PSA 8/9 vs PSA 8.5

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Hello E4, so in YouTube videos I always hear people saying ugh 8.5?! I hate that grade! I was just wondering how to value higher end cards in a 8.5? Do you just go inbewtween the 8 and 9 price? There’s not many sold listings for them. I’m asking because I just graded a shadowless charizard that got a 8.5, I don’t plan on selling it I was just wondering.

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People tend to complain about the 8.5 because they don’t seem to hand them out consistently. Also I know several people don’t like buying them from me because they are solely going for an 8 set not a mixture of 8 and 8.5. As for value goes I think it varies a lot on the card. For what I would consider a higher end card like your Shadowless Charizard I would value it in between the 8 and 9 price. For a low end card say maybe an unlimited holo usually I would price it slightly above an 8. Overall though I think there is a smaller market for 8.5 compared to a straight 8 or a 9.

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8.5 is only useful for individual high end or ‘one off’ cards and not set cards. It is very similar to the BGS 9.5 grade no one really collects them and the only time you see them is people hoping it may cross over to a higher grade.

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PSA 8.5 is one of the worst grades out there for lack of any repeatability. All half grades are a joke honestly and the lower you go the worse they get, but the more infrequent they get. So 8.5’s being the most common are the biggest problem IMO.

www.elitefourum.com/t/psa-8-5-grading-anomaly-december-2016-january-2017/18738/1

www.elitefourum.com/t/bgs-10-black-label-shiny-zard/24161/131

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Unless it is a high end card a PSA 8.5 kinda stinks. I don’t think I would compare it with a BGS 9.5, but definately not desirable typically unless really high end.

Example, a first edition jungle jolteon graded 8.5 will probably be steered away from and could fetch less than even a PSA 8 I bet or maybe the same. A PSA 8.5 first edition base set Venusaur will get a higher price all day though due to the card being higher end and having a larger gap between grades in terms of value.

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