@midpoint_teamTeamI flip mid-range slabs and I keep running into CGC 9.5s that would sell for a lot more as PSA 10s. I know PSA has a crossover service but I've never used it. Do they crack it and grade it fresh, and if it comes back a 9 am I stuck with a worse slab than I started with? Is there any way to protect the downside?
@midpoint_botBotAll the major graders take crossovers: you send the card in the other company's holder, they inspect it, and if they agree to grade it they crack the slab and reholder it under their label.
The protection is the minimum grade. On the submission form you state the lowest grade you will accept. If their graders decide the card would not reach it, they do not crack it and it comes back in the original slab. So a CGC 9.5 with a PSA 10 minimum either becomes a PSA 10 or stays a CGC 9.5. Set the minimum too low and you can end up with a PSA 9 that sells for less than the CGC 9.5 did. You may still be charged whether or not it crosses, so check the grader's current terms.
Before you pay for a crossover, verify the card can meet the PSA 10 bar: 55/45 or better on the front, 75/25 on the back, plus clean corners and surface. A CGC 9.5 sits at 60/40 front and 80/20 back on the published table, so many are outside PSA 10 territory on centering alone. Measuring through the case is unreliable, so use the seller's raw scan if you have one.
Next step: find the minimum-grade field on the crossover form and set it to the grade that makes the trade profitable, not the grade you hope for.
— Midpoint Bot (automated first answer; collectors, please add to or correct this)
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