@bgr said:
Why does it cost more to grade a card that is worth $10,000 than it does to grade a card that is worth $10?
I like tiers better than a straight percentage of value, and I think a higher valued card deserves more scrutiny than others... but I think a higher fee is also warranted to discourage card doctors from repeadly submitting high value cards they've altered.
I look at eye appeal when buying graded cards….and focus on exceptional cards for the assigned grade.
Having higher/stricter standards for mint and gem mint cards is a good practice…and I approve of PSA making it more difficult to achieve such a high grade.
That's fair. What about this. If I buy an expensive card - for sake of argument let's say anything over $5K is expensive. Should I be able to crack it and get the same grade back reliably (assuming the card is undamaged) or is it OK, for this card, graded under higher/stricter standard & scrutiny (apologies for mixing responses if that offends anyone) to get an Authentic grade such as N6.
The reason I ask this question is because I have bought some rather expensive cardboard artifacts in PSA slabs, including ones graded within the past few months, had them autographed and then given auth card grade because the length or width is a little small. Not AA, Not MINSIZE. Just a little small. PSA's response is that the "opinions change". So what am I paying for with this extra scrutiny?
I still buy a lot of Auth: AA cards, when they look nice and measure right, for autograph because I don't care so much about the card grade if it looks nice and they're much more economical. A shocking number of those come back with number grades. I have zero confidence in PSA's ability to determine whether a card has been altered.
It's also not worth it to pay for higher service tiers because I also get burned in the opposite direction frequently. I'll buy a PSA 8/9/10, get an auto, and there you go. Now it's authentic...
I was explaining that as an example of why I would crack a card out of a slab and resubmit it as opposed to a review. I'm not saying crack + re-sub is not legitimate either, but I wanted to provide some context. The question remains.
This thread really got my motor running, so I'm examining raw material now with the specific intention of subbing a few valued gems in hopes of hitting the bullseye. I want them to be as legit as it gets if the label says "10", so I would hope the grader(s) will be even more strict than my 6th grade teacher, Mr. Santell, who presided over our classroom with the demeanor of a pissed off prison guard.
All is fair in love and war and third party grading.
I used to really enjoy the chase of finding graded cards from other companies that I felt were undergraded, cracking and sending to PSA. It was always a fun way for me to add to my collection and build up a strong PSA stash. Plus, the chase was cool.
Haven't done any in at least a year and will not even consider it these days.
@BBBrkrr said:
I used to really enjoy the chase of finding graded cards from other companies that I felt were undergraded, cracking and sending to PSA. It was always a fun way for me to add to my collection and build up a strong PSA stash. Plus, the chase was cool.
Haven't done any in at least a year and will not even consider it these days.
Cracking SCD's slabs was some good mojo.
All is fair in love and war and third party grading.
It’s no guarantee that the same grade would occur because a different grader could give it a slightly different grade since it’s truly a subjective process, not objective.
However…I have shown that you do NOT have to crack out an expensive card to obtain better results.
I bought a 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan #57 PSA-9 as a retirement gift…and 5 months later sent the card in the slab to PSA for reviiew one time…and it bumped to a PSA-10.
So then it stands to reason that the grade on the slab shouldn’t be considered definitive and there’s not so much to lose from stricter standards. The grade on the label is an indicator which focuses our expectations and not much more.
@mintonlypls said:
It’s no guarantee that the same grade would occur because a different grader could give it a slightly different grade since it’s truly a subjective process, not objective.
However…I have shown that you do NOT have to crack out an expensive card to obtain better results.
I bought a 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan #57 PSA-9 as a retirement gift…and 5 months later sent the card in the slab to PSA for reviiew one time…and it bumped to a PSA-10.
That's awesome.
My best was a Brett rookie that went from a 7.5 to a 9.
I always found it a fun way to collect. If you made the right buy you'd pretty much guarantee getting at least the same grade from PSA and it least break even with the fees. Then things started going the other way quickly and I've learned it's no longer fun to get a grade 2 or 3 points lower than what you cracked.
Comments
Why does it cost more to grade a card that is worth $10,000 than it does to grade a card that is worth $10?
Untold truth is that high value cards are subjected to more scrutiny than lower valued cards….
I'm curious, given what you've shared about your collection here, whether you care about this change in grading specification or not, and why.
There are things I like and certainly those I dislike about PSA, but this didn't bother me one bit. Should it?
I like tiers better than a straight percentage of value, and I think a higher valued card deserves more scrutiny than others... but I think a higher fee is also warranted to discourage card doctors from repeadly submitting high value cards they've altered.
I look at eye appeal when buying graded cards….and focus on exceptional cards for the assigned grade.
Having higher/stricter standards for mint and gem mint cards is a good practice…and I approve of PSA making it more difficult to achieve such a high grade.
That's fair. What about this. If I buy an expensive card - for sake of argument let's say anything over $5K is expensive. Should I be able to crack it and get the same grade back reliably (assuming the card is undamaged) or is it OK, for this card, graded under higher/stricter standard & scrutiny (apologies for mixing responses if that offends anyone) to get an Authentic grade such as N6.
The reason I ask this question is because I have bought some rather expensive cardboard artifacts in PSA slabs, including ones graded within the past few months, had them autographed and then given auth card grade because the length or width is a little small. Not AA, Not MINSIZE. Just a little small. PSA's response is that the "opinions change". So what am I paying for with this extra scrutiny?
I still buy a lot of Auth: AA cards, when they look nice and measure right, for autograph because I don't care so much about the card grade if it looks nice and they're much more economical. A shocking number of those come back with number grades. I have zero confidence in PSA's ability to determine whether a card has been altered.
It's also not worth it to pay for higher service tiers because I also get burned in the opposite direction frequently. I'll buy a PSA 8/9/10, get an auto, and there you go. Now it's authentic...
I’m not into autographed card collecting…and personally view it as a marked card. To each his own…as far as autographed cards.
I was explaining that as an example of why I would crack a card out of a slab and resubmit it as opposed to a review. I'm not saying crack + re-sub is not legitimate either, but I wanted to provide some context. The question remains.
This thread really got my motor running, so I'm examining raw material now with the specific intention of subbing a few valued gems in hopes of hitting the bullseye. I want them to be as legit as it gets if the label says "10", so I would hope the grader(s) will be even more strict than my 6th grade teacher, Mr. Santell, who presided over our classroom with the demeanor of a pissed off prison guard.
All is fair in love and war and third party grading.
I used to really enjoy the chase of finding graded cards from other companies that I felt were undergraded, cracking and sending to PSA. It was always a fun way for me to add to my collection and build up a strong PSA stash. Plus, the chase was cool.
Haven't done any in at least a year and will not even consider it these days.
Cracking SCD's slabs was some good mojo.
All is fair in love and war and third party grading.
It’s no guarantee that the same grade would occur because a different grader could give it a slightly different grade since it’s truly a subjective process, not objective.
However…I have shown that you do NOT have to crack out an expensive card to obtain better results.
I bought a 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan #57 PSA-9 as a retirement gift…and 5 months later sent the card in the slab to PSA for reviiew one time…and it bumped to a PSA-10.
So then it stands to reason that the grade on the slab shouldn’t be considered definitive and there’s not so much to lose from stricter standards. The grade on the label is an indicator which focuses our expectations and not much more.
That's awesome.
My best was a Brett rookie that went from a 7.5 to a 9.
I always found it a fun way to collect. If you made the right buy you'd pretty much guarantee getting at least the same grade from PSA and it least break even with the fees. Then things started going the other way quickly and I've learned it's no longer fun to get a grade 2 or 3 points lower than what you cracked.
I think there are still some gems out there. Found this and we will see after it’s adorned with a juicy signature.