PSA selling cards on Ebay!?!?!?

[Beercan collector]

So they grade it BEFORE they know they’re gonna sell it for a percentage ?
Is that correct ?

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by Beercan collector

So they grade it BEFORE they know they’re gonna sell it for a percentage ?
Is that correct ?

Do we know that PSA gets a percentage of the sale? I'm asking because I don't know.

[Beercan collector]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Do we know that PSA gets a percentage of the sale? I'm asking because I don't know.

I don’t know either , I was making an assumption 😐

[BioCRN]

https://www.psacard.com/info/consignment-rates

[CardPadre]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Do we know that PSA gets a percentage of the sale? I'm asking because I don't know.

This seems a strange thing to wonder. Is PSA your best friend or are they a business?



.

[MikeGarcia]

Originally Posted by CardPadre

This seems a strange thing to wonder. Is PSA your best friend or are they a business?



.

I'll go make popcorn. It's not paranoia if they really are out to getcha.

[Fred]

Quote:
Originally Posted by CardPadre View Post
This seems a strange thing to wonder. Is PSA your best friend or are they a business?

The following quote was in response to the above quote:

Originally Posted by MikeGarcia

I'll go make popcorn. It's not paranoia if they really are out to getcha.

I'll do you one better:

I'll go make popcorn. It's not paranoia if they really are out to get your dollars.

It's just business... Remember the Godfather movie quotes: "it's not personal, it's business"

I still abhor what grading has done on one side of the hobby, that being shoddy subjective slabbing which has led to a price gauging/hiking mentality. But it can't be ignored that a positive side of it is it allows those that like to collect this way a bit of joy in their collecting habit/niche (even though it's costing an arm and leg more to do so ).

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by CardPadre

This seems a strange thing to wonder. Is PSA your best friend or are they a business?



.

I believe ebay owns the psa vault or psa owns the ebay vault. Something like that. So it's not that strange to wonder whether they charge each other fees. They are in business together and likely have another arrangement worked out.

Now if you look at the link posted above, PSA charges the consignment fee "WITH NO ADDITIONAL EBAY FEES". So it appears I was correct in my assumption that there is no additional fee involved.

[CardPadre]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

I believe ebay owns the psa vault or psa owns the ebay vault. Something like that. So it's not that strange to wonder whether they charge each other fees.

Now if you look at the link posted above, PSA charges the consignment fee "WITH NO ADDITIONAL EBAY FEES". So it appears I was correct in my assumption that there is no additional fee involved.

Unless I can’t comprehend words, you actually asked or wondered if PSA gets any $$ from the sale and of course they do.

[Section103]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Now if you look at the link posted above, PSA charges the consignment fee "WITH NO ADDITIONAL EBAY FEES". So it appears I was correct in my assumption that there is no additional fee involved.

I agree. On the surface, it appears PSA charges no additional amount. My assumption (only that) is that PSA receives a significantly discounted rate from eBay and that's how they cover costs+. With that said and if my assumption is true, there is absolutely a conflict of interest on PSAs part. They are incentivized in the short term to provide higher grades in order to generate higher eBay sales which generates higher consignment fees. Is it enough to matter to PSA? Its a bit impossible to say - particularly with the lack of transparency on PSAs agreement with eBay. Obviously, a $50 card probably isnt worth them messing with. But a $50,000 card? Yeah, buyer beware.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by Section103

I agree. On the surface, it appears PSA charges no additional amount. My assumption (only that) is that PSA receives a significantly discounted rate from eBay and that's how they cover costs+. With that said and if my assumption is true, there is absolutely a conflict of interest on PSAs part. They are incentivized in the short term to provide higher grades in order to generate higher eBay sales which generates higher consignment fees. Is it enough to matter to PSA? Its a bit impossible to say - particularly with the lack of transparency on PSAs agreement with eBay. Obviously, a $50 card probably isnt worth them messing with. But a $50,000 card? Yeah, buyer beware.

Yeah, I wasn't commenting on the propriety of it. Just that since I knew there was a business relationship where ebay sold its vault to PSA, that it wasn't unreasonable of me to ask if they charged fees over and above ebay's fees. That's all I asked, and was accused of asking a strange question.

[Section103]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Yeah, I wasn't commenting on the propriety of it. Just that since I knew there was a business relationship where ebay sold its vault to PSA, that it wasn't unreasonable of me to ask if they charged fees over and above ebay's fees. That's all I asked, and was accused of asking a strange question.

Yeah, sorry - I used your point of conversation to launch into my own take on PSAs practice. We should be asking all kinds of questions about PSAs income take on this because it absolutely matters. Maybe its just a ploy to buy even more market dominance. Maybe they're taking 10 of the 13% eBay traditionally charges. I cant tell based on what has been posted and I feel confident that is by design.