I hear you mate. And perhaps in future I will be much more selective and may just send a few off to a third party to be cleaned and bulk submitted. Having said that, one gets the feeling that they go marginally easier (and maybe they should) on cards like /5, especially when there are /10, /25, /50, /150, /250 etc. in the same product. I don't mean high end product where everything is low numbered.
I honestly doubt they would ever give the Bowman Chrome RC Ohtani Superfractor less than a 9. It would look very bad all round if cards like that get poor grades ( unless of course the flaws were very obvious, even to the untrained eye).
I did check the cards closely ( one was a BGS 8.5 which I cracked hoping for a PSA 9). Most had very sharp corners, good edges and good surfaces. And I wiped them down with a micro fibre cloth.
I would love to do more grading in future but not if I'm losing money each and every time. If it is a poor result across the board this time I'll give it another try with someone who really knows their stuff, but if that fails too, then raw it shall be.
I'll try to post close up picks when I get them back and see what some of the more experienced members think? Again, any advice is always much appreciated.