A Modest Proposal

[MULLINS5]

I would prefer PSA to just authenticate and grade the cards accurately.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by MULLINS5

I would prefer PSA to just authenticate and grade the cards accurately.

I'm more of a pragmatist.

[Robbie]

I'm not a card guy, but one thought I had was...

Maybe to combat or reduce bad-actors, PSA and other TPGs can be convinced to make general SUBMISSION information public, like;

John Doe Cards August 7, 2019 350 Cards Submitted 242 Found to Be Altered

and then LET THE MARKETPLACE DO WHAT IT WILL with John Doe Cards. PSA (TPGs) must do a good job registering and verifying every submission and submitter.

Would making this information public dissuade legitimate collectors and dealers from submitting cards? I don't think so.
Would it temper the crooks and card doctors from submitting? I think so.
Would it damage or hinder PSA's business? I don't know. They could still holder the altered cards, but it would give their collector base more knowledge and confidence.

[oldjudge]

Your proposal is predicated on the TPG being able to detect the altered cards. If they can detect a significant percentage in a submission I think the submission should be pulled and directed to a separate group that does a more detailed review of the cards.There would be an additional expense for the TPG to support this forensic group, but they might recover this via modestly higher grading fees, or simply from increased user confidence in the product.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Well they've proven, even in the midst of the scandal that they can spot a LOT of altered cards. That's why the key is to establish the threshold percentage. Again this was inspired by submissions where they rejected a ton of the cards, yet graded the remainder. To me if you then flag the rest of the submission for closer examination you are still rewarding the card doctors. Once you hit that percentage, BAM your cards are returned ungraded and you are banned. No need to waste more time on them, you are a bad actor and your entire submission is suspect.

[swarmee]

Then what do you do about all their previous submissions? Track down the current owners for reviews that would kill your profit?

PSA can't do this work or they'd put themselves out of business, IMO. If the 11,000 cards revealed by using their Cert system get recalled, they're on the hook for a lot more than the ~$2 million in found altered cards already (for less than 500 visibly altered).

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

I'm not trying to solve past problems that's in the hands of law enforcement. I am trying to prevent future problems.