SGC Update

[sportscardpete]

on their website:

Dear SGC Collectors,

It’s been far too long since we’ve peaked our head out from behind the mountain of submissions we’re currently working through, and we know that we’re long overdue for an update. There’s certainly a lot to say and it’s difficult to decide where to begin, but we’ve got to start somewhere, so here it goes…

For many of you, SGC appeared on your hobby radar only very recently. Whether you saw a high-end Giannis graded an SGC 10/10 on Instagram or you happened to notice the strength of our modern prices while scrolling through ebay, one thing has become very clear—SGC has officially arrived, and we’re here to stay.

No one has believed in SGC more than our team and we knew from the start of this journey that if we worked hard and did things the right way, success would follow. Having said that, I would be lying to you if I told you we were expecting anything like this, this quickly. We knew we wanted it all and we knew we could get there, but we simply thought that growing our brand would be a slow and steady climb. What we’ve experienced here has been an exponential explosion of support from across the hobby.

Whether you gave us a shot with a 3 card test submission or you went all-in from the start by sending us a 2,000 card bulk order, we want to sincerely thank you for your vote of confidence. It means the world to our team to be given this opportunity by the hobby, and I can assure all of you that we have not and will not ever take it for granted.

Having said all that, it’s time to address the current situation at hand. A few months back, a seismic shift in the psychology of the modern card collector took place. In what seems like the blink of an eye, SGC went from being the vintage grading company to the up and coming juggernaut steamrolling its way into the modern space. All at once, the entire hobby sent us their cards and was excited to give SGC a try. The early days of this change (which now feel like they were years ago rather than merely a few months), were like nothing any of us had ever seen before. The submissions were growing exponentially and, with that, so were the challenges. Our company, which made its name delivering on both service and turnaround time, was now staring down the barrel of processing delays like we’d never imagined.

Our formerly much smaller operation, which did everything a certain way (that worked very well at the time), now had to revamp nearly everything about it in order to meet the very sudden and overwhelming demand. With these necessary changes taking place one-by-one, it was impossible for us to move at the pace that we wanted. Sacrificing the quality of our grading was never an option. Cutting corners is not in our DNA and I’m proud to say that our team has not only quadrupled in size, but we’re stronger and much more capable than ever as well. We continue to add key pieces each day, paving the way for our most skilled employees to climb the SGC ladder. This process builds SGC employee loyalty, and is essential to us increasing production.

As I write this, with chills down my arms, I can report that SGC has very effectively scaled our operation 4x in a matter of months. How have grades not been sacrificed, you may be wondering. Well, just ask Nick, who’s led our research team for the past year and a half. It was one of my all time favorite SGC moments to tell him that, after months of training with Scott, he was finally ready to take on the challenge of becoming an SGC grader. Talk to Andy, who has years of grading experience in the hobby and blew us all away with the results of his first grading test. At SGC, we don’t take grading or the impact that it has lightly. It is the lifeblood of our company and the most thriving segment of the hobby to date. The second grading is sacrificed (even a little bit), is the second that we have failed in doing what we’ve set out to do. I could go on for hours about our team, our accomplishments, and our passion for what we do, but I assume you are all more interested in hearing about the elephant in the room—our delayed turnaround times and an update on what you can expect from here.

To all of you who are on business day 40 of your 20 business day order, 4 days past your 5 business day estimate or in situations even worse than that, I am so sincerely sorry that we could not offer you the speed of service we would’ve liked to. For 22 years, we never experienced anything close to this kind of volume and it has caused delays far exceeding anything we expected. Please rest assured that our team will continue to grow until we’re fully caught up on our turnaround times. We’ll continue working overtime, weekends, and giving it our best shot to make sure that we are completing as many of your orders as effectively as possible.

As of today, many of you may have noticed that there have been some very drastic changes to the services we are now offering. Please know that any orders submitted prior to these changes are completely unaffected by them. The way in which we process orders is NOT changing, even in the slightest way. What is changing is that we’re improving our turnaround time transparency so that customers are fully aware of SGC’s lead times prior to submitting. Additionally, please understand that these changes are far from permanent. The goal remains getting our turnaround times back to where they were prior to the boom, back to where we’ve had them for over two decades.

After giving it a tremendous amount of thought, we’ve decided that, rather than providing a hard (and unfortunately inaccurate) estimate of when to expect your orders to be completed, we’re giving you a very fluid, but transparent, and (hopefully) accurate idea of when to expect your cards to be on their way back to you. In total, SGC will now have two card grading service options available to our collectors. The first service, that we’ve aptly named the “I Can Wait” service, is for customers who can do exactly that. Sure, everyone wants their cards to be graded and shipped back as quickly as possible, but the “I Can Wait” service provides collectors with a great way to take advantage of the most competitive pricing the hobby has to offer. Orders submitted at the “I Can Wait” level are subject to turnaround times that fluctuate with demand, so although we’ll be working like crazy to keep the times down, there may be some unforeseen delays taking place at the time of your order’s processing that were not present during the initial creation of your submission. This service will start at the same low rate of $10/card that we’ve been charging for years and the estimated turnaround time will update on our website every few days to reflect where our team is at with turnaround times.

The second option offered is the “Need Them Now” service. This service is for any order that needs to be completed in a much quicker timeframe than our “I Can Wait” service. The estimated turnaround time for orders submitted at the “Need Them Now” service level is 3-5 business days. Although this is still an estimate, customers should not expect to wait far past the 5 business day mark to see that their orders have been marked shipped and are on their way back to them. The “Need Them Now” service starts at $100/card and is available to all collectors who don’t want to have to wait to see their SGC grades. Please note that bulk rates are also remaining completely unchanged by these updated services.

I cannot express enough how unnatural it feels to make these kinds of necessary updates, but we’re doing all of this in the name of transparency. Just to reiterate, nothing within our office will be changing whatsoever. All existing orders will be processed based on their existing priority and all orders received moving forward will fall behind them.

On the topic of these updates, I would assume many collectors want to know why such changes were not implemented sooner. The short, but truthful answer is that they should have been, but there was so much building to do within our company that accurately addressing these issues was extraordinarily difficult up until this point (it’s not so easy now, either). I understand that this may not be an answer that satisfies the SGC collecting community and I take full responsibility for the mistakes I’ve made along the way, but please know that the last thing we ever want to do is make collectors feel at all misled. I understand that many of you submitted after hearing about SGC’s lightning fast turnaround times and what you were delivered was, unfortunately, the opposite. I would like to offer my sincerest apologies to you all and I hope that the massive investments we continue to make in our operation continue to pay off and mitigate these delays. We will continue to grow our team, scale our operation, and always remember what got us here—grading the cards right and treating the collectors right. Our team takes the services that we provide extremely seriously and we will not rest until there is no longer a need for an “I Can Wait” service.

We fully understand that these changes are a lot to take in and that there may be questions that many of you still have. For this reason, I will be joining Josh once again on Cardboard Chronicles this Saturday, July 25th, for an in-depth followup interview on where things stand with SGC. I’m greatly looking forward to going back to where it all started and I’m ready to face these challenges head on and out in the open for all to see. We have nothing to hide and I hope everyone who has taken the time to read this will be tuning in.

This is the craziest ride of our SGC lives and surely one of the most exciting times that the hobby has ever seen. On behalf of our entire team, thank you for believing in us and allowing us the opportunity to keep doing what we love at an even higher level. Together, we can continue to change this hobby of ours for the better. Keep collecting, keep grading, and this train will keep moving forward. I promise.

Until next time,

Peter Steinberg
President, SGC

[sportscardpete]

I'll add that the time for the industry to modernize their grading procedures is NOW. My thoughts are grading demand is only going to grow (have you seen the y/y growth from PSA - publicly disclosed) and they are going to turn collectors away if they have to wait so long to get cards back.

[bobbyw8469]

So two levels?? $10 per card and $100 per card?

[Mark17]

Can someone sum this up in a few sentences? This guy loves to use words that say little to nothing.

[buymycards]

It is refreshing to have a grading company admit to their problems, discuss their problems with us, and to give us an honest assessment of their business.

If only PSA, COMC, Crazy Uncle, etc. would be so open.

Rick

[OldOriole]

Originally Posted by Mark17

Can someone sum this up in a few sentences? This guy loves to use words that say little to nothing.

SGC has experienced a large uptick in business. Accordingly, they are switching to a two tiered submission system. If it's not urgent you get your cards back right away it's $10/card, if you want them back in 3-5 business days it's $100/card.

[x2drich2000]

Originally Posted by buymycards

It is refreshing to have a grading company admit to their problems, discuss their problems with us, and to give us an honest assessment of their business.

If only PSA, COMC, Crazy Uncle, etc. would be so open.

Rick

+1

[Snapolit1]

+1

Originally Posted by buymycards

It is refreshing to have a grading company admit to their problems, discuss their problems with us, and to give us an honest assessment of their business.

If only PSA, COMC, Crazy Uncle, etc. would be so open.

Rick

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by OldOriole

SGC has experienced a large uptick in business. Accordingly, they are switching to a two tiered submission system. If it's not urgent you get your cards back right away it's $10/card, if you want them back in 3-5 business days it's $100/card.

Thanks! Those sound like fair prices to me.

[packs]

Is onsite grading still a service they offer? I haven't been to a show in a while but it sounds like that's the best route these days if it's still done.

[x2drich2000]

Originally Posted by packs

Is onsite grading still a service they offer? I haven't been to a show in a while but it sounds like that's the best route these days if it's still done.

I have not seen them offer it at either Philly or White Plains since they moved to FL.

[36GoudeyMan]

This is an interesting approach, and maybe it will work, but I think the skyrocketing demand for SGC grading should have been foreseen, and the fact that it wasn't is a concern.

First, the time frame of "months ago" coincides, maybe more or less, with the start of the serous fallout against PSA from the PWCC/Moser trimming scandal, which largely, not totally, excluded SGC (with certain glaring inclusions). I think SGC should have seen the obvious potential for a shift away from PSA, and towards SGC and Beckett. Ramping up as that scandal unfolded should have been started much, much sooner.

Second, and this is more subtle, there is a growing consensus that the new basketball card market explosion is due in large part to new players with free time and money speculating on cards of players with a much higher international profile than the other 3 major sports (you could argue about hockey, but they don't generally play hockey as broadly as they do basketball internationally). The first glimmers of the market speculation on a bulk level was also months ago, when the auction prices of Prizm (?) and other similar limited edition cards started going insane, an observable phenomenon. With that kind of sea change in card money movement, SGC should have also foreseen the immediate demand for new card grading.

SGC missed both of these in a more timely manner,and the result is playing huge catch up and defending huge delays. That is disappointing, but I do applaud their candor.

Also,let me be clear: I am one of those who have largely, not entirely, switched to SGC, for many reasons unaffected by these market-responsive changes. I prefer SGC grading, and appearance, and am slowly converting and submitting (I Can Wait) away from PSA until I see some sea changes at PSA as well (if ever). This is not SGC bashing - I like and prefer SGC, especially for my pre-war cards, but also overall. I am just disappointed that it has fallen so far behind a foreseeable shift in market dynamics, and now we all pay the price, literally and figuratively.

As Dennis Miller used to say, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

[swarmee]

It's not that PSA is losing business, it's that they're even more backlogged. SGC is still third by a large margin. But that's some impressive scaling in short order that if PSA could have replicated, would have not led to any increase in SGC getting closer to BGS.

[Jcosta19]

Originally Posted by packs

Is onsite grading still a service they offer? I haven't been to a show in a while but it sounds like that's the best route these days if it's still done.

Pretty sure they only do onsite at National.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Rhotchkiss]

Their pop report is still DOG SHIT for certain vintage cards, particularly (At least) t206, e107, and w600

[notfast]

Originally Posted by buymycards

It is refreshing to have a grading company admit to their problems, discuss their problems with us, and to give us an honest assessment of their business.

If only PSA, COMC, Crazy Uncle, etc. would be so open.

Rick

I couldn’t disagree more. All it’s doing is stating the obvious to try to pacify people. I guess it works but it’s nothing more than lip service to me.

SGC needs to continue with their focus on vintage. Their foray into modern has been a failure.

[ejharrington]

Companies in this hobby need to follow the adage: "Under promise and over deliver".

If someone tells me they are going to return my item in three weeks and it takes seven weeks, I am going to be pissed. If that same person tells me that they they are going to return my item in ten weeks and it takes seven weeks, I am going to be happy.

It is so basic and is used all the time in every walk of life but this hobby.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by 36GoudeyMan

This is an interesting approach, and maybe it will work, but I think the skyrocketing demand for SGC grading should have been foreseen, and the fact that it wasn't is a concern.

First, the time frame of "months ago" coincides, maybe more or less, with the start of the serous fallout against PSA from the PWCC/Moser trimming scandal, which largely, not totally, excluded SGC (with certain glaring inclusions). I think SGC should have seen the obvious potential for a shift away from PSA, and towards SGC and Beckett. Ramping up as that scandal unfolded should have been started much, much sooner.

Second, and this is more subtle, there is a growing consensus that the new basketball card market explosion is due in large part to new players with free time and money speculating on cards of players with a much higher international profile than the other 3 major sports (you could argue about hockey, but they don't generally play hockey as broadly as they do basketball internationally). The first glimmers of the market speculation on a bulk level was also months ago, when the auction prices of Prizm (?) and other similar limited edition cards started going insane, an observable phenomenon. With that kind of sea change in card money movement, SGC should have also foreseen the immediate demand for new card grading.

SGC missed both of these in a more timely manner,and the result is playing huge catch up and defending huge delays. That is disappointing, but I do applaud their candor.

Also,let me be clear: I am one of those who have largely, not entirely, switched to SGC, for many reasons unaffected by these market-responsive changes. I prefer SGC grading, and appearance, and am slowly converting and submitting (I Can Wait) away from PSA until I see some sea changes at PSA as well (if ever). This is not SGC bashing - I like and prefer SGC, especially for my pre-war cards, but also overall. I am just disappointed that it has fallen so far behind a foreseeable shift in market dynamics, and now we all pay the price, literally and figuratively.

As Dennis Miller used to say, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

I believe “months ago” is more referring to March when the hobby took off like a rocket. PSA got/is so slammed that newbies decided they’d rather have SGC slabs quickly than PSA slabs in 6 months. Given the market’s historically overwhelming preference for PSA, i thinks it’s fair that they caught a little off guard by that.

I don't collect graded cards at all, but I think the simplified tiers are great. This is capitalist America and the “if you want to cut the line, it’s gonna cost you” way of doing business is alive and well.

[vthobby]

I like this message. A bit overdue but honest. Without a doubt if you actually KNOW what you are doing in this hobby/business you then also KNOW that this company is consistent, accurate, and without a doubt underpriced in certain card areas. Compared to similar cards in other companies' slabs.

SGC has been solid ever since I started sending them cards.

In my earlier days, I sent a 1965 Namath RC to them raw and it came back an SGC 88. I was so cocky and proudly showed it off at my first Philly show more than 25 years ago. I also sold it for around $1500 at that same show.

I'm so smart............ughhhhhhhhhhhh

Peace, Mike

[Donscards]

I am on day 56 on a 20 day service--SGC received them April 30--plus I have 2 other orders in. Hopefully soon.

[VintageBen]

I'm on day 37 of a 20 day submission... received on june 3. Looks like I'm halfway there to getting my cards back

[Dpeck100]

I got two cards done by SGC a few months ago at the 5 day service level at $35 a card.

They were on time, their website has improved a great deal, the holder looks good and I think their grades were very reasonable.

The card market is in a phase that is unprecedented. The market is in a bull move like never seen before and the only thing that remotely resembles it is when graded cards first got hot in the late 90’s.

The fact that all three third party graders basically have to turn business away is a testament to the avalanche of submissions that are under way.

The amount of money trying to be put to work in cards is incredible. When these events occur prices have no where to go but up. Hence the explosion across so many hobby segments.

[prestigecollectibles]

It also depends on the value of the card. Here is a card valued at $2000 with a fee of $85 for 40-45 business days or $100 for 3 business days. So it isn't just $10 or $100 based on time.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

Their pop report is still DOG SHIT for certain vintage cards, particularly (At least) t206, e107, and w600

They went with the developers "I can wait" service.

[unamuzd1]

Originally Posted by prestigecollectibles

It also depends on the value of the card. Here is a card valued at $2000 with a fee of $85 for 40-45 business days or $100 for 3 business days. So it isn't just $10 or $100 based on time.

I was just coming here to say this. I put together an 11-card submission with a total value estimate of $6150. The "I can wait" price is $305. The "Need them now" is $1100. So it looks like the $100 is firm, but I noticed that the wording in the message is that the "I can wait" prices *start* at $10. So I wasn't surprised to find out this wouldn't be a $110 submission, much as I might have liked it to be.

[jbsports33]

Thank you for the response and update! Just what I was waiting for, great letter on the website - Jimmy

[JohnP0621]

It seems So nice that they are explaining their problems due to a large surge in business but how are they making good on subs already submitted that are weeks or Months late . Are they cutting your price per card to the I can wait level or are they still charging the original sub price . If it’s the latter than it’s just lip service when they charge you full price for a service that You paid for and didn’t receive. They won’t get any applause from me. Just another company taking your money and not making good on the contract that was signed and paid for. When I pay for 15 day service and get 45 day service I would like a discount , refund or free subs .

John P

[bobbyw8469]

Originally Posted by vtgmsc

I like this message. A bit overdue but honest. Without a doubt if you actually KNOW what you are doing in this hobby/business you then also KNOW that this company is consistent, accurate, and without a doubt underpriced in certain card areas. Compared to similar cards in other companies' slabs.

SGC has been solid ever since I started sending them cards.

In my earlier days, I sent a 1965 Namath RC to them raw and it came back an SGC 88. I was so cocky and proudly showed it off at my first Philly show more than 25 years ago. I also sold it for around $1500 at that same show.

I'm so smart............ughhhhhhhhhhhh

Peace, Mike

We all have horror stories like that. I sold my PSA 7 for $2,000 and thought I was doing something!!! Oops!!!

[mantlefan]

Originally Posted by JohnP0621

It seems So nice that they are explaining their problems due to a large surge in business but how are they making good on subs already submitted that are weeks or Months late . Are they cutting your price per card to the I can wait level or are they still charging the original sub price . If it’s the latter than it’s just lip service when they charge you full price for a service that You paid for and didn’t receive. They won’t get any applause from me. Just another company taking your money and not making good on the contract that was signed and paid for. When I pay for 15 day service and get 45 day service I would like a discount , refund or free subs .

John P

Absolutely correct John!

[bobbyw8469]

Originally Posted by JohnP0621

It seems So nice that they are explaining their problems due to a large surge in business but how are they making good on subs already submitted that are weeks or Months late . Are they cutting your price per card to the I can wait level or are they still charging the original sub price . If it’s the latter than it’s just lip service when they charge you full price for a service that You paid for and didn’t receive. They won’t get any applause from me. Just another company taking your money and not making good on the contract that was signed and paid for. When I pay for 15 day service and get 45 day service I would like a discount , refund or free subs .

John P

Nailed it.

[68Hawk]

Contract, LOL.
You guys are such first world babies.
SGC had a running go with the above post at explaining why service time has devolved so badly.
If you put ANY industry in that situation and they couldn't gear up instantly - which is nigh impossible, you get the exact same result.

We didn't have toilet paper a few months ago, THAT was a problem.

If after understanding their new situ SGC is unable to turn things around such that people can 'deal' with grading and return times as they are now being ESTIMATED, people will stop using them.
Me, I like the grading and the people there and trust what I'm getting from them. My vintage goes there, my modern to Beckett.

Sheesh, you are a squealy lot.

[sportscardpete]

If you paid a premium to get toilet paper in 5 days instead of a regular price to get it in 10 days, and then received said toilet paper in 15 days while
Paying a premium price, you would be “squealy” too.

Originally Posted by 68Hawk

Contract, LOL.
You guys are such first world babies.
SGC had a running go with the above post at explaining why service time has devolved so badly.
If you put ANY industry in that situation and they couldn't gear up instantly - which is nigh impossible, you get the exact same result.

We didn't have toilet paper a few months ago, THAT was a problem.

If after understanding their new situ SGC is unable to turn things around such that people can 'deal' with grading and return times as they are now being ESTIMATED, people will stop using them.
Me, I like the grading and the people there and trust what I'm getting from them. My vintage goes there, my modern to Beckett.

Sheesh, you are a squealy lot.