SGC Grading Turnarounds

[jchcollins]

I am encouraged by the apparent consistency in SGC's recent turn times, and for the first time in 18 months, dropped off a small submission of 2 cards at the post office yesterday evening.

I walked away from them with my hands thrown up last March, not over turn times or grading harshness, but due to faulty inserts that had tiny plastic shards sticking out at random places right up against the edge of my cards. I had always said I would give SGC a second chance, but given how upset I was at the time it was going to have to be awhile. I did notice in recent months that at least one thing I had complained about - the corner cutouts on the black inserts - have been modified slightly to blunt the edge that formerly was right down against the card. No clue if my angry feedback in early 2021 played a role in that, but it seemed to me as if they were at least willing to listen to suggestions.

I am hopeful that the "harsh grading" trend doesn't hit me too hard, but felt I owed it to them to try again. I had been a big SGC fan in the past who got soured over the initial mismanagement of their backlog in the early pandemic, and then over my own situation. So we will see. Only one card is raw grading anyway, and it's fairly well centered (an aspect of grading that the ostensibly new graders during the pandemic seemed to have a hard time with...) The other is a reholder.

[jchcollins]

Quick update on my submission. Very pleased. Below is the timeline:

*Thursday, 9/1 - Submission entered / cards mailed priority.
*Tuesday, 9/6 - Cards officially received and logged by SGC. They had actually arrived Saturday, but then Monday was a holiday.
*Wednesday, 9/7 - Cards graded and status updated on the website.
*Thursday, 9/8 - Cards shipped, grades and images pop on the website.
*Saturday, 9/10 - Cards delivered to me via priority mail.

9 days total door to door, on an estimate of 20-25 business days. Not too shabby.

Again this was a very small order, only 2 cards - and one was a reholder - so that left me with only one card on which to judge current grading toughness. I had submitted this '59 Mantle, and was expecting it to get a 5 or a 5.5. It got a 5.5:



Can't complain. My budget is such that I'm just never going to spend a ton on grading, and I will always have more raw cards that would make good grading candidates - but in the end I'm not going to do it for all of them. I will slowly submit to SGC again, as long as their service remains this constant - for a few more of my cards I'd like to get in their holders.

[jimmer77]

Talk about fast...I submitted a 4 card submission last week. Mailed from Wisconsin on Monday 9/12, received at SGC on 9/15, post grading process on 9/16 and received notification that order had shipped today 9/19...unbelievable.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by jimmer77

Talk about fast...I submitted a 4 card submission last week. Mailed from Wisconsin on Monday 9/12, received at SGC on 9/15, post grading process on 9/16 and received notification that order had shipped today 9/19...unbelievable.

I got a comp, and so sent them an additional one card order after my post above. 7 days turn, door-to-door.

[luciobar1980]

Crazy. Just got a 10 card submission back. SGC basically had them in their hands for 2 business days.

[Snowman]

I think SGC is going to have to lower their grading fees sooner than later if they want to remain competitive in anything other than vintage. Unfortunately, modern collectors have simply not accepted them with open arms. They pretty much view SGC slabs as a pre grading service for a future PSA crossover attempt. Personally, I'm a big fan of SGC. I think they offer the most consistent and accurate grades in the hobby and they have a very user friendly website and submission experience. I also like the tuxedo look. But I do get why others don't like them. It's entirely the slabs. Modern collectors think they are cheap looking and way too big. If I were steering the ship at SGC, I would have invested in new slabs. Something smaller, rigid, and crystal clear like the new CSG holders. And something that stacks well with PSA slabs. But I wouldn't do away with the current slabs. I would let people choose which slab they wanted. I think if they started doing this and offered a registry, they could make HUGE gains in the modern side of the hobby, which is much larger than the vintage space.

[Oscar_Stanage]

Originally Posted by Snowman

I'm a big fan of SGC. I think they offer the most consistent and accurate grades in the hobby and they have a very user friendly website and submission experience. I also like the tuxedo look. But I do get why others don't like them. It's entirely the slabs. Modern collectors think they are cheap looking and way too big.

I agree with all of this. I understand you want to differentiate slabs , but this can be done with the label. Have a case 2x thicker than others doesn’t make sense.