Upcharges
jerryski59
Posts: 6 ✭
Hi so I just got back my Wayne Gretzky O Pee Cee rookie card PSA 8 and the upchare was $1449 Canadian seems a little hi but not sure ?
2
Comments
Cards sells between 12,000 and 16,000.
So yeah thats right they charge.
"$999.00/Card
Max Insured Value: $25,000 or less
Estimated Turnaround Time: 5 Business Days"
That’s correct
That sounds like the kind of fee you'd want to pay!
Congratulations.
What service level/dollar per card did you submit your 10K+ card at? What did you think it would grade?
I used vintage through PSA Canada $700 per card as collector level deal . I believe you can't pay for a grad as i always say buy the card not the grade
I have sometimes wondered if you could buy a grade. I think maybe if you have name recognition and are a customer who has bought tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars or more of product, even if you submit one card, that subjective on the fence borderline situation tilts your way more often than it does for Shady Joe who submits 10 cards a year at the lowest rate.
I have sometimes believed that the $50 to $100 a card rate may mean your grades dont disappoint the way they may on the 18.99 special. But not so sure about that in August 2025. The influencer guy who did his Youtube video of his Express Service at The National, which turned into a thread on these boards, may have proven that. I assume that was not cheap.
A lot of people don't like upcharges. Even the owner. https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1285177
It's so odd that the process that is used to grade every single card out there is the same, yet there is such a gap in the cost to the consumer.
It's like going to a drive-thru car wash with a Hyundai and getting charged $25 while the Mercedes behind you gets charged $400.
If everyone boycotts PSA I will too. I don’t like them either.
I like how he used the word “extortion”.
Farewell Ryno.
They were not wrong then....Now those small fish there would never have to worry about upcharges
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
I haven't submitted much lately. When I do, I've started using one grade below what I think it should grade when deciding on the service level for cards worth more than the bulk level. That way I'm not overpaying for undergraded cards. They can upcharge me all they want in that case.
What if PSA thinks a card is an 8. But, if they give it a 9 they get an extra 500 bucks on an upcharge? Isn't that incentive to over grade cards?
No, clearly the incentives are to keep pops low and protect pricing. As retail trading has proven, humans love to gamble and difficulty in achieving a high grade actually incentivizes submission velocity, no matter how much we grumble about it.
I agree with you on that for sure.
That works as long as the customer thinks the process is fair and legitimate. Otherwise, you have to depend on a continuous stream of new customers using your system to replace the ones that get frustrated and quit because they feel the deck is stacked against success.
Fine line between those. Too far one way and you lose value for your service, and too far the other way and the customer loses trust in your company.
Why does PSA care if the prices are high or low?
Seriously? Why would PSA care if their slabs sell for huge amounts of money? Is that your question?
Buy the card, not the slab, right?
You're kinda suggesting that PSA is manipulating the market.
Not suggesting that at all, you in fact suggested there is an incentive for them to give out a 9 for a 500 buck increase. I countered that.
Tbh I think it’s lame to bag on PSA on their board. If you don’t like how this game operates - and it is a game, these are trading cards - then don’t play. Simple stuff.
I'm more bagging on PSA policy of taking a cut of your card to look at it and put it in plastic. I like graded cards though.
Yes, the process is the same, but PSA is the only grader as far as I know that offers a guarantee. The up charge is mostly due to that guarantee liability that PSA holds for more valuable cards. At least that is my understanding
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
But I think you have a ton of people on these boards and others who have completely resigned and wont step in the casino again and have no desire to gamble when the last 10 times they visited they walk out with less money or no money.
I think it depends on who you are looking at when applying that statement. A ton of people on these boards who like cards from the 80s and early I think are completely ready to give up the gambling and can go with Fanduel instead for a gambling thrill. I have quit in that 80s and earlier space. Had my last sub of that variety as a curtain call. I have no desire to attempt to achieve a high grade when the deck is stacked against me. I like money.
I think the gambling will continue with modern breakers and guys on Youtube losing it on a nice pull. That thrill of the pull on modern should still bring out the junkies who will lose in total the more they play but they can still win a big one in one day on the roulette wheel picking 37. It is very possible to win in that space in one brief break.
With 80s and earlier it feels like even when you win you lose. Outside of some real lottery type experiences. You can either open a 7,000 dollar box of 70s stuff and unfortunately whiff and pull very few nice cards or no nice cards or you pull dead centered beautiful cards with sharp corners and no print issues, pay to grade them and they are 8s.
What guarantee? I don't think they actually guarantee anything.
Wow. I'm not sure where to begin on that post.
I have only received 2 upcharges in over 20 years of submitting, and got them both on the same submission....would love to get more of them...LOL
You thought your cards were in great condition when you submitted them right?
You're saying your cards were in better condition than you thought they were in?
The upcharge is based on PSAs evaluation of the cards value. Not their evaluation of the cards condition.
You don't even get the service that they charge you for when they upcharge you.
I love upcharge emails.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.