BGS Turnaround Time: Up to One Year

[Dpeck100]

Check out this thread. Yikes.


https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1231475

[swarmee]

Yeah, that seems like an isolated incident. That's why I didn't cross-post it. But I agree with the guys that said it's odd that someone would submit so many expensive 1/1 superfractor autos as bulk submission RCRs. If the cards are worth $500+ each, splurge for an actual slab and not a cardsaver with a sticker on top.

[Dpeck100]

I can't speak to the proper way to submit at the National for a quick turn around but I do think it is just additional evidence things are not going well from an operational standpoint with them.

I would be so pissed off if I sent in cards to a company and they charged me upfront and we are now past 12 months and they still have my cards.

If they were to go BK you would have very little chance of getting the grading fees back and I would honestly be petrified about getting the cards. To a lot of us that submit cards for grading many of them you can't easily replace and in some cases ever so it isn't just a monetary issue.

[swarmee]

True, the taking the funds for a year and "holding cards hostage" thing is crazy. Surprised there hasn't been a class action lawsuit yet. It's not like all these major submitters aren't either on here, blowout, or CU.
COMC stopped submitting to BGS months ago.

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

Have been tracking and buying some modern cards recently and was surprised at the premium BGS gets vs. PSA. In some cases it's 2x for a BGS 10 vs. a PSA 10. And if you have a BGS black label (which is all 4 sub grades with a 10) it's even more. It's my impression that BGS has a huge market share advantage over PSA in modern cards. If BGS implodes that would be really bad for modern and really bad for the health of the hobby in general.

btw for you vintage guys, I learned this terminology recently...(many of you might already know this but thought I would share in case you were like me with your head in the sand on all things shiny)

BGS 9.5 are called "Gems" and BGS 10's are "Dimes"
BGS grades on 4 sub grades for Centering, Corners, Edges and Surface
A minimum Gem is 3 9.5 sub grades and 1 9 sub.
Cards with "9" centers are worth the least and many shun them.
BGS 9.5 with 9.5 for all sub grades is called "A Quad or True Gem" and get a premium
BGS 9.5 with all 9.5 sub grades and either 1 or 2 10 sub grades is called "true gem plus or monster subs"
As you can imagine subs matter in particular on low pop and rare cards

[Peter_Spaeth]

BGS 9.5 is the equivalent of PSA 10; BGS 10 and Black Label are very rare and essentially gimmicks IMO. PSA 10s as far as I can tell substantially outsell even quad 9.5s on cards like Trout rookies and probably everything else. Look it up.

[swarmee]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

BGS 9.5 is the equivalent of PSA 10; BGS 10 and Black Label are very rare and essentially gimmicks IMO. PSA 10s as far as I can tell substantially outsell even quad 9.5s on cards like Trout rookies and probably everything else. Look it up.

Exactly; probably 1% of cards submitted get a BGS 10, so if that's the reason you're submitting to them, you're buying lottery tickets. Most people who submit can't even tell the difference between a "true gem" and a pristine card, and BGS doesn't publish their distinctions. If there are millions of 50/50 centered cards nowadays, why aren't there more BGS 10 centering subgrades?
PSA is half the price and outsells them on the 10/9.5 for the vast majority of items.

And yes, some people pay others to clean their shiny modern cards for them, mostly taking off dust and fingerprints, since those can lead to lower grades on chrome cards.

[Orioles1954]

Originally Posted by swarmee

Yeah, that seems like an isolated incident. That's why I didn't cross-post it. But I agree with the guys that said it's odd that someone would submit so many expensive 1/1 superfractor autos as bulk submission RCRs. If the cards are worth $500+ each, splurge for an actual slab and not a cardsaver with a sticker on top.

What's an RCR?

[rats60]

Originally Posted by Orioles1954

What's an RCR?

Raw card review. Instead of slabbing the card they put it in a card saver with a sticker over it. It costs ~10.00. They can do it at shows or card shops and not have to carry their equipment all over the country.

[Orioles1954]

Originally Posted by rats60

Raw card review. Instead of slabbing the card they put it in a card saver with a sticker over it. It costs ~10.00. They can do it at shows or card shops and not have to carry their equipment all over the country.

Gotcha. Thanks...

[swarmee]

Originally Posted by Orioles1954

What's an RCR?

If your card is graded by RCR, it's a little cheaper than full slabbing. If you get your card back at a show and immediately submit it for full grading (at the full grading price, so paying almost double...) you are nearly guaranteed to get the same grade. Once you take it away from the table, the grade is no longer guaranteed. So it's sort of useful, but not very useful.
And when you can get your cards graded by PSA in a bulk special for cheaper, it makes almost no sense.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by swarmee

If your card is graded by RCR, it's a little cheaper than full slabbing. If you get your card back at a show and immediately submit it for full grading (at the full grading price, so paying almost double...) you are nearly guaranteed to get the same grade. Once you take it away from the table, the grade is no longer guaranteed. So it's sort of useful, but not very useful.
And when you can get your cards graded by PSA in a bulk special for cheaper, it makes almost no sense.

On cheaper cards, people are not slabbing, just selling as is, so the buyer knows what the card is. On more expensive cards, slab 9.5 or 10 and just sell if 9 or less. Raw~BGS 9. RCR normally runs about half (or less in bulk) of slabbing. Now about a third since they cut the 10 day service. It is really the only way to grade unless you know you have a sure gem and it is worth paying $30 to grade.

[bobbyw8469]

I'm just floored that BGS thinks it is perfectly acceptable to cash your check and not perform a paid for service after one year. That just blows me away, and begs for some kind of class action lawsuit.

[Marc Simmons]

Originally Posted by bobbyw8469

I'm just floored that BGS thinks it is perfectly acceptable to cash your check and not perform a paid for service after one year. That just blows me away, and begs for some kind of class action lawsuit.

maybe the answer is, developing a set minimum card value for grading and eliminate grading reprints. I see too many collectors (often novice) submitting cards worth less than $1 in value.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by bobbyw8469

I'm just floored that BGS thinks it is perfectly acceptable to cash your check and not perform a paid for service after one year. That just blows me away, and begs for some kind of class action lawsuit.

It is not just that, but they are sending their graders out to card shows and card shops to do RCR every week while sitting on those bulk orders for 11 months. Proper business would be to take care of those orders in hand and paid for instead of taking on new business and letting them jump the line in front of bulk orders.

[AGuinness]

Originally Posted by Dpeck100

Check out this thread. Yikes.


https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1231475

There's mention of a "cleaner," which seems to be people sending cards to a person who uses microfiber and wax to clean cards before submitting (and also possibly gets paid something for the service?). Is that common? Seems a little strange to me, but I don't dabble in the high-end modern market.

[ramram]

Boy, the real pressure is actually on the Topps, Bowman, etc production line employees to put out perfect cards...or.....maybe not. Maybe they get a tiny bit sloppy with most of their products and only get “gem mint” with a limited number on purpose. Heck, maybe the quality control guy pockets a few of those for himself.

Rob M

[Dpeck100]

Originally Posted by AGuinness

There's mention of a "cleaner," which seems to be people sending cards to a person who uses microfiber and wax to clean cards before submitting (and also possibly gets paid something for the service?). Is that common? Seems a little strange to me, but I don't dabble in the high-end modern market.

I have no clue. Sounds very possible. There seem to be a lot of tricks out there to boost a cards appearance.

[hcv123]

This thread sheds some light on the PSA backlog........

[orly57]

If they are backed-up for a year, I think it begs the question “how accurate can this grader be when he is flying through cards?” A guy trying to asses the difference between a surface subgrade 9.5 or 10 can not possibly be effective under these conditions. More evidence that this grade-worship is such a joke. People are paying obscene premiums for cards that were given a cursory review by some overworked graders working 15 hours straight, drinking Red Bull and coffee in some dungeon at the Beckett headquarters.

[Topnotchsy]

Whole thing is hard to understand. They have so much business that they are backed up for a year and therefore are struggling? If it’s a real issue, raise prices a little which will increase margins on each item in exchange for the small portion of market share that will be lost. BGS pretty much lens the modern market anyways...

[gregr2]

I would not give up my cards for a year. YOWZERS!!