The PSA 9-to-10 Buyback Story — Why Critics Are Alarmed
A recent controversy in the hobby has added fuel to long-standing criticism of PSA’s grading practices.
According to multiple forum posts, a submitter sent 30 cards to PSA and received PSA 9s across the board. PSA later offered to buy back some of those cards at PSA-9 value. Soon after, collectors noticed something unsettling: those same cards appeared in PSA inventory graded PSA 10.
After the issue gained public attention, PSA reportedly contacted the submitter and regraded all 30 cards. The result? 11 of the original PSA 9s were upgraded to PSA 10s.
That’s what many critics find most alarming. Even if PSA insists this was an “honest mistake,” this submission reflects a grading error rate of over 36%. For a company positioned as the gold standard of third-party grading, that level of inaccuracy is difficult to dismiss — especially when the grading error benefits PSA financially.
If those cards deserved PSA 10s all along, why were they graded as 9s in the first place? And why did PSA attempt to buy them at PSA-9 prices before correcting the grades? The timing matters. The correction only came after collectors began asking questions publicly.
Even without proving intent, the optics are deeply troubling. A grading company that also buys, sells, and profits from the same cards it grades introduces a clear conflict of interest — one that undermines confidence in the entire grading ecosystem.
For many collectors, this incident reinforces a hard truth: when grading decisions can change by more than 30% after public scrutiny, it calls into question how consistent — or trustworthy — the slab really is.
🔗 Source links (judge for yourself)
• Original forum post detailing the incident:
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1118823/psa-doubles-the-fun
• Reddit discussion on PSA buybacks and grade changes:
https://www.reddit.com/r/PokeGrading/comments/1pgaycc/psa_fraud_alert_discussion/
• Video breakdown of the controversy:
