time and they came back with low surface grades because they still had the peel on them. I never busted them out. still have em. I'm just glad they changed their policy on that sooner rather than later.

[hawk2618]

I only grade with PSA,only because they are the most widely used and trusted.If I had an 8.5 re-graded and received a 9,that would be great.But the thing is,if we cracked open all the cards we wanted re-grading.I would probably think the cards would probably come back the same or a half or 1 grade different.I wouldn't call it lack of trust more than it being that it would be humanly impossible to duplicate each grade exactly again.I do believe the grade of a card is pretty precise for the most part.And lastly to me, taken in consideration all the cards I sent in.I don't think its worth the cash to get them all re-graded.I've been pretty fortunate will most of my grades. ~~Dave C.

[gonzo2three]

This is great that this has come up right now, because I've been thinking about something. I've noticed that when people are selling slabbed BGS/PSA cards they talk about the POP. Be it their card is 1 of 5, 1 of 3 that received a 8.5 or 9. And they claim it increases the cards value. With that being said, when some one busts out their slabbed BGS or PSA card and sends it back in. The POP is no longer accurate. In fact if the card comes back with the same grade. You have affected the card value almost in a negative way. maybe value was the wrong word, but now the POP is not so scarce I should say. Please correct me if I'm wrong. New to this forum so pardon me if this has come up before.

[MoezTavern]

I think when people boast about population reports, they do it concerning a card with a high grade - such as a 9.5 or 10. Those counts should be accurate because why would you have a card graded so high only to bust it out of the slab?

Because of what I did and I think a lot of other collectors are doing, you should no longer rely on accurate population counts of lower graded cards, that may be cracked for resubmission or because the collector prefers the card to remain "raw" due to an unsatisfactory grade.

[MoezTavern]

Update: I found the label from the BGS slab from five years ago.

In 2007, the card received a report card of:
Centering: 9.5
Corners: 8
Edges: 9
Surface: 9
Final Grade: 8.5

In 2012, the exact same card received scores of:
Centering: 9.5
Corners: 9 (+1)
Edges: 9.5 (+0.5)
Surface: 9.5 (+0.5)
Auto: 10
Final Grade: 9.5 (+1)

To me that is a significant difference. Either the grader from five years ago was having a really bad day or their standards have declined considerably.

[gonzo2three]

I think when people boast about population reports, they do it concerning a card with a high grade - such as a 9.5 or 10. Those counts should be accurate because why would you have a card graded so high only to bust it out of the slab?

Because of what I did and I think a lot of other collectors are doing, you should no longer rely on accurate population counts of lower graded cards, that may be cracked for resubmission or because the collector prefers the card to remain "raw" due to an unsatisfactory grade.

I wanna say the gentleman who made a site for his cards. The thread is still fairly close to the top still. Jun is his name. He was talking about how a guy busted a BGS 9.5 MJ finest gold refractor just to have it match his other cards. I guess to each their own. I wanna say he dropped like 15-20k on it to.