The Dark Side of Card Grading: CGA's Battle for Survival
Cheap Grading, High Expectations, and Harsh Realities
Some of the best drama in the hobby lately has been the Facebook posts of grading company Card Grading Authenticators (CGA).
They've struggled with everything from a backlog to paying the bills to keep the lights on.
On their website, the company has claimed to have graded over 50,000 cards since opening in June 2023.
CGA offered cheap grading, $5 per card up to 99 cards, with a 10 business day turnaround. This appeals to people who don't know the hierarchy of grading companies.
Problems began when customers of CGA began complaining on Facebook that orders were not being completed on time, and the company owner has released several statements addressing the issues.
In one recent post, CGA wrote, "Yes, it's taking a long time to get orders completed. I just couldn't get done what I thought I could in a timely manner, it happens. That's life."
The company recently went to Facebook to seek out donations and investors as it appears money has dried up. So far, they have supposedly raised $7,000. Some of the money might be from customers just trying to get their cards back.
Many customers waiting on cards have resorted to filing a chargeback for their orders. CGA responded on Facebook, "All these chargebacks that people are filing is not helping matters. You won't get anything from it anyways. It's a waste of time."
In a now-deleted video posted to Facebook, the company owner said he was getting death threats over the backlog of orders over at CGA.
You can watch the full deleted video here.
There is a documentary coming out about Sports Cards, and we will be in it!
It's called "Hobby Hustle," and it will premiere on Apple TV and Amazon on 2-16-2025.
You can watch the trailer for the film here.
It does appear the film touches on the shady side of the hobby, which could make it a compelling watch.
I recall filming for this, and I wanted so bad to hurry up and eat pizza from this local San Diego spot that was amazing.
It reminds me how much I hate being on camera and why I no longer post videos. This will definitely be the only documentary I'll ever appear in!
People keep blowing us up trying to get us to talk about this video about an eBay seller who got a $7,700 chargeback on a sale of a 1987 Fleer NBA set.
Guys, the person he sold the cards to had a username of escapedpsycho666. Sometimes you guys just have to take the ‘L’ on things. You don't get any sympathy from us when, yes, you should take the usernames of the people you're dealing with into account.
No offense to Geoff Wilson or the other content creators in the space who do a nice job. But if the leading guy in the space, who has 20 some odd employees, can only get 10,000 views on a video when it comes out, it's somewhat embarrassing how small the space of sports cards is.
Colin put one out on a different topic the same day and got over 2x the views.
It could be hard to grow the hobby with so few voices actively talking about cards. The major companies could do a better job at subsidizing some of this content, but their attempts at media are often dry and boring.
PSA has a podcast, for example. Does anyone even care?
Even more extreme, when is the last time you heard anything from Panini?
Not sure what the solution is for this. Perhaps sports cards catches another wave like what is being seen in Pokemon right now.
With Pokemon, people get FOMO and then run to Costco and Target and beat each other up so they can flip an awkwardly sized box for $10 profit on eBay.
Sports Cards hasn't seen any real meaningful heat since the Covid boom. Many might be fatigued over the flame-outs of Ja, Zion, Trae, and the 2021 NFL QB draft class that included Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Justin Fields, and Mac Jones.
Unless you're hooked into the gambling side of the hobby, or have some new project you're geeked about, the hobby is stale and boring right now. We'll see if anything can spice things up.