pcsportscards group submission thread(Results/General info)

[jw8]

Why can't PSA outsource? Train a 3rd party, use their resources, their space to scale. We all do this in the corporate world, when understaffed...bring in contractors.

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[jewcer2k5]

Originally Posted by jw8

Why can't PSA outsource? Train a 3rd party, use their resources, their space to scale. We all do this in the corporate world, when understaffed...bring in contractors.

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Outsource what?

[IndianaCards]

Originally Posted by CxL

They have been hiring throughout 2020. You guys want experts that you can trust grading your cards. There are only so many experts, and you can’t make people experts over night.

How long does it take to train someone? They've been under water for a long time.

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[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by jw8

Why can't PSA outsource? Train a 3rd party, use their resources, their space to scale. We all do this in the corporate world, when understaffed...bring in contractors.

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Outsource what part? Only thing they could outsource is making the cases. And they probably already do that. How would they outsource any other component of the grading?

[IndianaCards]

In order to outsource the labor, you'd have to have a skilled pool of workers somewhere. I'm unaware of any "Card Grader Union Halls".

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[Spacemanspif]

Originally Posted by jw8

Why can't PSA outsource? Train a 3rd party, use their resources, their space to scale. We all do this in the corporate world, when understaffed...bring in contractors.

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Originally Posted by jewcer2k5

Outsource what?

First, I think you could easily outsource the "Research & ID" / consolidation portion, which IIRC is one of the main bottlenecks. For example, the work that PCS and other group subbers do in terms of making sure the cards are entered correctly in the system, and organizing them into batches by sport / era etc are fairly mundane tasks that could be done by non-graders and trained fairly quickly (although yes, some nuances of Fast Break vs White Sparkle vs 20 other parallels takes a little experience, but that's what supervisors are for). Hell, I bet the fact that a ton of us sending 500 separate packages to PCS that get consolidated into 1 big order that is properly tagged and organized, easily saves PSA... well, however many man-hours PCS is spending doing it. Now apply that at scale.

Second, and this is without knowing exactly how they operate internally, but you separate subs into specialty groups, i.e. some graders only grade ultra modern baseball, some graders only grade 90s basketball, etc, which would not only make grading quicker overall, but create more consistency across subs as these graders become more experienced in the nuances of each card set. Again, it's possible they are already doing this, but without any transparency thus far and no evidence pointing to anything besides them just grabbing a random order from the pile, I'd bet against this being the current process.

Lastly, just to touch on the whole "they couldn't see this coming" thing... I think most of us were around for the pre-announced price increase of 2 measly dollars on Jan 1 2020. That caused a backlog leading to a) cards not being logged for 3 months, and b) subs taking 6-9 months, from which we have never recovered. Sure, COVID has made everything exponentially worse, but these issues were present even beforehand. I bet if you cut up 2019 & 2020 by quarter, you'd see exponential growth that has been building for the last 8-9 quarters, not a sudden YOY surprise in late 2020. The hiring "surge" is still pretty small IMO, and likely started too late (again I have no knowledge of their hiring #s in 1H 2020, but I doubt it was even meeting demand back then.

[saunders]

Originally Posted by jewcer2k5

They immediately got more space (doubled), started hiring people (nearly 200 in 6 months is a lot by any measure), went to 24 hours day / 7 days a week shifts (I can show you acceptance and pop emails), all while revamping how everyone works due to the pandemic. They needed even more space because of social distancing. Its amazing how simple people think this can be when it was nearly an impossible task.

Josh gets it...lays it out perfectly...yet people still faulting PSA. Fact is, no matter what PSA did people would still complain.

PSA shuts down all subs to catch up (people would complain)
PSA shuts down bulk, standard, express subs (people would complain)
PSA hires more staff (staff doesn’t grade well) (people would complain)
PSA raises prices (people complain)

Everyone saying “hire more staff, hire more staff”. It’s not that simple. Trying to find 200 to 300 more graders that actually care about doing a good job isn’t as easy as you would like it to be. Are there even 200 to 300 people out there sitting around going “hmmm...u know what I want to do, look at, examine and grade 100 Mosaic Coby White cards every day for the next 365 days”. U could be the biggest card collector AND Coby White fan on the planet and probably want to stab ur eyes out after a month of doing that. It’s not like hiring 50 more carpenters to catch up on a construction project that is a month behind. It’s just not that simple unfortunately.

[Spacemanspif]

Oh and to bring it slightly back to topic: is it still expected we'll see updated pricing for PCS next week? I entered a ton of cards before March 1 to "lock" in the $50 Regular Pricing, since I had missed the cutoff to get those in to PCS final scramble. Should I just send those off to PSA directly? I can maybe see them giving PCS the $50 Economy again but obviously nothing cheaper besides bulk, and the CTD for Economy / Group Standard is like 4 months behind Regular. $50 is a lot for a bunch of $50-100 cards but it's essentially like Express level service for Bulk price +$25

[brios8]

Originally Posted by saunders

Josh gets it...lays it out perfectly...yet people still faulting PSA. Fact is, no matter what PSA did people would still complain.

PSA shuts down all subs to catch up (people would complain)
PSA shuts down bulk, standard, express subs (people would complain)
PSA hires more staff (staff doesn’t grade well) (people would complain)
PSA raises prices (people complain)

Everyone saying “hire more staff, hire more staff”. It’s not that simple. Trying to find 200 to 300 more graders that actually care about doing a good job isn’t as easy as you would like it to be. Are there even 200 to 300 people out there sitting around going “hmmm...u know what I want to do, look at, examine and grade 100 Mosaic Coby White cards every day for the next 365 days”. U could be the biggest card collector AND Coby White fan on the planet and probably want to stab ur eyes out after a month of doing that. It’s not like hiring 50 more carpenters to catch up on a construction project that is a month behind. It’s just not that simple unfortunately.

it is "simple".. or better said, could have been if planned. But obviously it won't be simple when its already out of control.

all companies need to know when and how to expand..
like many have said, it all started to get out of control in 2019.. not last year

you mention people might not want that job, well then I can assure you if you increase what you pay them more people would be interested. Its not rocket science, you need employees so go find people interested and make something work so you can delivery a quality product on the established time.
what the established time is, well that's up to the company.

[Vintagecollect]

They've been backlogged for years, it's just gotten longer and longer and has spread to the higher tiers.

I cant believe they have more than 4 or 5 people geasing autographs, primarily what I submit. I've never once had more than one sub pop or move on one day. I think 2 or maybe 3 people check through every pre 1996 autograph. They take forever. These were the group that were hired, and is now down to Keating and Corcoran.

Also, holding up all these card for upcharged has increased their backlog. Literally one dept just checking sold prices on almost every card.



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[Flkrsn5]

Originally Posted by Vintagecollect

They've been backlogged for years, it's just gotten longer and longer and has spread to the higher tiers.

I cant believe they have more than 4 or 5 people geasing autographs, primarily what I submit. I've never once had more than one sub pop or move on one day. I think 2 or maybe 3 people check through every pre 1996 autograph. They take forever. These were the group that were hired, and is now down to Keating and Corcoran.

Also, holding up all these card for upcharged has increased their backlog. Literally one dept just checking sold prices on almost every card.



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That could definitely be outsourced!

[Vintagecollect]

Originally Posted by Flkrsn5

That could definitely be outsourced!

Hello Friend, I am so happy to be Informing you of your recent gradings.

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[saunders]

Originally Posted by brios8

it is "simple".. or better said, could have been if planned. But obviously it won't be simple when its already out of control.

all companies need to know when and how to expand..
like many have said, it all started to get out of control in 2019.. not last year

you mention people might not want that job, well then I can assure you if you increase what you pay them more people would be interested. Its not rocket science, you need employees so go find people interested and make something work so you can delivery a quality product on the established time.
what the established time is, well that's up to the company.

Here’s a solution. Every one who is complaining about how slow PSA is, or how terrible a job they are doing, should go apply for a job at PSA and show them how to get it done. Not only will you help speed up the process, you could move your cards to the front of the line. Would be interested to actually get responses from people who work for the company everyone is complaining about.

[jewcer2k5]

Originally Posted by Spacemanspif

Oh and to bring it slightly back to topic: is it still expected we'll see updated pricing for PCS next week? I entered a ton of cards before March 1 to "lock" in the $50 Regular Pricing, since I had missed the cutoff to get those in to PCS final scramble. Should I just send those off to PSA directly? I can maybe see them giving PCS the $50 Economy again but obviously nothing cheaper besides bulk, and the CTD for Economy / Group Standard is like 4 months behind Regular. $50 is a lot for a bunch of $50-100 cards but it's essentially like Express level service for Bulk price +$25

You will not see pricing next week. I’d say send em to Psa directly.

[brios8]

Originally Posted by saunders

Here’s a solution. Every one who is complaining about how slow PSA is, or how terrible a job they are doing, should go apply for a job at PSA and show them how to get it done. Not only will you help speed up the process, you could move your cards to the front of the line. Would be interested to actually get responses from people who work for the company everyone is complaining about.

PSA has the right to do business as they please as long as its following the law. Which I'm pretty sure they know what they are doing regarding that.

As do people have the right to complain/Suggest about what could be improved. Will it change something?
Maybe, if PSA is smart they will at least listen to what their customers have to say.. Which I also now believe they are finally doing

Not really a discussion here. It is what it is

[Spacemanspif]

Originally Posted by jewcer2k5

You will not see pricing next week. I’d say send em to Psa directly.

Perfect, thanks for the reply

[KepCards]

Originally Posted by BlownOut

Yes, it is their fault. If not than who's fault is it, the customer's fault? I understand it happened quickly, but PSA could have taken measures far sooner that would have limited the backlog, instead of doing nothing and letting it grow to what it is today. If they were responsible, they could have limited customers to a certain number of cards max for one. I don't know how many BO members come on here and say that they have thousands of cards waiting to be graded at PSA. That certainly is part of the problem, don't you think?

Nobody is going to be able to get thru to you, so believe what you will

[saunders]

[QUOTE=KepCards;17096567]Nobody is going to be able to get thru to you, so believe what you will[/QUOTE

There is a really good interview with Steve Sloan from PSA on the latest nosportsnonsense podcast. I recommend people take a listen. States they are backed up 2 million alone from January and February submissions.

[KepCards]

Originally Posted by IndianaCards

You're joking right? 2023?

There's no way that happens, that's absurd. I understand they're insanely behind, and they have tons rolling in, but you have to hire to meet demand. If you need 400 extra bodies in there, get them. Train them. Do whatever it takes. It's borderline greedy and just flat-out poor business practice not to. They're making a ridiculous amount of money, and now they've essentially doubled it, there's no excuses to not make every effort possible to tackle that backlog. I understand they're trying, but it's clearly not hard enough.

If they continue to fall short in the face of heavy demand, you have to question the people running the show. If a car lot is selling 100s of cars a week and they continue to only order 20, who is that on? If a restaurant is packed with hours of wait time every night, and they refuse to build another location or expand on their current location, who is that on? I could do this all day, you get the point, in any other practical business scenario, in the face of heavy demand, you meet that demand by any means necessary. All hands on deck, let's go.

They're leaving money on the table, lots of it. How many people would sub more if the wait times weren't egregious? The answer is tons. Whenever you're turning away business, almost actively, then you're failing in a business sense. This bull run in the card market has been in progress for well over a year now, there's no more excuses, get it together man.

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so you're okay then with some new guy grading all of your cards, even though he maybe hasn't had the months of requisite training? Knowing/learning the nuances of thousands of different cards/sets takes a good deal of time...not as simple as just calling a car manufacturer and telling them to ship you 80 more cars...

[BlownOut]

Originally Posted by KepCards

Nobody is going to be able to get thru to you, so believe what you will

Are you a PSA shill or what ???

[KepCards]

Originally Posted by IndianaCards

In what other business model is it acceptable to fall insanely behind, and essentially leave hundreds of thousands on the table because you can't meet demand? It's to the point that many many people won't even send in subs, it's that ridiculous.

Look, I understand they fell behind because they got bumrushed. That isn't the issue. That's understandable. Why didn't you take the necessary actions at that point in time to get the workforce in place? They've failed to adapt and meet demand, they're failing miserably.

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reminds me of the Yogi Berra quip about how nobody goes to a particular restaurant anymore because it is too crowded

[BlownOut]

Originally Posted by KepCards

reminds me of the Yogi Berra quip about how nobody goes to a particular restaurant anymore because it is too crowded

Confirmed, you are definitely a PSA shill.

[IndianaCards]

Originally Posted by KepCards

so you're okay then with some new guy grading all of your cards, even though he maybe hasn't had the months of requisite training? Knowing/learning the nuances of thousands of different cards/sets takes a good deal of time...not as simple as just calling a car manufacturer and telling them to ship you 80 more cars...

I've answered any feasible question, and feasible excuse, I've answered it all. I have nothing left in the tank. If you're looking for a response then go look in any of my previous 38 posts.

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[KepCards]

Originally Posted by IndianaCards

That's brilliant. Good work, man. I take it your in the business world, to some degree?

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are you in the business world when you don't know the difference between "your" and "you're"

[rwperu34]

Originally Posted by jsatx

I think I've seen that they start people off at $15/hr. While there have been a lot of people laid off in the last year that would slot into that wage, there has been a lot of competition for those workers. The federal government was paying them $15 an hour on top of state unemployment benefits to stay home through June or July. A good portion of the population is still terrified to open their front door, let alone go sit in an office with anyone. Amazon and big box stores offer a comparable wage, more scheduling flexibility, and probably a quicker first paycheck. I don't think it is as easy to fill these positions as you think it is, even if that $15 is $20/hr.

This should be the easiest problem to overcome. Just go to daily pay.