PSA Population Report- How Accurate?

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Posted By: Al C.risafulli

I agree with those that have stated that the pop reports are an excellent GAUGE of what's out there, but there are way too many circumstances that would create bad counts.

In the 1938 Goudey set, the PSA pop report indicates that there have been 2,474 total cards graded. It's safe to say that I have submitted 5-10% of those myself, maybe more. I've had cards that I sent back over and over again to get the right grade. One in particular, a HOFer, has received a grade of 4, 3, 2, and been rejected for trimming (never did a thing to the card, I kept resubmitting it looking for the 5 it deserves). So that card is counted in the pop report three times. I've had other cards I've cracked and resubmitted several times, getting the same grade multiple times.

I used to have one particular low-grade 38 Goudey card that I resubmitted with every order, as a "control" card (just for my own piece of mind). That card has a heavy number of lower-grades counted in the pop report, and at least half of them are a result of my including this card with every order, just cracking and submitting over and over again.

I've also crossed a lot of PSA cards to SGC - maybe 100-150 in total, which is a lot for me. These tend to be the prewar HOFers I collect. Those cards are all reflected in the PSA pop reports, as are the Diamond Stars, W502s, and T205s I've crossed.

So I guess this post is just to prove that there's a lot of double-counting in the pop reports. When I submit cards for grading, I want the grade to be accurate, and I'll keep sending the card back until either A) it gets the grade I feel it deserves, or B) it gets the same grade a couple of times and I realize I'm probably overgrading it myself.

-Al