What’s crazier is that the average time a PSA employee spends grading each card is 45 seconds
Each grader does 300-400 gradings daily, all within an 8 hour shift
multiply that by the cost associated with each one gives us a nasty profit margin and PSA just swallows it whole
This space is fueled by people who want to flip and make money. Many treat the hobby strictly as a business. And that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s simply the reality of the space.
The problem is that too many people only care about what they can sell right now. They’re too shortsighted to recognize that supporting smaller companies like TAG helps create competition, pushes the industry forward, and forces the bigger grading companies to improve.
TAG has a great team, is using newer technology, and offers more transparency than any other grading company. Supporting its long-term growth would be good for the entire hobby, but too many people don’t care because TAG slabs aren’t as easy to sell right this second.
There are so many problems in the grading space right now, yet nothing will change as long as people continue celebrating PSA upcharges.
Change only happens when collectors stop blindly accepting it and start supporting other grading companies.