I was thinking of buying several PSA cards of varying grades to use as examples when assessing pre-graded cards.
Would this yield the results I’m thinking, or would I find too much variance in graded cards for it to be an effective strategy?
@trainerdlyellow, It would at least give you an idea of what to expect somewhat so I do not see the harm. Beyond PSA 8 you can see some pretty large variance. Also keep in mind that different problems with a card can affect grade. A card with some minor wear and no scratches may get a PSA 8, but so can a card with no edgewear and scratches on the front or a card that is badly off center with no damage or wear at all.
No reason to get a PSA 10 as it is suppose to be literally perfect, which should be pretty easy to keep in mind. Really you would need a stockpile of each grade to get a real good idea of how PSA grades. After submitting a bunch of cards you get a good feel.
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Too much variance I think. I also think ludkins grading offers a pre grading service, so that would probably be a great option.
Buying a few 10’s to see what 10’s can look like would be useful.
Buying a few 9’s to see what 9’s can look like would be useful, but slightly less so as the variation is slightly higher.
Continue on down the scale.
The further you go down the less useful it would be IMO. E.g. as a 6 can be a 6 for a GEM MINT card with a minor hard to find indent or crease (Masakis) or it can be a 6 with several deep holo scratches and a clean back, or it can be a 6 for moderate-heavy back edge whitening and wear with little to no front damage. The lower the grade the more examples you’d have to see to get a feel for the grade if you can get one at all (and realistically the less “valid”/repeatable the grade is to begin with).
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