GMA Grading and Authentication Home Of The $2 Grade
Are We Getting What We Pay For?
After coming across 1,00'0's of ungraded Baseball cards I had to learn the world of Sports Cards grading rather quickly. As went through all of the major graders of course as a lifetime CHEAPSKATE I immediately noticed the services of GMA
Grading services at $2.00 bucks a card. So I sent off few ROOKIES for grading to see what kind of grade they would receive. I also sent off a few to PSA and a couple to Beckett for mostly comparative analysis.
I soon noticed something strange as I began to sell the cards. I noticed for the most part that the majority of the Sports Collectors community really didn't affiliate with GMA. Since I didn't have a personal web presence to offer the cards I sent them out on consignment with some of the largest Card sellers on eBay. To my surprise few of them even accepted cards with the GMA grade attached. The others with Beckett and PSA grades went out and sold very well for substantial profit via consignment. So I looked into a little more. I quickly noticed why, the GMA grade across the board systematically sold for less, a lot less!
I read few articles/reviews on the service as a follow up I found a surprising number of reviews were customers disagreed with the grading placed on their card(s). I also looked at the others and noticed that their reviews were almost the exact opposite, especially the big three- BCCG - Beckett Collectors Club Grading
- PSA - Proffesional Sports Autheticators
- SGC - Sportscard Gurantee
Unfortunately once they are graded we can't ungrade them so it is something to look into thoroughly
I use GMA to preserve my collection. They are in a sealed case a look good preserved like that. I am not against graded cards but as a "novice" collector not a professional dealer GMA is a dream. An affordable evaluation as well as a preserved card. The money side of collecting took the fun out of it but GMA allows me the affordability of a sealed card. If I decide to deal these cards they are protected and look nice. I love GMA and will continue to use them, of course the reputable PAS has a history and are king of the hill but not without question ( the Gretzsky Wagner fiasco). When its all said and done a card is only worth as much as you can sell if for...no matter what the case looks like!
ReplyDeleteI used GMA because of there 2 dollars and 50 cents deal .I have used just recently I sent 4 cards to PSA it cost me 130 dollars at the same time I sent 40 cards to GMA it only cost 110.on psa I did the 10 day service and it took 65 days til I got them back gma had them back in my hands 10 days after I mailed them .The grades from PSA were exactly what I suggested and what they should have been the ones from gma were graded properly also with all grades that I felt they deserved also sent 20 cards to beckett it cost me 270 and took 35 days to get back .Beckett has best holder psa and gma holders are in my opinion same quality.I recently traded cards 195 to 310 from 1952 topps set for a PSA gem mint 10 rickey henderson rookie and sold it for 29000 plus with a auction house then 6 months later found out card was fake now that psa has moved it's main holder plant to Mexico there security is lax and they have employees selling Un put together holders to people so it was just like it had been done at psa, gma foes not have this problem I love gma and just sent them 165 more cards to grade for just 374 would have cost 5000 with psa I don't care how good psa is there not 4700 dollars better that's for fuckin sure
DeleteI used GMA because of there 2 dollars and 50 cents deal .I have used just recently I sent 4 cards to PSA it cost me 130 dollars at the same time I sent 40 cards to GMA it only cost 110.on psa I did the 10 day service and it took 65 days til I got them back gma had them back in my hands 10 days after I mailed them .The grades from PSA were exactly what I suggested and what they should have been the ones from gma were graded properly also with all grades that I felt they deserved also sent 20 cards to beckett it cost me 270 and took 35 days to get back .Beckett has best holder psa and gma holders are in my opinion same quality.I recently traded cards 195 to 310 from 1952 topps set for a PSA gem mint 10 rickey henderson rookie and sold it for 29000 plus with a auction house then 6 months later found out card was fake now that psa has moved it's main holder plant to Mexico there security is lax and they have employees selling Un put together holders to people so it was just like it had been done at psa, gma foes not have this problem I love gma and just sent them 165 more cards to grade for just 374 would have cost 5000 with psa I don't care how good psa is there not 4700 dollars better that's for fuckin sure
DeleteCould not of said it better! GMA is the way to go
DeleteCould not of said it better! GMA is the way to go
Deletei have sent cards to all the major graders I do like beckett but the price is high. so I bought some cheap beckett graded cards on ebay which I wrote down the card an grade then I opened them up an sent to gma to see what they would come back as. out of the ten cards I did this to 6 came back the same grade 2 came back at a lower grade 1 came back at a 10 that beckett had a 9.5 the last card I damaged when I opened the case so it came back way lower so in all I will use gma as the grades are the same an it is cheaper. I belive gma gets a bad rap as you can have them mark your cards at the grade you want but then it doesn't have the gma label on it.
ReplyDeleteI agree they are great and very reasonable
DeleteI agree they are great and very reasonable
DeleteGMA does good work. Their cards do not sell for a premium. I sell my cards ungraded now but I would prefer to buy a GMA graded card. They now chsrge $3/card.
DeleteI love everything about GMA and personally I think the cases are much better than psa or Beckett of course since they have not been around as long as those two people tend to stick with what they know but that’s the way these old collectors do but you can’t teach a old dog new tricks
DeleteGMA Has been great for me. Been doing business with them for over 7 years.
ReplyDeleteHow can you beat $2.50 per card. Fast service and they answer the phone to answer your questions. They are solid!
ReplyDeleteI used a comparison also, but lower grades only(I aint breaking a 9.5 or 10). So I purchased 5 cards from BSG and 5 from PSA ranging from 4 to 9 ratings. All 5 PSA came back same with GMA. The 5 for BSG were close, 2 came back same, 1 came back .5 higher, 1 was 1 lower and last was .5 lower.....pretty good for a company not as well known...
ReplyDeleteThe previous commentators either are 1) full of Sh%^T or 2) have NO IDEA want they are saying. "preserves my collection?
ReplyDeleteHere is a simple explanation: This company is a complete fraud..You end up selling to a new collector.. Collector finds out down the line they purchased sub-par productions. So for the money you make scamming INSTEAD Do The Right Thing People
This guy seems a bit upset that grades from GMA may be quite comparable to his overpriced fleecing from the top three grading companies. It's all a matter of one's perception and an individuals perception is dictated by the companies "brand". If a company convinces a person or group that their shit is the bees knees, then all the hens start to cluck in unison. You've been fooled man and have succumbed to their mind control! Haha, now go throw all that cash at 'em some more. You're the kind of customer they love. Got 'em!
DeleteCult members always condemn those who do not share their belief.
DeleteLove GMA. Got back into the hobby in 2016. GMA is very comparable to the others but more fair in pricing. I feel if you have a mint card of a great player that comes back a high grade, it'll come back a high grade no matter who grades it. Love GMA
ReplyDeleteI love GMA. The only downside is that you dint really get a premeium when its time to sell.
ReplyDeleteI love GMA. The only downside is that you dint really get a premeium when its time to sell.
ReplyDeleteExcellent service at GMA. How can you beat $2.50 per card. Screw Beckett, my last order non-guaranteed took 6 fu@@in months. Are you kiddin me? Can't they hire more college kids to get those Beckett cases together. Six months for cards to sit. Beckett has the worst brick holder, ugly as sin, stupid labels, and down right unknowledgable customer service, sounds like from oversaes.
ReplyDeleteI had that language issue myself a couple years ago with Beckett. I tried to get a couple questions answered and 3 out of 3 calls it was like I was talking to Dell computer people from India.
DeleteI am going to give GMA a shot. The reviews are great except the one by Fred up there. His rant is un-based on actual facts, he shows no comparison like others have here. Thank for posting the reviews here guys!
Love GMA I have used Bgs and PSA. If you send in an grade 8 card , an 8 is what it will receive at GMA. I highly recommend them.
ReplyDeleteOf course the value is the value of the card plus the rating name cost that the seller wishes to recoup. Snooty buyers will pay more for a snooty name; normal buyers will not if the preservation and the condition rating are equally as good, and it seems they are. The name is just different print. Of course it is a con game: pay for the name and same quality. How dumb we are.
ReplyDeleteHi. I need a little help. I have a significant number of ungraded cards in the $35 to $65 range. I feel like BGS or PSA grading is a bad investment due to costs. It would really hamper any profit on these cards. Should I get GMA graded, or just buy nice thick cases to sell the cards? Or is it really worth it to pay all the $$ to PSA and BGS for these $35 to $65 cards?
ReplyDeleteAny comments are appreciated. Thank you!
Mark
No...it is not worth it.
DeleteGMA is definitely the way to go if you want your cards swapped out and sold at auction and recieve lower graded cards in return or want trimmed cards graded PSA and Beckett would be a better choice cause they do just that they have been caught doing so before if want the exact cards you sent back with an honest go GMA
ReplyDeletethese are only a few examples
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sportscardradio.com/alert-fake-trimmed-altered-graded-cards-by-psa-or-bgs/
GMA is crap. The owner grades right out of his house. Google the address, it's in a residential area. It's fine if you just want your cards protected, but for resell or investment you are just wasting money.
ReplyDeleteYour lower grades and out of the box means nothing. Just because it came right out of the pack doesn't mean it's gem mint guaranteed. You may have missed surface issues ie scratches, indentations, refractor lines. Color bordered cards ......you can easily see chipping on edges and touched corners.
If you just want to protect your cards, I'd suggest using a $1 mag-tite. If you're collecting for investment and resell down the line; use PSA, BGS or SGC.
Have you ever used the service? Or are you a PSA BGS shill? Show proof on how he is so bad you clown
DeleteGMA is a joke. Period.
ReplyDeleteEver dealt with them. Please post your proof.
DeleteI Deal with gma and have done so for about a 1 year and it's not disappointing one bit. Proof is everything and the reviews are positive. You get answers to your questions and they do excellent work. Will keep with them at $4 a card.
ReplyDeletePeople who bash GMA haven't used GMA services or just like spending a tone more money. I've used them on three separate occasions and have loved their service. Each order has gotten bigger, but the ETA has stayed roughly the same 10-14 days. And that's during this covid-19 era. I really feel confident and comfortable with the grading scale also. People bash that also, but the research is out there and it's completely on par with PSA & BGS. I've also used PSA & BGS in the past and never felt truly comfortable with the price and grading, though at least with BGS you have a window into their grading scale, not so with PSA. To. Be honest, I've actually starting buying and selling only GMA, bc it allows me to focus on the card itself and not the grading name brand (mostly for my PC some selling). Sure I'll pick upaup PSA 9/10 or BGS 9/10 if the price is right, but usually it's not, lol.
ReplyDeleteI think PSA & BGS have kind of dug themselves into a hole and it's increasingly obvious that they are losing a lot of ground in the grading market.
Anyways just my two cents.
I buy all graders. I've gotten hundreds of cards graded. It's funny I took a dozen cards that were graded from GMA all were a grade "8". Then I sent them to PSA. 9 came back higher(8 = 9's and 1 = 10), and 2 the same and 1 lower a 7. So I don't see much of a problem. I've bought PSA 10 mint cards from eBay I notice once in a while problems with cards. Maybe 1 out of 10.. Also people shouldn't judge anything if you haven't used. Everyone makes mistakes. Nobody is perfect.
ReplyDeleteI prefer PSA and SGC, but have no problems with GMA. If a card is valued at $50.00 or less, absolutely use GMA.
ReplyDeleteAfter gma stole several of my cards miscarried me refused to refund the amount and then wouldn't even send the list of the cards I sent in back to me to see what was missing I will never trust their services. Everyone I see go through them I warn about the shoddy and untrustworthy service. Maybe they got better since this was in 2020 but still the worst ever experience. And Alan wasn't any help I tried and tried and never got to figure out what was missing . Out of 32 submitted I got back 29 and was charged for 32
ReplyDeleteI have been using GMA for all my grading for a few years now. Because I have a large volume of cards to grade, I appreciate their volume discounts. When I submit an order, I make a copy of the order for my reference. They have never switched out or lost my cards. If there are cards that are ungradeable (art cards, unlicensed, etc.) they prorate my order even if the returned cards are under the 100 card limit. Though I would like to see a nicer label, I am very pleased with their service and turnaround times. I have submitted many vintage cards as well and find them very fair in their grading. I usually feel that my cards are undergraded, but they are the experts. No problem reselling them on ebay. I realize PSA is the Big Dog, but you can usually get desired cards on ebay for less than the cost of PSA grading. No fun in losing money.
ReplyDelete