PSA Grading Question

[KaboomCards]

I did an experiment on 19-20 Absolute to see quality of card out of pack, got a Coby White quad patch auto, it only got an 8 and it was straight out of the pack. Some products just aren't worth grading I am finding, anything with some card thickness is a struggle.

 

[1stBowman]

I did an experiment on 19-20 Absolute to see quality of card out of pack, got a Coby White quad patch auto, it only got an 8 and it was straight out of the pack. Some products just aren't worth grading I am finding, anything with some card thickness is a struggle.

It's depressing that brand new cards can get such low grades. 8 of the 12 cards I submitted were pack pulled myself, including the 2 worst grades ( the 5 and the 6 ) The 3 Carlsons I bought on the secondary market and the Yelich I also purchased. The Yelich was a nice surprise ( PSA9) though I'm not selling that card as I prefer prospect cards over rookie cards and I don't have an auto of his. Yelich's 2010 Bowman auto is still at the $500 US mark raw. That's a bit rich for me ( they were at $20 two years ago).

The one silver lining that came out of the low grades for Carlson is that I own a pack pulled Gold refractor auto of his /50. No way am I sending that in for grading. It seems that some players in certain products have cards that grade poorly - I'd love to know why but it's definitely a thing. Alex Kirilloff ( also from 2016 Bowman draft) has mostly PSA 9's. It seems that 2016 Bowman Draft was a difficult product to grade - as opposed to 2017 draft where there's a heap of BGS 10's kicking around.

You're right about the thicker cards - chipping seems to be a major issue.

They say that the best way to make money is to buy raw; get them graded to sell. However, I find it very difficult to look at cards on COMC to ascertain how they will grade. I think in future I'll be selling raw and buying graded. Probably the worst strategy but I can't see it working the other way around unless the selling platforms allow for a better inspection of the cards. Also, I will definitely give a group submission on here a try rather than sending a bunch of my own stuff in again.

Finally, I just love the look of graded cards.

 

[KaboomCards]

It's depressing that brand new cards can get such low grades. 8 of the 12 cards I submitted were pack pulled myself, including the 2 worst grades ( the 5 and the 6 ) The 3 Carlsons I bought on the secondary market and the Yelich I also purchased. The Yelich was a nice surprise ( PSA9) though I'm not selling that card as I prefer prospect cards over rookie cards and I don't have an auto of his. Yelich's 2010 Bowman auto is still at the $500 US mark raw. That's a bit rich for me ( they were at $20 two years ago).

The one silver lining that came out of the low grades for Carlson is that I own a pack pulled Gold refractor auto of his /50. No way am I sending that in for grading. It seems that some players in certain products have cards that grade poorly - I'd love to know why but it's definitely a thing. Alex Kirilloff ( also from 2016 Bowman draft) has mostly PSA 9's. It seems that 2016 Bowman Draft was a difficult product to grade - as opposed to 2017 draft where there's a heap of BGS 10's kicking around.

You're right about the thicker cards - chipping seems to be a major issue.

They say that the best way to make money is to buy raw; get them graded to sell. However, I find it very difficult to look at cards on COMC to ascertain how they will grade. I think in future I'll be selling raw and buying graded. Probably the worst strategy but I can't see it working the other way around unless the selling platforms allow for a better inspection of the cards. Also, I will definitely give a group submission on here a try rather than sending a bunch of my own stuff in again.

Finally, I just love the look of graded cards.

I only buy graded cards on COMC now, too hard off the pictures and now COMC doesnt grade with BGS or PSA anymore, I cant see myself sending any more shipments to them. Unfortunate as its a good US based service.

 

[1stBowman]

I love using COMC. It has the most user friendly site I have encountered. The postage is cheap ( subsidised by sellers) and there are lots of cards. I did rely heavily on their condition notes previously and never bought cards that had them. They have since abandoned that method and give out the odd EX-NM and so on. Also, they do not reject cards anymore, which as a buyer is a concern as it's so difficult ( and dare I say intentionally so) to gauge the quality of the card. It's become something of a lottery whether you get a nice card, or one that would not have made it onto the site 6 months ago. I'll continue to send shipments to them but I now have far less confidence buying cards from them than I did 6 months ago.

I may end up buying graded exclusively down the track. However, there is possibly some flack coming the way of PSA, PWCC and Probstein via a class action lawsuit which alleges that all parties knew they were selling altered cards.

It will be interesting to see the effects on the grading industry following that case. Hopefully the Plaintiff takes it all the way and doesn't settle out of court. I think that most hobby participants want to know the full extent of the chicanery that allegedly went down.

 

[KaboomCards]

I love using COMC. It has the most user friendly site I have encountered. The postage is cheap ( subsidised by sellers) and there are lots of cards. I did rely heavily on their condition notes previously and never bought cards that had them. They have since abandoned that method and give out the odd EX-NM and so on. Also, they do not reject cards anymore, which as a buyer is a concern as it's so difficult ( and dare I say intentionally so) to gauge the quality of the card. It's become something of a lottery whether you get a nice card, or one that would not have made it onto the site 6 months ago. I'll continue to send shipments to them but I now have far less confidence buying cards from them than I did 6 months ago.

I may end up buying graded exclusively down the track. However, there is possibly some flack coming the way of PSA, PWCC and Probstein via a class action lawsuit which alleges that all parties knew they were selling altered cards.

It will be interesting to see the effects on the grading industry following that case. Hopefully the Plaintiff takes it all the way and doesn't settle out of court. I think that most hobby participants want to know the full extent of the chicanery that allegedly went down.

Never knew that court case was on, read heaps of threads (opinions) where people talked of jacking prices on auctions

 

[1stBowman]

Arrived today.

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[Eardrum]

Arrived today.

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Hey Damien,

Where do you get your cards graded in Australia and what is the cost per card?
Do you post to them or take it to the grader yourself?

 

[1stBowman]

Hey Damien,

Where do you get your cards graded in Australia and what is the cost per card?
Do you post to them or take it to the grader yourself?

Hi Joe,

I posted them directly to the graders (PSA) in California. The cost was $20 US per card. Pretty steep, but that was the cheapest service I could go with for that amount of cards (12). Also, I had to declare that each card would not exceed $500 once graded( a very tricky assessment) or otherwise any card that I declared over that amount would attract a $60 per card price tag. I valued 2 cards at $499 and the rest below that. It was supposed to be a 25 day turnaround but took 3 months due to their backlog. I also paid a mandatory $60 insurance payment ( based on my evaluation of the cards) which covered the cards from their end, back to me. So $300US all up plus $40 AUD getting them there(no insurance).

You can get the cards graded for $8 or cheaper, but you need to submit at least 100 cards or more from my understanding. I believe that is why group submissions are a popular way to do it. There is someone on here who organises it( Nissangtr35) you can look him/her up on here somewhere. I believe there are grading services here in Australia but I doubt they would add value to US sports cards. I could be wrong.

I'd definitely recommend going into a group submission unless you had a very valuable card ($5000 maybe?),then I would probably send it in myself and get it insured both ways.

I'm sure there are lots of members on here who could advise you much better than I can.

Hope that helps.

 

[bradt82]

There is a new option popping up soon.

slabd.com.au

Discovered them on IG.

Not open yet, but based in Adelaide and looks like they are going to be offering a PSA grading submission service.

Due to open in a few weeks, will be interesting to check them out.

 

[Eardrum]

Hi Joe,

I posted them directly to the graders (PSA) in California. The cost was $20 US per card. Pretty steep, but that was the cheapest service I could go with for that amount of cards (12). Also, I had to declare that each card would not exceed $500 once graded( a very tricky assessment) or otherwise any card that I declared over that amount would attract a $60 per card price tag. I valued 2 cards at $499 and the rest below that. It was supposed to be a 25 day turnaround but took 3 months due to their backlog. I also paid a mandatory $60 insurance payment ( based on my evaluation of the cards) which covered the cards from their end, back to me. So $300US all up plus $40 AUD getting them there(no insurance).

You can get the cards graded for $8 or cheaper, but you need to submit at least 100 cards or more from my understanding. I believe that is why group submissions are a popular way to do it. There is someone on here who organises it( Nissangtr35) you can look him/her up on here somewhere. I believe there are grading services here in Australia but I doubt they would add value to US sports cards. I could be wrong.

I'd definitely recommend going into a group submission unless you had a very valuable card ($5000 maybe?),then I would probably send it in myself and get it insured both ways.

I'm sure there are lots of members on here who could advise you much better than I can.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the in-depth reply m8, I thought for a moment that PSA have appointed a representative here or something. Ah well.....