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Sub Grade Cost
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32 posts in this topic

Why does it cost $10 extra for sub grades? 

Here me out. The grading professionals aren't doing anything extra - they obviously know what the sub grades are as they're grading the card itself. I'm willing to bet that the sub grades are stored in a database somewhere (because every company is data hungry these days, why wouldn't you keep that info). Especially when a customer gets a 10 or 9.5 back and wants to resubmit with sub grades - it'll be handy to have those in the system ready to go. 

I know ink isn't free, but does it really cost $10 to print a few extra characters on the label? The cost doesn't seem to justify itself. I could see doing a few bucks extra, sure. With the price point being $10 it really just feels like a cash grab. ESPECIALLY when my first few bulk orders were $8 a card. How does it take $10 to print a few extra characters on a label when the cost to grade was originally only $8. Is there a way CSG can justify the high price tag for such a minor addition?

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On 8/28/2021 at 4:41 PM, xjdan89 said:

Why does it cost $10 extra for sub grades? 

Here me out. The grading professionals aren't doing anything extra - they obviously know what the sub grades are as they're grading the card itself. I'm willing to bet that the sub grades are stored in a database somewhere (because every company is data hungry these days, why wouldn't you keep that info). Especially when a customer gets a 10 or 9.5 back and wants to resubmit with sub grades - it'll be handy to have those in the system ready to go. 

I know ink isn't free, but does it really cost $10 to print a few extra characters on the label? The cost doesn't seem to justify itself. I could see doing a few bucks extra, sure. With the price point being $10 it really just feels like a cash grab. ESPECIALLY when my first few bulk orders were $8 a card. How does it take $10 to print a few extra characters on a label when the cost to grade was originally only $8. Is there a way CSG can justify the high price tag for such a minor addition?

Thank you for your question. Grading subs requires a more detailed look into the centering—for primary front and back designs within the frame of the cardstock as intended by the original design, surface, edges and corners— for visual and structural integrity of the card. It takes more time to grade subs for those reasons and every card that receives subs has to be individually looked at. 

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On 8/30/2021 at 6:46 AM, NicholePer said:

Thank you for your question. Grading subs requires a more detailed look into the centering—for primary front and back designs within the frame of the cardstock as intended by the original design, surface, edges and corners— for visual and structural integrity of the card. It takes more time to grade subs for those reasons and every card that receives subs has to be individually looked at. 

So you are saying they are graded to a different standard???  They are looked at differently?

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On 8/28/2021 at 1:41 PM, xjdan89 said:

Why does it cost $10 extra for sub grades? 

Here me out. The grading professionals aren't doing anything extra - they obviously know what the sub grades are as they're grading the card itself. I'm willing to bet that the sub grades are stored in a database somewhere (because every company is data hungry these days, why wouldn't you keep that info). Especially when a customer gets a 10 or 9.5 back and wants to resubmit with sub grades - it'll be handy to have those in the system ready to go. 

I know ink isn't free, but does it really cost $10 to print a few extra characters on the label? The cost doesn't seem to justify itself. I could see doing a few bucks extra, sure. With the price point being $10 it really just feels like a cash grab. ESPECIALLY when my first few bulk orders were $8 a card. How does it take $10 to print a few extra characters on a label when the cost to grade was originally only $8. Is there a way CSG can justify the high price tag for such a minor addition?

DUDE YES!! If they offered a price of just a few bucks or a couple bucks for subgrades I would literally get them on every single card, which, in the end gets CSG more money than if I only get them on higher-priced cards! Win-win!

 

On 8/30/2021 at 6:46 AM, NicholePer said:

Thank you for your question. Grading subs requires a more detailed look into the centering—for primary front and back designs within the frame of the cardstock as intended by the original design, surface, edges and corners— for visual and structural integrity of the card. It takes more time to grade subs for those reasons and every card that receives subs has to be individually looked at. 

I think I'm confused here. I thought the human interaction with the cards was basically to shore up what the computer has graded via AI technology, meaning there is a human element to every card that goes through there. 

I guess I'm missing something here, bc how is there a more detailed look into the card's centering if it needs subgrades? Wouldn't each card be graded the same exact way regardless of it is getting subgrades or not? 

Please correct me if I'm misinterpreting something here, but I'm curious just like OP to see the answer to this. 

Edited by ne1seenmykeys
misspellings
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On 8/30/2021 at 11:22 AM, xjdan89 said:

Thank you CSG for responding to my question, but honestly this has raised more concerns than alleviated. It really feels like there are two sets of standards now when it comes to grading. Does this mean a CSG 10 without sub-grades is "less than" a CSG 10 with sub grades (I'm not talking visual appearance of the label here - I'm talking actual grading process/scrutiny)? Two different standards entirely? Isn't that essentially going to render any pop report (assuming one is coming in the future) irrelevant (unless sub grades are baked into the pop report equation, which would likely be a mess to visualize). 

 

@NicholePerIs there any way you could clarify this please? Thank you in advance. 

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On 8/28/2021 at 4:41 PM, xjdan89 said:

Why does it cost $10 extra for sub grades? 

Here me out. The grading professionals aren't doing anything extra - they obviously know what the sub grades are as they're grading the card itself. I'm willing to bet that the sub grades are stored in a database somewhere (because every company is data hungry these days, why wouldn't you keep that info). Especially when a customer gets a 10 or 9.5 back and wants to resubmit with sub grades - it'll be handy to have those in the system ready to go. 

I know ink isn't free, but does it really cost $10 to print a few extra characters on the label? The cost doesn't seem to justify itself. I could see doing a few bucks extra, sure. With the price point being $10 it really just feels like a cash grab. ESPECIALLY when my first few bulk orders were $8 a card. How does it take $10 to print a few extra characters on a label when the cost to grade was originally only $8. Is there a way CSG can justify the high price tag for such a minor addition?

why , the answer is simple , they are greedy for money , they already do the sub grades when they grade the card and to add the grades to the label is about .05 cents of ink if that and shouldnt take anymore time to print them out esp when everything is enterted to a printer. They upcharge for evrything , auto grade , sub grades and thicker slabs , the real question is why are they the only ones who add on all these extra charges ? 

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I don't understand why everybody is crying about $10 subs. Beckett now charges $15, and as much as $125 for subs. And it was obvious from the start that there would be two different grading processes for subs vs no subs with CSG. Why else would they need to add 5 days to the grading time?

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On 8/28/2021 at 4:41 PM, xjdan89 said:

Why does it cost $10 extra for sub grades? 

Here me out. The grading professionals aren't doing anything extra - they obviously know what the sub grades are as they're grading the card itself. I'm willing to bet that the sub grades are stored in a database somewhere (because every company is data hungry these days, why wouldn't you keep that info). Especially when a customer gets a 10 or 9.5 back and wants to resubmit with sub grades - it'll be handy to have those in the system ready to go. 

I know ink isn't free, but does it really cost $10 to print a few extra characters on the label? The cost doesn't seem to justify itself. I could see doing a few bucks extra, sure. With the price point being $10 it really just feels like a cash grab. ESPECIALLY when my first few bulk orders were $8 a card. How does it take $10 to print a few extra characters on a label when the cost to grade was originally only $8. Is there a way CSG can justify the high price tag for such a minor addition?

Agreed. Its an excessive amount. $2 more would be much more inline with the service you're getting. Like you said they've already formed a grade at least on paper in the process of grading the card as a whole so how does that justify $10 extra per card? IMO it doesnt

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I think a Pandora's box has been opened here, the cost to sub grade is now secondary. If there are two standards to their grading system, they might as well close the shop. You can't shake people down for sub grades to get "undivided" attention to a card. If that's the case, they need to be real transparent on the website and let people decide for themselves.

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On 9/27/2021 at 8:51 AM, Prime Sports Cards said:

I think a Pandora's box has been opened here, the cost to sub grade is now secondary. If there are two standards to their grading system, they might as well close the shop. You can't shake people down for sub grades to get "undivided" attention to a card. If that's the case, they need to be real transparent on the website and let people decide for themselves.

I'd be willing to be that's a misinformed message above and there are not 'two standards'.  I think it's as simple as they already have fairly low prices among their competitors for most tiers, and it's a way to recoup some of that for cards that customers will want subgrades on.

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On 8/30/2021 at 8:46 AM, NicholePer said:

Thank you for your question. Grading subs requires a more detailed look into the centering—for primary front and back designs within the frame of the cardstock as intended by the original design, surface, edges and corners— for visual and structural integrity of the card. It takes more time to grade subs for those reasons and every card that receives subs has to be individually looked at


Clear as day. There are two grading standards. A 10 without subs may actually be a 9.5, or 9.... or maybe a 7.5 with subs.... Pretty clear explanation, and now I get it. Two different standards. 

Unfortunately, I hate that answer. I have gotten back several 10's w/o subs and was considering resubmitting them w/ subs because a 10 w/ subs is visually more appealing. However, I'm planning on doing an SGC crossover now. I hate that CSG maintains two different grading standards and disguises them as one (under the same label, brand, etc...). It seems deceiving, and wrong. 

I would've preferred an answer like "we're greedy". That would've been better than "we maintain two different grading standards and haven't told you all along". 

Edited by xjdan89
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  • Administrator

We apologize for the confusion here. Our basic service is no sub-grades, and we offer our customers the option to add subgrades to their cards for cards they feel would benefit from having sub-grades. Subgrades are not our standard service, and they do take longer in the grading process. In order to offer the same quality service to all customers, we charge a fee for the additional add-on service of subgrades.

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On 9/27/2021 at 12:07 PM, CGCRyan said:

We apologize for the confusion here. Our basic service is no sub-grades, and we offer our customers the option to add subgrades to their cards for cards they feel would benefit from having sub-grades. Subgrades are not our standard service, and they do take longer in the grading process. In order to offer the same quality service to all customers, we charge a fee for the additional add-on service of subgrades.

can you answer daddy pig question , and really answer it . 

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On 9/27/2021 at 11:07 AM, CGCRyan said:

We apologize for the confusion here. Our basic service is no sub-grades, and we offer our customers the option to add subgrades to their cards for cards they feel would benefit from having sub-grades. Subgrades are not our standard service, and they do take longer in the grading process. In order to offer the same quality service to all customers, we charge a fee for the additional add-on service of subgrades.

I think the question is are cards graded with subgrades held to a higher standard than those without? If this is case, it would have been nice to know before I submitted and will likely determine whether I submit with CSG again in the future. I've defended CSG on this forum and social media at every turn, understanding that a new company would have growing pains given the current state of the hobby. If there are two different grading standards based on subgrades and it wasn't publicly disclosed, I can't and won't defend that.

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