Let’s talk about the arbitrary nature of trading card grading and why people are wrong to think it’s just a big scam.
Card grading is a service where you send in your cards and they will authenticate that they are in fact real and will then give you a number grade representing the condition of an item. They then encapsulate the card in plastic to prevent damage. Doesn’t sound very controversial right off the bat does it.
Well there’s an argument that grading is arbitrary in nature. That Bob didn’t have breakfast this morning so he’s going to give all the cards he sees that day bad grades. And there would be something to that argument except that each card in the case of PSA is reviewed by another grader. This is an attempt at consistency and I would argue a good one.
But what’s interesting it that PSA itself acknowledges that while a lot of what they do is objective, some of it is subjective. This part of what PSA has to say was either lost on people or they’ve never read it. So PSA is aware of the criticisms that its grades are subjective and arbitrary.
And you know what, no duh grading has some arbitrary aspects to it. It’s a bunch of different humans trying to follow a set of rules, they aren’t going to nail it every time. Even with a second grader reviewing cards they are not going to nail it every time.
But I’d point out that all the stories we have are anecdotal. We do not have the data to back up people’s claims that grading is completely arbitrary. We’d need to compare the amount of errors to the total number of cards graded to get an idea of what exactly is going on.
Even with errors grading cards has value. Value comes in the form of authentication, grading, and encapsulation. Whether you personally value these things is not relevant. Complaining about grading is not going to change that collectors find value in it. Grading is relevant even if people are tired of it.
But you know what, I’m tired of PSA too. Their standards have slipped to the point a huge number of people don’t trust them. They continue to grade 10s for cards with bad centering, arbitrarily judge anything from the first Pokemon sets, and have a money grab for a pricing scheme. They are the most popular grader and yet they’re giving grading a bad name. I wish everyone would forget PSA.
Regardless of disliking PSA, I should also point out that grading cards is just like grading coins… you’re taking a collectible, asking someone to provide uniform feedback about the collectible, securing it, and making sure it is in fact the real deal. It’s a way to provide insurance in a market where there is no insurance and no guarantees. When you’re buying collectibles you are completely on your own and that’s scary. Grading makes paying $2000 for a coin on ebay much less scary.
Coins have various levels of shiny-ness, various rarities, and various conditions… just like our favorite pieces of cardboard. Having someone besides yourself take a look is not a sin. People need to remember that when they complain about grading things.
Baseball cards and Pokemon both have large numbers of collectors. I mean baseball is exclusively collecting and Pokemon is probably a 50 / 50 split between collectors and players. This makes graded cards far more attractive. It’s good to know the true condition of a card before you buy and it’s good to know the card is in fact real. Grading provides these services for you. It makes no sense to spend $800 on a raw Pokemon card only to have it turn out to be a fake off of AliExpress. We are dealing with shiny cardboard here, but it’s expensive shiny cardboard. Fraud is prevalent in the collectibles market.
What’s interesting to note is that both Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic the Gathering both have significantly smaller graded card markets compared to Pokemon and baseball cards because they are focused on PLAYING and not collecting the game cards. It’s collectors that drive value for cards and it’s just interesting to see that.
Seemingly arbitrary grades and stories about people resubmitting their cards will continue. It does not tell us the whole story. Grading is a valuable service that provides confidence to buyers in a market filled with frauds. This is a fact for all collectibles not just trading cards. Authentication, grading, and encapsulation have value. People should remember these things before criticizing grading.
And if you really want to see a scam, look no farther than Magic the Gathering’s collector boxes lol