Questions regarding PSA 8s

[trainerjack]

@shadowless

@trainerjack

Thanks, okay so you’re saying 8s can arise due to factory errors and or other factors after packing a card. So can a card come out of the pack with no factories errors and still be an 8? Like what’s the usual grade on a pack fresh card normally supposed to be? would it be 8-10 or higher?

I mean the highest is a 10. It depends what era you´re talking about, for vintage stuff a 9 is the average I´d say with some sets being easier, and some being harsher to grade. A card that has no factory errors (printlines, centering, nicks…) should be a 10 if packpulled and handled correctly.

Yeah I gotcha. I think I’m mainly going to be going for ex era myself. You really have helped me a lot here thank you!

[darthtiberius]

I think that PSA 8s are great and I even grab the occasional 7. While I would rather have a 9 or 10, as people are priced out of those grades they turn to the next best option. I think that 8s have a strong future and in the case where you get a strong 8 you can get a steal of a deal.

[fizzyadrenaline]

I definitely buy an 8 for the expensive cards. I know price is relative to everyone. Keep base 1st edition aside, there’s still a lot of high-mid tier cards are extremely expensive in 10s and even 9s. You Rayquaza/espeon/Umbreon gold stars, skyridge crystals, Lugia crystal, t17, etc. Just to name a few. Even a 9s they are mostly all above $2k each at the bare minimum. I can’t afford to drop 3-5k each month on cards. So 8s are amazing for me. They are great to look at and hold value as well. Especially in today’s market, it gives you a lot of bang for your buck

[papafrankgod]

Nothing wrong with PSA 8’s, people just want to solve their confidence issues displaying the 10’s, keep it up!

[trainerjack]

@papafrankgod

Nothing wrong with PSA 8’s, people just want to solve their confidence issues displaying the 10’s, keep it up!

Looking like I’m heading down more of an 8 route so thank you. Looking forward to getting more!

[zorloth]

I’ve cracked 150+ PSA 8s for my binder sets, so I have a good amount of experience with the grade. As others have stated, there is a LOT of variance within the grade. I’ve had a handful of PSA 8s that were clearly pack fresh but happened to be super off-center and/or have giant print lines. I’ve also had some 8s that were egregiously bad and didn’t even close to make the cut for my binder sets (several of which I’ve posted pics of on this forum).

I rarely buy 8s anymore, however, because people have started attaching a premium to it. It used to be (only a few months ago) that PSA 8s were generally priced the same as raw NM. But I’ve had very little luck anymore finding PSA 8s for raw prices. And I won’t pay a premium for PSA 8s because it’s fairly easy to find raw cards in equivalent condition. Personally, I don’t understand the point of collecting specifically PSA 8s. PSA 8 is NOT impressive condition, generally. The pop report of 8s is only constrained by how many cards people submit – there’s no exclusivity to PSA 8 condition. So I would never put a premium on a PSA 8. A PSA 9 or 10 is a different story, of course.

[trainerjack]

@zorloth

I’ve cracked 150+ PSA 8s for my binder sets, so I have a good amount of experience with the grade. As others have stated, there is a LOT of variance within the grade. I’ve had a handful of PSA 8s that were clearly pack fresh but happened to be super off-center and/or have giant print lines. I’ve also had some 8s that were egregiously bad and didn’t even close to make the cut for my binder sets (several of which I’ve posted pics of on this forum).

I rarely buy 8s anymore, however, because people have started attaching a premium to it. It used to be (only a few months ago) that PSA 8s were generally priced the same as raw NM. But I’ve had very little luck anymore finding PSA 8s for raw prices. And I won’t pay a premium for PSA 8s because it’s fairly easy to find raw cards in equivalent condition. Personally, I don’t understand the point of collecting specifically PSA 8s. PSA 8 is NOT impressive condition, generally. The pop report of 8s is only constrained by how many cards people submit – there’s no exclusivity to PSA 8 condition. So I would never put a premium on a PSA 8. A PSA 9 or 10 is a different story, of course.

Thanks for the input. At the moment for me I’m priced nicely into 8s and think you can find some nice conditioned ones so I’ll probably go for them. Its still a high grade with fine looking cards at least that’s what I think at the moment.

[zorloth]

@trainerjack

@zorloth

I’ve cracked 150+ PSA 8s for my binder sets, so I have a good amount of experience with the grade. As others have stated, there is a LOT of variance within the grade. I’ve had a handful of PSA 8s that were clearly pack fresh but happened to be super off-center and/or have giant print lines. I’ve also had some 8s that were egregiously bad and didn’t even close to make the cut for my binder sets (several of which I’ve posted pics of on this forum).

I rarely buy 8s anymore, however, because people have started attaching a premium to it. It used to be (only a few months ago) that PSA 8s were generally priced the same as raw NM. But I’ve had very little luck anymore finding PSA 8s for raw prices. And I won’t pay a premium for PSA 8s because it’s fairly easy to find raw cards in equivalent condition. Personally, I don’t understand the point of collecting specifically PSA 8s. PSA 8 is NOT impressive condition, generally. The pop report of 8s is only constrained by how many cards people submit – there’s no exclusivity to PSA 8 condition. So I would never put a premium on a PSA 8. A PSA 9 or 10 is a different story, of course.

Thanks for the input. At the moment for me I’m priced nicely into 8s and think you can find some nice conditioned ones so I’ll probably go for them. Its still a high grade with fine looking cards at least that’s what I think at the moment.

No problem. That makes sense. My point is not that the cards themselves aren’t worth collecting (after all, I have a gazillion unslabbed PSA 8s lol). My point is that it’s not worth paying a premium for PSA 8s over raw, IMO. I’ve seen people pay, for instance, $100 for a PSA 8 version of a card that they could’ve bought in equivalent condition raw for <$5. My suggestion is to NOT be that person. But if you can find PSA 8s for raw NM value, then that can be fine value. If that doesn’t work, then you could always just source raw cards and submit them to PSA yourself.

[trainerjack]

@zorloth

@trainerjack

Thanks for the input. At the moment for me I’m priced nicely into 8s and think you can find some nice conditioned ones so I’ll probably go for them. Its still a high grade with fine looking cards at least that’s what I think at the moment.

No problem. That makes sense. My point is not that the cards themselves aren’t worth collecting (after all, I have a gazillion unslabbed PSA 8s lol). My point is that it’s not worth paying a premium for PSA 8s over raw, IMO. I’ve seen people pay, for instance, $100 for a PSA 8 version of a card that they could’ve bought in equivalent condition raw for <$5. My suggestion is to NOT be that person. But if you can find PSA 8s for raw NM value, then that can be fine value. If that doesn’t work, then you could always just source raw cards and submit them to PSA yourself.

Thanks for the advice yeah I gotcha. Once I get better at spotting what makes a grade I may do that buy the raw route, but atm I don’t think I mind a premium for these cards if I find what I’m looking for. Of course if the raw price and 8 price are different enough to bother me that might change my mind so I’ll definitely think over your suggestion! Thank you again.