I have to be doing something wrong, submittals don't get very high grades
chrislynn5
Posts: 39 ✭
Is there a service I can send my cards in under in hopes to get better grades?
I just got back 4 express, and one was graded as low as a 6.
The patches and thick cards I know can be difficult to grade but I've been watching other posts, learning, using a detailed magnifier glass, etc. And still get low to med high grades.
I have another 3 in PSA express in which I personally opened the National Treasures boxes and submitted directly. They are perfect by all accounts.
I should get those back in a week or so.
But I'm getting really depressed about this. Its sooooo subjective and there are no grader notes whatsoever.
I have another 40+ in at HGA but they cant seem to get any graded and out. 
Help.
Tagged:
0
Comments
Best way to do it is to post a clear photo of a card and tell us what grade you think it would be. Then we'll all give our opinion on what we think it would grade if submitted.
Pictures are worth a thousand words.
Successful Trades: Swampboy,
will do here shortly.
Here's the Micah that should have been at least an 8.
My sick Rondale Moore, should have been a 9.
Are these 2 blemishes in the corner on the card or case? Top right corner of Moore card.
Cool card - I really like the Citrus Bowl Logo
I think I've been doing something wrong for 20 years myself.
I guess it doesn't matter to conceal the card PSA info .
Its very hard to take good pics, as the inner sleeve creates ripples and shadowing.
But I cant find a flaw on the the cards with 20x mag.
And I read the many posts about re-submitting the same card over and over to get better grades, but now that is too cost prohibitive with $100-150 the min per grade.
I realize the thick ones are difficult to keep perfect. But I'm careful about which ones I submit for that reason. I review them extremely extensively now. Since its so expensive to grade.
Does anyone know of a good service to submit through, as I've seen certain submitters (higher volume, business partners, etc.) get higher grades every time for less quality cards.
here's my Tua from that same submittal, I thought a 9.
In my opinion, as a new submitter, if you thought 9 and it came back an 8, that's not bad at all. Most new submitters come on here thinking their card is 8 or 9 and even maybe a 10, and then we collectively let them know that it's more in the 4-6 range. You also have to remember that the big ticket items that are publicized and seen on ebay are the cream of the crop. Not every card is going to get a 10 and not every card is going to make you a pile of cash just for submitting it.
Also, there is no magic way to get better grades. Sending in at a higher service won't do it. Submitting with a 3rd party shouldn't do it, although many people here think that certain individuals get higher grades because of their bulk submissions.
The first card I ever wanted to submit was a 1987 Donruss McGwire. I thought that card was perfect and was actually thinking about joining PSA just to submit that card. After I graded hundreds of cards, I ran across that card and couldn't believe it. It had visible corner wear, etc... It was probably a 7, but to my untrained eye, for some reason, I couldn't see all the flaws.
>
Successful transactions on the BST boards with rtimmer, coincoins, gerard, tincup, tjm965, MMR, mission16, dirtygoldman, AUandAG, deadmunny, thedutymon, leadoff4, Kid4HOF03, BRI2327, colebear, mcholke, rpcolettrane, rockdjrw, publius, quik, kalinefan, Allen, JackWESQ, CON40, Griffeyfan2430, blue227, Tiggs2012, ndleo, CDsNuts, ve3rules, doh, MurphDawg, tennessebanker, and gene1978.
My guess on the Tua and Moore cards is they dinged them for edge chipping on the dark striped areas. Probably 99% of them have the chipping when they were cut, but PSA doesn't care. This perfect card nonsense is getting out of hand, in my opinion.
I've submitted for over a decade, and the card I sent at the highest service I've personally used (Walkthrough) was the biggest punch-in-the-gut-grade I've ever received back. I find cards subbed to PSA at the Express level have produced the most consistent and predictable results.
In the case of a 1/1 card, I don't think it really matters if it gets a 9 or 10 -- there's only one so that is the best grade for that card.
The first thing you did wrong was submit thick/patch cards. PSA destroys those cards. A while back, I cracked a bunch of BGS 9.5 patch/autos (most true gems) and got back all 6-8s. Nowadays, if I want a high grade (9 or 10) thick card, I just buy it on eBay.
Crack and sub can work sometimes but as a newbie you are better served saving your money. You are unlikely to have enough experience to really discern under-graded cards. If all of your subs have been coming back lower than you expected, then you need to modify your expectations.
Robb
In my experience, a raw card that looks "9" in my hands & as graded comes back a PSA 6 generally means a small creasethat I missed on the rear of the card.
Of course there can be other flaws that knock it back to a "6" but the rear crease is the biggest in that situation.
What was your intention grading those cards? I don’t see it adding much value. And paying $150 apiece to do it. Just don’t see the logic in it.
HOF SIGNED FOOTBALL RCS
You really need to get a scanner and scan the cards with a contrasting background if you want any good feedback on individual cards. While not bad, the pictures you posted just don't show enough detail, plus there's a lot of glare on some of them.
You can pick up an Epson Perfection v300 scanner on ebay for $50.00, use it to scan cards and post here before sending to PSA and we will save you HUNDREDS of dollars.
PSA has always been the "toughest" graders. That's why their highly graded cards sell for more than their competitors. It seems they have now taken it a step farther and made it nearly impossible to get 10's. One minute flaw that might have gone ignored in the past immediately rule out a 10.
Look at the 1987 Canseco card I have on ebay right now https://www.ebay.com/itm/133790983520. That sure would have been a 10 in the past.
With that being said, and the price of grading right now, people need to start getting smarter about what they are submitting, or the grading fees will never go down.
I haven't submitted anything since March of 2021 and it's beginning to look like I won't be sending in anything for quite some time. I have a few items I would like to add to my Killebrew Master set, but not at $100.00 or even $50.00 for a single item. Some are only worth $5.00 or so. Seems silly to spend $100.00+ to get a $5.00 item into my Registry set, even if I have a chance to achieve the #1 set.
Just not worth it to me.
Sorry you aren't getting the grades you hoped for. Better luck in the future.
Have fun collecting!!!!!
Great advice.
Patience Grasshopper.
Successful card BST transactions with cbcnow, brogurt, gstarling, Bravesfan 007, and rajah 424.
I'm going to imagine that a lot of the grades are due to surface issues or stray print marks/specs.....
I'll let you know when I get my cards back. Been waiting a year
Terry Bradshaw was AMAZING!!
Ignore list -Basebal21
Yeah, I don't believe that happens. PSA has far too much to lose to allow that.
Your grades are normal for these cards. Usually there is chipping or scratches around the edges where the insert was cut out.
https://kennerstartinglineup.blogspot.com/
quot> @daltex said:
Not if it's all about profit now and only now. As with any corp, the exec's running things care only about padding their next bonus and future be damned. Those same exact exec's will move on to another firm anyhow once they hit that magic 18-24 month numbers they need for the ol' resume.
Those who understand or have worked for large corporations know all this, those who don't probably won't understand but that does not make it any less of the actual reality.
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Yeah, I stand by my statement. A quick look at the tenure of senior executives at any random selection of companies will show this to be untrue. This is not to say that no executives are only there to make the next quarter's numbers, but I doubt that runs as high as 1%.
As long as collectors/investors are willing to spend $100.00 to grade a $50.00 (or less) card prices will remain high.
I can almost guarantee you can find the killabrew cards you need for your master set, already graded and at a price well below current grading prices. Maybe even under old grading prices. I have been attempting to complete the HOF registry set and I try to get cards that were early in a player’s career, if the rookie card is out of my price range. Anyway in my search for cards I have seen plenty of cards for HOFers that I was sort of surprised how cheap they were. I can’t recall offhand if I saw any cheap killabrew cards but I know I saw A LOT of killabrew cards!
To the OP’s post, I’m curious what sort of holder you shipped your cards in. Years ago when I first started submitting I believed if you didn’t send your cards in a card saver PSA would reject your order. That’s the way they made it seem in the shipping instructions, anyway. Well I submitted a few patch cards in card savers because in my novel experience I didn’t realize the corners would be flattened by staying in the card saver for more than a few days. I think the best of the ones I sent was an 8. Once I started sending patch cards in the wide top loaders, designed for patches, I didn’t have anymore surprises. Cards came back 9 or 10.
I disagree with this completely. I don’t know what those cards are worth raw but I have to imagine had they come back PSA 10 they would have been significantly more valuable. Looking at those first two cards there’s no way anyone would have guessed they would have graded lower than 9 especially not a 6 on the parson’s card. I’ve been looking at that thing on here for 5 minutes and I still don’t see anything wrong with it!
@chrislynn5 its a damn shame these cards graded so low. I don’t blame it on PSA because I think they probably assigned the grades accordingly. It’s a damn shame panini can’t make a better card when it comes to their “high end” products.
I think you seriously underestimate his dedication to the Killebrew set. I'd bet that he has all the, what, 500 top easiest to find cards graded. I assume we're talking really obscure regional issues that almost nobody wants, at least in part because no one knows they exist. For example, a 1959 First Federal Savings Famous Senators Matchbook that has six graded, but only one from the entire set shows up in PSA APR, an Authentic Goose Goslin two years ago for $6.99. Not sure what a Killebrew would go for, but knowing this, I'd have a hard time submitting one that wasn't at least 6 quality for $100.
<
>
Thanks daltex!
Yes I was pretty obsessed with Killebrew items (thankfully when they were cheap) and a card shop owner taught me not to buy anything that wasn't in high grade, unless it was truly rare.
Total required for the Killebrew Master set is 273. I have 268 graded and several raw in hand.
My Master Set has the highest completion percentage at 98.17% and is (under?) rated at #2 all time.
I have some issues with PSA as well. They will not allow the above pictured 1963 Post Cereal complete box into my set. I don't agree that they are willing to take my money and grade the item and then not allow it into the Master Set.
I'm sure not going to spend $100.00 an item and have them refuse to add it to the set.
My new attitude is that I don't "need" PSA to acknowledge that I have a nice set, I knew it before I spent a LOT of money getting the cards graded. Since I might know more about Harmon Killebrew baseball cards than some of the people working at PSA, why would I bother spending more money for their opinion?
At $10-20.00 per card, I would love to see if I can get back into the #1 position, anything more than that, I'll spend the money elsewhere.
Have fun collecting!
Do you collect 80's cards? I'm looking for the 1989 baseball greats card and figures....
https://kennerstartinglineup.blogspot.com/
I can offer some insight into the issue. I have submitted over 3000 cards to PSA over the past 20 years and like most of you have had my disappointments and also some pleasant surprises. I typically would be able to predict about 70% of the grades I received so I became pretty good at grading. I believe most submitters have a pretty good idea of what high grade edges and corners look like. Centering is also fairly easy to evaluate. However, nearly every time that I have received a grade considerably lower than what I had expected it ended up being a surface issue. Light creases on older cards or slight surface imperfections or chipping on modern cards are automatic mark downs. It takes experience, great lighting and magnification to spot minor surface flaws. I have plenty of PSA 5s and 6s that appeared to be mint cards when I submitted them. I haven’t submitted many cards to PSA in the past few years, mostly due to price increases. However, I have sent cards back to PSA over the years for review and every time the problem was a surface issue.
@vols1 Is that Killebrew an unreleased card/figure or prototype of some sort? I would never consider myself a SLU expert, but in my experiences with the 89 Baseball Greats, I've never seen a Killebrew before.
The only one I have seen is from a blank back proof sheet.
https://kennerstartinglineup.blogspot.com/
I am only collecting from 1955-1976.
So do you remember how much that one cost? Very nice for the set.
I can't remember, but I got it a long time ago, so I'm sure it was cheap.
When I started out, I thought I would be working on a 20 card set! Then I found out about all the oddball stuff that was everywhere that nobody wanted, so I grabbed up whatever I could find.
Being OCD can be a good thing!
Thanx for the advice, I haven't had any luck with scanners as I tried with my 300-1200 dpi printer. The inner protector creates shadowing, etc.
That is an interesting.
What I'm finding is that the card is not judged by the quality and presentation of the card itself, rather how many have a certain grade and what it means if another one hits the market.
So my hope was to use a business partner of PSA to submit through to get better grades based on their relationship.
I know sad
Well, that is interesting. As I was sending them in sleeves and inside hard case protectors (UltraPro sized accordingly).
The thick ones, trying this now and on these submittals, I'm sending in one touch, with a protector on the top inside. Making sure there is minimum to no play.
I've read it both ways are the best....
And on single 35mm cards I put in sleeves with post-it tag for ease of pulling out of the card saver.
The quality of the cards coming out of modern packs is awful. For the patch cards the likely culprit is a small surface dimple. I have also seen rough edge cuts from what looks like a dull cutting blade. I'm not talking the surface edge, but the actual fat edge of the card. Some of my patch cards had damage in that area.
I just did a 7-card modern FB Regular sub just to see how the grading standards are after the shutdown. I read multiple message board posts that the PSA standards are now "tougher". Of the 7 cards, I got 5 PSA 9's and 2 PSA 10's. The cards were all regular thickness rookie cards, 3 of the cards had autos, and 6 of the cards were chrome/optic refractor type cards.
Based on my small sample size, the standards are the same as my recent pre-shutdown subs. All of the cards hit the min I was shooting for (PSA 9), one underperformed - I thought it was a 10, came back a 9, and one overperformed - 9 to 10. Fortunately for me, the card that overperformed was worth more than the one that underperformed.
I'm going to try another sub once I get a small stack together. At $100 per, I have to be VERY selective what I send in.
Resubmitting before wasn't an issue when they were 6-10 per card, and only a couple months.
Now it's send, wait, and pray.
Some I do for myself and my own collection, but I would be lying if I wasn't looking for gravy train flips in addition. This market is ridiculous.
I'm currently addicted to those card breaks, so I get many cards I'm not interested in.
Me too. No more grading for me not at what they charge.What the hell is going on out here.
As The GREAT LOMBARDI would say.
ok, now I'm depressed. I pulled these 3 myself from brand new NT boxes. I reviewed 50+ NT cards for the 3 that were perfect.
And all they got were 8's. I feel violated.
I think the slab will help the Lawrence in resale. I'm not sure it does too much for the Lance and I think the Zach would have sold well regardless because of the patch.
I have never had a National Treasure RPA worth submitting. I used to break a lot from 2015-2018.