A new pickup and My new sticker on my cards...If you get one of these, well.."fuhgetaboutit" on upgrading. These really speak to you.....you get the idea.

Maybe the purple sticker guy needs to upgrade HIS game...and have a gold sticker that is EVEN BETTER than the purple sticker!! We can have sticker upon sticker!

The continued snowflaking of America. How soon until people demand that every single card in every single slab MUST get a purple sticker??

Grading the slabs?
 

I'm waiting for PWCC to start grading the slabs themselves. "This card is a PSA 5, but the slab is in Mint condition!!!"

PQ? HE? but but the card is a PSA 4!!! Maybe someone can come up with a BS sticker?

Yes... eBay

Well done.

PWCC is just trying to do what any other company tries to do in a bull market: try and take advantage of the situation by adding a couple of levels of hype to the listings. There are so many new collectors out there that they flock to the flame like moths willingly overpaying for cards that most experienced collectors will just watch go by. During the last recession you could fill up a box truck with graded cards, now we're on the other side. Patience and selective buying rules the day.

Jim

Pwcc
 

Exactly....A complete marketing joke!

Registry
 

Matty, the Population Reports merely serve as a “guide” to give the collector some understanding of a card’s overall rarity as well as its “rarity for the grade”. Two separate collecting views. Regarding “special” eye appeal stickers/notations, it will ultimately NEVER be necessary because a collector will use their OWN optics to truly determine a card’s premium value. More and more, this hobby has moved towards “buying the card”, NOT the grade. We are already there, and don’t require additional marketing schemes as the main driver for our decision making process.

Between their self serving market analysis and new marketing gimmick, definitely more than a whiff of desperation coming from PWCC. Seems like someone is on to the fact that the party is winding down.

I agree in terms of PWCCs goal, yet wouldn't be so quick to throw all 3s and 4s under the bus with such a sweeping generalization. I am no fan of PWCC's new "eye appeal system," yet eye appeal does matter a great deal in the card world, and routinely has a major impact on price.

Totally agree that eye appeal does matter a great deal. I just don't need PWCC's opinion in that regard, which is obviously totally subjective.

Not to mention, does anyone think they make these decisions wholly independent of the identity of the consignor?

Good point Peter, the consignor probably weighs heavily on who gets the gold star and who doesn't.

Yes, I understand that you guys trust your own eyes, but when you're buying things off the internet, you can't always see everything on the card. Slight creases are notoriously difficult to notice even in good scans. For example, can you tell me where the crease is in the card below? (hint, it's not the corners) The stickers give assurance to me that there isn't anything really "hidden" by the scans. I think it's a good idea, and I would feel much more confident bidding strongly on a card that has something like this. I also trust PWCC, so when they put their sticker of approval on a card, I do see it as adding value.

https://i.imgur.com/WdYxHf6.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/VwUHsJb.jpg

I think the crease is on the right border running down thru the 's' in athletics....although my eyes are failing me as I get older.

bensie

41 posts

no name

fan of pwcc

Nope...

So because I'm new and didn't fill out my profile, I'm not allowed to have an opinion? Look, it's a simple fact. PWCC putting their HE designator on a card does increase its value. This means that the marketplace (IE people like me) do see a value and do pay for it. Period, end of discussion. I see the PQ designation as adding similar value. It helps to assure me that the card is free from stuff that doesn't show up in a scan.

And yes, I like PWCC. Their scans are always good/consistent, and very representative of the card you receive. I've bought from them and sold through them, and will continue to do so. For selling cards over $200, it's a no brainer. The fees they charge are the same as I'd pay ebay, and if I send to them, I don't have to do any of the work and don't have to deal with the buyers.

Where does it say anything about "the stickers giving assurances that there isn't anything hidden by the scans"? Is there some reason to believe a PQ or HE labeled card doesn't have any creasing? I guess I'm just not understanding what you're saying here.

PSA gives a subjective opinion as well

Well, the presumption is that if you have a stickered PSA 5 vs. a non-stickered PSA 5, the stickered version should present better overall. It's not a guarantee, obviously, but it is an indicator of a higher quality card in the stickered slab. Have you guys never bid up a mid grade card, only to be 'surprised' once you had the card in hand? Creases, card stock anomalies, surface scratches, etc can all be hidden by the scans. In my experience, PWCC cards with the stickers do not have these 'hidden' problems.

And all the anomalies you mentioned could conceivably still exist on a HE or PQ stickered card as my understanding is the sticker is based on eye appeal, not technical grade/actual condition.

This is precisely where collectors need to be careful, and brings up a subtle yet pretty important point...

PWCC's sticker is not what is increasing the value; the eye appeal of the card in question is what is increasing the card's value, relative to others in the same grade.

It is the card that is getting its due recognition from us collectors and our wallets; PWCC is merely choosing to use a sticker to hang a lantern on exceptional eye appeal, in precisely the same way that another seller will say "high end" or "great eye appeal" or "presents better than some higher grades," etc. Is it a flashier gimmick? Yes. A more effective lantern? Perhaps.

It is paramount to remember that such cards tend to do their thing on the selling block just fine, without a special sticker that merely states the obvious. I'm sure many of us paid "HE-sticker-like premiums" on many a card, long before PWCC rolled out their campaign.

If one allows PWCC's sticker to become the thing instead of the card, that is where a big risk is run. Just as with PSA's stickers— the card has to merit what the sticker says. And only our eyes can confirm or disconfirm that.

Of course this all goes to the heart of one's collecting philosophy— in terms of whether one is collecting cards, or stickers.

Party winding down? What does this even mean?

Yah they aren't professional graders, remember.

Not buying the fact it is purely subjective. Rampant speculation has always been it's dependent on who the consignor might be.


That is what the description is for, not what a sticker is for. Add something more to the generic "worthy of attention", or "difficult to improve upon".

Give me a clear and accurate scan and no marketing BS every time. I'll pass on the kool aid, thank you.

How do you like that sticker-worthy 58 Clemente?

Someone may have already covered this, but what happens if you have a HE PWCC card AND convince that dude to slap a purple sticker on it? Does the damm thing just spontaneously combust at that point?

Millenial women will fall all over you.

Well now, there's an idea I hadn't considered.

sure you're allowed to have an opinion. and if you want to express it here, check out the rule in bold at the top of the page:

If you give an opinion of a person or company your full name needs to be in your post.

Oh, how I wish Yogi Berra were alive to see this.

Fixed and he and I will have a quick chat about it soon...

If there is a flaw on a PWCC stickered card, HE or PQ, that gives a whole new meaning to “sticker shock”. :eek:;)

well
 

You don't want to wear the ribbon??!?

Man, this is a slippery slope. Adding a sticker and marketing it as adding perceived value to something is dicey. I don't know what kind of premium, if any, these will add to prices, but I just did a 3 minute search and found this company who makes similar stickers. Scroll down to item 34. If it's not identical, it's so close that most wouldn't know the difference. Wouldn't be hard to just buy a bunch and slap them on everything. With power comes responsibility, and this seems sloppy. At least custom design your sticker from scratch instead of using something off the shelf. Jeez.

https://www.novavisioninc.com/pages/...am_labels.html

Sorta related to my issue with it which is, at least the grading companies are somewhat accountable for their standards (buy back guarantees etc...) PWCC eschews all responsibility (we're not professional graders) while offering a MORE HIGHLY NUANCED opinion on a cards condition (or appeal or whatever they want to call it) than the grading companies. PLUS they don't back it up with any kind of guarantee. Basically "We can't grade from 1 - 20 (1-10 with half point grades is in essence a 20 point scale) but we can grade on a 40, or possibly 80 point scale (1-10 with half grades plus HE plus PQ)

The 58 Clemente which was pointed out by Chris P. was enough to make me lose all faith (not that I ever had any) in PWCC's ability to spot a high end card.

My prediction. This is a fad and will either be spun off if there is traction, or discontinue when all is said and done.

There is definitely a business case for a "second opinion" or any edge over the normal grade. Sales backs this up from the price premiums realized from from + grading to "high-end" cards at the auctions. I think it would be nice to have a PSA sticker or a SGC sticker on the slabs as second opinions and to solve the registry dilemma. But there are conflict of interests if the auction does the second opinion.

For the bidder, that label serves as an economic signal to everyone else bidding for the card. Higher prices are good for PWCC, not the bidder. Value economics decline and makes competing auction houses better hunting grounds for value. Oh yeah, what happens when PSA issues their new version slab and when you resubmit that sticker goes away...like driving a new car off the lot?

For the seller, what if you don't get one of their shiny labels and you are listed in their auction? Does that mean a card graded is weak for its grade? Tough cookies on the crap shoot of consigning to see if you get a label, only to not get one and get less than what you were hoping for.

Still its better for the auction house to get business when the consignor knows theres a chance they can get the high end designation when other auctions houses dont offer the chance.....just having the chance is why people buy ungraded cards, 'unopened' pack or buy a mantle someone said found in their uncle's attic ....lots of money is made from people hoping for the 'chance'

But how often is it made by the people TAKING the chance???

I'm sure the consignor requested and received the "HE" label. But yes, you are right, definitely NOT a high end card.

When I asked for HE on a card I too was turned down. The corners were too soft, I was told. That said, I am sure I am not an HE collector....more like a LE collector (low end). Where are those LE stickers?:cool:

65 35 with a tilt, not sure I would have called this PQ.

Here you go Leon, Certified Low End (not my card).

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...aac5981a88.jpg


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