Burned on Gem Grading Counterfeits

redsoxcollector

I bought 5 Gem graded 1984 Clemens TCMA cards from sportscardzz and 2 from inserts4collectors on eBay last fall.
I recently sent them to PSA for crossover grading and all were found to be counterfeit.

When I asked for refunds, they referred me to the website (www.gemgrading.com) where a disclaimer
was posted on 11/30/04 (after I had purchased the cards) stating that Gem grading does not check
for authenticity! So, they tell me its not their problem that they sold me counterfeits!

As I research this, it appears some dealers are making a practice of sending counterfeits to Gem for
grading, knowing they will be graded and "legitimized" for resale, then they can blame it on the grader!
Note that the above dealers seem to sell Gem cards exclusively - that should tell you something. If
they were honest dealers, they would have one of the reputable firms such as PSA grade the
cards, which would also make them sell for more money - IF they were genuine.

My advice is not to buy Gem cards, and not to buy anything from these two dealers. Warn those who may
be bidding on Gem cards from any dealer, or who may be bidding on anything from these two dealers. They prey
on unsuspecting buyers who are not aware of what a ripoff Gem grading is. I learned the hard way.

I should also add that I bought 2 Clemens counterfeits around the same time from another eBay
dealer, shaqfu1, who apologized and is refunding me. One honest dealer out of 3.

Gordon Davis
redsoxcollector

metsfan

Gordon:
Sorry you had to learn the hard way. But if you want graded cards stick with PSA,SGC,GA,and to some extent BGS. I would stay clear of any other company.

cspeier1

IMHO- Nobody should have to learn this. That is just f'ed up! Basically admitting they grade fake cards. Some way some how, that should be illegal. I do agree with sticking with the four mentioned. PSA, PSA, PSA and PSA. The rest is a roll of the dice. Been there done that! Take that back- SGC is honest, resale sucks.

redsoxcollector

One of the sellers, sportscardzz, has now offered to refund me, this leaves inserts4collectors as the only
one who will not.

Yes, I knew buying anything other than PSA would be a gamble as far as grading. I did not expect these
Gem 10's to come back any better than PSA 7, or 8 if I was real lucky. But, I certainly did not expect that
they would come back as counterfeits.

Gem Grading needs to be held accountable for this. Dealers who deal regularly in Gem graded cards need
to put in their auctions that authenticity is not guaranteed. A weak disclaimer on the Gem website is no
excuse.

Cubby

In my life, I have purchased one GEM graded card, and sold one GEM graded card. Plan to keep it that way.

Vintagegolfcollector

Thanks for the information. I will make sure to stay clear of inserts4collectors. I've been tempted to by a couple of Gem graded cards in the past but decided to stick with just PSA and SGC. I've had two BGS cards come back as evidence of trimming when trying to cross over cards, so I will just stick with the two mentioned above. Sorry you had a bad experience and thank you for sharing.

Hope inserts4collectors comes around and does the right thing.

Peter

redsoxcollector

Well, now a higher-up at sportscardzz has emailed again and told me to disregard their previous
email offering a refund. He says that because the transaction is over 30 days ago, they can not
refund me.

Watch out for sportscardzz as well as inserts4collectors!

Gordon

NickM

shaqfu may have done the right thing in this situation, but shaqfu is not honest. He has been caught altering jersey cards to insert fake patches in them (normally cut out of a store model jersey). Search archived messages on the boards for threads involving him.

Nick

70chip

The disclaimer off Gem's website:

ADDED:11/30/2004
GEM Grading Services Inc. grades the quality of actual sportscard paper stock.
Providing authentication is challenging and not guaranteed due to improved computerized printing techniques.
Size requirements for sportscards are the standard published size plus or minus 3 mm.

How do they stay in business?

kingraider75

those idiots stay in business becasue enough people will get their cards graded by them. Are they cheaper than the big three????

Remind me never to buy anything that is not from the big three.

JELEW

I hope this may help you retrieve your money.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cacodes/bpc/21670-21672.html

read this then maybe you can contact one of the lawyers in yoru area (free advice of course) to see what can be done.
Hope it works out for you.

redsoxcollector

Well, sportscardzz (aka startcollecting.com) has again changed their position and is
now offering me a full refund. We will see.