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Dear PSA— I need a good special for 1957 and later!

Dear PSA—

Just my every three or four month request to post a good special for 1957 and later cards. Yes I know you are swamped and you don’t need my small potatoes business to survive. However I have a number of relatively low valued cards (can you say for example 1981 Fleer Star Stickers) I would love to get graded but they will never see a holder at the $7.00 bulk rate. I believe many like me are in the same boat.

Thanks in advance. I do however plan to shake my fist when the next “useless to me” special posts come May 1st (it will however be shook good naturedly and in jest) while my little pile of cards are dusted off once again while patiently waiting. You can, however, pleasantly shock and surprise me. Really, I won’t mind. Honest.

Matt— PSA Supporter And Now Saying Pretty Please With Sugar On Top

Comments

  • secretstashsecretstash Posts: 1,393 ✭✭✭✭

    Think at this point we are to expect they did away with the post 56 specials about a year ago until proven otherwise.

  • MeferMefer Posts: 1,156 ✭✭✭

    @secretstash said:
    Think at this point we are to expect they did away with the post 56 specials about a year ago until proven otherwise.

    Sadly, I agree with this but this boy is trying to dream. :)

  • GoDodgersFanGoDodgersFan Posts: 1,391 ✭✭✭

    The bulk rate is the special now.

  • MeferMefer Posts: 1,156 ✭✭✭

    @GoDodgersFan said:
    The bulk rate is the special now.

    Man I wish that was not the case. I personally have a hard time justifying sending in many of the cards I have in the "cue" pile at $7.00 per. Obviously if PSA is making money, it really has no incentive to lower prices.

    I would not hesitate to use the bulk service at that rate if I had enough cards to justify the risk/reward balance. However, I am a small time player who enjoys grading cards for his own collection and selling off a few here and there to hopefully break even. I am afraid I am squeezed out of the equation if this is the new reality (but I do agree it probably is).

    Matt

  • burghmanburghman Posts: 797 ✭✭✭✭

    Part of the cost has to come from the holder and sealing process, right? Maybe some enterprising person could come up with a cheaper but still foolproof alternative to encapsulating modern cards that could then lower grading prices on, say, mid-80s and later "normal" cards - maybe something like using one of those bag sealing machines to seal the card in a Card Saver then put the hologram label over the seal like they do at the deli counter to make sure you don't cram anything else into the already priced turkey breast they sliced for you? Sounds goofy and obviously there are issues with that off-the-cuff idea, but if we can lower the price of the encapsulation then I have to think they could lower the price per card. On the other hand, if those pieces are just pennies of the overall cost or if you want your collection to have a consistent look then this won't work.

    Jim

  • Luke1989Luke1989 Posts: 136 ✭✭

    For a company as large as them their costs for those holders and labels is next to nothing. I bet that the cost is less than .25 for the holder printing and sealing. The holder and process for sealing is not a big deal it's just plastic and is very very cheap.

  • olb31olb31 Posts: 2,900 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Processing time (logging cards in, opening packages, packing the cards is at a premium right now. So, having 10 people sending in 10 cards, is worse to the them time wise than 100 at a time. I think they are trying to slow down the 10 and 20 card orders. I'm a CPA and i just finished tax time, I would rather work on harder returns that bring in $500, than working on 5 for $100 apiece because of processing time, meet and greeting time. Both are still $500 but doing the one return probably saves me 2 or more hours than the 5 returns.

    Work hard and you will succeed!!
  • Gemyanks10Gemyanks10 Posts: 1,164 ✭✭✭

    I agree with the OP that I mostly grade for my PC and at 7.00 a card, it doesn’t make sense to grade certain cards at that price point. I’ve piggybacked on the 7.00 a card monthly bulk rate many times now, and just am more careful on what I send in and make sure I really look over the cards, as anything less than a 10 for what I collect isn’t worth it..

    Always looking for OPC "tape intact" baseball wax boxes, and 1984 OPC baseball PSA 10's for my set. Please PM or email me if you have any available.
  • PROMETHIUS88PROMETHIUS88 Posts: 2,819 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Gemyanks10 said:
    I agree with the OP that I mostly grade for my PC and at 7.00 a card, it doesn’t make sense to grade certain cards at that price point. I’ve piggybacked on the 7.00 a card monthly bulk rate many times now, and just am more careful on what I send in and make sure I really look over the cards, as anything less than a 10 for what I collect isn’t worth it..

    Just out of curiosity, and this isn't directed to you alone, but what would you consider a good "special"? I have only been back in the game for 6 months or so but the specials that I remember them running were $5.50-$6.50 a card. Am I wrong?

    Promethius881969@yahoo.com
  • tonylagstonylags Posts: 568 ✭✭✭

    I think they should do $4.50/card; 150 card minimum

    who's in? or am i dreaming.....................................................

    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.

  • Gemyanks10Gemyanks10 Posts: 1,164 ✭✭✭

    @PROMETHIUS88 said:

    @Gemyanks10 said:
    I agree with the OP that I mostly grade for my PC and at 7.00 a card, it doesn’t make sense to grade certain cards at that price point. I’ve piggybacked on the 7.00 a card monthly bulk rate many times now, and just am more careful on what I send in and make sure I really look over the cards, as anything less than a 10 for what I collect isn’t worth it..

    Just out of curiosity, and this isn't directed to you alone, but what would you consider a good "special"? I have only been back in the game for 6 months or so but the specials that I remember them running were $5.50-$6.50 a card. Am I wrong?

    5.25-5.50 would be excellent at this point, but highly doubt we’ll ever see it again. I’ve mentally come to grips with the fact that 7.00 is the new “price point”, and with the way business has been for them, I suppose we’re lucky that it has stayed at 7.00....I hope it doesn’t increase even more in the future...

    Always looking for OPC "tape intact" baseball wax boxes, and 1984 OPC baseball PSA 10's for my set. Please PM or email me if you have any available.
  • 53BKid53BKid Posts: 2,164 ✭✭✭

    Rising health care costs for graders and other staff is to blame, just like in every other industry.

    HAPPY COLLECTING!!!
  • MeferMefer Posts: 1,156 ✭✭✭

    I would really like to see something at or below the $6.00 point. $5.50 would be a sweet spot for me. I think the lowest I saw, and this was ages ago, was $4.50 (and I don't expect to see that ever again). I could easily put together a 100 card submission at $5.50 per; I can't justify 100 cards at $7.00 per. If they raise the minimum number of card requirement on such a special I would be hard pressed to believe it would not be profitable (and they would be "pulling in" cards that might not otherwise ever see a holder).

    Matt

  • gemintgemint Posts: 6,066 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I think the best deal you can get right now is $6 if you submit thousands of cards.

  • olb31olb31 Posts: 2,900 ✭✭✭✭✭

    For 1981 and up, maybe even 1972 and up, if the card isn't a key rookie card or AAron, Mays, Clemente, Ryan, maybe they should not slab anything that grades below an 8. Obviously there can be other exceptions, but a 1981 psa 7 steve garvey, really has no value to it (this is just an example, you can replace steve with just about any other player).

    If they are truly commons, maybe nothing gets slabbed unless it's a 8.5 or 9 or higher. Who needs 1979 psa 8 mike ivie card, for example. So you could send in 100 commons at $5 apiece and maybe they on slab 25, because the card doesn't meet the standard. This could save time and cost less for the consumer.

    Or if want the card slabbed no matter what you pay more and it takes more time. Why not Offer the consumer choices?

    Work hard and you will succeed!!
  • gemintgemint Posts: 6,066 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 26, 2018 4:20PM

    I don't think they'll ever go for that outside maybe a few of the largest submitters of modern cards. The cost would be huge for them. Imagine having your graders sift through 100 EX-MT cards to slab 5 PSA 9s. They could save you the cost of the slab which is probably only $0.25. So if you submit 2,000 commons, you pay $6 for those that holder and $5.75 for those that don't. I doubt that would entice many more submissions though.

  • GoDodgersFanGoDodgersFan Posts: 1,391 ✭✭✭

    Get ready for 8.00 bulk rate for 2019. Business is just too good at this point. I am sure PSA will be flooded with submissions during the National in early August.

  • LarkinCollectorLarkinCollector Posts: 8,975 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Sadly, agreeing

  • PROMETHIUS88PROMETHIUS88 Posts: 2,819 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Is it just me or did the specials not change at all??

    Promethius881969@yahoo.com
  • miwlvrnmiwlvrn Posts: 4,222 ✭✭✭✭✭

    With a monthly special back at $5.50, I might send in a sub of a couple thousand cards. At $6.50, I'll drop it to a couple hundred. $7.00 standard bulk rate, or higher, and I keep letting most of them sit in their CS1's in a box, month after month, waiting and hoping for a price drop. I still argue that their is enough common thinking with this price/sub relation that it would make financial sense for PSA to hire more graders and be able to process a much higher volume of business. There is sufficient service demand among their customer population to warrant an increase in processing capacity. Their profit might not be exactly as high per card as the over the past few months, but they'd be doing so much better with volume profit that it wouldn't matter.

  • MeferMefer Posts: 1,156 ✭✭✭

    Well my "voice" fell on deaf ears. I am out another month. I will continue to stare at my pile. Fingers crossed for next month!

    Matt

  • skrezyna23skrezyna23 Posts: 908 ✭✭✭
    edited May 9, 2018 11:45PM

    So if they only do bulk specials for post '56 now, do I just send in my 100 cards and write "bulk Post '56" on it?

  • secretstashsecretstash Posts: 1,393 ✭✭✭✭

    @skrezyna23 said:
    So if they only do bulk specials for post '56 now, do I just send in my 100 cards and right "bulk Post '56" on it?

    You can mix them since they dont have a "special". The bulk rate allows for both.

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