The PSA 10 Premium Is OUT OF CONTROL🤦🏻‍♂️ 

Honestly, I have come full circle and am going back to looking for BGS 9.5's

And half the 10's are 9's and half the 9's are 10's......its a joke

What’s actually crazier is psa upcharge up to thousands for one card

Tpott rants are the best rants in the hobby. Classy calm , full of insight and data. Even if you don’t agree you get to see new cards and learn something new about the hobby you are a True Gem for the hobby thanks for all you do

Yes the price differences between grades is insane.

Lol $27k for a BGS 9.5? It's probably in better condition than the PSA. You no longer need 4 sharp corners to get a PSA 10

Its crazy how a PSA 10 is 372K and SGC 10 is 67.1K. So you are telling me a PSA 10 is over 300 Thousand dollars more valuable then a SGC 10. That is ridiculous.

...and PSA doesnt even disclose why a 10 and why not a 9...Beckett DOES!

Everything you’ve said in this video is 100% accurate. And this is why psa is a joke to me. And I’ll never get why the hobby puts such a premium on PSA 10 graded cards. But then again look at the current state of the hobby. The dumbest things make cards run. People have no common sense

Thank God! You make so much sense it hurts. I've been laughed at for picking up rare cards in psa 9

lol went from buying the card, to buying the slab, to now buying the sticker lmao 😂 idiots spending $150-200k extra for a gold sticker

When it comes to grading, especially a card like the Jordan, they are more interested in the scarcity of a PSA 10, not necessarily the better condition.

I respect PSA and their dominance in the grading industry. Their slabs hold the most value. But the PSA 10 premium is sickening. I pulled a 2023 wemby Select premier silver. PSA 9’s are around the same price as RAW…..RAAAWWWWWWW. But it won’t change unless the consumers do 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

💯 Thanks for the truth T Pott!

I have thought this forever. 12.00 psa 9. 1700 psa 10. Pure ridiculous. Thankfully I love. SGC. And love 8's and 9.5.

The reason for the gap is because nobody is actually collecting these new cards. They are all to be flipped. If they were worried about collecting they would buy BGS, CGC and SGC slabs

Giving another sticker and grade to an already graded card is dumb too

I collect SGC 8 Jordan’s. The difference between an 8 and a 10 is literally almost microscopic. Buy the card, not the grade. For PC anyways.

Simple as that : The people behind PSA are pushing an artificial value on something almost identical as Beckett 9.5. The price gap is ridiculous. People in the hobby needs to wake up.

The hobby continues to show this age old statement is still true today.... "A fool and his money is easily departed."

We are the very few that really only care about collecting anymore. Pricing tools have made it much easier for people to pay less and less for each time a card sells. Every won auction is an overpriced card. Remember when Beckett magazines overhyped the prices, we’ll pricing tools did the same but only in a much faster time thanks to the internet.

Hey T-Pot thanks for the informative video personally my choice of grading companies are BGS,PSA,SGC,&TAG. I don’t have a 1 dominates all choice despite the price difference and PSA being king of the market.As long as it’s a 9 or higher and slabbed I’m happy

I totally agree. Great video. The gap makes no sense at all.

It shows an obsession with perfection. There's a reason I stay in the low end market, it's just gotten berserk on the high end market.

This is why most of collection are PSA 9 cards. I know that PSA 10 cards command a premium now but there just isn’t much difference in eye appeal between a PSA 10 and 9 to justify the price increase. Now I’m not saying that PSA 9 cards will jump in price, I just think PSA 10 cards will come back to the PSA 9 so there is more balance. The example I always use is the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey rookie. The PSA 9 goes for $200 while the PSA 10 goes for $2,000. It makes no sense that 2 cards that many cannot tell the difference is 10x more expensive.

A bad investment is your RIGHT.

I totally. Agree,,,,,, with you,,,,,,i remember i told GEOFF ,,3 YRS AGO,,,TO INVEST IN SHOHEI OHTANI,,,AND HE WROTE ME BACK ,,,AND SAID ,,,,,,HES NOT SELLING....RIGHT NOW,,,,,,,,,FUNNY HUH,,,,,,psa Mafia,,, FAMILY

I have done my best to utilize the price differences honestly. I think we will be in a time where SGC and PSA will be called almost identical. But that's only my opinion which don't matter to much.

372k usd That’s price of a high end apartment here in Taiwan,Taipei 😆

At the national in Chi there was a frame of about 20 PSA 10 Jordan Fleer 57s together. And the difference between them was staggering. But what there was basically none of in the whole show was an 8.5 or better Jordan Star 101, or Star 288 both from his actual rookie season. So yeah buy the rare card, not the # on the plastic holder.

The grade is just an opinion and I guess some people have money to blow. I take advantage of SGCs lower prices.

Makes No sense to me! I have been saying this for the longest. Also, I don't get why you would pay $20 dollars to get a card graded who's value is in the $0 -$199 price range. They say the $20 is for insurance purposes for the return of the card. Now I can understand if your card grades out as a PSA 10 now the value of the card is on the high end of the spectrum ($100-$199). So what happens when your card grades out to a 8 or less now the value of the card is worth a few dollars. So now in a since you have paid $20 for a card worth a few dollars. So if the $20 is for insurance purposes PSA should be refunding you the difference in value but they don't. That is my biggest dilemma paying these high grading prices and getting told the cost is to cover insurance on you card on the return now the card does not graded out on the high end so you technically should have paid insurance on a lower valued card but you didn't and they get to keep the difference. They need to make it make since. Not a fan of the procedure. I advocate for a governing body to over see card grading to make sure the consumer is not being taken advantage of. Just my opinion.

Buy the card, or buy the slab? I'm into cards more than slabs. I've become the minority!

Yet everybody watching this video keeps buying PSA and paying upcharges to grade with them. The best grader that is actually using technology is TAG but nobody is using them. With them you get the same grade everytime regardless of how much the grader had to drink the night before or if they had a fight with their wife on the way to work. Not true with PSA

Agreed. Guess it’s up to buyers to stop paying so much for PSA 10s. Or pay more for SGC, BGS or CGC. Market has dictated this - not PSA’s fault.

The insight and brutally honest truth.. is sorely welcomed.. and the fact of all the work and time it takes to do the data and the math and the research to put out such informative videos is very great for the hobby thanks for all you do

@pattysCards nailed it !! To top it all off, our hobby is now full of those who follow rather than think for themselves. I am a pure BGS fan and have crossed many directions with all companies. Beckett is the most consistent

I 1,000,000% agree with you on 10 premiums on ultra modern. It's bonkers in my opinion. I can understand more of a premium on vintage and even up to 80s/90s cards, because of poor printing quality at times, or on collectors not storing/protecting cards the way we do now. I am not an ultra modern collector/investor/flipper, but if I was, I'd be buying 9s all day long.

To add to all this, I have searched certain vintage cards’ pop count of the same card in an SGC slab vs PSA, same grade, and the SGC pop count is lower, but the PSA still fetches a higher amount!! This makes no sense. It’s a vintage card, so already rare, it’s in a decent grade slab (let’s say a 7.5-8), they look the same in the slab (and sometimes the SGC looks better), but the PSA still fetches a higher amount!! No sense. A good example: vintage basketball cards. You can pick up a nice Jerry West/Oscar/Wilt for a great discount if the card was graded by SGC. For the 2nd tier players, the gap is even higher! Hall of famers. It’s absurd, but great for those of us patient enough to know that the gap cannot continue for the high end cards. More and more of the ones in a high grade PSA slab are going into PC’s and not see the light of day for a long time. So if the demand for those cards continues (which I anticipate), then those interested buyers will have no option but buy their desired card in an SGC slab (because that’s what they find on the open market and internet). They will have to go to shows if they absolutely want it in PSA. However, for the buyers who primarily rely on the internet for their sales and purchases, SGC is what they will find as a the best available option, especially when they would be more-appropriately priced. That will organically drive up the value of SGC slabs. Same would happen to PSA 9’s, just not as much for the modern cards due to high pop counts. This is what I believe. Let’s see.

I’ve been thinking about this for over a year. With AI grading becoming more common, the slab will be a preference and the prices won’t be so different.

Would it help if I toss a Hundo in my box when I send my card in to get graded? LMAO

I may be in the vast minority, but I don’t think Saphire is a nice set. I love that they are rare, but to me they are butt ugly and that is why I would never buy one. The base Topps or a refractor are much nicer IMO.

Same card but the type of plastic (brand) covering it deciphers the price….lol insanityyy

THANK YOU for making this video. This is why I almost exclusivley buy BGS/SGC slabs when buying gem mint graded cards. Makes no sense paying that premium. If the player performs and the card goes up all the gem mint copies will rise. If the player stinks, you lowered your exposure

Hey, I agree to a point but I also think that grading has ruined the hobby for many. Here’s my opinion. For one, if you have a card in pristine condition, you get it graded. You pay to get it graded and then you get an upcharge because of the over inflation of the psa 10 grade as you said. If a card is mint, it’s mint without a stamp of approval that is given by a company (not just psa) but all who make mistakes and also have been known to save the pristine grades for people who aren’t common joes, especially if the pop count is low. So unless you’re going to sell that card, it is a waste of time to grade in my opinion. Because you get upcharged even say $200 because of your potential to make more, is $200 that you don’t have to spend on other cards if you’re sitting on it anyways. Secondly, as you said that the sales numbers for them are 🤯 insane amounts of money. Now to find a raw card in good condition with book price of let’s say $250 raw. Psa10 you will pay I’ll be generous and say $1250. Now to find a raw card that should sell for $250 or maybe less, you’re finding people asking $300-500 raw just because of a hypothetical potential if you decide to grade it. I quit for many years when grading came out. I returned to the hobby for a few years around 2010 and I just started again. I just am seeing that grading is out priced many hobby collectors even on raw cards and to me this is sad. Just my opinions

Great video Tpott! I chalk it up to the fact that there are simply many things in this hobby that don't make sense.

T Pot. Honesty is the best policy. Keep on doing videos. Great job

Long time collector here. I grade my cards and sell most of my PSA 10s and the profits I use to build my PC.

The same reason why ppl pay top dollar for other name brands, a gap sweater is 30 bucks and the same material with a Gucci logo is 2500. It's branding brother nothing we haven't seen before. BGS biggest mistake is to call a 9.5 gem mint.

13x is not 1300% more. It is 1200% more.

Depends on the player. The more popular the more people want the ten to separate themselves from the thousands of 9's. If the player is not well known or is just mediocre the 9-10 premium is not a as much because there is no status to be gained from owning the rarer card because nobody cared about them in the first place.

I collect super rare cards as a collector. I buy the card because I need the card. As long as its authentic and in good shape it doesn't matter who grades it

This was a great video. I am a 45 year old, new collector, who was roped in by my boys who just started collecting as well. My oldest son, is fascinated by PSA10s, and I've had many discussions with him on this topic. I'm looking to build a PC, and as such, could care less about the graded or slab cards, with the caveat that they are more protected. As a guy just trying to build a collection of cards that I like (I'm not looking to be a high-rolling investor), I see slabbed cards as a barrier to me collecting the cards that I want without spending what feels like a manufactured premium. I think that barrier stands not only before me, but others as well. Especially young collectors, and those without deep, deep pockets. It feels like a hobby once accessible to the masses, regardless of socioeconomic status, appears to be out of reach for the masses. For the record, I do not have any slabs in my PC, but should I get my hands on cards that I wish to protect for my own collection, I think I would look to the grading company that I believe has the best looking slab. Once again, thanks for the great video.

If you look at the yellow ring around that PSA Jordan you'll see that on the bottom the yellow goes outside the black edge lines. That drives me nuts. No way should it get a gold sticker. I think if SGC had thinner less bulky slabs like PSA they would be my go-to as they have a more neutral colored label. The PSA slab is perfect, just their red labels sometimes clash with certain cards. I play the PSA 9 game. They are priced cheaper and the pop reports are likely overstated from crack/resubmits. Not all 9s are equal. Obviously the perfect 9 is one you can't see any imperfections on. Keep those. There are some with a tipped corner or centering issues on the back that are also acceptable. I keep those too. But then there are some with surface scratches on the front or a print line that doesn't show up easy in photos. I'll resell those on consignment and buy another until I'm happy with it. Last sale of a PSA 10 2002 Topps chrome Tom Brady Refractor is $22k. For around 2k I own it in a 9 and can't see a single thing wrong with it. I'd rather have multiple 9s with extra cash in my pocket. If I were rich, I don't think I would think any differently.

The PSA 10 Jordan is a Gold Diamond... equivalent to a black label BGS 10

With respect to your 27k vs 370k for a tiny bit of corner wear at 6:40 I agree that is WAY WAY too much premium, BUT high-end collectors/investors in any collectible will always pay more for the "best" of something. There is a competitive aspect to all of this and just having one of something will never be the same as owning the very best of something.

Is it me or does the Gem MT Jordan PSA 10 shown @ 5:18 looked pinched by the PSA case at the bottom? Especially when he zooms in??????

Everything mentioned here is exactly why I mostly do photographs now. Photos are generally much rarer than cards. The only cards I collect now are rare cards, like test proof cards. I recently bought several extremely rare Flair Diamond (test proof) cards. I bought a Bonds, Griffey, Ripken, and Frank Thomas for under 100.00!! They werent meant for consumer consumption, so theyre definitely rare, but why so cheap?! The only explanation I can come up with is that people do not understand true scarcity, because it makes zero sense to me. I also bought a number of type 1 Griffey, Bonds and Ripken rookie photos for cheap! I dont understand it, but I do appreciate everyone being asleep while Im snatching bargains.

@T Pott - you should do a follow up video if/when the PSA Gold Label card sells, then compare that value increase to the other cards that could have been bought. It would be interesting to see if the value of one card outperforms the value of the other cards. Would be good to see.

With older cards I absolutely can see why the gap. Much harder to get 10’s on them

You know things are crazy when the cases to protect the slabs cost more than grading the cards.

Collect cards- not slabs. Or just switch to memorabilia.

I think, if getting the graded card for my own PC without thinking of selling it, I won't care for the grade as long as it looks apealing with the naked eye, but if getting the card graded for selling purposes, I would want the highest grade possible to make more money out of it. for example, psa 9 looks better than a psa 10, because I know I will get more money out of the 10.

T Pott - love the content and message. Please do a Data Dive on the pop report of junk wax rookies graded pop vs modern rookies graded pop and compare why the junk wax rookies pops are lower than the modern pop rookies.

whats insane is this..they are all doing the EXACT SAME THING..they authenticate the card, and verify its condition. please explain how PSA does it any different lol

I totally agree that graded cards are disproportionately valued due to obscure sales figures. Especially a low pop count card. There’s essentially no set value to cards, and they sell for what the market provides. The graded cards are great for higher populations in order to set the higher quality apart from lower, but honestly the graders are so inconsistent, there needs to be a set standard universally followed and proofable before a grade will actually have tangible and comparable value. Essentially, Graders need to be graded or governed. Probably impossible.

I kinda understand jordan with white corner being more than 10 times less, it's a legendary card. Cards people haven't heard of all their life would be less impressed by a less known card. Should be some people that want that card with perfect eye appeal.

I paid under $400 for a BGS 9.5 Mahomes rc at the same time the PSA was going for over $1K.

it´s a pissing contest.. plain and simple..

High end cards is all about some rich guy having the best copy in the world. It is all subjective and 99.99999 of collectors are not in this high end market.

Not everyone swims in the same pool..psa 9s are drastically undervalued and underrated according to the psa 10 and has always been my happy place whether I’m purchasing or subbing to psa. I’ve always seen money to be made in this industry but it’s the long play and at the psa 9 level this goes only for cards from the 90s on back to the 70s anything before the 70s premiums start to show up so what we’re seeing here had been an opportunity for years to be in this for the long haul if your an investor but if your a collector value is just value and it only matters to what you can afford. I will say it again Psa 9s are the buy and will concreting value compared to the psa10 once people understand there’s only so many buyers for that psa 10 price tag but a lot of space for collectors & investing at the Psa9,level.

The real question is: Are the PSA slabs overpriced or are the SGC 10 and BGS 9.5s underpriced? What is the "true" value of a "Gem Mint" example of any given card?

You didn't need to preface your presentation by saying how much you like grading. Grading has ruined the entire hobby.

Wait till they grade the graded-graded Jordan, that could get 3 milliom dollars.

I have thinking this for a while as well. Thank you for this video. It needed to be said.

Yah its to the point that CORRUPTION can and will be a huge driving point of the grading services. If I know graders on any level in any form I am paying a premium all day every day for 10s. Until humans are completely taken out of the grading scene than its not to be even remotely trusted.

Nailed it Teapot.

Its always been madness and i love to go for the 8 and 9s all day much better value usually like 1/3 of the price for the same card in similar condition more often than not lol

Raw cards are going for more than PSA 9s.

I'm a dad and my family is a single income home (me). I like to collect for my little kids to give them something nice when they get older and I also like to try to buy and flip so I can make more money to give them a better life. Sadly if it's not a PSA 10 its almost not worth grading due grading fee and etc.. I truly wish PSA had some good competition, but everyone wants a PSA 10.

Most people in hobby don't understand why grading is the way it is or how PSA became so popular. They also ignore how unethical PSA was during the pandemic. There is ZERO reason PSA is better than BGS, SGC, CSG, or ISA. The hobby needs set standards for grading.

Validation is priceless! I want someone to grade my graded cards! Wait...they already have that? 😮😮😮

PSA hype is all about the "collector" who can not think for him or herself. Give me a SGC , CSG, or BGS Gem at a discount all day, everyday.

Only people making money in this hobby are the grading companies LOL

Buying a Gold marked PSA makes sense that it would go for more but the question that should be discussed is why a premium company like PSA's 10's are being graded by another individual or company for eye appeal. Are they not already GEM Mint? Goes to show you the scam that is both grading and PSA's lack of quality control. As PSA themselves have said. One grader could give it a 10 and another grader can give the same card a 9. So many people have drank the PSA kool-aid and in truth they are one of the worse "grade" companies.

They aren’t collectors Only investor

last time I bought a psa 10 it was 80 percent of a bgs 9.5

Honestly unless it's a highly counterfeited card or a high dollar card like the MJ I don't want it slabbed I mean it's a bulky piece of plastic that if that's all u collect can be a real pain in the ass to tote around or to even store or display at home. I think I speak for any real collector when I say give me a penny sleeve and a top loader and In some special cases a one touch ..that's it

I collect hockey. A couple years ago a BGS 9.5 was equal to or had a higher value to a PSA 10. Now the PSA 10s are 2.5-5x - makes no sense to me!!

Great job T-Pott, I appreciate a channel and someone with influence finally addressing this nonsense. The shilling of and fanboying over PSA 10 slabs is and has been for some time now quite ridiculous. It is easily understood why people mostly flippers within the hobby talk up the values of their PSA 10 slabs since so much of their business and flipping collection consist of these slabs. However, discounting other third party graders more detailed yet differently scaled slabs not due to superiority but due to a chosen difference in simple numbering systems is ridiculous (PSA GEM MINT 10, BGS GEM MINT 9.5) and only preys on the ignorance of collectors who understand nothing other than following trends and the intentionally poor advice of those trying to sell them something. Kinda reminds me of when Burger King tried selling a 1/3 pound hamburger for less than a McDonalds 1/4 hamburger. More meat at a cheaper price, but due to consumers ability to be fooled by simplistic math and a misunderstanding of what numbers truly represent we get this mind boggling, nonsensical following of manipulated trends that make absolutely no sense. In theory the following can be and is most likely true… PSA sub grades: C-9 E-9.5 C-9.5 S-9.5 Equals PSA 10 McDonalds 1/4 pounder BGS Sub grades: C-9.5 E-9.5 C-10 S-10 Equals BGS 9.5 Burger King 1/3 Pounder 😁

That's y u should by sgc they are a great company and to the t its nuts people are paying psa prices for a sgc card that probably better grading

Great content, very true.

Good stuff. Idea for follow-up: How has the PSA GM 10 multiplier ratio changed over time for iconic cards, and what does that tell us about the long-term market? Useful both for people buying/selling those cards but also maybe tells us how the most premium modern cards will appreciate.

These people are so insane.

Just shut the door already 😅 it's ridiculous the gap between grading companies and it seems the gap between 9s and 10s is getting greater. Been waiting for you to do this video, you did a great job 👍

It’s not the same exact card it’s a card that a professional has found a FLAW in so the card has a flaw that has made it a 9 so you should say at 18:00 the same exact card minus the flaws lol 😂 psa 10 means a perfect card not all are born a 10 from factory many come with white corners or print lines that may make the cars look bad ….PSA ALL THE WAY. Trust the pros cards are flawed that’s why they get 9s not cause of anything else it’s a flaw defected lemons 🍋we pay psa to make sure we get nice cards with no flaws

My statement on this grading opinion is you are valuing the card based on someone’s opinion, looking at the fact there are so many different grading companies with different prices to grade cards with some outrageous prices some reasonable, but the most important thing is NO ONE company is really officially a certified professional authenticator because it’s all basically someone’s opinion, so it’s a reality that ANYONE can look at a card and determine what they think the condition of that card should be. I have been told by my DOT doctor that I have Eagle eyes and if I wanted to I could share my opinion and charge a premium price like anyone with good vision and with technology out there, anyone can place the card on a scanner and blow up the image and give their opinion. ANYONE can give their opinion, can charge a premium price to grade the card but the reality is you’re not seeing your card going through the grading process, you’re going by someone’s opinion. No one grader is really officially certified with a proof of a certificate by some so called professional authenticator that makes your card officially certified. Face the truth.

You are not taking into account the market for set registry competition I'm somebody who participates in the PSA set registry the competition in rivalry between collectors is intense. One time I got five collectors battling over a 1968 Topps hockey PSA 10 Bruce McGregor pop 1 of 1. I sold that $4 card for over $2000.

Hi T-Pot. I want to bring your attention to a blatant overgrading of the 3 finest 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle cards graded PSA-10 Gem Mint. I have physically inspected 2 of the 3 cards myself in my very hands. I have not physically inspected the "Diamondbacks Collection" piece that was owned by Tom Candiotti. However, I have seen photos of it. All 3 examples in PSA-10 suffer from the same major flaw that is easily seen by the unaided eye. They all suffer from diamond cutting, meaning that each card is not cut straight. They all seem to have nice centering until you observe that the borders on each side of the card are different widths on each end of the card on the same side. The unsung hero in this situation is the "Mr. Mint" Al Rosen specimen that was graded SGC-9.5. In my honest opinion, that card is the single finest example! It is cut straight and is a far superior example to the 3 graded PSA-10. Please look into this and do a video on it. It is EYE OPENING! BGS and SGC would each grade those cards in the 7 to 8 range, far from their elite PSA-10.

Yeah, it's stupid. Let's just say I have 3 86 Jordan fleers from when I used to collect as a kid. I can't even afford to get them graded.