PSA and publicly available information?

[tschock]

When someone submits cards to PSA for grading, is any of that information public? Possibly through the the registry website (or elsewhere)? Asking because of a strange situation.

About 2 years ago the owner of a local auction house I know had a consignment for a large collection of tobacco cards along with other 'newer' stuff (including a '52 Mantle). So he had his nephew who knew a little about cards send the cards off to PSA for grading. After about 18 months the cards came back graded. A short time after that, maybe a few days to a week, the nephew gets a call from "a major auction house" asking the nephew if he would be interested in consigning the cards to this major auction house for sale. The question that was asked to me was how did the auction house get the contact information?

I don't believe the nephew created a registry profile, or even if he did, his name/location wouldn't be publically available unless he used his name or some other 'searchable' information, such as his real name or the local auction house name.

Am I missing something that is not shady in nature?

[raulus]

Probably depends on which auction house is the major auction house that did the contacting. Keep in mind that PSA and at least one major auction house are owned by the same parent company.

So I suppose it’s possible that they might share information about cards recently graded by PSA with the auction house.

[robertsmithnocure]

PSA and Goldin are both owned by the same company. When you submit your cards to PSA, you have the option of having them shipped directly to the Goldin Vault.

[tschock]

Originally Posted by raulus

Probably depends on which auction house is the major auction house that did the contacting. Keep in mind that PSA and at least one major auction house are owned by the same parent company.

So I suppose it’s possible that they might share information about cards recently graded by PSA with the auction house.

Are you referring Golden (as Rob mentioned below)? It wasn't them.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by tschock

Are you referring Golden (as Rob mentioned below)? It wasn't them.

I was. Interesting that it wasn’t them.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I am sure major auction houses haver access to information the common man does not. Just how it is. I'm not sure I see any harm here.

[tschock]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I am sure major auction houses haver access to information the common man does not. Just how it is. Was this during Nat's tenure or Joe's?

Yeah, that was the only thing I could come up with, but was wondering if there was any 'legit' method I was missing. Not sure when the tenure falls, but it would have been in the past 3-6 months when they received them back from PSA. With all these cards being new to the market, including a T206 Demmitt St Louis Polar Bear, I could see how the details might 'slip out'.