Does PSA's Big Backup Change Where You Should Grade?

[@OleVirginiaMcCaskey]

Cards are in and out of SGC within a week/ week in a half

[@Dog8myhomework]

PSA’s grading is so inconsistent that they realized they also need to make turnaround times inconsistent as well to be in line with company values.

[@DanielCordone9]

PSA are terrible

[@kly1994]

When 6s can be resubbed and turned into 9s or even 10s, there’s a big issue.

[@JimBrave-ri1oc]

@@kly1994 With psa now you send a 6 they give you a 1 back. You send them a Diamond Pristine BGS and they send you a 5 back.

[@DanielCordone9]

@kly1994 Just buy good looking PSA 6's

[@MikelTulp]

You mean you submit so man6 inconsiten5 cards you thought wet3 tens and got a 8, or a seven boo frickin hoo, join the club

[@Perk_SportYourCards]

Even since the backlog, two to three months to get a card looked at and put in a piece of plastic is unacceptable and then you add on the 9s that should be 10s, the 6s, I wish hobbyists would take a stand already

[@davidsimmons177]

@@Perk_SportYourCards I wish we would all avoid PSA And tell them it’s unacceptable they can fix this but they don’t

[@vvinson808]

PSA saw an extreme amount of profit growth but didn’t put enough back into improving infrastructure, processes, and service. That’s either bad business or just plain greed.

[@tasty_taco]

save your mental stamina for other things, not PSA's bs. I used them once, they damaged a gorgeous '62 Koufax, and it's been SGC ever since

[@IneptCardCollector]

OMG I'd be furious and crushed

[@AngellaMyers-u5r]

Wow! Horrible! I like BGS

[@tothetop-omaid]

SGC should authenticate autos

[@Joe-cf3vo]

I use SGC for my personal collection. The reason is quickest turn around. I just want my cards back as quick as possible. Sports cards I collect for pure entertainment. I do sub it cards to PSA and patch cards to BGS.

[@rpringle5354]

I am sending to TAG now. Consistent grading, better looking slab, detailed analysis. I don't care that PSA has the best resale value for now, they are just not the best product out there.

[@RoyalBoyle78]

Facts

[@jeffkoll4002]

As a collector, I care about accurate transparent grading and a slab that presents well. TAG wins with these criteria, by a large margin. You don’t see many TAG slabs on EBay because the people who use them keep the cards. I have cracked other slabs to get my cards in TAG.

[@EripzHouseOfCards]

I agree tag is be far the best on the market it angers me they don't even talk about them

[@KeyKiller74]

PSA x GameStop = Back log issues

[@criticalthinking8769]

Agree this made it soo much easier to submit to PSA that people who don’t usually send to PSA will now.

[@markstein1916]

PSA ranks dead-last in every aspect of grading. Price, wait times, Inconsistency, ugly slabs and mass corruption. Other than that, they are great! I refuse to use them under any circumstances. That said, I love the Hartland Statues in the background. Great stuff!

[@mikesweum5701]

I feel the same way. 100%

[@davidsimmons177]

SGC has been start to finish 5-7 days for me then shipping it back. I sent a bedard to PSA in November I hope to get it soon.

[@darnellstrength5322]

A video on grading sponsored by ARENA CLUB who is a grading company, yet not a single mention of them! Talk about a great ROI for Arena Club

[@floridamaddogg]

Raw cards are more valuable than cards in an Arena Club 10 holder

[@kylekramer718]

@@floridamaddoggI got a chuckle out of this, but in reality that’s not close to true 😂

[@JimBrave-ri1oc]

@@kylekramer718 I think Arena Club has Nice Slabs but their Name is not Transcendent to Pop Culture. When Collecting Great Cards People that have them Want to Think of them as Transcendent to Pop Culture. When it says Arena on it that brings it back to just sports in an arena. Words Matter and Logos matter.

[@tylerseger6718]

@@kylekramer718ehhh there is no real premium for them, 0 reason to grade to with them

[@RippinRoyce]

​@@kylekramer718 actually its pretty damn close to true lol a 10 might fetch a few more dollars than raw

[@hiphopimmortalproduction3032]

This is why I’m keeping my cards raw until this entire madness of grading everything simmers down. Pop counts are about to be cooked to the core.

[@RoyalBoyle78]

Facts.

[@terryalexander563]

@hiphopimmortalproduction3032 I 110% agree with everything you said here and also just hanging on to my raw cards. I have started getting magnetic holders for the ones I might grade some day when the hobby has moved on from PSA. I just can't believe in a hobby that has so much value, put in the the hands of PSA. It blows my mind🤯

[@hiphopimmortalproduction3032]

@ I own a few slabs but to constantly wait forever for an order back is not in my interest anymore. Grading should be easy and not a hassle.

[@MrModgling]

TAG? Also I love the way Allen and Ginter looks in the CGC slab, especially if you get a pristine 10. Looks so good.

[@ehyouman]

This was a great general conversation on the topic, enjoyed it

[@ctgalloway21]

I had a card purchased off ebay get delivered to PSA for authentication and it went poof so tracking showing delivered doesnt mean anything.

[@vvinson808]

What was the resolution? Seems like you should have at least been compensated since the system showed delivered. That’s a nightmare.

[@ryanbauer8317]

Joe Davis pre-screen is such a great service.. I've used it for 20 cards and 16 PSA 10's. Add to that too notch service!

[@gotbaseballcards-com]

Thank you Ryan, we appreciate it. Glad we were able to help you and that you were pleased with your results.

[@Cali760]

I like the looks of TAG graded slabs, don’t have the human element as it’s all computer and tells you why you got the grad of the card and not try to hide their notes from the consumer.

[@justinstansberry7555]

Mana is dope also, use them for none sports cards.

[@arturocastanon2099]

I found two error cards in my collection hey Paul Pierce 2016-17 Panini with no stats on back and a worn moon 2003 with a sample on stats. Should I get them graded and if I do or they worth anything?

[@RoyalBoyle78]

Geoff it’s all y’all guys fault for making PSA the holy grail for grading when they shouldn’t be. You guys hyped them up all these years, a card grader is a card grader. PSA card graders aren’t anymore advanced than any of the other card graders. Stop hyping PSA who in the end has the shittiest looking slabs in the grading spectrum. Plus there grading numbers have been crap lately. And Geoff you just experienced that on one of your videos a few weeks ago with about 10 cards you sent in that you thought should have got a 9 or 10, but got a 7 and 8, go figure. Stop hyping PSA the way you do, it makes you look like you get a cut from PSA the way you hype them.

[@Zipitup7]

They will still swear by psa even tho they bend over there customers but I guess that’s really nothing new in the hobby from all angels

[@cventura4244]

As a fairly new grader this was helpful. Always hard for me to decide what to send it to grade that’s worth it. Great video Geoff

[@Doors067]

Sgc my prismatic evo cards are graded and ready for feebay

[@Lance7Allen]

Y’all should look into TAG grading

[@vvinson808]

I send PC Cards to TAG. I still submit to PSA also but I’m getting tired of paying their high price for such inconsistent service and turn-around times.

[@jeffkoll4002]

As a collector, I care about accurate transparent grading and a slab that presents well. TAG wins with these criteria, by a large margin. You don’t see many TAG slabs on EBay because the people who use them keep the cards. I have cracked other slabs to get my cards in TAG.

[@ScottSteward-zu5cb]

Ive tried PSA before a few times but I have been and will always be with CGC for grading.

[@skipthebase]

I’m curious to know what the crossover rate from BGS to PSA is right now. I know that I’ve slowly been sending in my BGS cards to get them crossed over and I would imagine other people are doing the same.

[@chadberry317]

Would love to see BGS redo grading scale. beautiful slab. Tag has a great slab as well but PSA is the gold standard in grading.

[@bigtubb]

I only grade with CGC. Sports and Non-Sports. 🤷

[@crowe668]

Its so weird because they ran a promo in december. I know because I took the bait and made my first submission. Shipped Dec. 16 not checked in till 8 January. In grading now. Why run a promo if your just starting to have a back log?

[@mangobango6970]

The cgc flips don't look that good. If they changed that I would be more likely to consider them.

[@danielhayes955]

What does ((card 1)) not 1 of 1, ,, on back of the card mean,, im not able to get any help on this card,

[@Honolulu_Blue_42]

My biggest complaint with SGC, is that a lot of my slabs come back with debris stuck inside. White specks from all the cards they handle, everywhere.

[@toddbaptista4027]

My last few psa orders were quicker than I thought. It was like 30 days with monthly specials

[@DanielCordone9]

Great. Appoint more 16 year old's so the grading levels are even more inconsistent

[@Honolulu_Blue_42]

I may try TAG. Their slabs look very nice. And they come back wrapped, so you could sell mystery slabs.

[@crazykev6491]

Or just buy the card already slabbed at a show or eBay.

[@Honolulu_Blue_42]

And how do you suppose they get graded and end up at those shows?

[@dom19945]

I’m all in on CGC for wrestling and non-sports cards.

[@MikelineTV]

How many PSA warehouses are there?

[@LivePastHealthy]

I use CGC, there slabs are so much nicer and it's one single price for grading and auto grading.

[@BenDMitchell]

The CGC slabs are gorgeous

[@JimBrave-ri1oc]

Beckett Has Always Been the Best For Sports Cards. Also their Slab looks the best.

[@hainzyy]

Live-commenting here only 10 minutes in. I just got into grading, haven't used PSA, only SGC. I was served a $50 off first order by PSA, since I made an account but had not ordered yet... I wonder how many new customers did this, and if so, what did they expect?

[@YungHungNW]

Collectors as a whole should all agree to not give so much weight to PSA and consider SGC or even Beckett. PSA bought SGC for a reason

[@joealessandra7726]

PSA = most expensive, worst looking slabs, most inconsistent, longest turnaround times, CGC for TCGs instead!

[@tothetop-omaid]

I’ve never graded anything, but I’ve bought some cards in CGC slabs and was super impressed

[@joealessandra7726]

@ yeah they are nice, and personally I feel they have the highest grading standards with the most consistency

[@LeastSlutty]

I was thinking the other day... what if players just gave the cards away instead of ripping at all? But that would create marketing issues for jealous fans. Also, then it's like the players are printing their own Bitcoin... but it's kind of that way now. Where every year, every player should get 10 cards to give away, IMO. Like the 1920's NYC street lottery...

[@REBroker1966]

Dealers sent in a ton to get ready for the west coast show in Ontario, California. I should have sent in a couple months ago. I miss the boat on this one. This includes sports and Pokemon.

[@jasonpappu3856]

It’s popular opinion to say bgs needs to change their scale. How about video on how that would even get accomplished? They tried one time even though 9.5 is viewed value wise as mint plus it was a slap in the face to most 9.5 holders as most 9.5 are min gem holders. Also people want simplicity. 9.5 min gem, 9.5 true gem, 9.5 tru gem plus, 9.5 true gem plus plus. Thats 4 categories within 1 grade. This can also be said for 9 mint and so on and so forth 4 categories each grade downward. Another thing no one talks about is card guarantee which psa and cgc cards have listed on their websites. Bgs and sgc have none. With card values of many cards more valuable now that’s an important aspect. So many things not talked about in this video That should be in the next one. Thanks.

[@johnwaynecollection]

Fanatics could destroy half of the “grading economy” if they just pre-slabbed and graded cards from the manufacturer from day 1. Remove all this noise from the consumer and it would add tremendous “innovation” to the hobby. I know a lot of people eat off all these archaic processes of middlemen we don’t need just to prove our card is authentic and mint. Hopefully Michael Rubin is smart enough to see this glaring pitfall in the hobby. Imagine opening a box of Fanatics slabs of hits. Pre-graded “mint or better” on the slab for quality control. Added serial numbers with TRANSPARENT pop reports from day 1. Imagine opening your slab and seeing the CORRECT pop report from day one. I think PSA is extremely overrated and I think the culture changes in 20 years. Covid destroyed pop reports. Unless your card is a 10…. It’s considered raw to many people. Just not a fan of that. Not a fan of the price of my cards being wildly different by the time I get my cards back from a grader. If my card was pre-slabbed. I will NEVER be held in limbo as the market is active. The hobby bleeds the community of millions of dollars as their cards are locked up for months at a time. These are easy fixes. Cards shouldn’t come damaged from day 1. Cards shouldn’t be printed by the trillions either. If the community asked Fanatics to pre-slab all high end cards. It would curve them from over printing because it would cost them a lot in plastic and freight. Less is more. We need to demand better from fanatics from day one. If we watch Fanatics fumble around for 2 years making all the panini mistakes and adding fake jersey cards ect. Me and a lot of people will completely turn off all modern cards from our channels.

[@mangobango6970]

Even products like definitive or diamond icons, the cards should be protected better. Maybe if they can't slab all these cards at the very least they should all be toploaded individually in the box.

[@terryalexander563]

These are such great ideas you have presented. The only thing that is scary about some of this is the hobby would gift wrap Fanatics monopoly on the sports card industry.

[@johnwaynecollection]

@ panini is doing that right now. I would be ok if fanatics removed numeric graded and slabbed them “mint or better” so they’re not perceived as cheating on grades. Remove all the middle men extracting money from the hobby. Just support the people who bring you this value. I hope fanatics figures it out. If it was up to me, there would be no exclusive licensing. All brands compete for the best work.

[@christopherbryant2843]

Maybe PSA is paying someone off because the last card's I had graded at psa, it seems like if you do not pay the extra for high value cards up front, you not getting the high grade

[@LBDAD54]

Did anyone get a partial PSA refund with the apology? I doubt it!

[@terryalexander563]

Right, since their services suck they should definitely be offering discounts. I do not understand why people in the hobby continually put up with terrible service. If you all agree somehow and take your cards somewhere else then that's the company where the value will be. I just don't get this , at all. How does anyone still have respect for PSA. Peeps in the hobby have created this monster.

[@nathanmulkey]

@@terryalexander563 It truly is baffling! It really is NOT a well run company. Customer service is sooooooooo terrible, not to mention the inconsistency in grading.

[@nathanmulkey]

hell, there is probably an upcharge for just reading the statement.

[@Georgieboy_4]

Would be nice if PSA started card grading from their NJ locations as well. Does anyone out there know if this is in their future plans???

[@krishdasgupta7313]

They do. If you are on the east coast, your return submission often comes from there

[@chadvoci1701]

What kind of surcurity is held with your cards when submitting your cards for grading? This is a huge problem with the card market. People who have had cards for 30 to 40 years and some even longer must have some kind of surcurity that their cards will be taken care of when sending their cards for grading. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. The grading procedure is ruining the market as a whole for all cards.

[@acisackson]

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on Arena Club.

[@rafefox9920]

I submitted cards on 12/18 and just received a message today that my cards where recevied and estimated completion is 3/21/2025. That ridiculous

[@nicholasmantia9052]

Its really confusing that a company that makes so much money cant figure out that since they're getting tons of orders lately, extra people should've been hired asap so the 2020/2021 backlog problem doesn't return.........

[@RockFoodBeerandWine]

I collect 1970 Raiders Ticket/Stubs. I would have the entire collection but one of the tickets is stuck in a FedEx fraud department office and because PSA was the sender, they won’t discuss anything with me directly. It’s been over a year now…I waited over a decade to get this last ticket and it’s lost in the mail basically. 🤷‍♂️ I’m kinda over the whole hobby for awhile…

[@ggriesenauer]

CGC slabs and labels are just so clean looking to me. I can't stand to basic boring look of PSA and SGC labels.

[@WowColorFight]

Geoff, you need to ask them if PSA has changed their grading standards.

[@RoyalBoyle78]

PSA is becoming a joke these days

[@paulburket]

They have. The CEO admitted in an interview that they’re stricter now.

[@nathanmulkey]

@@RoyalBoyle78 "becoming" a joke?

[@sinisbuilt]

Does inconsistent grading standards count?

[@jonathonsantamont8527]

@@paulburketu must be kidding. They are inconsistent, not strict. I’ve seen tons of videos recently where PSA was resubbed to BGS and CGC (crack and resub) and PSA had the highest grades…. Say what u want about BGS, their sub grades system is the best and gives feedback to the submitter!!!

[@tubenachos]

I'm not in a rush, it's going to my collection

[@BenDMitchell]

CGC has a beautiful Pristine 10 grade too

[@Sports-MemesME]

( /・・)ノ..I think the industry is about to see a big boost! We have seen the closing of just about all LCS in my area, Target and Walmart are selling Blasters and Cellos, giving retailers a hobby-esque experience. And they are dedicating a ton of shelf space to trading cards right next to Pokemon and Magic which arent going anywhere. And just this week, I saw for the first time at Target, open boxes of Prizm packs for 2.99, lots of 6.99 cellos...It looks like a full retail effort that is going to grow slowly as we see more peg hooks go up every month!!!

[@Sports-MemesME]

..as for your story on other grading services, speaking about mid range Vintage cards goint to other grading companies. I could see this working for someone trying to run a business and needs to grade a lot of cards. I feel comfortable with it, like you really wanted that Jim Fregosi slab (1990's Philllies Coach), a LCS owner could get his 5 copies graded and put them up for sale without waiting a year for PSA...

[@IneptCardCollector]

27:10 this right here

[@Brandon-gn7zn]

Grading cards its getting crazy the whole system is messed up priceing wise there needs to kiosk of this to get graded

[@chpke97]

Not to mention that PSA is raising prices Jan 17th. Not all submission types but some are a big increase👿

[@altonT]

I have been submitting through GameStop. It's easy. So far I have had no problems. I don't have a time table so it takes what it takes.

[@paulburket]

Beckett could be #1 if they bought TAG and changed their grading scale. I would use them 100% of the time. I truly believe they could flip the market just because they’d give a grading breakdown.

[@MPsCards]

It’s no mystery why there’s one way ahead of the others: groupthink.

[@jamesyy6arterberry951]

I have to be careful what psa 10s i buy cause there is a lot that's off center and to me that stands out over everything and shouldn't be a 10.

[@JohnSmith-iz4mk]

You folks getting a kickback from PSA, SGC? You folks refuse to recognize TAG, Arena Club and others. I’m using CGC, TAG and I will not use PSA. I will quit grading cards if PSA is the only option.

[@paulburket]

PSA eliminating customer service over the phone is complete crap. This has been a trend among online companies. It effectively takes all power away from the customer. Having to put everything into text then wait for a response any time you reply is maddening.

[@jeffreyhart19]

What are you talking about? Customer service over phone hasn’t changed

[@paulburket]

@ huh? I remember calling the cs# and it said as much.

[@henrys3629]

If people would stop busting open slabs for better grades..........sheesh

[@angelou1]

Would/should they turn all 9.5’s to pristines? It makes no sense to add a third 10 because it would basically have the same relevance as a 9.5

[@gotbaseballcards-com]

This is Joe - my recommendation is that BGS honor what a "Gem Mint" card is in the industry, since all other leading companies label their Gem Mint cards as a "10" -this would not change Pristines (that have (3) 10 subgrades), or Black Label (that have (4) 10 subgrades). They would still be superior to grades to "Gem Mint 10s"

[@angelou1]

@ but then you have the new 10, the pristine and the black label. I don’t see the new 10 on par with the PSA 10 but l could be wrong. For the most part l agree with you as l don’t really grade with bgs because l want a 10 and not a 9.5 and l think it’s easier for them to give you the 9.5 vs the 10 , again l could be wrong. Thx

[@LeastSlutty]

They ought to just say, "no more base cards."

[@wayneburbrink1215]

Purchased a psa 10 84 donruss mattingly years ago with brown stains on all the back corners all my sgc 9.5’s and bgs 9.5’s there are no stains the cards look bright white psa scares me with the 10’s i have bought in the past , i mean the brown stains are dark nobody will want that card if they see it

[@Tysonscornercards]

What slabs do Marvel collectors prefer?

[@ResaleDojo]

Sounds like graded Pikachu and Charizards are gonna get even more flooded

[@dougsrailfanvideos1244]

Should SGC get rid of 9.5 and go straight 10?

[@JimBrave-ri1oc]

Same with Beckett.

[@EripzHouseOfCards]

Why do you not talk about tag grading?

[@COSTASPORTSCARDS]

PSA is crap, last submission they damaged many corners of my cards. Be before photos on my cards look great. PSA got their hands on them and all of a sudden they have damage. I would like to see the market go more to TAG. Nicer slab and computer graded.

[@maurosanchez7804]

TCG (pokemon) mainly is on fire. This is creating the backlog.

[@UncleKylesCards]

aaaand my cards are on fire in cali

[@mikesweum5701]

Kinda sick and tired of PSA being considered the king of grading. They do nothing at all better than any other grading company. They have the worst customer service of any business(awful). PSA is only the best at taking your hard earned money. Any other company that operated like they do would never survive but the card industry is beyond hypnotized to think they are so special. PSA sucks!!!!!!

[@rex-freestylepackripps801]

👍😎💯

[@George_D_13]

My initial response to the question asked in the title is, No. PSA is king. Hands down. If you’re in a rush to grade and flip then you’re a money grubbing hobby killer and I have no sympathy for you. If you’re only going to hold, then I say what’s the rush. As long as you get that ever-nerve wracking “received” email, then you’re good.

[@krishdasgupta7313]

If you think your called is more valuable in another slab other than psa then you haven’t been selling cards properly

[@jasonrocksvegas]

High dollar buyers want PSA not other graders mostly

[@RoyalBoyle78]

That’s because they’re ignorant, all these big KZbin channels have hyped up PSA, and they have the shittiest slabs out there and their graders are no better than any other graders. That’s the. I’m pretty much fed up a PSA at this point with their shitty grades lately as well.

[@te2edgesportscards177]

I have submitted, on my own, numerous times in the past year with PSA. I have found that they are more consistent than what I had originally thought. Right now, my subs are coming back in 8-10 weeks, with PSA.

[@jamesb6686]

psa is really dominating this hobby, they must be absolutely fist pumping having all you collectors and resellers sending in trash for grading at $20-25 a pop.

[@andrewgaffney4881]

Beckett Grading Services.

[@PaulBrunke]

does he take orders from philippines

[@avsalom6632]

Slabbing and grading cards has destroyed the hobby.

[@rawdogcardbreaks2270]

Faster but less money on return

[@terryalexander563]

And if PSA was a decent grading company, they would be growing themselves as the hobby grows. I mean hire and/or train more people BEFORE you get behind. That's the way successful businesses operate. I mean it is not new information, it's general business practice. 🙄

[@CardCityCollectibles]

Lol alittle bit quicker pace for PSA ROFL!! You can cannot compare SGC turn around times to PSA . Your talking 2 to 4 months average for standard service at a way higher price vs SGC that is 15 day max business day turn around. Iv submitted a few cards all back within a week and on average its been 8 days to 2 weeks. That is a massive massive difference compared to unreliable bad PSA. Cards tank in value during that period of time and players get hurt or teams get cooked . A grade taking an entire business quarter to get graded for standard service is ridiculous. 90% of people are grading to sell now in 2025 , no one collects anymore and its dead. Even those who claim to collect nowadays all collect to sell , not keep. PSA unreliability on grading , paired with the atrocious turn around times is astonishing that their still even in business.

[@RoyalBoyle78]

And the worst looking slabs in the grading spectrum.

[@beardonme12]

psa has the registry! No else has a registry

[@nathanmulkey]

It baffles me how certain collectors are slaves to the registry.

[@angelou1]

I just can’t trust a card shop to prescreen my cards at least for rare or high dollar cards, I’m to afraid of the switcheroo

[@xmrxbaxterx6075]

Graded cards are a scam. End of argument.

[@chrisrunyon2372]

Grading is a sham!

[@bsmithPR4256]

need new guests

[@REBroker1966]

If BGS goes to the so called standard of 10. What will happen to Black Labels?

[@DanielCordone9]

It'll just say pristine 10, rather than gem mint 10

[@JimBrave-ri1oc]

@@DanielCordone9 If they went to the 10 then They would get 20 Billion Cards per day. Everyone would use them. They have always had the Best Looking Slabs and are the best at Grading.

[@TravisJCollins]

I think psa needs todo a 9.5 so that way it’s not 10 or bust maybe a 1.5x increase in value since even a 9 is amazing condition