Bulk grading on vintage sets?

miklia · March 11, 2008 5:16AM

Hi! A quick question for the more experienced here. I've heard several horror stories about collectors and dealers who send in bulk lots, only to find that they are consistently under graded compared to cards sent in in small bunches. I have 4 hi grade vintage sets I would like to send in. What would my best option be, to ensure accurate grading and as few headaches as possible on my end? Thanks, and I look forward to hearing your suggestions!

J

Treetop · March 11, 2008 7:37AM

Welcome miklia

I've submitted to PSA for 7-8 years now. I tried the "massive" submission twice and was not a happy camper either time. Both submissions were about 1500 cards each. Various years. PSA ended up breaking up each submission into smaller groups internally, so in the end I think I had 3 submission for each 1500 card submission I submitted.

I would suggest that if you have a few thousand cards to submit, contact Joe Orlando direct by email at "joe@collectors.com" and see if you can get a price break. I would try and submit by year. Definitely when submitting by year they go through PSA alot more quickly that a submission with various years.

You can contact me at jjtmmw@aol.com if you have anymore questions

Thanks
Mark

Bosox1976 · March 11, 2008 10:30AM

I agree with Treetop. Speak directly to Joe and tell him you have multiple sets and want to grade one to see how it goes. Tell him you'll send in the other three if things go according to your (realistic) expectations. Or maybe 2 and 2.

Good luck - what sets are they?

miklia · March 11, 2008 6:20PM

Thanks guys! That helps me out a lot. I've been working with Roy at psa, and that's roughly the conclusion that we came to as well. I'll be sending in maybe 20% of them (650 or so cards, 1963 topps and 1960 fleer) in bulk as a test run, but I'll first separate the big guns and submit them on their own as a small lot. Roy was able to give me a small price break. Once I get everything back, I'll be sure to share my experience!

sagard · March 12, 2008 4:27AM

No offense intended but you might save your self a lot of time and money if you shared some quality scans of your high grade cards here first. Unless you are actually well versed in the submission process I think it would be a big mistake to submit 500+ cards on your first order.

mmsportscards · March 12, 2008 4:50AM

ditto sagaurd

sample batch of 50 would be first go

RonBurgundy · March 12, 2008 5:33AM

Grade 50-100 of them including the stars and low pops, then forget about grading anything else. It's not worth it economically unless you're into the cards for virtually nothing and by grading the keys you'll already know how the others would likely grade.

Ron

miklia · March 12, 2008 10:26PM

Thanks everyone for the good comments. since the more expensive cards can't be submitted via bulk anyway, I'll split this first batch. 50 of the better cards will go out this weekend at the expedited service, and if the grades are similar to my expectations based upon the descriptions given on the PSA site and ebay auctions I've seen, I'll do the 600. I owned a couple of card stores from 1988-1995, so I do know a bit about grading, but the psa phenomenon is a relatively new animal for me.

And I agree that sending in sets might not be the most cost-efficient way of doing things, but i really want to get a few up on the set registry.

Either way, I'll try to get some scans up in a few days to share first! I'm buying a new digital camera next week, might be the prefect opportunity to try it out.

Bulk grading on vintage sets?

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