MDBLAW

Yeah, after all is said and done, this is a business at the height of its profitability. I’m sure they recognize that and are focused on grading as many submissions as they can while still maintaining high standards and credibility.   Only the immediate future will tell the story of weather they are meeting those high standards and establishing a recognized level of credibility.

Thanks Andy. I appreciate the advice and we are in a similar position as I have just gotten back into cards after raising my children. All of the stuff I have is pre-2010 and the vast majority, some 20,000 cards are from the early 1970s through 2006.

Andy, you are so right. My tendencies towards being a cheap person got the best of me, but I won’t let it happen again. I should’ve spent the extra 40 bucks for the sub grades. Lesson learned. This is my first foray into card grading.

Although I was not happy about the 7.5 that my Jordan refractor got from CSG, I must say that the packaging of the slab, and the immediate and polite response from customer service every time I’ve called has been refreshing. They are certainly trying to do it right, and the recent onslaught of cards for grading is not their fault. They’re doing the best they can and in my experience they’ve done quite well so far.

Nice. Wish they would’ve graded my Jordan refractor at a nine. Instead they dinged me bad with a 7.5! I’m still a little pissed. 

Maybe the card is not perfectly centered left to right. That’s the only flaw I see taking into account all the stated criteria for their grading process. Otherwise, the corners are crisp the edges are perfect and the face of the card is beautiful.

These are the best pictures I could upload given the file size restrictions of this website. After examining the card when I received it in the case, I am even more convinced that this should have graded at an 8.5 or higher. I just feel screwed. Please give me your feedback. Maybe I’m wrong.Maybe I’m wrong.

4 hours ago, Yeahiwasder4dat said:

In this case I think I overestimated their ability to have situational awareness. If you look at HGA, regardless of their grading they only take subs equal to what they can pump out. Quick turnaround. SGC jacked price up, and is actively playing with the price with a current turnaround of 20-25 days according to the sub I did yesterday. 

CSG? They watched what happened to every other company, didn't take notes and buried themselves in cards. Now they're months behind on opening mail, turn around is through the roof, they're holding cards hostage, and people are getting mad.

Seems like a cash grab to me. Get as many subs as possible in while the market is hot regardless of it taking a year or more to do them. Screw the customer, just lock in that money.

That's not to say they couldn't turn it around, but I kept thinking why not prevent this instead of having to deal with the fallout. As they say, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Not only will they have to scramble to try to get a grip on subs that they have, but I'm sure they've lost some repeat business over this by burning customers. People expecting 3 calendar month turnaround now looking at possibly double or triple that.

2 hours ago, Brandon Melnick said:

Exactly, CSG just wasn't paying attention. They had a real opportunity here, but have not been able to deliver. Allowing huge group submissions immediately, not having a good process for seemingly anything,  and no apparent awareness of what the demand/market was, or what they were receiving in comparison to their output capacity. It was predictable, yet totally avoidable. I knew this was coming a month ago, with the answers (and non answers) they vomited at me when PSA shut down. Within 3 months of opening the doors, they have put themselves in a place where no one in their right mind will submit anything else with them. 

Couldn’t agree more guys, but at this point I’m still willing to give them the benefit of the doubt as it’s quite early in the game. Let’s hope they turn it around for all of our sakes. I’d hate to feel like I wasted a grand on card grading only to have them flop and go the way of the dodo!

Yessir, will do. 

And that was my point RK. That by downgrading me at least one full point, they cost me several hundred dollars over what my card should have graded at. When I get it back from CSG, which is supposed to be tomorrow according to their tracking, I will take a picture of it and post it. Then you guys can give me some input as to what you think it should’ve graded at. I appreciate and value your opinions.

RK sounds like some proof to me. Give me three more examples and I’ll be convinced.

Thanks Red, I don’t enjoy arguing with anyone about a topic as childish as card collecting or card grading. Let none of us forget that we are engaging in a kids hobby and although there can be considerable amounts of money at stake, companies like CSG are just trying to offer a service to all of us. The coming months will tell the tale of exactly who rises to the top of the card grading hierarchy. I’m betting on CSG because I believe they’re doing things in a professional and meticulous manner. Still, they have some kinks to work out of their system.

RK, if you’re responding to my post, I’m wondering what you read. My post said that I sent in a not previously graded card to CSG and was disappointed with the 7.5 grade that was given to it. I was expecting and rightly so an 8.5 to 9.5 grade. That’s all I said. Nothing about SGC, PSA or BCG. 

I do not have one that I can upload on here, but when I get it back, which should be in the next couple of days, I will be happy to take a picture for uploading here with it in its CSG holder.

You make some good points RK, and hopefully CSG‘s grading system will prove to be of a higher standard than any of its competitors. Only time will tell and who knows how long the current sports card bubble will last?

Thanks for your hopeful words, and I sincerely hope you are right about CSG‘s place in the sports card grading hierarchy. I was just a little surprised at the grade that I got on that card because a sports card grading friend of mine told me he thought it was at least an 8.5 and I was in agreement with him. We will see how it all shakes out. 

I do have to say that my half dozen or so contacts with customer service have been absolutely delightful. They are trying very hard to accommodate the huge swell in car grading submissions. I’m reserving final judgment on CSG until I have received the rest of my 99 card submission.

8 hours ago, ItismeH said:

That bites... did you get subgrades for the MJ? At least that way you'll see what you got dinged on.

No sub grades and I’m starting to wonder if that was a mistake.

8 hours ago, mrmagoo said:

Sorry.  I hope the rest of the cards do better but my experience with the one vintage submission I did was extremely disappointing.  I think they may rely too heavily on AI for the grading process and I am just not one who is convinced the software is sensitive enough to really do the job of the human eye in interpreting flaws or irregularities. 

Thanks, so do I. I hear about all these nines and tens like it was nothing, and my card was centered with Sharp corners and a clean surface, so I was expecting at least a nine.

Obviously they have to start with the higher priced categories because that’s where they make their best profit, but I think that since the vast majority of their business must come from bulk submissions, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to examine their prioritization of grading categories.

As soon as PSA declared that they were not accepting new submissions, I’m sure that companies like CSG were immediately swamped. Not making excuses for them, but they also were severely understaffed at the time the increase occurred. They are doing what they can to increase staffing, but we all want them to hire competent and qualified card graders. That being said, I sent 99 cards for grading which they received on March 23, 2021 and only one of those cards in the Xpress category has been graded so far. We should probably all try to be patient with them as there is a pretty steep learning curve and hiring curve for CSG. I’m trying my very best to follow my own advice!

I sent 99 cards to CSG for grading, and only one was an express category card. The shipment was received by CSG on March 23, 2021, but they didn’t actually receive the shipment on their online progress report until May 1 2021.  As if that weren’t disappointing enough they finally graded my first card, a 1992 tops finest Michael Jordan refractor at a 7.5. I examined this card very closely, at 30x lighted magnification before sending it and had a friend who is a card grader look at it as well. We both agreed it was no worse than an 8.5 and possibly as good as a 9.5. This downgrade by CSG is costing me quite a bit of money. I hope the rest of my submissions won’t be as disappointing.