Should I be suspicious of listings where photos at an angle to the camera?

[JollyElm]

Always be wary of non-standard picture and scan practices. There is very often a reason behind it.

And there's this...

630. Farced Perspective
A seller taking a picture of an off-centered card at an angle with the ‘very close to the border’ side in the foreground, giving the illusion that there’s a lot more room there than there actually is.

[GasHouseGang]

I can't imagine a PSA9 of anything being tilted, but I guess you never know.

[bk400]

Originally Posted by GasHouseGang

I can't imagine a PSA9 of anything being tilted, but I guess you never know.

Yes, this is what I would have thought as well, but then you wonder why the seller doesn't just take the photo head on the way most sellers do.

Luckily, I was able to find a head on photo from the PSA cert site, so now I know what I'm looking at....sure enough -- there is a tilt in the centering. Presumably not enough to kick it out of the 9 grade, but it's there for sure.

[Kutcher55]

In a word, yes.

[cgjackson222]

I have purchased cards based off of scans that unfortunately did not show the creases.

So it can cut both ways.

[D. Bergin]

If somebody is taking a photo with a digital camera instead of a scanner and they have the wrong lighting, it's almost impossible to take a good picture of a slab without tilting it, or angling it in one way or another.

Not knowing the seller or the listing, that would be my first inclination. It wouldn't even cross my mind that there would be some way to manipulate a tilt on a PSA 9 of any sort...other then un-intentional.

Are the rest of their listings shot the same way, or did they for some reason change their M.O. for just this one card?

[bk400]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

If somebody is taking a photo with a digital camera instead of a scanner and they have the wrong lighting, it's almost impossible to take a good picture of a slab without tilting it, or angling it in one way or another.

Not knowing the seller or the listing, that would be my first inclination. It wouldn't even cross my mind that there would be some way to manipulate a tilt on a PSA 9 of any sort...other then un-intentional.

Are the rest of their listings shot the same way, or did they for some reason change their M.O. for just this one card?

Good question -- it's an active seller, and he or she shoots about 95% of the PSA 9s straight on. The card in question has a relatively high PSA 9 population and a relatively low PSA 10 population, so I am guessing there is value in presenting the card as a higher end "9". But I am loathe to cast aspersions on people.