Newbie PSA Questions/Suggestions

3rdBase

Hi All,

I'm a new member and this is my first post. I have a couple of questions about PSA submissions and grading and I hope you can give me your opinions. First, here is my background:

As a kid in the '70s, I started buying packs of cards. I bought some 1973s, a ton of '74s and '75s, and some '76s. I worked on trying to complete these sets and I also bought complete "mint" sets from 1977 through 1987. But, I went to college in the mid 1980s and forgot all about my cards.

My son just started getting into buying Topps 2012 cards, and that inspired me to dig out my old cards that hadn't been touched in 25 years. I'm hooked again!

Of course there was no PSA back when I was a kid. I'm going to get a membership and submit some cards, but I'm not sure what to submit. I'm afraid that for most of my cards, their value is going to be less than it would cost to get them graded. I have no experience with grading but the 1977 - 1987 cards I bought as "mint" sets look like you'd expect - all with sharp corners, etc. I'm thinking (hoping) that these would all be PSA 8s and 9s and maybe even some 10s in there.

Unfortunately my '73 - '76 cards a not in good shape, particularly the 1973s. Most of them have bad corners, some have creases, most are not centered, etc. I do have some that look better with no obvious problems. I'm guessing PSA 5 for the majority of these.

So, what should I do? Is it worth submitting a common from 1973 if I think it could come back PSA 8? What about if I think it's a PSA 6? Should I submit a star from 1973 if it's going to get a 5? Should I always submit stars even if they are in bad shape? What about the newer stuff from the 1980s? Just submit the stars?

Thanks for reading this and for any opinions on these questions or anything else that would be good to know.

Thanks!

3rdBase

jeff8877

Welcome...

Your best bet would be to take a look at ebay "completed" auctions to see what a card sold for in a particular grade...that way you can make your own determination if it warrants the grading fees. Good Luck!

Jeff

ThoseBackPages

Only submit for the purpose of preservation. The cards youve owned since childhood are keep sakes and deserve to be slabbed.
Do not look upon them in a monetary light.

Enjoy this hobby with your son, forget about the perceived "value"

MrKnowthanx

<< <i>Only submit for the purpose of preservation. The cards youve owned since childhood are keep sakes and deserve to be slabbed.
Do not look upon them in a monetary light.

Enjoy this hobby with your son, forget about the perceived "value" >>



+100

Foo3112

Welcome to the board. Those Black Pages gave you great advice. Now if your looking for actual value, sometimes you can get more for high graded commons that an actual beat up star card - that is unless that beat up star card is a Mantle

What I suggest before sending anything for grading is doing your homework around here. Know what to look for and study graded cards so youll know what to send in. If its Vintage stuff meaning from about 1980 and before, getting players in grades of 7 and 8 are fine. Usually the older the card, the more you would probably have to lower you standards but always strive for a card that will only bring back a high grade.

Second - First thing most people look at are the corners. I know I use to and would forget about other important factors that if overlooked can be really costly as far as losing value/money. Things like centering. I would honestly rather have a card with a bad corner that to have a card with 4 perfect corners but horrible centering. Off centered cards will drop the cards price dramatically. Also, pay attention the the surface of the card. Make sure its clean. No bubbles popping out. Also print marks.

As one person mention - before sending in, do your homework and go on eBay and see what that card has been selling for as of the past recent auctions and see if its worth it. Ill give you an example. Say you have a Ryne Sandberg 1983 Topps Rookie card. These are kinda tricky and Ill show you why. Unless you think that card will come back as a 10, do not send it. I mean that. Why? Well a 10 can bring you about $300 but a 9 will only give you about $25-33. An 8 - forget about it, you just wasted your time and money. Now on an older card, coming back as an 8 might not be bad - such as a George Brett 1975 Topps (which is his rookie). An 8 can bring you about $150 but a 9 will go over $550-600+ so it makes a world of a difference.

To wrap up, study your cards. Know the Values (eBay completed listings) and heres the link to the SMR online to "guide" you as to which cards from that set might be worth sending in assuming you think your card can pull such a grade. Always expect lower so you wont be let down and when it comes back a higher grade, you'll never have to be disappointed again

SMR Online

Hope this helps
Marc

judgebuck

This is just a suggestion, but if you decide to join PSA, you will get six free submissions. I would pick the six best star cards that look just nearly perfect to you and send them in. When you get your cards back, you will start to get a feel for how PSA grades cards. If you decide to send more cards in, be sure and check the "collectors club specials." They change every month and always offer a special for a lot of 25 or 50 cards. As someone posted earlier, centering is very important.

Brick

Hi, hello, how are ya?

JoeBanzai

Why submit anything? If you are just having fun collecting with your son, just organizing and putting the cards together should be a blast! You can then complete your sets quite reasonably on eBay if you want comparable condition cards.............there will be a few exceptions.

You stated that the cards were in rough shape, so unless you are looking to sell off some cards, save your money. It does NOT make sense to have low grade cards graded unless they are a HOF rookie card.........there are a few exceptions. You not only have to pay to have the cards graded, return shipping can get expensive.

Do the suggested research and if you decide that you want to go ahead and join PSA you can also get a "Platinum" level membership and receive 15 vouchers.

Have fun collecting and welcome to the boards.

Joe

gemint

If you decide you want to sub some cards, I recommend scanning and posting a handful on here that you think are PSA 8 and PSA 9 grade to get feedback from the forum. We can give you a pretty good idea of how PSA will grade them.