If PSA can upcharge when a card’s value jumps after grading, shouldn’t the opposite also be true?
Many collectors are starting to ask why the system only works one way.
We pay full price upfront, take all the risk, and if the card grades low — even below the cost of grading — there’s no relief, no credit, nothing. But if it grades higher than expected, PSA gets to tack on an extra fee.
It feels less like a grading service and more like a one-sided gamble. Collectors take the losses, PSA takes the wins.
If grading is truly about authentication and consistency, not profit on value, then maybe it’s time for PSA to prove it — not by upcharging, but by showing fairness when the value goes the other direction.
What do you think — should collectors get a partial refund when grading turns out to decrease value?
