hello i thought i would ask those that have graded since the beginning would you say psa is easier to get high grades now or back in the day
as psa seem to have given out lots of 8.5 recently
The people who have consistently been grading cards over time will be able to answer you best on this question.
I havent graded anything in many years (made my first submission in ages recently yet to receive results). However when i use to grade things (5+) years ago i had an 80% strike rate for psa 10 cards with little sxamination on my end. I would submit booster fresh cards though and would still submit them with lines on the holo.
I have been told that.lines in the holo can affect grades however i use to have no problems getting 10s this way. Maybe this is an indicator psa have gotten tougher.
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thanks man 
i know how you feel, and have been talking to a few big sellers currently, and they are saying the same thing.
Psa is just keeping an eye on it’s population counts, as usual, the same it does with baseball cards.
Psa does not favor wotc collectors kindly.
Psa seems to be harsher this last year, but we can’t really prove it.
I’ve got a bunch of old graded wotc cards from the early 2000’s. i think one can see a similar standard being done since the early days. Some cards with higher flaws will pass as 10s, others with the same flaws will pass as 9s 8s. It just depends who is looking on the day. Would be good to hear from gary or other big psa sellers / graders from the olden days. 
Psa couldn’t give one solitary shit about the Pokémon pop. Don’t let your feelings misguide logic and reason.
Keep in mind much less volume was going through psa pre 2011. It would seem like “now” is more difficult simply because more people are submitting to psa. More people submitting = less mint ungraded items on the market, and a higher chance more people will not get their expected grade.
I felt I got better results in 2008-2009. That is my feeling based on sending in one order maybe per month, of mostly mint or pack fresh cards. It was much easier to find ungraded Mint cards then, so not really sure if this can actually be answered.
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i see where your coming from