I'm thinking about sending all my key 1978-89 cards to PSA; but will I, a first time grader, actuall

Estil

Now, with very few exceptions, I believe the vast, vast majority of my key 1978-89 cards have an excellent shot at PSA 9's or even PSA 10's (boy I'd love to get at least a few of those), however I've heard rumors (even on this forum) that PSA is tougher on their grades for those who are submitting for the first time than those who are "veteran" submitters. And will the cost of say, submitting my top 30 or so cards (the cards that book for at least $20 raw in the Beckett) be worth the chance that say, at least three or four might come out a PSA 10? Speaking of PSA 10, I'm rather surprised that there are certain flaws PSA actually allows to still qualify for a 10; I thought the idea of a PSA 10 is that the card is PERFECT in every way (you know, the old skool pre-PSA definition of Mint?).

The bottom line is I don't want to spend all that money getting them graded and get only 7's and 8's (and I'm quite a strict grader so I KNOW these have a good shot at 9's and 10's). I want to first be absoultely sure I'm going to get a fair shake. How I want to do this is any cards that get at least a 9 from 1981 onward or an 8 from 1980 and before will get sold on Ebay and then replaced by my "base grade" (PSA 7 for up to 1980, PSA 8 for 1981 onward, or I might be a total cheapskate and make PSA 7 my base grade for both 70s and 80s). Then I can use the profit to buy (you guessed it), more sets to complete my set run projects.

mtcards

I dont actually think that PSA grades tougher on new customers, if anything it would make sense to do just the opposite. My first submission which was a few years back was 6 cards (4 were free) and out of the 6, two came back 10's. 3 9's and 1 8, which was pretty good.

I just think its the luck of the draw since obviously if you put 100 (if there actually is that many) of PSA's graders into a room and they were all to look at the same card, you might have 50 grade one a 10, 40 grade it 9, 9 grade it an 8, and 1 grade it a 7. Grading by everyone seems to be that inconsistent nowadays.

BobS

Estil -

I would not send any cards if I were you.

1) It sounds like you are going to try to do this to make money. Although it has/can be done, most if not all of us have lost $$ on a first hobby attempt to do so.

2) When you say "key cards", I assume you are talking rookies. There are literally 100's of thousands of these out there, and thousands have been submitted, and I'm sure at least the majority of submitters "thought" their cards were a sure bet 9 and maybe a 10. Check the pop reports, a whole bunch of 7's and 8's versus 9's and 10's.

3) You said you are a strict grader, so you KNOW these have a shot at 9's and 10's. See above, but also: How many PSA cards do you own? How many have you handled? No offence, but the only way you can say you KNOW they're 9's and 10's if if YOU know 9's and 10's, from experience.

4) Lastly, seems like you like sets a whole lot more than graded cards. Why not just keep your rookies from the 80's as is? I see no logical reason to buy PSA 7's of these cards, especially if you already have mint copies. Sure, if your Henderson or Ripken rookie does come back 9 or 10, you can sell it, buy a PSA 7, and have some $$ left over. However, when the Sandberg comes back a 8, and sells for $6, you'll be in hole and still have to buy the PSA 7 to replace it. If this scenario happens a few more times on a 30 card submission, you lose.

But, I digress. To answer your question, first time submitters to not get hammered because they are first time submitters. The graders are handed a stack of cards. They have no idea it came from a virgin. First time submitters get hammered because they are green. Experience is where the 9's and 10's come from.

bxb

Expect to get burned.

Hope you don't.

TJMAC

PSA 10's are not easy to get. Especially, if you have not had a lot of the same card pass through. Are these cards original from your sets or have you been consistently upgrading. The odds of you have 10's from cards that were original from your set is unlikely. Keep in mind, depending on the rookie, a PSA 9 is not a sure fire way to make a profit.

I recently bought a 1983 Fleer and Donruss Boggs in PSA 9 for $8.50 each shipped. Also Gwynn and Sandberg can be had in the $15.00 range in 9 for these issues. It seems to me the risk outweighs the reward.

dontippet

When we talk about first time grades not being as high as expected, we are usually talking about the submitter not being as strict as they need to be. The first time grader gets a rude awakening as to what is an 8, a 9, or a 10. Have you checked all the corners of your cards with a 10x loupe? If you haven't, then I would suspect that your 9's and 10's will probably come back as 7's and 8's. There is a premium in the market for 9's and 10's. That's because they are rare and hard to come by.

I don't mean to be negative, but unless your cards are in unbelievably good shape, I doubt if most of your 78-79 cards are in 9 or 10 form. I recently scoured 800-1500 cards mostly from the 90's to find the best to submit. I sent in around 50 of the best for the sole intent of getting 10's. I got around 50-60% 10's. So I got 30 10's from 1200 cards, and these were only a few years old.

If you scan a few of your cards on this board, the members would love to tell you what they think. They will be honest, and it just might save you lots of money. The main think to look at is side to side centering, up and down centering, and the corners.

Beardown

By no means am I an expert in anything here but I would think the obvious answer would be to send in your "top 5-10" best cards and see how you do instead of all 30 or more at once. Test the waters and your gradeing skills at the same time. Just my thoughts.

drewsef

I think it is foolish to think PSA graders actually take the time to see if you are a new submitter or not.

And for the record, my first submission came back with two definite future HOF football players, one I sent one card in and got a 10(pop 7 or so at the time) and the other I sent two, both came back 10 (total pop was 3)

Have to agree with the others, send a couple in, see how you do, and go from there.

SoonerCowboy

Lets say for discussion purposes that they did issue grades determined by if you were a first time submitter or a repeat submitter. Which they don't. It wouldn't make good business sense to burn the first time submitter because they want you to grade cards in the future. They wouldn't want to discourage you from submitting agan. I think.

dontippet

I remember several years ago, before I ever submitted, I had a 1987 Donruss McGwire that I thought was a surefire PSA 10. I scoured ebay to see what a PSA 10 would sell for and was for certain that this card would be the first I ever submitted. Now, after submitting numerous times to PSA, I look at that card and can't believe it's the same one that I used to think was perfect. It would probably grade a 7, with an outside chance at an 8. Your eye gets trained through experience.

muchuckwagon

Grading is a skill that takes practice....a fact that many people overlook. Even with modern cards, I find one PSA 10 candidate for every 12 - 15 cards raw cards I review.

My advice to new graders is to pick out your 15 - 20 "best" cards for grading. Set the cards aside for a few days and then come back later to select the final 10 for grading. Write down the grade you think each card will receive, comparing the anticipated grades to the actual grades can be a very useful learning tool.

A ten card order allows you to get a feel for the grading process without a significant investment....nothing is worse than having a pile of 50 modern cards graded a PSA 8 that will not even sell for $1 on ebay. As stated earlier, most people tend to over-grade their cards on the first few orders. Over time, you can increase your order size as your grading skills increase.

One final thought on modern cards, if you think there is more than a 10 - 15% chance the card will not grade a PSA 10....take a look on ebay to determine the selling price of a PSA 8 or PSA 9. It might just be cheaper to purchase the card already graded.

Good luck!

HeritageAddict

My first sub(March of this year) was the best, out of 12 cards it yielded 5-10s, 5-9s, and 2-8s. It's been all down hill since

smtjoy

Agree with the above-

-Are you using a 10 x loupe, if not then get one and relook over your best cards, you will be surprised at what you see

-Do not send in more than 10 cards so you can get a feel for how they grade

-OC cards are a killer, my first sub I got 3 9(oc), to get a 10 the centering has to be perfect, also check the back centering

-If your trying to make money selling the cards you plan to submit, first check ebay and the psa pop report to get an idea of how much these cards will sell for in 8, 9, 10. If the 10's only sell for $10 bucks it is prolly not worth it period to send them in. Now if the card is selling for like $10 in 8, $35 in 9 and $200 in 10 then if might well be worth the risk. You have to remember there are companies like 4sc sumitting thousands and thousands of cards at discount prices and its hard to compete with them if you do not do your research.

-Remember not all 10's bring big money, make sure yours is a popular card that sells well on ebay or is a low pop common


Good luck!

Estil

So basically it looks like it most likely would not be a good idea to take what amounts to a $300-$400 gamble on grading fees. In fact, I looked up some of the key 1980s PSA 10s and most of those were going for no more than $200-$300ish (and I'd need at least one PSA 10 from those just to break even). So I should basically just "keep it real, keep it old skool" and just stick with good ol' fashioned raw sets like in the good ol' days, just as I have since well, this decade.

dontippet

Again, if I was you, I would post some scans of some of your better cards, and we'll give you an idea of what you can expect. If you post something that has the potential to get a 10, we'll tell you that. We're a pretty honest group here.

TomGshotput

If you really think PSA does not give a fair shake, then no matter what the grade is it would only offer minimal value

nam812

After seeing a title that long, I really didn't expect to find much inside.

larryallen73

I am pretty sure PSA graders do not know which cards are sent in by newbies versus sent in by veteran submitters. Of course, with the noted exceptions that they DO know when 4sc and DSL submit and they get a bump on their grades AND pay less per card! Back to the point, I think that most of us have gained a TON of experience over the years. When I look at my first few subs compared with now... it's just night and day different how much more accurate I am. With the exception of my recent '86 Topps sub which sucked the big one I usually do pretty good at guessing what my cards will grade and I always do substantially better than my first few subs back in the 90's. Post a few scans and we will tell you what they WILL grade. GOOD LUCK TO YOU!

jimq112

I agree with everybody else here. Pick a few of your best cards, make nice large clear high resolution scans with black or dark backgrounds so we can really see the cards. Get some ideas from people here about what they will grade.

Once you get the estimates, figure out what it costs you to grade just those cards including shipping etc, then take the time to see what those cards sell for on ebay in the grades given. Compare your costs to your sales, and see how much profit is left.


My first sub was much worse than expected. I should have done what people are telling you to do. Now I scan them big, look at them a few times, keep weeding out bad ones, then I get close to what I expected.



Post the scans, have the experts help you save money