My Thoughts On Collector's Universe (PSA) Buying SGC

BASEBALL CARD COLLECTOR INVESTOR DEALER (in that order)
Chris Sewall here.
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[@ricecakejohnson]

SGC's customer service has always been top notch, and their turn around time is probably the fastest among the top 3 grading companies. Also, the most important thing is their grading has always been consistent.

[@thomascourt4935]

I always explain monopolies to my middle school students by comparing them to school pizza. It doesn't get better because it doesn't have to.

[@michaeljensen1817]

I like that one. Mine is usually Disney having crap food because goofy comes to your table once.

[@stephenmullenax4522]

You Seem like a very cool teacher!

[@TheBrad71]

I'm a collector, not an investor. I chose SGC to slab my cards because I love the look. I'll be super sad if they do away with it!

[@philadelphia0collins]

Agreed, monopolies have done nothing but screw over consumers in the long haul. Obviously I'm hopeful as I became a massive SGC fan since the pandemic and how great they turned around the company to become (arguably) #2 in the hobby and offering a lot of great deals and partnerships as well as having a superior grading scale and customer service. I guess I am optimistically pessimistic? Or pessimistically optimistic.

[@idolizing_Gibson]

Absolutely agree, not a good thing for the hobby. PSA already had quite a bit of ‘snootiness’, now watch grading prices go up, and even more impunity regarding the grades your cards receive.

[@tommayrant2279]

Totally agree with you, Chris! Thanks for not making a knee-jerk reaction video with a "shocked face" in the thumbnail. Appreciate that you always keep it classy.

[@razzleyaheard3204]

The mr beast style reaction is helpful so you know if you need to be surprised tho.

[@tonyalmeida8231]

PSA just took out their only competition!

[@stevemontalbano1519]

The people need to rise up, and pick one another company and show psa their not the boss of us! And they can’t get away with this this is truly unfair to the consumer we really don’t have a choice, that’s not the way this country was built!

[@scratchthrift3370]

As an SGC PC collector this makes me nervous and mostly sad. SGC customer service and especially their turnaround times are vastly superior to PSA. It’s honestly not even close in terms of speed of service. My prediction is that for a year or maybe two nothing much will change. Then slowly over time things will start to happen. Operations move to a different state, prices go up slightly, turnaround times grow longer, customer service starts to worsen. Then in 5 years SGC basically has become PSA just with different color slabs. Like the frog in boiling water I hope and pray they keep it separate and just absorb the profits but essentially leave the entity untouched. I find this highly unlikely but fingers crossed. In the meantime vintage sales remain extremely strong in SGC and I continue to send to them

[@EileenBrzozowski]

SGC really beats all the other grading companies .

[@tomkelley1100]

I agree bad news… monopoly’s never end well for the consumers

[@shorebreakcards]

As a collector in the hobby for 20+ years who buys only raw cards (Ive bought 5 graded cards my entire life), I agree with you sentiments completely. My only ever graded submission was through TAG, and that was to grade some Warhammer 40k cards last year, just noting as a reference. I can't think of a time when monopolies in the hobby have ever been good, but would love an example if I'm wrong. I'm sad this happened, even though I'm not in the graded space, but think this will affect buying habits of others, eventually driving raw card prices up.... I see it as a net negative

[@williambartenslager4134]

Bad for the hobby, your views are spot on.

[@robinrahmani4705]

Nice video. Given that I’m a glass is half full kind of person, I will remain hopeful that the parent company will in fact keep the two grading companies separate so that they can continue to coexist as they have over the past several years.

[@stevemartinish]

If SGC is phased out, PSA could certainly slow their turnaround times without much consequence, because customers won't have a better alternative. It allows PSA to become more sloppy. And, let's be serious - they're sloppy already with some orders taking 5 months or more and others taking two to three weeks, with no explanation as to why. The parent company can say anything to make it look like an innocent purchase, but ultimately it's their choice what they do with SGC.

[@jimfalkler9361]

Hi Chris. I was at Chantilly yesterday and dropped off 20 cards for grading with SGC. Their customer service was great and answered my questions. I hope they are kept separate from PSA.

[@WeskerGriff]

Well measured take Chris. Agreed totally!

[@iandavis594]

From an investor/dealer perspective, I get the grading scheme. As a collector, I see no value other than to ensure authenticity. People put too much value into slabs. Monopolies don’t generally benefit consumers.

[@kenrogers1948]

I can only see two outcomes here: either CU develops SGC as a vintage specialty company or it starves SGC and absorbs it into PSA... TAG is now the interesting 'other' player in the space: not because it is terribly significant yet, but their product could disrupt grading generally by offering more consistent results in grading...

[@buschleaguers75]

i bet prices go up across the board 15% by the end of the year. for psa and sgc.

[@Bradydog-in7ut]

It’s a great move For PSA/SGC’s parent company, Collectors Universe, but bad for collectors in general. If you don’t think collectors Universe is going to do what it can to get bigger profits, I got a gold mine in Arizona to sell you.

[@PhuryousOne]

I wasn't very thrilled to hear it. It is pretty much a monopoly. Curious to see how it ends up in the long run. Maybe this leads to vintage SGC cards getting a raise. I don't really know what to expect. I just hope it wasn't Wal-Mart buying Target to kill what little competition that's out there. That's too much of a common trend in this country. So many corporate overlords and money funnels these days.

[@ricecakejohnson]

I do hope Fanatics can purchase either BGS or CSG(CGC) because Beckett really need a boost to their name.

[@brirocks]

My observation of this is the same as the potential Kroger/Albertson's merger: Less competition is never good for consumers.

[@thomassmith429]

Loss of competition is never a good thing and Regardless of what Collector's Universe says one of these brands is going to go away. It always does. CU didn't spend all that money marketing and building PSA to have another brand take their business. Also, what's the point of grading anymore if it's all just one company. Stuff like this is why I hesitated to start buying graded cards

[@HeavyMetalOne64]

Exclusivity agreements are the pitfalls of the hobby

[@ASMRPeople]

The only possible upside is if they did a combined set registry. Those high grade sgc commons might actually become worth something.

[@collectorinvestordealer]

Good point

[@franke981]

I just don’t see the rationale for CU to have 2 grading divisions. Usually when companies are acquired they are broken up and assimilated into the parent company. This whole transaction doesn’t make sense.

[@mookiechillson]

SGC is much smaller but was taking market share in modern sportscards from PSA. My guess is this will put an end to that. Also, PSA raised their membership fee in the immediate aftermath of this deal. Consumers lose because SGC will no longer present meaningful competition to PSA. It’s too bad.

[@DerethAC]

What evidence is there that they were taking market share away from PSA? All that I have seen is them introducing a couple of cheap baseball specials that gave them a temporary influx of modern submissions. Outside of that I see nothing.

[@richardbianco9674]

​@DerethAC they actually went to the 15 a card model. Can submit as many as few as you want. Also no upcharges because they don't for cards 2000 and newer. This was all under their standard service that still has extremely quick turnaround times.

[@mookiechillson]

@@richardbianco9674 you’re right - SGC hasn’t changed anything

[@richardbianco9674]

@@mookiechillson just stayed consistent. Plus with the much faster turnaround times, people could be first to market after a release which has meant higher returns. Most cards are the most expensive as soon as the product releases, whether they are raw or graded.

[@stuke1976]

Great points Chris!

[@MrOlivasalone]

Sports Cards Investor saw it coming. I day this because they spoke highly of PSA and rarely mentioned SGC. Then months before the announcement SGC was being talked about more on the videos. And he's a stock trader, so they knew something. That being said if PSA and SGC want to maximize their profit and satisfy people, they will allow quick cross over and honor the SGC grade for a 10 dollar fee. Some people hate PSA and enjoy the SGC slabs. Others like PSA. More importantly, I need a fast turnaround time for my submission so SGC is my go to. Personally I like the SGC slabs. If they allow this, SGC value will be closer to PSA market value. And SGC made money of the grading submission and then PSA made money off the "slab exchange" . So in a sense The Collectors Group is profiting off the same identical card twice!

[@matthewwalk]

The company that comes out with unbiased, AI based, consistent grading is going to take over. Imagine how much faster, more accurate, more consistent things would be.

[@cortlandlampe1983]

so far the closest I've seen to that standard is FCG Forensic Card Grading. Each slab has a QR code on the back that anybody can scan and look at the grader's notes for that card. Each card has subgrades and graders notes if the card gets less than a 10 grade. Their site also shows examples of different wear or defects and explains how they would be graded. So far they are the best I've seen.

[@NuthinFancyCollectibles]

I love SGC for vintage, but I have seen some modern cards that look really good in the tux. I hope a set registry will be coming to SGC soon. Time will tell. Good luck in Chantilly this weekend. Maybe I’ll have the pleasure of meeting you one day and possibly make a deal on something.

[@Vintage_Dave_T]

Good to meet you at the Chantilly CS. Sorry my purchase wouldn’t even buy your lunch. Congrats on your big deal.

[@karlcicitto3095]

Until now I’ve been withholding judgement on this cuz, after all, who would cripple a small competitor after buying them for millions? That would degrade the asset U invested in. And now I’m thinking a possible outcome is growing both grading services by ID’ing “best practices” for up revenue across PSA and SGC. Maybe SGC rates increase; maybe PSA customer service improves. Maybe Finance/HR jobs are combined. Ultimately, whether or not CU returns to being a public stock, one would think the buy was made to strengthen CU’s health and wealth. This likely isn’t buy a legit biz, and blow it up. Waiting to see what happens over time.

[@diegomeredith-marquez929]

Speaking of grading, I'd be very curious to hear your updated thoughts on TAG in a future video. There's still a lot to like about them, but the implementation of two different service tiers (X and S) have rubbed some collectors the wrong way. Would be interested in hearing your thoughts and what you think their long-term outlook might be.

[@mywowcards]

The truth is we can see right before us the hobby going through the massive consolidation process....many examples of this are everywhere. This is the process and history that many companies in corporate America go through to eliminate mom and pop companies to become the giant we allow. This is the Walmart to Amazon evolution we live in. And no I don't think it's a good thing for the majority but a few will make a fortune from it...cause we allow it with how we spend our money on distractions.

[@flybone100]

Fanatics is a very transparent company and they've been ripping it this year.

[@richardbianco9674]

Believe it or not it wasn't only fanatics that was in the running to buy sgc. Cgc parent company was also in that conversation. The cgc sport card market isn't even remotely close but they have the tcg market. Having sgc for sports would have allowed cgc to focus on tcg. As long as they do keep them separate, this can be a good thing. The sgc complaint has been their cases. Some think they are much flimsier. Getting the supply hookup from psa for that plus knowledge on operating the set registry can be beneficial for sgc. Psa can use practices set up by sgc.

[@LeeCopus]

Thats a old Wal-Mart business deal, illuminate as much of your competition as possible.

[@RawGradeFlip]

For now I look at it like Anheuser-Busch / AB InBev which owns over like 500 beer brands. Did they shut down all those beer brands or make them worse just so people would have to buy Budweiser, nope. Collectors bought SGC to continue to make a lot of money and hopefully just works to improve on SGC. Really just need to wait and see. Fanatic buying SGC would have been sketchy.

[@lovetruth1776]

Agreed

[@gh4121-b5n]

Very seldom does the Goliath let the David still work away on its own. The vast majority of the time they cut staff and move all works under the One umbrella.

[@longlostsonicsfan]

Welp, looks like I won’t be grading cards anymore…

[@williamcollins8098]

For PSA to grade all cards and no one else, this may not happen.That would accuse them to monopolize.

[@reallygraycards7139]

SGC did what they felt was right for their stakeholders. They are a for profit company and it is not fair for me to judge their decision making to maximize their profits unless it impacts me in a negative light. My way of seeing I will wait and see what happens. Get tired of people who throw around ethics, morals and scruples on a company who has done nothing wrong in this process. If we are watching Chris because we are involved in this hobby/business just ask yourself: if someone offered you above FMV for a card you are willing to sell would you do it? And please don’t jump on a high horse or soap box, the question SHOULD be a rhetorical one.

[@user-hm5zb1qn6g]

Get off your high horse. Colllectors have a right to wonder how this will impact the hobby, and to speculate that the impact might be negative.

[@reallygraycards7139]

@@user-hm5zb1qn6g appreciate your thoughtful response

[@scrwwea_nhl_hut5288]

“I saw SGC as…._____” (fill in with ethical, virtuous business practices statement), and then money got involved and ethics went right out the window. The fact this sale could happen when nobody saw it coming shows the influence of money and I guarantee that influence will now continue to corrupt SGC moving forward.

[@reallygraycards7139]

How is it fair to say their ethics got thrown out the window? If someone offered you a pile of cash for whatever it is you do and you accept are you now unethical? I don’t like this change for me but I also recognize SGC is and always has been a for profit company that will make the right decisions for all of its stakeholders. Unless you are willing to work for just food, shelter, and safety you are a for profit enterprise as well.

[@scrwwea_nhl_hut5288]

@@reallygraycards7139 my comment is proven by your reply. Im not questioning the motivation to sell or make a profit off a good or service I provide. BUT, they sold their business to a HIGHLY unethical and borderline illegal operation like PSA. This entire industry knows that subjective PSA grading is nothing more that printing cash and their downfall is ensured just like Becketts was for the same reason. My goods and services are for sale. My soul is not. SGC is free to sell whatever they want to whomever they want. It does not make the transaction ethical, in fact this creates a grading monopoly where the consumer gets screwed in this pay for grades scam.

[@ACD1994]

Just my thoughts this will benefit PSA more than SGC. Usually when there's some sort of business merger, one company, will be, above the other. While its true, PSA, was and still is, the industry leader in the grading space; it's disappointing that the two companies won't really be, competing against one another. Kind of stinks imo. That being said, there could still be a future for SGC. It's just content on being the little brother...to PSA...

[@colinburroughs9871]

rando thought after the fact, is SGC going to be the budget brand? The Squire to Fender guitar for example

[@ultimatecardguides]

I don't understand the argument that this is a monopoly. Collectors hasn't limited the supply of anything. Consumers are free to choose CGC or BGS or other companies. Just because those companies aren't as popular doesn't mean PSA or Collectors is limiting competition. It's not like brick and mortar stores where it's infeasible to go to the next town over. I can send cards to BGS just as easily as PSA.

[@user-hm5zb1qn6g]

People over-use the term "monopoly" all the time. And you're right, the card-grading part of the hobby still isn't a monopoly, even with this takeover. Collectors are not only at liberty to use various other services, they have the option to not get cards graded at all. I collected for decades before anyone had even heard of grading. I still bought and sold cards. I still enjoyed the hobby.

[@ghill628]

One company having a monopoly on grading, just like on sports cards, is not a good thing. Remember how much innovation occurred once Topps had to compete with all the other companies? Removing competition is a bad thing. It will only lead to increased prices due to less consumer choice. Also, since SGC & PSA are now essentially the same company does that mean that from this point forward an SGC 10 is exactly equal to a PSA 10? If they're the same company & have different grading standards doesn't that make one of them superfluous?

[@drew8703]

Is there a relationship between labor unions , labor agreements, revenue streams, etc. that basically mandate the monopoly , or vice versa, or whatever?

[@drew8703]

Do the players want a monopoly so they don't have to pose for pictures all the time?

[@willg.2045]

Agree, it doesn't look good.

[@coreywilson6693]

A trading card company purchasing a trading card grading company kinda seems like a conflict of interest to me, yeah?

[@waynecurtis8152]

I have baseball cards and football cards from the 80” how do I know if I have any money cards

[@jimmy_iKoN]

Wait collector’s universe owns wata and wata is owned by heritage auctions? So heritage auctions owns psa now? Hmmm.. 🤔

[@zipyaplebuns7732]

Doesn't surprise me,It would have been awesome if the govt blocked this sale. Maybe we can send the leprechaun to rap to congress about sports card grading monopolies.

[@verbone]

Monopolies are always bad for consumers.

[@nawsydna]

Yep. Makes no sense. It's a monopoly. No good for the consumer.

[@imamisfit445]

I have a Topps '87 Tim Raines. Pop 1. Asking $50,000. Anybody? Grading scams ruined the hobby.

[@brucefolger4748]

Fanatics will buy BGS and/or HGA. (Save this comment)

[@CVMGAM]

Too bad Fanatics didn't buy them. What could go wrong with the hobby, when a company has the rights to produce most of the cards, grade them, and sell them ? I'll assume Beckett will sell to Fanatics. But please change your labels, as to not confuse the BC/AD eras. Who am I kidding, of course they will change the labels. Their desire to do that is old news. I wouldn't be buying too many 9.5's right now.

[@adamcordeiro473]

The only positive that I could think of is making SGC the exclusive vintage grading company. SGC has nice slabs.

[@cardmanjohn4916]

I actually didn’t know about this, but I only see this hurting the hobby right now, long term, ??? Are we looking at a consolidated POP total for some of the industries biggest cards? Don’t know, and was there any public comment? NO , ‘cause “F-you, we’re doin’ it!”. Good times.

[@thenameless4735]

TAG is way better than all of them for modern cards. Maybe not today but soon. Their grading reports and slab holders are unmatched. Thanks for your video.

[@dcsoda1]

Nah

[@williambartenslager4134]

Nope

[@jude999]

The fact that they don't grade vintage doesn;t put much faith in the accuracy of their grading.

[@LaGroove82]

Bruh. Plz thonk deeper. PSA had to do this... Fanatics would have scooped up SGC if PSA had not. That wouldve been a monopoly. Collectors is the competition of Fanatics. Deeper... Steve Cohen runs collectors... Michael Rubin runs Fanatics... Deeper Cohen is known for having been issued a billion dollar+ fine for insider trading... Also PSA needed the high end graders.

[@markmorgan8907]

too much money now , greed rules.. sad

[@ChristopherSmithNYC]

Monopolies are good right? Yay Capitalism!!! Tag is a superior service anyway.

[@markmorgan8907]

i have justed stopped buying graded cards ..its all bs now.

[@montrealsports29]

My thought is that I actually bought a graded card recently to try to finish my 1972-73 OPC hockey set because it was much cheaper than the ungraded versions available (because it was graded by ACA, which is a company that no one knows) and I really want to take the card out of the slab. That's my thought.

[@larrygitlin6017]

First see you at Chantilly

[@xdabsx1]

This is bad. Blackrock of the grading industry 😘💀

[@allenantonio4389]

Not Good news

[@user-qy6zp7wd4r]

First thumbs down I’ve ever gave one of Chris videos. I disagree, they can combine PSA technology with grading and SGC customer service and make both companies better in the long run making it better for collectors.

[@Rfflllss]

Ebay buys goldin, fanatics buys psa, ebay-fanatics merge, amazon buys ebay-fanatics, google/alphabet merges with amazon, apple merges with microsoft and buys amazonalaphabet. Microapple owns the world. There.

[@user-hm5zb1qn6g]

That's sorta how the entertainment industry unfolded over the past 30 years.

[@gabriels1163]

One of the worst things to ever happen in this hobby. Monopolys are always bad for the consumer. And its an illegal purchase to begin with, if we had a functional government it wouldve been stopped. And psa is the worst of all the grading companies, just an utter pile of dogshit as a company. Shitty slabs, shitty labels, shitty grading, shitty cust service, crazy high prices.

[@user-hm5zb1qn6g]

It's not a monopoly. There are at least 4 competitors still. Probably more.

[@gabriels1163]

@@user-hm5zb1qn6g They have over 90% of the market. BGS is dying and is going to continue losing market share since they dont get any new customers anymore. CGC is doing good in pokemon but abysmal in sports. The other companies are doing a few thousand cards a month each, not even a blip. 90+ percent of the market is a monopoly.