SGC is cranking on recent subs....WOW!!!!!!!

[Frankish]

Originally Posted by prestigecollectibles

I'm done with SGC. I sent them four Japanese cards to be graded that were already in their database and I had previously graded as well with no issues. They just called trying to extort an upcharge for "research". They did this to a friend of mine as well. This is incredible considering I was the one they used to contact about identifying Japanese cards. I told them to send the cards back and I will never use them again.

It's still happening, and it seems clear to me that it's a scam at this point. If they have a new policy, not only should it be explicitly stated at submission (not the vague language they have now) but it should register automatically at the time of submission.

For instance, if you try to submit a 1959 Topps baseball card to PSA under a quarterly special for 1960s cards, you are informed that it doesn't qualify when you try to add it to your order. If SGC doesn't grade certain cards at their advertised fees for non-obvious reasons (such as them being oversized for that category), it should come up in the online submission form. This isn't rocket science. It might have been an execution challenge to small company in 1998, but now? High school kids could handle this.

It seems, rather, that SGC management has decided that it's preferable to have customers send in cards and then, when the customers are already pregnant with the costs of having shipped the cards to SGC and having to pay for return shipping, tell them they need to pay an extra $25/card (or whatever) to process the order.

All of this is, of course, setting aside the absurdity for charging "research fees" for cards they already have in their database. And it's particularly galling that they would charge you given that you helped them identify the cards in the first place.

For myself, at this point I guess I'll stick with the devil I know and just wait for PSA to open up other levels of submission. It's a shame. I thought SGC was smart with the general moves it has made to keep their turnaround times reasonable. And if that involved higher fees or limiting the kinds of cards it grades, that makes sense to me. But the hidden fees and/or uncharges are disappointing.