PSA Holders Question
 

I noticed some PSA holders are frosted inside around the card and look acceptable but others look like they have a sheet of plastic around the card.
Some cards are put in slabs with proper openings and others are put in slabs with oversized openings which allows the card to move inside the holder.

My question is how do you know what your card is going to come back in?

I noticed that two different types of slabs were used on that Black Swamp
E98 set. Some also had the larger openings and did not fit the card.

You don't know. PSA has standard size sizes for their inserts and they don't cut the insert to the card size like SGC does. Therefore, for non-standard cards sizes, cards often "float" within the holder, and if you have a high grade card, there is always the chance the the corners will get dinged during the "float." Even for standard cards like the E98's that you mention, if some of the cards are slightly oversized where they do not fit in the standard PSA inserts, then PSA will put them in the larger insert where they can float.

SGC cards sometimes float in the holder too; I have a high grade SGC card with an insert that's too big for the card.

I think that's pretty rare. The biggest complaint that I've heard with the SGC inserts is that they are sometimes too close for comfort and can cut into the edges of the card. Also, cutting inserts to size specifications is a time consuming process for SGC. Therefore, you often need to go to a higher service level for cards that require inserts that are not the standard sizes. (These are for regular square cards, not die cuts.) I think this is reasonable since it does require more work from SGC.

Beckett might have the best holders that don't have float or other issues, then, and not charging an extra fee for non standard card sizes. I like their holders in many ways. Probably my biggest peeve is that their biggest holder, the 8x11, I wish it were thinner. I think they do this so that they can slab magazines and comic books, but as others have said, you can also use this to beat a home intruder.

I was beginning to think I was the only one who noticed this.