Preemptive apology for the length of this post that probably asks more questions than anything else.

Very interesting topic. I would imagine there are two main categories of people getting autographed baseballs graded. The first group being people who are getting the sphere graded in order to hopefully resell it(now) at premium. The second group are collectors who want to build an autographed orb collection that consists of a certain grade quality while being authenticated at the same time. I guess the decision to get a signature graded depends on what your goals or motives are. Collectors should use caution in letting market trends dictate their collecting strategy. If it works for you, go for it, just be willing to accept potential pitfalls should they arise. Maybe the future will dictate that grading balls now will have been the wise thing to do. Who knows?

As far as the cost goes, one must calculate the recently increased postage costs involved if you are mailing it in for submission(plus return postage, possibly insurance,delivery confirmation). Not free.

These graded balls do make an attractive presentation and the service has been well marketed. Grading seems to be popular sales pitch in the EBAY market nowadays.

If one is getting a signed ball graded for resale in the future with no specific date in mind, I would be tempted to hold off. The landscape for graded baseballs is going to look very different in 10 years(even in 5 years), that is a fact. It would appear that grading autographed baseballs could potentially be a slippery slope for long term speculators. Have some patience if you are in it for the long term. Authentic, quality single signed official baseballs will always be in demand, whether currently encapsulated or not. In the meantime, just make sure the balls are stored in the proper environment and avoid handling them with greasy mits, that is paramount in my eyes.

Even if balls are kept in the ideal environment, there seems to be an inconsistent pattern of ball toning and ink fading/bleeding/foxing. This means that when a baseball is initially graded, it will be graded as high as it will ever be, no signed ball should increase in quality over time, only problems can arise. Rawlings had a well documented problem with inconsistency with the leather of baseballs for a while, there were several years where balls produced were subject to awful yellow splotching. Rawlings' quality assurance department took a few years vacation it appears. Toning of the leather is also simply a natural part of the aging process. Has anyone noticed the stunning bright whiteness of the new baseballs compared to older ones? I could swear that older balls were never that white before, even when they were brand new out of the box.

With that being said, I was recently at a card show getting a baseball for Gino Cimoli to sign. I explained to the dealer that I needed to open the box and examine the baseball before I bought it. He said that was probably a good idea, the first four baseballs had some type of defect(wrinkled leather, divets, obvious dents) and I settled on ball number five and these were all brand new baseballs! The dealer acknowledged each of the flaws and put them in a "send back to Rawlings " pile.

Is there any premium considered for valuation for say an Official American League Ball(that probably tones quicker) signed by Kirby Puckett versus the new generic Major League baseball signed Puckett? Or is an autographed baseball just an autographed baseball as long as it is an official ball, without regard to it be an old AL ball, NL Ball, All Star Ball, Gold Glove Ball, World Series Ball, etc? Or does this simply play out on the market? Do sweet spot signatures grade in the exact same way to side panel signatures?

Are these ball cubes sealed? I have seen some graded balls were the ball has shifted around and the signature displays almost sideways. Does one have to shake the cube to reposition the autograph ball? I do not have any graded baseballs so I would be interested to hear some others' experience.

I know these balls are marked with invisible markers that match the serial number kept in PSA/DNA's data base. But if these cubes can be easily opened, balls can be switched. That litmus test will certainly be utilized in the future as the dollar signs go up on these graded signed balls. I would assume that PSA/DNA scans the ball for the invisible marker when it is first receives the ball to see if it is a ball that has been previously graded already. Does this happen? If not, why not? What is the policy if a baseball is identified a previously graded one? What does PSA/DNA do if the balls appearance has worsened since it was first graded? Regrade it?

Is there consideration for a lengthy inscription weighted in the grading process? You could have a Bobby Thomson single signed baseball and then a Thomson baseball with "Shot Heard Round The World" inscribed. Naturally, the more writing on the ball, the more difficult it becomes in fetching the highest grade.

Do they grade multi signed balls? How does that work?

It is not suprising to see the lower fees introduced in the grading, you do not want to price yourself out of the market on this service, it is a cash cow, a cow that just burps money.