Opinions Requested on Current State of Third-Party Graders:

[aro13]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

Wellllllll...if you want to sell...by not grading you're leaving potentially tons of $$$$ on the table.

If you want to maximize sales in most instances you need to use PSA. Unless you pay for expedited service, you potentially will be waiting many months for your cards back.

SGC similar situation...not as bad timewise...but in many cases you won't maximize your return.

Beckett...I hear has super long wait times as well...more for modern I'd surmise.

If you're not selling...why bother!

my .02.

I agree with his .02.

I believe most of the difference has to do with the popularity of the PSA set registries, which drive up the prices of PSA graded cards. Many on here prefer SGC graded cards for the personal collections, but PSA when reselling. To each their own, but I believe that the registry explains much of the difference in prices.

The registry seems to be the common explanation but is has to be much bigger than that. The price discrepancy is for cards that buyers buy for the registry and cards that will never go into a registry set or people likely have never heard of the registry.