Does PSA give favoritism to certain dealers/customers?

[GasHouseGang]

Originally Posted by mannequin1

Does PSA give favoritism to certain dealers/customers or on very rare high grade cards?

I think the answer to the original question is yes, but I can't prove it. I also agree with the assertion that there are certain cards that PSA refuses to grade any more 10's of in order to keep the PSA10 a rarity (think key 1980's rookie cards). However, I also can't offer proof of this. It's more of an observation. I can only point to the number of examples submitted versus the number of PSA10's graded.

[mannequin1]

How about those collectors that are at the top of their set or player registry of top vintage sets or top vintage players. I absolutely believe they get preferential treatment. Maybe not all the time, but often enough.

[sb1]

I can assure you from personal experience, that is not true.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by mannequin1

How about those collectors that are at the top of their set or player registry of top vintage sets or top vintage players. I absolutely believe they get preferential treatment. Maybe not all the time, but often enough.

Can’t speak for all of us registry goons, but 95% of my Mays collection was purchased already graded. The small handful of pieces that are impossible to find already graded that I have purchased raw and then submitted have mostly graded at 1, with a few that pop all the way up to 3 or 4 on rare occasions.

[GasHouseGang]

Originally Posted by raulus

Can’t speak for all of us registry goons, but 95% of my Mays collection was purchased already graded.

I did the same thing when I started collecting Kobe rookie cards. I knew I would never get the grade I wanted if I submitted it myself, so I just bought cards already graded.

[JamesGallo]

Ok lets spin this a different way

Does the tier ie cost of grading impact the grade. When I had my store I had a customer tell me that if I would up charge the card he had heard the grades come back higher.

So this $500 card I could grade at the $50 or the $100 level. Does the level ie price paid to grade the card impact the grades...

James G

[raulus]

Originally Posted by JamesGallo

Ok lets spin this a different way

Does the tier ie cost of grading impact the grade. When I had my store I had a customer tell me that if I would up charge the card he had heard the grades come back higher.

So this $500 card I could grade at the $50 or the $100 level. Does the level ie price paid to grade the card impact the grades...

James G

I do think there's a small correlation there, but not for the reason you might think.

I do think the higher price point tends to mean that your piece will get directed to the people who know what they're doing, particularly with vintage grading, and are able to take a few extra seconds checking out your piece, whereas the bulk price point tends to be populated by newer graders who haven't graded as much vintage, and have about 3 seconds to formulate their opinion on the grade.

[tjisonline]

Originally Posted by JamesGallo

Ok lets spin this a different way

Does the tier ie cost of grading impact the grade. When I had my store I had a customer tell me that if I would up charge the card he had heard the grades come back higher.

So this $500 card I could grade at the $50 or the $100 level. Does the level ie price paid to grade the card impact the grades...

James G

Good scenario James. You might get a more reliable PSA grader & reviewer.

From my experience, PSA is just as inconsistent at the $10k value level as the 20 card bulk sub. I've heard mixed results at the $25k value level.