RKgant

Agreed that I was being way too harsh... on average I was finding that the other grading firm's slabs are priced at around a full grade below... which is pretty sizable from a $ perspective. BUT I do think that the gap has been shrinking over the last month (last week!). It could be that so many people have been forced to send cards to other graders for the first time in their lives, and they are getting more comfortable with the other options. I continue to monitor and root for the gap to close, as I think it should since PSA is not known to be the strictest grader.

Although PSA will ship your cards back and let you cancel your order.

The question is "is the turnaround time for you what was posted when you sent in your sub, or is your personal turnaround time what is currently posted?" If that makes sense...

The 199 working days includes the 2 months to enter into the system. Not that it is much of a consolation...

CSG should just update and expand the information they provide. The reason everyone is angry is because we are in the dark. For example, they should have a "expected turnaround times" for each status (Scheduled for grading, etc), and have these turnaround times broken down by tier of service. If you expected your status to remain for 10-14 days, you would not be upset at the stagnation. Really, all they have to do is provide more details. I'm really just posting this in the hope that someone from CSG reads it and can take action. Setting appropriate expectations would be a gamechanger. And yeah, this whole "thick slabs" issue has not been handled correctly. Send people back any cards which cannot be slabbed immediately, if the clients wants them bank asap.

Can we get a moderator to weigh in on a pop report timeline?

So for the people waiting on thicker slabs... what does it say for your "submission status"?

So true! In a rational market, the pop report should correlate with auction prices. BUT, since SGCs pop report indicates they are tougher grades than PSA, yet PSA gets materially higher auction prices vs grade, I remain skeptical. But agreed on its too early and pop report needed. Great point.

While I agree CSG should show on your "status" page that it has been received (rather than making you inout the tracking number), they do note on their turnaround times page "now opening boxes received 3/29", so technically the way they have it set up, you should not see an update given your dates. Actually, I just got it right now.... since they have not opened your package yet, they cant populate your personal status bar, and that is why they have the input box where you can check the tracking to ensure it has arrived. Not the best strategy, but it seems like things are technically tracking.

Somehow I did not understand their invoicing process, as I assumed that they would charge the card I believed they had on file, and when they sent me an emailed invoice I did realize I had to call them and provide my CC over the phone. Note that their email message did NOT indicate I need to do anything, it merely asks me to reach out if I have any questions for concerns. I just called them and the nice woman in accounting told me my cards are all graded and they are merely waiting for my CC. Note that the submission tracker still says "scheduled for grading." Curious. "received 4/26", economy service.

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.

They say "Turnaround times reflect the estimated number of working days to complete a submission delivered to our facility today." So you should be pretty close to the end. Apologies for the odd font... due to a cut and paste.

Would be great to have a thread analyzing realized prices of CSG cards. Ideally there are similar comps as well. I have been trying loosely track this, and this AM noticed on my ebay watch list two similar David Robinson cards which caught my eye: 9.5 CSG sells for $46, roughly halfway between what a a PSA 9 and 10 should sell for according to PSA (https://www.psacard.com/auctionprices/basketball-cards/1990-skybox/david-robinson/summary/306619) Here is the ebay listing https://www.ebay.com/itm/402837796595 And ending at the same time, a PSA 9 David Robinson sold for $16.50 https://www.ebay.com/itm/402837796490 This is the first time I have noticed CSG selling for almost exactly what a PSA would sell for (yeah, PSA doesn't have subs, but you know what I mean). I am cautiously optimistic that CSGs tough grading standards are being recognized with good auction prices. I'd love to see other data if you have it.

Their "received" is not when it actually got to their warehouse. For example, on their turnaround times page they note "Now opening submissions delivered the week of March 29, 2021", but I have one in their system with a status "scheduled for grading", and it says "received 4/26". Since it actually arrived at their place on 3/15ish that implies that they actually opened it on 4/26 and per their walkthrough times, 60 business days days after 3/15 would be around 6/7.

another example of "subs are a must"

How can we get an update on a pop report?? I get that a pop report like the company HGA is pretty embarrassing when there are only 1 or 2 cards in certain years, but CSG should have enough volume by now to throw up a decent report, no?

I don't know how they can compete without offering subgrades. How long can brand alone overcome an inferior product? Their grading is not tougher than others (they award more 10's than SCG), their labels can't really be perceived to 'look' so much better, no subs, more people submitting and getting familiar with SCG, CSG, etc... we will se how this shakes out.

Agree, but since their AI picks up on things a human can't see, I would have thought it would translate to better prices in the auction market. I'm still confused as to why that is not the case.

Subs are a must in my opinion. I would imagine that with the PSA news release in June/July, they will have to add sub grades. People seem to prefer a 9 with subgrades to a 9 without it (I don't have proof, it just seems to be the case). It also seems that as volume has been forced to CSG and SGC due to the PSA shutdown, more investors/collectors have submitted to these alternatives, and they are getting more comfortable with things not-PSA. Hopefully price convergence continues.

Got it... thanks for the reply. Now it makes sense.

For a possibly more unbiased account of the difference in PSA cards vs SGC cards, I would direct you towards this https://www.sportscardinvestor.com/2020/05/14/sgc-vs-psa-a-study-weighing-your-options-as-a-collector/ The analysis here shows a big difference in realized prices. PSA>SCG by a long shot. What I cannot determine is "why?". When looking at the pop report on both PSA and SCG, consistently PSA grades a higher % of the cards a 10, with consistently fewer in the 5-7 range (I can share the data if you like). So the question is "Do people that on average have better cards send them to PSA, or is PSA more lenient on giving a 10?" If it is the latter, why aren't people buying SCG 9 and 9.5 at a discount, then resubmitting them to PSA to try for a 10? There is something happening in the market that I do not understand.

Seriously... the whole page shows zero shows. Odd to have a webpage devoted to no information, and odd to not be trying to get some exposure.

When I have done my analysis on Ebay, I find that there is most often a large, material difference in what a SGC 10 goes for vs a PSA 10. We can all cherry pick data, so everyone needs to do their own due diligence. Sometimes odd things happen. If you find that SGC 10s go for similar amounts to PSA 10s, then that is great. I find that the market discounts SGC so materially that I will not send them any of my cards. But hey, as of right now, there is no reliable comparison tool to analyze the market prices of similarly graded cards between the different companies. Now, obviously, I have sent CGS cards (since PSA takes way too long). I am cautiously optimistic that 9's and 10's from CGS go for similar amounts to PSA over time. We shall see. The market is really having problems right now, and it would be great to have CSG be on the PSA level.

And...OK.... so the "SGC 10 goes for a PSA 7" bit was out of line. The SGC 10s are actually going for PSA 9 prices.... that still a 50% drop for one grade.

Lets use facts with proof... Ronald Acuna SGC 10 sold for $289 https://www.ebay.com/itm/144018658101?hash=item21882e5335:g:e4kAAOSwLEBghAzf A PSA 10 goes for $800 The Luca went for $159 https://www.ebay.com/itm/233961924121?hash=item367937a619:g:FesAAOSwHRRgcQk~ PSA goes for $272 https://www.psacard.com/auctionprices/basketball-cards/2018-panini-hoops/luka-doncic/summary/2662841