Insanely long PSA turnarounds for Non-bulk?
 

Hey I wanted to see if anyone else has been experiencing crazy long turn around times for PSA orders, which aren’t bulk orders. I have a value max (15 business days) cross over for 3 SGC graded cards, and it’s still in grading on business day 30. I also have a regular order (10 business days) stuck in QA on business day 15. Both of these orders are all pre war cards.

For those of you who have experienced these crazy long times for non bulk orders, have you had any luck with PSA giving you some type of rebate/credit? I understand they’re backed up but I’m getting charged for higher service levels than I’m actually receiving.

Not Cards, but autographs:

Last year I submitted a multitude of autographs for end of day service, paid every upcharge and express fee, and at the end of three days, only one of my 3 orders was returned before I had to leave. The remainder of my submissions got completed approximately 2 weeks post show and mailed to me, which ended up being 3 weeks in total for same day service. The turnaround times are, at best, lose estimates.

FWIW, I didn't get a single dollar refunded, and I paid for super express service and same day turnaround. After going back and forth, I was given a $25 (joke) credit towards another submission. At Value Max/Regular levels I am going to venture to say you get them when they feel like it and there is nothing you can do about it. Good luck!

Their times are all over the place
 

I have recently sent multiple subs together in the same box and same service level. A couple of the orders were completed 2 months AHEAD of their estimated completion time. Other ones still sitting in "research" or "grading".

I submitted one card back in June and its still in Research phase FWIW I never would pay the upcharge since like your experience its unlikely they can meet that level of service. I take the cheapest option and itll get graded and returned when its done. It says est completion Oct 30th, If I have it before xmas Ill be surprised.

Dispute the charge on you credit card. You didn't get what you paid for.

Are the service times indicated to be estimates or are they guaranteed? If PSA terms just indicate they are estimates, I doubt a credit card company would approve a dispute in favor of the payer.

Unfortunately you are correct. Even if it did go through, I would likely be black balled from submitting to PSA in the future. At this point I’m willing to wait for a PSA slab when looking for purchases just to save the drama of orders taking double their estimated wait time.

The easiest thing for PSA to do is to come out and state new service estimates at the higher time without decreasing price. That should decrease submissions to help them catch up.

The biggest fear of PSA’s is the Pokemon bubble. If that bubble bursts while cards are being graded, they could have instances where people walk away from orders. This leaves PSA with worthless cards and no revenue on those cards. If that happens I’m sure PSA will remember the “S” in PSA stands for sports and not made up animated characters

While that sounds great, they have recourse such as shutting down your account and ability to do business in the future. They also use the word estimated, they never say guarantee.

The power dynamic they've got puts you in a spot where you've got no recourse that's actually any good.

oh and additionally, I got charged shipping and insurance fees, go figure.

Soooooo.... Are you still using them?

I disagree, but I'm a guy who seldom thinks about paying for an opinion.

Also, when I go to a store, buy an item, then get home and open the box to find out that the box is empty, I get my money back, and I don't shop at the store again.

Doug "to each his own" Goodman

You should send them some cash for their birthday to help make sure they allow you to buy shitty service from them again in the future.

Doug "I wasn't sure which snarky post I preferred" Goodman

hahahahahahaha...welcome to the Wonderful World of PSA. Did you say rebate????????? That's rich!!!!!

Unfortunately, this isn't a grocery store with a myriad of options to "shop elsewhere". Do I like PSA's way of operating, their lack of service and their crazy pricing models? F**k no. Is the reality that the market as a whole values their certification at a considerably higher level than any other LOA/COA? Yes, it is.

Unfortunately, Doug Goodman's or Kevin's opinion doesn't give confidence to a buyer or the marketplace as a whole.

For value add and future value, PSA is the gold standard from a price perspective. I personally prefer JSA as a backup to my own opinion from just a general expertise standpoint, but getting an LOA from them is sitting in the 4 month range.

I am, but I have stopped using any form of express or super express options/same day turnaround. I just submit and wait, I am a collector first and foremost, not a flipper, so I can wait for a few weeks or months in most cases. The reason I utilize same day service at something like the national is more that I don't want $50k+ in collectibles having to be shipped or out of my sight for a prolonged period of time.

Not sure your analogy is very pertinent.

In this case, the box isn't empty. It's just slow to get to you.

If you want to use a retail purchase, a better analogy might be that you go to the farmer and order some peaches for future delivery once they are ripe. And then he's late in delivering them because the weather didn't cooperate, his workers picked slow, or he focused on delivering the apples first.

And even that analogy is weak simply because PSA is largely the only game in town when it comes to maximizing resale value. If you want to argue that SGC is right up there with PSA, then I guess we can debate whether they count as a separate organization apart from PSA, whether SGC will continue as a going concern, and whether that will impact resale values.