By now most collectors have heard of Collectors' purchase of Beckett. This is on the heels of Collectors' purchase of SGC, meaning that PSA, Beckett, and SGC have the same owner. The result is that Collectors now controls over 80% of the sports card grading industry....
For years, PayPal Goods and Services has been the default payment method for buying and selling trading cards online in groups. It’s familiar, widely accepted, and — most importantly — it comes with PayPal Purchase Protection. Ask most collectors why they insist on...
We know SGC has been intentionally slowed down by Collectors / PSA in recent months. Grading volume is way down to just 35k cards in November. Beckett and even TAG are grading more cards. Submissions are likely way down due to discontinuing bulk submitter programs....
Per multiple sources, PSA parent company Collectors has reached an agreement to buy Beckett Grading. Similar to when a deal was reached to purchase SGC this past February, PSA's claim is that Beckett will remain an independent brand. With some hindsight, it is...
It has been a busy month for the personal collection, so I haven't had as much time to write. I found and purchased a rare 1946-47 Cuban winter league album and spent days on end removing and drying them. It's a cool set with several HOF (O'Neil, Minoso, Dihigo,...
It has been a bad month for Collectors, parent company of both SGC and PSA. Between the SGC slowdown and the not-so-believable explanation of a PSA grading gaffe, recent trends and news are not positive. SGC Slowdown Cardhound has written often about the recent...
Largely unsubstantiated news is circulating rapidly across card groups over the last 24 hours regarding shill bidding on Probstein's new platform Snype. Snype had already made news when its first major auction crashed hard. But that might be only the tip of the...
Last month I was accused of being a bit too dramatic about SGC's sudden month-over-month decline of nearly 50% in card grading volume. I questioned whether this was the beginning of the end of an era for SGC, and some though that assessment too harsh. This month, I'll...
You’ve spent years building a collection that tells a story. But have you taken all of the necessary steps to make sure that story will outlive you? Recently, I have been helping several collectors prepare for downsizing, retirement, and eventual passing of cards and...
I went to a local card show today, and the ratio of sports to TCG (mostly Pokemon) was about as usual lately. At least 60% Pokemon. And out of the 60 or so tables, 1 vendor had majority vintage sports. Frankly, I hardly attend local shows anymore. There's just almost...