PSA submissions
- Thread starter juxedo
- Start date
To be honest I was actually a little disappointed with the results.
My submission was 32x Zion prizm base and I ended up getting 19x PSA 9s and 13x PSA 10s.
I was expecting much more gem mints based on the average pop report. It felt like PSA were trying to manage their pop reports and I got stung for it.
Think I'll continue this thread to document my grading journey. I've received 2 submissions back since the zion prizms above.
The next subs completed after the zions were Ja prizms. Off memory I submitted these in March under the bulk service and received them back around aug/sept. Results were much better than the zions. 60% gem rates and decided to keep these 4.
The next subs completed after the zions were Ja prizms. Off memory I submitted these in March under the bulk service and received them back around aug/sept. Results were much better than the zions. 60% gem rates and decided to keep these 4.
This is how I approach grading. Its all pretty common sense stuff. Grading's done by humans so in my view it is all subjective. What I think would gem others might grade mint, and vice versa. I quickly inspect my cards with just the naked eye. No microscope or black light. Anything with very minor flaws or better I include.
Using gloves I then wipe cards down with a micro fibre cloth and into brand new penny sleeves. I prefer lower quality sleeves cause they are slightly wider than the ultra pro premiums. Or use sleeves for thick cards. This way corners have a better chance of surviving when sleeved. I've tried the penny sleeves specifically for grading from ultra pro and would not recommend. They leave too much of the corner exposed.
After sleeving I put them into Cardboard Gold Card Saver 1 and organise them logically. All the same cards grouped together and cards placed chronologically. Graders are human. You want them in a good mood when they grade your cards.
The last thing I do is include a couple of dummy cards that have obvious minor flaws and will clearly not gem. People are more willing to award higher grades if presented with a spectrum. I then print out a list of all cards in my submission in the same order they are packed in. I package everything in bubble wrap and cardboard and send off for grading.
Thats pretty much it. Simple stuff but the attention to detail makes a huge difference. Hopefully my journey and info I document can help others navigate the grading space. If anybody has ideas on how I can improve would love to hear them.
Using gloves I then wipe cards down with a micro fibre cloth and into brand new penny sleeves. I prefer lower quality sleeves cause they are slightly wider than the ultra pro premiums. Or use sleeves for thick cards. This way corners have a better chance of surviving when sleeved. I've tried the penny sleeves specifically for grading from ultra pro and would not recommend. They leave too much of the corner exposed.
After sleeving I put them into Cardboard Gold Card Saver 1 and organise them logically. All the same cards grouped together and cards placed chronologically. Graders are human. You want them in a good mood when they grade your cards.
The last thing I do is include a couple of dummy cards that have obvious minor flaws and will clearly not gem. People are more willing to award higher grades if presented with a spectrum. I then print out a list of all cards in my submission in the same order they are packed in. I package everything in bubble wrap and cardboard and send off for grading.
Thats pretty much it. Simple stuff but the attention to detail makes a huge difference. Hopefully my journey and info I document can help others navigate the grading space. If anybody has ideas on how I can improve would love to hear them.
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This brings me to my latest batch of cards to get graded. Had to pay extra and submit into PSAs express service due to the high value. One benefit of paying the extra is the quick turnaround time - about 7 business days compared to months. Decided to keep everything. Here's the results. No joke, the Lebron 301 I found in my shoebox of oldscool cards that I stashed in the cupboard and forgot about for nearly 20 years. So now am patiently waiting fr my nxt batch to pop. Have 4 subs currently sitting at psa. Will update as they get graded.
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