tmoore_25

The above thoughts are correct. Remember who is heading the CSG grading division. A former higher level Beckett grader. CSG 9.5 will be the standard most comparable to a PSA 10. CSG 10 Pristine and Perfect will almost always sell for more than PSA 10 unless the PSA pop is extremely low, but also be much rarer, as it should be. CSG is very tough on card surface. I don't know what it is they are looking at or for but my last 19 card order came back with not a single 10 for surface. The only column where I did not get a single 10 at all. I have no idea what they are looking for as I sent in both paper and glossy chrome type cards. Out of the 19 cards, I only got 3 CSG 10's. In each case, the cards came back with all 10 subgrades except for surface.

How long doe it take PSA to enter your cards into the system? I have an order that PCSportsCards shipped to PSA on October 20th. Yes, almost 6 months ago. The system still says shipped. I'm being told they have it but they just refuse to update their system. Another Bulk order at PSA was shipped to them on October 17th and not entered as "Received" by them until November 18th. One full month. 

Why are you willing to give PSA a pass for not entering your cards in the system for a month, but then turn around and complain about CSG having your cards in house for the same amount of time? Nowhere on their website do they say that cards will be entered into the system on the day they arrive at the facility. They have acted fairly quickly, and I would probably say faster, than other TPG's at updating their turnaround times. They're not hiding. They are putting the information out there. Your cards may not get touched and updated daily but they have a lot of orders and are working as quickly as accuracy will allow them while trying to hire and train new employees. That takes time and will not solve the problem overnight. 

One interesting fact that I found was on YouTube there is an interview with CSG on April 5th and CSG says they have 10 full time graders for their sports card line.  That's it. 10 people are never going to be able to cut into the backlog.

1 hour ago, Anthony Roberts said:

Would I have to break the case and get the card out to send it in?

If you want that card graded then yes, you will have to crack it out. There are a couple youtube videos that can help you understand how to do it without damaging your cards but it is pretty easy.

I don't think NicholePer is actually in the sports card grading division. I think she is just providing standard answers so that they can say they are providing customer service and are responsive. That's ok though. As a community of collectors, we can all help each other out. I believe when you fill out the submission form, if you cannot find your card, there is an option for you to enter it manually. Sort of like 2021 Topps. They don't have it listed yet so you have to enter it manually and if it is a variation of some sort there are attribute boxes where you can enter this information in. Under set name, you can manually enter Complete Set and then the number and additional info.

In addition, PSA did so right at release time for Prizm Basketball and Bowman Baseball. Two of the biggest submission products. So, you could say their timing was just right both to benefit themselves as well as make their competition look bad. I know CSG is going to have high turn around times now but as long as they aren't the same length as PSA I am ok with it. Not thrilled but I can live with it.

Group submitters can actually be a good thing. They usually have cards in the correct order, packaged properly, and labeled correctly. Also only one package to open and invoice instead of many. I see the benefit.

I've submitted a thread in the Ask CSG forum asking them what they have planned to stem the flood of cards they have about to be dropped on them, but they won't approve my post so I'm assuming no one can see it. That is probably what they want though.  With everything that is going on right now, I think CSG should do the right thing and get ahead and address this issue now before they end up with a backlog like PSA or SGC use to have.

The good news is that you got your cards back. Hope you got some positive results.

On 3/29/2021 at 3:20 PM, drew.mac said:

I was excited to get my return back, I shipped my cards the first day the shop opened. I had submitted 9 cards all with subgrades - nothing too spectacular, old ken Griffey Jrs and some Michael Jordans. To my surprise, a '89 Topps Griffey came back a 9.0 Tiffany to highlight the bunch. 

It gets shipped, and of course it requires a signature. I'm not home three consecutive days (Thu, Fri, Sat), and it sucks because I'm home MOST of the time on telework. Now what? I get conflicting Fedex status updates after that. One says will be delivered Sunday, another says the "LAST" delivery attempt was made (with no follow up directions).

Sunday: estimated to be delivered by the end of the day, but was never out for delivery. Monday (today): Estimated by the end of the day, and hey! It's on the truck out for delivery. I'm waiting for this thing all day and I get a notification on my phone... delivered? It's not on my porch. I immediately hop in the car to rush the my post office to see if they turned it over to them by chance. The postal clerk said sometimes they do, but not today. I walk back outside and coincidentally there is a guy in a fedex shirt driving a Penske truck with packages in the back. I explain what's going on and he's either full of **** doesn't care/remember. I immediately called the Fedex help line and they opened a claim. I looked at the proof of receipt and my signature was a straight line, and my name was spelled wrong

Not sure what happens from here. They said to call in 24 hours for an update on the investigation. Of course of all packages I've ever gotten, the most expensive one gets presumably stolen. Sorry just ranting here, but be aware of your shipping method when you do the order slips. I'd be better off if the signature WASN'T required. I'll take my chances on the porch. I'm doing USPS if there is ever a next round.

Any update on your package? Was it found or still missing?

Your breath and a micro fiber cloth is all you should need. If you are using a chemical or wax, then that is altering and CSG should not grade. Plus you don't really know what those chemicals might do to your card in a year or five.

Considering PSA just closed up shop for a couple months and now SGC just raised the base price from $25 to $75 per card, what is CSG going to do in order to alleviate the flood of cards you are about to receive?  I hate it, but you guys are going to have to do something such as limiting the submissions or we will never see our cards in the future.

4 hours ago, Yeahiwasder4dat said:

They did the same thing to me. $40 for nothing.

Maybe you should trim it and send it back. I'm kidding of course.

6 hours ago, KBost33 said:

Well, Tmoore, actually, I didn't grade anything until this past year. I have been collecting for over 30 years, and I bought several large collections from people right before Covid.. So I have alot of cards, over a million easily.  You have no idea what I, or anyone has in their collection. So no, have plenty to keep sending if that would GEM.. and also, I figure why not use PSA as my own personal warehouse. I know they are backed up, when the cards are sitting at PSA I know exactly where they are. Not a big deal to me.

Plus, I have case break room, and I personally break several cases myself. SO, no not part of the problem. I have enough money to submit whatever I want. I open lots of boxes too from various years 1980-2000's, pulling Jordan/Jeters/Griffey fresh from packs. Pretty ridiculous comment without knowing any information. That is what the real problem is,  all of sudden these "experts" are over the place in all these rooms. LOL!    All good though. 

You're right, I have no idea what anyone has in their collection. But I also know there aren't too many people sending personal submissions that big in on a regular basis unless they run a business or have a large ebay following. And your eBay account doesn't indicate that you are a big fish or some large breaker either considering you've sold like 2 PSA graded cards this year. And I don't care how much money you have. That throws up a red flag immediately. People with money are usually humble enough not to brag about it. 

Yes, this is going to crush CSG early on. They should limit submissions to a set number per week. Say 75 per address. You've got people already claiming they send in 200-300 per week. If that's the case, they are in for some pain.

To me it sounds like you are some sort of economics major or something. Their cost to slab a card is probably 75% of the cost to the customer. So if it costs you $20 to grade a card, it probably cost the grader $15. Per card, it's not extremely lucrative, but they make their money in volume. The underscoping issue is that largest issue. For most businesses, they only have so much space to work with. In order for them to go larger the have to find and lease a space, furnish the space, and then find out how to quickly transfer everything seamlessly to the new location. That all takes time and if they are not grading, it costs them money and is why they are reluctant to do so until absolutely necessary. At the same time, it takes time to vet, hire, and train people to perform the various jobs and also eats into the profits, considering labor is one of your largest costs. A company will resist expansion at all costs until absolutely necessary which is detrimental to the morale of the employees. They will push and push the employees to increase production long before they look to expansion because a larger work force does not necessarily convert to larger profits. Amazon is successful because they are very streamlined. The grading companies, if they have not done so already, need to invest in Six Sigma or Lean Principles first to ensure that they are maximizing what they currently and then when they expand, they need to bring them in again early on in order to prevent bad habits.

Didn't see this and posted the same in another thread. If you recall what happened to SGC when PSA shut down, this will be the same thing all over again. People are going to send to SGC and CSG. Plus Prizm basketball releases tomorrow. Good timing for PSA, bad timing for everyone else.

Many of you may or may not be aware, but PSA has halted all submissions up through Express. CSG, this is fair warning. If you think the slabheads are going to just stop, you are mistaken. Get your house in order because you are about to get flooded with all the PSA is trying to avoid. CSG and SGC are both about to get inundated with crazy subs. And on top of that, I think basketball Prizm comes out tomorrow or something. Guess where all that is going?

I don't get the "SU" listing. Considering the Griffey is one of the cards they built their platform around, you would think they'd grade them. If they are coming back oversized, you can't say I trimmed it. I know there are some topps chrome RC's from 2019, I think, that are all undersized. I guess we can't send those in either. I know they are being very cautious with the trimming scandal. They don't want to be skylined as they are just coming to market, so I applaud them for their scrutiny but at the same time, I know it sucks for those of you who are getting the ungraded returns.

2 hours ago, KBost33 said:

Yes, I still have submitted 200-300 cards a month since price increase. I am changing what I end them though. I am sending less and less Ultra Modern stuff. I will just wait on those to fall into the Modern submits... I am sending in a bunch of 2017-1980 type. Really a bunch for 1990's..  Jordan type stuff. If CSG works out, they will get majority of Ultra Modern stuff, and they get all my autos stuff now. 

You send in 200-300 cards a month. What in the world are you sending them? Everything? You are part of the problem. There should come a point where the cards you have remaining are not going to get a gem grade. But you say the heck with it and send them anyway.

2 hours ago, Greg Christiansen said:

"Working"Day 13 No Progress in my status

What service level did you send at? If you sent it at Bulk, you've still got 47 "Working" days and if Economy, you still have 27 "Working" days (Even though that technically isn't correct). Once your sub has gone past those, then you can have a legitimate complaint. Until then, what are you worried about? I get it, you want them grade your 40 or 60 day order in 20 days, right?

1 hour ago, Chris1096 said:

So they received my 64 cards on March 24th. I guess Ill just try and forget about it. I sent a submission to SGC and received it back in only 15 days this month. They are completely caught up but I am not willing to pay $25 a card to grade with their current market sales. I cant believe people are still paying top price for PSA with their investigations and scandals. I personally will never touch a PSA card. The integrity of CSG seems very promising with their track record on Coins, Comics, and game cards. I am looking forward to using them exclusively. I am just hoping they can get their return times down around 30 to 40 days for bulk submissions.

Well you sort of answered your own question on why/how SGC is caught up. They were only backed up because everyone else was shut down and our greed for grading cards to turn a profit forced many to send to them. They got a bigger facility, hired a ton of people, and even stopped bulk submissions for a while. Once PSA and others opened back up, and considering the lower sales value of SGC, people just went back to PSA. Now they have a lot of room and a whole bunch of people looking for something to do each day. Their turnaround times should be instantaneous. They've even opened up the group subs again.

In many cases people are sending so many cards in that they don't mind paying up for faster service with PSA because they know they will get their money back as soon as they sell the cards. I'm not saying SGC is bad. I have a certain category of card that I will be sending them still even though I was more than disappointed with my last sub with them. I won't send them modern cards again. PSA takes forever, they have 3 of my subs still sitting from October. I enjoy the sales value they offer but am so tired of the wait. HGA for me personally, is nice and the labels are a cool niche, but it just doesn't fit my collection. The younger, basketball and football crowd that grades everything from the last two years is the market they are attracting.  Once the "bubble" bursts, and those people go away, HGA will have to rebrand themselves. CSG is right where I want to be. Most of what I send is PC although I do sell some to help fund my next submission. They are not too expensive, even with subgrades which I think are better additions anyway, their turnaround times are good, and their reputation as an established parent company is stellar. 

I forgot about that option. That is fine. I personally always invoice my own cards. You may get an instance where someone notes your card as something it is not and by invoicing them yourself, you might help prevent that.

I don't think that is bad. I ship mine similarly. Small groups of card with cardboard on the outside and taped. I use a little less tape but yours should be fine. They probably use a box cutter or something similar to carefully cut the tape. I also always send my cards in the Priority Mail Medium or Flat Rate boxes. Just package well with bubble wrap or packing paper and you should be fine. Also, I would write on each stack, what level of service and what numbers are invoiced. For example, on the outside of my card stacks, I write:

My CSG Customer Number - 0000000000

Service Level - Economy

# of Cards - 15 cards OR If multiple stacks 1-15, 16-30, and so on (Those cards should be in the same order as on you invoice to help the Research & ID department)