PSA giving straight grades from Qualifiers

[aloondilana]

I got a card that is a PSA 8 oc. What is a realistic grade I should receive asking for a straight #?

[bbcard1]

I always heard it was a one point deduction, but it wouldn't make it any more centered.

[slinger23]

I have always dropped it down 2 pts. So a PSA NM-MT 8 OC would be a PSA EX-MT 6.

pokerply80 beat me to the punch.

Exactly what he said!

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by bbcard1

but it wouldn't make it any more centered.

LOL! So true!

That's the difference between a flip collector and a card collector though.

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

I think you can do both depending on the card, the set or the strategy

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by aloondilana

I got a card that is a PSA 8 oc. What is a realistic grade I should receive asking for a straight #?

It's actually a 2 point deduction. If you send it in and ask for no qualifier you will get a straight 6 in return.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by aloondilana

I got a card that is a PSA 8 oc. What is a realistic grade I should receive asking for a straight #?

It may depend on the centering.

[Fred]

I don't get the concept of removing qualifiers in lieu of a lower numeric grade UNLESS they follow the grading criteria for the lower grade. As indicated, the lower grade doesn't make it more centered. Lowering the grade to remove a qualifier brings up the actual grading criteria for the grade to be assigned (without the qualifier). According to PSA, an "8" has the following centering criteria:

Centering must be approximately 65/35 to 70/30 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the reverse. DOES APPROXIMATELY MEAN IF YOU'RE A HUGE SUBMITTER YOU GET THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT?


In my book, if a card exhibits ALL qualities of an 8 but has poor centering then you can have a card that actually drops 3 full grades if it doesn't meet the grading criteria for a 5:

Centering must be 85/15 or better on the front and 90/10 or better on the back. NOTE THAT THEY ACTUALLY INDICATE (OR BETTER) FOR THIS GRADE. WHY USE "APPROXIMATELY" INSTEAD OF "OR BETTER" WHEN CENTERING IS CONSIDERED FOR ANY GRADE?

So, what if a card has worse than 90/10 (front or back) centering? It appears that card would grade a max of "1" according to the PSA grading criteria. However they have given themselves some wiggle room with the following statement: The centering must be approximately 90/10 or better on the front and back.


The following is PSAs OC qualifier definition:

OC (Off Center):
When the centering of the card falls below the minimum standard for that grade will be designated "OC." PSA determines centering by comparing the measurements of the borders from left to right and top to bottom. The centering is designated as the percent of difference at the most off-center part of the card. A 5% leeway is given to the front centering minimum standards for cards which grade NM 7 or better. For example, a card that meets all of the other requirements for PSA MINT 9 and measures 60/40 off-center on the front automatically meets the PSA front centering standards for MINT 9. If a card meets all of the other requirements for PSA MINT 9 and measures 65/35 off-center on the front, it may be deemed to meet the PSA front centering standards for MINT 9 if the eye appeal of the card is good.

What they are saying is that they are subjective to the point of being the best judge of whether or not they are feeling generous that day.

It's all busslhit to me.....

[Griffins]

I was told if the card is an 8oc, for example, and has the centering for a grade lower they will give it the lower straight grade, but if the centering is at the standards of 2 grades or lower they will give it the higher grade with a qualifier.
The 2 grade drop is only for registry purposes, as Peter said removing the qualifier will result in the grade based on the centering, which could be more than 2 grades.
The only time I"ve seen the grade not being equal to the centering on an unqualified card is if there is a tilt- then they seem to decide if the eye appeal is worthy of a higher grade or a lower one, given the centering point.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Right, if your 8 oc is 95 5 it isn't or shouldn't be going into a 6 holder. And I've seen some 8 ocs that looked for all the world to me like they could get a straight 7.

[begsu1013]

if it's a lower grade, it only drops one.

[insidethewrapper]

If a certain criteria is required for a certain grade then the card should have to meet that criteria. I don't believe in qualifiers such as (OC). For example, if it doesn't meet the standard center grading for an (8), then it isn't an (8).

[Gradedcardman]

I have a 1957 Topps Basketball Piontek. It came back a PSA 9OC. I asked for a straight grade and it came back a 5. They put it back in the 9OC for me. Rule of thumb I was always told before this was 2 number grades.

[xplainer]

Doesn't PSA have "half grades" now?
So why isn't a 9 OC actually be a 8.5?
It's better than a 8, and if not OC, would be a 9.

I don't deal with PSA so much, so I might be way off.

[Fred]

http://www.psacard.com/services/psagradingstandards/



Lot's of information on the PSA site regarding their grading criteria:


Half-Point Grades:

Cards that exhibit high-end qualities within each particular grade, between PSA Good 2 and PSA Mint 9, may achieve a half-point increase. While PSA graders will evaluate all of the attributes possessed by a card in order to determine if the card may be eligible, there will be a clear focus on centering.

Generally speaking, a card must exhibit centering that is 5-10% better, at minimum, than the lowest % allowed within a particular grade. It is important to note that there may be cases where the overall strength of the card, such as the quality of the corners and print, will give the card the edge it needs despite the fact that it may exhibit only marginal centering for the grade. This is especially true for cards that find themselves within the bottom half of the PSA 1-10 scale.

Finally, keep in mind that qualifiers will not apply to grades that achieve the half-point increase since, by definition, these cards have to exhibit high-end qualities within the grade in order to warrant consideration. For example, there will not be cards graded PSA NM-MT-Plus 8.5 OC or PSA EX-MT-Plus 6.5 PD since the half-point is reserved for high-end cards within each grade.

At this time, only cards qualify for half-point grades. Coins, pins, tickets and packs will not receive half-point grades.

[begsu1013]

Originally Posted by xplainer

Doesn't PSA have "half grades" now?
So why isn't a 9 OC actually be a 8.5?
It's better than a 8, and if not OC, would be a 9.

I don't deal with PSA so much, so I might be way off.

they do. not only that, I have never seen a half grade w/ a qualifier.

with that said, I always go straight grade. you are taking the possibility of the half grade off the table by going w/ qualifiers.

I don't like qualifiers on the flip anyway. so it's a win win

7(mk) is like "HEY THIS CARD HAS A MARK ON IT"