Pleased and a little confused on submission

Spahnfan

I have sent in two submissions. The first was the six free ones for new members. These were Mantle's, Williams', and Mays cards from 1954 to 1961. I thought I would get two 7's and four 8's. I got four 7's and two 8's. OK. So this is my first time and I didn't really expect to agree on all of them. I studied the cards and grading and could see why they possibly down graded one of the 8's, but I still think the other card should still be an 8.

Before my next submission, I tried to do my homework and looked at quite a few cards that were graded PSA 6, 7, 8, and 9 and I thought I had a fairly good idea where the cards might fall. Anyway, I sent in a second submission of 134 cards. About 90% of the cards were superstars and Hall of Famers from 1954 to 1964. I was expecting results similar to my first submission (about 1/4 or 1/3 of the cards being downgraded). To my surprise PSA upgraded 50 of my cards (several of them more than one grade) for a +57 grading points. They lowered the grade on 21 other cards (a couple of them by two grades) for -23 grading points. This gives me a net of +34. This is all wonderful, but several of the upgrades and downgrades are very confusing. First of all, there were about 6 cards they upgraded from a 6 to a 7 or 7 to 8 and a couple from 6 to 8 that I still do not think the grade should have been raised. This creates an ethical problem for me-selling cards that I honestly feel are overgraded or putting them in a registered set. But on the flip side, every card that I thought would be a 9 came back as an 8. A couple I might agree on, but not all of them. In selling these cards I will feel I am getting the short end of the stick.

I know my grading skills still need to be refined and things are quite a bit different than 20 years ago. But I think the submission results show that I am trying to be accurate and try to err on the conservative side. If I am conservative on the grades of 6, 7, and 8, why am I off on the grade of 9? I have looked at PSA 9 cards regarding corners, centering, and print marks. I honestly do not see any difference between them and most of the 9's I submitted. They are noticebly better than the 8's I received back.

There are a lot of you on this board that have much, much more experience than I and I thought you might be able to help out this rookie. Any thoughts or advice on these submissions and future submissions?

Dhjacks

Good post. I too have had mixed feelings about selling cards that I feel are over-graded and/or under-graded. My personal feeling is to list the card with a description which accurately describes both the positive and negative aspects of the card. Include a good scan, and let the bidding begin.
I'm sure there are others who would say that your only obligation is to provide a good scan, but I like to describe details which may be difficult to notice on a scan such as print bubbles....especially on higher dollar cards.

wolfbear

This seems to work :

48 % centering
48 % corners and edges
2 % focus and registration
2 % gloss and eye-appeal

no slam at PSA, it's the same standards,
for better or worse, that all the legit grading companies seem to use.

FB

Spahnfan,

Unfortunately, we all face the fact that our own grades will never completely line up with what the grader or graders at PSA will decide on any given day. Whether we like it or not - grades will fluctuate slightly from grader to grader and heck, they'll sometimes fluctuate between the same grader on different days or even different times of the day. Until someone develops a grading machine that is consistent ALL of the time PSA is one of the 3 or four best options we have (giving credit to SGC, GAI and BGS).

You happened to be one of the lucky ones... most posts talk about how the submitter was whacked!

So, what I would suggest... is if you feel very strongly that the card is under or over graded - then mention it in your add. Maybe just state that its a high, average or low PSA 7 or 8. People are paying for the PSA grade - but they will also appreciate your honesty as well.

Hope this helps.

samsammy23

This is precisely what is wrong with PSA. No consistency. A 6 to an 8. That should be almost impossible.
Chad.

packCollector

hey samsammy , since I don't think i have ever seen you write a positive statement , i will clarify your negativity. Are you sure you are not another one of MW's alias'.

I believe the poster is referring to what he thought they were going to grade "a 6-8" not what they were previously graded.

samsammy23

If that is the case, I stand corrected. My only affiliation with MW is that we live in the same state. I do support 100% of his comments though. Why would he make any of it up? He would get more for his cards if they were graded by PSA. Clearly he has good reason.
Chad.

dstudeba

Why would anyone agree with 100% of what ANYONE else says?

What? Oh, yes dear.

murcerfan

Dano.
I agree with you 100%

KallMaloneSay

On overgraded cards just put a larger scan of the card and let it go from there. If someone asks for a refund just give it to them minus your ebay fees, very few people will argue with that since you have been more than fair and it shows your integrity to back your product. I disagree with many of your stances that PSA is getting more inaccurate. From what I've seen the gap between the grades of large volume dealers and smaller submitters is closing to make both on a more even playing field. No system will ever be perfect, and some of us are harsher graders than we realize. From my experience it would appear that one out of every 25 cards is overgraded by PSA, so 4% isn't too bad when compared to about 50% of the raw cards I buy on ebay that are overgraded. Just my take, I still think grading is one of the best things to happen to the hobby in recent years along with certified autographs. Jason

Spahnfan

I did not post my questions because I was trying to knock PSA. I have seen cards similarly graded by the other services as well. I am looking for information, not put downs. As someone said, grading companies will grade as they grade, and we may agree or disagree with their results. I am interested in what to do with the results.

So far I have had a very positive experience with PSA. Just because I may not agree on every card graded does not mean they are wrong. I certainly could have missed something that they saw. I have a long way to go in being a knowlegeable grader. I have my biases and others have their own. I may grade a card a 5 or 6 if I think there are print marks, focus issues, eye appeal, or something else that would keep it from a higher grade. In a few cases PSA did not think the marks or whatever were severe enough to downgrade a card one or two grades. I try to grade cards as though I were buying them. I ask myself if I received the card in that grade, would I be satisfied with it. Sometimes I may be too picky. But by doing this, buyers of my raw cards usually are very satisfied, and when I submit cards for grading, I am very satisfied. I feel it is a win-win situation.

I thank those of you that have genuinely tried to offer productive advice.

goodriddance189

<< <i>This is precisely what is wrong with PSA. No consistency. A 6 to an 8. That should be almost impossible.
Chad. >>



hey, idiot, why are you on the PSA boards if youre going to badmouth PSA? now youve started this thread on the SGC board so your bedfellow MW can give you some false reassurance. must be nice to have a big brother type who tells you how to think

packCollector

goodriddence , here is to the link to the post he copied that it is not even his submission. samsammy , if you don't like psa, stay on the sgc boards where you will be reassured that your cards will be worth more than psa in your lifetime. kind of like how I keep telling myself that the redsox will win the world series in my lifetime. more samsammy trash