This is why (apart from the crazy price jump) I avoid purchasing 10’s. The difference is so small and sometimes there isn’t one. I’ve looked at psa 10 auctions and seen them go for a premium when you can see a spot or two of white on the back. If you’re not careful you can end up paying a premium for something worthy of a 9. And we’ve all heard stories of cards jumping 2 grades here and there…
Having said this, a lot of people don’t care, seeing their card as a 10 whether there’s imperfections or not is what they’re checking off in their set lists.
A speck or two of white at the back do not preclude a card from being graded a 10. This is a common misconception. A card with a grade of Gem Mint 10 does not necessarily mean the card is 100% perfect. PSA gives allowance for small imperfections as long as it doesn’t impair the overall appeal of the card. Unfortunately, from my experience, PSA is more likely to deduct a grade if the imperfection is at the front of the card.
I agree that PSA makes errors all of the time. I actually see them handing out PSA-9’s on cards that are deserving of 7’s/8’s. Then I send in cards that should be 9’s + 10’s getting 8’s. My 1st Edition Base Charizard looks nearly identical to yours minus mine has the 1st edition stamp. The only thing wrong with it is a print line going through the back of the card. They gave it a 9. Personally, with a “factory error” I think cards should still be able to grade 10’s.
I think that by gem mint they should really mean it, how can they describe it as gem of its not? I strongly belive that they should be a bit more harsh on 10s, the more that appear, the lower the price will be of tens, I don’t sell psa cards so I don’t know for a fact on how much their prices have been affected as more cards get tens. 9s should be like tens are now and 10s should be flawless in my opinion.
Judging by the comments in the thread, my PSA 9 1st Ed Charizard is probably not likely to get a 10 based on the back centering. I still want it put into a new case though so I will send it to PSA to be regraded as I’m sure the worst that can happen is it gets a 9 again, but could possibly get a 10.
I know it’s possible it could get an 8 (even though it’s flawless apart from said centering) but if that happened I would just send it again and repeat.
How many people here would send in their cards to get regraded if they received 10s and you expected a 9? None. The parameters between grades is so minimal that they can make mistakes and grades can jump from 8 to 10 says it all. I sent in a pack fresh, perfectly centred Chinese charizard recently. No whitening or scratches. Perfect. Got an 8.
I guarantee that when I send it again, it will get a 9 or 10. Doesn’t mean I tricked anyone. Means they messed it up the first time, perhaps in the knowledge that I will send it again. They just doubled their money on that one.
Maybe not. But I can assure you that there are people here who would tell a potential buyer if a card is possibly over- graded instead of just running away with someone’s money and just blame PSA for the error. I for one refused to sell a 2005 Victory Medal graded PSA9 because I feel it was EX-NM at best.
Anything to do with grading is subjective and when it involves our own card, we’re more likely to be biased. This doesn’t mean that PSA is infallible.
Yeah- Gary often says if it’s a ‘strong 9’ or not. PSA still make some shoddy errors though, and it’s all down to human error. Been discussed in multiple threads. Just annoys me when it happens to me, and a 10 gets an 8. It’s extra expensive for me to regrade as I’m outside the U.S. So do excuse me getting annoyed - it’s frustrating at times! I do think there’s correlation to their POP report and the grades you get. Less cards of that grade doesn’t always imply that the card in question didn’t grade well…I suspect that if you submit a shadowless charizard and a 1st edition shadowless, the unlimited one is more likely to get a 10.
Pure conjecture from me there - but I love a conspiracy. Feel free to shoot me down with actual experienc, as mine is limited to Chinese cards. When I did send in some English cards that weren’t as good as the Chinese… I got a 10. Just seems odd to me.
This is a really good point, however, I think that unless you specifically work for PSA, you really have no right to say if a card is over or under graded.
Yes I am totally aware that even PSA staff make mistakes, but at what point do we police these errors? Is it a GEM MINT 10 that has 1 tiny speck? Is the allowance 2 or 3 specks?
Ultimately, I guess we just have to trust their professional opinion. If your morals say otherwise, then that’s also fine =)
I think people forget that PSA is literally a third party opinion.
In regards to “getting a grade wrong” the grade the card receives the most in its re-grade journey is probably the correct grade. I know guys who complain that it took 4 regrades for PSA to “get it right” and make their 8 a 10. Why is the 10 presumed to be “the right grade”?
If anything, this pattern of manic re-grading is hoping for a beneficial mistake.
From a personal experience, I never heard a complaint about PSA 6-7 years ago. Majority of the people submitting cards were collectors. Not the Instagram take a pic of a card and then immediately sell it “collector”. The complaints of PSA mostly stem from the change in customer base, not the service. The collectors 6-7 years ago wanted the critical opinion. They wanted to objectively know their cards condition. They were not as presumptuous. It was not a greed fest of how many 10’s they could own or sell. Hell, I never even thought about re-grading until a couple years ago.
Basically when people are complaining about PSA, a good portion of that complaint is a reflection of their convoluted perception of PSA. Typically in that perception lies an unexamined value system that is primarily causing their frustration. No third party company is perfect. PSA is an opinion, they might get it wrong occasionally, but an uncompromising desire for a high grade blurs the ability to be objective.
This. The objectivity of PSA is what makes it a good service. If there was some kind of upwards bias or if PSA arbitrarily gave out high grades, the service would be almost worthless. I, personally, am a little bothered by people who regrade a card multiple times hoping for a mistake or leniency. With it being a third party, the PSA serves its purpose by taking away the owner’s bias.
unless I was fortunate enough to find one ‘cheap’