Post-War PSA Grading

[Tomi]

Originally Posted by raulus

What does the group feel is the motivation for manipulating the pop counts? Just to motivate submitters to keep sending more of them in?

Or is there some insider trading going on that gives them another incentive to undergrade some cards?

The difference between a 9 and a 10 in many cases is astronomical in price differential. I can imagine how many 9's have been sent in to see if they would bump to a 10. Sad thing is that I have seen a lot of 9's in person that can be 10's any day of the week.
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[raulus]

Originally Posted by Tomi

The difference between a 9 and a 10 in many cases is astronomical in price differential. I can imagine how many 9's have been sent in to see if they would bump to a 10. Sad thing is that I have seen a lot of 9's in person that can be 10's any day of the week.
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I guess I’m still not understanding why there is manipulation there. Does the grading company somehow benefit from limiting the number of 10s that it slabs?

I totally understand the dramatic price differential as you work your way up the grade ladder, but I’m just not clear what incentive the grading companies have to somehow deliberately undergrade cards to limit the pop count at the upper echelons.

[Tomi]

Originally Posted by raulus

I guess I’m still not understanding why there is manipulation there. Does the grading company somehow benefit from limiting the number of 10s that it slabs?

I totally understand the dramatic price differential as you work your way up the grade ladder, but I’m just not clear what incentive the grading companies have to somehow deliberately undergrade cards to limit the pop count at the upper echelons.

You do it with a star player and not a common. If there were 500 PSA 10 Henderson rookies right now they would probably sell for a few thousand dollars. Instead PSA 9's sell for thousands of dollars since there are very few 10's. There will be MANY more submissions of the card since 9's are not rare and are still bringing a big dollar. If PSA 9's were bringing $100 or less there would be much fewer submissions.

[irv]

Originally Posted by raulus

I guess I’m still not understanding why there is manipulation there. Does the grading company somehow benefit from limiting the number of 10s that it slabs?

I totally understand the dramatic price differential as you work your way up the grade ladder, but I’m just not clear what incentive the grading companies have to somehow deliberately under grade cards to limit the pop count at the upper echelons.

Look at the buzz it creates, the hype, the interest, the yearning to own a 10, the ever, although ignorant, praise PSA gets for being tough graders. There is more there that others can add but that is the gist of it I believe.

[Kutcher55]

They also play favorites with their big customers as VCC has illustrated, in noting that high grades get disproportionately handed out to the largest submissions. You can see this in the serial number sequencing. Also, as others have noted, by restricting 10s on high profile cards it increases the “value” of the card and helps PSA keep its somewhat muddled reputation as the slab that is easiest to sell and generates the highest returns.

I should add that I collect PSA and SGC and raw and I do find it interesting how collectors like myself who basically know PSA has a lot of shady underhanded business practices still remain customers. It’s sort of unusual when you think about it at least when it comes to businesses that don’t have a monopoly. Although on second thought maybe it isn’t as unusual as I think.