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Sports card grading is the
process of sending your cards to a 3rd party company of highly trained
grading experts. ("Highly trained" does not necessarily mean that you
will always agree with them.) The card grading services will look at
your card from every possible angle to determine its final grade. While
under the microscope (literally), the color, surface, centering, corners
and edges of your card will be evaluated.
What Companies Grade Sports
Cards?
There are several companies
offering sports card grading services, we are listing a few of the most
well known here. Each of this companies has their own unique
formula for assigning a grade to a card. Beckett publications
(BGS) is one of the leading
card graders (Note that Beckett also offers a less expensive grading
program called Beckett Collectors Club Grading or BCCG.) Professional Sports Authenticator
(PSA). Sportscard
Guaranty (SGC) and Global Auththentication (GAI).
Why grade your baseball cards
Having your cards graded
can be a lot of fun, especially when they come back with a high grade! A
high grade will substantially increase the value of the card.
The average collector does
not spend a lot of time and energy on having their cards graded but
every once in a while a card or two may come along that you'll want to
have evaluated. Also, since grading companies encase your card in a
sealed hard plastic holder, having your cards graded can also be an
excellent way to
protect your sports cards.
Although card grading is
not for everyone, there are plenty of serious collectors out there
that collect only graded cards or collect with the sole purpose of
finding good cards to have graded. Since sports card grading can
substantially affect the value of a card, often time these collectors
are very interested in
baseball cards as investments.
If you're interested in finding out how much graded cards are worth,
baseball card price guides (and other sports card price guides) usually
have a separate section dedicated to graded cards. You should also
become familiar with Sports Market Report (SMR). Be sure to also look
at the auction sites to see what they are selling for, remember, a card
is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
How do I get my cards
graded?
Our advice to collectors
just getting into the grading side of the sports card hobby is to do
your homework before you send cards in for grading. Develop your own
keen eye for a good card. Learn
how sports cards are
graded and what card graders
are scrutinizing. Once you have a good idea of the criteria that sports
cards are graded upon you'll have a much better chance of getting a high
grade for the cards you send in.
When you're ready, select
several cards to send in at one time. Most card grading companies offer
a price break if you send in more than a few at a time. You can choose
to have your cards graded quickly and you'll pay a lot more for this, we
suggest you let them take their time so that you don't have to pay top
dollar.
For example, if you send in
1-19 cards to Beckett Grading Services, and you have them returned back
to you in using their 2 day grading time, you'll pay $25 per card not
including shipping. Take this same example and let them do their 45 day
grading and the cost drops to $8 per card. Now we don't know about you,
but we're happy to wait a couple of months for that kind of savings,
after all, hopefully your in this hobby for the long run so what's the
rush! You should also watch for special offers on grading inside of the
Beckett monthly price guides.
Most of the companies offer
grading specials at big card shows. A nice feature at the shows is an
"onsite" review of your cards to let you know what grade they might be
given. Keep your eye out for coupons for discounts on card grading in the sports card publications
too!
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