PSA to open East Coast Office

[basesareempty]

According to a post via Twitter by Joe Orlando,due to overwhelming demand PSA will be opening an East Coast office in the near future. With this news and all the turmoil at SGC how will this affect SGC's business and what is the future of SGC? Opinions please.

Bob

[Ladder7]

More opportunities for the visually impaired!

[David W]

I joined PSA 3 years ago, sent in my 12 free subs, and then they sent me a letter and/or email to re subsubscribe 1 year ago, which I did.

They never sent me the letter and/or email this year, and I didn't re enroll, and I haven't missed them at all or the SMR magazine.

I wish them well, but I'm not joining again.

[chaddurbin]

great idea by PSA...i read there are more people born to grade cards back east.

[Thrill-of-the-Hunt]

this is an interesting move by psa. what is the investment here on their end?

how much for rent/utility bills/insurance
how much staff and wages
will they have on site equipment to encapsulate
will they have to move a grader or two to the new location
will they hire a new grader and will they train him in california first
will the turn around times be met

--- or ---

is this a drop off site only and cards will be shipped to california

... for the most part, people are pretty used to shipping cards, will opening another full time location really be profitable?

[Gradedcardman]

" Will work for PSA 10 T206's"

[Orioles1954]

I think this is more of JSA being put on notice than anything.

[keithsky]

Maybe they will be senseable on there shipping cost to the midwest to east coast clients. Can't believe there shipping costs.

[egbeachley]

Did the tweet say PSA or Collectors Universe? If it's the coin division it makes sense. If PSA only, it doesn't.

According to their 10-Q released last month, the submitted units from the PSA divisions for the last 2 quarters was 646,400 units, a 2% increase from the 634,800 units last year. But a lot lower than the 683,200 units the year before.

BTW, revenue also increased 2% in the same period. However, the declared value of the cards increased 15% from $44.8 million to $51.7 million so they must be heavily discounting their fees in order to keep the volume up. But at the same time their operating income (before unallocated expenses) dropped 13% from $600K to $521K which indicates costs are rising at a much higher rate than revenue.

So, if PSA only, they are probably expecting submittals to rise substantially going forward to cover the additional costs. That's possible if they have heard many collectors have avoided grading based upon nervousness of shipping their cards.

[glchen]

It was a generic tweet:

JoeOrlandoPSA: In response to hobby demand, PSA will be opening an east coast office this year. Updates and details will be provided in the coming weeks.

[egbeachley]

Makes sense then. "Hobby demand" is input from collectors that desire an East Coast location, not the overall demand increase for 3rd party grading.

Interesting to see how this works out - if the increase in East Coast submittals is greater than the loss of West Coast submittals.

[glchen]

The next tweet will be:

"PSA is pleased to announce that Derek Grady will be the head grader of the East Coast office, and Brian Dwyer and Michael Goldberg will be running customer service."

OK, poor early April Fool's joke.

[Orioles1954]

Originally Posted by glchen

The next tweet will be:

"PSA is pleased to announce that Derek Grady will be the head grader of the East Coast office, and Brian Dwyer and Michael Goldberg will be running customer service."

OK, poor early April Fool's joke.

That actually wouldn't be too far fetched.

[CMIZ5290]

After seeing larry's "name the grade" thread, who cares?

[joeadcock]

Agreed with Thrill of the Hunt.

The expenses involved in opening and running a new office would be significant. Seems far fetched that there are many customers who haven't graded(because didn't want to send across the country). Would likely need a large increase in submissions to make up the difference of such as venture. Unless there is more to this than is known.

[Davalillo]

If this is true and PSA sets up an east coast office I will immediately deliver 20,000 cards for review. Seriously.

[Touch'EmAll]

Will this be just for cards - PSA division? Or for coins also - PCGS division. If coins also, makes more sense

And I thought I heard rumblings of PCGS/PSA having corporate losses, not gains, even talk of them not being able to make it. Now they are doing better?

Maybe they will come out with new "quarter (.25) grades" for all the registry junkies to promote more business.

[Rich Klein]

Set up -- but not the grading center.

IIRC -- Beckett Grading now has a submission center in the NY metropolitan area --- and that could give them someone who can also help out at East Coast Events rather than having to fly someone accross the Country.

I did something "similiar" in a way in the 1980's -- when I set up at card shows and did work for Baseball Hobby News. I helped with the contests, took subs; and it actually helped my dealing buisness as well as that would be a nice entree to let collectors look at my cards of their favorite players.

It is not as far fetched to think that PSA would do the same thing. I would not be surprised if down the road -- SGC does something similar in the mid-west or far west. Setting up offices to drop off cards as long as you have good shipping options is not really that expensive compared to the full office you need for the main grading part of the company

Regards
Rich

[Orioles1954]

I can almost guarantee this office is going to be out of the Philadelphia area.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Orioles1954

That actually wouldn't be too far fetched.

Actually, yes it would.

[Orioles1954]

Well, being that God apparently put Derek Grady on the earth to grade baseball cards (and produce American Idol contestants), I thought it might happen.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Orioles1954

Well, being that God apparently put Derek Grady on the earth to grade baseball cards (and produce American Idol contestants), I thought it might happen.

Actually, this is what you responded to above:

"PSA is pleased to announce that Derek Grady will be the head grader of the East Coast office, and Brian Dwyer and Michael Goldberg will be running customer service."

OK, poor early April Fool's joke.
That actually wouldn't be too far fetched.





I am sworn to silence for the moment but I am very aware of what two of those gentlemen are doing today. That is why I said it would be far fetched. If I didn't know those things then I would agree with you. Sorry I was sort of short with my first answer....

[bijoem]

I'm looking forward to PSA on the East Coast.

Hopefully that means on-site grading at Philly Shows at some point.

[JamesGallo]

Originally Posted by bijoem

Hopefully that means on-site grading at Philly Shows at some point.

Wouldn't that be interesting. I sometimes think that is PSA did onsite grading in PA and had customer service like SGC if I would love PSA. It makes me think once in a while and then I realize that PSA is a big company and that I would never be able to deal with the same people every time I submitted cards.

Still I find onsite grading very useful but based on how SGC has increased the onsite prices over the years I can't imagine it would be porfitable for PSA either.

It looks like there are a lot of things changing this year and time will tell how they will impact the hobby.

James G

[glynparson]

I always deal with the same person at PSA. His name is Roy Alcala and I feel he offers customer service on par with what Michael, Brian, and myself offered at SGC.

[jbsports33]

I look forward to hearing more about this, I did at one time travel to Philly for the onsite grading with SGC and sometimes their office. I would most likely do the same with PSA.

Jimmy

[HercDriver]

I think they could probably cover some of the expenses by moving to a grading system in 0.25 increments. I know I would send all my PSA 5's in to try for a 5.25 bump...

Take Care,
Geno

[egbeachley]

A month ago Joe said they would announce the location within 2 weeks.

One other thought...could the East Coast office be a precursor to PSA moving their Corporate Headquarters permanently? A lot of companies are leaving California to avoid the onerous employment laws and taxes.

[glchen]

According to the PSA forum here Linky, the East Coast office will be in Northern New Jersey and will only be a pick up / drop off location with no onsite grading.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by glchen

According to the PSA forum here Linky, the East Coast office will be in Northern New Jersey and will only be a pick up / drop off location with no onsite grading.

What's the point?

[egbeachley]

OK, thanks.

I guess that means that any PSA revenue earned for cards submittted in NJ can be apportioned to NJ tax laws. Could save them a couple %,

[chaddurbin]

Originally Posted by glchen

According to the PSA forum here Linky, the East Coast office will be in Northern New Jersey and will only be a pick up / drop off location with no onsite grading.

so now for east coast collectors instead of sending their orders straight to CA, wait for them to be processed, graded, and sent back...they can send to NJ, wait for them to be processed, sent to CA, wait for them to be processed, graded, sent back to NJ (?), then back to the owners.

[T206.org]

Let's all "hobby demand" that they quit with the damned membership fee.

[ScottFandango]

clearly the two companies are movingin opposite directions

PSA i pickingup market share fast and SGC is losing it...

Prediction..SGC will eventually be a niche grader for some obscure issues only...mainly pre 1920

SGC's post war/modern business is DEAD

i know personally, i turn profits by cracking out a card in SGC and sending it to PSA...the equivalent card has a MUCH higher value in PSA...check VCP to see)..

i dont know of any of the "problems" at SGC people allude to, i just understand the market and what it wants

one of the biggest problems with SGC is their failure to designate MARKINGS on a card and the maddening way they lump things into their pop reports (why cant they list Pink Keeler, red keeler, horizontal keeler in the e90-1 pop reports? instead they lump them toghther..so wrong!)

[ScottFandango]

Originally Posted by T206.org

Let's all "hobby demand" that they quit with the damned membership fee.

to this day, i cant understand why people complain about a $100 membership fee...

they give it back in the form a grading voucher ..hello? THEY GIVE IT BACK!

not to mention access to POP reports which are very valuable and accurate..

also, the SMr makes for great light lunch reading (or bathroom reading if you do that)

and dont say the grading voucher wont get used, otherwise a person would never have signed up for thridparty grading anyway...

GEEZ people, its not like they take $100 and give you nothing...

[ScottFandango]

this board should be called NetT206, cause thats all anyone gives a crap about here...

[HRBAKER]

well ok, then

[Leon]

Originally Posted by ScottFandango

this board should be called NetT206, cause thats all anyone gives a crap about here...

should we take a poll?

[T206.org]

Scott, I was totally ignorant regarding the facts about the membership. I'm sold now though. Thank you for putting that out there.

It's not like isn't right there on the PSA site... I just heard membership, dismissed it at face-value, and never took the time to read the details behind it.

Next complaint then - I just wish they had black holder inserts like SGC.

[Jay Wolt]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

What's the point?

Perhaps its worth it to PSA to have an East Coast location which would be much more inexpensive
to set up at the East Coast shows like, Philly, White Plains, Boston, Meadowlands, Pittsburgh, VA etc...
Much easier & coast effective to drive an hour here or 3 hours there then to fly staff & booth materials from California.

[bobbvc]

When is SGC coming to the West Coast?

[Orioles1954]

Originally Posted by ScottFandango

this board should be called NetT206, cause thats all anyone gives a crap about here...

Strangely, I agree with him on this point. T206 are the 1987 Topps of the tobacco era, I fail to see what is so darn fascinating about them.

[HRBAKER]

There are appx. 30 threads listed on page 1, with 4/5/6 dealing with T206. People are passionate about them, so what? I don't collect them and I can always choose whether I want to read them or not. Where's the issue?

[Orioles1954]

You're probably right there Mr. Drum. Maybe the perception comes from those threads being so active when they are published.

[HRBAKER]

Originally Posted by Orioles1954

You're probably right there Mr. Drum. Maybe the perception comes from those threads being so active when they are published.

James,
I guess more people react more to things they find more interesting. There's plenty of good stuff here for everyone. Just today we are mournng the loss of Randy "Macho Man" Savage on one of our pages.

[Rich Klein]

Originally Posted by ScottFandango

to this day, i cant understand why people complain about a $100 membership fee...

they give it back in the form a grading voucher ..hello? THEY GIVE IT BACK!

not to mention access to POP reports which are very valuable and accurate..

also, the SMr makes for great light lunch reading (or bathroom reading if you do that)

and dont say the grading voucher wont get used, otherwise a person would never have signed up for thridparty grading anyway...

GEEZ people, its not like they take $100 and give you nothing...

As for the membership fee -- I agree there is value in that, the only problem for many collectors is to have to join to then submit their cards. Neither SGC nor BGS/BVG require membership to then submit the cards. For some collectors, all they want to do is send cards in without vouchers, etc. I can see why some collectors get upset at that layout of money

As for the SMR, I've not been a memeber and have subscribed to the SMR --- the pubication has gotten much better in the past year -- but the pricing still needs a ton of work -- and yes I've talked to Joe O about this. This is nothing private in anything as I've posted my opinions publcly (*even on the PSA boards*)

My biggest complaints with the SMR is that

1) I was a subscriber and NEVER recieved any renewal notices. Now I know the pub is designed for member, but throwing away money is never a good idea. There should be a person designated to sell a few subs -- this would make PSA extra money

2) The pricing in SMR needs to be improived. I think we can call agree on this. This is not a shot at SMR at all -- just a fact --- It is also frustrating when prices are listed for cards in conditions that PSA has never graded. I can live with the guesstimations on the lower condition side; but the higher condition side is a different issue.

3) the POP report is valuable but not as accurate as you think. I say that because not all of the people who pop out cards from holders remember to notify PSA of that. Some dealers/collectors do -- others don't. On a general level the report is accurate to give guidelines but some specifics may be very wrong.

Regards
Rich

[Rich Klein]

Originally Posted by Jay Wolt

Perhaps its worth it to PSA to have an East Coast location which would be much more inexpensive
to set up at the East Coast shows like, Philly, White Plains, Boston, Meadowlands, Pittsburgh, VA etc...
Much easier & coast effective to drive an hour here or 3 hours there then to fly staff & booth materials from California.

Set up -- but not the grading center.

IIRC -- Beckett Grading now has a submission center in the NY metropolitan area --- and that could give them someone who can also help out at East Coast Events rather than having to fly someone accross the Country.

I did something "similiar" in a way in the 1980's -- when I set up at card shows and did work for Baseball Hobby News. I helped with the contests, took subs; and it actually helped my dealing buisness as well as that would be a nice entree to let collectors look at my cards of their favorite players.

It is not as far fetched to think that PSA would do the same thing. I would not be surprised if down the road -- SGC does something similar in the mid-west or far west. Setting up offices to drop off cards as long as you have good shipping options is not really that expensive compared to the full office you need for the main grading part of the company

Regards
Rich

[WhenItWasAHobby]

Originally Posted by glchen

According to the PSA forum here Linky, the East Coast office will be in Northern New Jersey and will only be a pick up / drop off location with no onsite grading.

If this is only a drop off center, then what's the point? The same thing could be accomplished by dropping off cards at any of the nine local PSA Authorized Dealers' locations.

I used the SGC zip code for the number of PSA Authorized Dealers within 50 miles and there are at least 9 locations:

http://www.psacard.com/DEALERS/Defau...p=07054&rad=50

It makes no sense in my opinion.

[Rich Klein]

In terms of having a body on the East Coast that can also set up at shows for PSA, go to stores, etc. That way you can fly in one less person for many shows AND thus save on plane fees, and if the show is close enough some hotel fees as well.

Let's say the show was in Willow Grove and I was a PSA rep from my home town (in North NJ):

Instead of flying and potential delays, I could drive own to the show in about 90 minutes. Also -- from California to PA -- you would probably have to fly in the day before. And then I could drive back on Sunday. That saves 2 days hotel fare AND a flight fare. Right there, I have saved my company several hundred dollars. Take that serveral times a year,, and I've saved my company thousands of dollars. In addition, I can become the point person for PSA to have people send in their cards. That lets the PSA dealers spend more time on what they need to do which is buy/sell cards.

I understand this totally -- makes perfect sense -- and I think a good move for PSA to be more active on the East Coast.

Rich