[1eskimo]

I have been a big proponent of BGS for a couple decades.  My understanding is that BGS was created from PSA graders who thought of a better way to truly provide a grade for cards.  I have probably close to 1000 cards graded by Beckett and have recently sent to an auction house to sell some of my higher grade cards.  However, I have seen that collectors are seeing a PSA 10 as a "better" card than a BGS 9.5.  My personal view point is that a PSA 10 may not even get graded a BGS 9.5, especially a PSA 10 (OC).  Is there a way for Beckett to show/prove that a BGS 9.5 is just as good, if not better than a PSA 10?  Has there been an article that Beckett has published that shows cross grades from PSA?  Can Beckett update or republish that?  Can Beckett send updates to auction sites so as BGS graded cards are not viewed as secondary to PSA?  

Thank you for your time in reading this.

[jplarson]

Here's what PSA's website says about their Gem Mint 10 grade:

A PSA Gem Mint 10 card is a virtually perfect card.

Attributes include four perfectly sharp corners, sharp focus and full original gloss.  A PSA Gem Mint 10 card must be free of staining of any kind, but an allowance may be made for a slight printing imperfection, if it doesn't impair the overall appeal of the card.  The image must be centered on the card within a tolerance not to exceed approximately 55/45 to 60/40 percent on the front, and 75/25 percent on the reverse.

Source - https://www.psacard.com/resources/gradingstandards


Here's what has been said about Beckett's Gem Mint 9.5 grade:

[ul]
[li]Centering - Centering must be approximately 50/50 one way, 55/45 other way on front 60/40 on back.[/li]
[li]Corners - Sharp corners to naked eye, slight imperfection under magnification[/li]
[li]Edges - Mint to naked eye. Speck of wear under intense scrutiny.[/li]
[li]Surface - Extremely minor print spots, under intense scrutiny. Deep color, devoid of registration or focus imperfections. Perfect gloss, devoid of scratches and metallic print lines[/li]
[/ul]

Source - BGS standards aren't listed on the website anymore but copies of the standard are known if you search for them.


Aside from centering, grading is subjective.  The centering piece, BGS is actually stricter than PSA.  60/40 for PSA vs 55/45 for BGS on the front and 75/25 for PSA and 60/40 for BGS on the back.  Knowing that, Beckett's Gem Mint rating is of a higher standard than PSA's.  Though it always comes down to what the market bears out.  PSA's registry has been running longer and there are more people invested in that ecosystem, thus a PSA 10 may be in higher demand than a BGS 9.5 if folks are competing for a set registry.

Personally I prefer the BGS label, case, and subgrades.  What should be and what is isn't always the same thing.  Nothing Beckett will send to auction houses will change buyers behavior if they truly prefer a PSA label, registry, etc over BGS.

[1eskimo]

Here's what PSA's website says about their Gem Mint 10 grade:




Source - https://www.psacard.com/resources/gradingstandards


Here's what has been said about Beckett's Gem Mint 9.5 grade:



Thanks for taking the time for such a detailed and thorough response.  I guess it's up to the consumer to research to find out the stricter grade comes from BGS.  It's somewhat selfish of me as well to educate the industry on this as it would increase the value of my cards.  But, the point about PSA being around much longer and people wanting to complete their registry is a great point as well.  Thank you Mr. Larson for such a great response!!


Source - BGS standards aren't listed on the website anymore but copies of the standard are known if you search for them.


Aside from centering, grading is subjective.  The centering piece, BGS is actually stricter than PSA.  60/40 for PSA vs 55/45 for BGS on the front and 75/25 for PSA and 60/40 for BGS on the back.  Knowing that, Beckett's Gem Mint rating is of a higher standard than PSA's.  Though it always comes down to what the market bears out.  PSA's registry has been running longer and there are more people invested in that ecosystem, thus a PSA 10 may be in higher demand than a BGS 9.5 if folks are competing for a set registry.

Personally I prefer the BGS label, case, and subgrades.  What should be and what is isn't always the same thing.  Nothing Beckett will send to auction houses will change buyers behavior if they truly prefer a PSA label, registry, etc over BGS.

[jplarson]

Thanks for taking the time for such a detailed and thorough response. I guess it's up to the consumer to research to find out the stricter grade comes from BGS. It's somewhat selfish of me as well to educate the industry on this as it would increase the value of my cards. But, the point about PSA being around much longer and people wanting to complete their registry is a great point as well. Thank you Mr. Larson for such a great response!!

Glad to help and best of luck selling your cards! Hopefully they go to a good home that will enjoy them as much as you have .

[dmasci]

We all know that the "value" of a given card is what it would sell for on the open market. That said, there really is no comparison between a BGS vs PSA graded card with PSA selling for higher amounts. You can debate BGS 9.5 vs. PSA 10 all day and the quality of the holder etc.

I have collected BGS and BVG for years as well but recently this year I've began to change over to PSA. I have an order it right now with PSA for cards I've removed from BGS/BVG slabs so I'll be curious to see how they grade in comparison to what they were. My older higher dollar cards are still BVG and I'm going to wait and see.

Like mentioned above, for me it's the registry and the fact that PSA does a much better job at staying current with what cards sell for. The online price guide on Beckett is so out of touch it is useless.

I do like the Beckett holders better although I don't care for the white, silver, gold etc. labels. My final thought is even if you are not selling your collection it's still nice to see cards in your collection selling for more money than what you paid for them and you'll see higher prices with PSA.

Good luck with your auction!

[bigran88]

We all know that the "value" of a given card is what it would sell for on the open market.  That said, there really is no comparison between a BGS vs PSA graded card with PSA selling for higher amounts.  You can debate BGS 9.5 vs. PSA 10 all day and the quality of the holder etc.

I have collected BGS and BVG for years as well but recently this year I've began to change over to PSA.  I have an order it right now with PSA for cards I've removed from BGS/BVG slabs so I'll be curious to see how they grade in comparison to what they were.  My older higher dollar cards are still BVG and I'm going to wait and see.

Like mentioned above, for me it's the registry and the fact that PSA does a much better job at staying current with what cards sell for.  The online price guide on Beckett is so out of touch it is useless. 

I do like the Beckett holders better although I don't care for the white, silver, gold etc. labels.  My final thought is even if you are not selling your collection it's still nice to see cards in your collection selling for more money than what you paid for them and you'll see higher prices with PSA.

Good luck with your auction!

[1979 la lakers]

I prefer PSA for years 1991 and older, and BGS 1992 to current. Best of both worlds for personal collection, and selling. No need to have a "versus", both are great depending upon what you need graded.