PSA backlog

[swarmee]

Originally Posted by glchen

BTW, PSA has issued a statement on MARX cards here: Link

Looks like PSA is aware the authorized dealer is filing for bankruptcy protection. So the customers get their cards back in whatever state of grading they're in (most ungraded?), then have to fight PSA and others who are also owed money by Marx? Ugh. This may drag on a long time. And PSA specifically didn't say that those cards would be allowed to continue going through grading, just that they would be returned in the most expeditious manner. Many customers will now be out the grading fees (to Marx), with their cards back 1+ years later ungraded and some nearly worthless.

[BobbyStrawberry]

Honest question: what the !*&# is PSA doing? (From a business perspective, I mean.)

Instead of spending years failing to work through the backlog and angering their customer base, why not hire more people and expand their capacity?

[swarmee]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

Instead of spending years failing to work through the backlog and angering their customer base, why not hire more people and expand their capacity?

Honest answer: I believe they have more than tripled their capacity in the last couple of years, it just hasn't been enough for the market which has grown into base card slab flippers in the same time.
Their biggest failure seems to be keeping low prices for too long, so that the backlog grew quickly to an inordinate pile to ever grow out of.

[Mike D.]

Originally Posted by swarmee

Honest answer: I believe they have more than tripled their capacity in the last couple of years, it just hasn't been enough for the market which has grown into base card slab flippers in the same time.
Their biggest failure seems to be keeping low prices for too long, so that the backlog grew quickly to an inordinate pile to ever grow out of.

That’s my take as well. Also, people who say “just hire more people” must not have tried hiring anyone of late…it’s really difficult right now!

[BobbyStrawberry]

Originally Posted by Mike D.

That’s my take as well. Also, people who say “just hire more people” must not have tried hiring anyone of late…it’s really difficult right now!

Difficult? CU is worth close to a billion dollars and PSA is the industry leader. We're not talking about a Burger King franchise here.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

Difficult? CU is worth close to a billion dollars and PSA is the industry leader. We're not talking about a Burger King franchise here.

You’d be surprised how many people don’t want to sit in a dark room for 10 hours a day scrutinizing sportscards for $35k/year.

[Republicaninmass]

Originally Posted by conor912

You’d be surprised how many people don’t want to sit in a dark room for 10 hours a day scrutinizing sportscards for $35k/year.

More so in Newport Beach. Maybe they need an office in Podunk Iowa?

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by conor912

You’d be surprised how many people don’t want to sit in a dark room for 10 hours a day scrutinizing sportscards for $35k/year.

If you're having trouble hiring, you're not paying enough. Period. $35k is incredibly low for a business charging $100-$150 per card.

[Mike D.]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

Difficult? CU is worth close to a billion dollars and PSA is the industry leader. We're not talking about a Burger King franchise here.

It’s not just fast food that’s hurting…try hiring a technician, a software developer, or basically any job up or down the salary scale. Unemployment is at 3.9%.

Higher wages can help…although that usually means higher prices. But we have a shortage of workers globally right now - probably with many contributing reasons.

That being said…PSA is having success hiring…from their website:

“ In January 2020, PSA's parent company Collectors Universe employed 421 team members. Today we stand 783 people strong and growing daily. We’ve been adding more than 2 people per business day for more than 6 months and we’re still going.”

[swarmee]

Plus, the modern market has been crashing hard and "investors" of the past couple of years seem over-leveraged in depreciating assets. If PSA hired 1,000 more and bought buildings to put them all in, it may not be the best decision in the long run. They have already announced their intention to open up multiple remote locations, but Southern California is an expensive place to run a company based on near minimum wage labor, with $500K houses the norm.

[JCU]

I guess for myself I’ve never seen the value in getting them graded. When I began collecting and working in shops before owning one. Grading cards was the best part of the hobby. Learning from other critics and them learning from myself. The eye, the tools and techniques. It was important to the buyer and the seller. Now some ghost slaps a golden number on a case with a seal and everyone’s stuck with an interpretation that many times I feel is flawed. One time I picked up a Dr J rookie and called a friend who was a graders grader. I told him I’ve got something and I’ve got a notebook with a letter and I’m on my way over in an hour. He looked it over for 30 minutes or more. He said what’s your letter lol I told him if it’s the same as yours your buying me lunch. His was a M and mine was a W. Possibly the nicest on the planet. I believe it went to a very happy man in Colorado. Now it’s a number from some ghost. Maybe that’s best if you’re buying or selling. It’s just no fun and little discussion.

[Paulcurlee1]

Originally Posted by Mike D.

That’s my take as well. Also, people who say “just hire more people” must not have tried hiring anyone of late…it’s really difficult right now!

So there’s several ways to overcome that:
1) pay more to qualified people (raising wages shouldn’t be too hard since they’re a private company now
2) train card graders and incentivize it - lots of good people working in industries still that they’d probably prefer to be a card grader - I feel comfortable on that assumption
3) invest in automation that alleviates the human capacity requirement, decreases cycle time and increases accuracy.

If they aren’t having the above 3 conversations in the c-suite daily they’re doing it wrong.