Yeah I mean to each their own - I’m all for that
I guess I do not “know that everyone” here prefers PSA - but theres an obvious partiality to them and some doublespeak that goes on where people are bashing PSA and talking about how they give 10s to cards that dont deserve it but also insisting they dont do pop control and that Beckett and CGC only do it and other silly things.
They all do it, obviously
My point is the entire hobby has a massive partiality to PSA. It’s built in to the hobby itself.
The doublethink claim is a bit strange to me. Not everyone on the forum think the same way or believes the same thing so of course there will be a ton of statements and claims that are logically incoherent and contradictory? Unless you have a specific example from one person?
On a side note I don’t know why having bad 10s requires pop control? Imperfect grading/incompetence is a sufficient explanation
???
If you were to resubmit your BGS 9.5 Base Set cards, I would bet that they would not get the exact same subgrades. There is going to be increased variability with BGS because they have to provide 5 grades (if ordered with subgrades) rather than 1 at PSA and CGC. This isn’t to say that BGS is a bad company, but that your grades are that much more dependent on the subjectivity of the specific grader that you get.
And to be clear, I buy PSA, CGC, and BGS cards regularly. I go through thousands of listings per week; BGS grades under 9 are a complete mystery to me. What is a BGS 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, or 8 supposed to look like? This is where I see the most inconsistency in BGS beyond the subgrade point above.
On the topic of how subjective one’s preference to a grading company is, I truly think that a big reason I prefer PSA more than other grading companies likely has little to do with what other companies do right or wrong and more to do with the fact that PSA was the first grading company I ever had exposure to. It’s like how most people are partial to whatever generation of Pokémon they were first introduced to; you tend to like them the best.
That is the same for any grading company, there is always risk.
PSA has the same issue. I’ve sent many cards back into PSA and had grades changes. Sub grades or not grading is subjective - which is why companies that claim to be “AI” (when they aren’t) get some interest as it should remove the subjectivity.
Another conversation for another time.
Well then you’re not being honest with yourself whilst your doing all your hours of looking at cards online.
I can’t frequently tell why something should get a PSA 3 - 5 (and arguably some 6s). Some have creases and get a 5, some don’t and get 4s.
Clearly there are grading guidelines but those aren’t often adhered to.
Lower condition grading is pretty rough on all ends. Grading wasn’t really ever meant for lower condition cards anyway
My suggestion to people buying lower grades is just to buy the cheapest one that looks the best within your budget.
For BGS id say anything 8.5 or above is pretty understandable and easy to predict.
This is a video I’ve watch many times and it is a perfect example of what @Dyl is saying. Anything under a 9 is a total guess as to how they came up with the grade.
This is a real thing. Most people have PSA slabs , so they continue with PSA as people like conformity.
Where it gets silly is when people approach it from an investment perspective and trash talk other companies in thinking it protects their investment.
That video is 6 years old. Let’s compare PSA slabs from that time too?
The video may be old but everything Scott says in the video still stands true today. You could argue that replacing the PSA slabs in his video with newer certs would make a even better case for PSA imo
CGC 10? 
Obviously should be less than an 8.5 but anyone can pick out the strange cousin of the family.
8.5
Side note. Sunday afternoon and we fighting on slab preferences. 
Maybe its time for the “giant grading company debate thread” lol
I literally had this suggestion typed out 2x and never submitted because I thought it was a tad rude. People be passionate about their grading
But I’d love to mute such a tread! And no doubt we have hundreds of other people ready to ask the same question over and over forever
I’ve thought about muting the grading category so many times but this would perhaps be more feasible.
Keeping the company tribalism to one thread could be beneficial.
I liked sgc a ton but when they sold to collectors universe instead of fanatics it hurt my soul. I used to get cards in 5 days mot 30 days. I dont know who to use snymore they ruined a good thing and joined the evil empire
If you don’t like PSA, you’re left with BGS and CGC. Maybe give one of them a try?
