There are many different companies offering an array of services.

The top 3 companies currently do guarantee the item in queston is authentic but NOT the grade of the item as the latter part is subject while the first part is not.

They have in the past, paid out large sums of money for items that they had been shown to be other than what was purported to be.

The price is determined by the rarity and the grade of the item at the time it was orginally serviced by the company.

Thus, if you had an item that was thought to be a R9 chip in uncirculated conditon and it was later discovered to be altered/repaired or otherwise enchanched and the value of the item at the time this was discovered as say $10,000 and now it it worth $1.00, then they would pay you the difference between the two. However, you must return the item to them to receive the money.

They use these items as reference for future services so that they can learn from there (costly) mistakes.

For those who are NOT familiar with how the process works, the FIRST step involved is a determination as to if the item is REAL. Has it been alretered, repaired, or otherwise changed to increase it's value.

The second step is to determine the variety, it is the first issue, the 3rd issue, a stain finish, a latin finish, etc.

The LAST stemp is the condition of preservation (i.e. the 'grade').

For those who do not give a tinkers bell about the 'grade' portion can have there items just go through the first two steps with out going through the grading process.

Conservation services are also offered by some companies that can enhance the appearnce of the item in question with out harming the so called 'we do not grade cleaned items). The difference between what they do and what you may do is it is okay for them but not you, and it cost you money. This portion I do not agree with as I am from the old school that you never clean ANYTHING as this will decreas the value of the item - but it appears that this is a growing trend in the bobby.

As with anything else, there are a wide variety of companies out there. There are 2 - 3 better know companies who have solid reputations in the hobby. There are another 3- 6 who are so so and sho wervices and quality vary. And there are of course those fly by night companies who exist only to hawk there stuff on the late night made for tv advertisements that we have all sat through one times too many.

Hope that answers some of your questions.

JOhn