About to send off my first cards for grading - few questions

[bradical]

Typically, I have just scoured shows and the Internet and bought all of my BGS cards, however, I feel like I have a few raw cards that I could send in for grading and they could receive a 9.5 (or better). I have a few questions about the process. Can you instruct them not to slab a card unless it reaches a certain grade? What should I be aware of on the surface of the cards? I see a lot of cards graded with perfect centering/edges/corners and then a terrible surface. Any pointers for someone who is about to pop his BGS cherry?

 

[bradical]

Anyone?

 

[notoriousrmb]

Fellow grading noob here, I asked some questions on the graded card board and got some great answers back. Maybe this will be some some help to you, maybe not. Best of luck either way!

And yes you can set a minimum grade for slabbing, just not sure how you go about doing that.

http://freedomcardboard.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=614190#p614190

 

[bradical]

Thanks. Reposted in the Grading forum. Didn't even see that on here.

 

[EricInCT]

I will answer any questions you have. I have graded almost 200 cards so far this year.

Surface: The best thing to do is look at the surface in BRIGHT light....I have halogen lights in my office and it really seems to reflect off the surface quite well making the imperfections stand out.

Hold the card in your hand and slowly rotate the card, do this horizontal as well as vertical. I can not figure out if the BACK of the card carries the same weight as the FRONT of the card when grading surface.....I have had perfect fronts (in my eye) of a blue chrome card for example and the white back with the writing (very tough to see scratches I might add) has brought the grade down to a 9.0 or 8.5. The centering is graded differently front and back, I do not know about the surface however.

If you want to provide me scans I can provide my opinion.

 

[EricInCT]

To answer the question: YES, you can put a minimum grade on the card. A lot of experienced sellers who send in 30-50 of the same Bowman Chrome rookie card for example don't want to crack open slabs to then sell in lots of 10 that don't meet the grade, too time consuming.

Even though I have experience grading, I still get the card graded regardless of the grade. The reasoning behind it is that it is a learning process. What if you took a test at school and failed wouldn't you want to know where you made your mistakes? Same thing with card grading. What you thought was a solid 9.5 for centering could come back an 8.5. Cracking open the plastic slab takes about 5 seconds and is very easy to do and I have never damaged a card. You are paying the same price, graded or not, so why not get some valuable information for your money.