Price of grading cards
fiveniner
Posts: 4,111 ✭✭✭
Maybe I am wrong however it’s been 5 years or so since I have sent cards in for grading unless it was a freebie.I see prices for regular issues at $20 a card.When and why the big increase in price.i never paid more than $10
Unless I sent a bulk order in.
Tony(AN ANGEL WATCHES OVER ME)
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Comments
You are correct $20.00 per item.
Bulks are still the best bet for declared value under $100. $10/ea. for 50-99, $8/ea. for 100+.
5 years of inflation?
I think if you join PSA you get 25 free grades a year? But to join it's like 300.00/year.
I just rejoined PSA for a year for $249. I got 15 free grades for any card under $499. I also got a one-year subscription to SMR. For $149 (I think), you get six free grades. And for $49, you get the SMR magazine.
Always looking for Mantle cards such as Stahl Meyer, 1954 Dan Dee, 1959 Bazooka, 1960 Post, 1952 Star Cal Decal, 1952 Tip Top Bread Labels, 1953-54 Briggs Meat, and other Topps, Bowman, and oddball Mantles.
I haven't been a big submitter, so I usually use my 15 "free" vouchers when I renew. brings the cost of grading down a bit and you can grade a more valuable card as well.
SMR magazine is nice for some of the articles, but each issue seems to focus on one thing entirely, Pokemon issue went right into the garbage as well as Basketball as soon as I read about the players who won't sign this or that.
I would like to see at least one section every month on baseball and/or football.
Going to put in a bulk order at some point.
..
thanks to all that replied.
What is smr?
SMR = Sports Market Report. PSA price guide plus sports card related articles.
https://www.psacard.com/smrweb/current/
Nic
Guides Authored - Graded Card Scanning Guide PDF | History of the PSA Label PDF
Not sure what others are seeing - just got back a bulk order from PSA - most were newer cards straight from packs. Results - far more 8’s & 9’s than 10’s. Will be the last time I send in newer cards.
I hear this all the time, so I feel the need to comment. Just because a card is “pack fresh” does not necessarily mean it’s “gem mint.” Imperfect cards come out of every single pack.
Yaz Master Set
#1 Gino Cappelletti master set
#1 John Hannah master set
Also collecting Andre Tippett, Patriots Greats' RCs, Dwight Evans, 1964 Venezuelan Topps, 1974 Topps Red Sox
I realize that, I was hoping to sell many doubles that I have. Tough to break even when you get 8’s & 9’s.
Still have to be super picky about "pack fresh" stuff. I would say that on the stuff I pull directly from packs, I'm probably about 90% with 10's if not higher. I always know I'm going to get a few back that aren't worth the grading fee in 8 or 9 and typically I find that I've missed something. Or I was just "hoping" but really knew better. I put them in a box, then when I get close to or over my 100 cards, I look them over again. When I have whittled them down and get ready to fill out the online submission form, I look them over one last time. Undoubtedly there are a couple more I pull from the box. Even though it's the same set of eyes, different times, different days and a different mindset can help. The next submission I'll check the ones that didn't make the last submission just to make sure. With the $8 a card grading fee for bulk, you have to make sure that you are going to get back plenty of 10's to cover your "mistakes". Best of luck and keep plugging along!
Thanks, do you look at them under a lens prior to submitting? Maybe my eyes stink, but I looked at the cards under a lens/light prior to sending in. My success rate - 80 new cards (10 PSA 10's, (50) 9's, (16) 8's, and (4) 7's. Didn't get one with .5 ending. My older cards got what I expected.
I am preparing to send a 50 card bulk order of 75 minis. I have checked them out for size as many were short cut. Most of these are ones you can not find or are commons that are priced way too high because because many of them were short cut.
Tough set, I am at over 50% complete including all star cards .
Yes, I actually use a 16x loupe. I also wear an led headlamp. I look like an idiot walking around with it on, but it's just my family and they are used to me looking like an idiot. I've been known to pull it out and wear it at a show as well, lol. I know most people will say that a 10x loupe is enough, but the 16x is just what I'm used to and maybe works better for my old eyes. It is rare that I get a .5 grade. Maybe an 8.5 once on newer stuff but since there is no 9.5, it makes sense. I find that some of the "mistakes" I find after getting the cards back are with surface issues. Just have to look at the newer stuff different than the vintage. I think that might have been the toughest part to get used to when I review stuff for submission.
I have to agree with a lot of PatsGuy's observations.
My collecting focus has been for cards and other gradeable items from the mid 1950's to the mid 1970's and a little on the new stuff.
I have come to a few conclusions and will probably have more in a few months after I send in my next submission;
1, Cards from 1955-1961 seem to be slightly easier to get in an 8 -9 because of white borders. PSA might not catch as many corner dings as they can be hard to spot.
1962-1975 has a few years that have become almost foolish to grade. 1962,1971 would seem to be nearly impossible to get a 8 or 9 and 10's are almost non-existent, with 1963, 1970 and 1975 being difficult as well. the other years, except for 1968 have white borders and very minor wear seems to go un-noticed. 1968 seems to get a bit of a "pass" imo.
The .5 grade is/was a great idea, (I still think there should be a 9.5) but I sure see a lot of cards that look like they should get a "bump", usually because of centering. My submissions have received very few .5's and frankly this might be a good thing, when it comes to selling, as buyers don't seem to like the .5 either.
I'll have a more experienced opinion on the newer cards after my next submission. It's going to be mostly new stuff, all "pack fresh" or from factory sets I have broken. I do go through the cards and eliminate for centering and even the most infinitesimal corner wear. That being said, I think the new stuff has got to be scrutinized more carefully by the graders or there would be such a glut of 10's on the market there would be virtually no cards of any monetary value.
The same/similar goes for the registry. If you don't get "picky" at some point every set is going to be all 10's, what would be the point of competing for the "best" set if they were all equal with no mathematical chance of improvement?
PSA obliterated the competition by being not only a better grading company, but being smarter in not giving out 9's and 10's to every card that came in the door. If a PSA graded card sells for more than a similarly graded SGC (or whoever), you're going to submit to PSA. My "fear" is that if they become too strict, it won't make sense to submit some cards at all, 1962 and 1971 immediately come to mind.
You might also want to keep in mind that PSA is in business to make a profit. They are not going to have 3 senior graders spend 5 minutes each scrutinizing your 1974 Harmon Killebrew card with a soft corner, even if it has amazing centering. They are not here to "clean up" the hobby, although they, for the most part, actually help a lot, again imo.
Yes. I have been irritated when I get a card back that I think deserves a better grade. I have having to either crack and resubmit or send in for a review. It has happened too often, but there's not too much you can do.
I have never used a loupe in checking cards. Beyond vision issues I think it just helps to be an anal perfectionist, because I seem to immediately see everything that is wrong with a card when I examine it. I imagine it would be tougher for those who are not as bothered by these things.
Newer cards pretty much have to be 10's in order to cover the grading costs.
I use some magnifying glasses and a bright light. Better to find out the cards that have flaws by myself and not let PSA decide. On newer cards if you only get 10 PSA10's out of 80 submitted, you probably lost money.
Fortunately I have no interest in newer cards
Generally speaking neither do I, but I am getting rid of thousands of newer worthless cards and a very few that are worth a little bit of money. For most of the cards I have kept to get graded, a PSA 10 will get at least $30.00, while a 9 might not sell for $5.
Thanks for the guidance. All of my vintage has been graded, so I’m letting my PSA membership expire. Hoping that many of my PSA 9’s (many are serial numbered so they are scarcer) sell for a small amount above grading costs.
I am still in the process of putting my submission together. Looking at "sold listings" on ebay is one way I determine if it's worth sending them in. A LOT of cards that grade a 9 are not worth much.
Depends on who and what year of course.
I use a loupe, unsure but I think its 10x. Do all loupes have a light? I would asusme so but Im not sure. I have become much better at assessing cards than when I started.
I am going to buy a loupe soon before I send in a bulk order of 100 75 minis.
They are very real challenge and do not want to come back with nothing lower than a 7.
Never used one before however with this issue having such poor quality control when released I better.