Rich:

It is the Authentication that is guarnteed - NOT the grade. And right now, it is IF a chip has been repaired / altered, etc that is the primary concern and the basis of at least one law suite.

Grading, as you stated, is subjective, and in that case, yes, only the grading fee is returned.

But if an item has been encapsulate by one of the three major 3rd party service firms and later turns out to be a fake, or alterted, they will refund the value of the item had it been real for the grade assigned based upon current makret conditions.

This has happend more than once, no law suites needed, and was a major article in most of the Numismatic trade papers. A sereis os US coins had though to have been real, encapsultate, and then after a lot of research, were found to be out right fabercations. As the best that I can recall is that each coin was, at the time of the discovered, valuled between 4 and 5 figures EASCH. About 10 - 20 coins had up to that point and those who wanted there money back got it IF they returned the coins. If you kept the coins (and some did), you did not get the refund.

There is a 600 lb elephant in this hobby that no one wants to dicuss, and that are the chip doctors who are out there, in increasing number.

It seems that some who are against 3rd party services every point out is the grading! However, that is the LAST step in the process, not the FIRST. The first is has the item in question been altered to increase its value!

The chip doctors, in most cases are bot going to mess with the low end chips as there is no demand for these items as there are enough of them out there at prices that most people can just get another one at a reasonable cost.

But if you can repair a canceled holed chip and increase it value from say $500 to say $5,000, and the cost is say $35.00, then there is always a few both in and outside of the hobby that will fall prey to the lures of an easy buck.

Some agure that it is there chip and they can do what they want with them and that they never would sell the chip without letting the buyer know about the repair. However, sad fact is, we all die at some point (or so I have been told) and what happends to our chips after we are gone from the hobby, we will have no control of.

Trust can only be taken so far. How many used car salesmen do you trust? If your doctor says that you are going to die in 6 months, do you just go home and accept your fate, or do you try and get a second opion? Does it cost money for this second opion? You bet you it does.

If dealer A says well if you do not believe me, go ask dealer B, how do you know he did not buy the chip in question from the person he is referring you to in the first place?

And if the chip doctors are good enough that you neeed an exray to tell the difference, how many dealers do you know have the ability to tell the difference WITHOUT an xray? ANd if collectors, who in generall, know less than dealers, how are they going to know.

RIght now, the problem is NOT the grade! It is has it been doctered!

John