SGC - say it aint so

[BobC]

Originally Posted by swarmee

BobC, a couple of corrections for you.

1) PSA is the only company I'm aware of that still has a guarantee in force. So SGC would do nothing for you, or at least is not obligated to by any current policy. BGS does not have one either, and I haven't heard of any of the newer companies (CSG, FCG, TAG, etc) having one. Edited to add: There have been a couple of lawsuits against both companies anyways, because they don't have any type of guarantee, but people have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars due to their incompetence. I believe SGC was shamed into refunding their auto authentications on the T-206s because of backlash against the company, then folded their autograph authentication arm for a while. They are now certifying autos, but not sure if that is just pack-inserted cards that have been pre-certified by the card companies.

2) PSA telling buyers to go back to the submitters referred specifically to trimmed cards, not ones they misgraded accidentally (not seeing a pinhole, writing, crease, etc), because their TOS for submitters originally was to sign a form stating that the cards in the submission were all unaltered, to their own knowledge. So PSA was trusting that submitters be honest, because they know they're incompetent to generally detect alterations. But I was also the one (or at least one of them) to point this clause out to them, and recommended that they force PWCC to take all the returns rather than pay out on all the guarantees directly.

Hey John,

Thank you very much for the info. I myself do not deal with any TPG (Only did once and that was to merely get some authentication). Was not aware of various things you mentioned, but very glad to learn from someone with much more experience. Good to know.

My main point regarding TPGs having bogus guarantees is still applicable though, especially when they apparently have no guarantees at all. In fact, my point should be even more well taken. If they do not back up and stand behind what they do, and apparently have little or no liability for mistakes, errors and such, their service is pretty much, in truth, worthless. You or I could start up a TPG of our own and be just as reliable (probably better) than the major TPGs out there. Unfortunately, they and other parties/players that run and control our hobby industry already have too much money, exposure, backing, and control, along with the support of others in the industry that also make money off their services, and enrich themselves on the overall gullibility of many in the hobby, to the point that they are too well ensconced for us to expect any major changes and improvements any time soon. Sad, but true.

I've often said the hobby should be run and the rules and such set by the people that actually are in and enjoy the hobby, not by the companies and others that are really just into it to make money off those in the hobby. You can still have TPGs and such, but they don't set the rules, decide what the grading standards are according to what they want, change them as they see fit, fail miserably to stand behind what they do, along with exhibiting absolutely no desire or intent to ever be transparent and truly honest with no obvious conflicts-of-interest and bias, and actually provide something other than just profits for themselves.

Thanks again John for correcting me, and/or at least making some of what I was saying more accurate for others.

However, after looking into things a little more, apparently CSG does have a grading guaranty also.

https://www.csgcards.com/card-grading/csg-guarantee/

Having never dealt directly with CSG, or hearing/seeing any stories or news regarding their guarantee or issues being had with it, I can't speak to their guarantee and how they apply it, or how well they may live up to and honor it. I can only sincerely hope that they do live up to it, and provide something the hobby community apparently seems to not always be getting elsewhere.