New PSA prices

[Peter_Spaeth]

Doubling prices doesn't exactly seem a collector-friendly move?

[sportscardpete]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Doubling prices doesn't exactly seem a collector-friendly move?

The writing was on the wall the second the deal was announced.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by sportscardpete

The writing was on the wall the second the deal was announced.

Agreed. Why anyone thought with the involvement of at least two billionaire Wall Street types (Nat and Steve Cohen) that this was about anything more than money, is a mystery.

PS I wonder if any "competitors" will take advantage of the obvious opportunity. I doubt it.

[parkplace33]

I am shocked it didn't happen sooner. They are mostly likely doing this to help with the backlog.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by parkplace33

I am shocked it didn't happen sooner. They are mostly likely doing this to help with the backlog.

LOL. No!

They're doing this to make more money.............full stop.

[Touch'EmAll]

Seems like this price move would turn away business. Gee, I own a small business and that's the last thing I would want to do - turn away business. If you don't take care of the customer (friendly, professional, quality service, charge reasonable) somebody else will.

[Bigdaddy]

Originally Posted by Touch'EmAll

Seems like this price move would turn away business. Gee, I own a small business and that's the last thing I would want to do - turn away business. If you don't take care of the customer (friendly, professional, quality service, charge reasonable) somebody else will.

The problem is, there is little/no competition. Or at least not enough to make a dent.

And as far as raising prices, I think it is more probable that other graders follow suit instead of taking advantage of the price differential.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

The problem is, there is little/no competition. Or at least not enough to make a dent.

And as far as raising prices, I think it is more probable that other graders follow suit instead of taking advantage of the price differential.

The economics textbook has a separate section for third party grading.

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

The problem is, there is little/no competition. Or at least not enough to make a dent.

And as far as raising prices, I think it is more probable that other graders follow suit instead of taking advantage of the price differential.

That would be really dumb on their part, since this is their long-awaited chance to make a dent in PSA's market share. Especially for CSG, who just announced their pricing structure. I'm sure they don't want to alienate potential new customers before they've even gained a foothold in the market.

As far as making dumb decisions goes, nothing would surprise me with regard to SGC. They seem to somehow hang on in spite of themselves. When the market comes crashing back down to earth, it might be tougher for them to thrive (or even survive).

[Exhibitman]

Did anyone honestly think a bunch of Wall Street assholes paid up for the company to do collectors any favors? These guys are pimps. Taking this company private, dramatically increasing the revenue without increasing costs, and leaving a giant backlog of revenue, that's the formula for selling it on the street corner with an IPO. I would bet that they take it public again after they have sufficient performance to show proof of concept. Central to the plan is one fact: PSA customers are sheep. They will line up to hand over their money as long as the PSA imprimatur makes money with unexpected high grades. The chance for freakish spontaneous wealth is too strong to mitigate against submissions. Only the poor set collectors--a very small group of the overall herd--will cry foul and walk away rather than spend $20 to slab a Sixto Lezcano card.

The silver lining is that everyone who has an inventory of PSA graded cards to sell can raise their prices because the submission cost for a collector to send in a raw card just jumped to the card price plus $20. I had been offering up graded cards for $10 MB. Now it is $15 going forward plus $5 to ship. Eventually, the PSA sheep will do the math and pay it. They always do.

[Fuddjcal]

Originally Posted by Touch'EmAll

Seems like this price move would turn away business. Gee, I own a small business and that's the last thing I would want to do - turn away business. If you don't take care of the customer (friendly, professional, quality service, charge reasonable) somebody else will.

I've used this many times before as well because it's so true. I almost never raise prices while my vendors constantly do. I rely on Raving Fans as customers and word of mouth. I'm not taking on anymore clients unless they are a "Brand" or own multiple brands" anyway. I'm down shifting but seem to set records month after month. Frankly, it's killing me. Maybe I should double prices and weed out the riff raff. Every time I have raised prices, nobody blinks and have never lost a customer in 21 years. Nah, They probably won't leave...

Also, use this line when it comes to relationships with our wives. "If you don't service the customer, someone else will."

[hcv123]

Originally Posted by Touch'EmAll

Seems like this price move would turn away business. Gee, I own a small business and that's the last thing I would want to do - turn away business. If you don't take care of the customer (friendly, professional, quality service, charge reasonable) somebody else will.

PSA has defied all norms - reminds me of the movie Goodfellas- but your grading is inconsistent - FU - pay us! But there are altered cards in PSA holders - FU, pay us! But I have to wait 6-12x the estimated turnaround times ?! FU, pay us! You just doubled your prices with no change to the last 3 problems!? FU, pay us!

Utterly and absurdly ridiculous!

[rjackson44]

Originally Posted by hcv123

PSA has defied all norms - reminds me of the movie Goodfellas- but your grading is inconsistent - FU - pay us! But there are altered cards in PSA holders - FU, pay us! But I have to wait 6-12x the estimated turnaround times ?! FU, pay us! You just doubled your prices with no change to the last 3 problems!? FU, pay us!

Utterly and absurdly ridiculous!

Lol

[Touch'EmAll]

PSA has for sure taken some fun out of the hobby. Last few years my son & I collected raw - him Pokemon, me Sports cards. It was fun have this hobby together. The end point, my son wanted to fund a high end gaming computer so we sent in few submissions to then sell. Worked well for fun, profit, and his new gaming computer.

Now with these prices to grade - game over.

[bobbyw8469]

Originally Posted by hcv123

PSA has defied all norms - reminds me of the movie Goodfellas- but your grading is inconsistent - FU - pay us! But there are altered cards in PSA holders - FU, pay us! But I have to wait 6-12x the estimated turnaround times ?! FU, pay us! You just doubled your prices with no change to the last 3 problems!? FU, pay us!

Utterly and absurdly ridiculous!

As long as they don't take me into the cornfield with the baseball bat...lol

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by bobbyw8469

As long as they don't take me into the cornfield with the baseball bat...lol

Financially, they just did.

[Tyruscobb]

Originally Posted by bobbyw8469

As long as they don't take me into the cornfield with the baseball bat...lol

Come on, Bobby! You are mixing up your gangster films. Howard referenced Goodfellas, you are referencing Casino.