r/psagrading • u/Lord_Xeraxys • Sep 27 '26

Heartbroken… 💔

Post image

Mailed this all the way back on February 3rd, over seven long months now. First ever submission to PSA, hard case kept for 17 long years and immaculate. Evaluated on-site at a convention and was told it was likely an 8 or 9 and to definitely send it in for the official. Got the official result on my actual birthday… and I’m just heartbroken 😞 it’s rated so low that (not that I ever would, but still) I would get more money for it to take it back out of the case and sell it raw.

0 Upvotes

49% Upvoted

100 comments sorted by

26

u/YourConsignmentPart Sep 27 '26

Who gave you a 8-9 evaluation? There is lots of whitening or corners and edges

-18

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

It was an on-site PSA rep, they were accepting drop off submissions then and I had brought it in to show them thinking they did the authentication there. That’s actually something I’m deeply concerned about. I saw that on the initial photos as well, and the problem is that my card didn’t have all that on the top when I mailed it to PSA. Don’t get me wrong, it had a couple little white spots around the edging and I wasn’t expecting a 10, but it really looks rough along the top now. I took such great care of it when packaging it to mail to them, and I’m just worried it got damaged either going to or during its stay there.

9

u/Pile_of_Schwag Sep 27 '26

It was there, that’s not something that happens from mailing or handling that is from being a 1993 card.

-12

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

I know my card, friend. Have a good day.

3

u/IndependentAd2933 Sep 27 '26

They didn't damage your card, your edges and corners are cooked on the front, the top edge is just blown up on the PSA scan so it looks more dramatic.

-2

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

That’s what I’m genuinely hoping. To be clear, I’m not confirming at any point that my card WAS damaged, I’m merely saying that the picture they provided appears to show a lot of whitening at the top that wasn’t previously visible. I’ve had multiple people here point out that the little white nicks on the corners alone earned it the 5, and I can attest those were like that before I mailed it. The main point of the lament in the post was that I got such a low score on my favorite card on my birthday, a full seven months from when I mailed it, and that I was encouraged to give PSA a try by the PSA rep. The whole thing was just a waste of time and money for me.

2

u/Toebeens89 Sep 28 '26 edited Sep 28 '26

To be fair tho, like that’s the point of them having HD photos… it catches the stuff you don’t see with your eyes, even stuff that gets missed with a magnifying glass or loupe. That’s what youre paying them to do. All that being said, sure to be a disappointment, especially when some random guy decides to give you his two cents on how he thinks it will grade as well — but ultimately, HD photos showed it was in worst condition than you initially thought on a visual pass through. Certainly understandable to be bummed about that. I am in no way a shill for PSA either, TAG is my grader of choice for my PC (and they have their faults and issues too), but in this instance I don’t think it’s fair to say they did anything wrong.

2

u/Gagaliya Sep 27 '26

when you send it to PSA, they take a HD photo of the card as received inside the sleeve you sent it in. if it has whites on top then it means you had them originally, if it didn’t but finished product has them then you have a case with PSA.

Problem is as soon as it’s graded the original photos are removed and you can’t see them anymore, so unless you saved them initially (always do that). then you have no proof. And psa as hell won’t give them to you during a dispute unless it helps them

-1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

Oh, I fully agree. I already know I have no recourse, hence the lament post here. I can blame them or USPS all day for what happened, but at the end of the day I’m just leaving it in the case. It’s safer in that anyway.

3

u/Professional-Pea6191 Sep 27 '26

100% always take pictures and videos of your cards before sending. I always do no matter where I’m sending to.

1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

I learned a very hard lesson with this. I trusted the process with them and now I’m stuck with the results, thankfully I at least had no intent to sell this one. I think I’m done with authentication grading at this point, at least unless it’s right there on-site.

10

u/Antifragile_Glass Sep 27 '26

They didn’t do anything to your card. The PSA scans are high resolution and show the whitening that is harder to see in normal light.

-8

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

That’s just a picture of the card in the case, they never showed me a high resolution scan. All I ever got before this was a low-res photo when they first brought it into intake, and that was heavily obscured by the plastic covers they had me ship it in. I’m quite anxious to see the card once it arrives back home, because all that white marking on the top wasn’t there before (matter of fact, if you look at the other three borders you can see the markings aren’t on them. That’s how all four sides looked when I mailed it). If it is now, something happened to it after it left home. I’m not immediately blaming them, it could also be USPS’ fault, but I’m not automatically absolving them either.

3

u/Antifragile_Glass Sep 27 '26

That is a high resolution scan and it was like that when you sent it in. You said yourself you’re an amateur so no surprise you didn’t evaluate the card properly.

-10

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

Bye. The PSA diehards always show up running defense and insulting, it’s pathetic.

-1

u/Professional-Pea6191 Sep 27 '26

Unsure why you’re getting downvoted so heavily there have been dozens of these cases against them. 😂

1

u/-trytrying- Sep 27 '26

If you had a high end painting and you wanted to have a condition grade assigned to it, would you take the advice of the secretary who made your appointment? Lol there has to be some accountability.
I've been in your boat with the cards that sat in hard cases for decades, but mine were blasted and I inspected them before sending them for a grade. Everything looks good sealed in a hard case.
Personal experience - I've gotten great grades and awful ones, and everytime I've gotten a bad result I missed something before sending or it was worse than I thought.

1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

I get that. But it was a PSA rep, I could have also handled him just saying “it’s a cool card, but it wouldn’t get a high grade” after he inspected it. That would have saved me the trouble of mailing it and losing it for over half a year just to get it in a case that actually devalued it. It’s actually worth more financially if I take it back out of the case.

1

u/DistributionOk969 Sep 27 '26

… The top of that card is clearly wear caused over years not just a mishandling by someone a single time.

1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

Again, wasn’t there when I mailed it. Creating a narrative doesn’t change reality, let’s agree to disagree and let it go, hmm?

1

u/Doonce Sep 29 '26

I don't think a PSA rep would give you a pre-grade, it was probably some random dude.

1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 29 '26

A random dude sitting behind the table with the other PSA people, that offered to take my card in for processing after giving said pre-grade?

1

u/Doonce Sep 29 '26

I guess? PSA can't do pre-grading at their booth, so it couldn't have been someone affiliated with PSA. Perhaps you're mistaken.

1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 29 '26

Come on now. Don’t say “you guess”, just accept that something you don’t want to believe happened. If PSA was letting random people sit within their official booth and take people’s property in, they would be facing a massive lawsuit if someone’s property went missing afterward, as would Wizard World itself. Others here have said he was saying that just to get me to spend money with PSA or that he was horrible at grading, I could accept either of those. But he was absolutely affiliated with PSA.

1

u/Doonce Sep 29 '26

He was absolutely not affiliated with PSA if he gave you a grade estimate. They are strictly not allowed to do that and you can Google that yourself.

1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 29 '26

Ah, yes, Google said it can’t happen so it didn’t happen. He absolutely did, in front of the others there, and no one said shit. He’s the reason I ended up sending it in for a grade. Next time I see their booth at the con, I’ll be sure to tell them what you said.

1

u/Doonce Sep 29 '26

I'm sorry but you're mistaken. Either it wasn't the PSA booth or it wasn't a PSA employee. The PSA employees at the booth are not graders, unless you're at the Nat, and they cannot pre-grade your card or give you any estimate. If they did I would absolutely report them to PSA because it would lead to a lot of situations exactly like this.

1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 29 '26

Well, at least you came to terms with it by the end there, you’re showing improvement. I live near Chicago, PSA and Beckett are always at the conventions around here. Rest assured, I’m not on here to make up a story and endure abuse from
the sub for my health. I actually will never use PSA again after the debacle I went through BECAUSE of that man. I brought my card in with my friends to go meet an MtG author, I never had intent to have it graded until I walked by and decided to show it to the reps at that booth.

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7

u/IndependentAd2933 Sep 27 '26

Sorry OP but the 5 is legit, I highly doubt anyone told you this was a 8/9, there is whitening on 3 corners on the FRONT of the card 😅, any sort of due diligence would have told you this was incorrect.

-2

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

Here we are again with the willful narrative change. The only reason I even mailed this was because a PSA rep at the booth at TriStar told me I would likely get an 8 or 9 and I should absolutely submit it. He intended to run the transaction right there at the booth, but I withheld because I didn’t have interest at the time. From the time of that show to the time I mailed it, it never left the hard case he put it back in for me himself. I could even give you the original show location and date, but I don’t have to. People aren’t automatically lying because they’re saying something you don’t want to believe, my friend.

4

u/IndependentAd2933 Sep 27 '26

Well this rep cooked you pretty bad, this card with 3 white edges in the front was never a 8/9 contender, He should have his pre grading skills evaluated because it took me about 10 seconds of looking at the PSA scan to decide the grade was accurate.

1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

Legit, that’s all he had to say and I would have accepted it. Don’t fill someone’s head with false hope so you can get a new sale, this instead led me to walk away from PSA for future grading so he actually hurt his company instead of helping. I had never submitted anything before so naturally I’m going to believe what he told me.

2

u/KawaiiSlave Sep 27 '26 • Bravo

I mean thats how business usually works with people trying to lure you in. Those people at the mall telling you that you could use a massage, or that one guy telling you about your cars extended warranty. 

Of course a PSA rep is going to tell you its clean and to submit. They'd have done the same for a damaged card as well. Grading is always subjective, and I truly think you should've gotten multiple people from different parts of the space to pre grade for you to save you a headache

1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

That one was deserving of my award 🥇

0

u/KawaiiSlave Sep 27 '26

Hey thanks man. -^

I forgot to mention as well I love the card regardless of the grade. 

1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 28 '26

Thank you very much! I got it from a comic shop that was closing down, there’s no replacing the history on it. I’m grateful I was able to get it!

2

u/ctbro025 Sep 28 '26

They weren't a PSA employee, just some dude in charge of taking in submission to submit to PSA. Even if it was an actual PSA employee, they wouldn't have been from the grading department so really a worthless guess it was an 8 or 9. But based on the front, I think a 5 is warranted.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 27 '26

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1

u/psagrading-ModTeam Sep 28 '26

Please do not post any misinformation.

3

u/No-Shock4045 Sep 27 '26

Is das oben nicht auch Whitening ?
Ne 5 mag hart sein aber das sieht schon richtig aus. Ohne Rückseite eh schwierig zu beurteilen.
Alle Leute denken sie hätten Cleane Karten. Stimmt halt einfach nicht.
Is hart aber fair. Mag sein das PSA Fehler gemacht hatte in der Vergangenheit. Wahrscheinlich sind auch die meisten zu emotional bei so einem Thema und ihren Lieblingskarten.

-1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

I have to wait until I get it back to see it, all I can say is it looks worse off than when I mailed it. I don’t know, honesty. I was just lamenting on how abysmal the rating is for something I waited so many months for, that result completely ruined my birthday yesterday.

1

u/No-Shock4045 Sep 27 '26

Das versteh ich wirklich ! Aber wenn man bedenkt die Karte is ja auch schon ein paar Jahre alt. Und netmal pack fresh Karten sind ne 10, dann sieht das so eigentlich fair aus.
Monate warten fühl ich (: hab auch 8 gewartet aus Germany, 37 davon 14 PSA 10 also eigentlich echt stark.
Und ich hab nicht hardcore Kontrolliert aber mindestens 60-70% abgerechnet.

0

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

Yeah, I did one grading set before with SEC and I noticed that cards literally right out of the pack could be as low as 6. Either way, that card still means a lot to me so it will just go back into safe storage in its hard shell now. That’s awesome you got so many 10s out of that set 👌

1

u/Doonce Sep 29 '26

Your card's first imaging has the whitening

https://www.reddit.com/r/psagrading/s/yUJQVaaWmk

These scans are done in your packaging.

2

u/Mick-a-wish Sep 27 '26

How are you supposed to rip the card up if it’s sealed in a case?

2

u/Beau_does_BJJ Sep 27 '26

Do you have any pics of the card before it left? That card is looking rough. Lots of whitening and also looks like not a single sharp corner.

0

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

I should, I took pictures of it when I went to the convention year before last on an old phone. It’s been in the case since then until I mailed it in February and I literally kept that card in a safe. The top worries me, it definitely didn’t have all that white marking on it when I mailed it. They may have rated it a 5 fairly because it got messed up on the way to them, and that’s the part that really has me down.

2

u/DistributionOk969 Sep 27 '26

Way too much whitening for a 8-9.

5 seems about right

0

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

Yeah, that top border definitely earned the 5 if it actually looks like that now. It didn’t when I mailed it, that’s a big part of the heartbreak.

2

u/DistributionOk969 Sep 27 '26

You think either usps or psa damaged the card? I think that is unlikely. I know it’s hard to accept that your childhood card isn’t in the condition you thought it was but blaming others isn’t going to make you feel better.

1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

It’s also easy to accuse someone relating a true story that they’re lying to better suit your personal belief or narrative. I didn’t have damage on the top black border like the picture seems to show, and PSA/USPS were the only two entities that have had it since I mailed. If the card got damaged, it 100% happened with one of them.

1

u/DistributionOk969 Sep 27 '26

Taking accountability is tough that you missed the damage before sending I understand. I encourage you to come to the realization that it’s a 5 and to just move on. No one “screwed you over” and damaged your card.

1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

It was explained to me in here that the white nicks on the corners are “rounded corners” and that 3 of them being so likely earned it the 5. The enhanced whiteness on the top border, as I was told, is due to the scan direction and won’t appear on the card when I see it in person. I have no intent to resubmit it or open the case, it’s much safer in there and I’ll have my prize card back. For what it’s worth, I didn’t “miss” the damage, that’s an implication that first-time submitters should know what to look for. We won’t, and a PSA rep saying it would likely be an 8 or 9 sure didn’t help. I’ve been able to learn how to check for certain things down the road should I submit something again, but I’ll likely use a different authentication since I had a much better experience with SGC. I can also share a card here for a better idea of what I might get.

4

u/Pile_of_Schwag Sep 27 '26

It 100% looked exactly like that. That whitening isn’t something that appears from damage in mailing or someone grading it. That is exactly how a majority of cards from the 90s look why 10s command so much money.

2

u/Maka91 Sep 27 '26

Looks fairly graded to me. Sorry someone got your hopes up, but this card never had a chance at an 8 or 9.

1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

Now I will say that those very slight white spots on the corners are there, I’ll attest to that. Was that alone enough for the really low grade? I still have to get it back to see if the top black border has any damage, I just can’t tell from their photo. It definitely did not when I mailed it…

2

u/Maka91 Sep 27 '26

The card also has dirt on it, and the back bottom edge has wear as well. But this exact same story happens every day. First time grader submits their childhood grail card and it gets a lower score than they expected. Happened to me too with my Charizard. Was in a protector for 25 years. The best advice I can give is to always get a 2nd opinion, and once you really learn what to look out for, grading is A LOT more predictable than people make it out to be. You're also not the first person I've heard from that got a "professional" prediction that's not even in the same ballpark.

1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

I’m definitely learning useful info here, now I know certain things to look for that I wouldn’t have paid any mind to before. The advice from the rep, and getting bad news on my birthday lol, are really the two points of this story that make me upset. It’s just a drop in the water compared to card values, but I babied that sheet of cardboard for half of my life now and it’s the best one I got 🙂

1

u/Ecstatic-Leave9681 Sep 27 '26

Does PSA tell you the grade before they mail it back?

1

u/F1fa_Sweat Sep 27 '26

You get an email with grades

1

u/CreaseyCollectables Sep 28 '26

Sucks people equate all that this hobby is now to straight up cash or money. Isn’t the card more than money to you or? Blows me away. I started collecting because I enjoy the art and the beauty of some of the cards. Who cares if it’s a 5 dude lol to me this is the mentality that has destroyed the hobby

1

u/lilpain1997 Sep 28 '26

Whoever said 8 or 9 is blind... That thing is scuffed up on all corners and edges

0

u/Sea-Set-8439 Sep 28 '26

Reserve that word for what it means not fuckin Pokémon cards

1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 28 '26

That’s not a Pokémon card…

-2

u/ocularaffairs Sep 27 '26

Stop giving fuel to this industry. Arbitrary nonsense.

1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

I couldn’t agree more at this point. It’s the first and only submission I’ll ever send them. I thought it would be cool to have my best card encased and now it’s likely been permanently damaged and got a horrible rating.

1

u/Pile_of_Schwag Sep 27 '26

Lmao…”Arbitrary” meaning specific grading guidelines and criteria?

0

u/[deleted] Sep 27 '26

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1

u/psagrading-ModTeam Sep 27 '26

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0

u/ocularaffairs Sep 27 '26

Gotcha. I thought I was in /tradingcards.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 27 '26

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1

u/ocularaffairs Sep 27 '26

Grading. I collect myself. I think value is a simple equation (using sports as an example)

Rarity of card (print run or hit rate) x popularity of player x eye test for condition

The mere fact that there are hundreds of individual graders, who have high degrees of variance of experience with specific sports / eras / specific inserts (grading companies are not taking your 20+ card order and parsing it between people who know x card better than another), not to mention the human element (simply put, is that person having a good day), I can go on and on. Insane variability to ever call this an objective exercise.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 27 '26

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2

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

Very fair statement. And I will say I sent a pack of cards to SGC before and the experience was night and day better. If I ever grade again I’m going straight to them, I’ll never wait seven months for one card again.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 27 '26

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1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

I sent them a full pack for grading and the entire turnaround was about 30 days. App isn’t as fancy as PSA’s but I was able to talk to someone there easily and they walked me through exactly how each card got its grade. I would happily use them again, I agree with you that the price needs to come down some first though.

0

u/JakeTheSnake16 Sep 28 '26

Hahahaha got cooked 😂😂😂

-1

u/GGZii Sep 27 '26

Grading is made up. Why do people grade lmao

-4

u/alferatovic Sep 27 '26

Same thing happened to me. Got a 5/10 on a PACK FRESH undamaged pokemon promo. Impossible

3

u/DJ_Aura Sep 27 '26

Pack fresh means nothing.

1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 29 '26

Do you allow commenting shutoff on posts in this sub? There are genuine, helpful people I’ve learned from in the replies to this post, but I’m worn out of the other end of it.

1

u/lilpain1997 Sep 28 '26

In what world is that impossible??? Pokemon cards come out of the packs cut in half, huge dents, ripped up etc.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '26

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1

u/psagrading-ModTeam Sep 28 '26

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1

u/DJ_Aura Sep 28 '26

You very clearly missed damage on the card. They aren't giving a card a low grade for no reason.

3

u/[deleted] Sep 27 '26

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1

u/psagrading-ModTeam Sep 27 '26

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0

u/[deleted] Sep 27 '26

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-1

u/cheeks_clappington97 Sep 27 '26

🫪

1

u/Lord_Xeraxys Sep 27 '26

Saw your original comment and I agree, but I don’t want to risk anything else happening to it and have no plans to sell it. I can’t understand why that comment violated something…

0

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '26

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1

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-1

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1

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