Does PSA give favoritism to certain dealers/customers?

[perezfan]

I'll relay a recent experience to this effect, and sorry up front for the lack of specifics, as I prefer not to identify the AH...

I recently broke a somewhat scarce card out of a PSA 5 Holder. I wanted it in the SGC "Tux" to display it and show it off better. So I submitted it to SGC, where it received a grade of "A". I knew this was BS, so I cracked it out and decided to try an experiment....

I sent the newly cracked raw card to a well-known auction who heavily features PSA-graded cards in every catalogue. I can't bring myself to send anything to PSA, so left it up to the Auction House to get it graded and put it in their auction.

Sure enough, it came back a "7" this time around. So it went from PSA "5" to SGC "A" to PSA "7" (when the prominent Auction House submitted it). This entire debacle aged me, but worked out okay financially (even though I'd rather have kept the card). Mostly though, it demonstrates the following....

Either the prominent AH gets preferential treatment from PSA

or

The issued grades are completely meaningless and random, depending on the grader of the day.

[parkplace33]

Originally Posted by perezfan

I'll relay a recent experience to this effect, and sorry up front for the lack of specifics, as I prefer not to identify the AH...

I recently broke a somewhat scarce card out of a PSA 5 Holder. I wanted it in the SGC "Tux" to display it and show it off better. So I submitted it to SGC, where it received a grade of "A". I knew this was BS, so I cracked it out and decided to try an experiment....

I sent the newly cracked raw card to a well-known auction who heavily features PSA-graded cards in every catalogue. I can't bring myself to send anything to PSA, so left it up to the Auction House to get it graded and put it in their auction.

Sure enough, it came back a "7" this time around. So it went from PSA "5" to SGC "A" to PSA "7" (when the prominent Auction House submitted it). This entire debacle aged me, but worked out okay financially (even though I'd rather have kept the card). Mostly though, it demonstrates the following....

Either the prominent AH gets preferential treatment from PSA

or

The issued grades are completely meaningless and random, depending on the grader of the day.

Bingo. Again, if you have raw cards and want to get graded and sell, pick an AH an submit through them. You will be pleased, believe me.

[Ima Pseudonym]

I was recently talking to a friend who was getting ready to submit a whole bunch of T206-era cards for grading. He was saying that he should have them back in a couple of weeks

Being in the middle of waiting for my own submission to be graded, I told him that their lead times had been moved out to about 25-30 business days.

He told me that he was submitting through one of his other friends who always gets them back in a week or two, regardless of the stated lead time.

We'll see if he was speaking the truth, or if he was just blowing smoke, but I told him, "wow, that sounds like the kind of preferential treatment that the grading companies swear doesn't exist".

I guess I'll know in a couple of weeks if it's true.

[Ima Pseudonym]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Sure enough, it came back a "7" this time around. So it went from PSA "5" to SGC "A" to PSA "7" (when the prominent Auction House submitted it). This entire debacle aged me, but worked out okay financially (even though I'd rather have kept the card).

Out of curiosity... are you allowed to change your mind? If you see that the card came back a 7, are you allowed to contact the AH and say, "you know what, I changed my mind... I just can't bear to part with that card after all. It belonged to my dad and I'm feeling really horrible about selling it"

I mean, they'd obviously charge you for the cost of grading and shipping, but can you rescind your agreement to sell through their auction?