Flaws that reduce grade

[DetroitTN]

I'm new to the forum, glad I found it. I have some graded cards I bought from ebay and noticed they're 9-10 grades but have flaws that I would have deemed too significant to submit for grading. They contain whitening on back corner, a 1/2" scratch (almost a gouge) on the back, edge that isn't smooth, scuff, print lines on front, print lines on back, etc. The cards themselves look good though. Am I being too selective in choosing cards to submit? There are plenty I could send that have lesser "issues" than the ones I bought graded 9 or better. I use an LED flashlight and a magnifying glass to look for surface issues, of which I seem to find on everything. I have a card graded by PSA, SCG, CSG, and GMA because I wanted to research them first hand. It seems like EVERY card I get, either from ebay or a pack, has a print line or two or three. I don't have money to waste on getting bad grades, so I'll take any pointers from those who've done grading before. Thank you for helping

[FireRob]

I'm new to the forum, glad I found it. I have some graded cards I bought from ebay and noticed they're 9-10 grades but have flaws that I would have deemed too significant to submit for grading. They contain whitening on back corner, a 1/2" scratch (almost a gouge) on the back, edge that isn't smooth, scuff, print lines on front, print lines on back, etc. The cards themselves look good though. Am I being too selective in choosing cards to submit? There are plenty I could send that have lesser "issues" than the ones I bought graded 9 or better. I use an LED flashlight and a magnifying glass to look for surface issues, of which I seem to find on everything. I have a card graded by PSA, SCG, CSG, and GMA because I wanted to research them first hand. It seems like EVERY card I get, either from ebay or a pack, has a print line or two or three. I don't have money to waste on getting bad grades, so I'll take any pointers from those who've done grading before. Thank you for helping

Oh boy lots of questions or at least comments to be made about this. (That’s a good thing!) be prepared for a lot of me rambling

Full disclosure I prefer PSA graded cards for a few reasons that I’ll briefly explain.
1. I am a big fan of the PSA Set Registry and it’s a great fun way to build “sets” of cards I enjoy having in my collection and let’s me compare/compete my set/collection to others that have the same cards.
2. I am a collector first but recognize one day I will die and my family will sell my cards or I’ll grow tired of collecting or retire and need the money for my self and that brings up this… It’s agreed upon by the majority that PSA has the best resale value and the same card with the same grade from PSA will almost always sell for a higher price than any other company.
All that said, I may prefer PSA but I do have others and won’t exclude a card just because it’s not PSA slabbed.

With that out of the way

First and foremost, third party grading is subjective. Is the person grading the card that particular day having a good day or is he mad about something and taking it out on the grades he is giving, maybe even subconsciously? Does he not care what grade the card gets and after a quick glance decides to just call it a 9 or 10 and move on.

My latest PSA news email said PSA is currently grading over 40,000 cards a day! That’s a lot of cards and I’m just guessing but they can’t spend more than a few seconds looking over each card before moving on. Just how accurate can they be?

What you describe about seeing obvious flaws and still getting a high grade is something I see all the time and I am constantly scratching my head trying to figure out how one awful looking card graded higher than another that I can’t find anything wrong with it. This applies to cards I have no dog in the fight with and really is frustrating when it’s cards I have submitted and see someone else’s who’s did grade higher but looks lesser.

This brings me to this. They (grading companies) say they combat this but I don’t believe it. I think the big shots who submit thousands of cards get preferential grades. Us little guys get lower grades than their best customers. I have thought many times about canceling my PSA membership and just using a big third party submission company. These are the guys who I see lots of their Gem Mint 10’s with obvious flaws. But maybe they just play the odds and win. They submit 1,000 cards and get more 10’s than me who submits 5 to 50 cards at a time. I just don’t know. This is my conspiracy thinking on this subject so don’t put too much into what I’m saying

The different grading companies are another topic. Just like Ford and Chevy guys will always argue which is better, the same can be said for grading companies. The two big dogs with the most loyalty is PSA and Beckett with SGC being a contender in this fight. Each will argue that their company of choice grades the most difficult and stringent and therefore the higher grade from that company must be better etc.

Sounds like you have done some research so I’m not going to go into the different companies.

As far as what you do to choose which cards to submit.

Yes, be very picky! I am and sometimes it pays off….most of the time, not. My track record isn’t great for the number of 10’s I have received. I don’t submit a lot of modern and I also sub a lot of cards I’m not expecting to get a 10 and I just wanted a graded version of the card.

I have acquired 100’s of copies of a single particular card purchased and pulled from packs. I will sub the best one I had after looking it over under all kinds of lighting and magnifying classes and jewelers loupes and centering tools thinking there is no way this is anything less than a 10 only to get it returned as a 9 or 8. Sometimes I make notes of a card I’m submitting with the flaws I have found and they returned as a 10. Go figure?

I know I’m long winded and I apologize.

It also pays to make sure you do a good job wiping down your cards especially with modern glossy and chrome cards and careful not to do any damage in the process . Every card I sub gets a brand new penny sleeve and card saver. I want the grader to not have any biases before he has pulled it out of the card saver to look at the naked card. I have read a lot of articles and watched a lot of YouTube on how others prep their cards for submission and gotten lots of good tips.

Any specific questions, let me know. I’ll try to shorten my answers.

This is one of my cards that returned from PSA yesterday.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[doniceage]

Jerad,
If you could do me a favor share a card that you have that is graded that has major flaws please. I would like to see if it a top tier grading company or some fly by night operation. Granted, all companies make mistakes just like to see a picture of what you are talking about.
@DetroitTN

Rob,
thank for the long reply.

DON

[bigbenjobu]

@DetroitTN If you are concerned about what the card may grade, there are plenty of Bulk Submitters/Third Party Graders that will do a card review for a minimal fee. One of these services that I use charges $5/card to review it, if submitted, and $3/card if it is kicked. That could save you from wasting money on bad grades.

I really like PSA, but currently only the $50 service is available (to members) and honestly unless the cards are high value, you may want to wait until a cheaper service opens.

If these cards are for your PC you could look into a service like SGC.

[FireRob]

@DetroitTN

I really like PSA, but currently only the $50 service is available (to members) and honestly unless the cards are high value, you may want to wait until a cheaper service opens.

And that’s only “IF” you win an allocation in their lottery when they have them.

Oh how I can’t wait for the prices to drop. I don’t know if they will ever go back to the $10 to $15 price range but even the $25 fee during the middle of the Covid rush is starting to look good despite my adamancy during that time about how I would never pay those prices to have my cards graded.

But also, the $50 service level isn’t the “only” one available. Their higher levels starting at $100 and up per card are an option, an option that’s not much of an option to the average collector.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Taliasen]

Check out the ISA group submission here on SCF! $18 per card 14 day turn around time.