SO SGC just tripled its prices?
 

Email and Facebook post from $25 per card to $75 per card... Is it time for federal price gouging inquiry?

april fools i hope!!!

I think they’re trying to prevent all of the 2021 Topps commons submissions. It seems like the industry TPGs are trying to cool the market. It’s an interesting phenomena to see major players actively working to slow their growth.

I do wonder if I called and said I have 100+ prewar cards to sub if they’d swing me a deal. I miss those $8-10 fees. Lol.


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No joke! https://gosgc.com/card-grading/services-pricing

Just my luck, was in the process of putting together a submission but planned to wait until the weekend!

Sadly doesn't seem to be a joke!
 

Unless the SGC website is in on it! Glad I at least got off 1 submission yesterday. This is getting ridiculous!

I have never had any problem with the price increases....

one month ago SGC made a grand announcement on their website via a letter making apologies and explaining how they invested in the business, and fixed x, y, z, and this is why they are different. the headline was "starting at $25".
now a month later its magically $75??? what a con. what appeared to be a well-thought out, organized business model, now looks deceptive.

Sorry SGC, you lost one of your greatest supporters.

is this just an April Fools joke?

This is smart instead of suspending jack up the prices 3 fold, keep things moving. They don't want all the junk modern economy PSA Bulk Hold Overs coming their way.

Raising Prices Slightly Like PSA and SGC Did last month didn't slow anything, people didn't get it. Now They Will.

This is a nice way of telling people please stop sending us junk modern.

That's got to be an April Fools Day joke.

Snatching defeat from the arms of victory!!
 

Borrowed from Ryan (thanks Ryan - imitation is flattery) from a different thread.

I guess they don't understand that their cards sell for less than comparably graded PSA cards and their lower grading price was an equalizer. $25 difference isn't going to cut it on cards under $500. Really too bad.

Agree 100%.
They decided to prioritize customer service/timeliness over a bulk money grab and bloated wait times again.

Can't win all around but they had to react. Although it does mean I won't be getting anything graded anytime soon now.

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Hey SGC, [emoji867]

Sincerely,
Mike Hornick

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Not sure where you get the $25 difference from when PSA is not grading cards at that level at all now.

Edited - but I agree no one is going to submit for cards under $400.to $500.not worth it.

But I think that is the point..SGC doesn't want those cards right now.

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Absolutely This Was A Smart and Prudent Business Move....As a Collector I DON'T NEED OR HAVE TO SEND ANYTHING IN FOR GRADING TO ENJOY COLLECTING...

IMO THIS IS WEEDING OUT THE ONES ONLY IN IT FOR MONEY AND THE QUICK FLIP...IT"S GOTTEN WAY TO HYPER INFLATED DURING THE PAST 4 MONTHS NEEDS A CORRECTION THIS IS HEALTHY LONG TERM

JUST MY OPINION

HGA grading about to blow up!

Tough move but a smart move. Keeping those prices would have brought them back to square 1.

CSG about to blow up!

Contrarian view
 

To the contrary - I think this will put incredible upward price pressure on lower value cards (under $ ~$800 - anything already graded - is "worth" more overnight as the cost of grading the same card raw today just tripled. That could spill over into the raw market with people not wanting to pay the inflated prices for graded cards and create a spike in demand and likely spike in prices that hasn't been seen yet.

I just don’t get why the big established grading companies don’t hire and train more people, it’s been years now of bloated Wait times and increased submissions. Golden opportunity for some company to fill the void and pick up the slack. The demand is more than there.

+1

Interesting tidbit from the release, which essentially blamed PSA's stoppage on the hike: "Over the last 24 hours, the number of cards submitted to SGC for grading has increased by over 500%."

Good news is this is, supposedly, temporary:

"Our entire team cares about how you’re feeling and we know that this means we will be 'pricing out' a large group of cards. Please understand that this is temporary and we will continue to build at an unmatched rate. Although I cannot pinpoint exactly when it will take place, SGC will be lowering our prices as soon as we feel we can effectively meet the demand."

Hopefully also a wake up call for PSA
 

From their actions I surmise PSA believes they have a stranglehold on the market - a "service" that people are willing to just wait indefinitey for. Clearly if SGC's submissions went up 500% overnight, not as many "loyal" customers as PSA might believe. Really hope SGC can ramp up and capitalize on what might be a once in the company's lifetime opportunity.

not sure about this.... the people making these submissions and causing problems are flippers. the are grading Ja Morant pinked cracked ice young gun autos.
they are after endless profits in an endlessly rising market. if the market cracks, they will go away faster than they came.

Think this is Brutal wait for the National If we have it, I wouldn't be surprised to see $100 end of week for on site card grading and $500- $1000 same day.

Both Majors

Their statement notes that the increase is temporary and is in response to their competitor’s move.


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now after seeing the letter from the CEO, I'll walk back my statement. i thought it was a money grab, but obviously they need to manage submissions.
no way I am paying $75, but if it is temporary I will just wait it out...

I just buy cards from howard and avoid all this smile

They got 10 cards in last night instead of 2!

I still have my 10 free submissions from being a member at SGC a couple years back. I was told there was no expiration. I wonder if this is still the case. Maybe I'll call them in a couple of days - I am sure they will be slammed today.

I just went on the GMA site and they have raised their prices a little. Also their wait times have gone up a little. Looks like the hobby is very strong right now.

Sgc
 

Their previous message said they have been receiving 3000 cards per day, it looks like they took a jump to 15,000 all at once.

On its face it seems like a price gouge but on second view it looks like a pretty smart marketing strategy designed to position the brand while PSA is suspended. Give priority to pricey cards and make your name with those customers with timely service for the next three months rather than be swamped with cut-rate submissions and piss off everyone who read your ads about turn times. It is actually a great idea, especially if it enables them to place high value cards in auctions between now and July and end up with (ideally) record prices for SGC slabs. When the proverbial puppy works through the PSA python and they come back on line, SGC then decides whether to open lower tiers of service or let the bargain basement trade go to the other TPGs and remain an elite service. We do it with every other brand. I usually get groceries at a store which is cheap but a PITA to shop at, but when I need something quick I go to a high end grocer because I know I can get in and out with ease.

They certainly did. I had a submission that Ive been working on for awhile now and the prices went $175 to $525. Just no way I'll be submitting at that cost. I can wait until they lower their prices. I know this is exactly what they want to happen, but as mentioned before, PSA/SGC/Other needs to look into other long-term solutions. The money is there - absolutely.

luckily - I beat this increase. sent a few cards off earlier in the week at the 'Old' prices.

This is all just going to end up getting passed on to the "retail" pricing of the cards. They already weeded out the low end raising prices to $25...all this is going to do is inflate the prices of desirable cards.

one way to fix it immediately: Buy cards that are already graded!!!

Better yet don't collect graded cards at all. LOL. Ah, the joy of just enjoying the hobby the way it used to be before grading. All that money I save on grading I use to buy more cards. :)

Maybe the era of $1 cards in 10 holders for crazy prices will wind to a close, mercifully.

This had better be a joke! And I thought that $25/card was going to be the death of collecting graded sets. Now it's drawn, quartered, and burned to ashes. I am sitting on 30+ PSA graded '33 Goudey commons with an SGC order loaded and waiting for a special to send in for crossover, because I thought that $25 per card was too much. So much for that plan.

It’s certainly an inflection point. A lot of people are going to have to dig deep for how important slabs are to them.

and to think 3 short years ago I got my 33 and 34 Goudey sets all graded for $5/card from SGC!!!

Everyone Bi&ching And Moaning Just think About It This Way all the PSA And SGC Cards you guys have are now theoretically worth more.... Winning !

Look, if you're gonna be logical you will take all the fun out of the whining. We're Americans: we need a good daily whine.

They could have doubled the grading fee to $50 and I wouldn’t use them, making it $75, they lost a customer. I gave them thousands last year and I’m just one collector. I’m not a raw guy, I like my cards graded, from now on, I will buy graded

Lmao 🤣🤣🤣

Same BS, different companies.

IF ANYONE submits at the new rate, they will never lower the price.


Why would they? If 33% of people submit, the work load is less, and the big greedy corporation is ahead of the game.


Like all these "covid related increases" you think they will just go back to regualr price.

It's price gouging plain and simple oh based on demand though!

Combination of the job requiring a fair amount of training and what I assume is relatively low pay.

This.

If that's the goal, they could have at least kept pre-1980 cards at $15. How about pre-1945? Throw us a bone, SGC! We are probably nothing but a tiny ripple in the tsunami that has apparently consumed them.

Perhaps SGC can run monthly or quarterly pre-war specials. The material is scarce when compared to post-war.

Pre-1980 cards are abundant. I'm not sure SGC would want to leave the door open for card doctors people to cheaply submit their trimmed sharp commons, hoping for high grades.

To anybody who has ever run a business this decision is clear and I would ask the members here to walk in the shoes of SGC. What would you do? Maintain turn times? Accept $10 submissions that end up in 12-18 month turn times? You can't have it all, SGC just ramped up to meet demand and maintain quality, then psa shuts down. Just hire more folks is a silly response, they just did that and it's not like hiring line cooks.

Get your knickers in a twist all you want but decide what you want in a grading company. They've been very transparent to folks, they're overwhelmed, don't take it personal, just hold off on the low brow subs until they catch up. They'll drop prices once they catch up, if they don't then you can be outraged.

If SGC is comfortable staying in its current dimensions, what can it do to keep submissions down to levels they can comfortably accommodate other than raise prices? It's simple supply and demand economics.

With the tsunami of 2020-21 Panini Prizm about to hit the grading companies I suspect many of these raises have to do with stopping that specific product.

So, right now, what I would if I were Beckett Grading (and I understand many people would not understand why I'm suggesting this), is to raise the BCCG price to $10-20 per card. They are easier to grade *no sub grades*, easier to slab *slightly thinner holder* and actually are made for this specific times. I guarantee you a grader could fly through those cards and BGS could get them out in the reasonable time since the odds are good at this point, if you were popular when the cards came out, you'd be popular when you get the cards back in a couple/few months.

Regards
Rich

They HAVE NOT raised prices
 

They have temporarily eliminated their 2 lowest grading tiers less than $1k value for $35 and less than $499 for $25.

My knee jerk was to be upset, but as a couple of posts have suggested, there are really no good options. They want to maintain rapid turnaround, quality grading and good customer service. Hiring more graders likely can't happen fast enough, so they need to slow the flow of submissions. I'm disappointed I can't submit more cards for a while, but I respect and understand the decision.

How about this. Make it a requirement for all submissions to be performed online. Set the amount of submissions at each tier level at a number that they are able to process per day week etc. The slots would fill electronically and they can control the rate of items received - very easily done with a computer.

I think what they should do is tiered pricing for each submitter, first 15 cards are 15 bucks, after first 15, from 15-30 will be at 25, after that 75 each
each submitter can submit once a month for the 15/25 bucks

Not really unexpected. It was clear the PSA shutdown on submissions would cascade over to SGC, and SGC had warned it would adjust its model to prevent going back to a massive backlog. So I can't fault the business decision, although it's a personal disappointment...was on vacation with the kids this past week and had planned a submission of mid-value vintage cards this week, many of which don't make sense at the new pricing.

Anyway, the options for those on a budget or wanting lower value cards graded are certainly getting limited. Although SGC promises to lower its pricing again (and I hope they do), I think it will be quite a while before we see PSA and SGC offering $20 grading with reasonable turnaround times.

I wonder if CSG will be able to take advantage of this? Do they grade pre-war and other vintage cards? The language on their submission guidelines seems to suggest so, but there is a large carve-out for returning "obscure" issues. CGC certainly has a strong reputation in other collectibles. While I don't love the CSG labels, the current dislocation seems to create a big opportunity for someone....

https://www.gosgc.com/update-20210509

Now for something entirely different. SGC has just released new pricing to start submissions at $30/card.

That's good news.

I imagine the sudden price increase practically eliminated new subs for a while. Catching up on the backlog was likely easy to do. Glad to read they've dropped the price back down to a more reasonable level now.

Definitely an improvement. I think it was smart for them to get caught up.

Does anyone have any clarity into what types of cards they are grading now? Earlier this year, I was in contact with them and told they no longer grade some of the more esoteric stuff they used to (vintage Japanese baseball cards, for instance). Anyway, I have some older soccer, boxing, etc., that I'd like to get graded along with the baseball so wanted to know if anyone has any clarity into what they do and don't accept.

Thanks!

That pretty much nails it.


Yep, not very complicated at all.

Deleted

Interesting. I wonder this if this price will hold up, or if they will reduce it again. The last submission I did with them it was $15/card.

$30 seems to be a fair sweet sport for the time being... Very Smart By Boca Raton

Psa
 

PSA's current minimum is $300. Crazy

From what I've read here, they're only grading maybe half the cards sent in....

Thanks John. I just submitted a batch of cards to them at the $30/card price. When I prepared a submission sheet Saturday it was $75/card so I balked at the price. This is more normal although I still miss the $15/card price for my last submissions last year.
I appreciate your heads up.

tbob

No problem. There are also some videos that show the behind the scenes work at SGC:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YNOs6Xu80w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVx4REVu-TY

Sooner than later these grading folks should implement some dynamic pricing. Demand is high raise prices in real-time. Demand low? Drop those prices. Looks like SGC is attempting that.

Agreed. In my opinion, SGC is attempting to control the inflow of material by tweaking prices.

Hopefully, they'll also begin tinkering with the types of items by offering monthly (weekly, perhaps) specials. I would love to see, for example, a promotion during which T206 cards could be submitted at a discount. Then, a 1956 Topps special. Yes...look at my signature...I'm biased. :cool:

These types of narrow promotions wouldn't cause to avalanche of orders they saw when PSA practically shut down. They would also be able to control the issues covered by their promotions.

If executed properly, this strategy would win SGC quite a few customers, especially among vintage collectors.

SGC now dropped the price back down .... to $30, not $25.

I amazes me that they cannot figure out their price structure. I do not mind that they jacked up prices to control flow. it is the only way to stop these idiots from sending in junk. But why is the price not back to $25? When they announced their new business model, presumably they did a lot of work to think about the pricing, and landed on $25. And now all of a sudden it is $30?

In the past month, I sent in a '59 Menko Oh and they graded it. Well, it got an "A" but that was because it was obviously hand cut at an odd angle.

Simple math
 

$5 X 4000 cards per day = an extra $20K per day for SGC!

In the Video they say they are trying to find the right price to have supply=demand. I get it in concept, but going to be very imperfect in practice.

Video was interesting - thanks for posting.

Just be careful on which cards you send to them.

Custom research fees may apply any time the card is outside the norm of what we grade. Examples would include obscure vintage cards, foreign cards, and obscure non-sports cards.
Custom encapsulation fees may apply any time the card is of a different shape or different dimensions from those of the "flagship" vintage sets or standard modern sets that we commonly encapsulate.
That said, the cards would have a maximum grading fee of $80/card if both of those fees were applied and there were no additional value-based upcharges. You would be made aware of any upcharges before the encapsulation of the cards, at which point you could elect to move forward or to have certain cards excluded.

Really?? A small business sees a 5-10x increase in demand and has to increase their staff accordingly, acquire/rent more office space, buy new office and production equipment, train a boatload of new employees, revamp their acceptance and outgoing production practices and beef up their online footprint all with no guarantee that the new demand levels are sustainable and you can't see why their previous pricing model might need to change by 20%?

yes, really.
they spent a year doing all of those things you described.... and when the dust settled they came out with a grand public announcement explaining a price increase from $15 to $25. So presumably, the owners figured out their cost structure and biz model and came up with $25 as the right number. after a surge in submissions they moved to $75 to slow the demand, and now a month later they decided $30 was a better number. so 25 could not keep the demand reasonable but 30 will?