What is the scam?

Boopotts

Just doing an ebay search, and ran across the typical parade of BGS 9.5's from the usual suspects. Which got me to thinking-- just what do you guys think is the scam? Obviously nobody's going to get that many 9.5's by sheer luck, so that's out of the question. But what is it? Careful trim jobs? A buddy in the grading room? Relentless crack and submits?


I'm still trying to figure it out-- and I will, I think, within the next 9 months or so. I'll send in some trim jobs, crack a bunch of 9's time and time again, and try to learn just how this operates. It's at the point now where I'm driven purely by curiosity; after four years of this I just need to get to the bottom of it.

Anyone else feel similarly obsessed with this?

mudflap02

I think Beckett just started off with their standards impossibly high to give a 9.5 a good name (and a BGS 10 a godlike quality), and by slowly loosening standards, nobody really seemed to notice. I honestly don't understand the whole concept of a BGS 10 if a 9.5 is Gem Mint - seems like a PSA 11 to me.

Stingray

I never understood Gem Mint, to me if something is Mint, then that is the best it can be. If something is Gem Mint then it should be beyond perfect, what the heck is Pristine going to be?? 9.5 in modern stuff is not too hard is it?


Stingray

skigropple

You should look at grading for slabbed coins. Mint State (MS) goes from 60 to 70 by ones with diff. degrees of perfect.

Jim

jrdolan

It's not a scam as much as it's market manipulation. Like muddy said, Beckett changed its standards after prepping the market with the whole "rare" 9.5 mania. Now it's rare NOT to get 9.5 from BGS. It's a simple business strategy: the time is ripe to fill the world with 9.5's. Good business for Beckett (for awhile), bad news for those who spent outrageous amounts for 9.5 cards they believed would be forever "rare."

I wonder if there will be an exodus from Beckettville as this plays out and people realize what is happening. I guess we'll know if we start seeing large numbers of refugees from the Beckett boards complaining how their precious BGS 9.5's are selling for only 25% of what they paid and what Beckett Magazine claims they are worth.

CDsNuts

Boo, to answer your question, a few guys have figured out how to slice uncut sheets accurately, and Beckett will grade those cards willingly. A telltale sign is a card with 9.5-10 subgrades for everything but surface which will be lower.

A lot of guys on these boards think this is reprehensible. Honestly, I don't see anything horribly wrong with what these guys are doing. It's not illegal, it's not dishonest, and most collectors don't care where their cards come from. At the very worst, it goes against the "spirit of the hobby" which the purist in me agrees with, but at the same time they are businessmen and are taking advantage of a loophole they found in the current market. They are not scamming anybody as the cards have resale value, and the cards are real and printed in the year they were released. They were just cut at a different time and not by the manufacturer. It certainly bothers me and I wouldn't buy them for my collection, but like I said, most people don't care where their cards come from.

Lee