[ratasnipes]

Ok I’m going to be honest with everyone here and i WILL tell you the truth. I'm not bias in any way. I’m not here trying to get anyone any business, I decided to give them a try and I wasn’t disappointed, I will tell you why too. I know everyone bashing on them and I totally understand why, their quality isn’t like the bigger companies and their resell value isn’t that great. But I gave them a chance because to be honest, I don’t want to spend that much money and because I’m keeping my cards. Not trying to sell them. Anyways here is my two sense lol
GMA's grading service is not on par with SGC, PSA or BGS. I got a quite a few of my cards back graded a 10 that would never be a 10. I would say their grading scale is off a point maybe a point and a half. That's not saying that everyone single one of the 10's were wrong, some of them could definitely be a 9.5 or 10 in other companies. I went in knowing this and the reason I sent them into GMA is because I knew I wasn't going to resell my cards. Their holders are awesome and very sturdy. They don't have the worst grading but they definitely are not like the other companies. They will not sell like PSA or BGS or SGC cards do, I can assure you that and I’m sure many of you know that.
I would definitely recommend them if you're on a budget and go in knowing you might get some 10 sometimes that are probably actually 8.5 or 9. I like other people are very hesitant in buying cards off ebay that are GMA graded but as long as you don’t pay attention to the grade and look at the card as raw, you can make your decision based on that. I do love them you just have to know this. Plus Alan is awesome, he answers my emails really quickly and he is really nice. Their turn around time is crazy fast, I got my orders 8 days after I sent it to them, so it took them about 2 days to grade them and then they shipped them back. They definitely have saved me a ton of money.
I sent in a total of 60 cards to them and it costs me 170.60. (2 different orders)
I did my research with Beckett and SGC (i didn't do PSA cause they have an annual membership fee)
Beckett would have costed me $673.00
SGC would've costed me $345.00
BGS and SGC IS better than GMA in terms of grade quality but for cards you just want to keep or have in a cool case, GMA is a good way to go. Also, please don’t be rude, obviously this is just my opinion.

[rmpaq5]

Actually I totally agree with you on all points. I have even sent the cards that you get as part of your picture package from kids sports with a note asking can you just slab this and throw a 10 on it for my son...and voila instant surprise for my son. Let him pick out some of his cards he wants slabbed (because they're "cool") and these came back with his own cards. Smile ear to ear. I have nothing but good things to say about these guys. They are what they are, you are not going to make a mint with resell but if you just want slab protection for stuff you are going to keep forever the way to go.

[jacobystealshome]

the problem is that grading is done primarily for protection, and GMA slabs are subpar at best.

i dont care how cheap it is: i want my card preserved. GMA holders dont do that

[ratasnipes]

Actually I totally agree with you on all points. I have even sent the cards that you get as part of your picture package from kids sports with a note asking can you just slab this and throw a 10 on it for my son...and voila instant surprise for my son. Let him pick out some of his cards he wants slabbed (because they're "cool") and these came back with his own cards. Smile ear to ear. I have nothing but good things to say about these guys. They are what they are, you are not going to make a mint with resell but if you just want slab protection for stuff you are going to keep forever the way to go.

I'm glad you agree, i know that they are not the best in terms of grading but i love having them in case :-)

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the problem is that grading is done primarily for protection, and GMA slabs are subpar at best.

i dont care how cheap it is: i want my card preserved. GMA holders dont do that

Can you please elaborate when you say the cardholders don't preserve the card? i'm not trying to be rude or anything i'm just curious. I've had one of my cards in a holder for 4 years and it still looks perfect. You mean it just won't last like 50 years or something?

[jacobystealshome]

the sturdiness isnt there, the cards tend to move around in the holder, they dont do a great job with thicker cards (the 5 pounds of sugar in a three pound sugar bag syndrome)

their just an inferior holder, and for me, that's the number 1 thing i look for

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(their also fairly easy to hack)

[ratasnipes]

the sturdiness isnt there, the cards tend to move around in the holder, they dont do a great job with thicker cards (the 5 pounds of sugar in a three pound sugar bag syndrome)

their just an inferior holder, and for me, that's the number 1 thing i look for

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(their also fairly easy to hack)

i see what you mean, i do have a few of them that tend to move a bit. i haven't tried any of the thicker cards yet but i see what you mean. i guess it's not too much of a big deal to me since PSA has that problem too and plus i don't shake them around so it' ok for me. thanks for the reply back.

[jacobystealshome]

by the way: i think remember hearing that PSA no longer has a membership fee, but i might be remembering that incorrectly

[ratasnipes]

by the way: i think remember hearing that PSA no longer has a membership fee, but i might be remembering that incorrectly

oh really? that's good to know, thanks!

[nolan5000]

Everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion, I guess.

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BUT I couldn't disagree with you more.

[happy14027]

I like the idea of protecting my PC as well- Sometimes I just want my cards protected, not graded. I want water proof, some UV protection, dust and air protection. I feel with what BGS charges it make no sense NOT to have the grade put on- The only reason I have held back on 200 hundred or so cards is that ridiculous fee because it autographed. Really-you don't authenticate the autograph (they do the card, someones kid my have signed it-we TRUST our card companies to do the right thing-I hope players do/did the right thing) and you charge me $2.00 more to say YOU like or don't like how it sits on the card. I feel most of us don't care if the auto is a little off the sticker or card as long as its neat, clear and steady. There is absolutely NO reason to charge for the autograph grade, NONE, NO WAY, NO VALID REASON, PERIOD other than greed. We should NOT be forced to have it graded. If and when BGS gets smart about that aspect of their service and drops the fee and makes it an option, I will have more cards protected.
I like your post enough to check into them (GMA). My cards are not taken out on Fridays and played with like a regular deck of cards so a little movements doesn't bother me at all as I always handle my cards carefully anyway. We don't have many earth quakes in Maryland moving my cards around in my safe and dinging them up so I should be good. My cards DO NOT just sit in my safe, they are displayed, handled and looked at--with respect--hence nobody in my home shakes the holders to see if the card moves 1/10 of an inch, even with that vast movement it takes a lot of moving to damage a card. Thanks for the insight to GMA.