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NEW PSA STANDARD TIER GRADING
PSA just made grading a little more interesting with the new Standard grading setup. 👀
The part I’m most curious about isn’t even the price change — it’s how collectors are going to adjust what they’re willing to submit.
With grading getting more expensive, I think the days of sending every card that “might have a shot at a 10” are going away. You really have to ask yourself: Is this card worth grading? Is the PSA 10 premium big enough to justify the cost? And what happens if you get the 8 or 9?
I’ve already found myself looking at my submission pile differently.
So I want to hear from everyone actually submitting cards:
Has the new PSA Standard pricing changed what you’re willing to send in, or are you still grading pretty much the same cards you were before?
And what card value do you think makes grading worthwhile under the new structure
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30 Replies
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I am looking at my submission pile as well and trying to be more selective as far as what I send in.
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I’ve never submitted and right when I got back into this it went to $80 per card so I never knew the joys of $25 grading. In the $50’s is getting better!
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I’ve never submitted through PSA. Its always been with Degree but the 60 bucks is a little more reasonable than the 90 dollars or whatever it is that they had open
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I’m kicking myself for submitting that Jordan lol cost me and extra $30, if I only would have waited a couple weeks
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Yeah waiting til the 14th when they offer this grading tier to send in my Jordan now lol
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yeah i bet.. thats the sucky part of things.. and its not like hey i just sent a card in can i get the newer teir pricing haha
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Pre-value removal I was apart of the problem, I submitted too much lol
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hahaha its all good.. everyone one was but honestly they should have stopped excepting once reaching a certain amount humans can only do so many in a days work. and when you put pressure on people im sure they just are flying through some and giving poor grades when it should grade better
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still to much in my opinion. they should have paused things before they got so much influx of cards in.
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I submitted once to PSA and that may well be it. I’m not looking at resale value anymore and that seems to me to be the reason for using PSA. And honestly I don’t know that I made back the price for grading when I sold three of the cards I had graded. Maybe I did but I’m kind of stuck on the 9s I got. It seems to me that if you don’t get 10s it would be better to have raw cards even for resale.
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I totally get that. Those 9s can be frustrating, especially when you’re looking at the grading fee and then realizing the slab didn’t really add enough value to justify it.
I think the PC vs resale distinction is huge here. For PC, I’ll happily slab a 9 because I want the protection and presentation. But if I’m grading specifically to sell, I need that 10 premium to make the math work.
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yeah i think with pc grade with who you want. psa still seems to be the golden for resale. though i think a few others are possibly picking up. doesnt help collectors who owns psa also owns beckett and sgc
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In my opinion the wait time is just as bad as the price. I agree with taking a hard look at the submissions for selling because of the price. But don’t you think 100 days could put you out of the market on that card for too long? I’m new but it feels like you could just be waiting for your card to go through as the market passes you by.
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Yeah I think the 100 day thing is the key as far as determining what to send in
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it does put a strain on things. like many hope for a 10 and having to wait months to get it back and hopefully the value of the card that you was hoping for is still there.
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I completely agree. The wait time can almost be more important than the grading fee if you’re grading for resale.
A 100-day turnaround is a LONG time in the modern hobby, especially with prospects and current players. A card can go from “🔥 buy now” to yesterday’s news before you even get it back from PSA.
That’s why I think you really have to separate PC submissions from investment/resale submissions. For my PC, I’m fine waiting. But if I’m trying to capitalize on a player who is heating up, I’d much rather sell or trade while the hype is there than have the card sitting at PSA while the market moves on.
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For me, I’m really only grading PC. Well, I’m actually not even doing that at the moment as I’m holding and waiting for value to open. For non-PC cards that would fit the $1000+ value and would make sense to send at $60-$80, I’m just selling. I cant just justify having the money tied up for 4+ months in hope I get a 10.
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Yeah its a crazy risk to take for non PC cards. For PC cards its worth it cause you dont matter what the grade is.
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i agree there and i fell with them holding things up in that time the chance of something gowing down in value seems highly probable. which i know is part of the gamble ot sending in to grade anyways. expecialy value tiers
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That’s honestly a really reasonable approach. At $60–$80 plus potentially 4+ months with the money tied up, the card has to have a pretty compelling reason to take that gamble.
For PC, I can understand waiting because the goal is completely different. But for something you’re looking to sell, I’d rather take the guaranteed money today than gamble on a 10 months down the road. Especially with modern players where the market can change so quickly.
And that’s the part I think gets overlooked with grading costs — it’s not just the grading fee. There’s an opportunity cost to having that card sitting at PSA while the market is moving.
If the numbers don’t make sense before the submission, hoping for a 10 probably isn’t a strategy. It’s a lottery ticket.
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thats why the hobby is practically gambling now haha.. lots of what ifs and speculation. but we all love the hobby and we adjust ourself when things change. grading though has exploded and become a bit pricey and kind of have outpriced some people out. Ive seen lots of talk as to if cheaper grading comes back or if this is going to be the new norm
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It really is. Youre gambling on a players market not tumbling overnight. Why I’m thinking of getting cards through PSA graded in the offseason with the exception of Pokemon which is a true gamble on market
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you know i sit here daily and just mesmerized at what we are willing to pay for a piece of paper or cardboard. i remember looking up prices in the old beckett price guides..
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Yeah the hobby has come a long way for sure
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It really has. And honestly, that might be one of my favorite parts of collecting you can still enjoy the exact same hobby we had as kids, but there are so many more ways to collect now.
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It really is wild when you take a step back and think about it. We’re assigning thousands — sometimes millions — of dollars to tiny pieces of cardboard.
I remember the Beckett days too. You’d get the new price guide and immediately start flipping through it to see what your cards were “worth.” Now you can watch an auction end on your phone and see the market change in real time.
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that we are.. and to think if those cards weren’t encapsulated one little tear or bend could turn it into nothing. well some might still be worth something just would be a lower grade.
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That’s honestly a pretty smart way to separate the two. The offseason gives you a little more breathing room on sports cards instead of having a player’s market potentially change while your card is sitting at PSA.
Pokémon is a completely different animal though lol. One new set, chase card, tournament result or influencer opening can send the market in a completely different direction overnight.
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Haha exactly. 😂 The “what if” is basically built into modern collecting now — what if the prospect breaks out, what if the rookie gets hurt, what if the card grades a 10, what if the market suddenly shifts…
Grading is probably the part where I’ve noticed the biggest change. Once you start adding the grading fee, shipping and then potentially waiting months, you really have to think through every submission.
I’m curious where everyone thinks this goes. Do you think grading prices eventually come back down once the demand/backlog settles, or are we just looking at the new normal for the hobby?
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part of me thinks grading prices wont come back down unless its bulk and then its probably gonna be 50 plus cards. Which does suck for some who get a card graded just to know cause its gonna be pc anyways.
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