What happens to the registry going forward..
olb31
Posts: 3,458 ✭✭✭✭✭
With $7 being the best rate you can get (but you have to have 100 cards), what becomes of the registries? It's hard for someone like me to package up 100 or more commons from, let's say, 1972 forward, and come out on top. Rarely would I get a 10, and 9's sell for practically nothing. I am guessing many of you, and maybe a majority of you, are in the same boat. So how where would the supply of items come from to keep the registries going?
Work hard and you will succeed!!
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This is the problem when cards have to be a "10" in order to sell for over the cost of grading.
I bought a box of 1985 Topps and ripped it, didn't get a McGwire and even though I got some beautiful cards, none were worth submitting.
Was still fun!
Have no idea.
But, it did have me thinking.
Would be great if we had an "internet round table discussion" with the powers that be?
Just imagine if one time per month Joe or someone else came on here at a prescribed time and people could ask questions.
That way PSA would be "more" in touch with its patrons.
I don't think anything happens. There are plenty of us that wouldn't send cards in for fear of losing money at $6. Obviously the hurdle rate is even higher at $7 but in the grand scheme of things isn't enough to impact submissions. The other issue you must consider is mass submitter's like 4SC have been responsible for filling many lower price point registry sets and they aren't paying $7 per card.
How many cards would you guess they submit; at what price point?
I have to much S**t; so if you working on sets or are a player/team collector, send me your want list, with conditions desired. Keep in mind I have a another job so please allow me a few days to respond.
I guess we find out how powerful of a drug the registry truly is.
@tonylags Not sure but a very large number. I have heard as low as $3 per card but that is not verified information.
Based on their emails, they're adding between 1100 & 1500 items weekly with the majority being PSA. Say 1000 of that on average is from their submissions and you're looking at 50K+ PSA submissions a year.
Just did the same! No Mac, two Clemens. Nothing without a centering/print defect problem that was worth submitting. Totally forgot how challenging this set was.
This is pretty timely for me. I've been thinking hard about my collection lately. I had started collecting a complete 1969 football set. Initially I was going to do a graded set. Then I started buying raw items here and there. Sent in a few with my renewal and got 8's and 9's on the submissions. But then started doing the math on what I'd have invested in grading fees for the set plus cost of buying stars / rookies in high grade and decided to punt and do the set in raw. I can see the quality of the cards and flip through them in an album much more easily. Presently I'm half way done with the set and averaging around $4 a card. It's been a lot of fun and reminds me more of the collecting I did as a kid.
I still have my Dallas Cowboys cards graded and plan to continue to do that. But I've been less ambitious about building complete graded factory sets.
The Doomsday Collection
Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor | All-Time Dallas Cowboys | Bob Lilly Master | Pro Football HOF Dallas Cowboys
I don't blame it all on the registry. People want mint cards. Grading has (un)fortunately given collectors a reliable estimation of a cards condition.
Yes, many people enjoy the registry, my set was once the #1 set and I have very few 10's.
I found out long before PSA was around that most cards from the 1960's and early 1970's were not worth much unless they were NM/MT or MT (or a Mantle). I tried to sell my cards I had collected growing up to support my "habit". They were EX to NM and the card shops weren't interested. I then decided that I wasn't going to spend my money on a card unless it was NM/MT or better.
The fact that the newer player sets "need" to have every card in a ten is simply because so many cards are produced and handled carefully. There's just no reason to invest your money in a card that has no demand, registry or not.
I think it's great. It got me to reassess how I want to collect sets and brought me back full circle. I started my 1968 baseball set as PSA 8 and with the grading cost continually increasing, I decided to just do major stars in PSA 8 and everything else in raw mint condition. It took longer, but was much cheaper and exponentially more fun to get back to the days of scouring dozens of cards to find the one that met your standards. Plus, you got to put them in a binder and actually look at them. My only dilemma is to finally either trade out the hundred or so commons I already had graded or just crack them out and put the raw cards in my album.
I have since done the same with a 75T baseball set, an 80/81T basketball, two 86/87F basketball, a 79/80T hockey, two 85/86T hockey, 85/86OPC hockey, and 87/88OPC hockey.
This is where I am with my 1969 Topps football set. I cracked out the 7's and am going to do the same with the 7.5's and 8's of non-stars. The 8.5's and 9's I'm going to sell as I replace them with raw equivalents that I like for the binder.
The Doomsday Collection
Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor | All-Time Dallas Cowboys | Bob Lilly Master | Pro Football HOF Dallas Cowboys
If I want to grade it. I grade it. @ $7. Now too much higher then I have to get more selective.
You have to send in 100 to grade it at $7. Or it's $10, $15, $20 or so for lesser quantities.
I send in 100 with a few friends just about every month
Why don't we just contact PSA for a group rate 1,000 or whatever cards and we can all enjoy nearer to $6 hopefully.
All we have to do is inquire and tell them what the people want!
Shipping to and fro a couple of times might be an issue.
+1.
Already tried this on another board and the organizer was shot down at that quantity. You would need much more than that for a cheaper rate. At least that was the case 6-8 months ago. Maybe things have changed.
PSA rejected the $6 price point on a 1000-card sub?
buying O-Pee-Chee (OPC) baseball
As far as I remember, yes. I'll reach out to the organizer as he's a member here to see if he'd like to comment on the experience.
We used to do group subs for a discounted rated here on the forums a couple times a year... years back. To get a good rate, it always seemed like it was a 2,000 or 2,500 card minimum. I'm no where near as active here as I used to be, but it seems likes it's been awhile since one was done (or I simply missed the last one). Not sure if that's because no one wanted to take on organizing one (they seemed painful), or because PSA has shot them down!
Geez, when I said years back... I had no idea it's been 7+ years since this was kind of normal! Found an old thread from one I participated in... the minimum to get a break was 2000 cards (Thus, I could see them rejecting 1000).
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/757289/official-group-sub-thread-poppage-1-cards-have-arrived-pm-me-if-you-are-in-group-1/p1
I have thousands of PSA 9's from 71-77. And some killer high end raw sets from 72-83 that I enjoy handling raw. However, in the 8 years I've been back in the hobby, I have not graded one card yet. The registry has no appeal to me; maybe it will later.
What I fail to understand is the concept of having to get that "one" card to fill in your registry. I liken it to a sporting event; buying one specific ticket in section 110, row F, seat 3; and the owner of that seat knowing you want his seat. Meanwhile, there's 1,000's of other similar seats all around the stadium for half the cost and better views. I'd rather get the best valued seat in the stadium vs. the one particular seat that is overpriced.
The beauty of not focusing on the registry allows me to be patient and get the cards that I enjoy. Some PSA 9's I have multiples of because I like the card.
Collecting Unopened from '72-'83; mostly BBCE certified boxes/cases/racks.
Prefer to buy in bulk.
The primary reason the registry will never die is that there are so many sets that the people registered take serious and there are countless other participants buying cards. I personally can't relate to the idea of collecting a 660 card or 792 card set in high grade but for someone who tackles that and takes it serious I applaud them. It is a labor of love and they know that and most likely a person with that passion and dedication will over look the cost of a buck a card. If they don't I can't imagine how they pay larger sums for cards from the same set. How do you determine if a card is worth $32 or $33 to you? So in reality it doesn't even matter.
@sdub Finding that one card takes years of chasing for it to count. I totally agree that if you are collecting a big set that is easy to find very close substitutes it doesn't really sound that appealing vs. chasing other cards that might hold their value better. That said to truly appreciate the registry you have to think of it like a hunter. One that goes out every day looking for the prized elk. Going home everyday empty handed and then striking only to find out it just doesn't fit the bill of a true trophy kill. You keep hunting and finally you take down the elusive prized beast. My ultimate kill was my The Chrusher PSA 9 because I worked so hard for over seven years to track it down so it means something to me.
There is something to be said for having the best of something and in many cases the registry exposes that and there are plenty of collectors who will continue to pursue that quest.
“ It is a labor of love and they know that and most likely a person with that passion and dedication will over look the cost of a buck a card. If they don't I can't imagine how they pay larger sums for cards from the same set. How do you determine if a card is worth $32 or $33 to you? So in reality it doesn't even matter.” @Dpeck100
AMEN!
Kevin
Kevin
There is a guy I watch on youtube that submitted, I think, 750 cards. He said they lowered the price to $6.50 a card.