Wow psa blowing away competitors

[gonefishin]

Nope, you hit it right on the head. I did it - I went right back to PSA and submitted about 40-50 cards under their vintage grading special. I guess I'm just trying to figure out why I did it when I was very satisfied with SGC. Maybe it was because in my mind they would hold more market value with PSA than SGC. Maybe it's because I've been submitting cards to PSA forever.

The comparative submission numbers were stunning.

I would just find it interesting to know why other members went back to PSA that were also very satisfied with SGC. Maybe it's not one thing but a combination of several; market acceptance, PSA Registry, Branding, advertising, location, public shows, etc. etc.

By the way, I'm retired and don't have a "Dog In the Fight" one way or the other.

I'll have to figure out why I did on my own.

[Johnny630]

Originally Posted by gonefishin

Nope, you hit it right on the head. I did it - I went right back to PSA and submitted about 40-50 cards under their vintage grading special. I guess I'm just trying to figure out why I did it when I was very satisfied with SGC. Maybe it was because in my mind they would hold more market value with PSA than SGC. Maybe it's because I've been submitting cards to PSA forever.

The comparative submission numbers were stunning.

I would just find it interesting to know why other members went back to PSA that were also very satisfied with SGC. Maybe it's not one thing but a combination of several; market acceptance, PSA Registry, Branding, advertising, location, public shows, etc. etc.

By the way, I'm retired and don't have a "Dog In the Fight" one way or the other.

I'll have to figure out why I did on my own.

The First reason you said is why many don’t want to admit it but that’s the primary reason for many. Because in your mind they would hold more market value with PSA than SGC. When people say it’s not about the money they’re fooling themselves it’s always a major factor.

[Carter08]

SGC seems to do a fine job and all but psa is king of the market, no doubt about it. Some people have varying degrees of feeling about this but I also think overall sgc is an easier grader to the point where a new label psa 3 equals a new label sgc 4 or higher. Just my view and plenty of exceptions.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by Carter08

SGC seems to do a fine job and all but psa is king of the market, no doubt about it. Some people have varying degrees of feeling about this but I also think overall sgc is an easier grader to the point where a new label psa 3 equals a new label sgc 4 or higher. Just my view and plenty of exceptions.

I would disagree on your notion of strictness. Were they an easier grader 20 years ago? Sure. But SGC is both tough and consistent on vintage these days. PSA from what I have seen is more inconsistent than anything recently, which I guess also means that they are sometimes tougher. Also just my view.


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[Carter08]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

I would disagree on your notion of strictness. Were they an easier grader 20 years ago? Sure. But SGC is both tough and consistent on vintage these days. PSA from what I have seen is more inconsistent than anything recently, which I guess also means that they are sometimes tougher. Also just my view.


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I’m by no means an expert but it seems like psa is stricter in terms of 50s and 60s. Pre war probably closer to the same.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by Carter08

I’m by no means an expert but it seems like psa is stricter in terms of 50s and 60s. Pre war probably closer to the same.

My wheelhouse is 50’s through the 70’s. I’m not going to say with conviction that I think SGC is tougher than PSA, but they certainly aren’t any easier right now.

Tomato / tomaato. I’ve seen older PSA slabbed vintage in a 5 that would be lucky to get a 3 today. It’s a slow pendulum that swings back and forth. I think we are a product of our experiences. And to your original point there are a lot of exceptions either way.

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[ClementeFanOh]

PSA is NOT stricter on vintage than SGC currently. I'm an SGC "acolyte"-
nice Dungeons and Dragons term!- but even I admit SGC is far, far too
harsh on vintage (not just baseball) as of October 2022. The main difference
is the SGC submitter knows this and also knows their card will return in the
same calendar year it was submitted. PSA submitters have no idea a) when
their cards will return and b) what grade they will receive. Anything is
possible with PSA grades, there is a lack of rhyme or reason. It's an
imperfect reality, but still reality. Trent King

PS- the best answer for hobbyists who prefer slabbed, is to deal with
previously slabbed cards. That way, you can avoid the current uncertainty
with submitting and judge slabbed cards on their merits.

[cammb]

Originally Posted by Carter08

SGC seems to do a fine job and all but psa is king of the market, no doubt about it. Some people have varying degrees of feeling about this but I also think overall sgc is an easier grader to the point where a new label psa 3 equals a new label sgc 4 or higher. Just my view and plenty of exceptions.

What???a.

[cammb]

Originally Posted by Carter08

SGC seems to do a fine job and all but psa is king of the market, no doubt about it. Some people have varying degrees of feeling about this but I also think overall sgc is an easier grader to the point where a new label psa 3 equals a new label sgc 4 or higher. Just my view and plenty of exceptions.

What???

[raulus]

Originally Posted by gonefishin

Nope, you hit it right on the head. I did it - I went right back to PSA and submitted about 40-50 cards under their vintage grading special. I guess I'm just trying to figure out why I did it when I was very satisfied with SGC. Maybe it was because in my mind they would hold more market value with PSA than SGC. Maybe it's because I've been submitting cards to PSA forever.

The comparative submission numbers were stunning.

I would just find it interesting to know why other members went back to PSA that were also very satisfied with SGC. Maybe it's not one thing but a combination of several; market acceptance, PSA Registry, Branding, advertising, location, public shows, etc. etc.

By the way, I'm retired and don't have a "Dog In the Fight" one way or the other.

I'll have to figure out why I did on my own.

HA.

I’m not going to psychoanalyze you, if for no other reason than my accounting training isn’t much help.

It does seem like there are plenty of SGC acolytes around here, many of whom proclaim their intent to stay away from PSA. I’m guessing that’s largely a function of the crowd that hangs out around here.

For me personally, I’ve never submitted to SGC. When I first got back into the collecting world about 7 years ago, I merely bought pre-graded items. And with the registry, I somewhat unwittingly went with PSA, also in part because PSA graded items were more abundantly available, not realizing at the time that in some ways, I was sort of locking myself into their system.

Over the years, I’ve sent items in to PSA for grading, although typically only because some low-pop items weren’t available on the market, and this was the only way to fill out my sets. If I had to guess, I’ve probably spent about $15k on having items graded at PSA, although the majority were at the “old” bulk pricing of $8 apiece.

I really don’t have anything against SGC. Certainly I wish them luck, if for no other reason than having some healthy competition will help to keep the 800 pound gorilla in the industry from taking over everything and all of the insalubrious outcomes that arise from having a de-facto monopoly. At the same time, some would probably argue that we are already there!