SGC versus PSA slabs

[frankbmd]

Looking only at resale value only without looking at the cost of acquisition confounds me, if you are considering cards that are already graded.

Your margin, which should be considered on a percentage basis, requires both numbers.

If you do not overpay for SGC or even BVG, your ultimate margin should be equivalent.

I have tracked margins in my collection for over 10 years, and when it comes to ROI (return on investment percentage),

PSA=SGC=BVG

I realize that I am considered a heretic here for making this argument, but I have the data to prove it.

My mantra is

Buy the card, but consider the holder to determine the purchase price. I am not a PSA guy, an SGC guy or a BVG guy.

If, on the other hand, you are considering grading previously ungraded cards, PSA is probably the best choice due to the Registry effect, for higher end Registry worthy cards.

If you are buying SGC cards or BVG cards with the intent to crossover to PSA for profit, good luck. That’s not my game.

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Looking only at resale value only without looking at the cost of acquisition confounds me, if you are considering cards that are already graded.

Your margin, which should be considered on a percentage basis, requires both numbers.

If you do not overpay for SGC or even BVG, your ultimate margin should be equivalent.

I have tracked margins in my collection for over 10 years, and when it comes to ROI (return on investment percentage),

PSA=SGC=BVG

I realize that I am considered a heretic here for making this argument, but I have the data to prove it.

My mantra is

Buy the card, but consider the holder to determine the purchase price. I am not a PSA guy, an SGC guy or a BVG guy.

If, on the other hand, you are considering grading previously ungraded cards, PSA is probably the best choice due to the Registry effect, for higher end Registry worthy cards.

If you are buying SGC cards or BVG cards with the intent to crossover to PSA for profit, good luck. That’s not my game.

I agree with you and believe you when it comes to ROI because I've experienced similar results. Its all relative to what you initially pay and eye appeal will also close the gap some when/if the time comes to sell

[boneheadandrube]

I prefer to pay less for the same card in a holder that looks better to me. The key is you have to be able to judge condition on your own and purchase the card instead of the holder.

Its true that when you go to sell it could be for less, but you paid less in the first place. I guess its hard for some to understand that and buyers premiums?

If you are buying raw and submitting for profit, then sure send to PSA. The problem I have with sending to them is they are terribly inconsistent with pre war cards. It seems like 10-20% of every submission I make gets graded inaccurately. How do I come to that conclusion? Because when I resubmit those cards two months later they get different grades again, and if I send them two months after that some will get the same grades they did the first time and some will get new ones altogether. I have seen T206's go from Altered to 6, N5 to 5.5 and vice versa over and over.

I think as a business its not in their best interest to get the grades on discontinued cards exactly right the first time, they'll never see it again. They have to be aware that people en masse just resubmit cards if they don't like the grades, so why fix the consistency problem? In fact, how about a couple of times a year they should rotate graders from newer Pokemon non sport and the like into older baseball cards just to make it 25%. That would never happen...

To me SGC is much more consistent with pre war and there isn't a premium for popularity. If you can determine which cards you want without relying on the holder to tell you, you can spend less on the same thing.

*It seems like there is more discussion about the monetary aspects of cards in PSA holders than the actual attributes of the cards themselves..unless they are obviously altered.

[Rhotchkiss]

Ok, here is the real question- a very pretty 52 Topps Mantle PSA 9 sells for $2.88mm. How much does that same exact card in an SGC 96 flip sell for?

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

Ok, here is the real question- a very pretty 52 Topps Mantle PSA 9 sells for $2.88mm. How much does that same exact card in an SGC 96 flip sell for?

Drawing any conclusion about a grading company based on the results of a single card, and an outlier at that, would be scoffed at by even an average statistician. As I said before, the Registry effect for high end Registry worthy cards exists. I would venture to say that most of us do not play that game.

If PSA was the only option, would the hobby be better of?

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

Ok, here is the real question- a very pretty 52 Topps Mantle PSA 9 sells for $2.88mm. How much does that same exact card in an SGC 96 flip sell for?

Who knows, but it’s not all that important to me because I couldn’t afford a 1952 Topps Mantle in a SGC or PSA 3 holder. A more interesting question might be what will his exact card sell for 5 years from now?

[CMIZ5290]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

Ok, here is the real question- a very pretty 52 Topps Mantle PSA 9 sells for $2.88mm. How much does that same exact card in an SGC 96 flip sell for?

IMO, it would sell for higher than a PSA 8 price, maybe reaching close to $1M....It wouldn't smell what a PSA 9 would go for, not even close, period...

[Roulette44]

SGC 96 Mantle probably $750-$1M

[CMIZ5290]

Originally Posted by Roulette44

SGC 96 Mantle probably $750-$1M

Agree with this. Here is a hypothetical for other members on the board since Ryan proposed the potential idea. It is no secret that the board majority lies heavily in favor with SGC, not even close. If you had this Mantle in a PSA 9, would you cross it to SGC because of how nice their holders look? Or, would you keep it in the PSA holder because of financial reasons, honest answers please....

[rats60]

Last year Memory Lane had 2 1949 Bowman Jackie Robinson rookie cards in their summer auction. The PSA 9 sold for 47k. The SGC 96 sold for 110k. Collectors will look at the card and pay more for exceptional cards in SGC holders.

[JollyElm]

There was an ebay coupon code recently where a buyer would save up to $100 on a $500 purchase, so I decided the time was right to grab up a pretty nice Mantle. In the end, I was down to looking at 1964 cards graded 7 by both PSA and SGC.

If I recall correctly, the SGC was priced at about $470 and the lowest PSA one was $625, with most being at $675 and way above that. If you look at these two cards, they have very similar top-to-bottom centering and the corners of the SGC card are much sharper overall.

1964mantlepsasgc.jpg

To me it was absolutely worth it going with SGC and paying a minimum of $150 less for the card. When the time comes to sell him in the future, though, I will have to figure things out to get a better return like you seemingly always get with PSA cards.

[samosa4u]

Originally Posted by rats60

Last year Memory Lane had 2 1949 Bowman Jackie Robinson rookie cards in their summer auction. The PSA 9 sold for 47k. The SGC 96 sold for 110k. Collectors will look at the card and pay more for exceptional cards in SGC holders.

I thought his rookie was the 1948 Leaf.

[CMIZ5290]

Originally Posted by rats60

Last year Memory Lane had 2 1949 Bowman Jackie Robinson rookie cards in their summer auction. The PSA 9 sold for 47k. The SGC 96 sold for 110k. Collectors will look at the card and pay more for exceptional cards in SGC holders.

How many high grade SGC graded and exceptional T206s would you like to buy? The Doctor is in.....I have many.....

[Johnny630]

Originally Posted by boneheadandrube

I prefer to pay less for the same card in a holder that looks better to me. The key is you have to be able to judge condition on your own and purchase the card instead of the holder.

Its true that when you go to sell it could be for less, but you paid less in the first place. I guess its hard for some to understand that and buyers premiums?

If you are buying raw and submitting for profit, then sure send to PSA. The problem I have with sending to them is they are terribly inconsistent with pre war cards. It seems like 10-20% of every submission I make gets graded inaccurately. How do I come to that conclusion? Because when I resubmit those cards two months later they get different grades again, and if I send them two months after that some will get the same grades they did the first time and some will get new ones altogether. I have seen T206's go from Altered to 6, N5 to 5.5 and vice versa over and over.

I think as a business its not in their best interest to get the grades on discontinued cards exactly right the first time, they'll never see it again. They have to be aware that people en masse just resubmit cards if they don't like the grades, so why fix the consistency problem? In fact, how about a couple of times a year they should rotate graders from newer Pokemon non sport and the like into older baseball cards just to make it 25%. That would never happen...

To me SGC is much more consistent with pre war and there isn't a premium for popularity. If you can determine which cards you want without relying on the holder to tell you, you can spend less on the same thing.

*It seems like there is more discussion about the monetary aspects of cards in PSA holders than the actual attributes of the cards themselves..unless they are obviously altered.

+1
100% couldn’t agree more.