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PSA Grading really reliable?
A few months ago I sent a Willie Mays bottle cap that I expected at least a 3 or 4 and they graded it a "1" which was ridiculous. A month or so I sent it again and this time they graded it a 4. Are certain graders biased?
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No. PSA sucks, but they are all we got and the industry standard (yay).
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Sadly but true. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
PSA has their ups and downs, but at least right now they are wildly inconsistent.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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Allow me to introduce you to PSA’s pejorative replacement acronym around these parts:
Please Submit Again |
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Submit Again Too bad SGC was acquired by them. PSA wouldn’t be so bad if their graders & reviewers just studied their work own grading definitions. |
Poor at
Spotting Alteration Pathetic Scamming Amateurs Sure wish there were more viable options. Or better yet, that the sheeplike hobby wasn't so slavish to TPG. |
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yikes .. Better than a pinhole , I guess
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By definition, everything about grading is subjective
It can not ever be "correct" or "accurate" |
PSA Grading really reliable?
No.
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They totally missed a trim on the very first card they graded. Just happens to be on the most valuable card in the hobby. 😀
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Did they "miss" it? Or did they know it was trimmed and gave it a high grade anyway because they wanted to launch their company with a high grade on a Honus Wagner card?
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Just some examples of the disconnect:
https://i.ibb.co/SrJ3ZgP/5313710.jpg Quote:
https://i.ibb.co/PzBBkNJ/s-l1600-1.webp https://i.ibb.co/8P6t50p/s-l1600-copy.webp https://i.ibb.co/9hnL7xx/s-l1600.webp |
If you asked someone their opinion, and they changed that opinion as many times as you asked (with no new information in hand), how much would you value that opinion— let alone pay for it?
That is grading. Subjective and inconsistent. Just as flawed, if not more, is the mindset that exalts a high grade sticker when the card beneath does not look the part. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c6e61851_c.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5b363b63_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b47c7811_c.jpg |
Thanks for documenting that PSA is a complete joke and the hobby's biggest scam. Perhaps when the sheeple stop feeding them huge sums of money, they'll finally be displaced by something else.
Hope it happens in my lifetime. |
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They have been very reliable for me. Besides one complete debacle that after 3 tries they still mislabeled my card every time while charging me every BLEEPING time they screwed up. Seriously they have given me better grades on almost every card I have ever sent in than they deserved. They have turned many a $20 card into one that sold for several hundred to a few thousand. I have just been extremely lucky as I have only sent in cards through group submissions or had friends let me add a few cards to their PSA submissions.
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These stories don't really surprise me. IMHO, it seems after their "new" standards came out, cards were consistently undergraded. More recent submissions have been more in line with what I anticipated, but still more strict than the "old" standards. Again, JMHO.
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Unfortunately, PSA has recently started giving high-end submissions to at least two of their newbie bulk vintage graders that have no idea what they're looking at. We're all used to 4s being graded as 2s by the bulk graders who stare at modern cards all day, but rarely did the high-end stuff come back with that much of a delta before. Saddle up folks!
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I would argue that PSA’s struggles with consistency is actually a good thing for the knowledgeable collector because it contributes to market inefficiency, which is the best friend of any discerning investor.
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I don’t think cards need to be graded. I collect both graded and raw.
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LOL...
But to the first question, are PSA reliable graders? PSA isn't a grader; some unknown person is. So, they might be reliable and might not be. Grades are only an opinion at that moment of that grader's mind. It could be a half a grade either way, almost every time. And many times, more than a half grade difference, on the same card (*and maybe by the same grader at a different time.) "Reliable" is sort of subjective. Quote:
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Vintage cards that were once graded near mint 7 by PSA are now 5.5s and 6. Terrible. Consistency is the main problem.
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Like most companies these days, they have people who are good at their jobs and others who suck. I assume they don't fire many people and that there's a lot of turnover due to pay that's not enough for someone to live on in that region of the country. I'd say we'd be horrified to know the actual capability of the average employee -- it's a lot closer to McDonald's drive-thru than someone with a jewelry loop.
I only get autographs authenticated by PSA and grades from SGC. I assume the later will only get worse now that they're under the same overlord. |
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I look forward to AI machine grading that will consistently give the same result time after time and won't be swayed by who submitted the cards. At least I hope it will be transparent and much more consistent than hand grading.
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