SGC Is No Longer Looking Over Their Shoulders

Bingo33

The chase is in front of them. SGC has sunk to new depths. This morning while doing my normal ebay searches, I noticed that GAI had for the first time more cards posted on Ebay. SGC appears to be heading to the bottom of this race. It will be interesting to see how GAI and SGC divide the small market share that they seem destined to. I think that the market share they will fight it out for is less than 10%.

goodriddance189

search on ebay for "SGC"- 1021
search on ebay for "GAI"- 971 (actually less if you take out the 73 for "GAI Pack" search, which puts the total at 898. you can't include these since SGC does not offer this service)

Bingo33

I only checked for items that are vintage, pre 1980. And true, my observations did not exclude packs and did not include any cards from the 1800's or the 1920's. Just my usual ebay vintage searches.


Both come in at less than a 500 hits.

I can tell you that a year ago the same searches would find anywhere between 2:1 to 3:1 ratio of SGC listing as compared to GAI.

goodriddance189

oh i didnt know you were only taking in to account vintage. that's strange, since i figured a large part of GAI's listings would be modern crap.

koby

BY way of comparison, there are 5716 listings with BVG or BGS in the title.

PSA is still the runaway leader with 21795 items .

koby

If we only looked at ebay, here is the marketshare controlled by each of the four reputable graders:

PSA 21795
73.8%

BGS 5716
19.6%

GAI 971
3.2%

SGC 1021
3.4%


Obviously no one doubts that PSA is the leader in this industry.

It appears that Beckett has been doing pretty well also considering the length of time it has been grading cards.

I believe the small marketshare that GAI has been able to pick up has all been at the expense of SGC.

SGC has been around for six years but it has never caught on with collectors. Some may argue that SGC caters to low-grade vintage collectors and the small percentage that have axe to grind with the dominant grading companies. For whatever reason, SGC has just never been popular with the vast majority of collectors.

Why do you think a company like Beckett is succeeding while a company like SGC is floundering? It could be that colelctors have never been comfortable with the stigma associated with the origin of the company. Perhaps it is because SGC card sell for so much less than cards graded by other companies. In any event, I hope that SGC does not disappear forever because I think their product is not bad.

srs1a

I think to understand Beckett's real market position you need to look at the data more closely. The last time that I looked, they were monsters in the modern market...but, little to no presence in vintage (meaning significantly smaller than either GAI or SGC). I don't think this is suprising.

67standup

Numerology is a great thing. Obviously, PSA has total market share, but if you break it down into vintage, modern crap (as others have mentioned), even by sport, then PSA's share is less dominant, although still the leader in each individual category. Most industries can't withstand more than three big players, so it will probably be two big hitters (like Coke & Pepsi) and a few niche players. I see SGC as a pre-WWII niche leader - at the least a good competitor to PSA - and Beckett concentrating on modern (um') collectibles.

Hold back on your tomato throwing, but SGC is simply a tougher grader on certain issues like pre-77 OPC baseball and Venezuelans ( I know this is primarily a Topps crowd so who really cares.) I would extend this generalization to pre-WWII as well.

aro13

If you look outside of ebay you will see that both GAI and SGC have made significant strides in pre 1930 cards. Many of the major auctions feature cards in these holders more so than PSA. Many of the big auctions are beginning to carry more and more GAI star cards from 1930 to 1980 but PSA still tends to have far more graded cards from auctions in this time period.

Snowball

<< <i>SGC has been around for six years but it has never caught on with collectors. Some may argue that SGC caters to low-grade vintage collectors and the small percentage that have axe to grind with the dominant grading companies. For whatever reason, SGC has just never been popular with the vast majority of collectors. >>





I don't like their numerical grading. Confusing to me. SGC should've group the NmMt's all in the 8's (NmMt+ is 92), NrMt's in all the 7's similar to PSA and BGS. Also probably less PR.

Beckett has their own magazine and can advertise their grading.

GAI didn't stay away (from the grading pattern) with PSA aand BGS and plus most staff used to be from PSA.

CON40

All I can say is that 3 years ago, I gave SGC a fair shake and plunked down $300 for a beauty SGC 88 71 Topps Nolan Ryan... when I started on the PSA Set Registry, I cracked it out and submitted it to PSA... the result? Came back as recolored!!

Sure enough, on the left side was a small spot that had been recolored! Knowing that got by SGC, I figured they had a bunch of Magoos doing the grading and I stopped pursuing their slabs... anyone else have this experience with SGC (or BGS or GAI)? PSA just seems to be the most consistently astute in their grades (though I did once see a PSA 8 1970 Ernie Banks with a pin hole in it!)...

Keith

Vargha

Every grader will make an occasional mistake for any company. They are only human, afterall.

packCollector

If you look outside of ebay you will see that both GAI and SGC have made significant strides in pre 1930 cards. Many of the major auctions feature cards in these holders more so than PSA. Many of the big auctions are beginning to carry more and more GAI star cards from 1930 to 1980 but PSA still tends to have far more graded cards from auctions in this time period.

but how many cards are there pre 1930? that is a tough market to stake a business on?

I understand gai was giving free grades to the major dealers in order to get there name out there. this may of may not be true but would have a lot to do with their presence in catalogs. I have bought a few gai cards and have been very happy with the grading as they are conservative but fair and accurate in my opinion. I send all my cards to be graded to psa as they are obviously the leader in the 1950-1980 area and are consistant for the most part.

Cubfan

One thing you would have to subtract would be the PSA spammers however. You know, the old "1934 Ruth + PSA 8".

gemint

<< <i>
anyone else have this experience with SGC (or BGS or GAI)? PSA just seems to be the most consistently astute in their grades (though I did once see a PSA 8 1970 Ernie Banks with a pin hole in it!)... >>



I think PSA, SGC, BGS and GAI are all solid options. You will find examples of problematic cards in any holder. Keep in mind that cards you find on the secondary market are more likely to be misgrades compared to the overall population. The reason is a collector will likely keep a mid to high grade card in their collection than they would a slider. The result is the sliders are more likely to hit the market more frequently than the solid or high end examples.

highend

i would never consider sending my card to anyone but PSA for grading. i have bought a handful of 71 topps bb in SGC holders and for the most part they always graded lower with PSA.
i was really suprised to see that breakdown, i thought GLOBAL would have had a better market share especially since they were in a way spawned by PSA.
the BECKETT is holder IMO is the best out there for security and protection. i was appalled by a recent thread , some poor guy had some very rare turn of the century cuban bb cards slip from the matting in the GLOBAL holder and if i'm not mistaking there was some kind of customer service issue as well. does anyone know how he made out?