PSA Vs. SGC

[Neal]

Originally Posted by SnkzBoyd

Which company do you respect more for grading? I've noticed on eBay recently that PSA is selling for much higher on equivalent grades.

PSA has always outperformed SGC prices for postwar cards, especially commons due to the number of set registry collectors.

SGC has always been consistent with grading, in my opinion. PSA has apparently tightened the consistency screw in recent years, and that consistent grading is evident in the marketplace. Both companies have their share of mistakes as well.

When you take everything into consideration (grading, customer service, holders, website, etc) I give the nod to PSA.

[DBesse27]

I give the overall nod to PSA, slightly, and in terms of investment value it's PSA in a landslide, regardless of whether it should be or not. With all that said, I think SGC does a good job and I like their holders. They're pretty good too.

[mattjc1983]

Originally Posted by Neal

PSA has always outperformed SGC prices for postwar cards, especially commons due to the number of set registry collectors.



SGC has always been consistent with grading, in my opinion. PSA has apparently tightened the consistency screw in recent years, and that consistent grading is evident in the marketplace. Both companies have their share of mistakes as well.



When you take everything into consideration (grading, customer service, holders, website, etc) I give the nod to PSA.

I admittedly haven't worked with them personally, but I was under the impression that PSA customer service is virtually non-existent? For instance , they don't respond to questions about obvious fakes/forgeries, or really don't even acknowledge they exist? Is there truth to that allegation?


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[swarmee]

Is it really customer service if you're not a customer? They do respond to their customers (submitters), but it has been slow and annoying (for thing like trying to get mislabeled cards fixed. Their customer service people aren't really "card" people and have the knowledge to answer your questions. Those people have to send them up the chain, in my experience.

The Registry Set team is actually very responsive and knows more about cards.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by swarmee

Is it really customer service if you're not a customer?

Uhhh, yeah. Customer service is not only for customers, it's for potential customers too. That's not just true of PSA, it's true of any business.

[ChiSoxTony]

Originally Posted by swarmee

Is it really customer service if you're not a customer? They do respond to their customers (submitters), but it has been slow and annoying (for thing like trying to get mislabeled cards fixed. Their customer service people aren't really "card" people and have the knowledge to answer your questions. Those people have to send them up the chain, in my experience.

The Registry Set team is actually very responsive and knows more about cards.

I agree with most of the positives said about PSA. However, I also agree with the comments about their customer service being poor.

I contacted them recently when I signed up for my membership and received an autograph book instead of the PSA shirt that was supposed to come with my membership. The website even had me go through picking out the size of the shirt. (This was NOT really a big deal, but my I had given last year's shirt to my wife and told her she was a PSA 10. I told her another shirt was on the way when I renewed my membership only to find an autograph book in the mail, so I was a little bummed out.) I emailed and called them. Over a month passed with no response. I never received a return call at all. Then I got an email saying that I had received the book and not the shirt because I renewed my membership after 8/1/16. I told them that simply checking my credit card statement proved that I renewed on 7/26, and that their records should also reflect this as the date of payment. I received absolutely no further correspondence from them. Two weeks later I got the shirt in the mail. They ultimately solved my issue, which was not a big deal to begin with, but their initial response was unacceptably slow and incorrect, despite the fact that the date on which I paid was very easy to validate on their part. This is just one of several similar interactions that I've had with their customer service department. The impression I get is that they are understaffed and that there is culture that is based at least to some degree on saving a buck as opposed to pleasing and keeping customers. They are making TONS of money off of us and some of it should be put into improving their customer service. As for now, I'm still a member of the registry and they'll still be getting my money because I appreciate their product.

[bswhiten]

Originally Posted by mattjc1983

I admittedly haven't worked with them personally, but I was under the impression that PSA customer service is virtually non-existent? For instance , they don't respond to questions about obvious fakes/forgeries, or really don't even acknowledge they exist? Is there truth to that allegation?


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IMO it depends on who you are working with for customer service. Like any other company they run the gamut from not so good to amazing. They do respond to fakes and overgrades quite well. I have been compensated (vouchers) for fake cards that were slabbed. And I have an overgrade case with them right now that customer service has been awesome to work with.

[Exhibitman]

If SGC cards sell for substantially less in the same condition why not buy the SGC cards? Seems like a deal to me. You can always cross them over. I purchased an SGC card in 2015 for 40% less than a comparable PSA card, crossed it to PSA and sold it for a multiple of what I paid for it. Seems like a viable hole to exploit in the system.

[RayBShotz]

The folks at PSA Customer Service who answer the phones are good people. They honestly try to do everything that is in their power to please the customer. (be prepared, though, for a 20-30 minute wait to get through).

Problem there is that Customer Service is a pretty black and white position with little or no "empowerment". You will be told cold hard facts (often those which are posted in the website updates anyhow which they regurgitate) and no reasonable conjecture. They also do not have any power to influence what's going on behind the curtain.
If you are looking for them to do so, you're expectations of them are too high. If you force them into conjecture like "when do you THINK my grades will pop?", the answer is purely a guess.
They have no additional insight that they are withholding, just what the computer tells them.
It is very, very rare for the average customer to be able to "get past the front door".
You are dealing with the PSA machine, a division of a publicly traded company.
It's all about revenue.
They can't count the money fast enough.

If you want personal service call SGC. Someone will pick up the phone. It's an itty bitty little company now fractured into tiny pieces most of which are hunkered down in FL. The product is great, I love the product, but you have to question the end game.

At the Nationals, there was a stark differentiation. PSA had 10 or 12 intake CS Reps handling enormous lines of customers open to close every day of the Show. It was like the ice cream stand on the first 90 degree day of the summer season. SGC booth, by contrast, had 1 or 2 intake people and no lines (customers).

In the end, we know exactly what we will get and we make a choice.
RayB

[Pilot172000]

I just finished reading "The Card" about Gretzky/McNall Wagner and Mastro. It was very eye opening for me. I'm not one to base all my opinion on one book but it did State some ominous stuff about PSA. I sent all my T206 cards that I plan to keep to SGC because I like the way they look. Beckett was mentioned as being brutally honest which is the reason I have kept my Nolan Ryan stuff in BVG. SGC needs to do a better job on their registry and pop report. They are hard to navigate but their service is second to none. BVG has nice holders but I hate having to deal with them. I don't buy cards because of holders. I buy them because I like the way they look and how they fit in my personal collection.

[jchcollins]

I still find it interesting that David Hall and PSA were never held more accountable for the fiasco surrounding that card. You can't tell me that they didn't have any suspicion at all that it was trimmed. The encapsulation of that Wagner basically means that the start of their graded card business - or at least from the time when they started putting cards in slabs - is a big fraud. The hobby moved on and now PSA is the hottest thing going in grading, but look at the charges of favoritism shown in grading to large dealers, or how their standards - admittedly even by fanboy collectors - seem to change from time to time? I think that all goes back in some way to the fact that PSA as a company doesn't have a great track record with honesty and consistency - from the very beginning.

It may have something to do with the fact that there are investors and then there are collectors - and interestingly enough, companies like SGC seem to have a reputation as being more consistent and fair among those that would consider themselves collectors first and foremost.

[Pilot172000]

I'm an collector not an investor. I've never owned a T206 over a 4. I don't collect based on value and have always gotten bitten when I attempted to buy that way. I have had a ton of cards graded by all three and really find that it's about preference. I started with SGC then moved to the others before coming back home to SGC. Customer Service and Integrity go a long way with me. I don't want anyone doing me any favors with the grades. If it's a three it's a three. If it comes back a 4 or 5 I'll know and that takes the fun out of it.