something kind of crazy is happening in the sports card (and probably Pokémon card) market

it’s hard to explain in 1 tweet, so here’s a thread:

Card grading is huge in the card hobby, but over the past few weeks people have spotted fake Beckett grading slabs popping up on eBay.

Each slab (case containing the card) has a unique serial # attached to it, and someone recently discovered a duplicate of their own graded card

...which means someone out there is taking ungraded cards (which may also be fake...), finding a serial number it can match up to (the database is all public information), and manufacturing fake slabs with identical serial numbers.

Not a big deal, right?

...except, the 1st duplicate discovered can be traced back to 2019 (!!!) & the fake slabs are so well made, that they’re basically identical to the original BGS slab.

So now, nobody knows how many “fake graded cards” are actually out there. Could be 5, could be 50,000.

Example: Bob has a $1k card. If it graded a BGS 9.5, it would pretty easily sell for $2k. But Bob’s card has a scratch on it, so it would probably grade a 7 (if the card is even real).

So Bob decides to manufacture an exact replica of a slab containing an identical card @ 9.5

...and just like that, Bob made $1,000 out of thin air.

The problem gets worse. The counterfeit slabs are being made for super expensive ($10k+) cards like this one that went up on eBay earlier today: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2018-19-Panini-Red-Prizm-280-Luka-Doncic-Mavericks-RC-Rookie-299-BGS-9-5-/383883540738?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292&fbclid=IwAR3gbmbdQKbiJruArlfIu2t7XT04aGx2nRpHIqPWG4_BQrE6t3kk2sen9ng

How can anyone tell that it’s fake? It’s hard. In this example, there should be a period and a space after “PAT” in the engraved patent number.

That’s how close they are to perfect...

So...

...if this is happening to BGS slabs, and has been for years, then you can bet your ass it’s happening to PSA slabs as well. Even worse, people typically use PSA for vintage/Pokémon cards, and the difference between a PSA 7 & PSA 10 on an old Holo ‘Zard can be $100k+

TL:DR, people are creating thousands of dollars out of thin air, and there are tons of new people throwing around money & buying graded cards who have no idea this is happening. It will end poorly...

Even as I’ve typed this, a handful of other fake graded cards have been discovered for sale right now by the largest card consignment shop on eBay. It’s all being found out about literally as we speak.

Be careful if you buy cards, because where there’s smoke, there’s fire.