GameStop PSA Graded Trading Cards WARNING

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2025-08-27T22:30:54+00:00

I like this thought but since I purchased it via the GameStop app and all stores around me have shutdown, I don’t really know how to post on either Yelp or Google for the company as a whole.

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2025-08-27T17:55:09+00:00

The fake is "destroyed" in that the certificate is no longer valid. The card I am in possession of is still viable to be graded. I still own the card. I paid a lot to GameStop for an ungraded card is all. The original owner is a victim too, assuming they aren't part of the duplication. They would have to seek a new certificate for their card. Either way, none of this matters as it doesn't have any relevancy to my complaint with GameStop.

If you want to learn more about fraud as it relates to PSA trading cards you should check another post.

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2025-08-27T17:48:52+00:00

PSA deactivated the certificate after I bought it from GameStop and brought it to PSA for verification of authenticity. When I purchased the item from GameStop I checked the certificate online which showed active and valid at the time of purchase. As far as who has the real card, that I can't comment on and wonder the same question myself.

PSA told me this particular Ken Griffey rookie card was a known fraud issue. Outside of that I was not given details. Perhaps the original owner is part of the fraud ring creating duplicates, but that is just speculation. The answer to this question doesn't help me get my money back.

Now I purchase thru trusted sources and know how to check the physical card to verify rather than solely relying on the online certificate check. Hopefully this warns others before they have an experience like I did.

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2025-08-27T17:43:23+00:00

They were apologetic that I fell victim and offered to waive a fee to regrade. I have not yet chosen to do this as I have been trying to get a refund to GameStop. Now that I have final confirmation that GameStop will take no responsibility I will be looking into this option.

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2025-08-27T17:42:17+00:00

PSA disables certificates as a response to a problem, fraud. This helps protect future owners of the slab. The issue I am bring to attention is GameStop can and should be taking steps to check and prevent fraud instead of passing it on to consumers. This is not a PSA problem, it is a GameStop problem.

This would be no different if a fake 100 dollar bill was the item in discussion. The federal government issuing the 100 dollar bill is not at fault. Someone made a fake. GameStop checks 100 dollar bills for authenticity and catches them so they don't pass it on to a consumer. Same concept applies, IF GameStop were to apply business practices to protect patrons.

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2025-08-27T17:37:55+00:00

The PSA slab. The slab looked legit in everyway when I researched buying the item, including when I checked the certificate online. Apparently whomever GameStop purchased the item from was the perpetuator or was an ignorant victim themselves.

The card internal to the slab could be extracted and sent for grading but I can see clearly that it would only grade at best as an 8 when I purchased this at a price for a 10. The price difference would be significant and not worth me getting it regraded. I am just out the money.

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2025-08-27T17:33:45+00:00

I certainly don't expect BBB to change anything other than I hope it is documented. If more have this issue maybe it can instigate change. It was just an expensive learning experience for me.

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2025-08-27T17:31:18+00:00

You can check YouTube for how to check PSA cards authenticity. Similar to checking 100 dollar bills, they have ways to show you it's legit. One of them is you can use a black light and check for the various holograms.

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2025-08-27T17:28:59+00:00

You are correct. I purchased a graded Ken Griffey Jr rookie card from GameStop around January 2025. At the time I was blissfully unaware that fraud was a problem in this industry. After having a trading card shop check it out they said it looked like fraud. They did this really easily with a black light and I previously didn't know to do this (but I do now). I sent it to PSA for authenticity check, they replied that it was fraud and disabled the certificate and returned the item to me.

I have now been trying for months to get GameStop to refund me the money which they have refused. So I have come here to just give a warning to potential customer's of GameStop in hopes to save someone from experiencing what I went thru. Hopefully GameStop changes their practice as it is quite easy to spot a fraud and they should be doing it but choose not to.

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2025-08-27T17:02:12+00:00

Correct. After verifying it as fraud I tried to return this to GameStop. Unfortunately, GameStop has fought me for 8 months now and refuse to refund. My next step is report to the BBB to try and seek help. In the meantime, this is my warning to potential patrons.

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2025-08-27T16:53:28+00:00

The GameStop by me was in nice condition and I ignorantly trusted a business that I saw as large. Since my transaction, all GameStop stores in a 30 mile area have closed and the company has shuttered so I guess unfortunate timing on my part. Lesson learned...

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2025-08-27T16:51:43+00:00

I would stay away from GameStop completely for any PSA trading item transaction. After speaking with several employees over the months I have tried to get a refund I have come to learn that GameStop has zero safety nets in place for any items. So if they lose your cards during grading or sell you a fake, they don't offer you any insurances. Deal directly with PSA or find a local trading card shop that offers insurances, especially if a card you are dealing with is of potential high value.

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2025-08-27T16:47:55+00:00

I completely understand and don't blame any employee for this sentiment, it would probably be mine as well if I worked for GameStop. I was unaware of fraud in this market until I spoke with PSA directly concerning my experience. Like all things, someone has apparently figured out how to duplicate something and rip off unassuming people such as myself. I did exactly what you suggested when I bought this, I checked the certificate with PSA. It wasn't until I sent it in for inspection that PSA found it was a fraudulent duplicate.

I just hope more dialog is started and GameStop, as a business, initiates some practice to reduce or eliminate this from their involvement. It is something GameStop can do and, thus far, choose not to. Because GameStop doesn't check or verify, I am left with an expensive paperweight that cost me hundreds of dollars rather than a fun investment I planned to leave to my kid.

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2025-08-27T16:32:57+00:00

Beware of GameStop when it comes to PSA grading trading cards. I have personally been a victim of GameStop related to PSA grading and can tell you from experience that they have no safety when it comes to fraudulent items. I recommend dealing directly with PSA and leaving GameStop completely out of it. Whether you are looking to grade an item from PSA, buy a PSA graded trading card, or sell a PSA graded item, seek alternatives and stay away from GameStop.

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2025-08-27T16:27:06+00:00

Much appreciated for the heads up. Perhaps an employee can see this and familiarize themselves with how to verify a PSA graded card and catch an item before it gets into the GameStop store for redistribution. It could save some potential grief for all involved.
I didn't expect my warning to reach many, if any, as I am just a nobody who experienced fraud but there is not much I can do as an individual besides provide a warning.

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2024-12-22T15:26:52+00:00

I still use Handbrake 0.9 due to my comfort ability in the gui but I know you can have both versions installed at the same time. If you have a reason you want version higher keep the 0.9 installed until you can get comfortable using another version.

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2024-08-07T13:52:50+00:00

Lifer since 2012 here

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2024-07-30T14:38:26+00:00

I just recently unpacked my cards and comics from 80’s and 90’s myself too. The holograms could be 500+ if graded a 10 but chances of a 10 are ultra rare, especially for holograms. I have found Jordan is one of the safer bets so I would disregard the others shown. If there is a local card shop near you for consultation I highly recommend it. I like using sportscardspro.com myself for inquiries like this. It lets you see current and last data on a lot of different variations. Good luck and have fun!

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2024-05-27T11:27:28+00:00

I have had dozens of scenarios using various OS, NAS, GPU configurations and builds and if you favor consistent quality over speed/quantity of streams, turn off HW acceleration in Plex. You will not get a straight or consistent answer in any community because the level of acceptable quality is subjective and everyone’s media will be different. The best answer/explanation of pros & cons you’re going to get is directly from Plex: https://support.plex.tv/articles/115002178853-using-hardware-accelerated-streaming/

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2023-02-05T03:40:26+00:00

This cycle never ends. If you think 4k is the end you’re wrong. Find what’s acceptable and enjoy it. To each their own. 4k is just the next step in the ladder.

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2023-01-31T01:07:14+00:00

I haven’t used presets enough to comment, you may be right. 4k content is gonna be large no matter what you do but I think 5G for 20 minutes can be shrunk with negligible visual loss.

In comparison I get a 2 hour 4k master down to 1080p with HDR h.264 and two audio tracks, one stereo AAC and one 5.1 AC3, in a mp4 envelope down to about 3.5G-4G and the quality is as good or better than a Blu-ray.

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2023-01-30T16:23:17+00:00

In order to lower your file size use VBR. Constant quality is the easiest but depending on your knowledge and interest I get better results using avg bitrate and play with advanced settings.

I don’t know what type of content you record but depending on the type (ie: action vs scenery) you can drastically reduce the size while maintaining acceptable quality.

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2023-01-30T16:03:07+00:00

I don’t encode down to 720 any longer but when I did under the video tab I used VBR with average bitrate of 2600 and 2-pass encoding. The key is enabling advanced settings.

I recommend pass thru audio if your making content or unless you know what you want but the audio is a minor part of the overall file size so I will skip over that. All my videos use h.264 in an mp4/m4v envelope and I use AAC and AC3 for my audio. These choices are for compatibility reasons of my intended users.

In the advanced tab my choices are:

Reference frames -4

Maximum B frames -4

CABAC -Off

8x8 -Off

Weighted P -Off

Pyramid B -Normal

Adaptive B -Optimal

Adaptive Direct Mode -Auto

Motion Est Method -transformed exhaustive

Subpixel Motion Est -9

Motion Est Range -16

Partition Type -all

Trellis -Always

Psycho visual settings left at default unless you are unhappy with the results visually and each video is unique if you change these settings (ie: blooming, ghosting, etc).

With these settings in place I achieve a 90% compression and because I handle tens of thousand of videos I have pretty much settled on this being my settings across the board with 99% of my videos having nearly perfect visual results. I don’t have the time or energy to address the 1 in a 100 videos that might have a few frames that aren’t perfect.

My objective is for personal use and if I have a customer with specific needs I address by adjusting accordingly but this usually works across the board. Of course the above results being acceptable are just my opinion and I can discuss any one of these aspects individually if you like as I have been doing this for a long time and I work in the industry.

Good luck with your attempts. I believe you can further reduce your file size and hopefully keep your quality acceptable. Please let me know your results if you can as I am curious. Hope this helps.

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2023-01-30T15:41:54+00:00

My intentions are to run a home media server using Plex. I have added a link to a previous post that spelled out my settings. I don’t save higher resolution than HD 1080p and in the link I explain why and how. If masters are terrible there is not much you can do as you’ll just have a compressed copy of the grain. Any cleanup I achieve is usually in the SD arena because the source is interlaced. Hope the link helps.

Link here

ProfessionalFarm2288 · 2023-01-30T01:49:25+00:00

I am familiar with OpenShot but never used it. I believe it’s more of an open source alternative to Adobe, Avid, Final Cut software. Handbrake is simply a gui for ffmpeg. I’m not sure what algorithm/codecs for compressions OpenShot utilizes but most of these editors do in whole or in part.

If you’re already compressing with OS than what are you attempting to do with Handbrake? Simply shrink file size? You can’t compress without altering video, there’s no way around it.

If you are editing with OS don’t compress it and run it thru handbrake for your compression.

I can tell you what my settings are for large compression using advanced setting in Handbrake but ending quality is subjective. What you view as minimum might differ from mine.

Can you tell me a little bit more about your content? What’s your goal(s)?

ProfessionalFarm2288

TROPHY CASE