How Can You Tell If A Baseball Card Should Be Graded

How do you know the quality of a baseball card? Is it suitable to be graded by companies like Beckett or PSA the 2 main grading companies?

Below are a few steps to learning what should get a good grade when you sent it out to be graded.

Mint (MT)
Four sharp corners - 55(%)/45(%) or better centering (i.e., centering of picture within border; left-right & top-bottom) - Smooth edges - Original color border & gloss

Near Mint - Mint (NRMT-MT)
60/40 or better centering - Relatively smooth edges - Original color border & gloss - One of the following very minor flaws is allowed: Sharp corners to the eye, but slight imperfections under intense scrutiny; A few minor print spots; A few focus imperfections

Near Mint (NM)
65/35 or better centering - In addition, one of the following minor flaws allowed: Very slightly fuzzy corners; Slightly rough edges; Very minor border discoloration; Noticeable print spots; Color or focus imperfections
Excellent - Mint (EXMT)
Centering no worse than 70/30 - No more than two of the following flaws allowed: Very slightly fuzzy corners; Slightly rough edges; Very minor border discoloration; Noticeable print spots; Color or focus imperfections
Excellent (EX)
Centering no worse than 75/25 - A touch of notching or a slight 'ding' on a corner is allowed. - May have other imperfections such as: Poor gloss; Poor focus; Noticeable print spots
Very Good (VG)
Centering 80/20 or better - Slightly rounded corners - Slight layering, noticeable chipping or notches on edges is allowed. - May also have: Minor scuffing; Hairline crease
Good (G) Fair (F) Poor (P)
Well worn or abused - Badly rounded, layered corners, scuffing - Some lack of original coloring - Serious crease

Want A Cheap Day Out With The Family Go To a Card Show

For $1 per person there is no better way for sports fans to spend a day with the family. The admission fee at most card shows is $1.

There are usually 20-50 tables at a card show and if you have 2 kids they can get 10 cards for $1 each or maybe 5 cards for $10 or even 1 card each for $10. That is cheaper than going to a movie and having it cost close to $50-60 with food. You can spend the entire day talking to the dealers and learning about cards as the dealers usually enjoy talking about the cards and sports. You also get to see thousands of different cards of your favorite players.

If you want to find a card show in your area go to http://www.beckett.com/showcal/showcalsearch.aspx

I can recommend 2 shows which are really good. 1 is located in New York on 43rd Street between 8th and 9th Avenues and the Holy Cross School and the other is in Garfield New Jersey at 490 Midland Avenue.

Guide To Pricing Your Baseball Cards

If you want to know how to find out the price of your cards for any sports card you need to go to http://www.beckett.com/ Beckett magazine is the card that everyone in the trading community uses as their guideline.

Some will use other guides like Tuff Stuff but do not be fooled as Beckett is the gold standard.

You can get a price on any card that you have at Beckett.

The internet guide is much easier to understand as you can just put in the name of your card rather than having to search the magazine for the price.

The website and the magazine will also keep you up to date on the latest news in the hobby.

How Card Companies Ruined the Market

If you pulled a Babe Ruth bat or jersey card 5-10 years ago you would have gotten about $300 for it. Now you are lucky when you get $150-175.
The reason is that Upper Deck, Topps and Donruss have flooded the market with jersey, bat and autograph cards.
There was a time when you would get a plain insert card and be very happy with it especially if it was numbered. Now no one wants a numbered card because they are a dime a dozen.
The card companies are charging $200-250 for a box of really special cards and giving you no more than 1-2 packs of maybe 5-10 cards at most. The Beckett book price for the best card can be no more than $30! Something is wrong with this picture especially in a bad economy. It makes it harder for dealers to sell the single cards and make a profit. Most people buy a box of cards today and are lucky if they break even.
Wouldn't it be better to have less jersey, bat and autograph cards and more regular inserts with things like stats and information about the players so that the fans could really be fans rather than being led by the nose by the cards companies to financial ruin?
Its time to make card collecting fun again and not all about money and at the same time make it profitable for both the fan and the seller. The only ones making money should not be Upper Deck, Topps and Donruss.