Message from PSA president

mexpo75

It was nice to see the president address the wait times on cards. Hopefully things will continue to improve.

Rttrffg2012

I hope they speed it up

RookieWax

Doesn't sound encouraging in the least bit. Their "big move" to a new building only increased their capabilities by 25%?? The growth in the sports card market alone has probably exceeded that every year for the past 3 or 4 years. Then you add in the surge in non-sports cards and PSA now expanding to accept submissions in Japan? How are things supposed to ever get better?

81 Topps Guy

The interesting part of the presidents message is how tough it is to add quality graders to their staff. Steve nailed it on the head, does anyone who collects cards or posts on this board want them to hire unqualified people (graders, sealers, shippers, etc...) to handle their collectibles? I didn’t think so. Also keep in mind if they are hiring new staff, especially graders, that existing staff will be taken off their tasks to train these individuals. We choose to deal with PSA for several reasons, but probably the biggest of them is that they are and always will be the hobby leader. Your cards are worth more in PSA slabs, hence the ever growing amount of submissions they’re receiving. Steve is being transparent about their volume of submissions and turnaround times; we should all appreciate his honesty.

Zoot66

For brand new cards, you can hire a monkey to throw them in random 9 or 10 slabs.

ReggieCleveland

@Zoot66 said:
For brand new cards, you can hire a monkey to throw them in random 9 or 10 slabs.

Beckett has that market cornered.

Arthur

ReggieCleveland

@Zoot66 said:
For brand new cards, you can hire a monkey to throw them in random 9 or 10 slabs.

The funny thing is how inaccurate this is. For the big rookie 2018 MLB stuff there's actually a rather large disparity between PSA 10 and BGS 9.5 prices. If you read the Blowout forums it's pretty common for people to send stuff into PSA and then take everything that came back a 9 and send it to Becket for the 9.5. In some cases, like the really higher end stuff, a PSA 10 can pull 50%, 70% and even 100% more than a BGS 9.5.

I don't think that's due to random acts of monkeys.

Arthur

1951WheatiesPremium

@ReggieCleveland said:

@Zoot66 said:
For brand new cards, you can hire a monkey to throw them in random 9 or 10 slabs.

The funny thing is how inaccurate this is. For the big rookie 2018 MLB stuff there's actually a rather large disparity between PSA 10 and BGS 9.5 prices. If you read the Blowout forums it's pretty common for people to send stuff into PSA and then take everything that came back a 9 and send it to Becket for the 9.5. In some cases, like the really higher end stuff, a PSA 10 can pull 50%, 70% and even 100% more than a BGS 9.5.

I don't think that's due to random acts of monkeys.

Arthur

I think, no wait, I KNOW I would watch a TV show called ‘Random Acts of Monkeys.’

Zoot66

The point is that the cards are brand new, and should be damn near perfect. Let the monkeys grade those, and free up the highly-trained graders to grade cards that are less likely to be 9 or 10.

gemint

I'm glad PSA isn't sacrificing quality to expand capacity. The card doctors are always waiting for an opportunity to exploit weaknesses in the system. I'm just shocked at the 165% increase in submissions. I'm wondering where it's coming from. I don't think it's vintage as I'm not seeing glut of new vintage material hitting the market. I guess it's Pokemon and modern that is driving the growth.

Mefer

@gemint said:
I'm glad PSA isn't sacrificing quality to expand capacity. The card doctors are always waiting for an opportunity to exploit weaknesses in the system. I'm just shocked at the 165% increase in submissions. I'm wondering where it's coming from. I don't think it's vintage as I'm not seeing glut of new vintage material hitting the market. I guess it's Pokemon and modern that is driving the growth.

Good take and I agree. Pokémon is huge— my daughter has collected them for years and shows me all the time YouTube videos on them (there are a ton). I really think we cannot under estimate the Pokémon market.

gemint

There's a first issue unopened wax box being auctioned in the upcoming Clean Sweep auction. Starting bid = $35,000!!!

ElvisP

The more graders the less chance the "grader of death" will grade your cards. Then again I guess there could be multiple "graders of death".

msassin

I would like to think that in 2019 they could hire someone that could grade cards as I listed on my submission sheet.

Or have someone that could follow up on the automatic e-mail reply of 'We are currently experiencing a high volume of emails and our response time is currently delayed.'

What a disappointment.

msassin

Only a 9+ day backlog on answering emails.

What a disappointment.

msassin

16+ day email backup...or they just chose to ignore me

MrHockey

Email contact for CS is very slow, but phone calls work quickly.

wadevl

Im pretty sure we see more of this,
The pains of New Hires, and probably little industry (Hobby) Knowledge
I watched a PSA reveal last night that just came back, ,
they had a 2017 Bowmans best and 2017 Topps Chrome, (Arron Judge) with the wrong labels in each, (Switched)
and you guys saw my Leighton VanderEsch Rookie Auto Labeled "2016" ??????
The bad thing is I cant get any one to replay to my mechanical error request ,

msassin

25+ days and still waiting on an email reply.

What a joke!

wadevl

I did get a response with all the necessary docs to return and correct the error,
about 4 weeks total, was told will be a 5 day turnaround

Bharris

Another reason I took a pause on the older stuff and have played around with the newer stuff.. I have submitted a few hundred cards over the course of a year and a half through a facebook group to BGS and the return has always been very fast. PSA has taking the fun out of it for me. Waiting months and months for your stuff back graded is ridiculous and for people to continue to do it is ridiculous, I have some stuff but I will wait until they get their shit together.

PROMETHIUS88

@Bharris said:
Another reason I took a pause on the older stuff and have played around with the newer stuff.. I have submitted a few hundred cards over the course of a year and a half through a facebook group to BGS and the return has always been very fast. PSA has taking the fun out of it for me. Waiting months and months for your stuff back graded is ridiculous and for people to continue to do it is ridiculous, I have some stuff but I will wait until they get their shit together.

I completely understand the frustration but what is the difference if you send it in now and wait 5 months or wait 2+ more months until the turnaround times are back down to 2-3 months and send it in? If they are cards you are going to have slabbed regardless, I don't understand why you would wait.

krisd3279

For the modern stuff I can see how the delays might cause a problem. There are hot players who might demand a premium for only a short time. The prices could go up and then back down again by the time your cards return to you. Regardless, I wouldn't wait to send them in. The delays aren't likely to go away all of a sudden and return to normal. Based on what I have read from PSA and others on this board the process of hiring and training additional grading stuff is a tough one. If they are truly working on it we should see things gradually improve. That is of course as long as they can get ahead of the demand in the first place. If they can't it will never get better and you may be waiting to send your cards in forever.

slum22

@Bharris said:
Another reason I took a pause on the older stuff and have played around with the newer stuff.. I have submitted a few hundred cards over the course of a year and a half through a facebook group to BGS and the return has always been very fast. PSA has taking the fun out of it for me. Waiting months and months for your stuff back graded is ridiculous and for people to continue to do it is ridiculous, I have some stuff but I will wait until they get their shit together.

My understanding is Beckett no longer guarantees turnaround times unless you are paying for the 5 day or faster levels of service. Unless you are paying those levels you are getting non-guaranteed turnarounds and I have heard people say (not jokingly) it is taking almost a full year. So turnaround time issues does not seem to be a problem exclusive to PSA. I think as more modern collectors have noticed a premium for high grade cards, more and more of them are being graded, causing this backlog with the leading TPG companies.

akuracy503

What I really want to know does PSA keep my cards in a climate controlled space while they are waiting for grading?

I’d like to know what that potential mess of a warehouse looks like where these cards are stored.

Good thing PSA isn’t located in humid Florida or something! cough s g c...

Bharris

@slum22 said:

@Bharris said:
Another reason I took a pause on the older stuff and have played around with the newer stuff.. I have submitted a few hundred cards over the course of a year and a half through a facebook group to BGS and the return has always been very fast. PSA has taking the fun out of it for me. Waiting months and months for your stuff back graded is ridiculous and for people to continue to do it is ridiculous, I have some stuff but I will wait until they get their shit together.

My understanding is Beckett no longer guarantees turnaround times unless you are paying for the 5 day or faster levels of service. Unless you are paying those levels you are getting non-guaranteed turnarounds and I have heard people say (not jokingly) it is taking almost a full year. So turnaround time issues does not seem to be a problem exclusive to PSA. I think as more modern collectors have noticed a premium for high grade cards, more and more of them are being graded, causing this backlog with the leading TPG companies.

Not my experience for over a year. Most have been 20 day subs and none have been over 28 days. Personally I have somewhere around 5k of graded cards and its somewhere split down the middle between the two. I tend to stick to the same preference as everyone else based on the age of the card. I just think if any other business treated you like PSA is currently treating people you would have already fired them and moved on. Who knows what they are doing with your cards when they are keeping them for 6 months.

CrissCriss

Any update on how they’re doing on clearing the backlog? A friend of mine last week said he still had an order out that was logged in on October 2.

PADIdiver

@81 Topps Guy said:
The interesting part of the presidents message is how tough it is to add quality graders to their staff. Steve nailed it on the head, does anyone who collects cards or posts on this board want them to hire unqualified people (graders, sealers, shippers, etc...) to handle their collectibles? I didn’t think so. Also keep in mind if they are hiring new staff, especially graders, that existing staff will be taken off their tasks to train these individuals. We choose to deal with PSA for several reasons, but probably the biggest of them is that they are and always will be the hobby leader. Your cards are worth more in PSA slabs, hence the ever growing amount of submissions they’re receiving. Steve is being transparent about their volume of submissions and turnaround times; we should all appreciate his honesty.

I'm curious to know why it's hard to find professional graders. It could be any of the following:
1. Pay too low
2. Skills required
3. Interest in this type of job?

I'm assuming number 2 is a big thing. Similar to being an ump in baseball... may look easy to call balls and strikes along with safe or out but in reality the worst MLB umps still have something like a 99.7% success rate in making the right call. Is that the case with grading cards as well? You need to be able to give the same grade to the same card 99 out of 100 times that you are shown it?

81 Topps Guy

@PADIdiver said:

@81 Topps Guy said:
The interesting part of the presidents message is how tough it is to add quality graders to their staff. Steve nailed it on the head, does anyone who collects cards or posts on this board want them to hire unqualified people (graders, sealers, shippers, etc...) to handle their collectibles? I didn’t think so. Also keep in mind if they are hiring new staff, especially graders, that existing staff will be taken off their tasks to train these individuals. We choose to deal with PSA for several reasons, but probably the biggest of them is that they are and always will be the hobby leader. Your cards are worth more in PSA slabs, hence the ever growing amount of submissions they’re receiving. Steve is being transparent about their volume of submissions and turnaround times; we should all appreciate his honesty.

I'm curious to know why it's hard to find professional graders. It could be any of the following:
1. Pay too low
2. Skills required
3. Interest in this type of job?

I'm assuming number 2 is a big thing. Similar to being an ump in baseball... may look easy to call balls and strikes along with safe or out but in reality the worst MLB umps still have something like a 99.7% success rate in making the right call. Is that the case with grading cards as well? You need to be able to give the same grade to the same card 99 out of 100 times that you are shown it?

I would say 2 and 3 are the big things. Not everyone is cut out to be a card grader, your analogy to being an umpire is a pretty good one. So you have to have the skill level, and then also want to scrutinize cards day in and day out. That’s something most people could not do either.

MrHockey

1 + cost of living in Newport Beach, by far

Tabe

@81 Topps Guy said:

@PADIdiver said:

@81 Topps Guy said:
The interesting part of the presidents message is how tough it is to add quality graders to their staff. Steve nailed it on the head, does anyone who collects cards or posts on this board want them to hire unqualified people (graders, sealers, shippers, etc...) to handle their collectibles? I didn’t think so. Also keep in mind if they are hiring new staff, especially graders, that existing staff will be taken off their tasks to train these individuals. We choose to deal with PSA for several reasons, but probably the biggest of them is that they are and always will be the hobby leader. Your cards are worth more in PSA slabs, hence the ever growing amount of submissions they’re receiving. Steve is being transparent about their volume of submissions and turnaround times; we should all appreciate his honesty.

I'm curious to know why it's hard to find professional graders. It could be any of the following:
1. Pay too low
2. Skills required
3. Interest in this type of job?

I'm assuming number 2 is a big thing. Similar to being an ump in baseball... may look easy to call balls and strikes along with safe or out but in reality the worst MLB umps still have something like a 99.7% success rate in making the right call. Is that the case with grading cards as well? You need to be able to give the same grade to the same card 99 out of 100 times that you are shown it?

I would say 2 and 3 are the big things. Not everyone is cut out to be a card grader, your analogy to being an umpire is a pretty good one. So you have to have the skill level, and then also want to scrutinize cards day in and day out. That’s something most people could not do either.

2 & 3 directly flow from #1. If the pay is high enough, people with the skills and interest will follow.

GoDodgersFan

For a newly minted grader, there's no way you can survive unless you have a favorable housing situation, such as staying with family and friends.

PADIdiver

Love the responses so far! I was asking if it was number 1 because I was wondering if there'd be any retired folk who are collectors in the area that would be interested in doing it even part time. I'm assuming if they have the skills and consistency it'd be a great way to spend some time doing something they love and although part time can help with the amount of cards coming in.

That being said I'm assuming a card grader makes a decent salary and I could be wrong about that.

msassin

@wadevl said:
I did get a response with all the necessary docs to return and correct the error,
about 4 weeks total, was told will be a 5 day turnaround

Approaching 5 weeks and still waiting for my first email to get a reply.
I know the money I spend is peanuts to Collector Universe but this is just plain bad business.

Mintacular

there is no real difference between a 9.5 and 10, it's all a mirage

Mintacular

no card is truly perfect

initialD

@msassin said:

@wadevl said:
I did get a response with all the necessary docs to return and correct the error,
about 4 weeks total, was told will be a 5 day turnaround

Approaching 5 weeks and still waiting for my first email to get a reply.
I know the money I spend is peanuts to Collector Universe but this is just plain bad business.

Have you tried calling yet?
PSA advises to call after 72 hours of no response

https://www.psacard.com/store/t-contact.aspx