Posted By:
Al CrisafulliI'm sorry Rick, but you're wrong.
PSA, in my opinion, is an excellent company. I don't share the opinion of many here, that PSA is incompetent. I still submit many cards to PSA, and many of the sets I collect are in their holders.
However, SGC has its own customer base, and its own fresh approach and ideas. They've built a loyal following based on their skill, knowledge, and customer care. This following was built not out of a rejection of the faults of PSA, but because SGC is an excellent company in its own right. They have been a strong player in the hobby for close to ten years, their volumes and presence in the market continue to increase, and it is NOT at PSA's expense, but as a result of carving new niches in the market. Go back two years and read message board comments about what SGC's perceived faults were at the time, and you'll see that they've made great strides toward correcting each and every one of them. This is a strong, strong company - and all you need to look at to find proof is the enormous amount of cards that have been in their holders at the recent major auctions, and how high the prices realized have been.
You can make the case that you've been making - that SGC is not innovative - and yet their customers can point to a myriad of improvements that they've made to the grading industry in general. The company stands on its own, just as PSA does.
This hobby is plenty big enough for two thriving grading companies to exist for a long, long time.
-Al
PS - In the interest of full disclosure: my company does some work for SGC. However I post here as a collector of raw, PSA, and SGC cards, with no ill will or agendas against any of those three methods of collecting.