Michael Jordan Star Court card #288 - No GRADE

robotur

I finally got a response from PSA on a Michael Jordan Star Court card #288 I submitted to PSA and received Sept 21, 2020. PSA stated they would not grade the card which is fine however it needs to go through the entire process. Quote from PSA "the order must go through all of the steps & phases to be completed, the shipped back". Seems crazy to me given they are not grading the card and all they have to do is send it back to me. With PSA current backlog, a one year turnaround time is very possible for a card they won't grade. The worst part is this a very rare card. Has anyone had a similar experience?

RufussCkingston

Was it submitted as a single card submission, or is it part of a multi-card sub? Also when you did the original sub, did the card auto-populate when you searched for it on the order form, or did you manually type it in?

robotur

it was a single card submission. I don't remember if it auto populated.

erikthredd

Honestly,this one is on you not PSA if it ends up taking a significant amount of time before getting returned. Had you looked at PSA’s Pop Report for the 1985 Star set then you’d have seen No Longer Grading right next to the set name. Having to wait after finding out they won’t grade it does suck but you really have no choice but to wait it out then sub to BGS. They’re the only company that would grade that #288 Jordan for you

RufussCkingston

I disagree that you think one needs to look at pop reports before submitting cards, though if you are unsure if a particular card is graded by PSA, then that does sound like a wise move. But since a novice wouldn't think there are major cards that PSA does not grade, the same person would probably not even know what a POP report is.

However, I am going to say the "fault" (where a "red" flag would have been raised) was probably in the submission card entry, where the card didn't auto-populate as the OP typed it in and instead forced it manually without thinking "why would a Michael Jordan card not show up"..

Lastly, what service level was this card sent in at? If you sent it at the voucher/economy level, then I can see why it is taking so long. They still have to "attempt" to grade the card to know that they don't grade it. Or rather it has to sit in the queue until it is your turn. And I guess it would be too hard to go and find it to return it out of 10 million cards! It must also be that the Research & ID people don't have the "power" to pull a single card submission when they ID it as something that PSA does not grade and send it back. Needs to go to a higher pay level for the return.

erikthredd

@RufussCkingston said:
I disagree that you think one needs to look at pop reports before submitting cards, though if you are unsure if a particular card is graded by PSA, then that does sound like a wise move. But since a novice wouldn't think there are major cards that PSA does not grade, the same person would probably not even know what a POP report is.

However, I am going to say the "fault" (where a "red" flag would have been raised) was probably in the submission card entry, where the card didn't auto-populate as the OP typed it in and instead forced it manually without thinking "why would a Michael Jordan card not show up"..

Lastly, what service level was this card sent in at? If you sent it at the voucher/economy level, then I can see why it is taking so long. They still have to "attempt" to grade the card to know that they don't grade it. Or rather it has to sit in the queue until it is your turn. And I guess it would be too hard to go and find it to return it out of 10 million cards! It must also be that the Research & ID people don't have the "power" to pull a single card submission when they ID it as something that PSA does not grade and send it back. Needs to go to a higher pay level for the return.

Well assuming that our OP is a novice here then this question that he’s already asked should have been asked before subbing any cards,especially if he is new to the hobby or grading. https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1054494/psa-cards-which-they-do-not-grade#latest

@robotur if you’re ever unsure about something like this just start a thread and ask the guys here for help. You’ll probably get multiple members chiming in much quicker than had you reached out to PSA directly. Having to wait for it to be mailed back does suck but there isn’t much you can do about it at this point.
A small silver lining here is that you won’t be charged any grading fees and that #288 has gone up in value significantly since September.

robotur

I am a novice and i have no problem taking the blame on this one. My issue is PSA research ID the card as NO GRADE last year in Nov. So why do they need to hold the card for another 6 months or more. There should be a process in place if they don't grade the card for it to be returned. thanks for the responses.

RufussCkingston

I'd imagine that if the card was researched and Id'ed last November, then it must be almost your card's turn.

I understand why you think it should have been returned to you, but you are thinking that the fact that your card was ID'ed as not gradable means that something should happen. In reality, your packaged was opened, the card was eventually put in a tray or something and put in the ID queue. The person then looked at your sub form, looks at the card, and if it is a correct match, prints out a sticker with the card info and an ID #/cert number (if it gets slabbed, this number will stick). Then this person puts it back in the "tray" and puts it in the grading queue. It isn't this person's job to pull items that won't grade. It's this person's job to match items/make sure they are correctly identified and put a sticker on them. It is possible that this person doesn't even see the no longer grading part of the identification. Also keep in mind, that if you had submitted more than one card, the ungradeables can't be separated and everything would ship together in the end. So it is kind of that premise, even though it was a one card sub, just the ID dept doesn't pull cards out of the "production line"

rtimmer

I know it’s easy to say the OP wasn’t competent and put the blame on him in this situation, but I’d like to offer a different conclusion.

Why doesn’t PSA grade Jordan’s and some of the hobby’s most important rookie cards like Barkley, Stockton, Olajuwon, Drexler, Isiah, Dominique, and Worthy Star cards anymore? How can this be, aren’t they supposed to be the gold standard grading company?

BGS has competently graded these cards uninterrupted while PSA chose to pull their service a number of years ago I believe because of a lack of grading competence. I’ve heard rumors PSA doesn’t grade the Star cards anymore because of a fear of slabbing fake cards but others have shown and postulated they’ve slabbed more fake 1986 Fleer cards and fake Jordan autos then the other grading companies. Now this is somewhat obvious based on the math of the calculation but still points out fakes are an illogical reason to stop grading a card in fact it makes grading that much more of a critical resource.

I put it to you the problem isn’t the OP’s lack of competence it’s the former PSA’s leadership that made the illogical choice to stop grading some of the hobby’s most important rookie cards. Hopefully the new ownership can rectify this gap in service and the OP can get his card graded!

RufussCkingston

If they can't tell which ones are real and which ones are fake, how could they keep grading them? PSA has to guarantee what they grade.... I never thought NOT grading fake cards was considered the illogical choice!

surfyfun

@RufussCkingston said:
If they can't tell which ones are real and which ones are fake, how could they keep grading them? PSA has to guarantee what they grade.... I never thought NOT grading fake cards was considered the illogical choice!

I believe the knowledge is out there and available now to identify genuine from fake or later-issued cards with certainty. It seems to be a choice psa has made up to this point, after maybe having some issues long ago. I think someone alluded to the policy possibly being changed at some point in the future, it definitely should.

robotur

Thanks for all the thoughtful responses. I checked with CSG and they also don't grade star basketball cards. So it looks like my only option is BGS and by the time I get the card back maybe PSA would have changed their policy.

robotur

After 8 months, PSA is in the process of shipping my Michael Jordan star court card back to me. So this issue is finally closed. I will send it off to BGS for grading.

Mcvillagehtx

@erikthredd said:

@RufussCkingston said:
I disagree that you think one needs to look at pop reports before submitting cards, though if you are unsure if a particular card is graded by PSA, then that does sound like a wise move. But since a novice wouldn't think there are major cards that PSA does not grade, the same person would probably not even know what a POP report is.

However, I am going to say the "fault" (where a "red" flag would have been raised) was probably in the submission card entry, where the card didn't auto-populate as the OP typed it in and instead forced it manually without thinking "why would a Michael Jordan card not show up"..

Lastly, what service level was this card sent in at? If you sent it at the voucher/economy level, then I can see why it is taking so long. They still have to "attempt" to grade the card to know that they don't grade it. Or rather it has to sit in the queue until it is your turn. And I guess it would be too hard to go and find it to return it out of 10 million cards! It must also be that the Research & ID people don't have the "power" to pull a single card submission when they ID it as something that PSA does not grade and send it back. Needs to go to a higher pay level for the return.

Well assuming that our OP is a novice here then this question that he’s already asked should have been asked before subbing any cards,especially if he is new to the hobby or grading. https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1054494/psa-cards-which-they-do-not-grade#latest

@robotur if you’re ever unsure about something like this just start a thread and ask the guys here for help. You’ll probably get multiple members chiming in much quicker than had you reached out to PSA directly. Having to wait for it to be mailed back does suck but there isn’t much you can do about it at this point.
A small silver lining here is that you won’t be charged any grading fees and that #288 has gone up in value significantly since September.

I would imagine he/she now realizes that the possibility exists that PSA might not grade some cards based off the information that is now available because the card is not going to be graded. If the thought never crossed their mind that such cards could exist it would be silly to expect them to have thought that they should ask that question.
That'd be like saying PSA has a new policy buried in their FAQ that they will not grade cards from anyone named Dave. Well you should have looked on the site and made sure that they don't have this policy before sending in all your cards, Dave.

RufussCkingston

True, but it still should have been a hmm moment when the OP was creating the sub online and the damn card didn't populate...

erikthredd

@Mcvillagehtx said:

@erikthredd said:

@RufussCkingston said:
I disagree that you think one needs to look at pop reports before submitting cards, though if you are unsure if a particular card is graded by PSA, then that does sound like a wise move. But since a novice wouldn't think there are major cards that PSA does not grade, the same person would probably not even know what a POP report is.

However, I am going to say the "fault" (where a "red" flag would have been raised) was probably in the submission card entry, where the card didn't auto-populate as the OP typed it in and instead forced it manually without thinking "why would a Michael Jordan card not show up"..

Lastly, what service level was this card sent in at? If you sent it at the voucher/economy level, then I can see why it is taking so long. They still have to "attempt" to grade the card to know that they don't grade it. Or rather it has to sit in the queue until it is your turn. And I guess it would be too hard to go and find it to return it out of 10 million cards! It must also be that the Research & ID people don't have the "power" to pull a single card submission when they ID it as something that PSA does not grade and send it back. Needs to go to a higher pay level for the return.

Well assuming that our OP is a novice here then this question that he’s already asked should have been asked before subbing any cards,especially if he is new to the hobby or grading. https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1054494/psa-cards-which-they-do-not-grade#latest

@robotur if you’re ever unsure about something like this just start a thread and ask the guys here for help. You’ll probably get multiple members chiming in much quicker than had you reached out to PSA directly. Having to wait for it to be mailed back does suck but there isn’t much you can do about it at this point.
A small silver lining here is that you won’t be charged any grading fees and that #288 has gone up in value significantly since September.

I would imagine he/she now realizes that the possibility exists that PSA might not grade some cards based off the information that is now available because the card is not going to be graded. If the thought never crossed their mind that such cards could exist it would be silly to expect them to have thought that they should ask that question.
That'd be like saying PSA has a new policy buried in their FAQ that they will not grade cards from anyone named Dave. Well you should have looked on the site and made sure that they don't have this policy before sending in all your cards, Dave.