pregrade

ldferg

have any of you ever been approached to 'pregrade' someone's cards before submitting? would you charge someone to do it if you enjoyed it?

RonBurgundy

Yes and no. I'm helping someone right now.



Ron

artistlost

Yes I do that for a few friends but never charge them. I have had one person throw some nice cards my way as a token thanks.

Cubby

Answer to the first question = No. Answer to the second question = Yes.

basestealer

I have graded people's cards before, but they are never happy with the results. I toss out 99.9% as ungradeable, because I look for gems. Just to give an idea, I mean I have busted open an entire vending case of 1980 Topps--fresh out of the packs for the first time, and I'd say 1 in 100 of them maybe less were dead centered, with 4 sharp corners, no print or registry spots, with clean edges and mint surfaces. Those would come back a 9 or a 10 from PSA... but of those, if you want to make sure the backs are dead centered too, 1 in 50 of the 1 in 100 that you picked will demonstrate that quality. So, out of 12,000 cards I cracked open, I found approximately 400 that I would consider true MINT. And of those, about 50 or so that I would send to PSA for grading (as GEM mint 10).

People are always exaggerating the condition of their own cards. And it's a double whammy when you're trying to grade them for someone else because they think you're insulting their collection if you're being discriminate. I don't know why people don't read Beckett's guidelines before sending their crap off to the grading companies. There is really no excuse why 1980's common cards are being graded in the first place, much less that they come back 5's, 6's, and 7's. You don't need good eyes to pick out the turds.

cardbender

Over the years I've helped a lot of friends and just collectors in general pre-grade a few cards for free at the local card show. I'm always happy to help share my grading knowledge. I've been submitting cards to psa for over 10 years.

If it involves more than 15 minutes of my time, I charge $20 an hour. I have one friend who has a lot of vintage cards, he drives to my house to grade his cards. Typically he'll spend 5-6 hours here. I'm usually looking for only 8's or higher for him. I might look thru 4000 pre 1970 cards at one session.

It's a good time as we get along real well and talk about the hobby.
He's an older dealer and realizes that screening his cards takes a lot of time and therefore he doesn't mind paying me for my efforts. Sometimes he'll pay me in cards which is great too. Usually the cards end up being upgrades to my collection. Once in a while he'll even give me first shot at a few of the cards, once he gets them back from grading, before he lists them on ebay.

I would say I'm about 92-96% accurate with my pre-grading estimations. Sometimes I'll think a card is an 8, and he'll get a 9. Sometimes I'll think a card is a lock 8 and psa assigns it a 7. Usually centering is what constitutes most of the misses. I try to grade conservatively so he's not wasting his money on grading a lot of cards that end up becoming coasters.

Regards,

Rich

storm888

"You don't need good eyes to pick out the turds. "

/////////////////////////////////

That is true.

Except for the tiny-tiny surface wrinkles/creases that turn a
sure PSA 10 into an automatic PSA 5.

WinPitcher

busted open an entire vending case of 1980 Topps--fresh out of the packs for the first time,


vending came in packs?


Steve

pandrews

i'll do it for $50

fiveniner

<< <i>I have graded people's cards before, but they are never happy with the results. I toss out 99.9% as ungradeable, because I look for gems. Just to give an idea, I mean I have busted open an entire vending case of 1980 Topps--fresh out of the packs for the first time, and I'd say 1 in 100 of them maybe less were dead centered, with 4 sharp corners, no print or registry spots, with clean edges and mint surfaces. Those would come back a 9 or a 10 from PSA... but of those, if you want to make sure the backs are dead centered too, 1 in 50 of the 1 in 100 that you picked will demonstrate that quality. So, out of 12,000 cards I cracked open, I found approximately 400 that I would consider true MINT. And of those, about 50 or so that I would send to PSA for grading (as GEM mint 10).

People are always exaggerating the condition of their own cards. And it's a double whammy when you're trying to grade them for someone else because they think you're insulting their collection if you're being discriminate. I don't know why people don't read Beckett's guidelines before sending their crap off to the grading companies. There is really no excuse why 1980's common cards are being graded in the first place, much less that they come back 5's, 6's, and 7's. You don't need good eyes to pick out the turds. >>



Why would you waste your time going through 12000 1980s cherry picking the best ones when you state it does not make any sense to have the commons graded.Commons constitue 95 % or more of the 12000???
I think your comments are very insulting!!!!

fiveniner

ldferg

thanks guys for the input. i was asked by someone who has purchased several cards from me in the past if they could send me a few for screening before grading. i told them i would. i like it too much. haha

thanks again

basestealer

<< <i>busted open an entire vending case of 1980 Topps--fresh out of the packs for the first time,


vending came in packs?


Steve >>


Uhh, yeah. They are called VENDING PACKS. Vending boxes. Whatever you wish to call them.

basestealer

<< <i>

<< <i>I have graded people's cards before, but they are never happy with the results. I toss out 99.9% as ungradeable, because I look for gems. Just to give an idea, I mean I have busted open an entire vending case of 1980 Topps--fresh out of the packs for the first time, and I'd say 1 in 100 of them maybe less were dead centered, with 4 sharp corners, no print or registry spots, with clean edges and mint surfaces. Those would come back a 9 or a 10 from PSA... but of those, if you want to make sure the backs are dead centered too, 1 in 50 of the 1 in 100 that you picked will demonstrate that quality. So, out of 12,000 cards I cracked open, I found approximately 400 that I would consider true MINT. And of those, about 50 or so that I would send to PSA for grading (as GEM mint 10).

People are always exaggerating the condition of their own cards. And it's a double whammy when you're trying to grade them for someone else because they think you're insulting their collection if you're being discriminate. I don't know why people don't read Beckett's guidelines before sending their crap off to the grading companies. There is really no excuse why 1980's common cards are being graded in the first place, much less that they come back 5's, 6's, and 7's. You don't need good eyes to pick out the turds. >>



Why would you waste your time going through 12000 1980s cherry picking the best ones when you state it does not make any sense to have the commons graded.Commons constitue 95 % or more of the 12000???
I think your comments are very insulting!!!! >>


Nothing I said was insulting. I have you on ignore following my response to this post, and I suggest you do the same with me.

I cherrypick gem mint cards for my hand collated sets. I do not believe in professional grading services, and I wouldn't have a slabbed card in my personal collection. That does not in any way imply that I do not value condition. I put my sets together by hand, and I want only the best examples of each card. Dead centered front and back, 4 razor sharp corners, perfect surface, no print spots. When I put together my sets, after breaking open vending cases, I have a lot of extras. If I have gem mint extras that are financially sound to have graded, I do so and then I sell them. I take the other extras and form sets or lots and sell those as well. I take that money and begin working on another set for myself. Is this clear enough for you?

Robeson

Oh No fiveniner, It's the dreaded ignore button. I bet you feel real BAD. How do these people find PSA?

fiveniner