First, let’s avoid any charges of clickbait: the title clearly says “Questions for . . . Ryan Hoge.” Nowhere is it implied that Mr. Hoge, President of the Grading Business Unit at Collectors, has provided answers to these questions. Yes, I have put in several media requests, but to date, no luck. But since day 1 of Collectors’ acquisition of SGC, and especially since the departure of former SGC president Peter Steinberg, I have nothing but questions about the future of SGC.
Second, a disclaimer: I’m an SGC-only collector of vintage cards–mostly 1920’s-1940’s Cuban cards. For me, collecting is a bit of everything possible: it’s a hobby, a small business, a big part of my joy on this planet, a legacy asset for my heirs. In short, collecting for me is fun–but also very personal.
I have never graded a card with PSA and, no offense dear reader, I never will. Just my preference–no big deal. SGC is my go-to for my collection for many reasons: aesthetics (I can’t picture these cards in anything else), and formerly, quality service and unrivaled expertise in these cards. (I just got this PC card back from an Express submission through Boca Card Subs, by the way!):
Like many, I have a literal vested interest in what SGC becomes, and to date, I have not seen a cohesive vision forming for its future. On the contrary–many public statements do not seem to match reality, or each other. For example, Hoge talks up a vintage focus but SGC continues to mostly showcase modern cards on its socials. Why the disconnect?
While I would love to believe that we are in the early process of SGC being repositioned as a vintage-specialty grader (which they were for roughly 2 decades, frankly), there’s just not much evidence of that from my seat.
Brand Confidence Shaken
I would love to have my confidence in the SGC brand restored, but I’m currently in wait-and-see mode for most submissions. And this is a common sentiment across vintage boards. The brand uncertainty is fueled in part by a lack of a clear vision or narrative. But many practical factors are also to blame: declining output, ballooning turn times, and faltering customer service among them. Despite what I’m sure are best efforts, SGC is simply understaffed currently, full stop.
So let’s dive in. If you happen to know Mr. Hoge, please forward! He or anyone else can find me at matt@cardhoundvintage.com
Here are some recent statements from Hoge on SGC’s future, followed by the questions I would love to ask:
SGC as Boutique Grader
The early quotes from Hoge on SGC were versions of this one: “We decided we want to right-size it. Shrink it a little bit, have it go back to the pre-insanity of the COVID spike levels. Maybe back to the 2017, 2018, 2019 levels of SGC and position it more as kind of a boutique grading brand that’s still there to serve customers for both modern and vintage.”
Question: If SGC is still serving customers for both modern and vintage, where does the “boutique” aspect come into play? When I hear “boutique” I think “specialty.” So how and why do you intentionally scale back a growing brand? Which leads me to . . .
SGC and Scale
More recently–amid rumors of a decimated staff, ballooning turn times, and dismal grading volume, Hoge said this: “I think people assumed the business would be scaled down to zero. That was never the intent. We took a step back and looked at the SGC business … and decided where we felt like it made the most sense to focus. Now that we’ve had that focus we’re seeing growth in those areas, hence why we’re adding capacity and looking to grow the business.”
Questions:
- What is that focus–and how has it been implemented? Please explain this in more detail.
- What “growth” are you seeing currently? Volume has been decimated across the board. SGC has been shrinking, not growing.
- How much of SGC’s workforce and / or physical space was handed to PSA? What sort of skeleton crew has been running the show at SGC recently?
- When you say “adding capacity” do you mean re-adding capacity? What was SGC’s workforce at acquisition, what is it now, and in what areas is it now rehiring?
- When you say “grow the business” do you mean grow it back to where it was before the acquisition? Or “grow” it back to pre-COVID volume from its current unsustainably low volume?
SGC and Vintage?
There have been a few hints that the future of SGC is as a vintage-specialty grader. This would naturally limit scale and market share, since they aren’t printing any more vintage cards. Hoge has said “SGC is awesome at what they do, including vintage, including affordable, fast grading. And we want to keep that at the ethos and the core of what SGC is going forward.”
Questions:
- If this is the plan, why wasn’t this the focus since day 1 of public statements? SGC as vintage / prewar specialty grader seems like a really obvious play–so why not just cut to the chase?
(Another photographic interlude from a recent submission:)
No One Asked For My Opinion But . . .
. . . I do have a web site and a blog and some readers, so here goes. This is my plan for an SGC rebound:
- An immediate public shift towards vintage, or at least sports. Cease TCG entirely. It has always been a square peg in a round hole for SGC.
- Preferably: go all in on vintage and prewar. 1980 and earlier? Do it.
- Be honest about turnaround times–revise it on the site. Let’s see a real-time turnaround time estimator. Transparency used to be a hallmark of the brand–get back to that.
- And do away with this “your clock doesn’t start until we open your package but we might not open your package for 2 weeks” garbage. Day 1 is the day you receive the card. That’s just how it works.
- SGC needs a public face other than Hoge–someone who can communicate with customers from an SGC-specific perspective. Maybe a lead grader?
- Speaking of graders, did SGC get to keep its experienced vintage and prewar graders? Or maybe recruited some new ones? Let’s meet them. Let’s put some names and faces to the grades, to restore some faith in the brand.
- When scale allows, bring back bulk sub discounts for your bulk submitters–or at least, some vintage / prewar specials. The SGC faithful deserve it and it would be a great way to roll out the soft rebrand.
- It’s past time to innovate a bit. The app is glitchy. The slab / label tech are outdated. Give us some security enhancements, some UV, and more. Collectors / PSA has the tech–deploy it across the SGC brand.
- In my plan, I don’t think SGC needs to compete on price–or not on price alone. Vintage and prewar submitters will pay for good, smart, trusted service delivered in a timely manner. It’s not a downscale brand.
- Above all: if there’s a real plan, let’s see it laid out in a clear, transparent, cohesive way, across the entire brand.
The future of SGC hinges on a plan; transparency; and of course, execution. The longer Collectors waits to reposition the SGC brand, the lower the chance of a successful rebirth.
