Ok, PSA return of three cards came back today… PSA took sandpaper to my metagross gold star, here are pics. I have submitted before with PSA and have reasonable accuracy. My other two cards in this order were Karen’s Umbreon and Summoned skull 1st ed MRD. I believed both would be 9/10. Both got a 9, umbreon due to centering which is definitely my weak spot for judging. Summoned skull due to super minor corner thing, which I also thought might be possible, but this was my first yugioh card so I didn’t know how they would judge it. I’ve also accurately judged all of my 10 cards that were graded. A couple I thought would be 10’s weren’t but I plan to regrade them someday, maybe not with PSA. Out of 18 of my cards graded, PSA has destroyed two of em. My friend sent in 120 cards to PSA for this order as well, and about 5 of them came back with extra damage. The rest were assessed and graded how we both expected. Mostly 9’s, with a few 10’s.
Now this card… I can 110% guarantee that this card had NONE of those scratches on it when sent. There were 3 hardly noticeable scratches total, and 1 small spot of edge wear. No dents, nothing else for damage. I was expecting an 8. I tried in so many different lights to see anything else. My friend assures me that these scratches are not on the case.
Now for my question… Is there anything I can do to fight this? This is trash. I sent it in under the guise of being an 8 or 9 in terms of card value, so we sent it under a higher tier. We didn’t go the cheap route and under pay. So there is record of the firm belief that this card was in strong condition. I’m hoping that will be to my benefit. Any help would be appreciated.
I know damage is possible with any grading company, so it’s not only PSA, but personally, I’m likely done with them. 2 out of 18 cards is a pretty bad ratio. not to mention that 15 of the cards were graded in 2014 or something, well before current craziness.
There isnt really anything you can do if the damage is on the card because you have no way to proveit wasnt there before. Just sending at a higher tier doesnt give you a leg to stand on because otherwise we could all just send in trash and say “oh I paid more cos I thought it was a higher grade, pay me compensation, you must have damaged it”. My advice is wait until you get the card back in hand so you can get a proper look at if the damage is on the card.
Sorry ahead of time, I quoted you, then wrote more than I needed to haha! Kinda started ranting. Thanks though!
Yeah, that’s my thought as well, but my friend is certain they are not. I trust his judgment. I wish I could see it myself but sadly I can’t. I suppose I’ll withhold full judgment until that time, but still. The big ones though are that horizontal one on the foil, and the one under his name. Easily guarantee those didn’t exist prior. I’m not so blind as that. Not implying anyone here has said that I’m incapable, just reaffirming. The card wasn’t in a binder or anything for the last four years or so, either. It was stored safely in a box in a safe as well as a new penny sleeve and card saver. Was observed before sending as well.
I know there is nothing I can do, but it’s just frustrating and whether or not someone has tons graded with few errors, the fact is that anecdotal evidence definitely exists in significant quantities of cards being damaged. There is information in copious amounts to support both sides, and it’s just not for me to use PSA I guess.
Either way, I’ll just take it in stride. If people have good reps with PSA, that’s fine, I’m not here to diss on PSA. I wanted to know if I could do anything and figured facts were necessary to get a legit answer.
I do however, think that these things should be known so people can make a judgment on the company they choose to use. I plan to switch to CGC, I know they likely have problems too. We will just have to see how it goes for me. If it’s just as bad, then I can offer a more valuable opinion to people asking this question in the future.
I appreciate the help, but we can probably lock the thread now, I’ve gotten enough of an answer and don’t want to run the risk of this turning into a cesspool.
@pigeonsyndicate Absolutely, there´s many incidents where PSA damaged a card. But we can´t forget that they grade more than any other grading company in the Pokémon space, so I´m not sure if they actually damage more cards than their competitors. That aside, it´s of course an absolute no-go but without really strong evidence (high res photos from all angles etc) I doubt that they will compensate you.
Regarding the vertical scratches: most of them are on the outside, but sometimes they are on the inside of the case, making them very hard to separate from the card - I once cracked a few cards to check exactly that out. Or they just damaged the card, but these scratches are super uniform and plentiful, I´d be surprised if they are actually on there (they literally had to apply sandpaper then )
The card’s grade is a 6. Maybe I’ll just have my friend crack it out. Though, he has never done that, so I’m not too sure if I trust him there. There are supposedly 4 dents on the card and that was the major factor. Again, I can strongly attest to their being zero dents before sending. Maybe their definition of dent changed, but I don’t recall anything whatsoever.
That being said, I’ll give PSA the benefit of the doubt in that the backs of English cards are harder to read than the backs of Japanese cards. At least in terms of very very minor dent checking. So maybe there was one that I missed, but four I find hard to believe. Sadly I couldn’t get sight of them in any photos my friend sent me.
Hmm, that’s an interesting point. This will be the card to put that to the test then I suppose. Eventually I’ll crack it out. I don’t want it in a six case anyways. Better off in my binder with that grade.
Still sadly doesn’t lay the extra horizontal scratches to rest. That beast of a scratch under his face is impossible to miss.
I’ve seen a lot of cases where psa damages the card. Usually in the encapsulating step with presses in the card when they don’t center it before closing. I’ve seen dents most likely from a loupe dropping on the card, scratches, creases. I haven’t heard of anybody getting paid out though since nobody can keep them accountable. Well there’s one exception which was swolepokes Kyogre because it was unique enough that it was unlikely he could have taken photos of one copy and send a more damaged one. Best of luck and let me know how it goes though! Before high res photos and scans will be best showing the holo pattern and front and back centering. Unfortunately you would need it at several angles to show the scratching.
)