1956 Mantle PSA 5....What is this sticker?? (Purple Label Company)

[steve B]

I haven't really decided on what I think about this.

With Coins, the Company is CAC, and they do provide a decent service. Coins have been graded for longer than cards, with all the same issues (shouldn't be a surprise right)
They've been graded for so long, that the "standards" have slipped for several years now, some of it is a need for "new" coins in an acceptable grade, some of it is a lack of coins that are all that great in middle grades. So a VG say 20 years ago would get a better grade today. (Not my opinion, I got that from an article by a very long time dealer. ) So a sticker from CAC actually in most cases does mean "if graded today it will probably grade higher"

I don't see quite the same dynamic in cards. Overall, cards are probably at a point where the standards have tightened up a bit. So I'm thinking that right now it isn't really necessary.
But.........someday it will be. Maybe sooner than later, there's close to 30 years of grading, and the standards have evolved as well as the way they're applied.
PSA got where they are by being "first" (Not actually, but first with some features and certainly first with good marketing)
So if a similar service to CAC is going to happen, and it will (Just did!) It's probably a good business move to start it now.

Now if only there was a sticker for "darn, they totally blew that one "......

[bobbyw8469]

My main problem is the guy in charge of the grading applying the stickers to his own inventory, on cards that obviously don't deserve it. For that, I can't take this venture seriously. Maybe we need someone to grade the people that are grading the graders (tongue in cheek).

[steve B]

Originally Posted by bobbyw8469

My main problem is the guy in charge of the grading applying the stickers to his own inventory, on cards that obviously don't deserve it. For that, I can't take this venture seriously. Maybe we need someone to grade the people that are grading the graders (tongue in cheek).

Yeah, there is that.

I'm not sure how someone with a new company connected to grading would start though.
Do your own cards? - Yeah, there's some conflict there.
Have a friend let you do some cards? -Essentially the same problem
Advertise and see what business you get? - I'm not sure you'd get anyone without at least something to show them.

I've had a few ideas about grading for years now, realistically, I'm way too disorganized to make it work.
If I did give it a try though, I'd do a few of my own, but with a special serial number indicating that they were for testing/promotional purposes so they wouldn't be in the database as cards done in regular business.

Neither of the stickers currently out there have much if any separation from the people putting them on.

I understand the concept now thanks for all those who contributed

[the 'stache]

Just when I thought third party grading was the silliest thing I'd ever seen in the hobby....

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

Just when I thought third party grading was the silliest thing I'd ever seen in the hobby....

+1, or 100. With due respect to the poster offering this service, in my opinion this could not be more ridiculous. I am supposed to pay money for an outside chance of getting a purple sticker representing a second third-party grader's opinion on whether a card is high end for the grade which anyone can see for himself from a good scan?

[Rookiemonster]

He also seems to be very selective of which questions get answered. I guess those questions got the purple sticker.

[felada]

If your eye is so good at deciding what is high end for the grade one would think a lot more than 1% of your collection would get a purple sticker. If you can’t pick out high end cards for your own collection why should I trust you to tell me what is high end for mine?

[lowpopper]

Hello All and good evening,

Yes, a handful of my cards are stickered to get the ball rolling. I have put some stickered items in my eBay store for public viewing. I cannot see a more efficient form of advertisement. No cards are off the table for review. It does not matter who owns them, they are looked at with the same impartial eye. I own thousands of slabbed cards and the amount of my own that received stickers are of an extremely low percentage (nearing 1 percent).

Extrapolating forward, stickers will not be given out liberally to anyone, Period. I recently reviewed a friend’s entire collection and only 1 card found a place into the database. As much as I would love to sticker the hell out of everything, I just can’t. I would much prefer to put out a solid product and grow the brand through trust and quality.


Moving on:

For any sellers that feel they have cards that truly look nice for the grade, I want PURPLE LABEL in YOUR eBay stores. Private message me here on the board if you are interested in our service. We will be doing an exclusive submission opportunity to the members of this board.

Individual pricing will be $5 per review for cards valued up to $500. Cards valued $500 and up will be considered premium service and will have an upcharge. We will be sending out a PURPLE LABEL tee shirt to any Net54 members who participate in our initial pay service.

Substantial volume discounts will apply. Our most important focus this early on is to get our product in the hands of the dealers and collectors. We want the quality to be felt and seen. I have the big picture in mind, and personally want to make Purple Label your first 4th Party choice for years to come.

Cheers,

Greg

Visit: Slabsticker.com

[savedfrommyspokes]

Originally Posted by lowpopper

Hello All and good evening,

Yes, a handful of my cards are stickered to get the ball rolling. I have put some stickered items in my eBay store for public viewing. I cannot see a more efficient form of advertisement. No cards are off the table for review. It does not matter who owns them, they are looked at with the same impartial eye. I own thousands of slabbed cards and the amount of my own that received stickers are of an extremely low percentage (nearing 1 percent).

Extrapolating forward, stickers will not be given out liberally to anyone, Period. I recently reviewed a friend’s entire collection and only 1 card found a place into the database. As much as I would love to sticker the hell out of everything, I just can’t. I would much prefer to put out a solid product and grow the brand through trust and quality.


Moving on:

For any sellers that feel they have cards that truly look nice for the grade, I want PURPLE LABEL in YOUR eBay stores. Private message me here on the board if you are interested in our service. We will be doing an exclusive submission opportunity to the members of this board.

Individual pricing will be $5 per review for cards valued up to $500. Cards valued $500 and up will be considered premium service and will have an upcharge. We will be sending out a PURPLE LABEL tee shirt to any Net54 members who participate in our initial pay service.

Substantial volume discounts will apply. Our most important focus this early on is to get our product in the hands of the dealers and collectors. We want the quality to be felt and seen. I have the big picture in mind, and personally want to make Purple Label your first 4th Party choice for years to come.

Cheers,

Greg

Visit: Slabsticker.com

I am not clear, and your web site is not clear either. If a card is submitted to you and it is not awarded the purple label, does the submitter still pay? If only 1% of your cards have received a purple label, and assuming your inventory of graded cards is of similar quality to most other people's collections, it seems like a long shot to send cards in for what could be an illusive purple label.

[lowpopper]

Originally Posted by savedfrommyspokes

I am not clear, and your web site is not clear either. If a card is submitted to you and it is not awarded the purple label, does the submitter still pay? If only 1% of your cards have received a purple label, and assuming your inventory of graded cards is of similar quality to most other people's collections, it seems like a long shot to send cards in for what could be an illusive purple label.

These are great points you bring up. Let me explain.

I realeased the actual percentage of my own stickered cards to show that I am not looking to abuse any privileges. Like I said previously, I am putting quality before quantity. Someone in my position could easily sticker a large portion of his own cards then say “here you go world”. This is the complete opposite of what I am trying to accomplish. Just under 1% of my cards were stickered because I can see the obvious conflict if too many of my own were done.

Our outlook is, from the data we were able to compile, that the top 10-20% of each grade is our target range. When submitting cards to us, please do not just send any and anything. We are not looking to waste any of our customers’ money. Be selective and only send what you truly think is nice for the grade.

To answer one of your questions directly, we are charging for a review, just like any other sticker or grading company would. This means you are charges the same amount wether or not a certification is awarded. If your card receives a sticker, you will not be charged an additional amount at. Individual cards will start at $5 per. The price can come down significantly even at 10 cards. This is not explained on the website because we are only offering mail in submissions to net54 members at this time.

Like a I said, I am more interested in getting the product out there than taking in large sums of money as we begin our initial takeoff. We want happy, return customers on every level.

Thank you Spokes, for addressing this topic. All are welcome to ask questions like this. That is what I am here for.

Greg Campbell

Purple Label, LLC

Visit: SLABSTICKER.COM

[SAllen2556]

This is the funniest thing! Grading graded cards.

Let me get this straight: I pay a monopolistic fee to a highly trained teen-ager from PSA to grade my card, and then, upon receiving graded card some 3 years later (or however long it takes these days) send the card out to be re-graded by a fourth party (who may or may not be a highly trained teenager) and this other expert may (or may not) put a purple sticker on my already graded card that says that he says the grade I already paid for is not really correct. Sounds like a good idea to me.

There's really one gigantic problem with the idea of re-grading a graded card.
How exactly can you re-grade a card that's encased in hard plastic?

And if you're not really re-grading it, can't anyone look at a psa 2 and say, "Hey, that looks nicer than a 2."

.

[slightlyrounded]

Just make sure you follow that old adage “buy the flip, not the purple sticker” and you’ll be fine.

[vintagetoppsguy]

I don't know if this question has been covered, but does Purple Label offer any guarantee for their service? I didn't see anything about that on their website.

I don't know how Purple Label can not offer a guarantee when their sticker clearly says the card is "verified".

So if a PSA graded card is later found to be trimmed, altered, counterfeit, etc, who is responsible? PSA or Purple Label (since they were the last to verify it)?

[Steve D]

Originally Posted by steve B

I haven't really decided on what I think about this.

With Coins, the Company is CAC, and they do provide a decent service. Coins have been graded for longer than cards, with all the same issues (shouldn't be a surprise right)
They've been graded for so long, that the "standards" have slipped for several years now, some of it is a need for "new" coins in an acceptable grade, some of it is a lack of coins that are all that great in middle grades. So a VG say 20 years ago would get a better grade today. (Not my opinion, I got that from an article by a very long time dealer. ) So a sticker from CAC actually in most cases does mean "if graded today it will probably grade higher"

I don't see quite the same dynamic in cards. Overall, cards are probably at a point where the standards have tightened up a bit. So I'm thinking that right now it isn't really necessary.
But.........someday it will be. Maybe sooner than later, there's close to 30 years of grading, and the standards have evolved as well as the way they're applied.
PSA got where they are by being "first" (Not actually, but first with some features and certainly first with good marketing)
So if a similar service to CAC is going to happen, and it will (Just did!) It's probably a good business move to start it now.

The big thing in CAC's favor is that it was started by John Albanese, who is a long-time and well respected member of the numismatic community. He has the "credentials"; coin collectors know who he is, and they respect his opinion.

In the case of "Purple Label LLC", who is Greg Campbell? I've been a member of the baseball card community since the 1970s, going to shows, subscribed to Sports Collectors' Digest, The Trader Speaks, Baseball Hobby News, Baseball Cards Magazine, Beckett....., I've been a member of both the CU and Network54 message boards for several years, have bought from/placed bids with most of the major auction houses/dealers, and I have never heard of Greg Campbell anywhere until this thread.

It seems to me, to start something like CAC in the sports card community, and be successful, you should have immediate name recognition; someone like Brent Huigens, Steve Hart, Kit Young, Levi Bleam, Bill Goodwin, Dave Kohler; i.e., someone who has been around for years/decades, and who is known and respected in the community. To me, this Greg Campbell doesn't fit the bill.

Steve

[steve B]

That's a really interesting point Steve.

I've collected coins longer than I've collected cards, but with a lot more and longer "vacations" from the hobby. Started coins as a kid, figure around 1970, maybe/probably a bit earlier. Didn't start cards until 73-4 and got more into it in 77. Actually did both plus stamps plus other stuff off and on for a while. Without much budget of course.

With all the time I've taken off from coins, I don't really know who anyone is aside from maybe a few of the really long term people that write for the magazines.

That instant credibility vs relative obscurity is probably going to be a key thing going forward. And it may end up being regional, someone well known in Mass might not be well known in Cal.

Originally Posted by Steve D

The big thing in CAC's favor is that it was started by John Albanese, who is a long-time and well respected member of the numismatic community. He has the "credentials"; coin collectors know who he is, and they respect his opinion.

In the case of "Purple Label LLC", who is Greg Campbell? I've been a member of the baseball card community since the 1970s, going to shows, subscribed to Sports Collectors' Digest, The Trader Speaks, Baseball Hobby News, Baseball Cards Magazine, Beckett....., I've been a member of both the CU and Network54 message boards for several years, have bought from/placed bids with most of the major auction houses/dealers, and I have never heard of Greg Campbell anywhere until this thread.

It seems to me, to start something like CAC in the sports card community, and be successful, you should have immediate name recognition; someone like Brent Huigens, Steve Hart, Kit Young, Levi Bleam, Bill Goodwin, Dave Kohler; i.e., someone who has been around for years/decades, and who is known and respected in the community. To me, this Greg Campbell doesn't fit the bill.

Steve

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by steve B

That's a really interesting point Steve.

I've collected coins longer than I've collected cards, but with a lot more and longer "vacations" from the hobby. Started coins as a kid, figure around 1970, maybe/probably a bit earlier. Didn't start cards until 73-4 and got more into it in 77. Actually did both plus stamps plus other stuff off and on for a while. Without much budget of course.

With all the time I've taken off from coins, I don't really know who anyone is aside from maybe a few of the really long term people that write for the magazines.

That instant credibility vs relative obscurity is probably going to be a key thing going forward. And it may end up being regional, someone well known in Mass might not be well known in Cal.

I can just see Levi adding 707-HE stickers.

But to me the issue isn't whether Greg is known, I believe from what has been said that he has the credentials, there are many experts who have flown under the radar. For me, the question is whether this service really adds value and I'm just not in favor of 4th party grading whether it's done by Brent, Greg, or anyone else.

[Stampsfan]

This sounds similar to an audit. That can be somewhat painful.

Leon, can we add a purple sticker to threads? Then we would all know which ones are worth reading and which ones are not.

[the 'stache]

/head explodes

[MULLINS5]

This guy clearly has no idea what he is doing and has already failed.