PSA grade dilemma... please advise...

sando69

received a psa 6 in the mail today from a recent ebay auction & upon first glance was disappointed at the condition...
then i compared it to some other psa 5's & 6's from the same era... after louping the corners of comparable examples i have come to the conclusion that the card has either been over-graded or the case & card have been tampered (altho there are no obvious signs of tampering).
what is my first course of action?
should i contact the seller & advise him of my suspicions & intent to get the card reviewed by psa... ask him about his return policy as well as the card's known history?
or, should i just send the card straight to psa for review & deal with the seller after i know what psa's disposition is?
and just exactly WHAT is psa's policy in situations like this, should the card turn out to be over-graded?
thanks for your comments & suggestions!

sagard

If you don't like the card, try to get the seller accept it as a return and tell him your concerns. Scans would be helpful.

zef204

I would say that PSA will stand by the grade they gave the card if there has been no tampering to the holder. You could tell the holder was tamperd with if there is white clouding along the seal. I am guessing this is a high $$ card even in a 6 or else I would say chalk it up in th "L" column.

Also, sometimes general eye appeal can sometimes give a card a bump of a grade when you are comparing it to other corners of cards of the same grade. If it doesn't look like the case has been tampered with it probably hasn't been. The card may have been mishandled at sometime and made the corners worse.

If there was a big scan when you bought it, many would say to buy the card and not the holder. If a small or no scan was provided then it would have been your duty as a buyer to request it prior to bidding.

I would first contact the seller before PSA, if you wish to persue this. It is unlikely the seller will do anything about this as it was a graded card and most sellers have a no refund on graded cards. Personally I don't see what contacting PSA about this would do you any good.

baseballfanatic

Heres my take, without the DBH hoopla.
The system does have flaws, but for the most part works.
I am tired of seeing cards advertised as a "high end" 8 or "high end" 9
Its an 8 or a 9 period.
If you want a "high end" 8 or 9, send it to BGS or GAI for an 8.5 or 9.5.
Isnt that why the system was put in place?
We send off cards to the so called "experts" and when the grades come back we complain they were undergraded.
We even get cards and then complain they were overgraded.
People want refunds for overgraded cards, people crack and resubmit undergraded cards.
People crack 6's out of holders and sell them for NM/Mint
Just been a frustrating day...............

MuckyMutt

If your intent is to in the end return to seller - then you need to work with the seller right from the start. Not to sound paranoid (but I am), but what if you send it back to PSA, they recognize they made a mistake, they claim that the holder has been tampered with and reholder it (so they don't have to accept responsibility). You now don't have any proof (except PSA's word) to give to the seller. You have also taken possession of the item and treated it as your own. As a seller, I would not deal with you if you did the above. Contact the seller first and see what he'll do to make it right. You might be pleasantly surprised... And if not - you have lost nothing and still have other recourse. Good Luck!

TMc

Know one is going to tamper with a PSA 6 unless it is a high dollar card. They save those efforts for 9s and 10s. When you get into the mid range grades, there are all sorts of flaws that make cards that fall into the same grade.

Brian48

<< <i>received a psa 6 in the mail today from a recent ebay auction & upon first glance was disappointed at the condition...
then i compared it to some other psa 5's & 6's from the same era... after louping the corners of comparable examples i have come to the conclusion that the card has either been over-graded or the case & card have been tampered (altho there are no obvious signs of tampering).
what is my first course of action?
should i contact the seller & advise him of my suspicions & intent to get the card reviewed by psa... ask him about his return policy as well as the card's known history?
or, should i just send the card straight to psa for review & deal with the seller after i know what psa's disposition is?
and just exactly WHAT is psa's policy in situations like this, should the card turn out to be over-graded?
thanks for your comments & suggestions! >>



I went through the same hell and wounded up filing a dispute with the seller, whom I firmly believe was trying to play both sides of the fence. I wounded up sending the card back to PSA for an evaluation because I thought the PSA 7 was suspect. Turned out to be a tampered slab so PSA had to take it out. The seller refused to refund my money because it was no longer slabbed as a PSA 7, presumably so he could pawn it off on some other unsuspecting buyer.

Here's my thread if you want to read through everything I've gone through since. The matter is still under review with PayPal as of today.

mart

I am curious about this thread !! If the seller had a card that was graded a PSA 6 and it had no evidence of tampering, and the seller provided a decent scan, why would the seller be responsible for PSA`s overgrading?? I mean I know that you want the grade to reflect the card in the holder !! But is is really the sellers fault if PSA overgrades?? I mean there is a lot of history in some of these cards so I just cant see who should be responsible in a case like this !! Can you not send it back to PSA & request that they not remove it from the holder but just to inform you if it is correct? That would at least give you the opportunity to return it if needed in exactly the same condition that you purchased it ? However if you did return it,, it would be relisted & someone else would have the same problem !! I think , unless it was a lot of money I would just chalk it up to experience !!

WinPitcher

It would be nice if we knew what card we were talking about. With that said I am assuming it is a hi dollar card. I would notify the SELLER and see if a return can be worked out.

SD

calleocho

PSA 6 is a strange grade...sometimes i get beautiful examples, sometimes i feel like i should have saved up and gone for the 7 ...Probably the grade that i can least guess.