Inspection

[rnocards]

Hi,

Is there a service in the marketplace, similar to eBay Authenticity Gaurantee, that you can submit your graded slabs to them, and they will inspect the slab for you to make sure the slab is sealed, original, authentic, and has not been tampered with?

As far as I know, eBay does this with their Authenticity Gaurantee program when you buy a slabbed card from their listings, if the item is over $250, I believe. It goes to AG for inspection before it gets to you.

I am asking about a service where you submit the items already in your collection, not those you are buying/selling, but simply those items you already have in your collection and wish to make sure they are sealed and original.

Thanks.

[inaka]

1a. Create a separate buying and selling account in eBay.
1b. Or if you have a buddy nearby who buys on eBay use their buying account.
2. List any slabbed card for sale from your selling account, and make the sale price for $250 or even much higher, but include “or best offer” with no minimums and with free shipping.
3. From your buying account (or your friend’s buying eBay account), make an offer for $1 for this card.
4. Accept the offer from your selling account, pay the $1 from the buying account, have the selling account ship it off, and it will still go to the authenticity program, even though the sale was for only a buck since the list price was $250 or over.
5. Rinse and repeat.
6. Get banned from eBay probably, but hey it would work if you just needed it for one or two cards to check. Would be super cheap too.

[towerymt]

PSA:
https://www.psacard.com/myaccount/customerrequestcenter

Maybe try "Brand Protection Request"?

If you have acquired a PSA-graded item for which you would like to either (a) confirm the authenticity of the holder and/or label, or (b) verify the accuracy of PSA's opinion as it pertains to its determination of the item’s authenticity or its assigned grade, it may be eligible for a Brand Protection review request. Select the appropriate review option below to submit your request under the accurate form.

If you have acquired a PSA-graded card but question its legitimacy and would like to confirm the authenticity of the PSA holder and/or label, please submit the item under our free Holder/Label Review service utilizing this form.

If you have acquired a legitimate PSA-graded item but for some reason are questioning PSA’s determination of authenticity or believe the item was erroneously awarded the PSA grade assigned (i.e., overgraded), please submit the item under our free Authenticity/Grade Review service utilizing this form.

[SLGSports]

Much better than paying a company is to simply learn how to do it yourself. Will take some time to compile a checklist, but that's what I'd do. Then you can share the checklist with the rest of us

[rnocards]

Originally Posted by inaka

1a. Create a separate buying and selling account in eBay.
1b. Or if you have a buddy nearby who buys on eBay use their buying account.
2. List any slabbed card for sale from your selling account, and make the sale price for $250 or even much higher, but include “or best offer” with no minimums and with free shipping.
3. From your buying account (or your friend’s buying eBay account), make an offer for $1 for this card.
4. Accept the offer from your selling account, pay the $1 from the buying account, have the selling account ship it off, and it will still go to the authenticity program, even though the sale was for only a buck since the list price was $250 or over.
5. Rinse and repeat.
6. Get banned from eBay probably, but hey it would work if you just needed it for one or two cards to check. Would be super cheap too.

Nah, I'd get instabanned, with my luck... haha

But, maybe I could legitimately set the price at $250. The actual item in my collection did cost me like $234 to begin with (winning bid price plus buyer's premium) from a different auction, not eBay. So, legitimately, I could set it at $250, because it's still within the range of what the item could be worth, and then I'd have an acquaintance of mine, who runs a card shop in a different city, buy it from me. I would then ship it to eBay AG, and when it's shipped back to him, I'll drive over there, give him the money he spent on it, and I'll pickup the card. There is just one problem: He might keep it!

[rnocards]

Originally Posted by towerymt

PSA:
https://www.psacard.com/myaccount/customerrequestcenter

Maybe try "Brand Protection Request"?

This is awesome that PSA offers this service. Problem is, the item I'm looking to have inspected is a BGS item.

As far as I know, Beckett does not offer a similar brand protection request service like what PSA does.

[rnocards]

Originally Posted by SLGSports

Much better than paying a company is to simply learn how to do it yourself. Will take some time to compile a checklist, but that's what I'd do. Then you can share the checklist with the rest of us

I try to learn as much as possible, but it helps if I can have some kind of an official signature or seal from Beckett, or a third party service like eBay AG, verifying the item.

[RufussCkingston]

Why are you so concerned about the legitimacy of the slab you purchased. If it's still a just a $250 card, seems like overkill....

[discodanman45]

Buy from trusted sellers and this is NOT an issue. So many people are buying from places like Facebook Marketplace and Mercari where the scammers reside. You get a deal too good to be true and it turns out to be true.

The best security of a slab is the image on PSA/SGC/CGC. Does the card you have look exactly the same as the image of the card on the website. Does the slabs font look exactly the same as it does in the image. If so, you are good to go!

[rnocards]

Originally Posted by RufussCkingston

Why are you so concerned about the legitimacy of the slab you purchased. If it's still a just a $250 card, seems like overkill....

What kind of reply question is that? Why does anyone get concerned about the legitimacy of the the slabs they purchase?

$250 is a good chunk of money to me. This is not a $1 or $2 item.

[rnocards]

Originally Posted by discodanman45

Buy from trusted sellers and this is NOT an issue. So many people are buying from places like Facebook Marketplace and Mercari where the scammers reside. You get a deal too good to be true and it turns out to be true.

The best security of a slab is the image on PSA/SGC/CGC. Does the card you have look exactly the same as the image of the card on the website. Does the slabs font look exactly the same as it does in the image. If so, you are good to go!

The auction I bought it from is legitimate. The item is BGS, so there is no slab image on their cert website.

[discodanman45]

Originally Posted by rnocards

The auction I bought it from is legitimate. The item is BGS, so there is no slab image on their cert website.

I won't use BGS or buy high value BGS for this reason. Security for me is the image of the card on the website. Beckett really needs to join the rest of the grading community.

[rnocards]

Originally Posted by discodanman45

I won't use BGS or buy high value BGS for this reason. Security for me is the image of the card on the website. Beckett really needs to join the rest of the grading community.

I agree completely that BGS needs to be more like PSA, and update their process.

Problem is that the item I have is uniquely available only in a Beckett slab, and is not available in PSA/SGC/CGC. The item fits a particular niche in my personal collection, and so, I had no choice but to buy it, to complete the collection.

I've contacted Beckett customer service to try and ask them about a re-casing (re-holdering) of the item into a new slab, but I was told that the item was done according to a one time deal a long time ago that Beckett had with a previous company. However, such a collaboration no longer exists with that company.

They said if I were to re-case it, then I would lose an important piece of the slab. So, I calculated that basically, if I were to re-case it, then it would plummet the value of the item from $250 to like $40, due to the loss of the piece.

So, I can't re-case it with Beckett, and I can't cross it over to PSA. It has to stay in its present form.

[RufussCkingston]

Then it sounds like it is legit if it is something obscure....

[PLB9eight]

So what is it?

[discodanman45]

This is way too mysterious. Post a picture, community will tell you it is ok, keep in your collection, and keep on collecting. You are worrying way too much about a $250 card that is most likely legit.

[rnocards]

Originally Posted by RufussCkingston

Then it sounds like it is legit if it is something obscure....

Yes, you are probably right.

[rnocards]

Originally Posted by PLB9eight

So what is it?

It's a GGUM item.

[rnocards]

Originally Posted by discodanman45

This is way too mysterious. Post a picture, community will tell you it is ok, keep in your collection, and keep on collecting. You are worrying way too much about a $250 card that is most likely legit.

Ok, attached are the pictures.

As I said, this item can not be re-cased with Beckett, and can not be crossed over to the other graders, because of the unique way in which the slabbing of the card and swatch piece was once done. Beckett no longer does this. They said a re-casing would lose the swatch. If that happens, the item's value goes down by a lot, because the swatch is what makes it unique and valuable, compared to just the card itself in a slab.

The company on the back of the slab, GGUM Cards, is no longer in business, and their website address is no longer operational.

When you lookup the BGS cert number on the Beckett site, there is no mention anywhere in regards to the swatch piece. In fact, as far as I know, there is no mention anywhere on the Beckett site in regards to the one time collaboration with GGUM. The only mention is on the front of the slab: "GU PADRES UNIFORM". This little variety note, not mentioned on the Beckett site, is unlike what PSA does, which lists their varieties on their site variety/pedigree section.

This is why I was asking for an inspection and authentication of this collection item, in case if I ever sell it, and in anticipation of a future buyer asking me to either certify the authenticity of the swatch item online, or to provide some COA or LOA from Beckett or GGUM certifying its authenticity.

There is no way to contact GGUM, and Beckett already said that the slab itself is the COA, and they don't provide any other COA or LOA for it. Problem is, they can't tell me if the slab is sealed, and has never been tampered with.

[discodanman45]

This is not a $250 item. It is fine and not tampered with. Tony Gwynn has tons of these game used uniforms in Beckett slabs. They can go for $20/$30. Being a rookie card, this may be worth $40.

[rnocards]

Originally Posted by discodanman45

This is not a $250 item. It is fine and not tampered with. Tony Gwynn has tons of these game used uniforms in Beckett slabs. They can go for $20/$30. Being a rookie card, this may be worth $40.

I won the auction for $234 (winning bid plus buyer's premium).

Can you show me where another 1983 Gwynn rookie card comes with a swatch in a Beckett slab or any of the other PSA/SGC/CGC grader slabs?

This Gwynn combo item that I have is possibly a Pop 1. Show me another one exactly like it.

[CardPadre]

Originally Posted by rnocards

I won the auction for $234 (winning bid plus buyer's premium).

Can you show me where another 1983 Gwynn rookie card comes with a swatch in a Beckett slab or any of the other PSA/SGC/CGC grader slabs?

This Gwynn combo item that I have is possibly a Pop 1. Show me another one exactly like it.

It’s a cool item, not a ton of them around. There is an 8.5 that sold last August, so almost a year ago, for $75 on eBay. But that’s a while ago and there are not many, so if you like the card then enjoy it!

[rnocards]

Originally Posted by CardPadre

It’s a cool item, not a ton of them around. There is an 8.5 that sold last August, so almost a year ago, for $75 on eBay. But that’s a while ago and there are not many, so if you like the card then enjoy it!

Cool, thank you so much for posting that. This now puts my item in perspective, and shows clearly that I overpaid for it. Since my item is only an 8, then its market value is less than $75.

A year's time worth probably doesn't change much in price, so my Item I would guess is probably $50 to $60 worth. Clearly, I overpaid. It's ok, because it's going to be a personal collection item with my other Gwynn rookie items.

[CardPadre]

Originally Posted by rnocards

Cool, thank you so much for posting that. This now puts my item in perspective, and shows clearly that I overpaid for it. Since my item is only an 8, then its market value is less than $75.

A year's time worth probably doesn't change much in price, so my Item I would guess is probably $50 to $60 worth. Clearly, I overpaid. It's ok, because it's going to be a personal collection item with my other Gwynn rookie items.

That listing was just a fixed price....so can't say for sure what it would have sold for if people were bidding on it. That's just what some seller listed it and sold it for.

[rnocards]

Originally Posted by CardPadre

That listing was just a fixed price....so can't say for sure what it would have sold for if people were bidding on it. That's just what some seller listed it and sold it for.

Ah, yes, you're right.