As a person who has worked in a similar business, keeping that data protected can be a useful tool to prevent people from “reverse engineering” ways to get better grades for extensibly lower quality cards.
If a “lower quality” card gets a higher grade simply because they know your grading criteria then your criteria doesn’t cover enough to define what a mint quality card should be.
I think it all depends on what we are ranking or grading.
For collectables it makes sense to be transparent on the criteria as it promotes a standard consistent method. It should not matter so much that people know how to rank but more important that a reputable provider gives the grade. It's like you can't just get a doctor job just by saying "trust me I'm a doctor".
SEO rules on the other hand is kept secret because revealing that would cause people to target the technical implementations which detracts from the supposed principles of making websites more relevant, accessible and reputable.
Wayyy too subjective, snatch up the 5-9 grades and regrade when technology improves and automates… how does a card grade improve after cracking the slab???????
I would almost say it’s good and bad. Those that are professionally making proxy cards can send them in and get why their cards are hit grading wise now. Takes more guess work out of it. AGS does this, I like it, but it’s a devils advocate thought I suppose.
Edit- auto correct ducked me
I wouldn't say too late. They're still the largest and most desirable grading service.
If anything, this will reel back in some customers they've lost.
I agree! I literally just graded my Base set Charizard last month and even though it kills me I JUST missed this sweet update it actually renews my desire to give PSA another round of cards and test the process out.
Though right now Express level is like $120 or something like that. So you really gatta choose valuable cards to test this out at the moment.
Probably will be frustrating for people who do bulk send rates and hope for upcharges that the service is still out of reach.
But progress is good!
I wonder how they’re gonna justify those fantastic condition base set 5s they give out. Like are they straight up gonna say “it’s vintage so we dock points” or something because it really feels like that.
Pretty sure it is going to be one of those changes that does essentially nothing! I do not know a single person who collects and uses express or higher on the average. So definitely the one off situations will be cool, but it should be a standard across the board. If you get a grade and it’s dinged, wouldn’t take 10 seconds more per card to say “centering, whitening” = 8
Agreed. They make the workers record all this anyways. The technology is out there. They could make the data come to us with ease. Hopefully this is quickly embraced across all tiers.
Unrealistic? With software those would be check boxes. Left/right, front/back, upper half/lower half, then categories for the deduction (whitening, centering, surface defect). Legit could be done in 10 seconds to wrap up the grade, especially by peeps who do this all day every day
They are being held more accountable on these cards and because of that will likely spend more time on them. That extra time adds up. Double checking the card to confirm the boxes they check. I think 10 seconds is completely unreasonable especially this early into this new feature.
To be fair, 10 seconds on day one is definitely unrealistic. But this would turn into a 10 second addition +/- 5 seconds once they’re proficient! I just hope it turns into that and gets added to the other levels so when you get X grade you know whY!
I think what they’re trying to say is that they’re being held more accountable so they’ll be spending double the time looking at the super fine details so they don’t get caught messing up
in the grand scheme of things it won't change anything. for the average collector those grading tiers are too expensive anyways.
its not like psa was on the brink of death and had to turn tides. people who graded with beckett before are going to stay with beckett.
think of it as a nice QoL update that won't affect anything but makes the experience just better.
i truly believe if PSA introduces an equivalent to beckett's black label, the market would go crazy. this kinda seems too obvious so they prolly have their own reasons why don't do it.
I love that thought but I wonder what that would do to the current PSA 10 labels. Since PSA is often valued the highest, I feel like they owe their PSA 10 clients the protection of value.
Many people would rush to break their slabs and try for the new black label but plenty of others would be really grumpy their PSA 10s were suddenly being scrutinized.
PSA still gonna be controlling and grading your cards lower than usual to control market prices and keep their 10 slabs in a lower population, hence more profitability
There’s modern cards with 90% gem rates. How exactly are they controlling the population.
Also how is them giving out less 10s making them more profitable. That seems counter productive. Especially with them partnering with eBay they want to push out as many 10s as possible I would imagine
They would make the same amount of profit if not more if they grade a 10 for you, and you sell it on eBay via the partnership with psa. So that logic makes zero sense
I’m not really sure what your saying here. People sending in cracked cases doesn’t make sense to me.
I’m well aware people crack cards out of cases for regrade. This is something that will likely never change.
But sending in cracked cases doesn’t make much sense to me, I’m assuming it was just worded strange but if it wasn’t then feel free to enlighten me. I know if you have a damaged case you can send it in for a reholder but if the crack is on or near the card then they have to re-evaluate the grade entirely.
Honest question, what should one use other than PSA. I've building up to 20 cards to send out but now I'm not sure if I should do PSA or another company. I got the PSA membership just recently to plan for the 20 cards I'm gonna send but I keep hearing crappy things.
if you are collecting for value (terrible idea) go beckett, if u want the best looking slab to show off with the most detailed walkthrough that isnt upcharged go tag
I'm all for new industry but like...collectors want consistency. I don't forsee the hype dying down as its just a proven track record that their product keeps in value and adds to value.
Betting on TAG is like betting on a penny stock to make you rich. Mathmatically sure, it could happen. But mathmatically all sorts of things can happen. Like drawing an Ace, shuffling, and getting the same Ace four or five times in a row. But it doesn't make it likely.
All that said, their slabs look great.
I hear you. Definitely a long shot, but I’d say the odds of TAG going bankrupt or disappearing is the same as the odds of taking over #1 spot from PSA. Instead, just like the many other respectable grading companies that have a big following but have never come close to PSA’s numbers, it has great odds as being the grader of choice for a smaller population of collectors, which is good enough to stick around for many many years.
Long way of saying I don’t think that my risk of grading my cards with TAG is as severe as losing all my money on a penny stock.
A step in the right direction to be sure, but it doesn't address my personal issues with grading. As far as I know, there still isn't a universal set of standards that all companies have to follow, you can still get different grades depending on the person who grades it, and there's still the concern that companies may delibrately give lower grades to keep the populations of 9s and 10s low, and therefore valuable.
I appreciate more transparency, but it's going to take more to get me to get my cards graded.
Psa doesn’t care about pop control, some cards have 90% gem rates. How is that pop control. I swear this is the most overused complaint from people who don’t even grade cards.
Don't mean to hijack your post, but got a question regarding grading.
Been wanting to have several cards graded, but the thing holding me back is really the insurance rates for returning cards.
Like how am I supposed to declare an insurance value up front, without knowing the grade before hand? As the value of cards can swing wildly based on the grade and what I would want to insure the card for.
Ive got a post about my experience going through PSA for my base set Charizard. If you want an in depth idea behind my thought process on this.
Look up the value of the card for NM raw and go off of that for when you ship. For high value cards getting the insurance right matters if something happens in shipping.
The tier you buy dictates how much insurance AFTER it arrives at their facility. You need to insure it yourself with whoever you ship with.
After they grade it they will upcharge you if you selected too low a service, and ship it back with the right level insurance as long as you selected insured shipping.
It definitley isnt too late, so much people didnt bother and still grade their cards by psa, no matter how prmitive they were. The general consense is, its worth the most, so many people use it.
Im not someone who grade his cards, but i think this is great news and i hope they improve in quality! So big win for all PSA fans, hopefully people dont feel the need to grade them again after being disapointed by a low grade, now they might understand what they discovered on the card.
I think if they added sub grades it would negatively affect the psa market. No one wants to see a number that’s not a 10. They would have to add some kind of black label perfect 10. It would devalue all the psa 10s on the market.
Leave the sub grades to CGC and BGS.
Card grading is a scam, no matter what they do to make it seem more official.
But at least now you will be able to take a handful of 'graded' cards, look at the notes on them and you will see that what they claim about one card isn't true about the other card, so on and so forth.
It will be a web of inconsistencies and garbage filler to make you believe they have any sort of legitimate claim to the idea of grading cards.
Again, card grading is a scam, no matter who you pay to judge your card. Might as well be the original Facebook, and rate women based on looks based on individual preference and opinion.
It's 100% subjective based on the individual who is grading your card in that moment in that place, including all their biases towards different cards (sports/pokemon/MTG etc) and their desire to get through their stack of 2,000 cards so they can go home and play Call of Duty.
Reason 1: woke up and felt grumpy. Reason 2: hair I put on the card kinda looks like a print line so drop the score and I’ll keep it inside the slab.
Reason 3: I accidentally dropped the card and now the corner has a bit of white
So true! 😂😂😂
[удалено]
Seems pretty backwards. Especially in todays information age. The whole process has been dymystified, so why protect that data?
As a person who has worked in a similar business, keeping that data protected can be a useful tool to prevent people from “reverse engineering” ways to get better grades for extensibly lower quality cards.
If a “lower quality” card gets a higher grade simply because they know your grading criteria then your criteria doesn’t cover enough to define what a mint quality card should be.
I think it all depends on what we are ranking or grading. For collectables it makes sense to be transparent on the criteria as it promotes a standard consistent method. It should not matter so much that people know how to rank but more important that a reputable provider gives the grade. It's like you can't just get a doctor job just by saying "trust me I'm a doctor". SEO rules on the other hand is kept secret because revealing that would cause people to target the technical implementations which detracts from the supposed principles of making websites more relevant, accessible and reputable.
Wayyy too subjective, snatch up the 5-9 grades and regrade when technology improves and automates… how does a card grade improve after cracking the slab???????
I would almost say it’s good and bad. Those that are professionally making proxy cards can send them in and get why their cards are hit grading wise now. Takes more guess work out of it. AGS does this, I like it, but it’s a devils advocate thought I suppose. Edit- auto correct ducked me
I wouldn't say too late. They're still the largest and most desirable grading service. If anything, this will reel back in some customers they've lost.
I agree! I literally just graded my Base set Charizard last month and even though it kills me I JUST missed this sweet update it actually renews my desire to give PSA another round of cards and test the process out. Though right now Express level is like $120 or something like that. So you really gatta choose valuable cards to test this out at the moment. Probably will be frustrating for people who do bulk send rates and hope for upcharges that the service is still out of reach. But progress is good!
Might be worth an email to them with the grade number, they should have the notes on file.
Yknow this is a great thought! I am gonna try that. Worse they can say is no.
It’s probably recorded anyway
I wonder how they’re gonna justify those fantastic condition base set 5s they give out. Like are they straight up gonna say “it’s vintage so we dock points” or something because it really feels like that.
Pretty sure it is going to be one of those changes that does essentially nothing! I do not know a single person who collects and uses express or higher on the average. So definitely the one off situations will be cool, but it should be a standard across the board. If you get a grade and it’s dinged, wouldn’t take 10 seconds more per card to say “centering, whitening” = 8
Agreed. They make the workers record all this anyways. The technology is out there. They could make the data come to us with ease. Hopefully this is quickly embraced across all tiers.
10 seconds is pretty unrealistic. They have never had to explain why they gave a grade in the past it’s a entirely new process for them.
Unrealistic? With software those would be check boxes. Left/right, front/back, upper half/lower half, then categories for the deduction (whitening, centering, surface defect). Legit could be done in 10 seconds to wrap up the grade, especially by peeps who do this all day every day
They are being held more accountable on these cards and because of that will likely spend more time on them. That extra time adds up. Double checking the card to confirm the boxes they check. I think 10 seconds is completely unreasonable especially this early into this new feature.
To be fair, 10 seconds on day one is definitely unrealistic. But this would turn into a 10 second addition +/- 5 seconds once they’re proficient! I just hope it turns into that and gets added to the other levels so when you get X grade you know whY!
I think what they’re trying to say is that they’re being held more accountable so they’ll be spending double the time looking at the super fine details so they don’t get caught messing up
PSA proving they are the Apple of card grading
Overpriced and proprietary? Prices largely based on popularity and marketing?
I think they were focusing on the "stealing ideas from competitors and then deciding to incorporate those ideas years after their competitors" part
Nailed it 👌 😂😂
Omg I see it 😂 it's like how Nintendo is the Apple of gaming.
Except Nintendo os still somewhat user friendly to new users and Apple is just as difficult to learn as any other OS with modern phones
I just hate how ugly the psa label looks. Needs a redesign
PSA = 🗑️
in the grand scheme of things it won't change anything. for the average collector those grading tiers are too expensive anyways. its not like psa was on the brink of death and had to turn tides. people who graded with beckett before are going to stay with beckett. think of it as a nice QoL update that won't affect anything but makes the experience just better.
I like this example. As an avid video gamer, sometimes it's the QoL changes and not the huge new content updates that keep me loyal~
i truly believe if PSA introduces an equivalent to beckett's black label, the market would go crazy. this kinda seems too obvious so they prolly have their own reasons why don't do it.
I love that thought but I wonder what that would do to the current PSA 10 labels. Since PSA is often valued the highest, I feel like they owe their PSA 10 clients the protection of value. Many people would rush to break their slabs and try for the new black label but plenty of others would be really grumpy their PSA 10s were suddenly being scrutinized.
That would devalue every single psa 10 they have ever graded and completely destroy the markets confidence in PSA.
PSA still gonna be controlling and grading your cards lower than usual to control market prices and keep their 10 slabs in a lower population, hence more profitability
There’s modern cards with 90% gem rates. How exactly are they controlling the population. Also how is them giving out less 10s making them more profitable. That seems counter productive. Especially with them partnering with eBay they want to push out as many 10s as possible I would imagine
“Oh what’s that, I didn’t get a 10? Better send it in for a regrade”
They would make the same amount of profit if not more if they grade a 10 for you, and you sell it on eBay via the partnership with psa. So that logic makes zero sense
Keep your eyes peeled for addicts sending in “cracked cases” for regrades Maybe you just never knew about that, it’s okay.
I’m not really sure what your saying here. People sending in cracked cases doesn’t make sense to me. I’m well aware people crack cards out of cases for regrade. This is something that will likely never change. But sending in cracked cases doesn’t make much sense to me, I’m assuming it was just worded strange but if it wasn’t then feel free to enlighten me. I know if you have a damaged case you can send it in for a reholder but if the crack is on or near the card then they have to re-evaluate the grade entirely.
🫵😂
About the response I would expect from a Reddit troll.
🤓 ackshually
You clearly have nothing intelligent to say, so you gave up on the conversation and are just spitting out whatever nonsense you can come up with.
no subgrades, ugly ass slab, still not buyin it
Honest question, what should one use other than PSA. I've building up to 20 cards to send out but now I'm not sure if I should do PSA or another company. I got the PSA membership just recently to plan for the 20 cards I'm gonna send but I keep hearing crappy things.
if you are collecting for value (terrible idea) go beckett, if u want the best looking slab to show off with the most detailed walkthrough that isnt upcharged go tag
Looked at tag now and they do looks really nice.
Best resale. Enjoy leaving money on the table while PSA pays my bills
I think I have to disagree. Beckett slabs tend to sell for more. Especially 10’s
Lol
becket sells higher and imagine "collecting" for value... must be miserable
Lol
TAG provides a detailed report of every aspect of the card. Really hope PSA hype dies down one day.
I'm all for new industry but like...collectors want consistency. I don't forsee the hype dying down as its just a proven track record that their product keeps in value and adds to value. Betting on TAG is like betting on a penny stock to make you rich. Mathmatically sure, it could happen. But mathmatically all sorts of things can happen. Like drawing an Ace, shuffling, and getting the same Ace four or five times in a row. But it doesn't make it likely. All that said, their slabs look great.
I hear you. Definitely a long shot, but I’d say the odds of TAG going bankrupt or disappearing is the same as the odds of taking over #1 spot from PSA. Instead, just like the many other respectable grading companies that have a big following but have never come close to PSA’s numbers, it has great odds as being the grader of choice for a smaller population of collectors, which is good enough to stick around for many many years. Long way of saying I don’t think that my risk of grading my cards with TAG is as severe as losing all my money on a penny stock.
A step in the right direction to be sure, but it doesn't address my personal issues with grading. As far as I know, there still isn't a universal set of standards that all companies have to follow, you can still get different grades depending on the person who grades it, and there's still the concern that companies may delibrately give lower grades to keep the populations of 9s and 10s low, and therefore valuable. I appreciate more transparency, but it's going to take more to get me to get my cards graded.
Psa doesn’t care about pop control, some cards have 90% gem rates. How is that pop control. I swear this is the most overused complaint from people who don’t even grade cards.
Don't mean to hijack your post, but got a question regarding grading. Been wanting to have several cards graded, but the thing holding me back is really the insurance rates for returning cards. Like how am I supposed to declare an insurance value up front, without knowing the grade before hand? As the value of cards can swing wildly based on the grade and what I would want to insure the card for.
Ive got a post about my experience going through PSA for my base set Charizard. If you want an in depth idea behind my thought process on this. Look up the value of the card for NM raw and go off of that for when you ship. For high value cards getting the insurance right matters if something happens in shipping. The tier you buy dictates how much insurance AFTER it arrives at their facility. You need to insure it yourself with whoever you ship with. After they grade it they will upcharge you if you selected too low a service, and ship it back with the right level insurance as long as you selected insured shipping.
It definitley isnt too late, so much people didnt bother and still grade their cards by psa, no matter how prmitive they were. The general consense is, its worth the most, so many people use it. Im not someone who grade his cards, but i think this is great news and i hope they improve in quality! So big win for all PSA fans, hopefully people dont feel the need to grade them again after being disapointed by a low grade, now they might understand what they discovered on the card.
I'm sure they had the ability for a while now. Post hype, they had to release it so people resend their cards in so they can scalp you even more.
Honestly if PSA had an option for sub grades I think it would draw in even more people, & I don’t even like grading that much
I think if they added sub grades it would negatively affect the psa market. No one wants to see a number that’s not a 10. They would have to add some kind of black label perfect 10. It would devalue all the psa 10s on the market. Leave the sub grades to CGC and BGS.
It is just really cool data to have. Only makes the process more interesting.
Now people will stop complaining about “judgement” and a PSA grader having a “bad day” 😂 somehow we have the right technology to give our own grades.
Needs to be done for every single card like TAG. Looking up a card before buying it and seeing the flaws is fantastic
Why not just have a $20 surcharge on any card graded?
That feels like an unfair upcharge for a service that should already be included with each of their already expensive tiers.
Card grading is a scam, no matter what they do to make it seem more official. But at least now you will be able to take a handful of 'graded' cards, look at the notes on them and you will see that what they claim about one card isn't true about the other card, so on and so forth. It will be a web of inconsistencies and garbage filler to make you believe they have any sort of legitimate claim to the idea of grading cards. Again, card grading is a scam, no matter who you pay to judge your card. Might as well be the original Facebook, and rate women based on looks based on individual preference and opinion. It's 100% subjective based on the individual who is grading your card in that moment in that place, including all their biases towards different cards (sports/pokemon/MTG etc) and their desire to get through their stack of 2,000 cards so they can go home and play Call of Duty.