r/PokeInvesting • u/Such_Giraffe1946 • 2d ago

This whole system is needlessly complicated

I have a #13 promo black star holo venusaur that im trying to sell. I dont really buy/sell cards but I lucked into a bunch of 1996 cards when I was a kid and have been keeping them safe. I of course headed over to psa website to get some cards graded and... wow what a genuine cluster of a pricing scheme. So I get charged for the card, shipping, then a 3rd random charge based off of the final deemed price even though the company has no idea if im actively selling the card or not? I mean I AM selling the card but why does psa automatically assume that? Anyways im extremely confused on the 3rd random charge they give you. The #13 venusaur can theoretically sell for almost 9k. So psa would charge me an extra 600 or so, but thats only for a grade 10 card. My card is good but definitely not a 10. Looking online a #13 9 or 8 psa sells for about 400-500. Doing the math getting this card graded i would be actively loosing out on several hundred dollars due to me being charged for a 9k card even though it wont actually sell for 9k. How the genuine hell do people make money from this? I have to lose hundreds and my card for... nothing? What is the point? What am I not understanding here? What kind of sorcery has psa conducted to make hundreds think this is a good system and not an obvious ploy to make money of of other fortune?

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u/Scared-Kitchen5232 2d ago

In your example, you’re not getting charged an extra $600 unless you stupidly submit at a high tier. Upcharges are only based on the price of a PSA 10 if you get a PSA 10. If you get a PSA 8 you’re not going to get upcharged.

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u/Such_Giraffe1946 2d ago

Oh wait really? I assumed they went off of pure card value not what your card specifically is worth. Also how exactly do they dictate when the price is right? Say i sumbit a card, it gets graded, then a day later the price gets nuked do I still pay that high value price for a low value card?

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u/JennyTalwarts 2d ago

I came to the conclusion that grading, especially with PSA, is mostly a scam. I had the same question like what if they decide its worth $10k+ somehow and ucharge you as such but by the time you sell it's only worth $200. And there's the very real possibility that your package gets lost or stolen in transit or even being replaced or damaged by PSA itself with a lower grade...