First Time Grading Experience (BGS)

[kingofsnake]

I want to share a recent experience I had with BGS. Some background: I have been collecting cards for over 40 years and this was my first time grading. I am a collector and not a dealer or business owner. I have four Fleer Masterpiece 1/1 cards that have been in my collection for many years. I wanted to get them authenticated should my family need to sell them in the future. Due to the glut of fakes in the hobby, I thought this would be a prudent thing to do.

I chose BGS over PSA as I did not want to face some arbitrary upcharge. When trying to do online BGS submission, I did not see any option to only authenticate cards, so I chose Standard Grading option (25 Business Days). In addition, I decided to grade three non-Masterpiece cards in the same order. I noticed that BGS was going to be at a card show in Las Vegas and accepting in person submissions so I decided it might be safer to do that instead of going through FedEx.

On January 10th I attended the Front Row show in Las Vegas. I submitted the seven cards to the BGS representative (Mike Gardner) and paid for 7 Standard Grading ($34.95 each), return shipping ($28.00) and I purchased $360.00 for insurance (which was supposed to cover $24,000). The rep seemed incredulous that I wanted so much insurance, but with the seemingly rampant mail theft these days, I thought this was sensible.

On February 4th I received an e-mail that my order was invoiced and in the queue for verification.

On February 11th I received an e-mail that the order was verified and in the queue for grading.

On February 24th I received an e-mail that my order was graded and in the queue for encapsulation.

On May 14th I received an e-mail that the order was shipped via FedEx. The package was actually shipped USPS Priority. I did not realize this until yesterday and finally picked up the package on May 20th.

I opened the package today and discovered that the 4 Masterpiece cards were not graded. They came with a slip of paper that said: "We can't grade 1/1 Masterpieces." The 3 non-Masterpiece cards were graded normally. A few days ago I received a refund of $104.95 to my credit card. I see now that it was a refund for 3 ungraded cards at $34.95 each (it should have been 4).

So my feeling today was part relief at finally getting the cards back, but also of disappointment as I did not accomplish my goal of authenticating those 4 cards. In total, I paid $527.80 and waited 4 months to grade 3 cards. I am frustrated because, when I submitted the orders online, I did not see anything in their Terms of Service where they say they don't grade 1/1 Masterpiece cards. When the rep processed my order, he did not say anything about BGS not grading 1/1 Masterpiece cards. In fact, a quick eBay search will show many examples of BGS graded Fleer 1/1 Masterpiece cards, some from the exact same sets.

I would have never submitted these cards had I known this, let alone pay $360 for extra insurance. I sent them an e-mail today voicing my displeasure, but I am not hopeful of getting a reply. During these past four months, I have sent them several e-mails - during the month that the order did not show as received and during the past 3 months waiting for encapsulation - and I think I only received one human reply. BGS customer service is abysmal but, as noted on the BGS tracker thread, it seems all the grading companies have horrible CS ratings.

I made this post to share my experience. Aside from those 3 recently graded cards, I do not own any graded cards and I do not intend on grading cards ever again. I will chalk this up to a learning experience. Please feel free to let me know your thoughts.

[RKH916]

Their reason was legitimately "We can't grade 1/1 Masterpieces"? Noting further?

That's very weird. I know for sure I've seen a 1997 Fleer Ultra Rodman Masterpieces in a BGS 8 slab.

I just don't understand this, it doesn't make sense. I'd be reaching out to one of the higher ups to get a proper explanation.

[kingofsnake]

Originally Posted by RKH916

Their reason was legitimately "We can't grade 1/1 Masterpieces"? Noting further?

That's very weird. I know for sure I've seen a 1997 Fleer Ultra Rodman Masterpieces in a BGS 8 slab.

I just don't understand this, it doesn't make sense. I'd be reaching out to one of the higher ups to get a proper explanation.

Yes, exactly. Just on a little slip of paper: "We can't grade 1/1 Masterpieces."

[mjohnatgt]

BGS owned by PSA parent company. Rules changed.

[RKH916]

Originally Posted by mjohnatgt

BGS owned by PSA parent company. Rules changed.

Collectors aren't letting Beckett grade 90s-2000s 1/1 cards now? If so, just lol

[RKH916]

I've started a Twitter/X thread @ GM Colin Hudson and Nat Turner.

Hopefully they can give us some answers here. But if this is a recent change it would seem apparent to me that Collectors is cock-blocking Beckett.

https://x.com/RKH916/status/2057300133101142398

I encourage you to reply to that thread so that it gains some traction and they can't ignore it

[Donkaylove]

They are trying to misdirect and steer you to the psa, upcharge,vault, and end product visibility.

[kingofsnake]

Thanks for that, RKH916. I did post a reply on X.

I think what Donkaylove posted makes a lot of sense.

[kingofsnake]

This is the information I got, by the way:

[CaptSpaulding]

As a result of Collectors having bought both SGC and Beckett, there are endless changes at both companies that you do not get to find out about until after you submit or worse, after your grades are posted. My theory is that Collectors is keeping both companies around to not completely alienate those who use those services but making both companies less and less attractive as a grading option.

Everyone needs to make sure to not forget to send Nat Turner a Christmas gift for all the great things he is doing for the hobby.

[auburn35]

Will be interesting to learn why Beckett refused to grade the cards. Collectors influence, trying to direct the cards towards PSA seems unlikely, but it's also really odd of Beckett (grades everything, even stuff they likely shouldn't) would pass on grading the cards.

[coltsfan23]

It has been a policy for years now that Beckett no longer grades 1/1 Masterpiece cards from that era because they were unable to detect the backdoor fake stamped ones from the pack pulled ones (they still mess up with the non 1/1 ones). PSA is actually fairly competent in this area and will holder them if authentic.

But like you said, unfortunately this is not published anywhere so you had no way of knowing this was their stance. One of many reasons the hobby turned away from BGS on modern cards.

[I only pull for]

This is like saying, "We were competent enough to grade them under previous ownership, but our new ownership at collector's universe has decided that we aren't competent enough to grade them anymore. Please accept our unsincere apologies for wasting your time and stealing your money."

[Patrickdkearns]

Did you reach out to BGS before doing the submission to see if they grade the 1/1 cards? I am asking as I am curious as to why you submitted something with no knowledge as that was not smart.

Originally Posted by kingofsnake

I want to share a recent experience I had with BGS. Some background: I have been collecting cards for over 40 years and this was my first time grading. I am a collector and not a dealer or business owner. I have four Fleer Masterpiece 1/1 cards that have been in my collection for many years. I wanted to get them authenticated should my family need to sell them in the future. Due to the glut of fakes in the hobby, I thought this would be a prudent thing to do.

I chose BGS over PSA as I did not want to face some arbitrary upcharge. When trying to do online BGS submission, I did not see any option to only authenticate cards, so I chose Standard Grading option (25 Business Days). In addition, I decided to grade three non-Masterpiece cards in the same order. I noticed that BGS was going to be at a card show in Las Vegas and accepting in person submissions so I decided it might be safer to do that instead of going through FedEx.

On January 10th I attended the Front Row show in Las Vegas. I submitted the seven cards to the BGS representative (Mike Gardner) and paid for 7 Standard Grading ($34.95 each), return shipping ($28.00) and I purchased $360.00 for insurance (which was supposed to cover $24,000). The rep seemed incredulous that I wanted so much insurance, but with the seemingly rampant mail theft these days, I thought this was sensible.

On February 4th I received an e-mail that my order was invoiced and in the queue for verification.

On February 11th I received an e-mail that the order was verified and in the queue for grading.

On February 24th I received an e-mail that my order was graded and in the queue for encapsulation.

On May 14th I received an e-mail that the order was shipped via FedEx. The package was actually shipped USPS Priority. I did not realize this until yesterday and finally picked up the package on May 20th.

I opened the package today and discovered that the 4 Masterpiece cards were not graded. They came with a slip of paper that said: "We can't grade 1/1 Masterpieces." The 3 non-Masterpiece cards were graded normally. A few days ago I received a refund of $104.95 to my credit card. I see now that it was a refund for 3 ungraded cards at $34.95 each (it should have been 4).

So my feeling today was part relief at finally getting the cards back, but also of disappointment as I did not accomplish my goal of authenticating those 4 cards. In total, I paid $527.80 and waited 4 months to grade 3 cards. I am frustrated because, when I submitted the orders online, I did not see anything in their Terms of Service where they say they don't grade 1/1 Masterpiece cards. When the rep processed my order, he did not say anything about BGS not grading 1/1 Masterpiece cards. In fact, a quick eBay search will show many examples of BGS graded Fleer 1/1 Masterpiece cards, some from the exact same sets.

I would have never submitted these cards had I known this, let alone pay $360 for extra insurance. I sent them an e-mail today voicing my displeasure, but I am not hopeful of getting a reply. During these past four months, I have sent them several e-mails - during the month that the order did not show as received and during the past 3 months waiting for encapsulation - and I think I only received one human reply. BGS customer service is abysmal but, as noted on the BGS tracker thread, it seems all the grading companies have horrible CS ratings.

I made this post to share my experience. Aside from those 3 recently graded cards, I do not own any graded cards and I do not intend on grading cards ever again. I will chalk this up to a learning experience. Please feel free to let me know your thoughts.

[3124508 on COMC]

Originally Posted by Patrickdkearns

Did you reach out to BGS before doing the submission to see if they grade the 1/1 cards? I am asking as I am curious as to why you submitted something with no knowledge as that was not smart.

This is an idiotic take. Why would a TPG not grade a pack-pulled 1/1? Apparently in this case it’s because they are too incompetent to, which is something they should be actively publishing to consumers, not the other way around.

[kingofsnake]

Originally Posted by Patrickdkearns

Did you reach out to BGS before doing the submission to see if they grade the 1/1 cards? I am asking as I am curious as to why you submitted something with no knowledge as that was not smart.

As stated in my initial post, I saw that BGS had graded many Fleer 1/1 Masterpiece cards in the past. So no, I did not think it was necessary to reach out to anybody.

When I submitted the specific 4 cards using their online portal, the submission was accepted quickly (as were the fees). The person who received the order is apparently the Southeast Regional Manager and he did not say a thing.

[pejc300]

Wow, this absolutely sucks. I'm sorry OP. Geez.

[inaka]

Man, these types of stories are terrible.

If they don't accept these cards for grading anymore, they should have an alert during the submission process when you enter the cards for your order. Total incompetence.

Sorry that you had to deal with this OP, and thanks for sharing your story to hopefully educate others.

[micorps1]

I have cards at BGS now but wonder if this is another example of individual opinions which is the premise of grading. I can see more and more keeping card raw and sealed with painters tape like me and not trying to grade everything in their PC.

[kingofsnake]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I do value your different perspectives and expertise.