Need advice for a GAI problem.

[Archive]

Posted By: peter chao

Leon,

How do you get a new lease when you have an eviction on your credit history?

Peter C.

[Archive]

Posted By: leon

Dave- going out of business is very simple. I know.....(unfortunately). All you have to do is have more expenses than income. I am pretty sure the biggest costs GAI has/had were employees, rent, technology (including the encapsulating machines)...maybe in that order........and without enough submissions that would be enough..

[Archive]

Posted By: Jon Canfield

We (being Net54) should purchase them with banner ad revenue and then start a Pre-WWII only grading service.

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Bretta

-Employees
-Rent
-Technology
-Advertising on Net54

[Archive]

Posted By: leon

You get a new lease by paying off your current bills in arrears, giving a hefty deposit, and signing another lease....I don't see how they can do it....but I have seen crazier stuff....They would have to have some really good marketing and PR folks, to make a come back, and they have never shown they had those things...

[Archive]

Posted By: leon

You guys are killing me .....

[Archive]

Posted By: Frank Evanov

"If they don't offer reduced prices compared to SGC and PSA I think the damage will be irreparable"

Sorry, but they could offer free grading in the future and no one would use them.

Frank

[Archive]

Posted By: Todd Schultz

"Sorry, but they could offer free grading in the future and no one would use them"

So Frank, you're saying that if they offered free grading, they couldn't make it up in volume?

Actually, the rent issue could probably be handled. Depending on the economy and location, you can often find accommodating landlords who prefer a risky tenant to empty space. Problem is, eventually it's time to pay, and you become more of a headache than it's worth. So tenants can bounce from space to space, but that doesn't help the revenue side, and doesn't bode well when such a basic expense cannot be met.

[Archive]

Posted By: Dave F

Well it sounds like instead of exploring every avenue to take out another big loan...that maybe these guys should seperately be calling SGC or PSA about job opps.

And while this may be good for PSA and SGC...they should probably be on the horn with a couple folks to. Wouldn't it do a world of good if PSA coaxed Mike Baker back if he is in fact the "top grader" in the business? And obviously put him in a role of GRADING instead of help run a company??

[Archive]

Posted By: peter chao

Leon,

Jon and Dan had a good idea. I'll be the first employee and start by grading my own cards. In a totally unbiased manner, of course.

Peter C.

[Archive]

Posted By: Anonymous

-Employees: Too many

-Rent: Too high

-Technology: $20 a month for web hosting? huh? Everything else, fixed

-Advertising on Net54: There's the straw that broke the camel's back!

[Archive]

Posted By: Marty

The way that this industy has gone, an auction company should look at him.

[Archive]

Posted By: David Smith

One expense you guys are leaving out is paying for "lost" cards. If some employees have sticky fingers and GAI had to pay for the "lost" cards, that could get expensive pretty quickly.

David

[Archive]

Posted By: Sean C

http://www.beckett.com/estore/news/?eskin=beckett&a=8942&s=1

What happened to moving 6 doors down?

http://www.beckett.com/estore/news/?A=8931

Does anyone believe them at this point?

[Archive]

Posted By: Todd Schultz

the first five doors down are suites, and the sixth one says "Exit".

[Archive]

Posted By: JimB

"I'm just trying to help people understand that [GAI] is not going anywhere and that they're stuff is fine," he said. "The company's still there, it just had to move. Otherwise, I would let you know. Hopefully, by tomorrow, this will all be a passing moment."

Barry,
I hear GAI is hiring an editor for their press releases.
JimB

[Archive]

Posted By: Ricky Y

I agree with Frank E. Even with free grading..I don't know that there will be enough interst to recover. At this point right or wrong it maybe too late to regain the trust again as their current trouble is sure to be embedded into the conscience of the customer base that GAI is not a trusted brand. PSA for all its criticism (many deserved) has established itself as the "brand" into the conscience of the collectors. As the posting at CSU shows, many posters often show total faith and loyalty to PSA. They can do no wrong..or if they do, its explained away..that everyone makes mistakes but they are still the best and most trusted. SGC has also established its nitche in the vintage category. GAI did have a head start with their pack grading, but it never took off in the card grading area...and its problems with slow turnaround times and things being lost was too much to overcome. PSA and SGC can lose things and ship things slow and not suffer as much because of its established foothold into the minds of the collecting public.

I guess you could say PSA and SGC are like Coke and Pepsi...and GAI is like Cleo Cola.

P.S. to get back on topic...I would also try to contact the head honchos there to see what they can do. It sounds very fishy that they would take the Ruth card and sell it. Ethically that doesn't sound too good at all. Good Luck!

Ricky Y

[Archive]

Posted By: Dave Haas

I called Mike Baker this afternoon and left a detailed message regarding my cards and he returned my call within 45 minutes. He said he had talked to Darren and that a check would be issued Monday for the agreed price for the card (I know, "the checks in the mail"). He said he would personally call me Monday when it was sent overnite mail. I asked him if GAI would survive and he said that as an "employee" he surely wanted it to but it was in the hands of GAI's board of directors who were trying to make things work. He said that he was returning all calls made to him and that all cards in their possession were secure and all customers will be made whole for their submissions. He seemed honestly upset about the situation and how things had progressed, but it appears some of it is out of his hands. I'll let you know if the check is actually in the mail Monday. Thanks for all your advice.

[Archive]

Posted By: Joe D.

That was great!

LOL

[Archive]

Posted By: JimCrandell

Dave,

I would trust him to come through.

[Archive]

Posted By: barrysloate

Jim- I think an editor would be pretty low on their list of priorities. Perhaps a banker and an attorney would serve them better

[Archive]

Posted By: Anonymous

I have spoke to several people in this issue

Steve Coontz:Attorney for the Landlord,GAI was evicted for not paying rent for the entire time the lease was signed for...Thats about 8 months...He stated that company has changed hands from the paper work he has had...He gave me the name of a lawyer and he was not helpful and told me to mind my own business......


Debbie Ocoha:She works for the ciy of San Clemente,She states GAI has left 3 other locations in the same manner...They also do not have proper licenses to operate in the state of California..She has pics of the evciton notice and states that the wall partitions were torn down and thrown in the rear of the building.....They also moved in the middle of the nite,And tore the walls down so they could get out with anyone seeing....She also states 3 pod units were in front and were just removed today.....She needs to hear from people who sent into GAI


The church:They did not ask GAI for there suite to make more room....They stated also that the PODs were out front and were loaded with what they thought was helmets and other memrobilia....


I called and talked to alot of people today,If you have sent into GAI contact an attorney and file a lien agaisnt them for the fair market value of your Items.....My post on Beckett.com caused them to give this response.....There is a Sports radio station involved and a few local papers....They are thinking about getting NBC or someone to give this national exposure....That will get alot of answers for us all..

[Archive]

Posted By: john/z28jd

Did anyone else notice that Jim said he was glad that GAI didnt grade 50,000 cards of his? Is it just me,or does anyone else not think that grading that many cards mightve kept them in business and then he wouldnt have to worry,and especially if they did good,it wouldve brought in more business thru word of mouth. I think we can single-handedly blame Jim for them going out of business

[Archive]

Posted By: Al C.risafulli

""The company is not going out of business," Sipe said adamantly."


It's not dead, it's just stunned.

-Al

[Archive]

Posted By: JimCrandell

John--50,000 cards-$50,000--seemed like a compelling deal at the time.

[Archive]

Posted By: john/z28jd

They probably thought the same thing as i said,the exposure they would get would result in much more business. That many cards would be a big deal to them. That wouldve been a great price too. I dont get cards graded and off the top of my head i can only think of one GAI card i have,but i really liked their holders,especially for Old Judge cards

[Archive]

Posted By: Al C.risafulli

They were going to fly out to New Jersey, bring their slabbing equipment and inventory, and grade your cards for a dollar a card?

No wonder they're out of business.

-Al

[Archive]

Posted By: JimCrandell

At the time, I felt almost certain that they would succeed--primarily because of Mike.

[Archive]

Posted By: JimCrandell

Al,

You think thats a bad deal??--especially if I got out there and aggressively promoted GAI and proactively called other major collectors and attempted to convince them to switch??

I thought it was win/win.

As I recall, your client flew a bunch of graders to Chad's museum to grade a fair number of cards--probably for a bit more than that.

I have had serious conversations with Dave when I was really down on PSA to reslab 25,000 graded cards and I would throw in a few thousand more.

[Archive]

Posted By: Al C.risafulli

Jim:

One customer does not a company make, regardless of how large. The cost is likely to be in the five figures just to get all the equipment across the country, plus time, lodging, and meals. There's more than a dollar's worth of material in each slab. To grade 50,000 cards would probably have taken them weeks unless they brought a huge crew. Plus, at a buck a card they would have been setting an ugly precedent for every other large job that came their way.

I think it's safe to say that with the money that deal would have cost them, they could have afforded a few months' rent. Hell, they probably could have afforded six or nine months' marketing expenses.

Just my opinion, of course.

-Al

[Archive]

Posted By: JimCrandell

Al,

I forgot--I also promised Mike I would get Danny all the burgers he could eat that week.

They all coulda slept at my house.

I think you are missing the secondary benefits--do you really think SGC made money when they went to Chad's museum?

[Archive]

Posted By: Dave Haas

Hey guys/girls,
This is my thread, lets not turn it personal.
Thanks

Dave

[Archive]

Posted By: Al C.risafulli

Jim, I wouldn't presume to speculate about a client's business, particularly on a public forum. I just help them out with marketing.

But I can tell you that I would never advise a client to take a loss that great on a job on the magnitude of 50,000 cards. My opinion is that the long-term marketing value is simply not there, particularly for a startup enterprise. Mathematically, it just doesn't work. Again, you have a beautiful collection, but you're just one guy - and although you're very visible in the hobby, for the money they would have lost on that job, a good agency could have made them a lot more visible.

-Al

EDIT: You're right Dave, sorry for the hijack. Guess everyone's talking about Global today; the chit-chat just happened to land in your thread.

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Bretta

So now I'm curious as Kevin Saucier has said this new place has a great view and is three times bigger than the old place if he's going to let us all know where this new place is?

[Archive]

Posted By: Al C.risafulli

Edited so as not to hijack further.

[Archive]

Posted By: JimCrandell

Dave,

After 100 posts you usually get the advice you need and threads take on a life of their own.

[Archive]

Posted By: Dave Haas

Leon,
Can I commit suicide and have this thread locked? As the initiator I should be able to end as well as begin. Thanks.

Dave

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Bretta

What is the big deal here Dave? As far as I can tell you were given sound advice, you got the information you needed to contact GAI and this thread has revolved solely around GAI.

[Archive]

Posted By: JimCrandell

If every thread contained only answers to the original question, there would be some very short threads and a lot less interesting ones--and this one has not gotten off topic!

[Archive]

Posted By: Dave Haas

Dan,
Your right, I received excellent advice, I heeded it and I am satisfied with Mike Baker's response for the time being. All the advice was on topic, what I see now is becoming O/T. If you need to get personal, start your own thread. Thanks to all.

Dave

[Archive]

Posted By: leon

Even though I locked a few threads recently I really try hard not to....It's when they get completely out of control that I will. But I don't think this is there at all, at least yet . Lets see how it goes... regards

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Bretta

Hmmm...I don't know Dave so maybe he's new here....perhaps he hasn't experienced a truly off topic thread yet.

[Archive]

Posted By: Anonymous

The night is young and Mr. Giddings has yet to join us to share his wisdom and insight,

[Archive]

Posted By: Kevin Saucier

"So now I'm curious as Kevin Saucier has said this new place has a great view and is three times bigger than the old place if he's going to let us all know where this new place is?"



I was referring to their first move from Orange County to San Clemente.

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Bretta

Kevin, that makes sense now...I hadn't realized that they'd just recently moved before. I thought when you wrote the following that you had been to the newest place.

"No, I still have my day job. Mike and I have become good friends and talk frequently. When I go to their HQ he teaches me the subtleties of grading and the biz. In turn, I show him advanced alterations and discuss the proceedures for each...and what to look for.

I consider "the vault" their entire working space and grading area, minus the offices. Their new place is much larger but farther away from Los Angeles county."

[Archive]

Posted By: Bob

Dave- Just one tip, if I might, your idea of time will not be the same as GAI's. Kind of like "dog time" when one year equals seven years to a dog. I was also told my refund was coming right up and sent out in the mail the next day, for a lost card. 6 weeks later it arrived.
Bob

[Archive]

Posted By: Frank Evanov

My refund from GAI took 6 "Mondays". I hope you don't have the same experience.

Frank

[Archive]

Posted By: Brian

GAI's future is real and its spectacular.

[Archive]

Posted By: B.C.Daniels

Dan Mckee loves PSA so much?

if you had 50,000 cards to give Global............
given their reputation for grading would even one be returned unslabbed???

just wondering........

BcD

[Archive]

Posted By: Rick McQuillan

B.C., you brought up a valid point that had been rolling around in my little brain since I heard about the possibility of GAI grading 50,000 cards from one person. I'm not pointing out any particular grading company nor any particular submitter, but in general, doesn't it seem that someone submitting thousands of cards might just get the benefit of the doubt on the "tweeners"? Maybe a grade of EX on a card where with my piddly submission of 10 cards the same card might grade VG/EX?

Again, I'm not accusing anyone of anything, but the possibility is there. This situation would explain some of the grades on some of the questionable entombed cards that we see on ebay and at shows.

The other thing I've noticed is that when grading companies start to get in a little financial trouble, the grading loosens up a little. Is this a way to get more submissions and bring in a little more $? Look at GAI's recent history, and the old CSA grading. They both developed reputations of loose grading shortly before their demise. (I know, GAI isn;t dead yet)

Rick