anyone know the procedures on the order of what gets graded?

packCollector

anyone know how psa determines what orders get graded 1st? it seems that once you get past a certain amount of days, your order falls into a black hole until a few days before its due, then you have other orders for the same service that seem to fly right out the door.


this is not meant as a complaint or negativity as no turnaround times have been missed. I am just curisous if there is any method to their madness.

PlayBall

All I can say with certainty is it's not first in/first out.

jrinck

They probably assign each shipment to a specific grader so that they can monitor his or her efficiency. Maybe it's some sort of daily quota thing. If you're lucky enough to get a quick grader then you're shipment goes through faster. If you get the slowpoke then it'll take longer. Theoretically, all graders are going to grade the same, so it's just a matter of speed. If a particular grader gets backed up to the point where he or she is in danger of missing a "grade by" date, then the shipment could get reassigned and/or given a higher priority. Too much backlog for a particular grader would alert managers to a potential trouble area, either with the grader or the system.

That's just my guess, anyway. They could very well have a conveyor belt system that spits out boxes of submissions once a grader pushes a button for one. In either case, getting the faster grader, and/or a favorable position on the right conveyor belt means your turnaround time is faster.

mikeschmidt

The last special had a 35 business day guarantee, right? I have a few days left to see whether or not I get a lot of free grades. Since it has been six weeks already - I'm very happy to wait a few more days....

RobBobGolf

OK, I need to finally just chime in.
Sent a Feb Set Reg Specail on Feb 28th, not showing in the system yet.
Sent Crossover in on March 12, logged in March 15.
WTF is going on here?
Is my reg specail box sitting in some corner unattended and ignored because its only 5 bucks a card, and the 10 bucks a card service gets more attention? Getting very frustrated PSA.


RobBob

AlanAllen

I'm not sure, but several times my submissions have been finished on the Friday afternoon right before PSA Saturday. I always drop off and pick up my cards on PSA Saturday, and they always have them done by the next month, regardless of service level. My last 3 orders have all been finished on these Friday afternoons.

Joe

FB

A while back an ex-PSA grader had told me that each morning they would come in to cards set up at their workstations. But, once they finished the cards that were set out for them - they would go back looking for more and could pretty much grab what they wanted. So, if it was 4:00 and you left by 5:00 - you didn't want to grab the 14 day old 500 card order. You might grab 3 - 25 card submissions that came in a few days ago.

I love PSA... but this has always been a pet peeve of mine. It should ALWAYS be FIRST IN - FIRST OUT WITHIN GRADING SERVICE.

But, for now - I'm just happy that my 72 to present special FINALLY was checked in today. It was received at PSA on 3/1 and checked into the system today. (wish that they would change the acknowledgement from "arrived on" to "checked in")

highend

frank- that sounds reasonable and lends creedence to the notion that smaller subs. always make it to the grading room quicker. i've always suspected this. with the last 135 cards i had on the 5 dollar special, i broke them into three separate parcels and sent them on the 27 of february. two have made it back so far. one this week and one last week.

you can't fight the human instinct to take the path of least resistance. most anyone GIVEN A CHOICE between an easier task or tougher more mundane one will try to take the easier one. i agree that PSA should recognize this, first in first out.

magellan

<< <i>We have received your grading submission and it is in process >>



Just received this email from PSA, I sent the order in Friday (3/12)........it did have a Club submission in it as well as a 50 card vintage submission so I wrote both on the package , I'm very pleased.


*ducks & runs out*

Mefer

Must be true. I had a 70 card set registry special received by PSA on 2-20-04 and finally checked in on 3-1-04. No grades yet. However, I keep seeing people post their results under the same special and see their cards were checked in five or more days after mine. Uggghhh. I agree, it should be first in, first out under the same service level. I do get kind of angry wondering why my cards sit, under the same level of service, while others get faster service. It is especially maddening when you send that many cards in in the first place so you can generate MORE CASH through card sales to have MORE CARDS graded by PSA (wink, wink, nudge, nudge.) I am seeing that the orders graded before mine are less in number by 20 cards or more so maybe there is some truth to the prioritizing of grading.

purelyPSA

Do yourself a favor- don't mix weird stuff with standard cards. If they're not 100% sure what a card is supposed to look like, they'll take their time and it'll hold up your whole order.

mikeschmidt

<< <i>Do yourself a favor- don't mix weird stuff with standard cards. If they're not 100% sure what a card is supposed to look like, they'll take their time and it'll hold up your whole order. >>



I just had an interesting submission whereby I did really well overall -- and it was a mix of weird stuff, standard stuff, and really weird stuff. The only cards that I got killed on were the handcut ones - but I got a few interesting tens - and I am extremely happy with the overall results.

FB

I'm kinda interested to see what happens with my submission too. Along with the 72 OPC's and 72 Topps I have a 72 Topps Cloth Sticker (Steve Stone) and about a dozen 72 Puerto Rican League Stickers including a Frank Robinson. PSA has graded both of these types of cards in the past - but I'm wondering if they still do since the pop hasn't changed in years.

mikeschmidt,

Not sure how hard and fast they will hold people to it - but on the PSA submission form - it specifically states that "specials" are not eligible for free gradings.

<< 8. TURNAROUND TIMES: PSA's turnaround guarantee assures you that PSA will have grades available in the number of business days specified. For example, for Premium (Same Day), Walk-Through (Same Day), Super Express (2 Day), Express (5 Day), Regular (15 Day), Economy (30 Day), PSA will have grades available the following number of days after the day we receive your order. The number of days it takes for the delivery agency (U.S. Registered Mail) to return graded cards to the submitter is not included in the number of days allotted to PSA's turnaround guarantee. If PSA fails to meet the turnaround guarantee on paid submissions, you will receive an invoice good for a like number of submissions; this excludes grading specials and complimentrary submissions. Note: Available services and turnaround times are subject to change. Call us for PSA's List of Services, a complete list of available services, or check our website at: www.psacard.com. >>