Can someone explain the difference between PSA/DNA and grading? Do you need both to sell autographed items (of value)? Thanks. I have been reading but I'm still confused about these two.
They are two different services offered by PSA/DNA. You can choose to have both or just authentication. Most, I believe, mostly only care about authentication when it comes to autographs. If it’s signed sports cards you are getting authenticated, then I think grading might make more sense to have grading added.
For autographs: Authentication (real) vs grade (scale of 1-10).
You would never grade without authentication, but you can authenticate without grading.
My own opinion (and some would disagree) is that I don't care about someone's opinion on an autograph's grade. I can tell by looking at it how nice it is.
If it's a trading card, a grade on the card is probably very important to a card collector. So, in that case you grade the card and then decide to either just get an authenticity on the autograph or also a grade on the autograph.
It’s the company’s name. They have several different grading and authentication services beyond autographs (I think they also grade unsigned sports cards).
Comments
They are two different services offered by PSA/DNA. You can choose to have both or just authentication. Most, I believe, mostly only care about authentication when it comes to autographs. If it’s signed sports cards you are getting authenticated, then I think grading might make more sense to have grading added.
For autographs: Authentication (real) vs grade (scale of 1-10).
You would never grade without authentication, but you can authenticate without grading.
My own opinion (and some would disagree) is that I don't care about someone's opinion on an autograph's grade. I can tell by looking at it how nice it is.
If it's a trading card, a grade on the card is probably very important to a card collector. So, in that case you grade the card and then decide to either just get an authenticity on the autograph or also a grade on the autograph.
Thanks, this is incredibly helpful! Is PSA/DNA a company name or does it stand for something in the process?
It’s the company’s name. They have several different grading and authentication services beyond autographs (I think they also grade unsigned sports cards).