How strict is PSA with non-holos?

General
1

So I am preparing my first ever PSA submission, and I want to make sure I get something straight before I go through all of my cards.

My submission will include a lot of non-holos, so my question is, just how strict is PSA when grading non-holos?

I know that PSA is generally more lenient with non-holos than holos, and I have seen non-holos with minor whitening get PSA 10s, but I am wondering just how consistent PSA is with them, that way I can know how strict I should be when deciding which cards to send off (I will be going through Ludkins to help with this).

I also know that it depends on the grader and that no one is going to be able to give me a 100 percent definitive answer as a result, but I guess the question I am trying to ask is, do non-holos generally have to be absolutely perfect to get 10s? Or will they get 10s so long as they look pack fresh and don’t have any dents, poor centering or major nicks?

I would really appreciate any help! Thanks everyone!

2

Go in with the mindset that any surface scratches or whitening on the front or back will at best yield a 9. Grading these days is brutal, and I have a lot of cards from both the 2xxxxxx and 4xxxxxx serials and the PSA 9s I’ve purchased recently from the 2xxxxxx serials I’ve been greatly disappointed in compared to recently graded cards. Somethings like centering I feel like they’ve been pretty consistent with. Mainly the edge and corner wear standards have increased the most in my opinion.

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3

The edge wear is the thing I was most concerned about, because I have noticed that even a lot of pack fresh WOTC cards have very light scratching/fraying on one of the side edges (you probably know what I am talking about). A lot of these cards are cards I pulled out of packs myself, so they haven’t even touched other hands.

I have noticed that some of my graded non-holo 10s do have that, but I guess PSA has cracked down more on that now?

4

Why do you think PSA is more lenient with non-holos?

There are definitely additional challenges when grading holos such as print lines and holo scratches but this is more inherent to the card itself and doesn’t have anything to do with how strict PSA is

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5

I have noticed plenty of PSA 10 non-holos with minor whitening. Haven’t noticed a whole lot of that with holos. Maybe that’s just my personal experience, but I have also heard numerous other people share similar sentiments.

But again, I haven’t graded any cards personally, so my frame of reference isn’t the best.

6

Still waiting for mine Abra (team rocket) to be graded. I think I should be getting my psa return this month (submitted Oct).

I made sure there no whitening, nicely center, and corner nicks.

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The thing with grading non holo cards is there isn’t much of a market for PSA 7-8. Most times the card is only worth what you paid for grading. So I’d say send in the absolute best cards you can.

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I have graded hundreds of non holos, and can safely say that psa are in no way more lenient on non holos. And you mention you have some 10s with minor whitening, yes, that is not out of the ordinary. Psa 10 is in no way indicative of a perfect card. I would visit the psa website and review the grading standards. Good news for you using ludkins, is that they pre grade your cards, so you can use their expertise.

9

I think its that print lines and scratches are just more easily seen on the holo portion of the artwork then their non holo counterparts. I would guess that non holos are looked at basically the same as holos are looked at.

But PSA has been way harsh in the last couple months, grades are down across the board from what I’ve seen. I got mega screwed on my last sub. So dont be surprised if you get bent over man.

Congratulations on your first sub dude! That’s super exciting. You’ll have a great time dealing with Charlie and Peter at ludkins! I hope you do extremely well my friend! Take it easy.