Why Use DCA
Peace of Mind for Buyers
Today's collector has seen a huge rise in sight-unseen purchases. The growth
of the internet has opened the door to a wider selection of items, but it is difficult
to know exactly what you're getting until it arrives. A seller can describe that
an item is 9 in his opinion, but once you've purchased and received it, you realize
that to you the item looks more like a 7.5. Even if the seller is willing to accept
a return of the item, you're out shipping and insurance charges and you're left feeling
disappointed, having invested your time and effort towards finding something you're
truly happy with. DCA confronts this dilemma head-on by standardizing a grading
scale by which to rate an items condition, as well as to define specific characteristics.
DCA also serves as an added assurance of Authenticity. Counterfeiters exist in
any collectible market where money is involved. The collectible toy market is no exception. Dishonest sellers attempt to deliberately alter
or counterfeit items for monetary gain. With today's advanced computer and printer
technology, counterfeiters now have the ability to create high quality reproductions
designed to mislead collectors. While its not always easy to spot forgeries or other
signs of tampering, the graders at DCA are highly trained experts when it comes
to detecting counterfeits and restoration.
DCA grading helps provide confidence and peace of mind. Any DCA-graded item has
been thoroughly inspected by multiple experts for signs of restoration, and once
verified as original, assigned a specific grade. This gives buyers an extra sense
of security and greatly increases the odds that they will be happy with their purchase.
Higher Resale Value for Sellers
Sellers often notice a dramatic increase in retail value once an item has been
graded by DCA. Our featured eBay Spotlight section provides examples of the power
of DCA-grading and increased market demand for DCA-graded items. In addition, because buyers have a better idea of what to expect,
they tend to return DCA-graded items far less frequently than ungraded items.
Improved Display Quality
DCA uses only the finest quality acrylic and materials when casing all items.
Every acrylic case is fabricated on-site at DCA by an acrylic team headed by a master
acrylic craftsman with over 20 years of experience at the craft. All of our cases
are carefully polished along every edge and designed to best display your collectible
items. Even irregular shaped items can be graded and cased under our custom tier,
and catalog mailers can even be cased with contents on display in different case
compartments. Once you've got a few DCA-graded items, it will no doubt become evident
that a collection of DCA-graded collectibles will truly display like a step above
the rest.
Preserves the Condition of your Toys
Once an item has been graded, it is carefully secured inside one of our durable
acrylic cases. It is then sealed to prevent all contact, leaving only an extremely
thin seam to allow airflow. Once protected inside its case, an item is much more
likely to stay in the same condition as when it was graded. It can no longer be
touched by human hands, and the high quality acrylic case is designed to prevent
additional creases, bubble dings, and other damage.
All of these reasons make the cost of DCA grading minimal when compared to the Benefits!