I stumbled across this video and found it interesting so I figured I’d share. Some things I found interesting
Majority of PSA employees are TCG/Pokemon fans
PSA has a system to track/flag serialized cards that have already been graded so you can’t crack & resubmit
PSA employees can grade cards at a discounted rate of $13. Employees can’t grade their own cards. However, the card is noted as ‘PSA EMP’ in the system so the grader knows when they are grading a PSA employees card. They just don’t know which employee it is.
Researchers make $18-$22 per hr. Graders make $22-$25 per hr. You have to start in research & ID before becoming a grader.
The employee recommends not submitting multiple copies of a card in the same order because graders tend to compare the copies to each other which can negatively influence the grade (eg one copy is in perfect condition and they give it a 10, the next copy is still within 10 spec but not as strong as the first so they give it a 9)
This has definitely been on my mind when daydreaming about submissions. 6 copies of brand x fossil holo, maybe one is flawless and comfortably within 10 parameters but it gets the 9 anyway for no reason and then the rest are doomed because they all look at least 0,1% worse. Similar to Gary’s advice about pre-sorting E-reader borders into thick and thin. You don’t want to provide the grader with a reference point that they can use to decimate whole submissions. Something about it being the exact same card probably compounds it.
This sounds interesting…gonna try to watch later thanks for posting. In theory the don’t send multiples makes a lot of sense even though in reality it should not matter but you know how things go
I would assume submitting vintage and modern cards in the same lot could result in this too as the grader would be more likely to scrutinize the vintage cards based on the pack-fresh 10 candidate modern?
Definitely. Cards with all the same or similar layout too. Those Etch A Sketch Jungle borders with the Leatherface edges probably doesn’t look like 10 material after trawling through 50 surgically perfect Neo Genesis borders.
Yup, this actually happened to me in my last submission. I submitted 9x prerelease aerodactly, 9x prerelease seadra, and 9x prerelease dark gyarados. All purchased from the same collection all in nearly identical condition. I was expecting the same grade for each copy with maybe a few outliers. To my surprise I got a 3 grade range for each card.
eg the first copy was graded an 8, the second copy looked identical but had an additional white spec so it got a 7, the 3rd copy looked identical but had two additional white specs so it got a 6 etc
My only theory is the grader was comparing them to each other and not evaluating them individually and this interview reinforces that theory.
It just wouldn’t be the same without a sprinkle of theorization about how they fuck up, in the event that autonomous sentient thought is involved. Sometimes. Rarely.
