I’ve been lurking a bit the past few days because I’ve been busy with a family reunion that has been happening here. That being said, now that I’ve actually had time to go on the computer and write a post, I was curious to know why is it taboo to re-grade.
I’m not saying that it is, or isn’t a good idea. For sake of discussion I am curious to know why some people, for lack of better words, are butthurt about regrades. Yes it ruins the integrity of the grade, and sometimes there are “lesser 10s” and “stronger 10s”. I just stop and think sometimes, why people need to feel the urge to identify whether or not something was regraded.
One of the most prominent examples is the PSA 9 Pokemon Illustrator that was regraded a 10.
At the end of the day, PSA is a human run grading service, so people have differing opinions about grades. They don’t have a 9.5 for the reasons stated on their site. I’m just really curious why people need to identify if it was a “re-grade” or not. Is it simply to say that the card really isn’t worth as much as it is, are people upset that their card could’ve been better if they regraded it, maybe it is to try and differentiate between 9s and 10s?
I think people dislike cracking because it makes the true POP indeterminable and some do it with the intent of getting a card worthy of a 9 to be graded a 10, which surely can’t be helpful to the hobby in the long run.
I was initially against it because it doesn’t seem honest. But I feel that in some cases it does make sense, if you honestly believe there’s nothing wrong with the card and you send in the label so the population count can be adjusted then I don’t see that much of a problem. It getting abused would be an issue though… A thin line I guess.
The idea of regrading itself isn’t intolerable, however if one was to submit and regrade a card multiple times and nine times out of ten it returns as a nine and only once a ten it does mean that the majority of those professional graders which you’re paying to grade your card deems the card to be that grade. While although it may eventually achieve the 10 grade it does mean there had to be some sort of flaw for it to achieve the 9 all those times.
If the individual perceives the card to genuinely be what the majority would classify as ‘gem mint’ and has it regarded once or twice then it’s typically okay so long as the label is returned and the population is amended accordingly.
If this person is regrading with the sole intention of having a higher-tier card achieve a 10 for the resale value though and we follow the aforementioned idea that nine times out of ten the card achieves a 9 and only once a 10 then it can be seen as deceitful and shady. This is because while although the graders are only human and can miss things, it was also noticed multiple times prior and therefore has a distinct issue with the card for not achieving a 10. This can go for any grade really however it’s most applicable and noteworthy for the 9 regrade to 10 dilemma.
This action is of course redeemed if the seller specifies the regrades so the buyer is aware that there could be minor defects that the trader missed. In this way the buyer is fully aware of their purchase.
TLDR; Most wouldn’t have an issue with regrading as long as the label is returned, the pop count adjusted correctly, and the individual doesn’t seek regrade to sell for a higher value than the card is deserving of (yes it’s a 10 but it has more noticeable flaws that another 10s of its likeness).
Scott recently did a video on this issue alongside a few other matters within this area of discussion if you care to watch the video on his YouTube channel (I don’t have the link at this time, I can edit it in at a later date).
Sorry for the wall of text. I thought it would be better I answer in detail over leaving ambiguity in my response. If I’ve missed anything or anyone disagrees with any point I’ve made feel free to say so!
I haven’t participated in this tyoe of activity but when i see psa 10s that look a lot (not a bit, a lot) worse than some of my psa 9s i almost feel like doing it as a retaliatory act. I feel ripped off and have cards on the verge of 10 and then i see white border speckly cards hitting 10, it just grinds my gears.
The above speaks volumes as to why it’s a deceitful and dishonest act and to why it rips off our customers who may turn away from the hobby forever because of those ill feelings.
If a card gets a 9 it’s because the professional grader found a problem with it that keeps it from being a 10. If you crack it once or 10 times and eventually it gets a 10, I don’t want to pay a huge premium for that card.
There shouldn’t be any subjectiveness in grading a 10 to begin with. To me, a perfect score says there are no flaws. The concept of regrading to get a better grade just points to PSA having inconsistent guidelines which doesn’t really say a whole lot for the perceived value of a graded card with the highest score. I don’t grade cards but I don’t really get the obsession with PSA. The other one BGS or whatever the acronym is seems to take a much more realistic approach to the process.
There is inherently some level of subjectivity In grading. Understanding what that truly looks like requires experience grading cards.
Also you might want to grade a couple cards with both companies before making claims. One company is way more consistent than the other with Pokémon cards. Either way, people aren’t magically turning shit cards into 10’s. There are certain cards that sit between grades and/or submitters are trying to manipulate psa to make a beneficial mistake. The latter is a minority of people in the hobby, most are known, but it is more of a reflection of the submitter, not the company.
Basically it is easy to peripherally criticize a process that is done by humans and partly psychological/subjective. Any major grading company has to grade 1000s of cards a day. Also, “Gem Mint” refers to a gem example of a mint card. There is a reason grading companies don’t have a term called “perfect” because it isn’t a feasible reality. These are all human terms, applied to an item, to the best of a companies judgement. Hence why it is a called a “third party opinion”, not a genome analysis.
When I want to resubmit cards I use both methods, crack and resubmit or review. Here’s why I use one method over another:
Review requires a separate order and separate return shipping. Usually I only want to review something like three cards, so unless there’s a no-minimum special out I’ll have to pay the base rate which everyone agrees is exorbitant. I’m not paying $18 per card plus $24 return shipping on review if I can crack the card and get it in with my normal ungraded order.
Often times I’m not comfortable cracking a card out of the case. I sent in my PSA 9 English Kyogre gold star for review cause I’m not insane.
While PSA graders are professional, I’m sometimes discouraged by the fact that they can see the original grade. For example, when they look at a review card, they’re looking for something to justify the original grade and, in my opinion, not objectively grading the card. The mindset is “why is this card a 9” instead of “why isn’t this card a 10.” I feel like I’d use the review service a lot more if the graders couldn’t see the original grade.
When I do crack and resubmit, I only do it once. If the card doesn’t get upgraded the first time I send it in, I don’t want it to be upgraded. Since the vast majority of cards I grade stay in my collection, I don’t want a “weak” 10. I send the labels back to PSA anonymously so the cards get removed from the POP. I try to be as ethical as possible.
i couldn’t have explained this better myself! I don’t send in cards via review for this very same reason. i just never have sent in all the labels. i have a collection of them to send i tho however
What entails that imperfection is something which can be taken loosely.
This is a toughie… It’s hard to say how to feel.
I think people can do it. So why not, it’s their choice / decision. It’s been proven to work. And people subjectively see things differently. (hence why I always try to put a range when describing condition)
There’s not really much ethics behind this, your paying for the service for a secondary viewpoint or regrade for peace of mind.
It’s in our nature in how we are raised to question things always.
Psa is only human at the end of the day, so just like collectors, they are going to see cards in different condition ranges sometimes.
For me it comes down to a matter of ethics AND business.
A card that a professional grader found enough of a problem to lower it to a 9, I don’t want it on my 10 stack nor do I want to pay a 10 price. Most importantly, I don’t want to deceive and sell it to my customers who trust me.
Business wise I don’t like it cause those people who crack and resubmit are stealing from all the rest of us. Our legitimate 10s could end up having to compete for buyers with their 9 in 10s clothing. Plus it inflates the population reports which can lower our legit 10s prices.
let’s look at the situation backwards for a moment… let’s say I send in a card for its first time and I feel the knick or scratch on the front would normally deem the card a 9 but instead grades a 10 when its not worthy of the 10 grade… so should we resend in the “fake 10” and have it lowered to a 9?? everyone’s logic here that disagrees with regrading cards is looking at this in the wrong manor… i get it. people that resend in a card more than 1 time are bs… but sometimes psa deems cards 9s with virtually no imperfections… remember the asshole giving all those psa 8.5 grades and 9s to cards that should be gotten 9s and 10s?? there’s perfectly good explanations to regrade some cards. I’m not gonna send in cards for review at 17 a piece. i can do psa s job more consistently than they could with pokemon cards imo… I know what a psa 10 worthy card looks like. ive got a damn good eye for looking over my cardboard
sadly I feel you on that. who’s gonna be trused more. me or psa itself lol.i should be the most trusted man alive lol jk! i may pray for the occasional 10 thats almost a 10 but when they come back a 9 im not too butt hurt. i do judge my cards rather harshly. i land 10s on cards i expect 9s on… thus the opinion of a hard ass
The action is different, the market effect is the same. Both have damaging outcomes. Consistency would make regrading a non issue. I thought this is what I paid PSA for.
me or psa itself lol.i should be the most trusted man alive lol jk! i may pray for the occasional 10 thats almost a 10 but when they come back a 9 im not too butt hurt. i do judge my cards rather harshly. i land 10s on cards i expect 9s on… thus the opinion of a hard ass