PSA Economy – Ground Truth

[BobbyStrawberry]

Originally Posted by Snowman

I've been disappointed in their grading standards. Especially with regard to centering. I've seen so many cards that are perfectly centered on the front and have 48/52 L/R on the back get 9s as sub grades for centering. That's just ridiculous. And cards that are 46/54 getting 8s. I've also seen vintage cards that are clearly overgraded. Cards with creases getting 5s and even a 6 in one case. Gem Mint grades on modern cards are too tough with them. I've also been disappointed in their pricing strategy, wait times, and communication. Their marketing is almost non-existent. I also think they really dropped the ball with their flip. It's like they didn't ask any of their potential customer base whether or not they liked the flips. Those flips are almost universally hated throughout the hobby. That's such an easy problem to avoid, and they completely dropped the ball on it. It's also an important decision to get right. All they had to do was survey some collectors and they would have known to change it. I had a lot of high hopes for them at the beginning of the year. Being backed by CCG is a huge leg up on the competition from other new grading companies. But watching their slabs get passed over by people who prefer cards in HGA slabs? Ouch. That's extremely disappointing. HGA is just a complete clusterfuck of a grading company. If you're losing to them, you're doing something wrong.

I appreciate the reply and agree with most of what you wrote. I truly don't get the appeal of HGA. I am constantly seeing evidence of their incompetence, and their slabs look like something a high school student made in shop class.