is it safe to assume our old definitions of service levels are a thing of the past?

beachbumcollecting

I noticed that services are no longer "suspended" on the pricing page. They have all been removed. I am guessing this means that Economy , Value , Regular monikers are probably a thing of the past. Probably a waste of a topic as we are probably still a long ways away from any other service levels opening. I am sure it all depends on how many people keep subbing at the $200 rate as opposed to how much of the backlog gets cleared but who's counting

Jayman1982

The old levels will be rolled out as the backlog clears, just have to be patient. As to their new price points, that's anybody's guess

beachbumcollecting

@Jayman1982 said:
The old levels will be rolled out as the backlog clears, just have to be patient. As to their new price points, that's anybody's guess

I understand that , I guess my point was until a few days ago the old levels were on the PSA website. They have since been removed which leads me to believe whatever is rolled out is not going to look like what we are accustomed to but it is probably a moot point since we most likely won't see anything this year and possibly through the first 1/2 of next year.

only way we see any services is if people start balking at the 200 price point and the new orders slow which doesn't seem likely barring a real world war. there could still be a gojillion card backup but they need to keep the big money returns coming in

Jayman1982

@beachbumcollecting said:

@Jayman1982 said:
The old levels will be rolled out as the backlog clears, just have to be patient. As to their new price points, that's anybody's guess

I understand that , I guess my point was until a few days ago the old levels were on the PSA website. They have since been removed which leads me to believe whatever is rolled out is not going to look like what we are accustomed to but it is probably a moot point since we most likely won't see anything this year and possibly through the first 1/2 of next year.

only way we see any services is if people start balking at the 200 price point and the new orders slow which doesn't seem likely barring a real world war. there could still be a gojillion card backup but they need to keep the big money returns coming in

I think its more like they don't want us staring at suspended levels anymore because likely the lower tiers are going to be suspended for quite a while longer, ie into 2022. Having the words "suspended" plastered across everything for months and months is not an attractive message for a company trying to sell their services, I get why they removed it and only show what is available.

I wouldn't worry too much about not seeing the same structure, at some point their tiers and pricing will catch up with 1) the clearing of the back log and 2) the inevitable pullback in current valuations for un-numbered ultra modern cards. There's no way we don't see lower service levels coming back in the future.

gemint

@beachbumcollecting said:

@Jayman1982 said:

only way we see any services is if people start balking at the 200 price point and the new orders slow which doesn't seem likely barring a real world war. there could still be a gojillion card backup but they need to keep the big money returns coming in

I think sooner or later the dumb money will flush out. These are newbies who are submitting their $5 cards like EX-MT 1989 Donruss Griffey Jr rookies at the $300 level thinking grading out those investment cards they’ve held for 30 years will make them rich. When that happens and they get closer to March completed through dates, the other service levels will return.

MarshallFaulk28

I wonder what kind of demand will be built up by the time they re-open any of the value services. I have to think collectors are stock piling tons of cards that they want to send, and then when things open finally, PSA is going to break their local post office again.

Jayman1982

@MarshallFaulk28 said:
I wonder what kind of demand will be built up by the time they re-open any of the value services. I have to think collectors are stock piling tons of cards that they want to send, and then when things open finally, PSA is going to break their local post office again.

You can bet that thought is first and foremost in their minds when the topic of reopening comes up.

How much of your current planned Value level card submissions would you sub at $50 vs the last $20/$25? I can tell you it slashes my pile by about 75% or so.

Do we think it's possible they put a cap on submissions by account? Or maybe cap total received submissions overall and have revolving suspensions for certain levels as they become filled?

1951WheatiesPremium

Yes, that’s a good assumption.

Specials will be offered at lower prices occasionally and capped.

But with the reverse tiered opening, there will be new, higher price points for less service.

It’s not just PSA; look around.

Every company on planet Earth is doing the same thing.

beachbumcollecting

@Jayman1982 said:

@MarshallFaulk28 said:
I wonder what kind of demand will be built up by the time they re-open any of the value services. I have to think collectors are stock piling tons of cards that they want to send, and then when things open finally, PSA is going to break their local post office again.

You can bet that thought is first and foremost in their minds when the topic of reopening comes up.

How much of your current planned Value level card submissions would you sub at $50 vs the last $20/$25? I can tell you it slashes my pile by about 75% or so.

Do we think it's possible they put a cap on submissions by account? Or maybe cap total received submissions overall and have revolving suspensions for certain levels as they become filled?

It all depends on what they do with ultra modern and if there are any breadcrumbs left for the collectors of other things. Personally I don't think there are large piles of cards from the 50's, 60's and 70's or 80's waiting to be subbed at $20 or $25 , nevermind $50. so $50 is where things are going PSA will only be serving the modern master.

Jayman1982

@beachbumcollecting said:

@Jayman1982 said:

@MarshallFaulk28 said:
I wonder what kind of demand will be built up by the time they re-open any of the value services. I have to think collectors are stock piling tons of cards that they want to send, and then when things open finally, PSA is going to break their local post office again.

You can bet that thought is first and foremost in their minds when the topic of reopening comes up.

How much of your current planned Value level card submissions would you sub at $50 vs the last $20/$25? I can tell you it slashes my pile by about 75% or so.

Do we think it's possible they put a cap on submissions by account? Or maybe cap total received submissions overall and have revolving suspensions for certain levels as they become filled?

It all depends on what they do with ultra modern and if there are any breadcrumbs left for the collectors of other things. Personally I don't think there are large piles of cards from the 50's, 60's and 70's or 80's waiting to be subbed at $20 or $25 , nevermind $50. so $50 is where things are going PSA will only be serving the modern master.

Not my modern hockey...maybe those fancy dancy bball parallels

Ahmanfan

@beachbumcollecting said:

@Jayman1982 said:

@MarshallFaulk28 said:
I wonder what kind of demand will be built up by the time they re-open any of the value services. I have to think collectors are stock piling tons of cards that they want to send, and then when things open finally, PSA is going to break their local post office again.

You can bet that thought is first and foremost in their minds when the topic of reopening comes up.

How much of your current planned Value level card submissions would you sub at $50 vs the last $20/$25? I can tell you it slashes my pile by about 75% or so.

Do we think it's possible they put a cap on submissions by account? Or maybe cap total received submissions overall and have revolving suspensions for certain levels as they become filled?

It all depends on what they do with ultra modern and if there are any breadcrumbs left for the collectors of other things. Personally I don't think there are large piles of cards from the 50's, 60's and 70's or 80's waiting to be subbed at $20 or $25 , nevermind $50. so $50 is where things are going PSA will only be serving the modern master.

I bet it’s over 50% modern basketball waiting in the wings.

MarshallFaulk28

@Jayman1982 said:

@MarshallFaulk28 said:
I wonder what kind of demand will be built up by the time they re-open any of the value services. I have to think collectors are stock piling tons of cards that they want to send, and then when things open finally, PSA is going to break their local post office again.

You can bet that thought is first and foremost in their minds when the topic of reopening comes up.

How much of your current planned Value level card submissions would you sub at $50 vs the last $20/$25? I can tell you it slashes my pile by about 75% or so.

Do we think it's possible they put a cap on submissions by account? Or maybe cap total received submissions overall and have revolving suspensions for certain levels as they become filled?

Yep, same. I have a very small list I would submit at $50. It’s much higher if we’re talking $20/$25. I have tons of cards I want to send in, but I’ll wait for it to be economical.

I would totally support capping submissions. I’m not sure what the people doing group submissions would think of that though.

So far, I’d say PSA has not done a great job of managing supply and demand, so I’m not too confident they’ll get it right on the first crack after re-opening.

beachbumcollecting

So far, I’d say PSA has not done a great job of managing supply and demand, so I’m not too confident they’ll get it right on the first crack after re-opening.

once they finally do they should have much more capacity than they did when the "tsunami" of submissions caused the backlog.

hopefully they can get the graders on the same page by that point as well. even if prices were cheaper , there is not a lot of incentive to sub at the moment anyway with the massive inconsistency in grades from grader to grader which are heavily skewed to the downside for submitters

jradke4

@MarshallFaulk28 said:
I wonder what kind of demand will be built up by the time they re-open any of the value services. I have to think collectors are stock piling tons of cards that they want to send, and then when things open finally, PSA is going to break their local post office again.

then there are the other collectors who have found they have some more cash for either more cards or other things in life and may not go back to the level of submissions that they once did...I am leaning in that direction myself. more than likely gone are the days that I submit over 1000 cards a year for my own personal collection.

yankeeno7

I know the collectors are going to hate me saying this but it is reality of any hobby - there are those who try to make hobbies into business. Some very big, some small. But with the current state of grading, it must be extremely difficult for anyone who is in business to stay in business. A lot of submissions are done by resellers. Once they have sold down their graded inventory, it must be extremely difficult to build it back up if you can not submit at a reasonable price and get your goods returned to you in a reasonable time. I'm sure there are opinions that some feel it is a good thing, some opinion think it's a bad thing. I know many also do not like the people who submit cheap cards or what they consider "junk". As for me, I am in the category that the more slabbed cards in the hobby, the better. There are collectors for all of those items. Is it their fault that they create delays for what other collectors feel are their own "precious" cards that deserve to be slabbed? No. The companies need to have better planning, better hiring practices, better training programs, etc to keep it all running smoothly as they are the ones offering the service.

If anything, these delays have not only chased those who made their hobby a business, but it has also chased away collectors as well. Seems like the hobby has become mostly for those with disposable income. It used to be affordable for most but not anymore. Chasing away those who did it for business means less options for collectors. I do not see that as a good thing, even if they were just "flippers".