Posted By:
JoannI think PSA is dead on by using qualifiers, even though they are controversial and occasionally get negative press on this board. But they are a perfect way to provide a "but for" grade. People actually struggle with the lack of this on SGC and GAI grading.
I can't count the number of times I hear both here and on ebay "this thing is a solid 4 - SGC just killed it because of small paper loss on the back" or something similar. It seems to me that the PSA qualifier system allows a card to get the grade that it generally presents as, or would actually get, "but for" a single defect of known type (off center, miscut, etc, but not rounded corners or paper loss).
I think the system should be expanded to add more qualifiers, but only those that are original to the printing (such as off center or miscut) or related to a single event (pinhole, paper loss). Items of general wear and tear like loss of gloss, rounded corners, couldn't get qualifiers.
Joann