SGC - New in 2022
 

SCG grading company came out with a short video saying turnarounds times are 22 days and they are excited about new things in 2022. Any insight what they will be?

Maybe a registry :)

Maybe they will start to grade vintage accurately? They are just hammering.

I guess details to follow and the great things to come.

Kind of like a teaser.

Hopefully the basics would be nice

1. Accurate grading
2. Faster turnaround time
3. New lower tier pricing for grading
4. Improved communication
5. Easier access to customer service

I'd prefer if they just provided their customers with a registry. seriously, how hard is it to hire some developers and create one?

I bet they form a partnership with someone. Maybe a marketplace so that you can have your cards graded and directly sent to the marketplace to be sold (and maybe the marketplace helps reduce the price or something??). Makes a ton of sense for SGC. If you are a long-term collector you probably don't care, but this will help SGC's position with the flippers, who are an increasingly large % of the hobby.

The registry just makes too much sense. That, and better pop reports so we can easily see how many of a specific card are graded (gosh, it is so annoying seeing total pop report across the big 3 graders - takes way too much time).

Any hope of a legit registry, pop report, website and slab with a barcode ?

Let’s Hope 2022 Brings SGC to the National to Grade On Site…..they didn’t do onsite this year. Was shocked they would leave that much money on the table.

Totally agree. This would be good for their business, having a full featured registry would likely move a few folks off of PSAs dinosaur registry.

According to them, they had a huge amount of orders in house and they felt obligated to take care of as many of them as they could. I think it was really that they weighed the cost of doing the show with what they could bring in at the show and decided that the extra profit was not worth it and to just deal with their backlog. And then take an opportunity to make it look like they were not being greedy like PSA has proven to be.

Just my two cents. If you’re content with your business you do that. If you’re trying to improve and gain market share from PSA while their affectively shut down at lower tier levels you go and you grade onsite. Especially when there wasn’t even a National in 2021 due to Covid. I want to see SGC step outside of their comfort zone and gain some market share.

I say bring back this look (not my card)

Peter S. has repeatedly said that the Registry is not of importance to them.....

Sad as it is, I am not sure their gaining real market share is up to them, any longer. This whole time PSA has suspended various service levels it is apparent that SGC has picked up business but I am able to buy SGC material for a pretty significant discount to what the card would have sold for in a PSA holder.

I agree.

I do miss the old registry and chat rooms, I hope you can register their old slabs on the new registry if it ever comes about.

and I miss the old prices - both SGC and PSA!

Jimmy

SGC seems to be the proverbial snack before dinnertime. You're extremely hungry to get something graded, so you send some cards out to them, but you're really just waiting for your mom to put the 'real' meal on the table - PSA getting back to affordable and expedient (ha! ha!) grading.

Maybe an email that isn't a copy and paste template from Brent :)

SGC, I hope you are lurking in these forums!! You continue to have an opportunity here in the collecting community. Note many of the repeated responses:

1) A lower tiered price point is essential for true collectors. The modern card gradings will soon disappear as the modern card bubble bursts. Respect the vintage guys with a bulk submission rate.
2) You need a darn registry, giving folks more of a reason to buy your cards. If more cards are sold, better prices can be realized by sellers, causing more submissions ($$'s) to come your way.
3) Training in grading standards is a key. Be tough, be easy, I really don't care - just be CONSISTENT.
4) Lastly, many of us have been disenfranchised by PSA. We still buy cards in their holders, but love competition and options when spending hard earned money on fees.

Incredibly well stated!
 

This!

If the price of SGC graded, vintage HOF cards ever rises to the level of PSA, there will shock and awe at CU. Their operational crisis eroded faith in many of its hardcore customer base. Blame Pokemon, ineptitude, the agony of waiting for your cards month after month (in my case it was 15 months and I had forgotten what I submitted.), management turnover, Goldin, etc. SGC has partially filled the gap, so power to them. But I fear they have sometimes have forgotten who has been their customer base for years in their push to get as many cards graded in the shortest period of time.

+1

The registry thing would have happened years ago. It's not in the cards.

You might misunderstand Tony, they had a registry for many years, up until a couple years ago. Many of us want it to return. I had 700 cards in various SGC sets. It was maintained for a while on their old website even after they reinvented themselves. A registry is one of the keys to increasing interest in a company’s gradings - even BGS has one.

I think they realize that the registry train left the station a long time ago and they were not on it. PSA owns the registry and it is the most valuable asset that they have.

Yeah I don't think introduction of a registry would give SGC any more of a competitive edge at this point. PSA has run away with that concept. $30 per card has not helped them either.

Jay,

Do you think as it seems that more investors/flippers are entering the market these days that it may eventually start to take a little lustre off their registry asset? I know part of that registry advantage is that collectors will pay dearly to improve their set rank and standing on the registry, but a lot of these newcomers don't seem to care about that. They buy the PSA cards because they typically bring a higher price over SGC and Beckett graded cards, but as time goes by and maybe fewer and fewer people are as concerned about the registry, can you see that pricing gap between PSA and the others maybe start to close?

Doesn’t CSG provide most of what’s being asked for here?

I’m guessing the desire for SGC to become what they once were is centered on the fact we have hundreds of cards already in their slabs.

I think it’s clear which collectors SGC is targeting and it isn’t the prewar collector.

Brent, nice point, you are probably right about the target audience… still think it’s shortsighted of them though. I’ll have to look at CSG more closely, they may be an option going forward. I heard they had some decent funding.

New video today on their site...https://www.gosgc.com/update-20210909

Two weeks later he is now claiming turnaround times were 16 days and the turnaround time will now show 45-50 days on the site but subs will not take that long. LOL. Hope that was not one of the exciting things Peter was referring to in the Dec video!

Again take as much time as you fellas need. How about getting the grades right. The public does not need their cards back fast. They need them back graded right.

+1000.

Did he mention bringing back the guarantee?;)

I wish the people at SGC knew how to respond to an email or phone call :(

My oh my does it seem like things have shifted.

I have a 5 card sub recieved by them on Dec 14th.
Not graded yet, so definitely not 16, even if we are talking 16 business days.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

Maybe that is one of the exciting things that are happening soon? Or...maybe not.

Maybe. I think it was in 2019 Peter told me they had just taken it down temporarily, their lawyers were reviewing the language, and it would be back up shortly.

adverb
only for a while or for the time being; not permanently.

Well we won't know until the end of time that it had not taken down temporarily but permanently.

Begs the question why a lawyer would have them remove their guarantee after all of these years. I mean the G in SGC does stand for guarantee, after all. Nice to see that accountability is removed at the top. Yet I read on here how collectors repeatedly expect auction houses to pick up altered cards in slabs.

What a seriously silly hobby this has become.

My submission received 12/6/21. Shipped 1/6/22

While BODA was mostly focusing on PSA they were exposing some high power SGC cards as well, and obviously SGC decided they didn't want to deal with the potential claims and just hacked out the "G." It was like that great 50s doo-wop song, "Who took the G out of SGC?" Like most everything else, nobody cared, just keep the train rolling.

Well good for them being able to pull that off. Not shocking that collectors did not care. Just need $30 or less grading per card with fast turnarounds. Take that away and boy will the collectors be upset. Hell to pay.

I will never figure why collectors will spend STUPID money on common cards, just to put it on a set registry. Who cares?

[QUOTE=Lorewalker;2183550]New video today on their site...https://www.gosgc.com/update-20210909

This "new" video was posted September 8, 2021
Their website currently states that they are taking 45-50 estimated business days.

1 month.....
 

[QUOTE=prestigecollectibles;2183757]My last few submissions even over the holiday have taken about 1 month.

Large orders, small orders. They are clearly the only game in town right now if you want your cards back before your kids graduate from sollege.

30 days!

Business days? lol

30 days period!

Mike

SGC wish list
 

If I could have SGC change two things in 2022 it would be:

1) List the individual grades for surface, centering, corners and edging. They don't have to necessarily list it on the card itself (maybe the back of the card would work so the front can be less "busy") but I would really like to see this information somewhere, if just on the website itself when you enter the Auth Code #.

This would help in two ways:
a) provide some clarity and accountability for them so it doesn't seem like they are just coming up with a # out of thin air; and
b) when considering to buy an SGC slabbed card you could make a more informed decision. For instance, I am way more interested in the surface of a card, than in its edges, and would be able to seek out cards with high surface grades.

2) I wish they would return the card savers you sent with the original cards. I hate having to replace Card Savers, especially the big ones, like Card Saver 4.

Other than that, I have been pretty happy with SGC other than them grading a bit harshly on occasion :)

My order was received 12/12/21. Sent back 1/13/22. Pretty good.

I sure hope they don't do this. It might make sense, but it's such a potential conflict of interest that would undermine their integrity.

Any update from SGC? We are more than halfway through January and I haven't seen any news. :)

Monday:)

What do you know?

They will start grading unopened materials!

Historical precedence and deadpan humor, probably.

"Monday" is a running joke in SGC circles.

Hopefully their announcement will be that they will be grading at the National This Year. I was very disappointed they didn’t grade at Last Years National in Chicago.

SGC in 2022
 

I had pretty much used PSA for card grading in the past, but sent my 2nd submission to SGC in December. Generally, I was pretty satisfied with the turnaround time and I thought the grading was accurate. However, I did have one card that appeared to be damaged in the process of incapsulation. I tried to contact them by both email and phone but no response. That was at least 3 weeks ago. So, better communication would be my #1 goal for SGC in 2022.

SCG T205 Cobb
 

I was contemplating posting a SCG 3 T205 Cobb on the B/S/T forum but if it not worth the price of a PSA 3, I'll keep it--

huh?
 

Who says it's not? I'd LOVE to see a pic or 2 and a price, you might just surprise yourself.

Thanks~!

PSA just brings more money. I hope SGC hires some experienced graders so they don't keep making mistakes.
.

Concur, they really dropped the ball on that last year.

People come to the National to buy sell and grade cards. Why a major grading company wouldn’t be there is beyond me? Let’s hope they learned a lesson.

Totally agree. Spoke at length with Peter regarding this and he defended his position tooth and nail like his life depended on it.

+100

Wity respect to PSA, that’s the pot calling the kettle black.

They both/all screw up - more than they should - but to me PSA messes up way more and more egregiously and their grading is totally inconsistent, both currently and current compared to past.

Never get cheated! (Unless you are trying to get obvious reprints graded as authentic)

Brian, what was his reasoning behind it?

Grading standards at SGC
 

Do folks feel SGC is grading vintage differently now? Perhaps more strictly than in times past?

Not just vintage. I think they have tightened their entire grading process. I’ll find out just how much in 45-50 days. They just received 6 cards from me yesterday.

IMO, both PSA and SGC should change their grading write up criteria. When was the last time you saw anything graded with a crease at a 3? The write ups on a "4" are listed below from SGC
4

QUALITY
VG/EX

DESCRIPTION
85/15 or better centering, corners are slightly rounded with modest surface wear. Light hairline crease may show on one or both sides. A light tear or surface break may exist.
When was the last time you saw this grading as a 4?

PSA states a light crease may be present on a PSA 4.....on a PSA 4? That type of grading hasn't happened since the 90's.

I hope they grade cards based on their own standards soon.

Bob

One of the biggest problems in this hobby is that no TPG should have been allowed to determine their own grading standards, and then go even further and to then change them as they saw fit over time. One single set of agreed upon standards should have been set by the people in the hobby, and the TPGs should have had to seek approval and accreditation from whatever group spoke for the people in the hobby. Not the TPGs, not the dealers, and not the people/companies originally printing out price guides and other hobby publications years ago that often included their ideas of what the grading standards should be. And each and every TPG certified and accredited by the overriding hobby group setting the standards should have to adhere to those standards, be transparent in all they do in regards to grading (in other words, when a customer paying for grading asks why a card got a lower grade than expected, they should be given a complete, full answer), certainly not be able to charge grading fees based on a contingent percentage of a card's perceived value (doing so can cause the grading service to not be viewed as independent and unbiased, and it should take about the same time and effort to grade a '52 Topps Mantle as it does to grade an '87 Topps common, so why the difference in grading fees), and also be required to undergo some type of independent, periodic, third-party review of their grading, and if found to be deficient, their certification as an approved TPG should be subject to suspension, or even forfeiture.

It is too late though, as the TPGs have control of the hobby (with too many people now having too much value tied up in certain TPG slabs to ever want to go against them), basically call the shots, charge what they want, and decide what is what.

And as far as TPGs hiring more graders, exactly what experience do these new graders have to start, probably none. So who then is training them, and exactly how and what are they being trained to do? For all the errors and mistakes, and the uncaught alterations, in TPG slabbed cards that continually seem to keep turning up in our hobby, maybe it is about time the TPGs get held to some accountable standard, and start explaining how they go about performing their selection and training of graders, and exactly how they do what they're doing as far as grading. It sure as hell isn't like any of them have something akin to a proprietary grading technique or trade secret, like Coca-Cola's formula or KFC's fried chicken recipe, that could or should allow them to keep from their paying customers exactly what it is they're doing. .

Accurate grading? Compared with the other two of the BIG 3, SGC is by far the most accurate.

Faster turnaround time? They are faster than any grading company out there. There were a few months last year when I was getting my cards back in two weeks.

Not sure what MORE SGC could do on those two points.

+1 Plus, SGC slabbed cards look far nicer.

SGC went looking for graders by putting out a want ad in the newspapers.

He was adamant that if they accepted submissions at the National that they would fall behind in Florida. He was so concerned with protecting turnaround times (which have increased since the National) that they were willing to sacrifice new business. Bold statement and position, some argued it was the responsible thing to do...

Bob,
I agree completely. It's a shame that horse has left the barn and now it's a roll of the dice as to what is coming back from the TPG.

Good....
 

Intelligent people still read newspapers thank god!

Smart move regardless of your point.

:cool:

lol
 

Yes they have increased from about a 2 week turnaround to about 1 month inclusive. Still about a year faster than the #2 and #3 companies!

:cool:

I could care less if they accept take home submission I want them to grade on site and on site only, that's it. Is that to much to ask from a grading company?

True.....
 

Totally agree. Smart money also agrees! :)

LOL

Were they at least asking for people with some experience? Actually, that may be a smart, calculated move on their part. If you think about it, it's pretty much only going to be old people still reading the newspaper, so maybe by advertising there they might actually come across some older, experienced collectors that already know what they're looking at.

I'd still be very curious and interested to see and read what materials and such they then use to train these graders. And they must have a documented set of standards they are all supposed to be working off of in coming up with the numerical grades they do. Why isn't that made available to the public, instead of treating it like some big secret? There is no good, logical reason for any TPG to not share that with the people paying them for their grading services. The one main thing/reason I can think of for TPGs not wanting to share that information with the public is if they did so, everyone will begin seeing and pointing out all the grading mistakes, inconsistencies and errors these TPGs turn out on a daily basis.

1880snonsports is right down the road and has a ton of experience.

Heard the news through an SGC group.

Bulk sub prices are dropping from $25/card to $24/card

A $50/card 5 day submission is being implemented. Not sure how this will conflict with their service that takes 1-2 days, imo it pretty much makes it obsolete.

Idk, not that's excited about this one

I do agree that TPG is incredibly inconsistent, and that's an understatement, but SGC does have "loose" grading standards made public here:

https://www.gosgc.com/card-grading/submissions

Looks as though SGC is updating their site with the changes. 2 new tiers in addition to the standard one. And they have dropped down to ~25 days again on their standard turn around.

They are also providing high-res pictures of the front and back of any recent graded cards when one goes to validate the cert number.

If it does not show up when you go to the site. Refresh the site and you should see the new information.

B.T.

I love the cert look-up with high quality images. It is great for SGC transparency and makes me more confident buying slabs on eBay. The multiple tiers are confusing. With SGC's already quick turnaround times, it is silly to pay double or more. Hopefully we start to see cheaper prices with SGC grading. Once we get into the $15 range, I have a bunch of cards I will be sending into them. Right now, I am just waiting things out.

Quick as always......
 

No holiday or New Years delay here:


They got my batch on: 12-30-21

Got my grades today: 01-24-22

:)