Suggestions for Grading Companies

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Posted By: Mark Anderson

Hi Matt,

Thanks for the response...

1. The manpower is the bigger issue. Going with the 30 seconds per scan estimate, for one million cards, that would equate to 8333 man-hours a year, or 4 additional full-time employees at 2080 hours/year average (with associated salaries, benefits, office space, equipment, etc.). If the majority of submitters wanted that and would pay the additional fees to cover costs, it could be done, but we'd need to see from a large sampling that most people would want that. (Again, not saying it is a bad idea at all, as we've looked into it on multiple occasions and I still think there are other ways to make it work. I'll look into it again in a few different formats.)

2. We looked into the rigid inserts in the beginning, but we like the ability to visually see the edges in the clear sleeve. The inserts can hide the edges, and if dropped, the cards will hit against the edges and could cause damage. Nothing against SGC's holders at all - I personally agree they look very sharp with the black "frame". We just wanted to go a different direction that addressed the above concerns that people shared with us back in 1999. Perfect world? Some kind of design where the inner cavity bars are actually made of a softer, pliable material like rubber that absorbs shock if dropped instead of transferring it to the card. Unfortunately, the options we looked into were not archival safe. Any engineers on the board want to take a stab at this?

Thanks,
Mark