BGS Grading Is Dying-How Their Owner Drove Them Into The Ground

[@pearljamstar2900]

I interviewed at Beckett several years ago, and i'm a collector. I guess they hired the wrong people.

[@Hardball247]

Not bringing James Beckett in a consulting role has to be the biggest mistake for whoever bought them.

[@ermis33]

No one at Beckett answers the phone, no one replies to emails. I've gotten better customer service and shorter wait times at my local DMV. Its a revolving door of "rookie" graders that have no idea what they are doing. Speaking on a personal level I've submitted roughly 7 orders over a 4 year span(I come back for punishment every 6 months). The grades were so suspect that I cracked over 75% of them and got higher grades submitting them to PSA. It's just no longer worth it.

[@Philmington]

😮

[@chrisc4264]

Similar to Panini in my experience

[@WadeJenkins-e9b]

This is what concerns me about vaulting cards. What happens if one of the vaulting companies files bankruptcy. How long does the cards in those vaults get tied up in the legal process?

[@chrisc4264]

The only vault to have is the one you keep at home.

[@thekeithy4999]

2008. Back when people weren’t afraid to buy pitchers. Miss those times.

[@D3Csportscards]

On Dr. Beckett newest podcast, he said he had no interest in buying it back. It would be awesome if he did, but he said he was retired. Another great episode guys!!!

[@Blabbin_Bout_Slabbin]

Thanks for the update!

[@Hardball247]

Not bringing him as a consultant is the biggest mistake of whoever bought that company.

[@forpetesake20]

i prefer the BGS case by a lot so i started watching scottie back in the day because he was one of the only people that seemed to like BGS more than PSA. times have changed, lol.

[@chrisc4264]

The better question is why the obsession to grade everything if you just collect? The two guys that I PC aren't cheap so I try whenever possible to buy raw. I used to want graded cards but I don't anymore. I bought a top loader binder to hold my non graded Kobe cards. The consumer has been led to believe PSA 10 or nothing else. Beckett imo has better slabs than PSA but lack of planning and business mistakes is what led to their downfall. For some reason also people have been tricked into thinking an upcharge is a good thing. It's just a different type of extortion. Period.

[@sp123]

grading is for rich collectors who are risk adverse.

[@chrisc4264]

@sp123 Even some graded slabs come with risk. The power given to PSA by flippers is nothing short of insanity.

[@cards999]

I think beckett can be revived by having a cheaper, faster bulk service, but it will take time. But looking ahead over the next 5-10 years, my question is how will grading volumes for all companies compare to today's numbers, which are outliers historically. A lot of previously "gradable" cards have already lost much of their premium, so it's questionable how long today's volumes can be sustained. My guess is that when we hit a major recession a lot of people get out of their current grading and breaking habits and don't return. Then both print runs and grading volumes are forced to return to normal levels.

[@Krysdavar]

Hmm, looks like my LCS is onto something. Was there today and they had a giant box of sealed envelopes which were $20 each, and were labeled BGS graded. Good thing I very rarely buy graded cards. TLDR: My LCS is "fire saling" all of the BGS stuff they have. 😀

[@The-Pitching-Mound]

Would be awesome to see someone revitalize them make Beckett Monthly back into something again. Make them the center of checklists again. :)

[@Hardball247]

Unfortunately, thanks to their online price guide-making Beckett Monthly back into something again will be prices at least a month behind. The only way they would re-invent themselves is be article intensive about the hobby, including the new releases.

[@revimayuyushobbyvlogs5636]

to me, its just a matter of preference in choosing what grading company you’d want your cards to go to. but innovation and better marketing have made psa a better option on paper. imo, nat turner’s influence is far greater than greg lindberg’s when it comes to cards. that alone, has made beckett really falter. but this “legal case” against the owner has made it more vulnerable and be under more scrutiny. especially now that people are speculating that the employees know nothing about cards. plus the pmg red saga that came out months ago can be used as example of this speculation.

[@Hardball247]

No, tide is largely going towards SGC.

[@johnnylv5452]

I like this group of collectors/commentator’s the best 😎👌💯💪🏽

[@Blabbin_Bout_Slabbin]

Jeff here: much appreciated!

[@Briguycollectables]

Perhaps a total brand reinvention opportunity here…maybe they get rid of grading scale altogether and slab items as authentic. For all the market share PSA and SGC have, their ‘Authentic’ tagged cards seem to have too little value and don’t seem to be that alluring. One example I will use for my argument is that I have a couple of t206 cards which are obviously poor condition (but not altered). These cards would look nice slabbed and if BGS were rebranded with a nice casing, would think about it.

[@commandercody8626]

I'm getting worried about my recent submission. It's a couple weeks now passed the turnaround time and no responses to my emails.

[@CommercialFreeShow]

Always enjoy your insights. Should be interesting times in 2025. Fanatics licenses expand in the fall. Fanatics fest vip was the kiss of death for the team that was mismanaging events.

[@outwest100az]

This time in history should be called the "time of me" when so many humans think they can do anything they want without any consequences, from supposed elites to the simple man on the street. God loves card collecting and is cleaning house for us. I back in the day used to go thru them only but now a bit of competition can only be good for the hobby. Question, who sells A & G mini sleeves and hard holders, looking to get my minis out of the larger protectors

[@dcmusix3260]

They have my favorite cases regarding protection but am no fan of the policies or business.

[@nessgames618]

I've been saying this to my coworker for some time, Ebay will buy Beckett and now they will get it for pennies on the dollar

[@Jackson_Farnsworth]

I'm surprised TAG hasn't gotten bigger faster.

[@chrisc4264]

The PSA worship fan boys won't allow it. Only in this hobby do people love monopolies so much

[@ACD1994]

It's still early. It takes time for start up companies. It will be difficult, though since there have been so many grading companies that have tried and failed, I am rooting for the success of TAG.

[@TenaciousAC]

I think people liked the idea of the 1000pt scale when they thought it would ‘correct the injustice’ and make a 9 card into a 10….. until the reality was that it showed that even a lot of ‘grader-assessed’ 10s were probably extremely good 9s. People wanted truthful grading until that truth worked against them and their hip pockets.

[@chrisc4264]

@@ACD1994 PSA holds a stranglehold on the grading market and until they're held accountable for all their shady crap, nothing will change.

[@Hardball247]

​@@chrisc4264#3 grading company behing SGC and CGC

[@rasmith_99]

3:36 can you explain what “heterogeneous cards” means?

[@SpitballinCards]

Chris here - I sure as hell can't. Phil's vocabulary far exceeds mine. Sorry!

[@johnrusselman1364]

What not should buy bgs

[@rileyesmay]

Look, I know a lot of people hate the beckett grading scale, BUT why??? I mean do people really think a card should be able to be 70/30, have scratches, or whitened corners and be able to achieve the highest possible grade? That's what PSA, SGC, CGC, etc do, but Beckett has a much better grading scale in my opinion because those cards sit at gem mint, and a card with visibly no flaws will get a 10 pristine or black label. Also PSA having half grades, but then not including one so more get the max grade is an absolute money grab. I wish companies like TAG would get their head out of their ass and offer a single service that exceeds every other company in the market. Or Beckett comes back strong because their grading scale is much better and less confusing to others out there. I have no idea why people thought the company skipping grades was less confusing, but that's just me

[@brushben22]

I love Beckett :)

[@carpetpunter158]

I think its a great opportunity. BGS are useless now yeah for sure, but time can change everything as we have seen. The name, the pedigree alot of upside if you can pick it up on the cheap imo. Is just alot of bad press atm, but that can change overnight

[@4HoopsAndHomers]

#iykyk Beckett is the Olive Garden of grading 💯

[@Hardball247]

Fanatics and PSA want each other. Collectors don't know how much they can take one controversy after one controversy from PSA Therefore, Collectors buy Beckett and sell PSA to Fanatics for the sake of their reputation. Collectors then merges BGS into SGC; SGC adopts the Beckett grading criteria

[@SomeDude-r1k]

Beckett will still hold their own CGC pristine wont ever be Black Label. We shall see still sending my highest grade cards to them not PSA is the secondary as far as grading. I like that PSA gives incentives for having a membership that is a one pro for PSA a side note BGS only grades certain cards PSA does not. Yeah no doubt BGS is the hardest to obtain the 10 gold or black.

[@Philmington]

Adding the Black Label was a smart business move by them at the time

[@anonymoustraveler9746]

I hate how PSA does business but as a card trader, I don't have much of a choice. Based on experience, BGS is only really worth it if you grade a black label. Buyers loves to nitpick on the subgrades and they will lowball you because of it. I prefer a black label over a psa 10 but I prefer a psa 10 over a bgs 10 and 9.5, it's just easier to sell.

[@Philmington]

💯

[@chadguell9193]

Time for sportscard investor to get into grading and buyout beckett 😊

[@Hardball247]

😂 With that guy who is just in it for the money?

[@JacksonLloyd952]

Yikes

[@johnrusselman1364]

PSA is the leader but they haven't been consistent with their PSA 10 and 9 grading, their own statistics bear 🐻 this out on almost every key 🗝️ card ...

[@Hardball247]

No they are not! They are the #3 grading company. #1 SGC #2 CGC #3 PSA #4 BGS

[@johnrusselman1364]

@Hardball247 PSA owns SGC

[@Hardball247]

​@@johnrusselman1364Collectors OWNS SGC. They bought the company for a reason. Watch Collectors sell PSA to Fanatics.