The Break Brothers

21 minutes ago, RKgant said:

I think the truth is in between. I you look a the 3,900 items when just use CSG, there all sorts of other stuff that has 'csg' in there name from hot wheel cars, athletic shorts, silver collectors, auto parts, etc. Toys alone account for 1,400 of that list. Business and industrial is another 1,200 from that list.  Take a look at what comes up - the list on the sidebar is the balance of the items that arent cards but you cropped it just to show cards.  If you hit the filter for CSG graded cards in that list and it drops to 22.  which obviously isn't accurate, but def isnt 3,900.

3 hours ago, Benny Harris said:

They are currently dumping 1000's of freshly graded cards into the market which are popping up all over facebook and Ebay. 

1000's? I am not seeing that many coming out, and from the forum it looks like people aren't really anything back so I am not sure where you are pulling this into from. If I type 'CSG graded' into eBay I get 368 results. Not really the Tsunami you describe and them in better position than PSA?!? We are rooting for them to succeed, but I wont drink the koolaid.

21 hours ago, jsrva said:

I had a BULK order that was received in the system 4/24 move to Scheduled For Grading today, June 2.

Good to hear yours is moving. We just got notification that ours is graded and shipped. It had hit grading/Quality Control on Tuesday. Once it is received here (tomorrow) we will update our whole timeline for an standard 25-day order (25 day option at the time it was sent). CSG physically received it 3/29.

Today, my sub went from 'scheduled for grading' to 'grading/quality control'. I wish I had received an email notification; instead of stumbling on that the status had changed. Seems like an easy thing that builds customer service. As a programmer, its a just a trigger. Status changed, trigger an email with the new status. With HGA I get an email at each step, received, scanned, graded, printed label, slabbed, packaging/shipping. Getting emails alleviated stress, and saved me time of having to check all the time on the site, wondering if something changed. Little thing, but transparency goes a long way in customer service. I'm shocked with CSG being in business for 100 years, that this had eluded them.

3 hours ago, Vintage collector said:

It is very frustrating to not know if your cards have arrived or not. I just sent my first bulk submission of 106 cards USPS on 5/22 and it arrived on 5/27/21 according to USPS. However there has been no confirmation email or any info I can find on the site that shows CSG has it.

You can check their service and fees page for where they are at...which isnt far...see attached image from today.

2 hours ago, nickdrizzle said:

How do you get in to HGA on a weekly basis? I tried for 2 months, twice weekly before giving up

Not sure, I usually bring it up on both phone and desktop, and one of the two always gets a reasonable spot. We put orders in up to twice per week. We haven't experienced any difficulty that we've seen other express. Not sure why, maybe just getting lucky over and over. I'd keep trying though, its usually Tuesdays at 5pm (EST) and Fridays at 9pm (EST).

This sucks, another week has gone by, and now almost 3 weeks in "Scheduled for grading". Zero chance this place hits the 25 day turnaround, only months after launch. We submit almost weekly to HGA, and getting them back in 10 days at the same price as CSGs 25-days. HGA is currently eating CSGs lunch.

11 minutes ago, RKgant said:

They note that they are opening pages that were delivered the week of 3/29.  They also note that they start counting turnaround days the moment the package arrives. Seems like Break Bothers should be getting close if it was anything other than bulk order.

We were received in the system 5/4, standard (single card) service. We paid the sent invoice and has been scheduled for grading for over a week. Not sure when will get out of scheduling and actually graded, paid invoice over a week ago.

22 hours ago, Shockmaster said:

My bulk submission that was delivered on 3/31 was entered in the system today.

Mine were delivered 3/29 but not received in the system until 5/4.  That's scary, two days of progress in the ensuing 17 days??

Did they send you the invoice yet? Once mine got scheduled for grading I was sent the invoice to pay. I did not get any indication on the website that I sent one, happened to see it in my inbox.  Is it possible youmissed it and is holding things up? BTW, I could find a way to pay it on their site, I had to call and pay it over the phone which seemed odd. Having been in business for 100 years (coins and comics), you'd think they would have come up with a less manual process to pay those at this point...

EDIT: Just saw you paid, I assume the sent invoice - that is weird then that's its MIA

It's tough to figure out timing. 8+ days ago, was scheduled for grading. I few days later I received an invoice which I paid. Now a week later, the status is still scheduled for grading. I am not sure if the clock starts when they "receive" it in their system. According to their website, the 8 steps are:

1) Receiving
2) Verification
3) Authentication
----> Invoice sent here
4) Grading
5) Encapsulation
6) Imaging
7) Quality Control
8) Packaging and Shipping

Apparently I'm in the status between steps 3 and 4. Which sucks, as Took 6 weeks to be received in the system for 25-day service (received 3/29, 5/4 in system)...looks like will be a while still given FIFO and took 6 weeks to receive.

Official Status Explanations (which aren't as granular as their 8 steps)...

It was about 5 weeks from the point CSG physically received the card. Sent 3/24, received 3/29...entered as received in system on 5/4.  Has anyone found an average time it take to get to the next step, scheduling - for standard service? Average time to get to grading from scheduled?  Thanks!

Edit: 5/11/2021 Though I didnt get a notification, we are now scheduled for grading. So, would be a week or less after receiving the card in this case.

Ding, ding, ding! My 3/29 submission was entered today! Sent 3/24, delivered 3/29, entered 5/4! Standard Service, 25 days w/subs and auto.

19 hours ago, Benny Harris said:

HGA is done as soon as PSA gets their together, and they are a billion dollar company they will get their issues resolved. Because CSG is such a respected grading company they should do OK. Their subs will drop once PSA is back and hopefully then they will offer some Economy specials. The only thing that will be lined in the HGA FB groups will be people selling the pliers that have the snips so everyone can crack out the cards.

I would think there would always be a market for cards turned around on time, for a realistic price, and holds value. PSA fulfills 2 of the the 3 currently. And they arent digging out of their backlog anytime soon, if ever. 

I saw this at the end of last week...Zion rookie PSA vs HGA (another new grader)....quite a difference.  one was auction the other BIN.

On 5/2/2021 at 2:00 AM, Palmetto Cards said:

Well I'll be darn, I just went to the service & fees page and noticed the announcment below

Didn't know they were doing that now, awesome! 

Now opening submissions delivered the week of March 15, 2021.

This is beyond pathetic. They have been on 3/15 for what, 6 weeks now?  See below, a post from earlier in this thread from April 15!!! Has anyone who has gotten a card(s) entered in their system, how long after is it scheduled for grading or is it another month to get scheduled and the clock actually starts?

From Nick Mares

6 hours ago, Jayalistings said:

Confused on the point, as the PSA was sold at $415.55.  The HGA is being offered to sell but is not a sold price.  I  can list anything at whatever price does not mean that it will sell or that it is worth even close to that amount.

You didn't read it thoroughly....those were in fact green sold prices.  See how before the $2000 it says "Sold For"....one was auction, other BIN

6 hours ago, ItismeH said:

Same here and on top of that, I personally think their slabs are just plain gimmicky. I don't see them lasting too long unfortunately.

Why dont you just opt for the plain label them? No one forces you to use the team or card colors?!  Do you have an issue with the grading itself there? CSG has butt-ugly labels too, but it isnt a reason to not use the service.  Are you saying PSA has great looking labels? Turnaround, cost and ROI should be more of a determining factor I'd think, no?  Right now, not much difference between CSG and HGA on ROI, and HGA seems to be the belle of the ball between the two right now on eBay. Right now, faster turnaround (for same price) and same or better ROI then CSG is looking better at the moment. At least HGA are receiving cards in a timely basis, and not raising prices at the same time they are extending turnaround times. 

Here's a recent comp, 2019-20 Panini Certified Red Mirror - SOLD PRICES PSA 10 vs HGA 10

$415 vs $2000

10 hours ago, KBost33 said:

Just getting into the lotto to get to submit is why I have passed on HGA.. que was always full.. so was I.

 

Shockingly, the day I heard about HGA I was able to submit a few hours later when I got a decent spot in the queue. We will likely submit more given the service levels if we get spots in the queue again.

We decided to try out two new grading services to compare. Both had 1 card submitted with subs, autos and same overall price. I went with CSG and HGA. CSG was standard, with 25-day, HGA for same price was 10-days.

CSG (auto Jasson Dominguez refractor)
Sent 3/24, received (physically) on 3/29...still not entered in system

HGA (auto Rookie Trout refractor)
Sent Tuesday, April 27, received today, April 29. Entered in their system as received, today, April 29. Now to see if they hit their 10-day turnaround.

2 hours ago, FAdmiral said:

I don't think anyone should get so upset over the price increase or take it personally in any way. Price is a way to control demand. Right now they are getting slammed with submissions and they don't have the time, personnel or facilities to control the surge. The only way they can do anything about this issue is raising prices. CSG doesn't want you to submit right now because you are going to get wait times that you aren't going to be happy with. If demand cools down and they can get a better handle on what is required to enter the space, the prices will stabilize. Whether that means price up or price down depends on how much they have to get through. My advice is this, if you can stomach a very long wait time and higher prices, then by all means submit now. However, if you can wait and let these grading companies catch up, you'll likely have shorter wait times and a better overall experience. 

Obviously not taken personally. But every grader is behind. But, if youre turnaround sucks and you raise prices to PSA levels, without their pedigree, it seems like a foolish move two months in.  Why not rise it to $100 card to stunt submissions.  That mentality hasnt proven effective yet, or slowed subs.  PSA raised prices and had to shutdown.  CSG isn't ignorant of the market they decided to enter. They knew that PSA and Beckett were swamped, and they would be likely too. They didnt preapre, and set prices and expectations they could never meet, so now raising prices. I am starting to appreciate HGA and their answer. Limit amount of subs, prices low, and turnaround times met.  I just sent off a Trout Auto RC refractor today, with 10-day turnaround.  I'm curious to how both my CSG and HGA subs do, and their respective turnarounds. The 10-day with HGA was exactly as much as CSG, with 25-day with auto and subs.  I really hope CSG is a solution to PSA and Beckett, but I'm not seeing it so far, including on ROI consistently.

18 hours ago, pqd1991 said:

CSG’s parent company is reputable in the grading industry. Although CSG is a new brand but the company has better resource compares to SGC. The resale price is clearly above SGC right now. According to my experience, I never see above $10k or even $5k card in a SGC case. But there are already several in CSG including LBJ’s rookie. Not even talk about GMA, most people treat GMA 10 cards as raw cards. I don’t like their decision of raising price, but it is a simple supply demand problem.

I would hope they caught up on entering subs and had some consistent ROI from their slabs before they started raising prices. They have only been grading cards since February, 2 MONTHS. They are brutally behind and losing ground by the day it seems on entering subs.  With turnaround times already being raised, they are now raiding prices. More pay for slower work. I am not sure how I am supposed to be impressed. With inconsistent ROI, this isnt a great start for only 2 months in.

20 hours ago, ModernChris said:

They're just trying to run a business. 

Old pricing scheme plus market dynamics got them way backlogged, so they staff up/expand as much as they can and raise the prices a little bit.  If things continue the way that they've been going, they will likely raise prices again in a few months.  Then the market cools down, or when they streamline their processes enough that they can outpace demand, then they'd likely lower prices.

"They'd likely lower prices when they streamline their process"? Doubtful. Esp if they feel the need to raise prices when they arent hitting turnarounds (by a good amount). Has PSA or Beckett lowered prices as they streamlined?

They should add the month+ it takes to "receive" the submission to the turnaround times. They hired more people, raised prices - which should have meant something should have changed for the positive, not negative. If you have more people working why did turnaround times go up? Why did prices go up when you cant meet the current demand and fulfill on time currently? If you were hitting turnaround times, and needed to hire more to keep hitting them is one thing. But raising prices AND turnaround times, after hiring more people seems like a cash grab. You're getting in tons of cards, according to your customer service and sub entry timelines, this increase in sales should have driven more hires, not higher prices. Something seems fishy here.

10 hours ago, QueenCityCards said:

This is crazy, and I know I am not alone here, but hear me out. 

I was a faithful SGC submitter, and when I started they were $8 per card in a submission group bulk rate.

PSA was having turnaround time problems for over a year and SGC decided to up its game, hire more graders and improve turnaround times. They did, until the grading part of the hobby exploded to all-time high levels, exceeding the JUnk Era levels. SGC had egg on their face after bragging in their marketing about their turnaround times, while at same time poking fun at PSA. 

And they upped their bulk rates to $15 a card. That was fine. It was doable. But then it went to $20 per card for no reason. Then PSA shut down and it went to $75 per card or $35 for bulk rates. 

So, I decided to give CSG a shot. I was about to join at the second-tier level when I noticed the April 21 message that because they are seeing an influx of new submissions they, too, are increasing their prices. Mind you, this company is barely out of the box and its reputation is still to be determined. And the bright green labels ...

But for $8 per card bulk, I was ready to give it a solid shot and give them a full year. But the price is now $12 a card. And CSG isn't exactly bringing top 3 resale prices. I am not even sure they are above GMA. 

This is no knock on CSG; I have no experience with this company. But why is the response to increase fees? Because you hired more graders? Did you really?

If you are getting so many more cards, then that additional revenue and profit should be enough to hire more graders, right? Why are these grading companies alienating the small guys? 

If you're worried about adding to your turnaround times (they aren't great for bulk rates) well, this huge influx you mention means how many times are you increasing your profit margins? You had money to hire more graders. Increasing prices might make sense if you reduced the 4 month plus turnaround times for bulk. But you didn't. It's the same service, not guaranteed to get worse, with a 66% price increase. 66%! 

Does it make sense to send 100 mid-level cards at $12 a pop, or even worse, $20 a pop, when they are unlikely to bring in $30?

This is frustrating to watch. And I doubt I am going to sign up to your $149 plan. Good luck ya'll. 

Salient points! You are not wrong.