Buying raw to get graded

judgebuck

I just read another thread about the success some have in doing this. Othering than centering, corners, edges, etc., I just don't know how to tell when a card is only an 8 and not a 9 or a 10. Any thoughts?

Sean1125

Most of the time you can't tell the small differences without actually having an ultra high res scan/the card in hand.

judgebuck

Even when you have the card in hand, what do you look for in determining 8, 9, or 10? Many 8s are centered with great corners and edges.

Sean1125

I don't have the web page on hand, but psa has it somewhere - it has to do with eye appeal and then it gets down to minute little things.

judgebuck

I guess you're right. PSA's grading criteria spells it out. It's just that I have trouble looking at a raw card in hand and deciding whether it is likely to come back graded a 8, 9, or 10. With many cards, it makes a huge difference in deciding whether to submit for grading.

ymarea

Besides the characteristics you've mentioned, also look at color, gloss, focus, and surface condition (scratches, dull spots, indentations, print spots, roller marks, etc.) Be sure to scrutinize the back of the card, too.

judgebuck

Thanks for the tips. After 30 years of buying and selling cards, I've always been able to distinguish between all grades up to about a 7. After that, it gets tough for me.

ThoseBackPages

its very subjective in my opinion.

i got this in the mail today (eBay win, group digital picture with three slabs in total):



heres a close up of the upper left corner:



now if *i* were examining this card raw to see if i would submit it (i collect PSA 9's, but dont mind 10's, those are easy to trade lol), there is no way i'd send it in, based on centering alone, but the thing that makes it a no-go for me is that there is a "chunk" missing from the upper left corner

Sethro

That Fisk is an example of what is killing me about collecting slabbed cards.

I collect 9s too, and it is the same thing. I win a card on eBay, receive it in the mail, and am shocked at the obvious, naked eye flaws. I understand that 9 allows for minor print defects, but I cannot understand how a print defect that obliterates half of the first letter of a player's name (essentially turning Dave into Jave) is a minor print defect. Or a print mark that looks like someone took a ballpoint pen and drew a black line across the bright blue sky. I mean, maybe if the line was on a dark background or something I could understand, but talk about eye appeal. It's the first thing your eye goes to on this card.

And the problem is I don't know who to be frustrated with. PSA, for not having a clearer (or higher?) standard, or these submitters who seem to know something I don't. I have piles of cards that didn't make it past my first preview because of the (I think) obvious defects, but I think that if someone else submitted them they would be a 9.