Sending your CARDS to PSA for the FIRST time? [A FULL GUIDE]

So you're wanting to send your cards to PSA for the first time, but aren't sure where to start? This video will help walk you through the process so that you can get started!
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[@SlappingSlabCity]

SIDE NOTE: If you know your card isn't going to grade a 10 then make sure you only put the declared value as what your card is potentially going to get. So if you think your card is only going to get an 8 then look up the value of that card as a PSA 8 and enter that into the declared value. Just wanted to clear that up! Thank you, Zam Fam!

[@TheHethmares]

Hi! I'm super new at this...What if you think your card is going to get a 10 and the declared value is $12,000 for a psa 10 card and you pay the $600 psa fee for a $12,000 declared value, but it ends up being graded an 8 with a value of $200. Do you get some of your $$$ back to reflect the difference in value since the grade was lower, or are you just screwed out of $600? Also, on the flip side, if you put a declared value for a psa 8 graded card and it gets a psa 10, will they contact you and ask you for additional fees to compensate for the higher grade?

[@SlappingSlabCity]

@@TheHethmares I recommend guessing lower, but just be ready to pay if it does grade higher. I haven't seen anything about getting money back for paying the extra and getting a lower grade because the turnaround time is way faster in higher tiers. So I'm assuming since it's that fast they won't refund the difference because then you could do the 5 day turnaround time and get your card back 2 months faster than the people who use the lowest tier. That'd be opening up a can of loopholes for people to get their card back in 5 days, get the refund, then only be paying $25 for a 5 day turnaround. I hope that made sense lol

[@mehwhyausername1]

​@@TheHethmares "if you put a declared value for a psa 8 graded card and it gets a psa 10, will they contact you and ask you for additional fees" yes they upcharge you if the delta is large enough. you won't get slammed with an unreasonable penalty as far as I know, though. just an upcharge to make it fair. if anything, you'll be happy that it graded higher and will be more than willing to recompense for the better-than-predicted result. paying extra $600 for a $3000 card is much better than paying $15 for a $200 card. it's the best way of making money ever. make sure you have extra money on the side or a credit card before this though... not sure what your financial is, so take my "this is the best way of money" with a grain because suddenly getting charged $600 is not for every body. as for the other question, no they never refund. err on caution by guessing a lower grade if anything. normally you won't submit high-ticket cards in bulk or anything. since bulk submissions have a $200 max declared value, you can't send over $200 value of card in that tier. if you do have something expensive to send, you'll send in a different group. make sure you know how a card is graded. get a soft surface made of felt to check the edges for corner defects, which show up on a black background. you can get a small magnifying glass to check for scratching and dents on the surface of a card. there are specialized plastic devices that act as accessory to test how centered the card is. all cost less than ~$30. find someone in your region who knows and is experienced and ask for their advice, some compete at tournaments or work at shops and many are happy to help for a small price or free.

[@bonecrusher7297]

​@SlappingSlabCity do you have a link for the rigid sleeve that the penny sleeve and card go into please....bever done this and I'm super scared

[@SlappingSlabCity]

@@bonecrusher7297 www.amazon.com/Card-Saver-Cardboard-Semi-rigid-Submission/dp/B00VKJVOYG?pd_rd_w=6EPEC&content-id=amzn1.sym.d3245d74-f79b-49f3-b99c-1e231bb8ca7c&pf_rd_p=d3245d74-f79b-49f3-b99c-1e231bb8ca7c&pf_rd_r=CMJ6C3XJGF701PZF9GWK&pd_rd_wg=lm542&pd_rd_r=4e10c746-7fd1-4d75-b6dd-94203d18b5a2&pd_rd_i=B00VKJVOYG&psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_m_grid_dv_rp_0_4_t These are the ones I use!

[@tachi8615]

the main thing that stops me from grading is them charging based on the cards prices. I'm sure the grading process for a $1 card is the same as $5k card.

[@tachi8615]

on top of mail fear (lost or destroyed)

[@SlappingSlabCity]

I do agree that it's a little lame to charge extra based on value because it's mostly just an easy way for them to get extra money from people with an easy excuse to use for doing so. But I have also heard that the higher tiers have more precautions when it comes to grading the more valuable cards in higher tiers to be less likely damaged during grading. I can't confirm this though it's just something I saw somewhere and never actually looked into it since I mostly only send in lower tier cards that I like a lot instead of more expensive cards just because they're more valuable. And I always attach extra insurance just on the off chance it gets lost. I know certain cards have sentimental value that can't be replaced by insurance money, but in that case it's probably better just to hand deliver those ones just to not risk it.

[@DropDeadZettou]

Heavily underrated, I genuinely appreciate the help. I recently started collecting SDBH cards and I wanted to get them graded after having them sleeved up for a few months.

[@SlappingSlabCity]

That's awesome! I'm glad I could help, it's definitely gets easier and easier after that first submission ☺️

[@agentlainez]

Great video. Love this info!!!

[@16BitFerret]

Great and very in depth video.

[@SlappingSlabCity]

Thank you! I really appreciate it!

[@joebin5884]

Thank you Mons for the help!!!

[@SlappingSlabCity]

Any time, boo 😘

[@pokejustice8195]

Amazing video.. thanks for the info.. very easy to follow and understand ..

[@SlappingSlabCity]

I really appreciate it, thank you! 😊

[@joclynsterling5892]

Ooooh I’m definitely using that rubber band idea for the cards I send to Beckett! Can’t wait to get our cards back from PSA!!

[@SlappingSlabCity]

Glad it could help! I can't wait either, it's gonna be an awesome night lol

[@louiestanley300]

Great video thank you for the card info

[@SlappingSlabCity]

Thank you! Any time!

[@WayneS-wh2hv]

I sent cards to PSA during the pandemic about 3 months before they shutdown completely. When I got my cards back 18 months later 90% of the value was gone. Ill never do business with them again for this reason. It's like buying a share of stock and being told by the company you can't sell for 2 years even if the value tanks 90%. PSA only helped the rich elite obtain more money by giving them premium turnaround times for their orders based on value and brushing everyone else aside that had orders less than $1000. Even people group submitting with a 3rd party got catered to. Card collecting went from "I enjoy collecting regardless of money spent" to "I have to profit several thousands of dollars off this purchase, I have to make money off this because I'm not working and don't want to".

[@SlappingSlabCity]

I almost sent cards in before the shutdown as well and I'm glad I held off. I didn't want to wait a year and a half to get mine back. I definitely agree with the whole grading to try to profit as much as possible thing you're saying. Half of our submissions we sent in were just because we like the cards, not because we wanted to resell for the value. And it's crazy how many people have told me it's not worth sending in some of the cards we did send in, but we didn't care. We had fun casing up cards from our childhood/favorites from our personal collections. As far as the other things you mentioned about PSA I definitely believe what you're saying about catering and all that, unfortunately we live in a world now where companies like these only see the $$$ signs instead of working out a way to be fair to everyone on every level. Definitely lame lol

[@coreyolson2481]

Love the bonus content and I know you want to watch how long your video is but it would be nice if you could include what the psa 9 & 10’s are going for as well when you mention what the lower graded cards are going for. Having said that I really do appreciate the bonus section this comment is not meant to criticize, just my opinion.

[@matthewhejl4779]

Hey so I wanna just get one of my cards graded. What type of package in your opinion would be the best to use. Also thank you for making a step by step for this!

[@dannyrodriguez5740]

I been wanting to Grade my cards for years. The PSA process to grade them seems intimidating but it was easier than i thought. I went for the 1 year membership and did the TCG Bulk option which came out to $15 a card. I'm taking a huge gamble and just sent about 290 pokemon cards to get graded last week. I hope I get good grading scores on them so that i can hold them and sell later on. They were all my doubles and they all consist of Pokémon XY Evolutions, Pokémon Go and Pokémon Trick or Trade sets. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[@bonecrusher7297]

What if you only want to send 1 card....do you have to still buy a membership?

[@cardtraderjay]

Great video! Do I have to use the semi rigid sleeve to ship or is a regular hard sleeve fine?

[@SlappingSlabCity]

Appreciate it! And as long as you don't mean like hard plastic top loaders you should be okay. If they look semi like the ones I'm using I know that's what they prefer

[@josephpolanski6322]

Thanks for The help, just did my first submission

[@SlappingSlabCity]

That's awesome! Congratulations!

[@markthompson7503]

Rubber bands instead of painters tape. Ok I didn't think of that. Great video as I am ready to send in my first submissions today and hopefully I get fast returns and high grades.

[@SlappingSlabCity]

Nothing wrong with painters tape, I use that a lot as well! Lol. Just not for PSA because they recommend the rubber bands for easier removal, but I have my trusty roll of painters tape right next to them for everything else 😂

[@brensei_15]

PSA has put a word out (at least in Japan) that they dont want you to put pull tabs on submissions any more, as they image and cut the card saver. The official USA PSA submission video also recommends AGAINST pull tabs as well. Might want to update your information?

[@SlappingSlabCity]

Hmm the way they worded it above sounds like it just meant on the outside of the Card Saver semi rigged sleeves. I think the way it's worded makes it sound like it could mean something else. I appreciate the feedback though for sure and I will definitely look into it!

[@warhammerfaction]

Yeah they don't want pull tabs

[@Mljotis23]

I don’t get the part where you say it’s one submission when you send in 38 cards? Then I see in the PSA confirmation page call it an order. What’s the difference between an order and a submission. I recently filled this out for 2 cards and wrote 2 in both boxes on the page I printed out. Thinking I have two submissions and 2 collectibles. Any clarification on this? It’s weirdly confusing.

[@StevenZC6]

How do you choose a minimum grade on a raw card and how do you have the card labeled authentic without grades?

[@SlappingSlabCity]

You can have someone who's familiar with a lot of graded cards and get opinions that way. There's also companies out there you can pay to "pre grade" your card basically. For me I just guess low on what it could get. And what do you mean by your 2nd question? Sorry I may just be misreading it lol

[@dinohernandez2975]

Can you use a priority mail box or does it have to be a blank box?

[@SlappingSlabCity]

You can use that, yes!

[@bobbyhill8068]

What carrier do they usually send your cards back with? I'm scared they might use fedex lol

[@SlappingSlabCity]

I'm sorry, but it's been Fedex every time for me... lol idk if there's a different way they can or not, I never looked into those options before

[@michaeldenzer6024]

No pics for the cards?

[@mitchellhorner3316]

Long time Pokémon fan, but I’ll admit I’m not the best figuring out what my Pokémon’s years and other identifying characteristics are the description area. That part is the biggest hangup for me. Would you have a video or do one to beat figure it out without actually knowing exactly what they are?

[@mitchellhorner3316]

@@TF_TV thank you!

[@CatchEmAll22]

Something i didnt know, if you hav an ERROR card, you hav to request "NO SYMBOL" or "ERROR" somewhere in the grading process. The only reason i sent in one of my jungle holos was because it was missing the set symbol. I was excited to get it back with the psa label saying its a no symbol or error but due to a misunderstanding with the shop i went thru to hav my cards graded, they didnt know i wanted it graded as a "no symbol" n it got put into the order as a normal card. No biggie but was really looking forward to seeing "no symbol" on the label AND it bumps the price a lil

[@SlappingSlabCity]

That's a great point! I may have to do a video on sending in something like that so people who aren't aware of it will know! That's definitely unfortunate that that happened to you, but if you needed to you could always crack it and resend it in. I wonder if there's a way to resend it in even in the slab for it to be regraded since I wouldn't want to attempt cracking my own and messing up the card 😂

[@CatchEmAll22]

@Gettin_Dem_Mons exactly 😆 iv seen tons of "how to" cracking slabs open but I don't trust myself lol. But you 100 I would hav to Crack it? Could I possibly send it as a regrade with it still in the slab or is that like an obvious no no with them?

[@Knsy]

I was discussing in reddit about PSA grades and a post had a new AI graded system that’s in its early days. Seems like PSA might get some competition soon as the inaccuracy with PSA is based on Human error and or feelings - where as the AI is consistent, not bias and generally doesn’t have a bad day. I’m sure the market manipulation is why they grade cards lower etc but I’m heavily interested in grading my old WoTC but not paying $50 for Greg to use his monocle to tell me it’s off centre lol. The added* value of a PSA grade is an immeasurable number because it’s only based off being the “popular” grading choice. It shouldnt affect the actual price of a card because someone else looked at it. It should just be a flat amount every time. That my 2c

[@SlappingSlabCity]

I can't disagree with what you're saying! I've sent cards to CGC because of their grading system. I think CGC should be worth more than it is since it's all computer grading and more accurate from what I've heard. So as far as PSA only being more valuable because of its name isn't false. It's similar to name brand stuff and how they can charge more than "generic" brands because people assume the generic is worse than the name brand. Even when that's not entirely true in some cases!

[@persuasivebarrier2419]

It’s not AI. Just better engineering.

[@caseylejeune2793]

I got a sick looking different demension master but it doesn't say first edition or limited edition i know that plays into the value as does everything with this grading stuff.... I'm new into the grading,but does it make a huge difference to have a 1st edition

[@SlappingSlabCity]

As far as being 1st edition or not, yes it makes a difference on value. 1st editions typically go for more than it's non 1st edition counterpart. But if you're comparing a card like a non 1st edition Base Set Charizard to like a 1st Edition Vileplume then the Charizard is still worth more than it. So it depends on how you want to compare it 😁

[@caseylejeune2793]

Thanks I know all the OG yugioh cards are the most value, I don't know if someone is gonna go awe yea for a card like I got, but I will see lol I got some magic cards too. I got a couple of those joke cards idk if I'd get those graded though. Thanks again man

[@Nyquil614]

so if i cant find a ebay listing to make adeclared value psa, can i use bgs value as declared value?

[@SlappingSlabCity]

When I come across this I usually make an estimated ballpark guess!

[@persuasivebarrier2419]

what brand of simi rigid sleeves are those?

[@SlappingSlabCity]

The ones I used are Beckett! Ultra pro is also a good cheaper choice. You can pick up 200 for about $25

[@TRIPPYTHEKID]

Do they return your top loader? Or do they resell em?

[@SlappingSlabCity]

They do not return the sleeves they're sent in. I wouldn't be surprised if they save all the sleeves and sell them in bulk for cheap 😂 but that's just me guessing I don't know that for a fact so don't quote me on that haha

[@juiceareevil9440]

If I have a card that's worth 1200 or so graded ,but only pick the $25 499 declared value or less , will they accept it and grade it or do you have to use the 75 service?

[@SlappingSlabCity]

From what I know, they will automatically charge the difference! So basically just know it's possible to be charged extra for them once the grading is done on it

[@christopherk7920]

i would recommend everyone to place their PSA copy 1 & 2 in a thin plastic wrap to protect it fr water

[@dalkaveli]

Can you just do a value/bulk option and put something other than a 10 to save? I mean, they'll email you to upcharge no matter what so why not go that route?

[@SlappingSlabCity]

Great question, but I'd rather pay more later if they get 10s. Instead of paying for a higher tier and for it to come back a 9 they aren't going to credit you money back later. Sorry for being 2 weeks late to your comment as well. I need to pay more attention lol

[@FrostyDelights]

I have a neo genesis lugia in great condition what should i do with it. Im so lost yet so happy.😂

[@SlappingSlabCity]

If it was me I'd get it graded 😂 but it just depends on how you feel about the whole grading thing. I know some people aren't fans of doing it lol

[@tonyfujihira7531]

Please help me to get my card graded and how do I go about getting it done

[@FrostyDelights]

Watch the video maybe?

[@PokeBreakBros]

Someone else in the comments mentioned it as well but grading based on value of the card is what has stopped me from grading with PSA. I always hated that.

[@SlappingSlabCity]

I also agree with that. I definitely think it's odd overall. I know it's just a cheap way for them to make extra money off of everyone without actually being a real reason for the extra charge

[@typeamen4441]

​@@SlappingSlabCityis that just a PSA thing? Or do all grading companies do this too?

[@DJMack64]

Hey my man, you went through a lot of effort to not show your shipping information, but you show it on your printouts when loading them into the box, not sure if you want to remove the video and blur it out in a reupload, or just don't care, but I didn't see any comments about it, thought you might like to know.

[@SlappingSlabCity]

Danggg, you're right. I honestly don't know how I missed it lol thanks for the heads up!

[@BravenR]

The hat 💀

[@illest]

They dont have an online submission form? I dont have a printer 😭

[@SlappingSlabCity]

If you have one somewhere like work or library or anything like that you can get it printed from your phone possibly? Don't quote me on that, but I print a lot at work by emailing it to our secretary's computer and having her print stuff off for me lol

[@iLightSoundGeometry]

this is ridiculous ..is the price real? so its basically 50 usd per card .. that seems unreasonable ..

[@iLightSoundGeometry]

oh per package not card .. i was going to say wtf mate

[@SlappingSlabCity]

@@iLightSoundGeometry it depends on the service you choose. But for one card it costs more than it would if you send a few since the shipping is what makes the price so high for one card if that makes sense lol. So you're better off sending as many as you can at once to save on the insured shipping since it doesn't go up much after 1 card

[@coreypersky927]

PSA actually does not want stickers to used anymore

[@shainehagee6937]

🙄 *promo sm*

[@Joe_1988]

Clean your Card? Thats kinda wierd

[@SlappingSlabCity]

How's it weird? All you need is a slightly damp microfiber cloth to clean it. If it's covered in finger prints and what not it could effect your surface grade

[@justinzippo7772]

Yeah if you don’t think you’ll get a 10 on a couple hundred dollar card it dosent seem like this is worth it. All these fees and shit to make my card worth 100 bucks more???

[@justinzippo7772]

Like 40 extra bucks a card??? For insurance??

[@SlappingSlabCity]

@@justinzippo7772 no it was $40 for all 38 cards. So just a little over $1 a card for full coverage insurance. The more you send in the less the shipping is per card overall

[@SlappingSlabCity]

Most of these cards are from personal collections that people wanted because they like them. Not to flip them. And it only costed us $15 per card and $6 shipping for each person. So really not that bad honestly

[@justinzippo7772]

@@SlappingSlabCity I’m not trying to flip my cards just make them worth more… but if I’m paying 20 bucks a card and then they charge more if the cards value is high then I have to pay insurance. Let’s say a Psa 10 card is worth 200 dosent really make sense for me to pay 50 to raise the end price 100 dollars feel?

[@SlappingSlabCity]

@@justinzippo7772 if it's a card that's not going to be worth a lot then you don't need to worry about an upcharge. Out of our 38 cards we had a ton go over declared value and they didn't end up charging us any extra. Idk if we just got lucky and they missed it or what, but I'm not complaining lol. But some of the cards were cards from own personal collections from when Pokémon first came out. So it was more just to encapsulate a childhood piece. But I know we also sent some that we only sent in hopes of 10s. Like out of my 4, 3 I only sent for hopeful 10s and 1 was just because it's my favorite card. With that being said though, I do understand where you're coming from as far as only sending in potential 10s so I do feel you on that. Sometimes it's just fun to see what happens too because sometimes you never know!

[@marcossalas2296]

What is your discord

[@SlappingSlabCity]

It's in the link in the description below this video! 😁👍