[Exhibitman]

Yeah, except when they decide it should be more. I took them a Clemente RC at the AC National for grading, one that cost me under $500 because it was lower grade. They wanted over $100 to grade it because it was a Clemente RC. We argued for quite a while with them claiming that the card is worth multiple thousands of dollars and my pointing out that it is worth that in better shape but it is a beater that cost me $500, so not. They finally stood firm at $75 and I did it, but it left a really sour feeling about their services. I've found a lot of that at the Nationals with SGC; bait and switch on grading costs. The $35 seems to be the starting point, and they negotiate up from there. Needless to say they aren't especially busy at the show while the PSA booth was swarmed from the moment the place opened.

I have been a fierce critic of PSA in the past and a fan of SGC, but that started changing a couple of years ago. When PSA upgraded its holders, improved its web site dramatically, started offering real, valuable specials to club members, and generally professionalized its approach, that all resonated with me. Add to that the whim and caprice of SGC's pricing, especially for autograph authentication, the poor quality of the large slabs, blown turn times, a stupid club, the idiocy of nearly every card except a basic set getting forced into 'custom cut' inserts at the regular price, and now the prices going up, and I am not really sending them anything like the volume I used to. SGC gets my business if PSA won't grade the issue.