Submitted some cards to...

[DetroitTN]

GMA. After asking questions, researching, watching videos, buying slabs, and comparing, I decided GMA is as good and fair at grading as anyone. They're also the best price. I'll let this bundle determine if I'm right or wrong. If GMA used to easily give out 10s for everything, they've definitely stopped doing that.

Mostly hockey, nothing too rich (I don't have any of those cards anyway). I saw SGC give a 10 autograph grade to a card that Donruss out the sticker auto on upside down. CSG had to change their scale so people would continue to use them. PSA is $50. It seems like all major companies have so many new hires that their grades seem inconsistent. PSA is the only company that seems to add lots of value to a card. GMA has been around nearly 20 years. I've contacted them a few times and have been impressed with their responses to my questions. People threw money at HGA and other pop ups. It's worth a shot in my opinion. Every company is flawed, just like every car manufacturer has good, bad, and in between. As far as I'm concerned, a graded card is a graded card and the tpg shouldn't be the determining factor anyway

I shall see what happens.

Chime in if you've actually graded with GMA (not if you just have a hearsay opinion)

[3124508 on COMC]

Haven’t seen this one in a while.

[DetroitTN]

Originally Posted by 3124508 on COMC

Haven’t seen this one in a while.

What's that, something besides PSA and SGC? They're worth a submission with I think

[PLB9eight]

Summing it up they grade counterfeits and label them reprints.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jchcollins]

As long as you are cool with doing that for your collection and not for any type of resale or market value. Just because GMA "is as good and fair at grading as anyone" doesn't mean that their market reputation reflects that at all.

[discodanman45]

GMA is good for a PC and that is about it.

If you want resale, you won't get it. PSA/CSG/SGC/BGS doesn't only grade cards, but they authenticate cards reliably. They also stand behind their product. If you buy a $1000 card from the main four grading companies and it is found to be a fake in the holder, they will make things right. They have this in writing in their terms and conditions.

[RufussCkingston]

As long as you never plan to sell them, you'll be fine... Whoever you leave them to when you die will hopefully not try to sell them.....

[DetroitTN]

Have any of you personally used GMA to grade with? What are your insights on them from that standpoint? That's what I'm curious about, rather than anything else

As far as authentication, I'm not sending them counterfeit cards. PSA was in a scandal with scammers. I don't quite understand the hatred.

[SupermanBrandon]

Oh my. You must hate your money.

[DetroitTN]

Originally Posted by SupermanBrandon

Oh my. You must hate your money.

People dumber than me submitted to hga for 2 years

[discodanman45]

Originally Posted by DetroitTN

Have any of you personally used GMA to grade with? What are your insights on them from that standpoint? That's what I'm curious about, rather than anything else

As far as authentication, I'm not sending them counterfeit cards. PSA was in a scandal with scammers. I don't quite understand the hatred.

I personally know a few people who use them for PC's for lower end vintage. They are quite lenient with their grading and overlook major flaws which PSA/SGC would bring down to a 2/3 grade and GMA will still be around 5. The people I know like the service and continue to use them. However, they don't sell anything.

You are not sending in counterfeit or trimmed cards, but scammers do. Scammers know that companies like GMA and HGA don't have the authentication vetting process like the big 4 grading companies have. They will try to take advantage of this and slab fakes and doctored cards. Yes, PSA/SGC/BGS/SGC miss some, but they catch a much higher percentage than companies like GMA. GMA is fine for what they are, they are a personal collection grading company. Authentication is just as important as the number on the label.

[SupermanBrandon]

Originally Posted by DetroitTN

People dumber than me submitted to hga for 2 years

Yeh they lost their money too.

[DetroitTN]

From what I've bought slabbed, GMA isn't lenient on their grades any more than PSA or SGC has been. I haven't bought or graded vintage cards though, if mid 90s isn't considered vintage. A pair of 1998 die cuts (same set, different players) by GMA and BGS both graded appropriately at 8, which helped sell me in using GMA. SGC seemed to ignore print lines, which is nice but inaccurate.

[SupermanBrandon]

Who grades the "best" is not a thing! It's a personal preference based off of your own unique, personal experience.

[DetroitTN]

Originally Posted by SupermanBrandon

Who grades the "best" is not a thing! It's a personal preference based off of your own unique, personal experience.

Nobody is discussing who grades the best. Just that one isn't grading better than the others.

Hence why I went with GMA to try. Nothing I've seen personally looks egregious one way or the other, they're cheaper, and SGC/ CSG charge a lot more for minimal added value. At the absolute least, GMA can be used as a "prescreening" company once prices of grading go down

[SupermanBrandon]

Originally Posted by DetroitTN

Nobody is discussing who grades the best. Just that one isn't grading better than the others.

Hence why I went with GMA to try. Nothing I've seen personally looks egregious one way or the other, they're cheaper, and SGC/ CSG charge a lot more for minimal added value. At the absolute least, GMA can be used as a "prescreening" company once prices of grading go down

So whats your point grading w/ GMA? Whats the goal?

[discodanman45]

Originally Posted by DetroitTN

Nobody is discussing who grades the best. Just that one isn't grading better than the others.

Hence why I went with GMA to try. Nothing I've seen personally looks egregious one way or the other, they're cheaper, and SGC/ CSG charge a lot more for minimal added value. At the absolute least, GMA can be used as a "prescreening" company once prices of grading go down

Right now, grading with every company, is a rip off. For the service GMA provides, it should be $4 to $5. I won't grade with SGC until they get to $15 for vintage. CSG will probably be under $10 soon. PSA might have bulk in 2023.

Right now the smartest thing to do is not grade and just wait. Prices will drop in October when PSA finishes their backlog.

[DetroitTN]

Originally Posted by SupermanBrandon

So whats your point grading w/ GMA? Whats the goal?

Why reply to a topic you're only looking to argue and put down on?





I wanted some stuff graded and to see how well I was doing at pre-grading. A little input from those who used this particular service is appreciated

[CheapThief]

I've probably graded somewhere around 500 cards with them, though most of those were TCG.

They're definitely more lenient than PSA when it comes to 10s, but they aren't a grade mill like GEM Elite used to be, or PRO. I have a 78 OPC Nolan Ryan here that looks pretty good save the centering, and they gave that a 7. I also have an 81D Tim Raines that looks mint and got I think an 8. As for TCG, the only major difference between GMA and a major grading company is that the former is super lenient on centering-- other than that, they're pretty much in line with industry standards.

I still think there's a place for a company like that at $4/per (or $3.50 per for 100+ card orders, back when they offered that). For random base RCs, etc., it should just be enough to have a disinterested 3rd party look over the card, confirm that there's nothing obvious wrong with it, and then slab it accordingly.

[RufussCkingston]

Originally Posted by DetroitTN

I wanted some stuff graded and to see how well I was doing at pre-grading

Unfortunately you will only know how well you did at "pre-grading" for GMA standards. That will not transfer over to the big 4 if you decide to try them... You'd have to do another sample to rate your "pre-grading"

[RL 1953]

grading for pregrading?? hope that works out for you

[DetroitTN]

I haven't been impressed with the random grading inconsistencies, generous grades, and population control of PSA, nor do I like their Dewey decimal system tags from a 1986 library they use. Not do I like their $50 charge. Trying something different evidently is a bad idea. Enjoy your PSA cards everyone. I'll enjoy mine. Thanks for the replies, I guess

[mc1]

Pop control is a myth.

[clocsta2323]

Originally Posted by DetroitTN

I haven't been impressed with the random grading inconsistencies, generous grades, and population control of PSA, nor do I like their Dewey decimal system tags from a 1986 library they use. Not do I like their $50 charge. Trying something different evidently is a bad idea. Enjoy your PSA cards everyone. I'll enjoy mine. Thanks for the replies, I guess

The posts might seem harsh(?) but they literally have your best interest in mind in these replies.

[RufussCkingston]

Originally Posted by DetroitTN

I haven't been impressed with the random grading inconsistencies, generous grades, and population control of PSA, nor do I like their Dewey decimal system tags from a 1986 library they use. Not do I like their $50 charge.

And I assume you don't like the resale values they return either....