PSA backlog

glchen · #1 01-21-2022, 02:19 PM

BTW, PSA has issued a statement on MARX cards here: Link

swarmee · #2 01-21-2022, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glchen

BTW, PSA has issued a statement on MARX cards here: Link

Looks like PSA is aware the authorized dealer is filing for bankruptcy protection. So the customers get their cards back in whatever state of grading they're in (most ungraded?), then have to fight PSA and others who are also owed money by Marx? Ugh. This may drag on a long time. And PSA specifically didn't say that those cards would be allowed to continue going through grading, just that they would be returned in the most expeditious manner. Many customers will now be out the grading fees (to Marx), with their cards back 1+ years later ungraded and some nearly worthless.

BobbyStrawberry · #3 01-21-2022, 09:18 PM

Honest question: what the !*&# is PSA doing? (From a business perspective, I mean.)

Instead of spending years failing to work through the backlog and angering their customer base, why not hire more people and expand their capacity?

swarmee · #4 01-22-2022, 05:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

Instead of spending years failing to work through the backlog and angering their customer base, why not hire more people and expand their capacity?

Honest answer: I believe they have more than tripled their capacity in the last couple of years, it just hasn't been enough for the market which has grown into base card slab flippers in the same time.
Their biggest failure seems to be keeping low prices for too long, so that the backlog grew quickly to an inordinate pile to ever grow out of.

Mike D. · #5 01-22-2022, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swarmee

Honest answer: I believe they have more than tripled their capacity in the last couple of years, it just hasn't been enough for the market which has grown into base card slab flippers in the same time.
Their biggest failure seems to be keeping low prices for too long, so that the backlog grew quickly to an inordinate pile to ever grow out of.

That�s my take as well. Also, people who say �just hire more people� must not have tried hiring anyone of late�it�s really difficult right now!

BobbyStrawberry · #6 01-22-2022, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike D.

That�s my take as well. Also, people who say �just hire more people� must not have tried hiring anyone of late�it�s really difficult right now!

Difficult? CU is worth close to a billion dollars and PSA is the industry leader. We're not talking about a Burger King franchise here.

conor912 · #7 01-22-2022, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

Difficult? CU is worth close to a billion dollars and PSA is the industry leader. We're not talking about a Burger King franchise here.

You�d be surprised how many people don�t want to sit in a dark room for 10 hours a day scrutinizing sportscards for $35k/year.

Mike D. · #8 01-22-2022, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

Difficult? CU is worth close to a billion dollars and PSA is the industry leader. We're not talking about a Burger King franchise here.

It�s not just fast food that�s hurting�try hiring a technician, a software developer, or basically any job up or down the salary scale. Unemployment is at 3.9%.

Higher wages can help�although that usually means higher prices. But we have a shortage of workers globally right now - probably with many contributing reasons.

That being said�PSA is having success hiring�from their website:

� In January 2020, PSA's parent company Collectors Universe employed 421 team members. Today we stand 783 people strong and growing daily. We�ve been adding more than 2 people per business day for more than 6 months and we�re still going.�

Paulcurlee1 · #9 01-22-2022, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike D.

That�s my take as well. Also, people who say �just hire more people� must not have tried hiring anyone of late�it�s really difficult right now!

So there�s several ways to overcome that:
1) pay more to qualified people (raising wages shouldn�t be too hard since they�re a private company now
2) train card graders and incentivize it - lots of good people working in industries still that they�d probably prefer to be a card grader - I feel comfortable on that assumption
3) invest in automation that alleviates the human capacity requirement, decreases cycle time and increases accuracy.

If they aren�t having the above 3 conversations in the c-suite daily they�re doing it wrong.

conor912 · #10 01-22-2022, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glchen

BTW, PSA has issued a statement on MARX cards here: Link

I�ve heard guys ask why PSA doesn�t just charge at the time of submission like SCG. Ive wondered the same thing, and the only possible reason I can come up with having something to do with liability and them being able skirt any semblance of legal responsibility for promised services�.basically saying we don�t have make good on any promises until payment is collected. Curious to hear other takes, though.

swarmee · #11 01-22-2022, 12:05 PM

PSA Pros:
1) Charging for the order in advance would make it harder to upcharge customers when their assessed graded card value now exceeds their submission level declared value.
2) They would have to escrow large amounts of money on behalf of customers, maybe? Or at least change up their accounting
3) Don't have to deal with refunds.

Customer pros:
1) You couldn't file a chargeback on a credit card payment if the grading took over 6 months? This is the cluster that BGS has been in for 4 (?) years.
2) Theoretically you could let them keep your cards if you were underwater on them, like sending back your house keys to your mortgage lender during the subprime crisis.
3) Your money isn't tied up.

Tyruscobb · #12 01-22-2022, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by conor912

I�ve heard guys ask why PSA doesn�t just charge at the time of submission like SCG. Ive wondered the same thing, and the only possible reason I can come up with having something to do with liability and them being able skirt any semblance of legal responsibility for promised services�.basically saying we don�t have make good on any promises until payment is collected. Curious to hear other takes, though.

The backlog was allegedly between 13M and 14M cards. Let�s compromise at 13.5M. Let�s estimate that the average grading fee for the 13.5M cards was $15.00. That equals $202,500,000.00 in upfront fees.

Let�s estimate that PSA could earn just 1% interest on those fees. That�s $2,025,000.00 in yearly interest (free money) just from collecting fees upfront and depositing them into an account. How does this not make sense?

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