And with that, I am out of the grading game.

[yanks87]

I'm cheap, I said it. I got into grading for the protection and pedigree aspect. My collection has more "Authentic" and 1's than anything else, so the spike in grading fees has pinched me out of things as it is, but with PSA now saying that their economy grading at $30 a card, (20 card minimum), nothing older than 1996, I am officially out. I sent in an order 15 months ago, (in quality check 2 now, woohoo?!) at $20 a card, and hated myself in the morning for doing that. I also got talked into sending in an order at $50 a card, my wife hated me in the morning after that one, but with high dollar cards going in I could justify it, sorta?!

Grading cards is now an expensive game, more expensive that the cards in some cases which seems counterintuitive, and I feel like PSA is leading the charge for playing the "look how much better we make your card" game. They are leaning in hard on the perceived value of their service, and I think it catches up with them sooner rather than later with the emergence of other graders that are starting to get a footing in the market. In my mind, all the talk of expanding services, more graders, new facilities was a PR move. I know they are expanding, but it looks more like a move to appease shareholders than customers. If they would have expanded their system, made one office solely for modern, one for vintage and kept their prices less than $20, they would rule the world of grading. But it seems like everyone else in the realm, they have been drinking their own Kool-Aid and are consumed with the self importance of the service and a high demand (*cough cough* capitalism).

I had resigned to the fact that I would now not be grading any more of my kitschy cards with no one grading for less than $20 a card, and with this last announcement I am officially out. The cost of grading out paces values of a lot of my cards, so it is back to old school ways of protecting the cards. I wonder if the inevitable "bubble burst" that everyone is predicting hits the grading services first? When demand cools as bulk submissions go down, profits will dip, and by that time I would imagine that the "hair on fire" approach to getting all cards graded will also cool. Once again, it seems, at least in my cheap mind that big business has built a system to maximize money in the current climate, turning a blind eye to building a system that would set them up for now and the long haul. We will have to wait and see.