My take on the 70 vs.100 pt. controversy....
longtimecollector
Posts: 2,368 ✭
The 100 point grading scale concept has been being talked about and tossed around here for a while..... It's going to be the topic of a "discussion" at the PCGS FUN show luncheon...... You all better be taking good notes, because IT'S COMING !!!!!!! PCGS (while the graders may be inconsistent) has been very consistent and VERY good at one thing........ MARKETING !!!!!!!
Case in point....... "The Registry" (bow head now)........
A few years ago, pre-registry, things were going along rather smoothly for PCGS....... coins in - grades out......... A very profitable business where the major source of revenue came from selling an "intangible" item........ an opinion........ Sure there were expenses, payroll, plastic, taxes, etc,......... but there was no INVENTORY !!!!!! Sorta like the casino business where there is no inventory, just a pile of cash at the end of the day........ with one major difference...... Whenever a PCGS customer was a winner, it didn't cost the house a dime !!!!!!!!.......
Coins traded back and forth between collectors and dealers, with many crackout artists learning the system and enhancing PCGS revenues by playing "crackout BINGO"........ A win-win situation if you got the upgrade........ if you didn't, the only winner was PCGS...... So you tried again......... and again........... and again........ Each time, PCGS got a little fatter..........
Eventually, other companies were formed and jumped on this bandwagon....... The market weeded out many of the weak, but many still survive....... As we consider ourselves to be knowledgeable and informed collectors/dealers, we know that the quality coins end up in the top tier holders whilst the second/lower tier holders are trading at deep discounts as if they were raw coins........
PCGS has always maintained that it is the #1 TPG service, and I'm not about to argue that point........ But what does PCGS do when they've already slabbed millions of coins...... when the supply of incoming material slips........ Do they tighten up the grade-o-meter and count on resubmissions???? (this is actually a whole different rant)........ Well, that wouldn't last long....... so......... Hmmmmmmmmm........ Let's create a REGISTRY !!!!!!!!
A whole new world where coins that wouldn't normally be considered candidates for slabbing (generating revenue) will now be hitting the receiving dock by the box/bag/truckfull !!!!!! Introducing BULK SUBMISSIONS !!!!!!!! And now we have an inexhaustible supply of incoming material, with a guarantee that more will follow each and every year !!!!!!!
The creation of the "Registry" (bow head now) was pure GENIUS....... MARKETING GENIUS !!!!! And all it takes to keep it going is disposable income......... yours and mine.......... and we dispose of it willingly to Newport Beach.........
But........ and here's where the 100 vs. 70 controversy comes to play......... What happens when there are other companies out there eating up your market share........ You have a few choices........... You can compete by offering better customer service....... You can compete by offering a lower price...... You can compete by offering better quality (or creating that illusion), or, YOU CAN RE-INVENT THE WHEEL !!!!!!!
THE NEW WHEEL !!!!!!!!!
A 100 point grading system .......... A "new flavor" for the Kool-aid drinkers if you will.......... something that will be a clear line between PCGS and the other grading companies (especially if PCGS somehow manages to patent/trademark/copyright the idea of a 100 pt scale)......... Something that further separates PCGS from the other TPG's and re-inforces the concept of superiority........ again........... MARKETING GENIUS !!!!!!!!!!!
So guys..... when you got to FUN this January....... takes money, takes notes, and take your coins to be reholdered !!!!!!!!
Case in point....... "The Registry" (bow head now)........
A few years ago, pre-registry, things were going along rather smoothly for PCGS....... coins in - grades out......... A very profitable business where the major source of revenue came from selling an "intangible" item........ an opinion........ Sure there were expenses, payroll, plastic, taxes, etc,......... but there was no INVENTORY !!!!!! Sorta like the casino business where there is no inventory, just a pile of cash at the end of the day........ with one major difference...... Whenever a PCGS customer was a winner, it didn't cost the house a dime !!!!!!!!.......
Coins traded back and forth between collectors and dealers, with many crackout artists learning the system and enhancing PCGS revenues by playing "crackout BINGO"........ A win-win situation if you got the upgrade........ if you didn't, the only winner was PCGS...... So you tried again......... and again........... and again........ Each time, PCGS got a little fatter..........
Eventually, other companies were formed and jumped on this bandwagon....... The market weeded out many of the weak, but many still survive....... As we consider ourselves to be knowledgeable and informed collectors/dealers, we know that the quality coins end up in the top tier holders whilst the second/lower tier holders are trading at deep discounts as if they were raw coins........
PCGS has always maintained that it is the #1 TPG service, and I'm not about to argue that point........ But what does PCGS do when they've already slabbed millions of coins...... when the supply of incoming material slips........ Do they tighten up the grade-o-meter and count on resubmissions???? (this is actually a whole different rant)........ Well, that wouldn't last long....... so......... Hmmmmmmmmm........ Let's create a REGISTRY !!!!!!!!
A whole new world where coins that wouldn't normally be considered candidates for slabbing (generating revenue) will now be hitting the receiving dock by the box/bag/truckfull !!!!!! Introducing BULK SUBMISSIONS !!!!!!!! And now we have an inexhaustible supply of incoming material, with a guarantee that more will follow each and every year !!!!!!!
The creation of the "Registry" (bow head now) was pure GENIUS....... MARKETING GENIUS !!!!! And all it takes to keep it going is disposable income......... yours and mine.......... and we dispose of it willingly to Newport Beach.........
But........ and here's where the 100 vs. 70 controversy comes to play......... What happens when there are other companies out there eating up your market share........ You have a few choices........... You can compete by offering better customer service....... You can compete by offering a lower price...... You can compete by offering better quality (or creating that illusion), or, YOU CAN RE-INVENT THE WHEEL !!!!!!!
THE NEW WHEEL !!!!!!!!!
A 100 point grading system .......... A "new flavor" for the Kool-aid drinkers if you will.......... something that will be a clear line between PCGS and the other grading companies (especially if PCGS somehow manages to patent/trademark/copyright the idea of a 100 pt scale)......... Something that further separates PCGS from the other TPG's and re-inforces the concept of superiority........ again........... MARKETING GENIUS !!!!!!!!!!!
So guys..... when you got to FUN this January....... takes money, takes notes, and take your coins to be reholdered !!!!!!!!
Cam-Slam 2-6-04
3 "DAMMIT BOYS"
4 "YOU SUCKS"
Numerous POTD (But NONE officially recognized)
Seated Halves are my specialty !
Seated Half set by date/mm COMPLETE !
Seated Half set by WB# - 289 down / 31 to go !!!!!
(1) "Smoebody smack him" from CornCobWipe !
IN MEMORY OF THE CUOF
3 "DAMMIT BOYS"
4 "YOU SUCKS"
Numerous POTD (But NONE officially recognized)
Seated Halves are my specialty !
Seated Half set by date/mm COMPLETE !
Seated Half set by WB# - 289 down / 31 to go !!!!!
(1) "Smoebody smack him" from CornCobWipe !
IN MEMORY OF THE CUOF
0
Comments
Russ, NCNE
<< <i>PCGS is not going to a 100 point system. >>
Keep tellin yourself that............
3 "DAMMIT BOYS"
4 "YOU SUCKS"
Numerous POTD (But NONE officially recognized)
Seated Halves are my specialty !
Seated Half set by date/mm COMPLETE !
Seated Half set by WB# - 289 down / 31 to go !!!!!
(1) "Smoebody smack him" from CornCobWipe !
IN MEMORY OF THE CUOF
Talk to some of the highest volume submitters and ask them how they feel about a 100 point system. They are the tail that wags the PCGS dog. It ain't happening.
Russ, NCNE
I really think PCGS would get destroyed changing something that everybody in the hobby knows and understands and that is the 70 point scale.....
Outsiders don't understand it, but that don't matter.....
have determined will be,will most definitely be.
Camelot
Well one thing I am pretty certain of, a number can't be patented/trademarked or copyrighted. That's why Intel processors changed from 386/486 to Pentium naming.
how'd we do going to the metric system?
same result as going to the 100 point scale.
<< <i>in retrospect, and for comparison, how'd we do going to the metric system? same result as going to the 100 point scale. >>
Different ballgame. The metric system itself is not driven by the marketplace. With a 100-point grading scale, you'd be trading one subjective scale for another and the marketplace could decide to shun it since it doesn't do any better at resolving the problems currently seen with third party graded coins. If the marketplace perceives graders as not being perfectly consistent now, giving them a larger scale upon which to grade would be like taking a few steps back from the broad side of a bigger barn with the same sawed-off shotgun and expecting to have better results.
I don't think PCGS would go with a 100 point scale, but I do think the discussion could be interesting if carefully prepared and effectively moderated. Besides, I'll save money on lunch that day.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
<< <i>I really think PCGS would get destroyed changing something that everybody in the hobby knows and understands and that is the 70 point scale..... >>
Exactly. They would be destroying themselves. It's like GM suddenly making all their cars with the steering wheel on the right side. They'd be toast since there's other companies
to quickly & readily buy from.
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.