It almost seems with that perspective you’ll never grade any cards. Of course every service, including sending in yourself, has risk. We even heard the horror story of the person who sent in the 1st edition base Charizard himself that was dinged by PSA and graded 9 instead of 10. There’s no way to mitigate all risk, but you’ll never reap the rewards of grading without some risk.
I send cards myself but with the new 100 card requirement for bulk, it’s forcing lots of customers to use 3rd party services. I think part of the problem could be solved by not sending $1000+ cards in bulk orders. Send cards that are $100 or less with bulk orders and then if one gets damaged/swapped it won’t be as big of a disaster.
The fundamental difference between Ludkins and every other middle man is Ludkins is a business. They are fully insured. Even in the worst case scenario of a card being damaged, lost, etc. Ludkins is privately insured.
Therefore all of these risks don’t exist. This is why E4 partnered with Ludkins as they are the only actual middleman company.
I’m fine with PSA only grading from one location which I still think isn’t very productive, but I wonder why they don’t open up smaller offices worldwide. They don’t need middlemen.
The one in Japan is a small step in the right direction.
PSA Europe, Australia… They could even have one here in Canada. Other continents/countries too if the demand is there.
The only thing I’ll note about the argument of having an extra link in the chain be a liability is this:
The first person at PSA handling your cards is a low-paid, unskilled employee that removes them from the packaging and processes them for work.
With Ludkins, you are only giving your cards to an insured, industry professional. We don’t have any unskilled hourly employees rifling through your cards. So I strongly refute the implication that we somehow add liability by being an additional link in the chain. We offset the risk that the unavoidable link in PSA’s chain creates by documenting the condition of every card that passes through our hands.
@funmonkey54 that is reasonable I guess. I believe you at least follow my logic in that an additional link added to a chain can never strengthen the chain. Due to the whole thing being only as strong as its weakest link.
However what you/Ludkins claim is that you/they are serving as a new first link in that chain and that although you are not strengthening the chain, but you are actually essentially adding a new failsafe secondary chain (insurance) that covers any down the line issues that would be inherent in the original chain and unavoidable by anyone else such as myself who submit directly. I guess it is safe to assume that me submitting my personal cards I would have no way of duplicating that insurance besides for self insurance as I am sure you guys use? Which for small people could be troublesome in the event of a large loss.
I see your logic, but I think you’re overcommitted to the analogy. Risk mitigation is just life. And that is more pertinent to large spenders than small. Think of houses. Would you skip an inspection before buying because the inspector might damage something? Of course not.
Of the ten largest Pokemon stores in the United States that are involved in grading, six grade with me. Four did so within two months of me completing my insurance. I had way more success with massive entities when I first started than I did small. I think the benefits of working with Ludkins are way more pertinent when you’re submitting in volume. If one in 1000 cards is getting damaged, small submitters might only get screwed every 10 years or one in ten of them might get a raw deal each year. People submitting 1000 a year are going to have consistent issues.
Your analogy is limited because it refers strictly to damage. Of course I can’t make it so PSA never damages cards. But a cash payout can soothe a burn. And you are correct. You cannot produce the same insurance as what we have. I spent six months hiring a team of insurance agents who also work with Pokemon just to find an insurer capable of underwriting what our insurance requires. And it put me at a net loss on income for the first eight months I operated. Our insurance is impeccably crafted because I wasn’t going to bother with it if it wasn’t an actual solution. It’s not a gimmick. It’s a solution born of a gap inherent to how PSA has to function as a massive entity with increasing demand for it’s services.
Our absolute best value is to people submitting 50-100 cards consistently because I can literally come in cheaper than PSA’s price without sacrificing anything our service adds. But our protection is applicable to anyone trying to grade.
One thing that always goes against you in a dispute is a physical threat. Saying you’re going to climb on a plane and bang on their front door isn’t going to help you with most problems in life. If Bonnie blocked you or called the police, they’d be within their right regardless of what happened with the card. You gotta refrain from letting your anger get the best of you when seeking to resolve an issue like this. If she shows that to PSA or any of her IG followers, you could be banned, lose your IG account, and lose a lot of support you might have otherwise had.
I’m not here looking for support nor symphony as stated. I’d climb on a plane and spend a fortune on a lousy common for all that matter. It’s about having principles and morals, which I value much more than cards or money. If I entrust you with my material and you have the nerves to steal from me behind my back, I’m not just going to roll over and stay polite.
Again I’m not here to change your mind or opinion. Just making sure people are aware before using this shady service. Or as the past has shown us, any mediocre middle-man. Not because I have anything to gain, but I still see a lot of people using her. And don’t get me wrong, I already made a statement about the fact its my fault for doing business with children, and you could argue it was just a matter of time. Sure, but that doesn’t mean I should tolerate it and shove it aside.
Like I said, I could litterly care less about the actual card/grade but rather the fact someone stole from me. And thats the whole point. If you don’t feel I’m sincere and I’m just here to waste time and effort thats perfectly fine, disregard this.
Im not telling you to tolerate anything. Im telling you regardless of your morals/principles; you’re stabbing YOURSELF in the foot when you threaten people. Any leverage you have goes out the window. Its not about you gaining support or opinions from the peanut gallery. Its about you giving yourself the best chance at positive resolution from a dispute. Any dispute.
dude it’s nice that you warn us about her service, but don’t make it worse by threatening her with physical harm. This could get very easily turned against you. Is it worth to risk a lawsuit for a PSA9 GS charizard, that apparently is much better than the PSA9 GS charizard you got?
I hadn’t gone through the album of all the screenshots and apparently I missed some of the detail.
So to summarize @jimetics you sent a GS Charizard in roughly PSA 9 condition with some specific wear/issues and got back a PSA 9 GS Charizard that you and your friend claim is different because it is missing those specific issues. Then, because of this you went on to threaten to fly out and kick the door in of the woman whose service you used.
Honestly if what you say is true, then it seems she would be due a ban for scamming but it is all based on circumstantial anecdotal evidence and it doesn’t seem you can prove it. I did check and although not very active she appears to be a member here. However there is concrete damning evidence that you shared yourself of a threat of violence against another forum member over a theoretical card swap that came at no monetary loss? Is this real life?
I agree with Chris B and Chappo, that threatening message you left her was really unnecessary though…
The last thing you want, is that you threatened her over a card.
Let the steam out, walk away and pay more to grade your cards. *shrug*
I’ll never understand why people would risk sending any cards of significant value to a complete stranger. I guess they are looking to save a few dollars? Seems like an unnecessary (and pretty silly) risk to me. I’m from the U.K and send everything myself even if it does cost me a little extra. I’ve had a lot of monies worth of cards go to and come back from PSA and the only extra cost is an extra few dollars in shipping costs. In this case if you can’t prove it then there’s nothing you can do (there probably isn’t anything you can do even if you can prove it) - although correct me if I’m wrong. Like many others have said, threatening someone (ESPECIALLY) a written threat is only going to make things worse for yourself. There is no doubt that if what this “Bonnie” did is actually true, then she is in the wrong and has committed a crime, however with no evidence on your side and direct WRITTEN threats against her you have shot yourself in the foot massively. Use this as a lesson and send everything yourself from now on. All the best.
It’s typical Pokémon Instagram. Everyday there are people “calling each other out”. Equivalent to children on a playground.
This is yet again another situation in the hobby where both parties have blame. I don’t know how many more of these situations need to pile up before people start taking themselves and this hobby seriously.
Don’t send cards to someone who isn’t a registered business, no matter how thirsty you are. Don’t threaten people because you chose to send cards to a person on Instagram, who provides no actual insurance, protection or accountability.
Also it should be mentioned there is no way PSA switched this card. Whether this Bonnie person switched it intentionally or accidentally, we will never know.
