SGC vs. PSA

smallstocks

How do SGC graded cards from the '50's compare to PSA graded cards? In other words, is an 8 an 8?

Mike

goudeygold

SGC and PSA are very close from what I've gathered. The only thing to remember is with SGC and GAI, there are no qualifiers. I bought a low grade SGC card recenty, and once I got it realized there were fient ink marks on the back. so when I submit to PSA, it will have the dreaded MK designation. was an SGC 20 or 1.5, and most likely will grade as a PSA 2MK.

GG

carew4me

Grading is failry close. Both are good companies that accurately grade.

The difference in the "qualifiers" that PSA uses will effect value more than SGC's lower grade.

I have seen many SGC 84's that would be PSA 7 OC (making it effectively a PSA 5).

Southerncards

SGC's grading is more precise at the higher end of the scale. The general rule that "all 9's are not created equal" applies here.

I personally dont care for PSA's qualifiers. Basically thats like saying "oh the card would be mint except that it has writing on it". Have you ever made a trade and someone says "the card is in pretty good shape for its age"??......SGC also has a nicer holder in my opinion due to the black insert, green label.

To each his own....

smallstocks

In sum, it sounds like if the card is well centered, and the grades are the same, SGC would likely be the better card, but the reverse is true if the card is off center, that is a PSA 7 w/o O/C designation (down from what would have been a 9 O/C) is better than an SGC 7 Does that sound correct?

Mike

calleocho

is it for your personal collection or for resale value?

smallstocks

Either or. Just want to know in general so I can bid wisely if I decide to buy some cards.

Knuckles

As I've stated before my personal collection consists of SGC graded cards for the same reasons Southerncards pointed out.

If selling however I use PSA and Beckett to get the highest dollar amount. For some reason SGC graded cards don't obtain as much $ as PSA/Beckett even though in my opinion they're way better than Beckett and just as good if not better than PSA..

Different strokes..

doog71

I like SGC as a grading company, but in my experience the vintage cards I've sent to PSA that were previously graded by SGC received a lower grade by PSA.

Doug

MajorDanby

A lot of pre war collectors go with SGC as opposed to PSA or GAI. Post war, PSA has more of a stranglehold. Modern cards have PSA and BGS dueling it out.

calleocho

when you are buying online its always good to have as much infor as possible, thats why i like qualifiers.

if a card has some writing on the back but its otherwise NM, PSA would grade it 7 MK which i feel its an accurate description and will help in the final value of the card. SGC would have to grade this NM with just a little bit of writing on the back an sgc
20 or 30..which doesnt do justice to the card or the final value.

if you are collecting without any intention of resale then it really doesnt matter as much which of the big 3 you use.

they pretty much do a good job at authenticating and protecting the card.

for resale you have to take into consideration things like the popularity of the registry and the liquidity of PSA.

lots of people are looking for a PSA 10 ryan card...but how many are looking for an SGC 98? might be the same card but the demand is different and the prices will reflect that. that being said some cards will sell well regardless of the holder.

as far as looks it really depends on your taste, i prefer the clear simple look of a PSA slab and i am not a fan of inserts since the card could get damaged to some extend.

this particular example is low grade so it doesnt matter as much but if this was a higher grade it could be trouble

Knuckles

I forgot to mention to stay away from SGC if you plan to grade fairly thin cards as the card most likely will jiggle into the black insert which sucks.

carew4me

Resale = Only use PSA.

smallstocks

But would/does any grading company ever grade up when it comes time for cross grading? Doesn't it make them look better to grade down so they can say they grade tougher?

WinPitcher

Crack and submit raw.

Southerncards

Smallstocks - its hard to answer some questions without bias because everyone likes different things. Some people will say that one company's graded cards sell for more while you could find 100 documented cases where the opposite might be true.

As far as grading up and down, you really have to judge the card carefully on its merits. Many SGC 92's (equal to an 8.5) can cross over to a PSA 9. This is because of the standards each company has set for their respective grades. LIke I said, SGC is more strict on the higher end where as they are both pretty much on the money in the low end of the grading scale.

Now here's where I take issue. PSA uses the qualifiers to say that a card is let's say, a 7MK for an ink mark. In plain terms, its near mint but it has writing on it. So why not have a PSA 7CR? This card is near mint except for this big crease across the center. Or a PSA 7WC? This card is near mint but it has worn corners.....the list you could create is endless.

I feel that cards should be graded with a standard grade that takes into account all the atributes of the card. If its centered 80/20, it shouldnt get a "mint" designation. The eye appeal of a poorly centered card is not the same and shouldnt hold an equivilent grade as a well centered one.

In the end, take a look at both PSA and SGC's grading standards and decide for yourself what is more important. I am of course biased towards the company I use so my opinion like everyone else's is just that, an opinion.

Steve1124

From my own experience, when i started submitting cards for the PSA Set Registry, i found myself having to get several cards which had originally been graded by SGC, re-graded (i.e. Bazooka hand-cut cards, and Post Cereal hand-cut cards), which PSA formerly did not grade. There were a handful of others which i also submitted for re-grading. I found that approx. 40% of the cards "crossed over" at the same grade, or the minimum grade that i specified (which in most cases was the same), and about 40% did NOT cross over (did not meet PSA's criteria for the grade), and about 20% actually came out a little HIGHER than what what SGC had graded. So as the results were mixed, so was my satisfaction, since now i still have some cards which aren't PSA-graded, so therefore can't be entered in the registry. Some have suggested to just "crack the card out" and send it in for grading that way. To me, this is a heck of a gamble, since the card will likely come back at a LOWER grade than it was originally from SGC.

As far as my PREFERENCE of the two companies, i'll have to say that i definitely like SGC's HOLDERS much better--they have those black inserts that fit around the card, which serves a two-fold purpose: 1) it keeps the card from sliding around, and 2) it offers a nice contrast to the card. In fact, if you look at the pictures in the PSA Set Registry, you'll see that many collectors (including myself) have scanned their cards with a piece of black paper behind the card, to improve the appearance of it. On the down side, as others have noted, if you're looking for re-sale value, PSA wins, hands down. Looking at prices realized on eBay is proof of that.

One procedure i wish PSA would adopt is to eliminate the qualifiers, but REPLACE it with the sub-grade technique. Most of the companies that i've seen do this (i.e. BGS) usually have 4 subgrades: centering, edges, surface, and corners. IMO, i'd like to see a 5th for color/clarity, since those vintage cards especially are often softly, or poorly focused. This would help take the question out of "WHY did my card get THIS grade??". How many times have we gotten cards back from PSA at a certain grade and wondered "what was wrong that this card didn't get a _ (you fill in the blank)".

Anyway, that's my two cents.

DaBigHurt

Stick with PSA. The rest are amateurs and don't grade as consistently as PSA. While most grading companies don't even spend 15 seconds grading a card, PSA spends quite a bit of time grading theirs. That's why they bring in the big bucks.

wolfbear

One issue to watch out for with SGC is lenient grading as to centering.

The highest unqualified grade the card below could receive
from PSA would be a 7, but SGC gave it an 88 which is supposed to be equal to a PSA 8.




By the way, I happen to think SGC's holders are butt-ugly,
but I guess the beauty of the holder is in the eye of the holder beholder ... or something like that ...

Stone193

Wolf
That's why I think a lot of people like the PSA qualifiers. That card has 8 corners from what I can see and is definitely OC. I'm even leaning toward a lower than 7 grade if someone requested NQ.

your friend
Mike

murcerfan

One issue to watch out for with SGC is lenient grading as to centering.

The highest unqualified grade the card below could receive
from PSA would be a 7, but SGC gave it an 88 which is supposed to be equal to a PSA 8

that card was graded at least 4 years ago.
most probably by Derek Grady, who was admittedly more concerned with corners than centering.

The current graders seem to be taking the published centering standards more seriously.

murcerfan

I also believe that PSA bends the centering rules for some submitters (DSL).

wolfbear

"The current graders seem to be taking the published centering standards more seriously."

murcerfan - if what you say is true,
then shouldn't SGC recall all of their cards already out in the market,
so that they can be properly regraded to SGC's current standards ?

... just kidding ...

Enjoyed your renditions of Crossroads and Wooden Ships, how about another tune tonight ?

By the way, congrats on picking up that ultra rare tilted variation of the Carlisle card ...

aro13

murcerfan - I thought Grady was there only for the split grades (i.e 88 = 8) and not when there was only one number on the cards?

Southerncards

<< <i>Stick with PSA. The rest are amateurs and don't grade as consistently as PSA. While most grading companies don't even spend 15 seconds grading a card, PSA spends quite a bit of time grading theirs. That's why they bring in the big bucks. >>




dabighurt - your comments are laughable......amateurs?

Isn't it time to head to California for your 3000 mile brainwashing?

lonroy

PSA only - they are the best