Weak 10's

Wondering what everyone’s opinion is regarding “weak” 10’s. I know PSA grading is subjective & there are disagreements between weak & strong but I’m guessing most of you know what a strong & weak 10 look like.

Will these cards hold the same value as a “strong” or “true” 10? I’ve purchased a few cards off of people & when I get them it’s somewhat disappointing because the label says 10 but it looks more like a 9. If / when these cards become more expensive will people be inclined to ask for refunds or returns when buying cards like this? I’m assuming this is why a lot of the big stores have the disclaimer saying they rely on the opinion of the 3rd party.

With prices continuing to rise, I feel like the card is going to become more important than the grade. Meaning if someone is willing to spend $500+ (or whatever amount) on a card, they’re going to want it to be a truly gem mint example. Am I wrong thinking this way?

Let me know your thoughts!

You would think that, but it won’t happen. You’re paying for psa’s subjective grade, and they’re never going to pay out a ten that looks like a nine.

That only really happens if they miss a crease or something

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Personally, I feel like it can affect the price but it depends. If it’s close to what people expect from a 10 (0-2 minor flaws, solid centering), probably not by much. But the more expensive the card, the more people will take note and the more this effect will be magnified.

Live example, right now cardhaus has a gold star latios PSA 10 listed on ebay. Very low pop card. He was asking $5k for the card until about a week ago now he’s asking $15k. I can’t link the card, but if you search and look at the back, there’s no way that should even be a 9. All 4 corners are worn. I’d pay a full “PSA 8” price for that card if it was in a PSA 8 case.

Because it’s in a 10 case, it will probably never go for the price of an 8 or even a 9. But that’s an example of a mis-graded, low pop expensive card that “should” sell for a discount to a “strong 10” of the same card.

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The market is large enough there are numerous buyers with varying values. Massive issues like creases are cut and dry. Otherwise I personally am not super picky, as 10 can have a range.

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@jonandek - my thoughts exactly. If i’m buying a non-holo card or something that only costs me $50 or so as a 10, not as big of a deal.

But, like you mention, the more money that’s involved - the harsher I’m going to be. I’ve received a few 10’s that surprised me & I’m unsure if I should hold or sell.

I´d personally recommend to only go for 47+++ certs as previous certs are complete garbage compared to everything pre 47

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weak 10s might as well be psa 2

The main deficit of being picky with more valuable cards is you might miss your only opportunity to buy in that grade.

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I’ve owned a small handful of 10s through the years that were disappointing to me. Probably talking about >3% of all the PSA 10s I’ve ever received.

In some cases, I sold these copies and purchased other copies that were more up to my personal standards.

Also, I’m generally reluctant to buy from people who post poor quality pictures for this reason (although if there is no other option sometimes you just have to grind your teeth and go with it).

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I definitely agree that being too picky can be counter-productive. I had a PSA 10 1st ed magneton that bothered me due to some back edge wear. I finally pulled the trigger on an “upgrade”. Same card, PSA 10. I had been so focused on the back of the new card, I failed to notice the red print dot on the front, right in the middle of the yellow border. To me that is a far worse visual flaw than the other card. So now I have two “imperfect” cards. A good lesson.

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I don’t have many 10’s that I disagree with. My only fear is holding onto them & if prices increase, people may not want them due to their “weak” nature. But, it appears most of you believe this isn’t a big issue unless there was a MAJOR flaw missed.

This is a good question. Something I’ve pondered on. I wonder too if others will perceive them as weak or misgraded. I have maybe 100-150 graded cards and I scrutinize them about as much as I did to my WOTC binder cards 20 years ago during the Pokemon Boom. Most of those binder cards were not even NM, but they were beautiful to me. Of my graded cards, I have questioned several, and even shown pictures to members of E4 and the corresponding discord, and they agreed that they were misgraded. I think the collectors here are especially strict, and we would probably be the best PSA graders if we were hired, don’t ya think? I think Scott mentioned previously on one of his videos that most of these flaws are minimal compared to vintage sports grades. I normally believe a card is misgraded when it arrives from the post, only to change my mind later when the novelty has worn off and I realize that I was just hyperfocusing.

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I think the more cards you start to accumulate, the less you start to focus on these subtle flaws.

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If the label says Gem Mint 10, it is a Gem Mint 10

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Most collectors will forgive a ‘weak’ 10 or two in order to complete a collection, I know I would. Therefore the market value for said 10s is very unlikely to be noticeably different than for subjectively stronger 10s.

As mentioned by others, some cards have such low pops that being picky only means you may end up missing out.

TL;DR - a 10 is a 10.

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My opinion is a 10 is a 10 if for some reason I was selling a PSa 10 and someone claims it’s a weak 10 I wouldn’t reply or block them. Unless it’s like bent in the case or a rare circumstance

I have some weak tens, and I can say that I would pay to swap each and every single one them for strong tens. But I do actually think it’s more subjective with 9’s… 9’s can be absolutely all over the place, and for buyers with less experience they see a weak 9, the word “Mint” on the case, and feel hosed. It’s not fun to deal with.

Yeah unless it’s a clear misgrade - I.e a major fault or 4+ minor faults, then I wouldn’t worry.

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that one looks horrible. def. shipped some franklins together with the raw card.

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Yes and that’s a pop 24 card. So only 23 chances to get a “real” gem mint version. personally, if the 10 is that bad and the pop is really low, I would focus more on obtaining a very strong 9 and move on to collecting other cards. The case says 10 but it’s not exactly a trophy card you could wave around unless you never let anyone see the back

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