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Questions for Joe Orlando
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Posts: 610
Thought I'd start a thread so that people can ask questions directly to Joe Orlando. If we're lucky, maybe he'll answer some of them!
1) Given that people routinely crack and resubmit cards and gets different grades the second time around, what confidence should we have that your grading staff can CONSISTENTLY grade cards ACCURATELY? What training do they go through, and what do you do to ensure consistency from grader to grader and from day to day?
2) With half grades, there will now be 18 different grades a card can receive. Why do cards need to be graded that precisely? Aren't we now talking about differences in condition that are so minute so as to be insignificant?
3) What makes the opinion of a PSA "expert" grader any more valuable than the opinion of other expert collectors? Given that I can post the image of a card on this board and get a pretty good idea of what grade it will receive completely free of charge, why should I submit a card to PSA for grading?
4) What are you doing to address the well-documented problems with PSA's flips (easy to forge) and holders (easy to tamper with)?
5) What are you doing to address the fact that there are numerous high-quality fake PSA graded cards floating around the hobby?
Sincerely,
Mr. Fibonacci
1) Given that people routinely crack and resubmit cards and gets different grades the second time around, what confidence should we have that your grading staff can CONSISTENTLY grade cards ACCURATELY? What training do they go through, and what do you do to ensure consistency from grader to grader and from day to day?
2) With half grades, there will now be 18 different grades a card can receive. Why do cards need to be graded that precisely? Aren't we now talking about differences in condition that are so minute so as to be insignificant?
3) What makes the opinion of a PSA "expert" grader any more valuable than the opinion of other expert collectors? Given that I can post the image of a card on this board and get a pretty good idea of what grade it will receive completely free of charge, why should I submit a card to PSA for grading?
4) What are you doing to address the well-documented problems with PSA's flips (easy to forge) and holders (easy to tamper with)?
5) What are you doing to address the fact that there are numerous high-quality fake PSA graded cards floating around the hobby?
Sincerely,
Mr. Fibonacci
0
Comments
<< <i>Thought I'd start a thread so that people can ask questions directly to Joe Orlando. If we're lucky, maybe he'll answer some of them!
1) Given that people routinely crack and resubmit cards and gets different grades the second time around, what confidence should we have that your grading staff can CONSISTENTLY grade cards ACCURATELY? What training do they go through, and what do you do to ensure consistency from grader to grader and from day to day?
2) With half grades, there will now be 18 different grades a card can receive. Why do cards need to be graded that precisely? Aren't we now talking about differences in condition that are so minute so as to be insignificant?
3) What makes the opinion of a PSA "expert" grader any more valuable than the opinion of other expert collectors? Given that I can post the image of a card on this board and get a pretty good idea of what grade it will receive completely free of charge, why should I submit a card to PSA for grading?
4) What are you doing to address the well-documented problems with PSA's flips (easy to forge) and holders (easy to tamper with)?
5) What are you doing to address the fact that there are numerous high-quality fake PSA graded cards floating around the hobby?
Sincerely,
Mr. Fibonacci >>
I can't imagine you seriously are expecting an answering by working your questions that way.
Raw: Tony Gonzalez (low #'d cards, and especially 1/1's) and Steve Young.
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LMAO
I am not saying they are "bad faith" queries; ONLY that they appear to be.
Sure, they're tough questions that will make him uncomfortable (probably because he doesn't have good answers to any of them), but they're also questions that directly address many of the concerns being raised by people on this board right now (inconsistent grading, value added by half point grading, qualifications of graders, security of the holder, design of the flips, etc.).
If he doesn't have the guts to address tough questions about the quality and value of his product, then he's not much of a CEO after all....
As the 0.5 grade failure pans out, it will be all the more obvious.
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The other companies using .5 are not exactly failures.
People buy those cards, too.
if this is the best ya got, I feel for you.
IS your firsdt name Pinocchio by any chance?
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There is some merit to that sentiment.
BUT, I am not "comparing" companies. ONLY saying
that the .5 scheme is accepted in the market.
Card grading is evolving just like coin-grading did.
20-years ago, there was HUGE uproar when coins
began to be more precisely graded. Now we realize
it made us all pretty well to do.
2) All these are questions directly related to PSA's business model and are directed at ascertaining whether PSA provides value for money. EVERY PSA CUSTOMER should be asking these questions (especially those who have spent thousands of dollars at PSA), not just me !!!!
3) PSA's business model is based on the whole idea that they provide a DEFINITIVE, ACCURATE, and CONSISTENT opinion about the condition of a card (i.e. the card graded by Eric in 2005 should receive the exactly same grade if resubmitted in 2008 and graded by Jim...a card graded on Tuesday by Pete should receive the same grade if graded by Dave on Friday). If they cannot do this 100% of the time, then their "opinion" becomes no more valuable than those of other expert collectors like the people on this board.
4) The secondary market value of PSA graded cards (and by extension PSA's entire business) are based on two factors: that the grade is definitive and accurate, and that a card and flip in a PSA holder is indeed the exact card submitted to and graded by PSA (and has not been tampered with).
Remember, the hobby got along just fine for many many years without 3rd party grading companies. PSA itself is only seven years old. You've seen what happened to GAI because of their screw-up in November...the exact same thing could potentially happen to PSA if people lose confidence in the security of their holders and the quality of their grading!
If I'm Joe Orlando, I'd be dying to take a crack at the five questions I posed in order to reassure customers like me....
<< <i>Since I cannot spend a lot of time typing detailed answers to a lot of these questions, I would suggest that you call me to discuss and - yes - I am being sincere about taking your call.
Please call the PSA number and ask for my extension. If you miss me, I will do my best to call back in a timely fashion.
Take care,
Joe Orlando
President >>
Way to go, Joe
Since I cannot spend a lot of time typing detailed answers to a lot of these questions, I would suggest that you call me to discuss and - yes - I am being sincere about taking your call.
Please call the PSA number and ask for my extension. If you miss me, I will do my best to call back in a timely fashion.
Take care,
Joe Orlando
President
CEO, Collectors Universe, Inc.
<< <i>Since I cannot spend a lot of time typing detailed answers to a lot of these questions, I would suggest that you call me to discuss and - yes - I am being sincere about taking your call.
Please call the PSA number and ask for my extension. If you miss me, I will do my best to call back in a timely fashion.
Take care,
Joe Orlando
President >>
Joe, I know you've been really swamped with all of this, but I'd still enjoy being able to talk to you about the Ripken minor league stuff.
Ripken in the Minors * Ripken in the Minors Facebook Page
Ripken in the Minors * Ripken in the Minors Facebook Page
<< <i>What's up with reply to posts showing up before the initial post? >>
Viva RUBEalution!
BTW, nice sig pic.
Ripken in the Minors * Ripken in the Minors Facebook Page
<< <i>
<< <i>Since I cannot spend a lot of time typing detailed answers to a lot of these questions, I would suggest that you call me to discuss and - yes - I am being sincere about taking your call.
Please call the PSA number and ask for my extension. If you miss me, I will do my best to call back in a timely fashion.
Take care,
Joe Orlando
President >>
Joe, I know you've been really swamped with all of this, but I'd still enjoy being able to talk to you about the Ripken minor league stuff. >>
ummm now may not be the best time for you to bring this up...you may have to table it for now...
<< <i>ummm now may not be the best time for you to bring this up...you may have to table it for now... >>
It's been on the table since last May...
Ripken in the Minors * Ripken in the Minors Facebook Page
<< <i>Apparently.
BTW, nice sig pic. >>
Thanks.
BTW, you have nice background colors. Mine is the boring white, blue, and grey.
I'm pretty busy the rest of today but will try to call you around noon PST on Saturday. If that does not work for you, PM me and we can set up another time. Be aware that I will post the gist of your answers on this thread for others to read. If you are concerned about my ability to accurately paraphrase your answers, then you are probably better off responding to this thread in writing yourself whenever you get the time.
If anyone else has questions they would like me to ask that are related to my five questions, please post them on my thread and I will do my best to ask Joe when I get in touch with him.
<< <i>Joe,
I'm pretty busy the rest of today but will try to call you around noon PST on Saturday. If that does not work for you, PM me and we can set up another time. Be aware that I will post the gist of your answers on this thread for others to read. If you are concerned about my ability to accurately paraphrase your answers, then you are probably better off responding to this thread in writing yourself whenever you get the time.
If anyone else has questions they would like me to ask that are related to my five questions, please post them on my thread and I will do my best to ask Joe when I get in touch with him. >>
Their offices are closed on the weekend.
And Sr. management of publicly traded companies stopped answering loaded questions on internet forums back in the early 2000s.
Joe, since you have made at least one deal to grade x thousand cards for someone at a price break, how will you ensure the randomnimity of the grading process is not comprised by this/these exceptions?
kind regards,
Scott
1977 Topps Star Wars - "Space Swashbucklers"
<< <i>Question:
Joe, since you have made at least one deal to grade x thousand cards for someone at a price break, how will you ensure the randomnimity of the grading process is not comprised by this/these exceptions?
kind regards,
Scott >>
He doesn't answer in the forums. Please leave him a message and he'll (wink, wink), call ya right back.
Worked for me!
I also stated in my post that if that time does not work for him, he can PM me to set up another time (and/or give me another way to contact him). Or, given that I plan on talking with him for the better part of an hour, he can instead answer the questions directly on this thread, in which case we do not need to speak at all).
Exactly how are my questions "loaded"?
Yes they're tough questions, but they are also perfectly legitimate questions about the quality and security of the product and services which PSA provides.
Any CEO who is afraid to answer tough questions about their own product and services should not be running a company.
And any customer who doesn't bother to ask tough questions deserves whatever they get.
The move to half point grading (as well as the other issues I mention) raises serious questions about the integrity of the PSA grading process. And if people start to lose trust in the accuracy and realiability of PSA's grades, Joe Orlando is going to have a lot bigger problems on his hands than simplu answering my questions!