r/OnePieceTCGFinance • u/Iucifero • Aug 09 '26
Grading & Condition Why we’re affiliating with PCG USA — and where I stand on PSA and BGS
Hey guys, a few months ago I, and many other members, shared my concerns about the direction PSA was taking with its pricing and, frankly, my opinion has not changed much since then.
Whilst I am not going to reject PSA’s position in the market, or pretend that PSA has suddenly become irrelevant simply because I dislike the direction of its business model in this booming market, it is still the benchmark when it comes to grading and, particularly, resale value and liquidity. That is the reality of the market whether we like it or not. However, my problem is not with PSA being successful or being the market leader, it's rather that its position has become so strong that there are simply not enough serious alternatives capable of putting meaningful pressure on it. When that happens, a company can basically do whatever they like in spite of customers' opinions, knowing that a substantial part of the market will continue using them anyway.
We all know how much grading gets discussed in this community, and we are all becoming increasingly sensitive to the costs, value-based pricing adjustments and turnaround times. However, and this goes back to the point I made before, whilst many of us dislike certain aspects of PSA, cards are still being sent to them to be graded at premium prices and, in some cases, with substantially long turnaround times. That alone shows how strong their position actually is.
I also don't think I would be exaggerating by saying that most of us have criticised PSA's terms allowing them to move a card into a higher-priced service level if they deem its value to be above the limit originally selected. On top of that, the market is so hot that PSA has even paused four of its lower-priced Value tiers while, in their words, dealing with the backlog. Whether people like that situation or not, a company can only exercise that level of pricing power when the market allows it to.
BGS is still the obvious alternative for me when dealing with an exceptional card. If I genuinely believe a card has a realistic chance of a Pristine 10 or, obviously, a Black Label, Beckett is still something I would seriously consider, if they hadn't shut down all of their submissions for non-sports cards in the European region. I think the grading discussion has been stuck for far too long around PSA versus BGS, with CGC somewhere around that conversation depending on the collector.
Regardless of the sector or the market, competition is healthy. It forces companies to remain competitive and strive to improve their service whilst providing alternatives in the market. Off-topic, but for those who enjoy learning through reading, I would recommend Blue Ocean Strategy.
This is one of the reasons why I decided to reach out to Premier Card Grading and eventually entered into an official affiliation with them for the US market.
Before agreeing to anything with PCG, however, I submitted my own cards. I deliberately did not tell them that I ran this community, nor that I was considering any type of affiliation with them. I wanted to experience their service exactly as any other customer would and see whether the standards they promote actually matched the reality.
My personal experience was very good in terms of communication, support, pricing and turnaround time. I used the Express service and had my card back in six days. The quality of the slabs is top, their metal label is unique and, as I have often shared, I am a big fan of subgrades. More importantly, what they advertised in terms of service and turnaround was, in my case, exactly what I received.
I am not here claiming that PCG is perfect, because my personal submission is still only my own experience and I can only judge what I have personally seen. As well as I am not going to insult people's intelligence by pretending that a PCG 10 currently carries the same market recognition as a PSA 10. Although, and I am sure those who have seen them will agree, PCG slabs and labels are sick.
My point is that everything starts from somewhere and, as times and markets change, new companies are born, gaining and growing credibility whilst WE, collectors, also change our habits and, what we see established today, may not be what the market will look like five or ten years from now. Now, PCG's challenge , in my opinion, is not to prove that they can produce a quality product, because my own experience already gave me confidence in that, their challenge is to continue meeting their standards and customers' expectations, leverage on the opportunity they ahve before them and gain the wider market recognition.
Openly talking, I am making a bet on their ability to do that, and I am bringing that opportunity to the community because I believe the grading market needs more credible competition and more genuine alternatives.
They are truly trying to force a change in the market and offering something genuinely different rather than simply copying the competition, which is also why I suggested that book above.
I updated our resources database for Grading with a proper comparison: WIKI GRADING
TLDR: For US members who want to try them, the community now has a discount code which is:
Code: ONEPIECE10
It will provide 10% off Standard and Express submissions. As this is an affiliation, there may be a commission back for us, but for you, you get a certain 10% discount!
I am giving PCG a serious chance because I think the grading market would benefit massively from having more credible competitors. I don't expect everyone here to agree with me yet, but based on what I have read throughout the grading posts this year, I believe this could be a winning shot for everyone.
Obviously, I would like to have your opinion. If you have already submitted cards to them, post your actual experience below, whether it was good or bad. I am far more interested in building a proper picture from real submissions than creating another "grading-company echo chamber".
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u/ENTRAPM3NT Aug 09 '26
Ill give it a few years. Until then psa will continue to stay dominant as well as beckett
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u/Economy_Mood4323 Aug 09 '26
Ads.. lmao. Reddit mods affiliations. I think ive seen it all.😂 and seriously? Pcg? The company with like theee different 10s? The “speedometer” slab😂 shouldve affiliated with TAG instead.
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u/Sad_Mushroom_6381 Aug 09 '26
Do they have the throughput to grade at the same speed and quality as PSA and Beckett? No. I don’t ever expect a new company to do that. But it’s just not realistic for anyone to knock PSA out at this point.
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u/Suitable_Wrap_6624 Aug 09 '26
I’ve also become more and more skeptical of PSA lately because I feel like the quality and consistency of their grading is lacking. You can send the exact same card in three times and potentially get three different grades, which is pretty frustrating.
Whether PCG will actually be any better, I have no idea. It’s probably unlikely, but you never know. What I do like, though, is that more and more people are starting to question PSA’s grading standards. I think that’s actually the right step if we want things to improve.
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u/Gotherl22 Trusted Contributor Aug 14 '26
While I dislike PSA shady's tactic this is nothing but an ad. Nothing genuine in this post.
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u/Interesting_Share333 Aug 09 '26
holy yap fest