Yes this was what I was under the impression that we were discussing also but maybe I need to start at this threads beginning. I’d also like to point out that the percentage increase is a metric of 2022 vs 2023 growth. 8% for CGC could still be a significant increase for them in raw numbers vs 29 percent of growth for SGC which has seen abysmal numbers for years.
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This also shows that percentages arent always showing the whole picture. Just look at those numbers for the slabs themselves
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I think SGC only started targeting tcg this year. It wasn’t as aggressive as cgc, since their primary target is sports cards. I just wouldn’t be surprised if their numbers grew as the main value being offered by non psa companies is cheaper cost.
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So much arguing. Can’t we all just agree Beckett sucks and move on
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Sometimes this forum is so funny because sequentially reading posts conversations jump around so much and then @pokecollectoramy just comes in for a bazinga moment Hahaha
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I will say, when I was finishing my neo master sets, I did pick up 2 SGC slabs to finish off my holos, partially because I was curious about how they looked, what the quality was, etc. I was pleasantly surprised by how cheap they were and that the cards, once cracked, were very good quality (i.e, they roughly matched the given grade).
One man’s trash is another one’s treasure; I’m interested to see how they lean into TGC despite not collecting graded cards at all.
SGC is who I would grade with if I wasn’t already grading with PSA. I don’t often resell slabs so that doesn’t matter. What interests me is the cost, turnaround time, slab look, history, and lack of drama
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Think about it as.
SGC is closer to PSA than CGC is to PSA.
All the CGC fans should let Jan 5th 2024 Stats sink in.
2024
Lets see if 50 cents commons does better than 2023 with the addition to SGC slabs eventually taking the place of CGC slabs in my inventory.
Year to date Jan 1, 2024 - Jan 4, 2024
$2,640.00
Top actual sales (ultra modern low price slabs) Jan 4 2024
SGC 10 ultra modern slab $89 <==== $6 Raw
PSA 10 ultra modern slab $71 <==== $6 Raw
CGC 10(pristine) ultra modern slab $31 <===PRISTINE $5 Raw
I think 7.5k > 6.6k. Daily metrics are also pretty useless since they are inherently noisy. The percentage shown captures variation between days, not any meaningful long-term trend
What this also doesn’t show is that SGC is 90% sports and CGC is 90% TCG. So the numbers relevant to Pokémon are more like 660 cards for SGC and 6.8k for CGC.
That’s not to say I care about one over the other. You can think that SGC is a growing segment of the market. Maybe it is. But I see little indication of that. The same way PSA dwarfs CGC in terms of volume, CGC dwarfs SGC in Pokémon - basically by the same magnitude.
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I could start a grading company today, i would be 6,000 cards away from matching CGC one day output.
CGC is 60,000+ away from PSA one day output.
PSA is king by far. Everyone else is in one group. Every other TPG is just another company. the #2 spot is wide open for the taking.
Everyone should just wait to see what happens. I grade with PSA, BGS, CGC , SGC, CG , DSG. I will always do what is good for me and leave all options open. Just being loyal to one company is a risk of a collection or business being blown up by one bad event.
A small sample of sales yesterday. (one platform)
PSA, SGC, CGC ,CG and some Raw.
Jan 5 2024 RAW sales
What does TPG mean
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Again, the number 2 spot is not open, it is CGC in terms of Pokémon cards. PSA is 10x the volume of CGC, CGC is 10x the volume of the nearest competitor. It doesn’t mean it will stay that way forever, it used to be BGS and now it’s not. But if PSA is unquestionably king, then CGC is unquestionably queen.
You could try to make your own grading company but you’d probably be closer to 6 cards per day than 6000. Like the hundreds of other companies that tried and failed.
Daily sales and daily volume is irrelevant when we have complete volume statistics.
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Third party grading
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So that would make BGS an ex wife? Who fills the jester role?
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Also it’s not even that far . Probably 40% of psa volume is Pokemon vs 95% for CGC so it’s more like 5x instead of 10x. Just semantics since you are correct on everything else you said but clearing it up
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100% fair point
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You keep saying this yet campaign for SGC with datapoints that are sloppy and given in bad faith for what is being discussed. Most of us here aren’t loyal to a single slabber. I have thousands of PSA and CGC cards myself and have nothing against SGC if they ever show some competency and interest in scaling into TCG. That said, they AREN’T showing that even after more than a decade in the slabbing business. Unless they put forth some effort in Pokemon and other TCG rather than all-things sports, then I don’t see why you would assume a change is right over the horizon.
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I can guarantee i would do more than 6 cards a day, probably 100’s from the start with customers lined up from day one. We actually sell to many loyal customers due to what we sell. No BS youtube videos or forum warriors. Just straight product sales with no social media. We do a lot of stats on what pertains to our own sales, which may not pertain to you or others here because everyone has different variables. FOR ME , What i see from actual sales. PSA is high end, SGC is ROI, CGC is falling fast. CGC is actually #4 in ROI and sales.
Would hate to bring up the other TPG we use as everyone here would not believe that another company actually performs both CGC and SGC. That is for another day.
CGC is actually #4 . lol
BGS is #5 . BGS really tries to be last.
Yeah PSA is unquestionably king. They’ve done a lot to get there and stay there. That said, if Beckett or SGC put forth a fraction of as much effort in the past decade+ as CGC has in the past 3 years, they’d be a lot further along. That’s my main takeaway here. SGC needs to show CGC levels of aggressive marketing and interest in the TCG market if they want to see this kind of growth. I don’t see that effort whatsoever. They seem content to stick to a niche of sports, exclusively, and that’s totally fine but they wont grow to PSA levels with that outlook.
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