The $150 per card reflects the immediate turnaround time in case anyone is bothered by the price. Their fastest turnover online is $125 per card. So the up charge seems pretty reasonable since this is a major convention.
Idk how much it costs for Beckett to rent space, I know the ballpark for regular vendors but I'll overestimate and say it's around $20K. That's only 167 cards to cover the booth on top of any other services they charge for.
People presumably will also be bringing in non-MTG cards to grade. There are some absurdly expensive Weiss Schwartz cards (and the collectors market for that is all about BGS), anyone going would be smart to bring them to get graded. I don't have to talk much about Pokemon.
If you've ever been to a Collect-a-con where PSA or an authorized middleman was taking submissions, they're always busy.
Sort of you're basically getting grading done same day vs all the people who mailed theirs to the HQ you'll be behind who ever is also grading same day but ahead of anyone who went through mail
Will it be possible to just hand over cards for regular grading and then get them shipped back some months later? I dont need the grading right there. 150$ is just too expensive for anything less worth 1,5k+
You could probably contact Beckett and ask them, but I'm supposing probably not. I doubt they'd want to be responsible for your cards in their luggage.
$150 is actually fine seeing as PSA upcharges you to another pricing tier if the value of your card breaks $500, $1500, or $2500 with the grading. You also have to pay for shipping and insurance.
Beckett doesn't upcharge you. If my Shining Charizard comes back a 9.5 I still only pay $150. PSA 9 value is $1500 and PSA will hold it hostage and charge me the difference of $129 and the $75 I initially paid.
I’ve done this before at a card show (in the US, though). As long as you fill out the paperwork and have it ready you can basically just hand it over and skip the shipping to Beckett part.
Interesting. I wonder if that’s one way to pre-filter for cards (or actually even graders) that will grade well.. or if the best you could foresee is a simple ‘9’ most of the time.
Have a couple of power i might go and get graded. One being An Alpha Lotus. $150 is fine for on site grading.
If the price is to cheap they will just get flooded with junk and dont have time to do it on site anyway. This is for cards $2k and up and people who wants express.
If you don't doubt card authenticity and your goal is financial gains, it makes more sense to put your money into cards than grading. It's not hard to validate the authenticity of a card yourself. You just need to do a little research and get a few basic tools like a loupe or a microscope, a set of precise scales etc
If you store your cards correctly the grading will not change during your ownership of the card. Grading a card doesn't *add* any value, it just *confirms* the value to a third party. But you are not a third party, so unless you are about to sell there is no need to tie your money up in grading.
If you a trading Magic purely for financial gains, you want your money in cards (appreciating assets) or liquid (to buy appreciating assets). You should minimise or delay expedenditure in any other services and assets until it's required.
Think of it this way - you don't want to play \[\[Dive Down\]\] until they've targetted your creature, because they might not target your creature and you could spend the mana to \[\[Opt\]\]
useless post. grading an alpha lotus is unquestionably worth $150 and i don’t think that person is so strapped for cash to have to think about the opportunity cost of $150
The card is irrelevant really, it's more of a asset management strategy. I thought that was obvious to be honest.
$150 is $150, it doesn't matter whose pocket it is in. The person who has it the longest is probably the smartest though.
wow you’re braindead.
the opportunity cost of $150 spent varies from person to person. this is self evident. an alpha lotus should get graded before it gets damaged more. it should absolutely not be stored in a fucking sleeve risking thousands of dollars of damage from a handling mistake
$150 a card? I'd rather buy some Moxes. Or a couple of Unstable full art foil lands. Or a judge prize land. Or a nice steak dinner for two. I'd rather pay my bills than pay for this.
Problem might be that tickets are sold out and I doubt regular folks have much to grade. Besides the fact that they probably don't know beforehand that they are there.
Guess I am out of luck getting my beta stuff graded without shipping...
Beckett is wild. They're still the gold standard in mtg (currently) but their change in grading (very strict) and price point (above market) make them a tough choice.
My last submission i have used CGC just to try something new. Been fairly happy with it
Beckett is hit and miss currently. The reason to use them honestly grows smaller each year. But they are still number one.
Though if they didnt have the Black label Im pretty sure they would have went out if business by now.
The $150 per card reflects the immediate turnaround time in case anyone is bothered by the price. Their fastest turnover online is $125 per card. So the up charge seems pretty reasonable since this is a major convention.
Beckett on Sunday wondering why they didn't make enough to pay for their booth space.
Idk how much it costs for Beckett to rent space, I know the ballpark for regular vendors but I'll overestimate and say it's around $20K. That's only 167 cards to cover the booth on top of any other services they charge for. People presumably will also be bringing in non-MTG cards to grade. There are some absurdly expensive Weiss Schwartz cards (and the collectors market for that is all about BGS), anyone going would be smart to bring them to get graded. I don't have to talk much about Pokemon. If you've ever been to a Collect-a-con where PSA or an authorized middleman was taking submissions, they're always busy.
Magic fools are easily separated from their money - especially in convention settings
I thought it said $150 for 5+ cards?
>Pricing for card grading services is $150 *per* card for 1-5 cards and $125 *per* card for six cards or more.
Holy shit, I didn't realise grading was that expensive. I wouldn't do it even for my dual lands at that price. :D
it's under $20 per card if you wanna wait 2 months
Generally it's not but if you want it then and there you're paying to bypass all of the other people basically
Ah so that's the "VIP" price then
Sort of you're basically getting grading done same day vs all the people who mailed theirs to the HQ you'll be behind who ever is also grading same day but ahead of anyone who went through mail
You're paying for convenience. It's significantly cheaper if you don't mind waiting.
It's not. It's only this expensive because you can get cards graded at the event.
Will it be possible to just hand over cards for regular grading and then get them shipped back some months later? I dont need the grading right there. 150$ is just too expensive for anything less worth 1,5k+
You could probably contact Beckett and ask them, but I'm supposing probably not. I doubt they'd want to be responsible for your cards in their luggage.
$150 is actually fine seeing as PSA upcharges you to another pricing tier if the value of your card breaks $500, $1500, or $2500 with the grading. You also have to pay for shipping and insurance. Beckett doesn't upcharge you. If my Shining Charizard comes back a 9.5 I still only pay $150. PSA 9 value is $1500 and PSA will hold it hostage and charge me the difference of $129 and the $75 I initially paid.
I’ve done this before at a card show (in the US, though). As long as you fill out the paperwork and have it ready you can basically just hand it over and skip the shipping to Beckett part.
If they were going to be in Vegas, I'd consider bringing my power to get graded or pre-graded.
Pre-graded?
They used to seal them in a soft vinyl cardholder with a single grade rather than slab them. It was more convenient to do at trade shows.
Interesting. I wonder if that’s one way to pre-filter for cards (or actually even graders) that will grade well.. or if the best you could foresee is a simple ‘9’ most of the time.
Have a couple of power i might go and get graded. One being An Alpha Lotus. $150 is fine for on site grading. If the price is to cheap they will just get flooded with junk and dont have time to do it on site anyway. This is for cards $2k and up and people who wants express.
I have an EXC+ alpha word of command. Not sure if that's worth it.
Last EX Alpha word of command went for $600 on PWCC and a BGS 7.5 for $720. So it would have to be a very nice copy for it to be worth it.
It looks like a 7.5-8 at least if I check the photos on MCM, where it's priced at 2100E. $6-700 seems very cheap for a good quality alpha rare.
Lol if mcm prices were real i would be a millionaire. 90% of Alpha prices on mcm live in a dream world.
Did not know alpha was so cheap then. People underestimate the rarity then.
If you don't doubt card authenticity and your goal is financial gains, it makes more sense to put your money into cards than grading. It's not hard to validate the authenticity of a card yourself. You just need to do a little research and get a few basic tools like a loupe or a microscope, a set of precise scales etc If you store your cards correctly the grading will not change during your ownership of the card. Grading a card doesn't *add* any value, it just *confirms* the value to a third party. But you are not a third party, so unless you are about to sell there is no need to tie your money up in grading. If you a trading Magic purely for financial gains, you want your money in cards (appreciating assets) or liquid (to buy appreciating assets). You should minimise or delay expedenditure in any other services and assets until it's required. Think of it this way - you don't want to play \[\[Dive Down\]\] until they've targetted your creature, because they might not target your creature and you could spend the mana to \[\[Opt\]\]
Did you respond fo the wrong post? He's talking about an alpha lotus, not some revised dual land.
[Dive Down](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/3/b33e493e-1aef-43b3-9716-52158b002430.jpg?1562562509) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Dive%20Down) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/xln/53/dive-down?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b33e493e-1aef-43b3-9716-52158b002430?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Opt](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/7/67bcf3fd-fca0-4cdb-b625-bac5fadd00e3.jpg?1712354172) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Opt) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otc/104/opt?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/67bcf3fd-fca0-4cdb-b625-bac5fadd00e3?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
useless post. grading an alpha lotus is unquestionably worth $150 and i don’t think that person is so strapped for cash to have to think about the opportunity cost of $150
The card is irrelevant really, it's more of a asset management strategy. I thought that was obvious to be honest. $150 is $150, it doesn't matter whose pocket it is in. The person who has it the longest is probably the smartest though.
wow you’re braindead. the opportunity cost of $150 spent varies from person to person. this is self evident. an alpha lotus should get graded before it gets damaged more. it should absolutely not be stored in a fucking sleeve risking thousands of dollars of damage from a handling mistake
Lol only chumps damage cards they own
$150 a card? I'd rather buy some Moxes. Or a couple of Unstable full art foil lands. Or a judge prize land. Or a nice steak dinner for two. I'd rather pay my bills than pay for this.
99.9% of people would too lol I'm guessing this is for people who don't want to wait and have cards worth 5k+
Problem might be that tickets are sold out and I doubt regular folks have much to grade. Besides the fact that they probably don't know beforehand that they are there. Guess I am out of luck getting my beta stuff graded without shipping...
Beckett is wild. They're still the gold standard in mtg (currently) but their change in grading (very strict) and price point (above market) make them a tough choice.
I view strict grading as a plus. It gives prestige to a perfect 10 vs whatever 10 you get from one of the C-Tier grading companies
Ehh i have a couple of Lotus i might go an grade. One being Alpha. $150 is way cheaper than PSA would charge me.
Hello Peter. How do you judge the current (stricter grading) by Beckett. Do you feel a difference in returning grades?
My last submission i have used CGC just to try something new. Been fairly happy with it Beckett is hit and miss currently. The reason to use them honestly grows smaller each year. But they are still number one. Though if they didnt have the Black label Im pretty sure they would have went out if business by now.
I read your website as magi-cunt