" PSA GRADED CARDS "

[CherryBombs]

I have noticed that more PSA 9 graded cards being sold at auction lately. Several people I regard as knowledgeable have commented that they find PSA standards  subjective at best. Has PSA changed their grading standards or have the quantity of the high grade cards become more abundant lately The prices that cards graded at 8 or 9 seem to have no problem holding a much higher value. I suspect this will encourage more people to send their cards in and hope they hit the lottery.... lol.

[HawaiianPunks]

I've submitted approximately 350 or so cards for grading in the past year.  Not once has a card garnered a higher grade than I expected.  However, there have been dozens of cards that have graded lower due to flaws or miscuts that I could not see.

There has been a general perception over the years that PSA did a poor job of grading cards.  That may well have been the case.  However, I can tell you that they are very strict now.  Most collectors that think a card is near mint would be shocked to see the card come back below PSA 8.  The simple fact is that most sellers on eBay grade their cards too leniently.  If a card has been graded 8 or higher by PSA, you can assume it is an extremely nice card and deserves a higher value.  I think the higher number of PSA 9 cards for sale is simply the result of collectors pulling out their absolutely best/pack fresh cards for grading.

[bandaches]

I've submitted approximately 350 or so cards for grading in the past year.  Not once has a card garnered a higher grade than I expected.  However, there have been dozens of cards that have graded lower due to flaws or miscuts that I could not see.

There has been a general perception over the years that PSA did a poor job of grading cards.  That may well have been the case.  However, I can tell you that they are very strict now.  Most collectors that think a card is near mint would be shocked to see the card come back below PSA 8.  The simple fact is that most sellers on eBay grade their cards too leniently.  If a card has been graded 8 or higher by PSA, you can assume it is an extremely nice card and deserves a higher value.  I think the higher number of PSA 9 cards for sale is simply the result of collectors pulling out their absolutely best/pack fresh cards for grading.

I think packs are being killed and cards submitted.  We will see if over time the number of unopened packs dwindles.

[HawaiianPunks]

I have no doubt that packs have been killed for the purpose of submitting to PSA.  The potential outweighs the risks, particularly for mid-series packs.

[BumChex]

I've submitted approximately 350 or so cards for grading in the past year.  Not once has a card garnered a higher grade than I expected.  However, there have been dozens of cards that have graded lower due to flaws or miscuts that I could not see.

There has been a general perception over the years that PSA did a poor job of grading cards.  That may well have been the case.  However, I can tell you that they are very strict now.  Most collectors that think a card is near mint would be shocked to see the card come back below PSA 8.  The simple fact is that most sellers on eBay grade their cards too leniently.  If a card has been graded 8 or higher by PSA, you can assume it is an extremely nice card and deserves a higher value.  I think the higher number of PSA 9 cards for sale is simply the result of collectors pulling out their absolutely best/pack fresh cards for grading.

I always thought they were too strict with wackys. I would send in cards I thought to be 7-10's and they would come back as 6s

[HawaiianPunks]

I always thought they were too strict with wackys. I would send in cards I thought to be 7-10's and they would come back as 6s

I hear ya.  I consider myself a fairly strict grader, and some of the cards that have come back as 6s have floored me.

[wackyone]

Good topic,i was thinkin' of starting a tread on this myself to get some answers to the grades i have encountered.
I sold all my extra 15th cards as NM-MINT 7''s on average by my grading standard and the seller sent them in to PSA and i was happy to see later on e-bay that they all came back very close to my estimates.
Now on the flip side i still wonder why i see cards with allot of yellowing/oxidation that grade NM.
I have seen 2 of the same cards in the same condition come back with the EXACT same grade one was white and bright and the other very oxidized and yellow.
Miscuts and o/c's that still grade very high,they should be down graded to EX in my opinion if more then 10% o/c...i think the rule is VG+ at best if the cut touchs the black boarder..?
I'm still waiting to see a graded card that was popped open and re-summited,,,so that should be intresting.
Last question is...what's up with all the split grades now?..
all i see is "EX-NM" on everything,,,does that mean it would be NM if not for a minor EX flaw...kinda seems to make grading a little useless.I see this on e-bay all the time...oh ,,it would grade Mint if not for this bent corner..

[BumChex]

"EX-NM" on everything,,,does that mean it would be NM if not for a minor EX flaw...kinda seems to make grading a little useless.I see this on e-bay all the time...oh ,,it would grade Mint if not for this bent corner..

EX-NMT means an  EX+

[wackyone]

EX-NMT means an  EX+

then why not just call it EX+ ?
I have another one here graded EX-MT,,,so that's NM- ?

[BumChex]

then why not just call it EX+ ?
I have another one here graded EX-MT,,,so that's NM- ?

Sorry, I meant EX-MT and not EX-NMT. It is really strange why they do this because then the next level is NMT 7

[Jean Nutty]

Now on the flip side i still wonder why i see cards with allot of yellowing/oxidation that grade NM.

Is there ever an issue with graded cards degrading over time due to light / temperature / humidity conditions? I guess it's possible that an 8 purchased 10 years ago and left in high light wouldn't be an 8 today? I've never considered that graded cards in sealed holders might change over time, even though they can't be touched. Or are they injected with nitrogen and then sealed?

[HawaiianPunks]

Is there ever an issue with graded cards degrading over time due to light / temperature / humidity conditions? I guess it's possible that an 8 purchased 10 years ago and left in high light wouldn't be an 8 today? I've never considered that graded cards in sealed holders might change over time, even though they can't be touched. Or are they injected with nitrogen and then sealed?

Totally.  Light certainly can affect PSA graded cards.

[wackyone]

Totally.  Light certainly can affect PSA graded cards.

even cards that were just sent it with obvious oxidation have come back with a much higher grade then they should have
they must have some kind of whiteness chart to go by,,you would think?

I'm surprised that this thread has not gotten more replys.
With these new almost lazy style of grading methods i would think this topic should concern alot of people.

[Jean Nutty]

Totally.  Light certainly can affect PSA graded cards.

So, to complete my thought, it’s important to realize a grade is given at a particular point in time, and that it's possible (and not so rare?) that something that graded X five or ten or twenty years ago might not grade that high today. I don’t buy PSA cards, and haven’t considered that someone evaluating OS auctions, in some circumstances, might want to know if something was graded recently or decades ago. Is there something obvious on a PSA card that says what year it was graded?

[Hustler08]

even cards that were just sent it with obvious oxidation have come back with a much higher grade then they should have
they must have some kind of whiteness chart to go by,,you would think?

I'm surprised that this thread has not gotten more replys.
With these new almost lazy style of grading methods i would think this topic should concern alot of people.

So its still a safe bet and economical to buy PSA 8's but nothing less...not worth the money...or just buy only 9-10's - how much does it cost to get cards graded @ PSA?? I have some REALLY nice ones I would get graded if they come back 8 to 10 range...

 

[HawaiianPunks]

So its still a safe bet and economical to buy PSA 8's but nothing less...not worth the money...or just buy only 9-10's - how much does it cost to get cards graded @ PSA?? I have some REALLY nice ones I would get graded if they come back 8 to 10 range...

PSA 7s are very nice cards.  I would not buy anything lower, however.

As far as the cost to get cards graded, they run specials every couple of months.  This month, you can get them graded for $5 per card, but you have to be a member.  I am sending in an order in about 10 ten days.  You are welcome to piggyback on my order.

[bandaches]

even cards that were just sent it with obvious oxidation have come back with a much higher grade then they should have
they must have some kind of whiteness chart to go by,,you would think?

I'm surprised that this thread has not gotten more replys.
With these new almost lazy style of grading methods i would think this topic should concern alot of people.

If most people put little credance into PSA grading and few are collecting PSA graded cards, why would their lazy inconsistant grading be of concern to a lot of people?

[wackyone]

If most people put little credance into PSA grading and few are collecting PSA graded cards, why would their lazy inconsistant grading be of concern to a lot of people?

I also don't collect them but hey,, i'll buy a solid card and bust it open if the price is right,,it's still a better gamble then most the crap on e-bay.
I know a few guys that are heavy into PSA stuff and Brad has a nice standing at PSA if i'm not mistaken,as well as others here that get all the key cards graded,like 1st and 16th.
Who says people put little credence {besides me} and few are collecting them?....was there a pole conducted on this topic at some point?
If the majority of serious collectors didn't have faith in them,then why are so dam busy grading cards?

[Paul_Maul]

Who says people put little credence {besides me} and few are collecting them?....was there a pole conducted on this topic at some point?
If the majority of serious collectors didn't have faith in them,then why are so dam busy grading cards?

There are two sides to the PSA story. On the one hand, you're absolutely right that their grading is much more reliable than that of the average ebayer...by orders of magnitude.

So you have "PSA only " collectors, who aspire to put together the highest graded registry set. This is very common in sports cards, and is growing in some of the more popular non-sports sets. I reject this idea for wackys, because (as we've documented over the years) PSA doesn't downgrade at all for things like yellowing/tanning/oxidation and off center die cutting, which most would consider serious flaws. Yet they hammer roller marks, which some (including myself) find less bothersome.

I have spent years putting together very high grade sets, and to fill in the few upgrades I need, I would certainly buy PSA graded wackys. But it's risky, because for me to pay $200-$300 for a PSA 9 Dopey Whip whiteback, I better be damn sure I'm going to be perfectly satisfied with it. And I don't feel that level of confidence sight unseen, unfortunately.

Grading companies attempt to meet an important psychological need for anal, perfectionistic collectors. They absolve the collector of the responsibility of deciding whether a card (or unopened pack) is legitimate (unaltered) and in "good enough" condition. I would love it if they were reliable, but life is imperfect. Unfortunately, there are a ton of fake packs out there in GAI holders, and a ton of overgraded/misgraded cards out there in PSA holders. Unfortunately, these tend to spend their lives being recycled on ebay, so that makes it even tougher to trust garded material on ebay.

[BumChex]

There are two sides to the PSA story. On the one hand, you're absolutely right that their grading is much more reliable than that of the average ebayer...by orders of magnitude.

So you have "PSA only " collectors, who aspire to put together the highest graded registry set. This is very common in sports cards, and is growing in some of the more popular non-sports sets. I reject this idea for wackys, because (as we've documented over the years) PSA doesn't downgrade at all for things like yellowing/tanning/oxidation and off center die cutting, which most would consider serious flaws. Yet they hammer roller marks, which some (including myself) find less bothersome.

I have spent years putting together very high grade sets, and to fill in the few upgrades I need, I would certainly buy PSA graded wackys. But it's risky, because for me to pay $200-$300 for a PSA 9 Dopey Whip whiteback, I better be damn sure I'm going to be perfectly satisfied with it. And I don't feel that level of confidence sight unseen, unfortunately.

Grading companies attempt to meet an important psychological need for anal, perfectionistic collectors. They absolve the collector of the responsibility of deciding whether a card (or unopened pack) is legitimate (unaltered) and in "good enough" condition. I would love it if they were reliable, but life is imperfect. Unfortunately, there are a ton of fake packs out there in GAI holders, and a ton of overgraded/misgraded cards out there in PSA holders. Unfortunately, these tend to spend their lives being recycled on ebay, so that makes it even tougher to trust garded material on ebay.

You have to admit that most PSA 5's & 6's would be NM to most collectors. I know they don't like the track marks and such. Also if you don't want them to put MC or OC on the card they will downgrade it. I haven't graded cards in a couple years but with the price of grading I wouldn't send in just any old card. I would think it would pull a high grade. That is why I say most PSA 5's & 6's would be considered very high grade cards to most wacky collectors. You can crack open the case if you don't like the grade.
That is the part of collecting that is really odd. I could scan a card for you that I think is almost perfect and you may buy or trade accordingly. Then I could send the same card to PSA and they would give it a 6 and then collectors mentality would be that this is not that great of a card so they would pay accordingly to the grade. It's a tough spot for collectors that use a grading service. If they come back 8+ then they will get more cash or trade value for the card but if they don't then you can either sell it as is (graded) or bust the slab.
I see sellers on ebay already downgrade their selling price because of a 6 or lower grade. Hell, even 7's are not as highly valued to some collectors but they will pay outrages money for a raw card even though the scans look good. Tough deal!

[bandaches]

You have to admit that most PSA 5's & 6's would be NM to most collectors. I know they don't like the track marks and such. Also if you don't want them to put MC or OC on the card they will downgrade it. I haven't graded cards in a couple years but with the price of grading I wouldn't send in just any old card. I would think it would pull a high grade. That is why I say most PSA 5's & 6's would be considered very high grade cards to most wacky collectors. You can crack open the case if you don't like the grade.
That is the part of collecting that is really odd. I could scan a card for you that I think is almost perfect and you may buy or trade accordingly. Then I could send the same card to PSA and they would give it a 6 and then collectors mentality would be that this is not that great of a card so they would pay accordingly to the grade. It's a tough spot for collectors that use a grading service. If they come back 8+ then they will get more cash or trade value for the card but if they don't then you can either sell it as is (graded) or bust the slab.
I see sellers on ebay already downgrade their selling price because of a 6 or lower grade. Hell, even 7's are not as highly valued to some collectors but they will pay outrages money for a raw card even though the scans look good. Tough deal!

I saw PSA10 Baby Runt up to $150 on one of the mystery non-ebay auction sites.