So, despite my rather strong stance and language against card grading, and my having freed at least three cards from their prisons, I find myself buying graded cards more often than I ever thought I would. Mostly, it's the older, more expensive cards, because I've (sadly) come to mistrust the authenticity of those cards on the internet. I've become paranoid that I'll buy a fake, because there are so many out there, with no markings, no warnings in the descriptions, no way to tell until it's in my hand. I'm smart about it, I hope. I read everything in the listings, buy from people with lots of feedback, etc. But I just don't know. I never buy graded cards from my local card shop. I don't need to; I trust them. But if I'm going to drop significant coin on a tobacco card or a Nolan Ryan rookie, I need to be sure it's real. I don't care that some "professional" has declared it to be a 2 or a 4; the grading part is useless to me. But the authentication part is important.
All that said, I wonder if folks have any opinion about whether the "lesser" grading companies can be trusted as card authenticators. I've been stalking a couple cards graded by GAI, for example. I know that company is not a favored grading company for various reasons, perhaps mostly because people think their grades are off. The graded cards I do own are all SGC, PSA, or BVG. But the GAI cards tend to be a bit cheaper, because GAI might, well, suck. And not caring about the grade, I was wondering if people think they, or other less-favored graders, can be trusted to at least get the fact that the card is what it says it is correct? (Not talking autographs, here. Just the card, itself.)
Thoughts?
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