PSA Price Hike
First, in a rather predictable move given the recent backlog issues, PSA announced that it is raising prices and adjusting (i.e. lengthening) estimated turnaround estimates.
Here are the specifics, straight from PSA:
The stated reasons for the updates are “to better align submission volume with grading capacity and support more predictable turnaround expectations.”
Translation: that they hope that higher prices result in fewer submissions, so they can catch up on what looks to be a sizable backlog. It’s not COVID bad, but it’s definitely there. The PSA link above contains a graph illustrating a submission surge and output that is flat or declining.
If they can’t expand capacity, the only other option is surge pricing: raising prices in hopes that supply / demand does its thing. Of course, this also increases their margins and tests the waters for consumer sentiment. If volume stays steady, expect this to be a permanent change.
SGC Speeding Up?
SGC likely has a bit of a backlog itself, with turnaround times close to 60 calendar days, or around 40 business days. They still refer to this as 15-20 business day service, by the way. But after a stretch of some abysmal days and weeks in terms of volume, they are back to a modest 9k cards per week, or about 40k per month. Not great output historically, of course. But in the last 2 weeks or so they have been plowing through orders at a faster clip.
SGC / Boca Grading Review
Speaking of turnaround times, here’s a tip for faster service via SGC: submit though Boca Card Subs. That’s a shameless plug for a Cardhound sponsor, but it’s worth it.
Why? Well, one big hang in the SGC system currently is check in. Cards sit at SGC for up to a week before being logged in and prepped for research. Boca solves that problem by delivering your order to SGC no later than the very next day after receipt. Boca also processes return shipping the day after cards are graded and returned to them. In total this shaves multiple weeks off of the process.
SGC Mail Day!
My most recent order arrived at Boca on Dec. 6 (a Saturday) and was checked in at SGC on Monday, Dec. 8. Return shipping left Boca on Feb. 6. So the turn time here is 41 business days. That’s 2x the advertised turn time, and it’s past time to just change this on the web site. But it’s also way faster than PSA.
My orders always take longer than usual because I mostly submit rare Cuban cards that are non-standard size. Both research and encapsulation require extra time, and I assume these wait for a specific grader. In the spirit of Black History Month, enjoy this early pre-MLB card of Hank Thompson. This one was in today’s return submission and goes straight to the personal collection!
The grades were all as usual / spot on / no surprises, and this has been true for all of my recent orders.
For now, I’ll keep subbing to SGC as usual, and watching for new signs of life from my go-to grader for vintage.
