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SGC raises rate
judgebuck
Posts: 1,058 ✭✭✭
As of yesterday, SGC has raised their lowest rate to $50 per card.
Always looking for Mantle cards such as Stahl Meyer, 1954 Dan Dee, 1959 Bazooka, 1960 Post, 1952 Star Cal Decal, 1952 Tip Top Bread Labels, 1953-54 Briggs Meat, and other Topps, Bowman, and oddball Mantles.
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YIKES HUUUUGGEEE increase. More than 3X... Normally when the government talks inflation it is between 10-15%.. Grocery store prices increase of 25% is pretty hefty increase but 300% is WILD. Maybe there will be future specials at $25 or so...
I guess i dont blame the grading companies (CU) for raising prices. the demand at this point seems nearly unlimited. good grief, they sold out at the national for the huge prices they were charging there.
I heard on a podcast months ago that the grading companies should start using a dynamic pricing structure similar to what hotels use during peak tourist months to help with the backlogs. when the log gets crazy, like now, the prices should go WAY up to stem demand. then when the log gets manageable, lower prices to increase subs.
seems like it would work, or at least help, but what do i know!
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
A 660 raw card set now will cost $33000 minimum to grade.
Now you are hoping for $25 "Specials" - the 660 set would still cost $16500 minimum to grade.
$25 is no "Special", not even close, it is a steel-toed boot kick to the 'nads.
A huge sarcastic thanks to CU for purchasing then destroying SGC.
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
@craig44 it depends on whether the demand is a spike or a level-shift, right?
Thanks CU...you've destroyed a good company that not long ago featured $15 fees and a 2-3 week turnaround. I'm done.
It does seem like the perfect storm of supply/demand and having a monopoly of controlling about 80-90% of the entire grading market.
Now is the time for other grading companies to take their bites.
MBA, you listening?!?!
The hotel comparison was good one because peak season is every minute of every day. 😂
Damn, that sucks!
I got an email that PSA would be in Chantilly, VA on 9/4 & 9/5 at Blowout cards and 10/16 at the Chantilly show. With Value submissions on hold I just can't afford regular pricing of $79.99.
Successful card BST transactions with cbcnow, brogurt, gstarling, Bravesfan 007, and rajah 424.
I am just surprised that people were surprised.
CU is not going to continue to undercut its breadwinner PSA with its new acquisitions, SGC and Beckett. CU is attempting to adjust the rates of grading so that the consumer becomes accustomed to them. This is all under the premise that they cant handle all the business, "so it's all we can do".
Of course, most businesses would simply add more staff to handle the workload, but greed begets greed.
While I like the idea of new or alternative grading companies emerging, it just seems that the BARRIERS to entry might be too high (i.e capital, resources, skilled workforce etc.) The current grading industry is pretty much matured now with a handful established players and breaking into their market can be EXTREMELY difficult if not impossible. Can you imagine starting a new petro automobile company to compete against Ford, Honda, Toyota, BMW, Mercedes, GM, Hyndai etc... Likely impossible. Thoughts?
Lots of independent grading companies. Some even grading for as low as $5.
I've compiled of list of over 270 grading companies and growing.
Some out of business, some not very legit, but still.
I currently have over 70 different companies and varieties of graded slabs.
If the masses ever get over the 'PSA or nothing' mentality, some of these independents may have a shot.
For example Golden Grading (not Goldin) grades and slabs cards for $5.
Also MPE grades and slabs for $5.
Using them can sometimes make sense.
If you're just wanting it for your PC, then yeah.
But also if you want quick turnaround for modern cards of hot rookies that might become cold overnight.
Or that tough sell $5 base Shohei, grade it for $5, get a 10, and now it sells for $20+
I mean who cares if your Wander Franco is in a PSA 10 or a Golden 10.
It can work for vintage too. A 55T Don Zimmer raw typically sells for $20-30 in VG-EX.
This MPE 5 sold for $50. Pretty good ROI in this case.
Nice card. I did not realize Zimmer played SS. I just saw this about Zimmer on Wiki
" During a minor league game on July 7, 1953, Zimmer was struck in the head by a pitch from Jim Kirk and lost consciousness, and developed blood clots on his brain that required two operations.[6][7][8] He woke up two weeks later, thinking that it was the day after the game where the incident took place. This eventually led to Major League Baseball adopting mandatory batting helmets as a safety measure to be used by players when at-bat."
Will the smaller companies follow PSA and SGC's lead and double their prices?
I guess I am just kicking myself for not submitting more to SGC when the price was lower. Doh
Successful card BST transactions with cbcnow, brogurt, gstarling, Bravesfan 007, and rajah 424.
You mean like Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, ...?
I'm sure they were all told the same thing. Grading cards should be a bit less complicated when it comes to government oversight too.
No more sending in to them.
$$ matters, to me.
CGC it is
This all day. SGC used to be my favorite grading company to send vintage cards because of the Great customer service and fast turnaround. Well that is no longer the case, so I am done with SGC. No way I am paying $50 fees especially for slow service. I am now looking at CGC and other off name grading companies mentioned above.
2025 SEC bowl record 4-10
SEC bowl record vs BIG TEN last two years 2-8
Same here. I submitted a small order to CGC back in May to give them a try. Should have them back later this month. Yes, still a long wait, but at $18 a card for my PC, I am ok with that.
I was expecting an SGC price increase (maybe 20 or $25), but $50 was a bit of a shock. I still have a 21-card order with SGC (submitted in July). It will be my last.
I just went to a card show recently in Flint Michigan at their Dort Federal building and a lot of nice vintage cards, mostly SGC graded. (about 80 to 85%).
Let's hope SGC turns things around by Christmas.
Ive heard they only have 4 graders left and CU will cut that low number down
SGC was my favorite its unbelievably sad what CU has done to Them
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
Makes perfect sense. The Dollar General of grading companies is now virtually a vintage/pre-war boutique just as previously planned.
I’m not sure we need more grading companies. I’d like see, and in some cases this is happening today, think GMC, a migration back to collecting u graded cards. Thats what I’ve been doing since Covid - buying undergraded slabs and quality raw cards. Next step is sending out for autos. Having as much fun as ever and my collection is at peak. And if grading ever returns to a more sane state, I’ll submit, but otherwise who cares? I just want to chase nice cards and how PSA runs their business has zero impact on that.
I can't believe that I paid $15 a card fairly recently and now it $50. I have so many cards to grade still, but nobody to grade them.
Do I understand this right? My cards in SGC holders are now worth $35 more each overnight?!
My portfolio is up!
Let's hope not. Not a real good business model to just close them down. Awful lot of big cards in those holders. PLus they are grading around 4 -5 million cards per year. But one less competitor too, I guess.
Hmmm riddle me this: WHY would PSA shut them down ... They paid good money for the company and NOW the PROFITS that SGC makes go into PSA's pockets. NO?
Are you the Riddler?
Lots of sellers believe that.
I make a fair offer on a cheaper graded card and their response is "No way. Grading is $XX alone"
If you want me to be
Well, PSA just shutdown CBCS who was a bigger player in Comics grading than SGC is/was with Trading Card grading
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
That's because CBCS was a small revenue stream that was decaying and unprofitbale PART of the much larger BECKETT corporation acquisition (it was going out of business regardless if PSA purchased them or not). SGC was a pure niche play in the card grading space. CAPISH?
CBCS was niche as well. They were for collectors not flippers. Do you have any data to back up your claim of allegedly being unprofitable as on comic forums, including CGC's the exact opposite is mentioned.
Now PSA has sealed CGC's monopoly for grading comics. CATFISH?
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
As PSA launched comics and magazine grading so I would expect that CBCS being shuttered is more of a redundancy issue and they think they can capture the volume with better margins. It’s fair to say those people would go to CGC vs PSA but I wouldn’t read into it.
I’m hungry for Catfish now.
It's obvious you wouldn't shutdown a business segment if it were profitable now would you? Comic grading was NOT BECKETT'S forte but MEDIA is BECKETT's strength... Does anybody really know ANYTHING? Truth matters? I can tell you RIGHT NOW that he who tells the best story wins the greatest prize... Now tell me a story about some crazy sportscard forum poster who thinks he is always right
... enjoy your evening!!
It makes no sense to keep allowing SGC to undercut PSA. By allowing SGC to offer rates at a fraction of PSA's costs while also getting people's cards back quickly, it ends up hurting PSA. This is why they bought SGC in the first place. You eliminate competitors who deliver quicker and cheaper.
When CU bought SGC, there was only one way it would end up, which is exactly how it played out.
@ArtVandelay Right exactly PSA is trying to maximize SGC profits - Not shut it down.
I think its more like this.
SGC and BGS offered rates below PSA with much quicker return rates. At the same time, PSA wanted to increase their rates. So what do they do?
They buy their competition SGC and BGS. Increase the cost of PSA, using some bogus nonsense excuse to justify it. This starts the process of getting people used to spending more money to grade their cards. They then raise the rates of SGC and BGS and slow down the return rate.
The next step is to keep BGS and SGC where they are and bring PSA prices down below the other two (but still more than they were prior to the increase), making PSA now the most affordable option. This will now forces all those that used SGC and BGS to go with PSA.
Basically, it allows PSA to increase their prices while appearing to lower them and to bring everyone over to PSA that previously used SGC and BGS. Then we will see SGC and BGS disappear.
CU has no interest in marketing all three companies. This has been their goal the entire time.
Clever. They'd create a comfy scenario inviting people in to enjoy a slow, miserable experience waiting for them to lift a finger to their orders. Sounds perfect.
A bit complicated and likely would take a few years which they risk the collector going elsewhere. Prolly easier to keep all three segmented into what they do best and serve the collector/consumer that way (keep the collector happy and not alienate them). In this way they can easily make good profits via a win win for company and collector. HANG ON
Yep that's a very fair self-evaluation, but I've no stories 'bouts you
... enjoy your evening!!
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
I know life's not fair sometimes but I deserve a story too
Imma sure if you fork $100 over to MBA, Brent will crookedly place a sticker on your forehead thus giving you a story.
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
Sold! Just keep it off my Wave...
They destroyed the Registry which many said would happen several years ago. They will NEVER drop their prices, why should they? There are plenty of dummies out there that will pay any price
Are you the Riddler? > @Harnessracing said:
Yeah I agree. I think the $60 they just put out may be it. I don't think SGC can live with the $50 for the next year though. I could see $20 or $18 by the first of the year. They got in 20,000 orders in August. 25 per order (guess) that would be 500,000 cards in one month. they only grade 45,000 per month.
I for one have now gone from ~150 submission a year to ZERO and CU could not care less!
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
All these price increases have saved me $ by discouraging grading. And I thank them for it. Savings can be put to better use.
More than likely in the current state of grading, most likely would wind up with 8's anyway.
'tis a strange business model to discourage inbound business and deliver results that raise the ire in most if the customer base.
I'll say this about MBA; if you pay for a sticker u gets a sticker albeit placed on haphazardly and crookedly
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
I graded the majority of my complete 1978 Topps baseball set using PSA $5 bulk specials back in THE DAY. I swear I got some flak HERE back then for grading that "modern crap". I've been out of submitting singles since then. Yikes, I wouldn't grade at these prices today.
EDIT: PSA shows $79.99 per card. Is that real? JHC.
COPPER is gutter !
that would only be, what, $58,000.00 before shipping to grade a 78 set today? assuming no up charges.
a flat out bargain!!
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.