Do you think prices will drop once the grading companies catch up?

DMasci

I became a PSA collector in June of this year buying only NFL HOFer cards. Since that time I've seen prices skyrocket on ebay, cards that I purchased this summer graded PSA 8 I couldn't buy today if they are graded PSA 7. I realize SMR is really of no value as well as the avg. price listed. It's crazy right now.

My thoughts are with long turnaround times with all of the big grading companies, people are buying the cards already graded and willing to pay more for them. What I wonder is; will prices drop when all of these cards being graded flood the market and you can get cards graded and returned in a reasonable period of time?

I guess I'll find out but in the meantime I'm shopping raw cards at a fraction of the cost for another shipment in for grading. All my cards are for my PC so time isn't too important for me.

Curious to know what others think.
Thanks

LarkinCollector

I think there will be a drop in the Ultra and perhaps some of the Modern category as pops rapidly increase once the backlog is cleared (assuming that ever happens). I don't think there's enough quality vintage being submitted to significantly impact pricing in upper grades.

sufferingbillsfan

Agreed, I'd expect to see prices drop for some of the newer guys (Jackson, Watson, maybe Mahomes depending on how things go in the next couple of weeks) as more cards are graded and FOMO diminishes. I recently sold off some of these because the prices were too good and the pop numbers really couldn't justify the price IMO. Compare Peyton Maning/2000 (pop 521 in 9 and 93 in a 100) and Drew Brees/999 (pop 127 in 9 and
only 7 in a 10) are going for under 3K in a PSA 9 and Mahomes (pop 1744 in a 9 and 850 in a 10). who is selling for close to 2K in a 9.

I've wondered about the overall increase in prices myself. I only collect football, so I don't know if other sports are seeing similar rises. I think football has been undervalued compared to say, baseball. Football has become more popular but doesn't have nearly the collecting history as baseball. Part of it may be attributed to the coronavirus. More people at home with time to spend on hobbies? Less travel and eating out means more disposable income?

LarkinCollector

Basketball has gone the craziest, but it's been a pretty significant rise across all sports recently.

BriantheTaxGuy

I agree with Larkin; modern may suffer from availability issues, but the supply of vintage cards is not being significantly impacted by the grading shortage.

Even if grading were happening in a timely manner, high-quality examples of everything is so hot it likely wouldn't matter.

JoeBanzai

Depends on the player and if a whole bunch of 10's suddenly appear.

paulb71

I honestly thought back in March 2020 when the pandemic hit that prices for 60’s ,70’s, and early 80’s unopened graded material would drop low like it was back in 2010 but by my surprise the prices are even higher now then they were back in March which is a good thing but I was just hoping to stock up had the prices dropped

BillsGridironGreats

I agree that the backlog has caused some of the pricing increases, but the dollar is not worth what it was either. The economy will determine where card prices go in the next couple years. They can't just keep printing money like they are!

DMasci

I also think we are back to the "I'm going to get rich with cards" mentality that we had in the early 90s. As a football card collector vs. investor I just can't seem to grasp paying some of the crazy high prices on new cards for today's stars who's careers can end with an injury, what happens to their cards then?

In my short time collecting NFL HOFers I've seen prices soar as well. A mid 70s card last summer graded PSA 8 sold for less than that same card sells today for a PSA 7. I wonder if it is supply drying up or if people are just trying to get what they can for a card while the market is hot. I find I'm buying raw cards and taking a chance just because they are selling for so much less than even a card graded at least PSA 7 with plans to fill my sets by sending them in myself for grading.

sdog77

I don't think grading will "catch-up" until the prices drop.

mickcornett

They are raising the prices on grading the lower priced cards (ie bulk submissions). So, I am guessing that will increase the price of those cards (less supply). But, it will also mean fewer collectors will start registry sets that need cards like that. (long term-less demand). Hard to predict how it will shake out.

MCMLVTopps

My 2 cents...

Leaving out star cards, supply and demand are keys to pricing. IF when this glut of gradings comes out and POPs increase substantially, it simply has to drive prices down, no question. How far down is the unknown, but the market will find its pricing. I happen to know a guy that's sending in over 200 cards at $20 a pop. Last year it would have been $9 per card.

So, pricing has gone up to $20 per card...does anyone think it will go down anytime soon? Other than the horrible wait times, its still a bargain unless you just send in commons left and right, or ratty cards that should never be in the mix in the first place.

As for Vintage...the crack outs will live on. I have posted about this ad nauseum, but PSA brought that one upon themselves, in turn have pretty much decimated the validity of the POP report in many areas. The 55 Topps set is a great example of this, with untold crack outs of original PSA 5,6,and7s seeking the half point bump or better. As an example (one more time), if you have a 1955 Topps card in a PSA 5 slab and you just KNOW it deserves a better grade, and you crack it, send it in and don't get a new satisfactory grade, you crack and re crack, leaving a bunch of orphans behind you from the original and other crack outs. Point is, the original PSA 5, has now morphed into however many times you send it in until you feel happy with the higher grade....all the other cards, including the original do not exist, but have inflated the POP report and made the true count invalid and useless. Can't ever be fixed.

So, catch the quarterly's if you have cards in that group, or pay the $20. I suspect when the flood has subsided, the powers to be at PSA will realize what's happening and lower the costs. After all, we're their cash cow, no need to make things too painful. However, let's also be mindful that PSA is not a charitable organization, they exist to make a profit, they can set whatever price they want, I guess we should all be thankful they didn't go to a higher cost...I really expect they will lower costs at some point, maybe another year or so...just a guess. They just happen to be drinking water from a fire hose at this point.

DMasci

I agree with 1957, supply and demand are certainly the key and I think right now most sellers on ebay are trying to ride the wave so to speak and there are buyers out there for them. Who are these buyers paying these high prices? Are they new collectors or collectors who have been waiting for a card that are now seeing it go up and beginning to panic? A good example is 1976 Walter Payton, an expensive card for sure but certainly not in short supply. There are multiple bids in the hundreds of dollars for a PSA 3! It will be interesting to see what happens down the road that's for sure.

BillsGridironGreats

I question who is driving the prices up. It is not across the board. There seem to be multiple non-collectors out there with more money than they know to do with. I don't think the grading backlog is driving the prices like these people are. The modern will plummet when the grading catches up, but these non-collectors will determine where the market goes on vintage star cards in high grade.

1959

The investor groups are buying up all the vintage star cards. (Mays, Mantle, Jim Brown, Payton, Jack Robinson,etc) they will pay anything for any grade. The problem is they will not re-sale until they can make a profit for the investors. So, many of these cards will either sell for much more later, or not hit the market for a long, long time. Since they are not collectors but investors, they do not need money, therefore no real need to sale unless for profit.

MCMLVTopps

@1959 said:
The investor groups are buying up all the vintage star cards. (Mays, Mantle, Jim Brown, Payton, Jack Robinson,etc) they will pay anything for any grade. The problem is they will not re-sale until they can make a profit for the investors. So, many of these cards will either sell for much more later, or not hit the market for a long, long time. Since they are not collectors but investors, they do not need money, therefore no real need to sale unless for profit.

And you know this how?

1959

Been on the news, and other forums. And its also just my theory. I hope I am wrong and prices come down or many of these cards will be resold throughout the year. We'll see.

Gansetttime

No way the backlog is all gem mint stuff. The market will be flooded with low grade stuff. The few high grade that make it out will either be joining the party or the train long left the station in interest.
From my experience, I've been selling a ton of raw to newbies, who have this wild idea it'll gem once they get it graded. Once they get burned with their inexperience in grading and lose some money and not get the big money everyone else is getting, do you lose them and all their future submissions? If the answer is yes, then I think submission pricing will settle lower.

jonnyonenote

@MCMLVTopps said:

@1959 said:
The investor groups are buying up all the vintage star cards. (Mays, Mantle, Jim Brown, Payton, Jack Robinson,etc) they will pay anything for any grade. The problem is they will not re-sale until they can make a profit for the investors. So, many of these cards will either sell for much more later, or not hit the market for a long, long time. Since they are not collectors but investors, they do not need money, therefore no real need to sale unless for profit.

And you know this how?

he has been paying attention. over 40 cards have been licensed through the SEC and you can buy shares of them already

Cakes

@1959 said:
The investor groups are buying up all the vintage star cards. (Mays, Mantle, Jim Brown, Payton, Jack Robinson,etc) they will pay anything for any grade. The problem is they will not re-sale until they can make a profit for the investors. So, many of these cards will either sell for much more later, or not hit the market for a long, long time. Since they are not collectors but investors, they do not need money, therefore no real need to sale unless for profit.

I think there is some validity to the above but only in high grades.

There doesn't seem to be an end in sight, the backlog could continue for another year.

gemint

I think inflation fears are certainly driving speculation. People with cash holdings are scrambling to invest in hard assets and collectibles is one big opportunity for diversification. Lumber is up something like 200% over the past year. Oil is also rising significantly as are other vital goods. If we continue to print money at the rate we have over the past year, it will be very difficult to avoid a hyperinflation scenario.

rexvos

No

prgsdw

@gemint said:
If we continue to print money at the rate we have over the past year, it will be very difficult to avoid a hyperinflation scenario.

I think that statement is overblown frankly. I don't see bread in the US costing a million dollars any time soon. Reasonable people can look at the same things and disagree.

DMasci

3 months after I first started this thread and it's only gotten worse. Of course PSA has stopped accepting orders and it's looking like a year for any value orders to be received back. I buy most all of my cards already graded and mostly from ebay and it sure seems to be a sellers market. Cards are being listed for 2 to 3 times what I can find them selling for anywhere, it's like make up a number and throw it out there. I'm not an investor, just someone that collects NFL HOFers because that's the sport I like and HOFers because it's silly what new player RCs are going for from a collectors viewpoint. In the meantime, my buying has slowed way down just because there's little slabbed out there that I need for my collection at a reasonable price so I buy a few raw cards and wait until I can send in another order. Good luck to all you that are working on your PCs, we will see what happens I guess.

coinkat

The question seems too general... It is worth asking but with several components. I will limit my comments to baseball cards. And even there, it seems there is a big difference between vintage and what vintage really means and modern. I think there might be some disagreement as to the cut off of vintage verse modern cards. I would probably suggest a time frame of 1968 or so and I suspect there are arguments that can be framed to suggest a different date.

Anyway, there are those that collect for different reasons- following a specific year of career of a player or just the history associated with the development of baseball cards- the art and design and how that changed from the 1930s through the 1960s. Seems that the latter over time has the greatest traction of attracting new collectors. HOF and rookie cards will always have a following. Condition rarities have already established that there is a following there. Vintage should remain consistent as long as it never turns into a generational thing and collectors under 35 don't care about what happened before they were born. I am very concerned that sports seems to have a limitation as to what people relate to. I think this is shallow and short sided and completely lacks an appreciation for how we arrived at where we are now. The impact of certain players and teams over time have faded and to some degree it is reflect in the valuations placed on various cards... there are some decent players from the 1940s through the 1960s and some of the cards for these guys are surprisingly affordable. I would think that the tier below the HOF have opportunities but it will only materialize if there is interest. That interest may come from those that see collecting cards as more of a art/design progression than anything else.

JoeBanzai

PSA has (at least?) a years worth of work backed up. My guess is when they start accepting submissions again, it will be at a higher submission level, with bulk and "specials" limited or not accepted at all, so actually pricing will be going up in the short term. Vouchers also look to be a thing of the past.

I am also assuming that there will be a lot of people who have cards they "need" graded and there will be a lot of submissions ready to fill up PSA's warehouse when they "catch up" and start accepting subs.

If collectors stop sending in cards worth less than $200.00 in a 9, we may be looking at lower prices in two years or so.

We saw a lot of people jump off the bandwagon back in the early 1990's and if enough people get irritated enough with unsatisfact6ory grades and year long wait times, prices might drop.

But I doubt it, a PSA graded card drastically increases it's value (in many instances) so a significant number of people will also have to get sick of buying graded cards.

It's going to take a big shift in the hobby for anything to change with the TPGs.

82FootballWaxMemorys

There will be a next hot thing and investors will pull money out of cards and into that. When and what that hot thing will be or does it even currently exist? I've not a clue but attentions spans are short in modern society so it's not IF but when.

When things do cool off will there still be enough registry collectors of low value cards left to get PSA through the next lean time? As recently 2015/2016/2017 PSA was doing their own local events in small hotel rooms across the US just to drum up business. I handed over hundreds of low value cards which at current grading fees are simply are not worth the expense. I was not alone there were many others doing same the 3 times I attended those type of "events".

Of course it's theoretically possible (although not plausible given it would be nearly unprecedented) there may never be another lean time for PSA, but the intelligent prepare properly for those, not discount their possibility.

Estil

I hope so because I've dreamed of being able to do 1971 Topps PSA 7s (of HOFers/checklist) for the longest time but it's so discouraging that there's hardly any that I feel are reasonably affordable because I do want and have to be very careful not to overpay.

Maybe now is not the best time?

Mickey71

@82FootballWaxMemorys said:
There will be a next hot thing and investors will pull money out of cards and into that. When and what that hot thing will be or does it even currently exist? I've not a clue but attentions spans are short in modern society so it's not IF but when.

When things do cool off will there still be enough registry collectors of low value cards left to get PSA through the next lean time? As recently 2015/2016/2017 PSA was doing their own local events in small hotel rooms across the US just to drum up business. I handed over hundreds of low value cards which at current grading fees are simply are not worth the expense. I was not alone there were many others doing same the 3 times I attended those type of "events".

Of course it's theoretically possible (although not plausible given it would be nearly unprecedented) there may never be another lean time for PSA, but the intelligent prepare properly for those, not discount their possibility.

I actually have no idea what you are talking about. 2015-2017 was not slow for PSA at all. They have been on a roll for quite awhile. And what were all of these events at hotel rooms across the US to drum up business. They would only set up card grading at huge shows from what I know. Explain more of what you are talking about please??

82FootballWaxMemorys

@Mickey71 said:

@82FootballWaxMemorys said:
There will be a next hot thing and investors will pull money out of cards and into that. When and what that hot thing will be or does it even currently exist? I've not a clue but attentions spans are short in modern society so it's not IF but when.

When things do cool off will there still be enough registry collectors of low value cards left to get PSA through the next lean time? As recently 2015/2016/2017 PSA was doing their own local events in small hotel rooms across the US just to drum up business. I handed over hundreds of low value cards which at current grading fees are simply are not worth the expense. I was not alone there were many others doing same the 3 times I attended those type of "events".

Of course it's theoretically possible (although not plausible given it would be nearly unprecedented) there may never be another lean time for PSA, but the intelligent prepare properly for those, not discount their possibility.

I actually have no idea what you are talking about. 2015-2017 was not slow for PSA at all. They have been on a roll for quite awhile. And what were all of these events at hotel rooms across the US to drum up business. They would only set up card grading at huge shows from what I know. Explain more of what you are talking about please??

Uniondale NY Marriot Nov 2015 - they rented 2 rooms as I recall. Also did walk through authentication which was really nice.

Attended 2 others 2015-2016 at a hotel on 42nd Stret in Manhattan (local for those in NYC ) , I forget the hotel name but it near the corner of 3rd Ave

Not sure but these events may have been run out of the NJ office and I believe they were on Sunday's only.

At all these events I walked right in, no waiting and sat right down with a rep. They even asked me if i wanted bottle of water or a soda and cookies while I was waiting for my autographed Photo's, Baseballs to be authenticated. The DNA service at the Uniondale event was 50% off.

Some of the employees who I became "friendly" with after seeing them for 3rd time in 18 month span at these events told me they likley would not be doing another as after costs were paid they only were breaking even.

I must have dropped off 150 or so subs in those 3 visits. It was really great. I assumed they were doing these small hotel room appearances other places across US as well?

Mickey71

@82FootballWaxMemorys said:

@Mickey71 said:

@82FootballWaxMemorys said:
There will be a next hot thing and investors will pull money out of cards and into that. When and what that hot thing will be or does it even currently exist? I've not a clue but attentions spans are short in modern society so it's not IF but when.

When things do cool off will there still be enough registry collectors of low value cards left to get PSA through the next lean time? As recently 2015/2016/2017 PSA was doing their own local events in small hotel rooms across the US just to drum up business. I handed over hundreds of low value cards which at current grading fees are simply are not worth the expense. I was not alone there were many others doing same the 3 times I attended those type of "events".

Of course it's theoretically possible (although not plausible given it would be nearly unprecedented) there may never be another lean time for PSA, but the intelligent prepare properly for those, not discount their possibility.

I actually have no idea what you are talking about. 2015-2017 was not slow for PSA at all. They have been on a roll for quite awhile. And what were all of these events at hotel rooms across the US to drum up business. They would only set up card grading at huge shows from what I know. Explain more of what you are talking about please??

Uniondale NY Marriot Nov 2015 - they rented 2 rooms as I recall. Also did walk through authentication which was really nice.

Attended 2 others 2015-2016 at a hotel on 42nd Stret in Manhattan (local for those in NYC ) , I forget the hotel name but it near the corner of 3rd Ave

Not sure but these events may have been run out of the NJ office and I believe they were on Sunday's only.

At all these events I walked right in, no waiting and sat right down with a rep. They even asked me if i wanted bottle of water or a soda and cookies while I was waiting for my autographed Photo's, Baseballs to be authenticated. The DNA service at the Uniondale event was 50% off.

Some of the employees who I became "friendly" with after seeing them for 3rd time in 18 month span at these events told me they likley would not be doing another as after costs were paid they only were breaking even.

I must have dropped off 150 or so subs in those 3 visits. It was really great. I assumed they were doing these small hotel room appearances other places across US as well?

No card grading...just drop offs for cards and for the most part PSA/DNA stuff. Thank you for the explanation as this makes sense.

DMasci

It seems to me (at least with FB cards) that prices may be coming down a bit on HOFer cards. I think sellers have been throwing out crazy high prices and adding "best offer" to their listing and often getting it. However, I've been tracking several cards I don't have for HOF sets and they are starting to come down a bit. Perhaps the madness is subsiding, I mean really is a 1994 Bowman Kevin Mawae really a $100 card :-)

ArmourPhil

Maybe even more important is the question will PSA grading prices come down after they catch up. With cards that used to cost $10 to grade costing $50 before they went on hiatis, collectors can no longer fill holes in their collection. I have a stack of cards that are worth less than $5 that need grading to fill holes in my sets , but I'm sure not going to do it at $50 each !

If the prices don't come down this will ruin the collecting hobby as we know it.

DMasci

@ArmourPhil said:
I have a stack of cards that are worth less than $5 that need grading to fill holes in my sets , but I'm sure not going to do it at $50 each !

If the prices don't come down this will ruin the collecting hobby as we know it.

I tend to agree with this statement, I too have several raw cards I purchased because of the silly asking prices for graded. I've noticed more cards with their recent price being lower than their average and at the same time there is an increase in the population for lower grades.....

JoeBanzai

@ArmourPhil said:
Maybe even more important is the question will PSA grading prices come down after they catch up. With cards that used to cost $10 to grade costing $50 before they went on hiatis, collectors can no longer fill holes in their collection. I have a stack of cards that are worth less than $5 that need grading to fill holes in my sets , but I'm sure not going to do it at $50 each !

If the prices don't come down this will ruin the collecting hobby as we know it.

I see what you are saying, but "ruin the hobby" no, it won't be ruined.

Collectors have created a demand for grading services. Much smarter for PSA to grade less cards for more money per card, while at the same time knowing people like you and me have piles of cards waiting to be sent in if/when pricing drops or (more likely) a special is offered.

There will be a huge shift in the hobby in that commons aren't going to be submitted at all, unless they are vintage and mint.

Some people will continue to send in cards of their favorite players or a card for a registry set.

I am guessing this will end anyone trying to build a graded modern regular set of cards, many others will just move away from graded cards except for "key" cards or high dollar cards.

The wealthy people win again..................as usual.

The capitalist system works.

bobsbbcards

PSA will eventually offer specials for vintage cards (pre-1980) at $10 a pop to keep the registry alive. If someone is working on a 1956 set and wants to grade commons that will garner a PSA 6 or better, they'll certainly send them in at the $10 price. Someone working on a 1978 set might hesitate sending in anything less than a 9, but that was the reality before the price hike. For ultra modern, it's going to be GOATS, potential GOATS, HOF rookies, and 10's (i.e., speculative), so PSA should keep those prices as high as possible.

JoeBanzai

@bobsbbcards said:
PSA will eventually offer specials for vintage cards (pre-1980) at $10 a pop to keep the registry alive. If someone is working on a 1956 set and wants to grade commons that will garner a PSA 6 or better, they'll certainly send them in at the $10 price. Someone working on a 1978 set might hesitate sending in anything less than a 9, but that was the reality before the price hike. For ultra modern, it's going to be GOATS, potential GOATS, HOF rookies, and 10's (i.e., speculative), so PSA should keep those prices as high as possible.

I like your way of thinking, but I'll bet the bottom will be $20.00 an item at best. I can't see any business leaving that kind of revenue on the table.

I think the registry has kind of run it's course. Guys like me with a couple of cards "needed" every year will always be there, but who's going to start to collect modern players with 2,000 cards in their Master set? The same goes for anyone trying to complete a modern set in all graded cards. Even at $10.00 a card it's going to cost $8,000.00 in submission fees alone to complete.

I think it's going to be new rookie cards and a few HOF guys that have high dollar cards and some "gamblers" looking for 10's.

As a business, as long as they have a good workload, why would they even care about a group of people that want lower prices?

_I'm hoping that there is a significant drop in submissions in July if/when the service levels "open up".
_
What I am afraid of is the guys who have been itching to get their cards graded send them all in at once, flooding PSA with orders. If this happens, don't hold your breath on any good specials, if they get "buried" again, why would they want or need to grade anything at a bargain price?

1959

I do not see PSA re-opening on July 1st. Mabe the 15th at 50.00 a card for certain cards. They are still millions behind. Since they do not charge until cards are graded, they can control exactly has mush income they need or want day to day and week to week.

JoeBanzai

@1959 said:
I do not see PSA re-opening on July 1st. Mabe the 15th at 50.00 a card for certain cards. They are still millions behind. Since they do not charge until cards are graded, they can control exactly has mush income they need or want day to day and week to week.

I'm thinking that $50.00 per card could be the new lowest price for grading. I am not sure we are going to see that this year.

I hope I am wrong.

blurryface

i think $35 ($40 ultra) will be the new floor, a year from now w/ $25 quarterly and registry specials peppered throughout.

JoeBanzai

@blurryface said:
i think $35 ($40 ultra) will be the new floor, a year from now w/ $25 quarterly and registry specials peppered throughout.

Maybe. I would love to see a special at $25.00 per card!

Mickey71

I think it will be interesting. At $35 a card, basically no one will submit any vintage commons at all. PSA's absolute rise to the top was because of the registry. If they completely disregard it.....I'm not sure what is going to happen. I just know tons of vintage commons are not being submitted by me at $35 a pop. I'm also going to take a guess and say that PSA will NOT open an East coast office for card grading.

JoeBanzai

@Mickey71 said:
I think it will be interesting. At $35 a card, basically no one will submit any vintage commons at all. PSA's absolute rise to the top was because of the registry. If they completely disregard it.....I'm not sure what is going to happen. I just know tons of vintage commons are not being submitted by me at $35 a pop. I'm also going to take a guess and say that PSA will NOT open an East coast office for card grading.

Ridiculous to say their "absolute rise to the top was because of the registry".

They "rose to the top" because they were the best of what was out there, slightly tougher on grades, creating a perception that their cards were worth more in the same grade as the competitions.

The registry certainly helped, but if you look at it, you will se that many of the sets have only one or two guys fighting it out for the top spot.

I think that people who have decided to treat cards (PSA 10's) as investments has driven their rise to the top.

Whatever the reason, NO BUSINESS is going to take a "pay cut" if demand is high, until demand for grading lessens, prices will be high.

PSA is a brilliant and lucky company. They know that if/when it slows down and they want to get more cards in the door. Thousands of people are waiting to submit.

Mickey71

@JoeBanzai said:

@Mickey71 said:
I think it will be interesting. At $35 a card, basically no one will submit any vintage commons at all. PSA's absolute rise to the top was because of the registry. If they completely disregard it.....I'm not sure what is going to happen. I just know tons of vintage commons are not being submitted by me at $35 a pop. I'm also going to take a guess and say that PSA will NOT open an East coast office for card grading.

Ridiculous to say their "absolute rise to the top was because of the registry".

They "rose to the top" because they were the best of what was out there, slightly tougher on grades, creating a perception that their cards were worth more in the same grade as the competitions.

The registry certainly helped, but if you look at it, you will se that many of the sets have only one or two guys fighting it out for the top spot.

I think that people who have decided to treat cards (PSA 10's) as investments has driven their rise to the top.

Whatever the reason, NO BUSINESS is going to take a "pay cut" if demand is high, until demand for grading lessens, prices will be high.

PSA is a brilliant and lucky company. They know that if/when it slows down and they want to get more cards in the door. Thousands of people are waiting to submit.

Fair enough. Not wanting to argue. What you said was accurate. What I probably meant about "Rise to the TOP" was probably this- The Registry took the leading company at what they do and made them dominate. They became the total game in town with that registry along with solid grading. PSA has always been my preferred grader. I wonder how many cards are in REGISTRY sets to show the importance of it ? I'm also not saying any business should take pay cuts. I think they will adjust as time goes on. Should be an interesting next few years with all of this.

JoeBanzai

@Mickey71 said:

@JoeBanzai said:

@Mickey71 said:
I think it will be interesting. At $35 a card, basically no one will submit any vintage commons at all. PSA's absolute rise to the top was because of the registry. If they completely disregard it.....I'm not sure what is going to happen. I just know tons of vintage commons are not being submitted by me at $35 a pop. I'm also going to take a guess and say that PSA will NOT open an East coast office for card grading.

Ridiculous to say their "absolute rise to the top was because of the registry".

They "rose to the top" because they were the best of what was out there, slightly tougher on grades, creating a perception that their cards were worth more in the same grade as the competitions.

The registry certainly helped, but if you look at it, you will se that many of the sets have only one or two guys fighting it out for the top spot.

I think that people who have decided to treat cards (PSA 10's) as investments has driven their rise to the top.

Whatever the reason, NO BUSINESS is going to take a "pay cut" if demand is high, until demand for grading lessens, prices will be high.

PSA is a brilliant and lucky company. They know that if/when it slows down and they want to get more cards in the door. Thousands of people are waiting to submit.

Fair enough. Not wanting to argue. What you said was accurate. What I probably meant about "Rise to the TOP" was probably this- The Registry took the leading company at what they do and made them dominate. They became the total game in town with that registry along with solid grading. PSA has always been my preferred grader. I wonder how many cards are in REGISTRY sets to show the importance of it ? I'm also not saying any business should take pay cuts. I think they will adjust as time goes on. Should be an interesting next few years with all of this.

I will agree that once you have your personal cards in the registry, you probably not going to switch to another company. The cost would be prohibitive, so yes, the registry kind of locked a lot of people in.

When I decided to use PSA it was simply because their cards garner higher prices in the same grade for what I collect. I didn't become aware of the registry for quite some time.

It would be nice if the people sitting on cards right now would hold off a bit when (if?) PSA opens up grading and drops prices, but if they get swamped with orders after July, prices are going to stay high for at least a year.

We'll see soon enough. I certainly won't be sending any cards in for the foreseeable future.

PaulMaul

I never thought I’d be saying this, but I hope formerly high volume submitters like 4SC go back to having sweetheart deals even if the rest of us don’t. In the last several months graded vintage commons have really dried up. I had gotten very used to 4SC pumping out newly graded vintage commons weekly to cherry pick from. I miss that.

Mickey71

@PaulMaul said:
I never thought I’d be saying this, but I hope formerly high volume submitters like 4SC go back to having sweetheart deals even if the rest of us don’t. In the last several months graded vintage commons have really dried up. I had gotten very used to 4SC pumping out newly graded vintage commons weekly to cherry pick from. I miss that.

They should've never had sweetheart deals. It never made any sense. Tons of customers and they had the mother of all deals and also seemed to get a more than fair shake on the grades. I believe all of these deals ended up adding to where they are now.

JoeBanzai

@Mickey71 said:

@PaulMaul said:
I never thought I’d be saying this, but I hope formerly high volume submitters like 4SC go back to having sweetheart deals even if the rest of us don’t. In the last several months graded vintage commons have really dried up. I had gotten very used to 4SC pumping out newly graded vintage commons weekly to cherry pick from. I miss that.

They should've never had sweetheart deals. It never made any sense. Tons of customers and they had the mother of all deals and also seemed to get a more than fair shake on the grades. I believe all of these deals ended up adding to where they are now.

"Sweetheart" deals are a part of business. If you ran a company and I came in and guaranteed you a nice steady stream of work, you would reciprocate.

Businesses like a steady revenue stream.

The price drop has happened, hopefully very few people will be taking advantage of the "savings".

DMasci

The price drop has happened, hopefully very few people will be taking advantage of the "savings".

I agree, the prices are in fact dropping but many sellers haven't figured that out yet It's funny to see multiples of the exact card with the exact grade being offered for sale at drastically different prices.

Mickey71

@JoeBanzai said:

@Mickey71 said:

@PaulMaul said:
I never thought I’d be saying this, but I hope formerly high volume submitters like 4SC go back to having sweetheart deals even if the rest of us don’t. In the last several months graded vintage commons have really dried up. I had gotten very used to 4SC pumping out newly graded vintage commons weekly to cherry pick from. I miss that.

They should've never had sweetheart deals. It never made any sense. Tons of customers and they had the mother of all deals and also seemed to get a more than fair shake on the grades. I believe all of these deals ended up adding to where they are now.

"Sweetheart" deals are a part of business. If you ran a company and I came in and guaranteed you a nice steady stream of work, you would reciprocate.

Businesses like a steady revenue stream.

The price drop has happened, hopefully very few people will be taking advantage of the "savings".

Regular customers were giving them steady revenue....even backing them up. Didn't need sweetheart deals when you have tons of customers.

JoeBanzai

@Mickey71 said:

@JoeBanzai said:

@Mickey71 said:

@PaulMaul said:
I never thought I’d be saying this, but I hope formerly high volume submitters like 4SC go back to having sweetheart deals even if the rest of us don’t. In the last several months graded vintage commons have really dried up. I had gotten very used to 4SC pumping out newly graded vintage commons weekly to cherry pick from. I miss that.

They should've never had sweetheart deals. It never made any sense. Tons of customers and they had the mother of all deals and also seemed to get a more than fair shake on the grades. I believe all of these deals ended up adding to where they are now.

"Sweetheart" deals are a part of business. If you ran a company and I came in and guaranteed you a nice steady stream of work, you would reciprocate.

Businesses like a steady revenue stream.

The price drop has happened, hopefully very few people will be taking advantage of the "savings".

Regular customers were giving them steady revenue....even backing them up. Didn't need sweetheart deals when you have tons of customers.

Businesses don't think that way. They like guaranteed orders. Simple fact of life, sucks for the little guy...............as usual.

I'm bummed about the prices right now and might never submit again unless there's a "special".

Most of the stuff I want to send in isn't for resale and low dollar items for my registry set. I am not going to spend that kind of money trying to compete.

I was able to enjoy collecting before grading, I can enjoy it without spending hundreds of dollars per item to get them holdered.

Hopefully people will hold off submitting for a while and more service levels will open up.