Don’t change CGC card labels 2 2

[EpicPulls]

CGC has announced that they are changing their labels for graded cards. I would much prefer to keep the same labels that CGC has been using forever. Is there anyway to stop CGC from doing. 
 

interested in hearing everyone’s opinion here on the new labels and changes. 
 

Can we get a petition to stop the label change. I haven’t heard one person that likes the new label. 
 

why doesn’t CGC do some type of survey to see if their customers would even support such a change. 

[cyclonus11]

It's not ugly, but it's not the blue, which I preferred.

Not a fan of the grading scale changes or the removal of subgrades, either. The only reason people stopped paying for subgrades was because they went up from $5 to $15 per card - and having a grading scale that goes above the primary competition was a unique selling point. It was extremely rare to get a Perfect 10, which was the point. Now it's the same.

What about Sig Series? Is that no longer going to be a thing? Since nobody else is doing that, I feel they're probably getting rid of it. Can't do anything unique! 

I am glad that they're not changing the holder design. That would've been the end for me.

[flotsam419]

so now for some reason all labels match (comics, games, vhs) except cards, seems like an odd marketing choice. but the killer is the new grading scale, if i wanted psa grades id send my cards to psa

[Brain]

I guess I will not send anymore cards until mid-July... I have a 50 percent completed Marvel Donruss card set, with most cards having sub-grades. Now, I feel that the sub-grades are worthless and was a waste of my money. Moving forward, I have to get my previously mentioned cards with the new labels, so that I don't have a mixed labeled set, which may have a perceived lower value.  At the end of the day, its going to cost me more money & time (which I do not like) to adapt to these changes, but I will fully support CGC in this business decision.   

[mephistopheles]

I really liked how the blue labels matched the comics. Glad I sent in most of my marvel cards already. I opted for no sub-grades because it felt like a ripoff. The good news (I think) is that they are loosening their grading standards a bit. I felt they were overly harsh, and so did many others.

[MAR1979]

On 6/20/2023 at 5:39 PM, mephistopheles said:

I really liked how the blue labels matched the comics. Glad I sent in most of my marvel cards already. I opted for no sub-grades because it felt like a ripoff. The good news (I think) is that they are loosening their grading standards a bit. I felt they were overly harsh, and so did many others.

Loosening grading standards will be a huge mistake. Same mistake Beckett and SGC made years back. Once market perception is you are less strict than PSA you will never truly compete with them.

PSA has become much more strict the last 2 years , if CGC has loosened standards then PSA is handed yet another victory. Glad i held off submitting and buying cgc 

[mephistopheles]

On 6/20/2023 at 7:17 PM, MAR1979 said:

Loosening grading standards will be a huge mistake. Same mistake Beckett and SGC made years back. Once market perception is you are less strict than PSA you will never truly compete with them.

PSA has become much more strict the last 2 years , if CGC has loosened standards then PSA is handed yet another victory. Glad i held off submitting and buying cgc 

Consensus is thar CGC was quite a bit more strict than Beckett and PSA. When CGC 9's are regularly being cross-graded to PGA 10's,well which grading company are people going to use? I think they are just trying to get on the same page as competitors.

[Brain]

If CGC is indeed loosing their grading standards, then they have an identity issue.  High standards should not be compromised, especially in business.  If CGC lowered its standards for this merger, in the long run, they will most likely end up like other companies that lowered their standards. Hopefully, CGC is just re-tooling the grading scale & label optics and not their standards   

[MAR1979]

On 6/20/2023 at 6:46 PM, mephistopheles said:

Consensus is thar CGC was quite a bit more strict than Beckett and PSA. When CGC 9's are regularly being cross-graded to PGA 10's,well which grading company are people going to use? I think they are just trying to get on the same page as competitors.

That would have eventually permeated the hobby and slowly they would first be considered as good as PSA then eventually better. Changing perception for the good is a 10 year plan to be sure.  It's bad long-term business for CGC but the parent company will probably sell them off anyhow before decades end.  Congrats to PSA they have won again being more far more strict was CGC's only chance.

 

P.S. On net54 and PSA Forums most, but not all, stories of sending in CGC graded cards resulted in lower grades.  I own a mere 2 CGC graded cards both 9.5. On one the centering would make it a PSA9 at best but most likley an 8. The other might be a PSA9 and prior to 2021 it had a punchers chance at 10. I do a lot of PSA submissions and BGS or SGC cross-overs (got to crack it out first!) my hit rate at being correct in my grade estimations I'd guess is around 70% which is pretty good actually.

Anyhow PSA maximizes profit for anyone selling a card and now that ain't going to change.

Edited June 20, 2023 by MAR1979

[Houler]

I don't mind the label change as it has neutral colors. It will take some getting used to.

I'm really disappointed they're taking Subgrades away. Why totally take it away and just keep it as an option in case people want to use it??? I only use subgrades for my high-end cards or serial numbered cards to help differentiate between other copies of the cards also to show off the subgrades, (example: "like hey look this card has perfect centering or a perfect surface that other copy of the card does not") subgrades can help people choose the condition they want in a card when choosing to buy which copy they prefer because of subgrades.

Subgrades at $15 a card was a bit expensive, so I chose to use them for my "high-value" cards.

CGCcards, if you're watching, please re-consider keeping subgrades as an option and not totally take it away.

Edited June 21, 2023 by Houler

[mephistopheles]

On 6/20/2023 at 8:33 PM, MAR1979 said:

That would have eventually permeated the hobby and slowly they would first be considered as good as PSA then eventually better. Changing perception for the good is a 10 year plan to be sure.  It's bad long-term business for CGC but the parent company will probably sell them off anyhow before decades end.  Congrats to PSA they have won again being more far more strict was CGC's only chance.

 

P.S. On net54 and PSA Forums most, but not all, stories of sending in CGC graded cards resulted in lower grades.  I own a mere 2 CGC graded cards both 9.5. On one the centering would make it a PSA9 at best but most likley an 8. The other might be a PSA9 and prior to 2021 it had a punchers chance at 10. I do a lot of PSA submissions and BGS or SGC cross-overs (got to crack it out first!) my hit rate at being correct in my grade estimations I'd guess is around 70% which is pretty good actually.

Anyhow PSA maximizes profit for anyone selling a card and now that ain't going to change.

I am just going by what I've read on the CGC forums regarding crack/resubmit to PSA. Also, I am no expert, but I submitted 75 cards and got none above 9.0. It's very difficult to gain market share being the new kid on the block. Just look at CBCS vs CGC on comics. In many ways CBCS offers a superior service, but they just can't dethrone CGC. CGC comics continue to command a premium in the secondary market, just like PSA does in the card market and I don't see that changing. 

[B3Chandler]

Figured I would post this here for more eyes to see this post and hopefully guide CGC to come back to their senses. For now on any future Marvel card submission that I had planned on making will be going directly to Beckett for slabbing. Been on the fence for awhile with submitting to either CGC or Beckett. Chose CGC mainly because of the blue label and how it would match my comic collection even though the Beckett slabs are superior. However I do ask this question, why should I or anyone else waste their money on getting a CGC PSA knockoff when instead it would be a better option to just invest in getting PSA slabbing done to our collection instead? This way myself and others can ensure the maximum return on investment for our card collection if the decision is ever made down the road to sell off. The blue CGC label along with the slab design is what makes it unique compared to the other brands. Taking away the iconic blue label hurts the brand uniqueness and in the market they are still working on building up their audience within the card community. They have cemented themselves in the comic collecting community but it's a completely different story when it comes to cards. Sure they may make a quick profit with people resubmitting slabs for label changes, but it will permanently damage the card collectors trust with the CGC brand. Also, lowering their grading standards to instantly change older 9.5's slabs to 10's for a quick cash grab from reslabbing submissions doesn't put much faith in the authenticity of their own graded products.

[EpicPulls]

I collect and grade with CGC because I like how hard it is to get a 10. I vet all my cards and try to only send the best to cgc to get those coveted 10’s. They are taking this chase away from me with the new grading system and taking away my interest in grading with them again. 
 

I always put sub grades on the higher end cards. This is a must for me when it comes to grading a high end card. I like seeing what sub grade got the 9.5 on a pristine card. When purchasing a high end card I only buy ones with sub grades. And if there are multiple 10’s available for sale then the sub grades can help me make a decision. This is a big loss for me again. 
 

I personally like the CGC blue label. It was different at first but it is simple and clean and also their trade mark. You could see a CGC slab from a mile away and you know it’s  CGC. They are unique and scream CGC. Your taking away their identity and giving a very generic label that looks the same as all the new start up grading companies. 
 

the reason I chose to start collecting cgc slabs and started grading with cgc was for their crystal clear slab. I’m my opinion they have the best case in terms of psa and becket. At least they aren’t taking away the cases but I don’t know that’s enough for me to continue. 
 

all in all this whole thing is a complete loss for me and not sure if I’ll be grading with cgc anymore and possibly move out of collecting them. Which sucks because I have a lot of high ends cards with good grades by cgc. I had high hopes for their values in the future when people realized how scarce a pristine 10 is compared to a psa 10. 

[JohnBurke]

Lol at “grading standards have changed”

It’s literally only the scale, gem mint is still gem mint, how is this hard to understand? 

[JWKyle]

Depending on the price point for bulk this may be the change that actually gets me to grade some cards with them if they go somewhere in the middle CSG bulk is 12 CGC bulk is 15 if they just carry over the 15 price point for everything then I'll probably just leave my stuff raw if they go in the middle or go to 12 like csg then in July I'll start sending stuff in.   for the announcement of pricing. 

[Pokemon Mattster]

On 6/21/2023 at 8:18 AM, JohnBurke said:

Lol at “grading standards have changed”

It’s literally only the scale, gem mint is still gem mint, how is this hard to understand? 

But explain this to me. If a 9 stays a 9, a 9.5 becomes a 10, and they still use the 0.5 grades, they are essentially adding a new Mint+ 9.5 grade to the scale. Going forward how are they going to discern a 9 from a 9.5 from a 10? I currently own hundreds of 9's and 9.5's and I often cannot find the reason for the 0.5 grade difference. If I crack and resend a bunch of my "strong 9's" are they going to possibly be Mint+ 9.5s now on the new scale?

[DanHobby080]

Yeah not a fan of this change at all. So in order to have my collection look consistent I have to reslab a couple hundred cards, costing me hundreds of dollars? Not that the new labels were so bad (looks super generic now) but the blue was so iconic for me and I’m pretty sure for everyone else who enjoyed your service.This sucks I feel like my entire endeavours with CGC has been a waste of money if this change goes though. 😑

[JohnBurke]

On 6/21/2023 at 11:25 AM, Pokemon Mattster said:

But explain this to me. If a 9 stays a 9, a 9.5 becomes a 10, and they still use the 0.5 grades, they are essentially adding a new Mint+ 9.5 grade to the scale. Going forward how are they going to discern a 9 from a 9.5 from a 10? I currently own hundreds of 9's and 9.5's and I often cannot find the reason for the 0.5 grade difference. If I crack and resend a bunch of my "strong 9's" are they going to possibly be Mint+ 9.5s now on the new scale?

You’re right on that it’s a new grade for halfway in between mint and gem mint. This already happened for CSG a while ago. The 9.5 mint+ don’t carry too much of a premium since people mostly will pay more for the gem. Might be worth resubbing some heavy hitters, otherwise I wouldn’t bother. But this means moving forward they aren’t grading any easier, just essentially more accurate for that category 

[Pokecoryspondence]

I canceled my membership, this is hideous and they didn't think about their customers in the slightest. Ever think WHY people came to CGC to grade in the first place? That Blue Lable was iconic, people wanted subgrades, people wanted to chase Perfect 10s. PSA & Beckett are licking their chops, because here I come!

[Pokemon Mattster]

On 6/21/2023 at 10:15 AM, JohnBurke said:

You’re right on that it’s a new grade for halfway in between mint and gem mint. This already happened for CSG a while ago. The 9.5 mint+ don’t carry too much of a premium since people mostly will pay more for the gem. Might be worth resubbing some heavy hitters, otherwise I wouldn’t bother. But this means moving forward they aren’t grading any easier, just essentially more accurate for that category 

I plan to test their new scale and consistency haha. Going to crack some of my 8's, 8.5's, and 9's to resubmit and see what happens, partially just due to curiosity, and partially because I need to figure out what to do with the rest of my collection (keep as is, relabel, regrade CGC, regrade elsewhere, or sell lol). I always felt CGC was the most consistent and accurate of the big 3 graders, but I need to know if I can still feel that way going forward. I do think getting my 9.5's relabeled a 10 while the $5 promotion is going on is a no-brainer though, as dumb as it is the psychology of a 10 over a 9.5 is real and I anticipate the new Gem Mint 10's to be valued more than Gem Mint 9.5's ever were. I always thought 9.5's were undervalued which is why folks would often crack them and try to cross them to PSA 10 (and often succeed). Seems like folks on ebay are buying up CGC 9.5's like crazy right now which may be a precursor (or just gamblers making a risky bet haha).