Why does PSA charge for membership just to have cards graded?

Knlsportsandmore

To me this seems to be a bad marketing decision on their part since many like myself only send in about 10 cards a year to be graded. I have been doing research on GAI and Beckett on Ebay and both companies cards sell for close to what similar PSA cards sell for and neither force you to buy a membership. GAI in fact offers a pregrade service for only 5 bucks then you choose to pay an additional 5 to slab it. PSA's marketing just does not seem to be making any sense to me.

Vincecarder

I don't know about GAI but BGS cards sell for more with Modern issues. You also don't have to pay for the Pop report with Beckett. I submitted the most cards when PSA waived the membership fee's. I wouldn't pay a membership fee ever to grade cards....if I submit with PSA it's through a dealer.

As for a marketing decision, PSA knows there are DIEHARD submitters who live and breathe PSA. They will always come back no matter what they do. I would like the membership fee waived again and the Pop report free for everyone to view. Will it happen? Probably not since there are plenty of people willing to pay for it.

packCollector

knl, you must be talking about modern as psa cards sell for more in vintage. as for the $99 membership, not sure why they went to requiring it but you get 6 free grades which equates to $60 so it really isn't that big a deal. you also get pop reports , smr and the monthly smr magazine. most people were probably already members before they went to the requirement .

Knlsportsandmore

SMR is a joke as far as getting the subscription. I did at one time join the club and got excatly one issue of SMR. I hear it is still the same way. Pretty much every card I looked at from 1975 to present graded by the 3 companies were within a reasonable amount of each other. I did not look int others since I don't deal in those very much.

packCollector

ok you don't like psa so why did you come to these boards to ask a question about psa? every card from 1975, you must not look at many cards. are there actually any beckett cards graded from say 1975-1985? oh yeah, the ones that were cut from sheets that psa won't grade! go away troll!!

1976 no bgs or gai cards found when sorted by price
1978 no bgs or gai cards found when sorted by price
1983 found a couple bgs cards and they sold for 1/2 of the psa counterparts

you will need to login to ebay to use the links


so what auction listings are you looking at. must be modern like I said since that is the only place bgs has some credibility. even that is slipping recently with some of the suggested and proven card enhancements that have upgraded from bgs 9's to bgs 10's

wolfbear

Just guessing here, but the guys that can't come up with the membership fee
are probably the same guys who can't follow directions on how to submit their cards,
and are probably the same guys who want to bother customer service about every grade and turn around time.

PSA kills two birds with one stone with the membership fee :
they weed out the idiots and cheapskates, and they generate revenue for themselves at the same time.

Vincecarder

<< <i>PSA kills two birds with one stone with the membership fee :
they weed out the idiots and cheapskates, and they generate revenue for themselves at the same time. >>



I take offence to that. I'm not an idiot and I am not a cheapskate. I do what it takes to make money and BGS modern issues make more for me. Heck, even the BGS trimmed OPC cards pull in more money than the non trimmed PSA versions. As for being an idiot...why pay for something that I can get for free elsewhere? The pop report should be free plain and simple. The SMR is a guide and you should pay for it but why a pop report? Would that increase bidding and sales from non PSA members who are trying to get into the hobby? I know people love to know how many 10's or 9's exist but can you tell me why a PSA 10 OPC Patrick Roy RC with only 7 PSA 10's get's outsold by a BGS 9.5 OPC Patrick Roy RC that has 22 Gem Mints? Maybe if people could compair the pop reports they could realize that the PSA 10 has more value?

Either way, I don't buy much vintage and getting a membership or paying for a Pop Report (I don't care about SMR's) isn't worth it for me. So it doesn't make collectors like myself cheapskates...just makes them smart for not buying something that another company gives out for free.

Knlsportsandmore

WHOA where the you "know what did" the reason to personally attack me go, I have never said I did not like PSA. I just said the SMR subscription was a joke as I only received one issue and PSA said they would fix it numerous times but I could care less anyway about that it went into a box I have full of old card mags. I would personally rather use PSA, but I won't if they are going to continue to force you to pay for a membership that you should not need. I might would consider a membership if they offered something like a pregrade service for members only. As far as the name calling goes I will not sink to that level.

Here are some 1985 Topps Clemens

1985 Clemens BGS

Clemens PSA


Clemens GAI

The GAI is not closed yet and there are none closed so we will have to see.

packCollector

here is your quote:

"Pretty much every card I looked at from 1975 to present graded by the 3 companies were within a reasonable amount of each other"

I gave you 3 years where every psa card outsold the others . none could be found for the most part, you provide 1 example of 1 card outselling by $10 and that accounts for "pretty much every card"

I think wolfbear is right. I am done with this thread since it is a waste of breath . reply whatever you would like . I am as open minded as anyone about "ALL" the grading companies but plain and simple , unless you are selling modern , psa far outsells the other companies. PSA, SGC and GAI are legit companies . BGS grades trimmed cards so there is always a concern. there is a BGS8.5 rookie on ebay right now and I am afraid of my 3300 bid becasue I don't want to get stuck with a trimmed card. if it was in a psa, gai or sgc holder i would bid 50% more.

ctsoxfan

Wolfbear is pretty much right on the money. I bought the membership anyway, and have renewed it (and will continue to do so). You basically are paying for 6 grades up front, plus getting the SMR and the pop report / online SMR access for the other $30.

$30. That's it. If you don't like it, send your vintage to BGS, and hope for the best. You won't have much company. It is worth repeating that asking this on the PSA board is going to get some strong responses.

Also, I heard some kids the other day talking in the local card shop about grading. A kid pulled an inexpensive Lebron card, and right away wanted to grade it. He was talking about sending this card (one card) to Beckett, so he could make more money selling it. I believe that the membership requirement keeps small submitters like this from clogging up the works, so that the company can better service serious collectors. Sounds harsh, but a lot of people here will agree.

TheRoach

I disagree with the fees kinda myself. I did just join though last week anyway. However, there was a interesting link that showed a pic of a Dwayne Wade Auto/25 that was hand numbered on these boards about 2-3 weeks ago. Anyway, a very known card trimmer bought the card as a PSA 9 from someone on Ebay. A few of the board members followed the whereabouts of this card by keeping an eye out for it on Ebay. About 2 weeks later, the same card, with the same serial number, was in a PSA 10 holder.

After attention was brought to this auction, the seller ended the auction. All I am saying is that if any of you truly believe that PSA may not have graded a card/cards that have been trimmed/altered in any way, then you have another thing coming. I do agree that Beckett may be more notorious for this kind of thing, but PSA also has plenty of trimmed cards in their holders. I am sure of it. Some of these card doctors are pretty damn good from what I hear.



TheRoach

packCollector

ok I lied . I will post with replies to credible posters, i am just not going to reply to the trolls!! roach , I agree with you and I don't think anyone will try to say that psa has never graded a trimmed card. there will be some to slip through. the infamous 74 opc orr psa 9 1/1 is the perfect example. psa does have guidelines and looks for it , same as sgc and gai. beckett on the other hand doesn't care. as long as the card meets the size requirement then it is ok which I think ruins the whole credibility. that is why all the sheet cut opc's go to beckett, cut them to the right size and you have bgs 9.5's that orr rookie looks awesome that is on ebay but I don't want to pay for a card that was oversized and cut down to make it "look" mint. I would rather have the near mint card with some edge wear in a psa 7 holder which is what it might have been.

Stone193

<< <i>PSA kills two birds with one stone >>


I swear, I had nothing to do with killing those birds! I still have all 193 stones - in fact, they are being graded by Gem as we speak.
Mike

67standup

The $99 fee sucks for the collector. However, from a company strategy standpoint, I don't see collectors flocking away because of it. Moreover, there's a usually a quality associated with paying a premium, therefore, another good company move. Other than SGC and GAI all other grading companies fall on deaf ears.

Question: do the six free PSA submissions only apply for new memberships or renewals too?

packCollector

you get the 6 every time

Knlsportsandmore

When did they raise it to 6 free submissions?? It used to be just 4. Well that makes it seem a bit different now. I still like the idea of the pregrade system GAI has set up where you pay only 5.00 to have the cards graded, then once graded you can decide to pay an additional 5 to get them slabbed. This would save alot of money for those borderline cards that you may send in. They send the unslabbed ones back with a sticker saying what they would have scored it. I think PSA would benefit from a system like this I know they would get my vote then.

BigKidAtHeart

<< <i>Just guessing here, but the guys that can't come up with the membership fee
are probably the same guys who can't follow directions on how to submit their cards,
and are probably the same guys who want to bother customer service about every grade and turn around time.

PSA kills two birds with one stone with the membership fee :
they weed out the idiots and cheapskates, and they generate revenue for themselves at the same time. >>

I think this is exactly right.
a dead on the money comment.

sadly though, as good as this is for
fixing some of the problems,
some people still whine and complain
about the service or grades they get...
(and always will)

schr1st

With a name like sportsandmore, you wouldn't happent to be Drew, Kurt Divich, or Dave Byer by any chance?




<< <i>When did they raise it to 6 free submissions?? It used to be just 4. Well that makes it seem a bit different now. I still like the idea of the pregrade system GAI has set up where you pay only 5.00 to have the cards graded, then once graded you can decide to pay an additional 5 to get them slabbed. This would save alot of money for those borderline cards that you may send in. They send the unslabbed ones back with a sticker saying what they would have scored it. I think PSA would benefit from a system like this I know they would get my vote then. >>

habs71

Why does COSTCO..SAM'S CLUB and others charge for a membership so you can purchase groceries, Tvs, furniture, etc?? Why do banks charge you for withdrawing your own money??

It's very simple..the ultimate decision to patronize any business or not is yours.


Skip

Knlsportsandmore

Nope.

calleocho

pre-grading is kind of weak.

some of the PSA specials run about 5 to 6 bucks anyways ..and you actually get the card slabbed

BigKidAtHeart

<< <i>as for the $99 membership... you get 6 free grades which equates to $60 so it really isn't that big a deal >>

Actually you get
6 Submissions @ 7 Business Day Turnaround
which is a Guaranteed $105 Value
not to mention the
1-Year subscription to the PSA Population Report
and SMR Online which is a $39.50 Value

so, forget about the SMR Magazine...
you net $45.50 on the gradings and online data alone!!!


WHAT A DEAL!!
EVERYONE SHOULD BE SIGNING UP!!
(and Not bicthing and complaining!)

Tabe

<< <i>Why does COSTCO..SAM'S CLUB and others charge for a membership so you can purchase groceries, Tvs, furniture, etc?? >>


To offset the costs of the lower profit margin they have on the items they sell due to their lower prices. That doesn't apply in the case of PSA.

Tabe
www.tabe.nu

DirtyHarry

I think you get fair value for the $99. As it has already been pointed out, you could always go to a PSA auth dealer if you want to.

qualitycards

<< <i>Question: do the six free PSA submissions only apply for new memberships or renewals too? >>


AS PACKCOLLECTOR stated, the answer is yes, and I believe that when you re-up you get $10 off the membership, as my last renwal was discounted to $89. Plus there are some specials for members throughout the year. I sent in today about 20 cards under the MAY CC SPECIAL, a 5 day turnaround for $10 each (normally $25) all in all its not a bad deal, the membership is the price of many packs these days...jay

A761506

I personally think the membership program is fine. I'll gladly pay $99/year for the SMR as well as 6 grades on cards of any value. People assume the grading fees are $10 on all cards, but if your cards are actually worth anything or if you are submitting cabinets, those grading fees are $35 and up per card.

As far as the pre-grade service with GAI, I do not think that is a very solid business move for long-term success. First of all, if your pre-grading fee is $5 compared to a grading/slabbing fee of $10, and say half the cards that are pre-graded are not slabbed, that would effectively reduce revenue by half. Granted, the overhead for a pre-grade is lower than slabbing, but still, it does not seem like a wise move from a business perspective. Additionally, the pre-grade could also seem like a conflict of interest. If the overall condition of cards submitted for grading declines in the future, and theoretically it should as more and more cards are slabbed (excluding current issues), is there a possibility GAI will lower their grading standards if they see too many pre-grades not follow through with the slabbing for the additional $5? Heck yes there is, just like every other company out there, they are driven by a bottom line which says they need to make a profit to be successful.