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finger prints and smudges
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9 posts in this topic

This seems extremely stupid. What company providing a service doesn't prep before inspection? I worked NDE for over 17 years. This would be like asking the welder or the company I was inspecting welds for to do all my prep work for me. If CSG doesn't wipe, clean, prep, whatever description you want to use and just takes card from sleeve and holder to microscope that's horrible service!!!!

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On 2/10/2022 at 7:32 AM, cwall08 said:

This seems extremely stupid. What company providing a service doesn't prep before inspection? I worked NDE for over 17 years. This would be like asking the welder or the company I was inspecting welds for to do all my prep work for me. If CSG doesn't wipe, clean, prep, whatever description you want to use and just takes card from sleeve and holder to microscope that's horrible service!!!!

There's no grading company that cleans or preps the card before they grade it. They actually can't because they could risk damaging the card in the process of doing so.

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On 2/10/2022 at 8:28 AM, PunsRTonsOfFun said:

There's no grading company that cleans or preps the card before they grade it. They actually can't because they could risk damaging the card in the process of doing so.

SGC cleans smudges. One of their execs, and also one of their graders, both confirmed this on the Sports Card Investor YouTube channel.

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On 2/10/2022 at 5:32 AM, cwall08 said:

This seems extremely stupid. What company providing a service doesn't prep before inspection? I worked NDE for over 17 years. This would be like asking the welder or the company I was inspecting welds for to ?  all my prep work for me. If CSG doesn't wipe, clean, prep, whatever description you want to use and just takes card from sleeve and holder to microscope that's horrible service!!!!

For someone who clearly has no idea what they're talking about, it seems pretty unwise to throw around terms like "stupid" etc. 

It is nowhere near industry standard for companies to do any sort of prep work before they grade your cards. The only company that I'm aware of that does anything like you're suggesting is SGC, which will wipe off a fingerprint for you when you send them in. With that said, they are YOUR cards, not theirs, therefore they bear no responsibility to do or not do anything to, again, YOUR cards. 

I just can't wrap my head around the amount in which online forums like these have allowed people to just come in and spout off any kind of *wrong* nonsense with 100% confidence. It is *wild*!

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On 2/10/2022 at 8:32 AM, cwall08 said:

This seems extremely stupid. What company providing a service doesn't prep before inspection? I worked NDE for over 17 years. This would be like asking the welder or the company I was inspecting welds for to do all my prep work for me. If CSG doesn't wipe, clean, prep, whatever description you want to use and just takes card from sleeve and holder to microscope that's horrible service!!!!

no company does, even if sgc claims to im sure its a quick once over but if you want best results you dont want to create extra work for the person grading your cards, i wouldnt take a chance sending cards to sgc with smudges n fingerprints all over theyll probably hit ya for surface just for being annoying and a lack of consideration. i know collectors who forgot to prep a few cards in there submission got crushed on grades, cracked there slabs buffed there cards with microfiber or papertowel and turned 6's into 9's or gems, thats how important it is!! my advice is to make the graders job as easy as possible, some put little post it tape on there penny sleeves to make it easier for the grader to pull the card out, it can mean the difference of a half a grade in your favor which can mean the difference of hundreds or even thousands of dollars with certain cards especially with companies like psa that dont do half point scales, i got a better example then a welder, wash your nuts before gettin your hooker! 

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I'm sure like everyone else in here, I look over my cards carefully before submitting.  I use a lighted magnifier to make sure I don't miss anything.  Unless it's a PC card, vintage, or ultra rare, I won't submit a card that I don't think has a legitimate chance of gem minting. 

Part of the inspection is checking out the surface.  If there is a mark or smudge, I attempt to clean it with a microfiber jewelry cloth just to confirm the surface condition.  I couldn't imagine submitting a card with a smudge or expect someone else to "clean" my card when you're submitting the cards for grading.  It's part of the pre-grading process for my piece of mind.

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On 2/10/2022 at 7:23 AM, Rob Laird said:

SGC cleans smudges. One of their execs, and also one of their graders, both confirmed this on the Sports Card Investor YouTube channel.

This is a moronic policy, if true. It causes an additional layer of potential damage to be introduced into the process.

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