New SGC grading fees
 

I got an email a day or two ago from SGC indicating their new grading fee schedule. I forget when it goes into effect

I wish I kept it, but I didn't. The increases are astronomical. Currently, any card valued over $25K is $850.

Now the highest tier is any card over $100K is $3,750.00. Yikes!!!

There was a few tiers between $25K and $100K, but the fees were over $1,000 for each tier.

Does anyone still have the email to post the prices?

Thanks,
Tony

This is their new prices. I don't really care about the price changes but I would love to get my cards back that are on business day 34 of a 30 day submission. I sent them in before their 2 weeks off for Christmas/New Years so I actually sent them in 64 calendar days ago.:(

EDIT: Just got a email from SGC that my order will ship today.:)

Standard 20 Business Days $10 Any card valued less than $250
Express 10 Business Days $15 Any card valued less than $500
Priority 5 Business Days $35 Any card valued less than $1,500
Next Day 2 Business Days $85 Any card valued less than $3,500
Same Day Same Day $250 Any card valued less than $7,500
Walk Through Same Day $500 Any card valued less than $20,000
Immediate Same Day $1,000 Any card valued less than $50,000
Premium Same Day $2,000 Any card valued less than $100,000
Super Premium Same Day $3,750 Any card valued $100,000 & above

http://sgccard.com/userfiles/pdf/Gra...ice1_FINAL.pdf

Ben, you beat me to it.

They say it was a BANNER year for them and then they raise the prices. Wow gee thanks. Great way to repay your loyal customers

:eek:
This is why I never send cards in, I would rather send my money on more cards, lol.

All together now... Amen.

agree
 

I would almost always rather spend someone else's money on the grading. A few exceptions, but this is usually the case for me.

Gosh, grading high valued cards must be a lot more difficult.:rolleyes:

For the most part I agree with you. I sent mine in for grading because I am going to sell some of them and it is way easier to sell them graded. I also sent in a complete 59 Fleer Ted Williams set. I am a person who likes to look at and touch my cards. The Williams set is just so nice I did not want to hurt them. Usually I buy lower end cards so my constant fondling doesn't matter.:)

If I was really into grading my cards. I would bring a box full of them to a show and take advantage of a show special. SGC might want to have a sliding scale down on the fees, when they don't meet the timeframe the customer paid for. Accountability would be gladly welcomed by most, and it will help the number two used TPG catch up to PSA.

Last time they were here in NY, it was $35 a card on site

Yeah, except when they decide it should be more. I took them a Clemente RC at the AC National for grading, one that cost me under $500 because it was lower grade. They wanted over $100 to grade it because it was a Clemente RC. We argued for quite a while with them claiming that the card is worth multiple thousands of dollars and my pointing out that it is worth that in better shape but it is a beater that cost me $500, so not. They finally stood firm at $75 and I did it, but it left a really sour feeling about their services. I've found a lot of that at the Nationals with SGC; bait and switch on grading costs. The $35 seems to be the starting point, and they negotiate up from there. Needless to say they aren't especially busy at the show while the PSA booth was swarmed from the moment the place opened.

I have been a fierce critic of PSA in the past and a fan of SGC, but that started changing a couple of years ago. When PSA upgraded its holders, improved its web site dramatically, started offering real, valuable specials to club members, and generally professionalized its approach, that all resonated with me. Add to that the whim and caprice of SGC's pricing, especially for autograph authentication, the poor quality of the large slabs, blown turn times, a stupid club, the idiocy of nearly every card except a basic set getting forced into 'custom cut' inserts at the regular price, and now the prices going up, and I am not really sending them anything like the volume I used to. SGC gets my business if PSA won't grade the issue.

So if you have a card valued around $4K (say a mid-grade T206 Cobb or Goudey Ruth), you will pay $250 at SGC or $95 at PSA.

Yeah, good luck with that, SGC.

+1. I get it that SGC is getting more popular, but PSA still is the top dog.

I like SGC more than PSA. Most of my collection is in SGC holders. I think they are more consistent, their holders make cards look better and their customer service is far better than PSA's but this new pricing makes no sense to me. Maybe it is a push to get people to buy memberships in order to take part in the grading discounts? Fact is that card for card by grade, PSA crushes SGC and since most of my submissions for grading are for resale there is no way I could pay more to sell something for less.

Ben, methinks SGC saw your post and immediately decided to hurry up and finish grading your submission! Perhaps, if SGC were to focus on grading submissions rather than following what is being said about them online, turn-around times would be shorter. :D
Val

LOL, That could be true because I know Matt(Hi Matt) their Director of Operations is a member here. I also sent an email to him yesterday about it though.

Honestly, why would anyone even worry their selves with SGC on submissions at higher prices? If you had a high end T206, give me a solid PSA 6 over an SGC 84 anytime...I have some SGC graded cards currently on the Net that if comparably graded by PSA, they would be a lot higher in price. Nice, solid cards, but not graded by PSA. From what I have been told, SGC seems to be going thru a very large transition....And for the questions out there, no, it is not that simple crossing SGC to PSA, not at all....

Pete- You are a very experienced in prewar cards, but I disagree with your assessment on SGC getting more popular (at least pertaining T206s). I have never seen high SGC graded T206 cards (7's and higher) selling for less than they are now. Yes, they look fantastic in their black holders, I get all of that. But return on investment (high graded cards) trumps that big time....

+1

I think SGC is shooting themselves in the foot and ruining EVERY SINGLE edge that they had over PSA. In all honesty, I really don't see ANY advantage they have over PSA now.

Greed breeds greed. :(

I just felt like building up SGC before I ripped them :)

Might be coming out of Left Field here, but is it possible they are increasing their price to increase their market value? Not saying it's a smart solution growth wise, but one of the #1 reasons people mention to go with PSA is resale value. With SGC increases their prices, could one of the effects be people ask more for cards graded by SGC, simply because of grading expenses?

Looked at the fee schedule and wish I had some $25,000.00 cards. For the average collector, price changes will have little or no effect on things.

Kmac

I wonder if they do this with the $25,000 cards.

Slippery Gasket Company...

Bvg
 

Curious with the SGC adopting the PSA club pricing model and increased rates if Beckett has changed their model at all?

I know there's the never-ending debate on PSA vs. SGC - likes, dislikes, values, consistency, etc - but I rarely hear/see BVG thrown in? I know, I know, BVG resale values pale in comparison (especially to PSA), but I always wondered why? Aside from not liking the bullet-proof holders, I never understood why they are a distant 3rd option and/or garner so much less on resale? The cards that I have seen them grade seem to be fairly consistent - at least as much as PSA and SGC, if not even better. Everyone here has some horror story over PSA grading a creased or paper-loss card (especially prewar) as 4, 5 or better. And those damn qualifiers - inconsistency - one card with worse centering has no qualifier vs. another of the same card which does. I've also heard the common perception that PSA grades bigger spenders less stringently. True or not, if that perception is common place .. and if consistency is very much in question, why then doesn't that chip-away at the perceived value? Isn't that a core reason for why BVG grading is less in-demand/less resale value?

I really not a fan (or hater) of any of them - just curious how/why BVG fell to the 3rd string depths.

Ed - they have no registry. So you can't tell everybody how great your collection is. Hence, they are a distant third.

I think BVG is so far behind because their vintage never crosses over at the same grade. It's usually 1 or sometimes even 2 grades higher than it should be. They also let more trimmed/altered cards slip by. I currently own a pre-war BVG slab with a numerical grade that very obviously measures short.

Their BGS brand for modern cards, on the other hand, seems to be a high quality product and sells even better than PSA.

I have only directly submitted to SGC and they charge your CC as soon as they receive your cards. I personally think that is BS and they should wait till they are done with your order and they are mailing it back so they have actually earned the $.

How do the other companies do payments?

Clarification
 

I would like to clarify a couple of things from my post. First of all, I was referring to the submission of raw T206 cards. If SGC's fees are now considerably higher than PSA's, why would you submit to SGC? That defeats the purpose of why you would be using SGC in the first place, doesn't it? Secondly, most of my T206s are high end grade wise. There is a much higher price difference between PSA and SGC with those types of grades (7's and higher), versus middle to lower grades (1's-6's), where the price difference is not that terribly different at all. I realize that most T206 collectors fall into the later, so I thought this was important to note....

I know for sure SGC and Beckett charge as soon as the order is received. I imagine PSA does the same.

The fees for SGC are still cheaper than PSA on the low end if you aren't submitting in bulk and/or don't have a membership. The cheapest regular PSA fee is $18 per card for $500 and under declared value. For SGC, it can be $10 for $250 declared value for 20 business days or $15/card for $500 declared value and 10 business days.

SGC also lets you combine tiers and card sizes within a single submission while for PSA, you need to separate each into its own submission with separate shipping costs for each. Therefore, if you have 2 standard cards at the $500 declared value, 3 oversized cards at $500, 1 card at $1000 declared value, and 1 card at $3000 declared value, for PSA, you would have to have four different submissions, each with its own shipping charge (w/ the minimum charge being $18/submission). For SGC, you can combine all of these different cards into one submission, and save on the shipping fees. (Turnaround time will typically default to the slowest tier.)

SGC and Beckett typically charge your order once you receive it. PSA charges when they ship your order. PSA/DNA (e.g., photos) charges when they receive it.

Well if a card would grade PSA 7 but would grade SGC 8 than even paying the same or a bit higher for grading would make sense there.

Depends on the player, not necessarily though... If it is a very low pop common (Titus, Jake Stahl glove shows, Sherry Magee Port., etc) I would much rather have the PSA 7 hands down. You are now bringing in the high grade PSA registration collectors....Also, pertaining HOFers, I would rather have low pop PSA 7's than comparable SGC 88's....

Negative, psa charges when order is graded

I still don't get it. Do graders spend more time inspecting a $10,000 card than they do a $10 card? If they don't, why does it cost more?

I asked exactly that early last year when we were talking about PSA's new price increases.

Someone did reply to state, due to insurance/shipping costs, and maybe a few other things, the price was justified because of the value.
Don't shoot the messenger. :D

Speaking of grading, I just posted in Post war and want everyone to guess which cards graded what and why?
Just having a little fun, but I also want some info to further gain some knowledge.
http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=235854

Thanks. :)

That makes a bit more sense.

I think both companies have their strengths and weaknesses. All of which have been hashed over many times.

For the lower end collectors, it's not much of a change. I usually sent stuff in to SGC on specials, may not do more since the decent specials are now "members only". But most of what I would send in would qualify for the $10 fee so it's only a couple bucks more than I was getting on specials. They've done some stuff lately that I don't like at all. So has PSA.

I can see the PSA/SGC stuff mattering a lot more for higher grades and more expensive cards.

If I was organized enough I'd see about starting my own grading service. It would be tough to get any real traction, but with the right things to make it better I think there's room for at least a couple more.
A much higher end one. Although not quite as high end on fees as SGC is now (Maybe, I mean if you've got the dough to have a 100K card 3K plus for the grading isn't really all that much. )

And a lower end one something like BCCG but not as cheesy and confusing. Just lower fees for cheaper stuff.

Steve B

They realize they are handing you money and want a piece of the action. It seems pretty fair to me.

I had already been on hiatus from submitting to SGC due to a couple of other issues/concerns I had. This is bullsh*t IMO and pretty well cements my transition to PSA. Hope it works out for them, but I won't be contributing.

What are those issues/concerns?

My grades popped today and 109 of them seemed spot on but 10 of them seemed way off base. I am talking 3 to 4 grades off. Maybe I missed something but I highly doubt it, can't wait to get them back to look at again.

Anyone who pays a higher price depending upon what their card is worth is a sucker. The PSA/SGC argument is better than BVG is a crock of crap.

Anyone who knows who's really grading at BGS/BVG knows that Andy Broome does the vintage grading at Beckett and was a senior grader for PSA.

Anyone can go pull out horrible examples/mistakes by each company and use those extremes of why not to utilize that company.

Accuracy AND Consistency is where one should judge each company. The reason Beckett has gotten a bad rap is that they had previously put out they would grade a sheet-cut card so long that it measured up to the measurements set-forth by the card companies.

I would argue that quite a bit of the vintage I've submitted to BVG has been as good or better than PSA examples and has come back with lesser grades.

Good to know.

Really would be cool if these companies would be more transparent. You think that would be important in a hobby like this. How does one even become a card grader? Are there any former or current graders on this fourm?

There is a guy that is active in the hobby who had a 1970 Topps Nolan Ryan bump from a PSA 9 to a PSA 10. A $36,000 increase at the time simply because PSA rendered a different and more favorable opinion. When he got the email or call that they were going to charge his credit card more because the value of the card was higher than what service level it was submitted under you really think the first thing that crossed his mind is man I am sucker. You have to be kidding with this statement.

I don't have any cards in this price range but I promise you this that if I ever send in a card and get contacted by PSA saying I owe them more money, the first thing out of my mouth is going to be Woooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

I disagree. There is no way a TPG should be charging more to grade a card just because it is worth more. Why should they benefit from your good fortune?

Imo, they should just be glad you chose them as the TPG of choice and not someone else. They also receive free advertising, which, of course, equals more sales, more $$$, when these cards come up for auction.

To me, it's like if you happened upon a $1000 dollar card that you got for a $100, then the next guys says, I will give you $150 because you only paid $100 for it yourself.

It has been done for years.

Go get a coin graded by PCGS and this is their top tier..$250 + 1% of value ..A 2 million dollar coin would be $20,250 to grade....


SERVICE MAXIMUM
COIN VALUE ESTIMATED TURNAROUND
(BUSINESS DAYS) PRICE
RARITIES None** 2 - 5 days $250 + 1%*
WALKTHROUGH $100,000** 2 days $125
EXPRESS $20,000 5 days $60
REGULAR $3,000 15 days $32
ECONOMY(Non-Gold, Non-Hammered)
(Pre-1932 Chinese and Pre-1925 Russian coins must be submitted at the Regular Service level or higher.) $300 20 - 30 days $20
MODERN (1965 to date) $1,000 20 - 30 days $16
MINT ERRORS $20,000 25 - 35 days $60
SPECIAL ISSUES (U.S. - Colonials, Fractional Gold, Patterns, Territorials) $20,000 25 - 35 days $60
GUARANTEE RESUBMISSION
(Charge refunded if coin downgrades) None up to 60 days $25
REHOLDER None** 5 days $12
SHOW SERVICES
SHOW RARITY None** 4 hours $250 + 1%*
SHOW EXPRESS $100,000** 4 hours $250
SHOW $100,000** End of Show $125
SHOW ECONOMY (5-coin min.) $3,000 End of Show $65
SHOW GOLD (U.S. Gold only-10-coin min.) $3,000 End of Show $45
SHOW REHOLDER None** End of Show $12

I hear you, Leon, and I know that is the way it is, and maybe they couldn't stay in business if they didn't do that, but that aside, it makes no sense to me, as I assume they don't do anything more special with a more valuable card than they do with a lesser one.