I just don’t like the lack of uniformity of having both 9.5s and 10s. I just want all of one grade. It’s not rational; I’m just a bit of purist.
I believe it; I’ve seen plenty of CGC 9.5s that certainly look like PSA 10s.
And I would absolutely do that if the cards I’m looking for ever popped up in CGC 9.5 lol. But my main point is that I would love to also collect CGC-slabbed cards. And the only thing keeping me from doing it is that it would feel weird to have CGC 9.5s and PSA 10s in my sets. Again, I realize that this isn’t a rational thing. I just would personally be much more interested in CGC cards if they converted over to the whole number scale.
I believe that it is very rational thinking. Collectors like consistency. Thats why the PSA registry is one of the biggest game changers in the hobby. In my opinion, that very thing sets PSA apart from the others.
in building software we talk a lot about what our “moats” are - what make it hard for our customers for us to fire us? Facebook’s moat, for example, is that all of your network are already using it and you’re likely already connected with them - as well as having loads of your personal history. Google Plus failed because only a few jumped ship, the network wasn’t there for them, and they had no historical data of your social life. Facebook’s moat was deep and continues to be deep, only potentially uprooted by new upstarts taking over the next generation of social media (tiktok). Facebook solved this once from a competitive upstart by just buying instagram
I’d argue PSA has a really solid moat and is pushing it even further… even tho many people have chosen to fire PSA and switch to CGC/BGS recently, this will ultimately play out over the course of years.
PSA’s moat is
established deeply in the market for many years, pretty much the go to for grading for most
pop reports that represent the vast majority of population of cards
auction prices associated with their grades, ability to research those, see trends over time (much harder for CGC or BGS with lower pops)
PSA registry, the gamification of it, etc. that many people do really enjoy
Now looking at BGS and CGC as competitors looking to uproot the competition, they need to attack those moats somehow. The way this has happened so far is
PSA could effectively solve those things tomorrow by
throwing money at the backlog problem (I know it’s crazy, but they could technically hire 10,000 new staff and power through the backlog if they really wanted to, cost aside )
Introducing sub grades
Introducing a new PSA 10+ grade.
and because PSA has all of those other moats that BGS and CGC lack, they would start squashing BGS and CGC out of the market.
Now - that’s just my personal opinion. If PSA are smart and adapt to what people like about BGS and CGC, they will continue to dominate the market. If either BGS or CGC start to take a bigger foothold on any of PSA’s current moats, that could be an issue for PSA. The real question mark is if PSA has the leadership to make this happen.
Grading consistency is a huge selling point for people when it comes to graded cards, and I think that is the biggest issue PSA has had over the years. It’s also something that would most assuredly get worse if they hired a ton of new graders at once. I get why people go with PSA and they are a great company, but I feel like a lot of people (especially right now) are just going after the red label and don’t consider their dart board lottery grading system to be that big of a deal, but to me, that’s the most important thing.
If I am buying a card for my collection and I want a mint 10, I want it to be a mint 10, not an 8. This is something PSA can’t “adapt” to IMO. The pop reports, data, etc. can follow and be built over time by other companies. The actual service (I.e grading) these companies do is the most important thing, and in the long term the company with the best service will do well for themselves.
@nelson, FWIW, I’ve seen 8s with scratching like that on the back. So I’d imagine that the scratches wouldn’t preclude you from getting an 8, but I’d probably expect a 7 max unless the card is pristine otherwise.
Looking for some feedback on a 1st ed base zard I recently got graded by PSA. It came back as a 1.5. I may be bias, but I was expecting a 2-3 on it. Can I get some feedback on this whether yall think a 1.5 was warranted and if I should maybe crack it and have it sent to bgs or cgc instead. My intent is to maximize value.
@cardstockpile , visually it seems better, expecting a 2 or a 3 indeed. But I am wondering how many bends and creases are on it. I can see what looks like several. They won’t be inclined to give a card higher than a 2 if it has several of them.
I see/am guessing at: top back border crease, top front left 1" or so crease at an angle, front right side 1 if not 2 that affect front and back. More than that? That is already enough that it would seem a 2 grade would be in order, considering how much additional wear is on there. Let’s say you had no bends. In that condition it would be a 4 or 5. Then you factor all the bends and such. I’d say about a 2 would be fair. The holo looks quite nice. But they don’t value it as much as I do.
Oh and I wouldn’t cross over personally. I think anywhere at universal 2 or 3 would be around the same value, and the 1.5 PSA would fetch you a solid amount. You already spent all that money with them, I think that IS maximizing your value by keeping it like that rather than putting in another $100+ on grading/shipping.
@cardstockpile , I’m no expert when it comes to big boy cards like these, but perhaps maybe the best way to maximize its value is to simply get it slabbed as “Authenticated”? Perhaps those chasing a 1st Edition Base Set Charizard care more about the authenticity of it rather than its condition? Just throwing out an option.
I got a swirl pikachu promo that’s flawless in centering and the edges, but one of the corners is cut a little flat. It’s the only defect I can notice with the card.
Will it affect the grade or is there still chance for a 10 even with the flat corner?
Hey there! I just picked up a 1st Edition Base Raichu listed as near mint from eBay, which I’ve wanted since forever. I was super meticulous with asking for pictures and everything looked great, until I received the card today. It looks like there’s a indent at the bottom of the card that you can only see at an angle. Is it even worth grading?
How long does the Assembly/QA phase usually take for bulk orders (50-100 cards)? I’ve completed Econ and Express orders, but have never finished out a bulk one so wasn’t sure what to expect for those stages (they’re usually pretty quick on smaller orders).
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