I have not used GMA yet, but there are five or six well-known graders around & GMA is one of them. I think their prices are better than PSA or BGS, but they also do not have the reputation and established name in the vintage sports card market like PSA, and the modern sports card market, like Beckett.

sportsxcom wrote:

We have worked with GMA Grading for over two years and we are more than happy with the service.  We have also worked with PSA and BGS but grading fees have not been worth it as people are spending les on cards than what they use to.  GMA has been great with customer support and their turanround times are second to none.  I hope this helps.

I agree and the best thing about GMA is that you get to name your own grade. You just send them the card and tell them what grade it is and they'll encapsulate it. It doesn't even matter if the cards trimmed or repaired. That removes all the surprises when the cards come back. I love it!!

  Help me to understand, please because I have never had a card graded, just seen a lot of them. I buy cards for my grandsons, they love them. I also don't post to the forums, just like reading them. But after the statments I just read I have some qestions, so please bear with me.

 Why do they call GMA a grading company if they are not the ones doing the grading? Are they really just taking the word of someone that it is a 10? Wouldn't it be like taking a card that would grade a 3 or 4 with one of the other companies but because you wanted a better grade send it to GMA tell them it is a 10 and now you have a prefect mint card with a grade of 10, which is the best you can get. Why isn't everyone using GMA to get all perfect 10's? And the statement about the trimming and repairs not making any difference, how can that be, since that is all suppose to be evaluated when determining the grade of a card?

  I would think that no one else would use any of the other card sevices because with GMA you will always get the perfect 10 even if it would not grade any where near that with the others?

  I am really confused now because I thought the whole reason on having a card graded is to get the TRUE value of a card and not just take someones word on it? Isn't that why you send it in to be "graded" instead of just slabbing it with a number you tell them to put on it?

 Please, I am truly confused if that is all you have to do to have a number put on the card as to the condition? It truly just doesn't make any sence to me, can someone please explain this to me???