What kind of Grading Specials would you like to see in 2005?

JoeOrlando

Hello Everyone,

I am looking for some feedback on the PSA Grading specials that we run each month. As we move deeper into 2005, what types of grading specials would you like to see?

For example:

Modern Bulk with lower prices?

Vintage commons with lower prices?

Any card but with special/quick turnaround times in exchange for a certain price?

Incentive based specials ike 100 cards at X price or 300 cards at Y price or non-incentive based ones, no quantity required?

I thank you for your time and support of PSA.

Joe Orlando
PSA president

kingraider75

Vintage bulk with a turnaround time of 10 days.

Say Hello to Max on Ventura for me.

BugOnTheRug

<< <i>Modern Bulk with lower prices?
Vintage commons with lower prices?
Any card but with special/quick turnaround times in exchange for a certain price?
Incentive based specials ike 100 cards at X price or 300 cards at Y price or non-incentive based ones, no quantity required?
>>



You pretty much summed it up. All 4 are good examples that I'm sure will be met with agreement from the masses. You know the $5 special is always popular, but having #4 (higher quantity and even lower prices) would be good.

BOTR

mudflap02

Thanks for soliciting the opinions on here Joe.

Personally, I think it would be great to offer a set registry special on cards of a single player/year/set on the registry on one submission. I realize that this might not be the most profitable way to go from your point, but as a customer, I think that many of us would love to see something like this. I would think that most of the cards submitted to PSA are done so in order to turn a profit on the resale once slabbed. A special like this would encourage those of us who submit for our own personal collections to do so at a resonable price. I know I'm not alone in saying that I have a stack of cards waiting to submit until I can afford it or a special comes along. Something like 1980 and newer cards from a single registry set you are currently participating in, $4 per, minimum 25 would be an outstanding way to thank those of us who continue to support PSA, both directly and on the secondary market.

My 2 cents, and it's probably not even worth that. Thanks again.

-Jeff D

Edited to say - I just realized you're one my references Joe! That should count for something!

softparade

A modern bulk special is very appealing to me. I am collecting the 1978 Topps baseball set in PSA 9 and better and already have 115 + cards (all 78's) lined up for submission. I would like to get this submission up to 250-300 cards soon.

Mudflap's idea of having a special on a single player/year/set is a great idea. Again, very appealing for me.

Thanks Joe!

Southsider

Joe,

1) I like the annual $5 modern special. I save up lower value cards throughout the year until this special comes along.

2) The era or sport specific specials (e.g. '50's commons, Non-sports only, etc.) should only last 1 month, not 2. It is frustrating to have to wait a full 2 months until another special comes along.

Thank you for asking.

Jaypers

Joe: How about returning to the $10/card; 5-day turnaround special.

A761506

I am always for simplicity, and I like the idea of any card, modern or vintage, valued at under $500, for $8. I don't care about turn-around times.

Since becoming a PSA member a little over a year ago, I've spent over $2,000 on grading cards & shipping. I am a small time collector. One thing I am most frusterated with is how every order must be divided up into several orders depending on the cards I want to submit. Placing an order with PSA requires a lot of planning on my part. With some changes in the submission prices and definitions, many areas have become even more vague to me. For instance...

If I would like to submit an order of vintage bulk, it now says no star players. What exactly constitutes a star player? And I'll give you an example of where this gets extremely confusing. Let's say I collect 1967 Topps. I have a #60 Luis Aparicio and a #607 Mickey Stanley. Aparicio is in the HOF. Stanley is a common. If both cards grade PSA 8, the Aparicio has a value somewhere around $25, while the Stanley is worth around $125. And based on my understanding of the rules, I'm supposed to submit the Aparicio under a different service, such as standard which costs $15, and submit the 5x more valuable Stanley under the common submission? And what about players I collect like Norm Cash or Rocky Colavito... are they stars or do they qualify for bulk rates? I don't think they're stars, they were average players, but what if I submit them as bulk common... am I going to get a call saying these players are stars, you need to pay more to have them graded? There must be a better way to clarify this.

MorrellMan

Joe

Thanks for asking.

How about a bulk submission special for '50s commons? or a pre-war nonsports bulk special? All, of course, with lower prices.

BTW - Cossetta did a great job on the front lines at Hollypark. Good move!

doncherry

I would like to see a special that includes the years 1970 & 1971. The specials over the last 15 months have been

1972 and up or 1960's special


Joe Thanks for taking time to ask for input

stormsurge

Thanks for soliciting our opinons.

My choice would be modern bulk.

chicago111

i was just looking at the pricing yesterday and thought...why the 100 card minimum on bulk? at what 6 bucks? Thats alot of dough, then figure shipping etc...jeeze. I bet you would get way more volume if you dropped/reduced prices/minimums. Of course maybe more volume is the last thing you need with some of the lead times ive seen on some of these threads.

Cubfan

Vintage foreign made non-sports cards. Thanks!!

goudeygold

My request is a pre-war special. Many of the pre-war cards out there raw are lower grade, so its very tough to send in PSA 2-3-4 level cards that are commons that SMR says are worth about 30 bucks graded. In reality you buy the card for full SMR or more, then it runs you another 12-15 bucks (or another 50% in cost) to get it graded. I strongly feel the market for lower grade pre-war is trying to get going, but the cost of grading these makes it very tough. I could care less about turnaround time. If i could choose between $12 for 5 days approx, and $8 for 30 days, I would take the 30 day pricing every time. Please help out the pre-war common/set-builder collectors.

thanks for asking,

GG

AISAVDBBALLINPHILLY

Thanks for asking Joe,


I like the $5 specials for modern with no minimum.


John

boggs301012

How about 1st in 1st out? I am tired of 1st in and 345678 out.

And to answer 5.00 specials would have me rejoining. No offense keep the SMR and the Gym bag. And make joining 50.00 or at least an option. 99.00SMR etc....no SMR no freebie 50.00


JAmes

TheThrill22

The $5.00 special was nice, but the turnaround made no sense at all. I liked the $10.00/5 day turnaround time best.

sfmays24

Hi Joe,

How about a bulk submission for 1950s commons at $5 each? Or maybe, a Registry special for this decade? I can't remember the last time there was a special for 1950's commons? How about a contest each month that makes one or more submissions free (a refund or future credit issued after winner selected) for each submission category?

I'd be happy to volunteer for any of the above test-runs...LOL!

thank you,

Mike

baseballfanatic

I definately agree with the set registry special, especially for insert sets and non sport sets. A lot more people would use the service, but it is impossible to recoup the almost 400.-500. grading fees on a 44, 55 or 66 card set which generally trade for 200-300 dollars per ungraded. An exellent example would be a fellow, I believe on these boards, who picked up a "man on the moon" graded card set from SGC for something like 150.00. That wouldn't even touch the price of having the cards submitted and graded. Its instances like this (actually nightmares like this) that keep a lot of people from submitting or regestering sets for thier own personal collection. The market has a ton of cards like these waiting to be graded, rather than playing the PSA "scratch off lottery game" of submitting single cards hoping for 10's (and receiving 7's, 8's and 9's). Most of the single cards coming in (commons to stars) are sent in only in the hopes of achieving a 10, and than dumping the 7's and 8's on Ebay. Just my steadfast opinion............

ldferg

thank you for asking our opinion on this.

i like the $5 special, but not the turnaround times (it looks as the turnaround times on the latest $5 specials varied greatly) - exactly how does this process flow?

why does it cost more to grade a star than a common, shouldn't the price to grade be the same regardless? i don't see the connection between a grading fee of one over the other if you are basically looking for the same flaws on a common vs a star.

i would like to see lower pricing on the bulk whether its modern or vintage and the incentive based special is a great idea.

maybe do away with 45-day grading period altogether and make 30-day the max.

i'm with boggs on the SMR and club fee and how about opening an office in Tennessee

67standup

How about a non-mainstream special of the month, or quarter? For example, I'd love to grade my 1968 OPC BB set, maybe all the OPC sets. Or a deal if you submit a % of a set (with minimum set size.)
Maybe a Topps Test special.

Mix it up a bit, 1972 to present modern special is too large of a universe.

CuseSteve

I like the $5 special

mudflap02

One thing that every post on this thread will have in common is that the author will want a special that suits their own needs the best, which is perfectly understandable. I agree with boggs that a First In First Out system would make a lot of sense, it can be pretty puzzling trying to figure out what goes on behind closed doors, but this isn't a thread about turnaround times. I think I speak for a majority of us when I say that turnaround time takes the back seat to submission cost every time. If I could submit 100 cards for $600 with 45 day turnaround, I would much rather submit those 100 cards for $400 with 90 day turnaround. Just so long as they eventually find their way back to me. I do want to stress that the idea I first brought up, a true "set registry special", would appeal to almost every small time submitter such as myself. While we may not be the ones who pony up the megabucks to PSA like the bigtime submitters do, it's those of us (usually the same group) who buy from the bigtime submitters who keep the hobby going. I doubt that DSL or 4 sharp has a stack of 1985 Topps football or Nolan Ryan cards waiting to send in, but you can be sure that there are a ton of people out there with similar interests who are doing just that, and a special would be a great way to get those cards out of the piles and into slabs.

-Jeff

tennesseebanker

Mr. Orlando, One idea would be to set up commercial accounts for those customers who submit thousands of dollars worth of cards a year. Have these customers pay one set price for all thier submissons,(say $5) however they could join the collectors club at higher prices than normal accounts.


Then for the customer who does not submit as much per year. The collectors club price could be lowered to say 49.99.(Keep the sports bag) Have several different monthly specials for these customers and implement the $8 economy price for these customers all the time. Turnaround times for these customers could be slower unless they wanted to pay for a faster turnaround time.

Just some ideas, Thanks for asking

kingraider75

I didn't get a bag???????? When did you get a free bag?? I always miss out!

schr1st

Any chance of a PSA/DNA submission special for cards? While the $20.00 combo deal is great for higher value cards, I have a ton of cards that aren't probably worth $20, but I'd still love to have the autographs certified and the cards graded.

chicago111

3 bucks a card, first in first out. period

joestalin

2 for 1 on all heritage!

LMK
Kevin

ezyshooter

I THINK EVERYBODY ON THE MESSAGE BOARDS WILL AGREE WITH ME ON THIS ONE!! PLEASE READ !!
I would like to see people who are building there sets being able to send in all star cards no matter what the value is with the commons and semi star cards. As it is right now if a card books for over 500.00 dollars you have to send in on a different sheet. Personally i find this outragious because a card is a card is a card. Should never go by what it is worth or what it may be worth. Why don't you get rid of this policy? Honestly what is the differance other then price between a Gordie Howe rookie and Ken Mosdell rookie from the same year. Both cards are made from the same paper,same ink etc.. Why does book price effect the way somebody is going to grade it? I shall be sending in over 20 1952 Parkhurst cards purchased mainly from Gerry's Sports in shortly to get graded. 1 cards value is 1000 dollars. I personally am not going to send 1 card in to be separetly graded and pay 44.77 US for 1 card !! I have talked to companies who send in cards and when they send in there high dollar cards they don't have to do this so why do the members? I'm not getting on PSA or trying to knock PSA but if a card looks like a card then it has to be a card No matter the value. Besides because of low pop's on cards that book for lower then 500.00 sometimes go into the thousands because 2 bidders fight over it just so they can have it for there set. So how about for vintage and/or newer cards abolishing the 500.00 dollar rule alltogether or if not at least having a special where it doesn't matter what the
card books for ???
Hopefully you will read this Joe, thanks in advance
Steve

Sets

How about star bulk special. If the card in question grades high and has a smr >500, charge regular price, if it grades lower and the smr is <500 do it for $5/$6 like the other bulk deals.

JoeOrlando

Hello everyone,

You guys responded in a Huge Way! I really appreciate it. You have given me more than enough to create new specials over the next several months. I will do my best to address the diverse requests in 2005.

Remember, as the year goes on, you are always welcome to email me direct at joe@collectors.com.

Take care and thanks again1

Joe Orlando
PSA president

pandrews

<< <i>One thing that every post on this thread will have in common is that the author will want a special that suits their own needs the best, which is perfectly understandable. >>



how about a $3.00/any card special for CU members named "pandrews"?

jaxxr

First of all, thanks for asking. Any / all specials will have some interest and probably some complaints or shortcomings.

I would like to see a "set" special of some sort. COMMONS, SEMI-STARS, and SUPERSTARS, ALL INCLUDED on the same invoice if they are all from one particular set . Perhaps a time peroid can be used, for example, 1960 thru 1969 sets, minimum 25 cards per set, minimum 50 cards submitted. An imaginary breakdown: 27 1961 Topps baseball, 30 1965 Topps football, and 28 1967 Topps baseball. 85 cards in total, 3 different sets from the special era or time frame. Mickey Mantle , Joe Namath, and Johnny Common all graded at a similar fee. The declared values are still quite different and return shipping / insurance cost would reflect that.

I can see the frustration many express over the idea that each and every card ( from a particular set, at least ) is made the same, and therefore should take the same amount of time, skill, and effort to grade and encapsulate.
I can also see there are different liability / responsibility factors involved. If PSA loses, damages, inaccurately grades, mis-labels, etc. etc., a group of 25 commons from 1975 baseball, the cost, time, and effort to "make good" the subbmission is one thing. If the group involved was composed of 15 superstars from 1952 Topps, the cost, time, and effort to "make-good" that submission would be far far greater.

Would it not be logical for PSA, or really anyone, to spend more time evaluating a 1956 Mantle which was somewhere between a 7 and an 8, rather than a 1956 Ruben Gomez that hovered between a 4 or a 5 ??

With that in mind, It still would be quite nice to have all cards included in a special for a unique set, perhaps the big stars a 2 -3 dollar added fee per card. The simplicity of getting all my cards from one set all listed on one form , all sent in one package would be great !!

TextText

CopperJJ

I would like to see a true set registry special for a reasonable price. I would love to grade a complete set made up of 100-200 cards, but doing so at current rates would mean a cost of $600-$1200 for say a set worth (book price) maybe $500, usually less. Doesn't seem too economical.

I'd also like to see an autographed card special of some sort. $20.00 a card for commons seems high, of course I'm not giving an expert opinion though. If I gave my expert opinion in my job field I'd make more than $20.

I think specials should have some sort of return time associated with them also, but they should be first in, first out. It's hard to believe one member can send in 20 cards and they are logged the same day as a member sending in 60 cards for the same special, and the 60 cards get posted and mailed out first.

Specials could be broken up into each sport. Baseball - special A, Football - special B, Basketball - special C, Hockey - special D. And include a non-sport special as well. Most collectors stick to one or two sports, or non-sports. I think if there are specials for each category always running, more collectors may branch out to a sport or set they normally don't collect. My main interest is football and baseball, but I do have some basketball and would send them in for the right special. I would even consider looking for some non-sports cards that I remember growing up with.

Of course most of these points have been mention previously.


Thanks for asking our opinion.

charliehustle14

Joe,

Let me also thank you for asking. I'm glad to see that PSA is actually listening to what its customers are demanding. I won't re-hash the reasoning that previous posters used, but put me down in the camp for folks who'd like to see a little more common sense applied in the star vs. common vintage submissions. I have stacks of vintage "star" cards I'd love to get graded, but feel that $15 a pop is not worth the value added to the raw. Perhaps some kind of standard based on SMR value would be appropriate...say $30 value or less for a 7 in SMR gets treated as a common. Just a thought...

-Todd-