What’s up?
I’ve read about people resubmitting cards they feel deserved a higher grade than what they were given. Ive got a shadowless PSA 8 Charizard i feel is in a better condition than some of my PSA 9s so I’m seriously considering getting it regraded. Just wanted to know what’s the protocol do i need to crack it myself,as I’m scared i might damage or does PSA do that? Anyone here successfully got their cards bumped up a grade or 2?
Thanks
Better off sending to cgc, its gonna be August of 2021 before you see that card again
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If you send in the card with the psa case it lowers your chances of them bumping it to a 9
If you crack the case you risk damaging the card and probably still won’t get the card bumped to a 9 anyway
On top of that the turnaround times are horrible right now so either way it’s going to take a while before you get your card back
In my personal opinion I think you are better off just keeping it as an 8
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Ah ok. I read somewhere they offer a premium service for faster return where you pay more and it usually comes back in a matter of days to a week. If nothing else wouldn’t mind upgrading to the newer label for my card.
Firstly, I’ve seen firsthand accounts of people on youtube submitting an 8, getting back a 10, submitting a 9, getting back a 10, or 7 becoming an 8, etc. (with proof of it being the same card). When they do, they crack it so to avoid any potential biases or awareness. But no one actually knows for sure if it is the same people breaking cases that grade. The reps I’ve talked to insist that the graders have zero awareness of the service level you paid, and seem to have a set up where they have no surrounding influences. But you never know do you?
With the price of an 8 shadowless Charizard being a solid 3k+, you’d have to submit it for the express level at minimum, which means it would take estimated 5 business days from processing time. Right now they are slammed so express will take 10 days. But that’s not bad. The previous responses are wrong about it taking a long time (with that card). You are not allowed to submit a card that expensive at the economic level–they’ll make you pay for the higher service AND still take the economy service level time (40+ business days, which is now like 60 or more). I have a PSA 9 or better pack fresh Unlimited Charizard there right now, it’s been 6 days (it is express), and they said to me over the phone that it would be graded this week.
What is your cert number? If it is an older grade I’d say you might not want to do that–I can confirm that they used to be more lenient on grading. Now, a card that used to be a 8, would most likely be a 7. In general of course. You can still get tough and lenient graders alike. Could you supply good quality pics of the front and back? I’d love to see it and give you my take. I am currently grading all the shadowless and have several graded cards with varying grades. These days if it is an 8, it could be a 9. But if you have ANY edge/corner wear (not including cut defects) they will not give it a 9. Also no hairlines of any kind allowed other than print lines, which they consider flaws, not wear. Silvering on the front edges, but no other flaws? 8-9 coin toss. I can give you way more insight with very good pictures.
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I second all that brendontheclayboy said. Especially that you will get a quick turnaround time.
Beautiful 
But I’m sorry Loki! I strongly recommend you keep it in the case and be happy about it. It would take a miracle for that to be given a 9. Those back edges…
It is a characteristic older grade. The top back edge would never pass as a 9. Also, there are a few little dings on other edges. Right side has a chip as I can see. Holo looks gorgeous though!
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Thanks for the in depth response i really appreciate it. I posted some pics if you need some with better lighting let me know. But for me, the front is practically flawless, centering is pretty much spot on. For the back, I feel it’s in better condition than a couple of my 9s, that’s why I’m seriously considering having it looked over.
Thanks for your analysis if anything I might just get it recased with a newer label to match the rest of my collection, and I know when it comes to sell some people are very peculiar with having the new labels
You must have been typing that response when I posted mine. Are your other 9’s also older grades, around the same cert number as Charizard? That top edge (backside)… and then the chip on the right side. Even with a flawless front, they would almost never give out a 9 for those flaws now. And unfortunately centering only works against you rather than in your favor. For instance, perfect centering does not warrant a better grade, but rather, can lower a grade. For PSA it is merely a requirement. 55/45 centering for PSA 10, but only if it is qualifying as a 10 condition wise. Make sense? It could be PERFECT centering, but get a 7 because of wear and hairlines. Centering is the least important thing for PSA compared to the other main factors, surface, corners, edges. There are many way off center 9’s out there. It only has to be 60/40, which is honestly pretty off.
Yes new cases are very nice. They get better with time.
How can you confirm? Also, how could you argue that the graders how no idea of the service level, when they have to grade express level at a faster rate?
9s are not perfect cards. Sounds like you had a bad experience and are blanketing it over the PSA grading as a whole
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Firstly, looking at hundreds to thousands of examples in person and in high res scans and multiple angle pictures. Comparing 100s of 9’s to other 9’s. Constantly looking at older cert’s and comparing them to the same grade of a newer cert (we’re talking 10+ years difference in time). Seeing a consistent difference in standard. Having submitted many myself, but having bought even more from a varied pool of people, with many different cert numbers throughout the years. Every single time I see a 7 with a low 20 cert or lower number for instance, I see combos of either heavy hairline scratching or back edgewear, whitening, chipping, or both. Every time. And I have 4 7’s specifically bought recent as new grades, having graded one myself, and bought the others, where they are substantially better. It wouldn’t be coincidence that all of them just had rough graders, especially when compounding that with years of my vigilance/experience. I have more 7’s but these are shining examples. We’re talking close to Mint holos, damn near no silvering on the front edges, and virtually perfect backs. Astonishing that none of them are 8’s. Better back edges than his Zard pictured above. When you’ve seen enough examples, the trend becomes evident and undeniable.
And I don’t need to argue that. PSA has explicitly told me that on many occasions. I mean, they could be lying of course. Who am I to say they aren’t? But another word on that: they don’t grade any faster. The grading is not rushed just because of the service level. You are mixing service level speed with grading. Service level just means how long it sits in line. Once it is in a graders hands, they are all the same. Express cards simply cut in line.
9’s aren’t PERFECT, but they are called MINT for a reason. A 10 is supposed to be virtually perfect. They basically allow for one flaw, a minor one. Otherwise it is essentially a near perfect print of a card. Whereas a 9 as a general rule of thumb is supposed to be a pack fresh card. It’s that simple. Look at their website for example–their grading standards. The flaws they allow for are essentially all print defects/imperfections. They don’t just allow wear to the card on a 9. At least nowadays. We are talking wear. Human-made wear. A card is Mint if it has no human caused wear or damage to it. That doesn’t mean the card is perfect, it just means it is supposed to not have any wear. Theoretically the only difference between a 9 and 10 is the corners having perfect cuts on the back and no little white specks that tend to occur on the older cards, and print lines. Maybe the tiniest single hairline or other. That is why they so often arbitrarily drift between 9’s and 10’s. That’s why so many people resubmit 9’s and get 10’s. They are sometimes interchangeable. That is proof in of itself. I didn’t have any bad experiences. This is all research and keen attention to the trends, and first hand experience myself. Every grader is different, so not EVERY example will adhere to this. Mistakes are made all the time. I’m saying as a general rule, no they will not give a card with clear wear/whitening on the back a 9. He could very well submit enough times and eventually get a 9. It probably would take many tries and cost him half the value of the card or more before he got it, if I ventured a guess.
And if that was truly the case, any pack fresh card submitted would basically be a 10, provided that its centering fit the criteria. But since they are so interchangeable on that basis of being pack fresh, that speaks to what 9’s are supposed to be.
Ok Brendan