Posted By:
Fred CJust my opinion -
I think it would be difficult for another grading company to make a go of it. PSA may have the most submissions but SGC has taken a bite into the vintage grading card market. GAI had a chance but they really blew it. Even early on with GAI I had my doubts because it looked like they were assigning numerical grades to trimmed cards. BVG has a name but I still think advanced collectors look to PSA and SGC. I really liked SCD grading because I thought they were better more consistent than all the others. Since they sold out to someone else I doubt they'll make a come back.
I think that a new company, even one backed by respected collectors, couldn't gain market share. The only way a new company would survive is to charge about 5x what SGC or PSA charges and that company would have to be spot on with each grade. The company would have to be accepted as "the authority" in grading by vintage collectors across the country. The only problem with this scenario is that the new company would have to be consistent in it's grading and that would probably mean lower grades for cards. Nobody wants to submit a card with the expectation of a lower grade than would probably be received from SGC or PSA.