Does an Authentication Sticker Affect Your PSA Card Grade?

One of the biggest concerns collectors have when getting a card signed is whether an authentication sticker on the back could hurt the card’s grade.

In this episode of The Powers Sports Memorabilia Show, we break down what we’ve actually experienced when submitting autographed cards to PSA, including cards that have received PSA 10 card grades and 10 autograph grades with authentication stickers attached.

We also discuss why you might want witnessed, first-person authentication on certain autographs, when you might skip the sticker for aesthetic reasons, and why you should never attempt to remove an authentication sticker once it has been applied.

If you collect signed sports cards or plan on submitting autographed cards to PSA, this is an important topic to understand before your next signing.

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All right, welcome back to another episode of the Powers Sports Remobilia Show. I'm your host, Matt Powers. Thank you again for joining me. Don't forget to visit the website powersportsmobilia.com. Also give us a follow on Instagram at PowersAutographs. I just got a phone call from a customer that was concerned that getting an authentication sticker on their card from the signing would affect their card grade. And apparently he had called PSA and somebody at PSA had told him that yes, it's going to be considered the uh marked on the card there and it's going to affect your card grade. And even that's even if you ask all the AI systems out there, they all say the same thing. And it's just it's just simply not the actual case. So if you get an authentication sticker on the back of your card, does it affect your grading? And in our experience, it has not. I've received numerous 1010s. So for the card being graded a 10 and also the autograph being graded a 10 with authentication stickers on the back of the card. Okay, I've had it happen numerous times this year. We just posted on the Instagram stories a couple days ago of uh Connor Griffin, two 1010s, both with the MLB authentication sticker on the back of the card. So it does not affect your card grade. It will affect your card grade if you put an authenticate authentication sticker on the back and then attempt to remove it. That'll definitely affect your card grade. So don't do that. Okay, that it's like a no-no. Do not do that. So if you accidentally get it on there, just leave it and don't touch it at all. It does not come off, it will not look good. So just leave the authentication sticker on there. So we've talked about this at length, but we still get a ton of questions on it, so it's I guess worth covering again and again. But why would you want to get an authentication sticker on the back? And you just gotta keep in mind, too, like when all these athletes sign these stickers that go on the cards, it's essentially the same thing. It's a sticker going onto the card. And you can get those sticker autos, those cards graded, and they can grade 10s. So it's the same exact thing. So I just find it interesting that people are just so weird about these authentication stickers. But anyway, why would you want to get one and why would you not want to get one? So you wouldn't want to get one if you don't like the look of this of the sticker on there. That's the main reason. That's really the only reason why you would not want to get one. And and I totally understand that. I totally get it. On a 1986 FLIR or a 1961 FLIR, a vintage card, I don't like having stickers on there either. I just don't like the way it looks. But here's the thing: most of those older players, they have great autographs. Like you don't have to worry about what their autograph looks like for the most part. Like it's pretty straightforward. Joe Namath, pretty straightforward autograph. Montana, pretty straightforward autograph. Um, trying to think who else here. Bob Cousy, another pretty straightforward autograph. Like, it's like it's pretty easy to identify those autographs. Montana, maybe not the best example of. I don't know why I threw a Montana out there. His is kind of short and sloppy, but um, you get what I'm saying. Like most of the vintage players, Reggie Jackson, um, Johnny Bench, like they've got pretty qual, good quality autographs back when players would give you a really quality autograph. So you really don't need first-person authentication on there. Because remember, when you send your car to PSA, they're not really authenticating the autograph. They're just saying, in their opinion, it's authentic, but it's not 100%, right? So if you want first-person authentication, uh, that would be your, hey, listen, Beckett was there for the signing, or PSA was there, or JSA was there, or Provo was there, whoever was there, that's first person authentication. What PSA offers is just third-party authentication when you send your card to them. Okay, so why would you want to get stickers on the back of your card? Well, in our opinion, how we do it is if the autograph is going to be tough to third-party authenticate, or if it's a super expensive autograph. So take Stephen Curry, for example. I get stickers on everything, Stephen Curry. Number one reason is he's got kind of a shorter autograph. I know PSA is going to be tough on his autograph, more so than Joe Blow autograph, right? And third, it's just such an expensive autograph. Imagine if you got a Curry autograph at a signing and you chose not to get authentication, and then you send it off to PSA, and PSA gives you the runaround, oh, you know, the slant, the size, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And they don't authenticate it for you. Now what do you do? Now you're kind of in this tough position there of, you know, do you send it off to Beckett now? And do you play this little chasing game, you know, or try to get some sort of sticker? You're just you're kind of in a tough spot. So for expensive autographs, and you can determine whatever an expensive autograph is. I always get authentication on there. Um, any big time autograph that we're getting where it's like, wow, this guy doesn't sign much, or I know he's got a sloppy autograph, I'm gonna get authentication on there. I'm trying to think of who it was that has a some recent athlete signing was I know has a sloppy autograph. I was like, oh, dude, get third-party authentication on that one. I who who knows what the autograph is gonna look like. Manny Ramirez is one of those guys. Manny changes his autograph every signing. So I don't know how PSA has ever authenticated any one of his autographs, but if it's gonna be a sloppy autograph or a guy that hasn't signed in quite a while and you're spending a lot of money on it, definitely get authentication on your card. So again, that's just our opinion. You know, we're not right every single time, we're not wrong every single time. It's just our opinion. So you guys can do what do as you please. It's your card, it's your collection. By all means, please don't take our word as the authority on it. So it's just our experience, and that's our thinking process. And you can use your own thinking process and your own process to come up with your own decision because it is your card. But the answer being no, it doesn't affect your grading at all. It's just more of an aesthetics thing. And also, if you want first-person authentication on your card for the autograph authentication, which I think is rather important. So uh, you guys got any questions? Let us know. Um, but there's this topic's been covered. I think we've covered this thing 10, 12 times. There's information all over the website on this. So you shouldn't have to ask us a question because we probably answered it before. But if you do have a question, let us know. Again, don't forget to visit the website powersportsuring.com. Also give us a follow up on Instagram at powers autographs, and I'll see you on the next episode.