Converting cards to PSA
CrashWilson
Posts: 2
Hello.
I am new here. I have enjoyed reading your posts and can hopefully become an active poster as well. I wanted to ask a question of those that have had some experience with PSA grading if they have ever tried to get a card converted to PSA from another grading company. It appears that they will probably get 1 or 2 grades lower, but I was wondering if any of you have done this enough to get an idea or formula on the conversion based on the previous grading company. Any ideas?
I have been away from the hobby for about 10 years and have started getting back into it. Of course, none of my vintage stuff is graded and from what I have seen PSA seems to be the hands down leader for grading. I intend to only use PSA in my collection based on this. I will probably start sending some of my personal collection to be graded over the next few months. In addition, I have come across some graded cards on ebay that seem to be very nicely priced based on their grade with a different grading company (other than PSA) and was wondering if converting them to PSA was an option.
Thanks for the help.
CW
I am new here. I have enjoyed reading your posts and can hopefully become an active poster as well. I wanted to ask a question of those that have had some experience with PSA grading if they have ever tried to get a card converted to PSA from another grading company. It appears that they will probably get 1 or 2 grades lower, but I was wondering if any of you have done this enough to get an idea or formula on the conversion based on the previous grading company. Any ideas?
I have been away from the hobby for about 10 years and have started getting back into it. Of course, none of my vintage stuff is graded and from what I have seen PSA seems to be the hands down leader for grading. I intend to only use PSA in my collection based on this. I will probably start sending some of my personal collection to be graded over the next few months. In addition, I have come across some graded cards on ebay that seem to be very nicely priced based on their grade with a different grading company (other than PSA) and was wondering if converting them to PSA was an option.
Thanks for the help.
CW
0
Comments
Most people will probably tell you to examine the card and than compare it to the grading standards used by PSA to see if it will crossover.
If you are trying to crossover GAI, or SGC cards (at least the ones with two grades on the holders) you should be fairly successful. BGS/BVG results have varied that I have seeen posted. Personally, I have had good success with SCD cards crossing over but they do not seem to have the respect here that GAI or SGC does.
As for cards graded by companies other than what I have mentioned (ASA, KSA, PRO, NASA, USA, PGS and about 100 others), your best bet is to really examine the card as the chance of an even crossover is not good.
If you utilize PSA's crossover service and the card does not crossover than at least the card will still be in the other companies holder.
When it comes to "crossing over" graded cards from one company to another you must be carefull. If you are crossing over from BGS or SGC to a PSA slab the grades will MOST of the time be the same (a sgc 88 will normally cross to a PSA-8). This is not always the case as most of us know but generally it will be close. You need to avoid third rate grading companyies such as PRO, WCG, GEM, and the other dozen or so companyies out there. Those companies do not have the standards or expirience that PSA does. It's a scary world out there you MUST be carefull or you can waste a ton of money like so many unfortunate people do on Ebay everyday. Just remember, PSA, SGC, and BGS are the big three, everyone else just stay away from NO MATTER WHAT the price.
Hope this helps!
Mike
Welcome to the board!
Take their advice, it's a good one.
Jery
Opinions vary around here but most will agree PSA is the preference and almost all will agree PSA carries the most value. PSA is perhaps the toughest grader in that they put qualifiers on cards for centering, stains, marks, off-cut cards, mis-cut cards, etc.
The most important thing to learn about grading companies is this.....NEVER EVER buy anything graded by a company called PRO. They are famous for grading trimmed cards.
GAI is a strong vintage card grading company.
SGC is also pretty strong.
BVG is better known for modern cards. You won't find many vintage cards in their holders.
There are plenty of other decent graders out there like PGS, SCD and the list goes on and on. My suggestion is stick to PSA if you can. Crosing gets expensive and will hurt you more often than it will help you when crossing.
<< <i>Just remember, PSA, SGC, and BGS are the big three, everyone else just stay away from NO MATTER WHAT the price. >>
I strongly disagree. GAI is a strong vintage grading company.
I agree on GAI also, they slipped my mind when writing that post. There are so many grading companies anymore I knew I left one out! Heck, I even own a few GAI cards. Thanks for correcting my error!.
Mike
<< <i>BVG is better known for modern cards. You won't find many vintage cards in their holders. >>
I believe you mean BGS is known for modern cards. BVG is "Beckett Vintage Grading". They like vintage cards cut directly from uncut sheets at BVG.
Crashwilson,
Welcome to the boards. Hope your time hear is enjoyable.
In regards to crossovers, it is wise to gain some experience in each companies grading standards and tendencies. The major companies that have been mentioned are all similar with slight variations. Since PSA is the only company that uses qualifiers, this must be taken into account when looking at possible crossovers. They also do not use the half-point system, which GAI and SGC use, so this also needs to be taken into account.
Most of my crossover experience is with SGC, so I'll give you some of my experience. I recently sent in a group of mid-grade pre-war cards (3-7 range). What I got from this was SGC is more concerned with overall presentation, and PSA is more technical. I had some cards that were perfectly centered, a strong surface, but noticeable corner dings. These crossed over into lower PSA grades. On the other hand, I had decently centered cards, a surface that did not jump out at you, but strong corners. These crossed over into higher PSA grades.
If your looking at higher grades (8-10), then the qualifiers come more into play. For example, a mint card that is off-center can garner an SGC 88, whereas the same card would get a PSA 9 OC (or straight PSA 7).
Poster child of SGC/PSA difference
As far as the third-rate companies already mentioned, if the price seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Currently collecting.....your guess is as good as mine.
In no particular order, I think the following graded card companies are top-tier and each has different holders, some have half-grades, some have sub-grading, some charge a membership fee to submit for grading, some have registries to display and compare against other collectors and their pricing and customer service will vary. It is worth checking the following out and making a choice based upon what you see.
PSA, SGC, BGS/BVG, SCD, GAI
You can get a feel for all of them just off of ebay, but nothing is better than holding one in your hands.
PGS is small and relatively new, but their cards seem to be graded accurately. Any other companies would be a crap shoot.
Do the homework on the companies and don't be too surprised if cards from your collection that you think are Mint, Nm/Mt or even Near Mint don't come back that way. You really need to scrutinize them under bright lights and with a magnifying loupe. Note what grade you think they should get before you send them off and it is a good idea to go through the process a couple times, with a good deal of time in between analyzing them.
Erik
I appreciate all the great advice. I'm glad to learn of a few more grading companies that I can trust. Most of the auctions on ebay that I saw that seemed to be unbelievable deals are probably just that (poor cards submitted to even worse graders). After taking a much closer look, I'm starting to think that a lot of these "graders" are just some guy putting his cards in a hard case with a label and some grading company name on it that he just made up and then trying to sell them as premium cards.
Has anybody had any direct experience with GEM grading? There seem to be an uncanny amount of GEM 10s on ebay. I did notice some GEM Pristine 10s also. Same company, different grading scales? Anyway, I will be staying away from them thanks to the info on the posts, but I was just curious.
Thanks.
CW
SGC - tried to crossover a PSA 6 1967 Yaz Venezuelan to a SGC 80, they wouldn't do it
also seem to be tough on 1968s. Great customer service, attractive holders
Capitol Grading (nice strong/heavy holder) - 1971 Munson received a 9 (mint), would get SGC 86 or PSA 8
KSA (I know, "who?") - 1969 Aaron received a 6 (EXMT), would probably receive an SGC 60 and PSA 4 or 5.
You could also try doing a search on the word "crossover" (see link
at the top of this page). This might give you a better sense of
what to look for, and you can see how others have fared in the crossover
game. Still, like gosoxbosox said, there is no forumula.
Crossovers are never exact, most are quite similar where the better companies are involved but no guarantee of aything. Some suggest, and I tend to agree, that is is best to carefully crack out the slabbed cards BEFORE sending to PSA. This removes any remotely possible bias or disfavor from a grader, and can save a bit on shipping, as the slabs are not lightweight themselves.
Regarding GEM grading company, and be wary, many advertisers use "gem grading" in their header/copy but may use an even more unknown grader in reality. The company I am talking about has a diamond shaped logo and boldly indcate the company is GEM with large capital letters. Anyway I have had fine luck with the related costs involved, all cards were broken out of their slabs, fully inspected and then if worthy, sent to PSA.
All 1979 Topps Baseball Gem Grading Company 10s;
#665 Brock, nice overall but had a small ding on lower left front corner, probably a 7 possible 8, not sent to PSA, # 24 Molitor, very nice but seemed a bit smaller than most ( not all from the pack are the same size too) was afraid of getting a trimmed notice, not sent to PSA # 602 Checklist very nice, centered poor on back, sent, got a 9 no qual., might have had a 10 if the reverse centering was better?? # 320 Yaz very nice, sent in, got a 10 !!!!! proudly entered in the set registry.
No conclusions or through evaluation of GEM, but maybe some bargains do exist. Some junk too, perhaps.
I recently picked up an 89UD Griffey with the gem holder - was 1/16" short - seller, w/all sales final on graded deferred to gem - I sent it in w/invoice - they said they would refund if it shouldn't have been graded - got email case pending - very slow - bottom line went past 30 paypal window - if don't hear w/in a few days will go thru my credit card company - Card graders.com has been getting complaints about gem (trims, counterfeits) and is looking into changing their review rating. The concensus of the boards seems to be to stay away from them. What do you think?
Mike
Oh yeh, Crash, welcome!
a wise man told me : "friends don't let friends buy PRO cards."
PSA is your BEST bet. GLOBAL and SGC are well respected. GLOBAL seems to be having a problem with cards coming loose from the border inside their holder. i can't ever see myself submitting to any other company besides PSA, but GLOBAL will authenticate the unopened packs and boxes which i think is great for anyone looking to buy that kind of stuff.
That may show the re-grader at PSA that this is a ncie card, but on the same side, why would PSA want to grade a card higher than their competitors?
Collecting Bowman Chrome Phillies Rookie Cards and Mike Schmidt certified auto cards.