PSA grades close to 70,000 cards per week. Them damaging cards is not a reflection of any lack of care on their part, but frankly it is just the odds. If you handled the number of cards that PSA graders do per week I can guarantee you that you’d damage at least the same amount if not more. This isn’t to excuse them from doing so, their objective should be to damage no cards and when they do they should adequately compensate the people whose cards they damaged. Just some speculation, but I think if PSA paid their workers more and hired people with actual hobby experience, the rates would be much lower than they already are…
If you aren’t comfortable accepting the (very very small) risk that PSA will damage a card, you probably shouldn’t be grading.
Especially at the Express service level though, when I only submitted a whopping 2 cards lol, yes I know - huge submission right here… 1 card was damaged so that’s a 50% f-up rate
Yeah, it’s really bad, especially when you have a valuable card that they mess up. My main issue with PSA on this front is not that they damage the cards, but that they don’t acknowledge it. As I previously mentioned I do think a lot of these claims are from people who just don’t look over their cards well, but when the documentation is clear that the card is in a different condition than when it was submitted, PSA needs to take responsibility and at least offer some kind of compensation. I get that they can’t pay out PSA 10 value on all cards, but something would be useful.
Here’s my experience dealing with all of the emotions that goes along with a card being damaged by PSA, the process of submitting the card back to PSA for review, and ultimately, receiving compensation for the damage:
Thanks! sorry this happened to you too… I get there’s 2 sides to the story - those of us who really look a the cards under a microscope and document everything, with the cards to come back damaged =( and those who insist it wasn’t possibly PSA’s fault and we overlooked something… I guess it’s easy to believe that until it happens to you. People, especially the noobs, for sure overlook things and insist their cards are mint… not denying that one.
I have another big batch of cards waiting to be sent off after everything clears up so we’ll see what happens! Stay safe out there
That’s horrible man, I feel for you. For PSA to damage a promo of that caliber…
Personally I don’t think this is acceptable or just something you should have to put up with. We are talking about items that are often almost irreplaceable, either because of low pop or sentimental value. And if PSA can’t ensure that they won’t damage cards, they should change their policy until they can. They could make grading significantly more expensive and as a result employ more people so that one person doesn’t have to grade as many cards because with increased influx people have no choice but to get more careless. Personally I wouldn’t mind paying much more for grading cards because if I submit a card for grading, I’m 100% sure that this card is special enough to me to make it worth the price.
Hey man, it can’t hurt to say something. You don’t have to be rude about it. Just say that you’re very disappointed and expected better and might consider taking your services elsewhere, like to BGS. You’re especially concerned because this was such a valuable card. Saying all of this might encourage PSA to further consider hiring more competent staff, especially for the handling of high-end cards. Maybe they’ll even offer some pity on you and offer to pay up some of the grading difference–I’d say highly unlikely, but why not bother to ask? What will it cost you, a few minutes of your time? I think for the worth this card has and obviously the work you had to put in to get the money to pay for it, you owe yourself that.
I know this rarely happens but it still is why I will never personally grade cards. I have a few sports cards I really want graded. What if they get lost in the mail? There or on the way back? What if they damage them. This isn’t like a pokemon card where there are 1000s of copies there are fifty in existence and some less. Idk how you guys do it. Thinking about grading my raw cards gives me 19 forms of anxiety.
You just have to pull the trigger. PSA is supposed to be the best way to protect your valuable/ sentimental cards. I’ve had a small handful damaged with about 800 cards graded now and I see it as worth it.
I agree with everything you said. And add on the factor you budget X amount of money for grading. Pay your bills etc. Then here comes a $1,000 plus or close to up charge because you got a good grade… Sounds more like a punishment then a reward. Good grade=pay extra Bad grade= Standard price. Damaged card= (Old School Shaggy song comes on) “It wasn’t me!”
