I’m asking this for …reasons… but I’m curious to know what (if any) instruments PSA uses to hold cards while they’re being graded. If anyone could link me a picture or give me a sketch or something I would greatly appreciate it.
They just use their hands.
The graders don’t use anything. It’s bare hands all day. So that they could feel the card.
And apparently they touch the holofoil a lot. From some of my cards i can actually identify who the graders are if i have some secret agent stuff…
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Yes, I’ve seen that video, but I’m wondering if that’s been updated recently. That video looks to be nearly 20 years old, given the 1990s corporate music at the beginning.
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I’ve had a card returned today that was absolutely flawless when I sent it out. I mean, I was spellbound looking at the thing for 20+ minutes and did not see a single mark on it. Used high intensity light all around the edges, the surface, the holofoil. Hell, I thought I might even send it off to BGS because it might get a pristine, it looked that good. I got it back today and I’m absolutely heartbroken. There is a HUGE (relatively speaking) indent on the bottom of the back of the card. Almost looks like flat alligator clips or it was pushed against a hard edge. There’s no way that was there when I sent it. And of course, I didn’t take pictures of the cards before sending them in. I’m so fucking flustered right now. I also made note of a marking that another card that I had (that looked flawless except for one miniscule white spec on the upper left corner of the card, not damage but more of a cutting knick) and that mark is no longer there on that card as well - there is, however, a small scratch on the holofoil of this card, which was not something I observed when looking it over (again, 20-30 min of inspection time). They were both shadowless charizards and fuck me if they weren’t absolutely perfect looking cards. I don’t know what to do.
It’s all the same process that I’m aware… They use stainless steel rulers, but just hands besides from that. Gloves are not used either.
Do you have a damaged card?
They use a metallic looking ruler for measuring centering apparently. There was a photo they posted to their instagram showing it that they later deleted after some backlash.
Here is a thread that popped up when that insta photo came about.
The whole “no gloves” thing I have no issue with, but I personally wouldn’t ever touch the cards with anything but my bare clean hands and a penny sleeve/card saver. Every time I see an opening video with gloves I cringe a little, but I guess it may be better than bare hands holding a ruler against the card…
Wow…uh… that has to be it. They smashed the ruler into my beautiful card. Fuck me man. I’ll get some pics for you guys in a sec after my brain stops swirling.
I’m so sorry to hear that @hypernova… It would be really tough to convince them that the damage wasn’t there beforehand without photos, but you might have some success if you called them and explained the situation.
This has come up several times over the couple years I have been here but you really have no recourse unfortunately unless it has damage in a high graded case. I.e. indents/creases on a PSA 9 or 10 card. Then you can be covered by their financial guarantee of grade and authenticity. They will state it was grader (x2 as each card is graded by two people) oversight (plus your initial pre grade oversight) and then reimburse you for the difference of current grade and initial grade. I had this happen in the past.
If the grade is a 6 or less meaning they took the damage/issue into account in the grade you really have nothing you can do. Even with scans or photos of the cards pre submission it would be hard to spot all issues and prove they are the same card etc. I had this happen in the past, and the forum will be split 50/50 on you being a “whiny bad pre-grader who missed the issues”/“PSA F’s everything up!”
Damage on the left bottom
Damage on the right bottom
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Looks like they had the card face down and used the ruler on the back - two identical imprints when measuring the centering. I’m at a loss for words. And absofuckinglutely heartbroken.
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Those photos are not damage from a ruler.
The general ruler opinion is based purely on emotion and no actual evidence.
If you feel your card was damaged by PSA, call their customer service and take it up with them.
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Please give me more insight into the grading process then. There is no way that damage was there when I sent them in. I may not be able to say it’s definitively damage caused by a ruler but I don’t think you can say definitively say the damage was NOT caused by a ruler either.
The photos show an indent with a lip towards the end of the card. If this was done by a ruler or something of that shape, you wouldn’t have an indent with a lip. Quite simply, the indent is too thin. I drew an arrow showing exactly what I mean:
Regardless, I doubt a ruler even touched your card at all.
You assume that the person would be applying uniform pressure to the ruler and not just the top where the markings are… I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all marking for how a ruler could damage a card.
Why don’t you think a ruler would have been used at all?
The indent is roughly the thickness of the raised areas where the cases kind of snap together isn’t it? I have heard of cards being possibly “pinched” in the encapsulation process. Perhaps that may be the case. But yeah, best to take it up with PSA. What was the cards grade? Again, if it is a 9/10 it sucks that the card was damaged, but it will be properly regraded when brought to their attention and you will be reimubrsed for lost value.
Edit: Less of where the cases snap together, more those 4 raised edges that surround the card holding it tightly in place.
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There is no evidence indicating this is done form a ruler. Someone posting an image from IG with a ruler on a completely different card is not evidence of damage or anything felonious. It is simply an emotional reaction to a photo. Whether or not people feel comfortable with that photo is not grounds to assume your card was damaged by a ruler, or that a ruler even damages cards. That is a massive leap in logic, or lack thereof.
There is really nothing anyone here can do to better help you because this site is not PSA, we didn’t grade the card. We didn’t see the card before it was graded, or during. Whether someone knows the grading process or not is irrelevant, as it doesn’t prove why your card has an indent.
If you feel PSA damaged your card, take it up with them. A better claim would be that it looks like it has snap damage from the case. But again, this is not a proven claim, just a more logical one considering the evidence at hand.
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Ok, I appreciate your input Scott. The reason why this question was brought up to this forum is because there are many members here who have submitted hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of cards to the company. I am sure that there are others that have closely inspected a card before sending it in and then received something that appears to have new damage as a result of PSA’s handling of the card. I can’t just call up and throw out accusations, so I wanted to hear from others who have perhaps had a similar experience and were able to resolve the situation with PSA.
As far as snap damage goes, that would imply that the grade it received was its actual grade and the damage would have happened after the fact, yes? Again, after a lengthy inspection before I submitted the card, it looked flawless and I estimated it would receive a PSA 10. After reinspecting it the only damage I see are the two indents on the bottom left and bottom right of the card - it seems to me as if these indents were taken into consideration when grading.