PSA opening up their own vault

[TheHeel]

Being curious, I was reading PSA's available job positions. Under the "Remote" tab, I came across 'Manager of Operations, New Venture'.

"We are currently hiring an Operations Manager to support a new venture at Collectors Universe (CU). This is a rare opportunity to help build out a completely new business unit inside of an established organization from day one. While currently in stealth mode, operationally the new business unit will function as a high value storage and fulfillment center. This role will require an individual who is comfortable with ambiguity and has a bias for action while remaining customer obsessed with an extremely high standard of care. This individual will also need to be comfortable assuming the role of both player and coach, as necessary."

PSA really should finish up their backlog before they dabble into anymore nonsense.

https://www.psacard.com/careers/

[Shaz]

Not sure if this is out there but what would be cool is if they built a feature that allows you to contact another collector if they have a particular card you are looking for and you can submit an offer.

PSA apply a fee for the transaction but it would be handy to have.

I have a rare card that set collectors will want and I want certain cards that collectors have but dont want to go through an auction process and cough up 20% in fees.

[letsgocapitals]

CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT
Manager of Operations, New Venture
Remote
Turn your passion for collecting into a career at Collectors Universe. We're the leader in third-party authentication and grading services for high-value collectibles including trading cards (Professional Sports Authenticator), coins (Professional Coin Grading Services), video games (Wata Games), event tickets, autographs, and memorabilia. If you’re a collectibles enthusiast, or if you want to help us in leading the global expansion of the collectibles market through our values of integrity, teamwork, and innovation, we’d love to hear from you.

We are currently hiring an Operations Manager to support a new venture at Collectors Universe (CU). This is a rare opportunity to help build out a completely new business unit inside of an established organization from day one. While currently in stealth mode, operationally the new business unit will function as a high value storage and fulfillment center. This role will require an individual who is comfortable with ambiguity and has a bias for action while remaining customer obsessed with an extremely high standard of care. This individual will also need to be comfortable assuming the role of both player and coach, as necessary.

This role spans three core pillars: 1) management and execution of all new venture operations, 2) operational process management, and 3) operations point of contact for cross-functional partners. This role demands a highly organized, process oriented leader that can manage multiple work streams. Prior experience with people management of hourly team members is a must.

What you’ll do:

You will be responsible for execution of all operations supporting the new venture, including managing a physical location and the operational team (~25 team members).
Implement, track, manage, and evolve standard operating procedures (SOPs) for new processes. As part of this you will partner with internal stakeholders on continuous improvement / kaizen for all SOPs.
Serve as the operations liaison for cross-functional stakeholders (product / engineering, CX, business development, finance, marketing, etc.).
P&L responsibility for variable costs of operational activities.
Own quality of service, customer experience, and employee engagement KPIs.
Who you are:

5-10 years of experience including operational experience in supply chain or logistics.
3-5 years direct people management experience of hourly / front-line team members.
Self starter with a bias for action, especially in situations with limited information and ambiguity.
Demonstrated ability to get into the weeds to drive execution forward while maintaining a view of the big picture.
Low ego with a servant leadership mentality; role model integrity, hard work, and empathy.
Data literate and data driven in the pursuit of continuous improvement.
Excellent communicator. Experience delivering frequent verbal and written feedback.
Prior experience or interest in collectibles is a bonus!

[letsgocapitals]

BTW... after looking at the job tasks, this better be a $200K plus job.

[Inferno]

Meanwhile at BGS: “We got a new fax machine today”

[grade]

Originally Posted by Shaz

Not sure if this is out there but what would be cool is if they built a feature that allows you to contact another collector if they have a particular card you are looking for and you can submit an offer.

PSA apply a fee for the transaction but it would be handy to have.

I have a rare card that set collectors will want and I want certain cards that collectors have but dont want to go through an auction process and cough up 20% in fees.

The registry . you can look at the other members collections and contact them .

[Gem10collection]

Really interesting. Maybe this is why Goldin's vault and fixed marketplace hasn't gotten off the ground.

[vthobby]

Kind of funny and interesting that they have no one currently "on board" that fulfills these requirements.

Actually, I'm not surprised at all!

[Shaz]

Originally Posted by grade

The registry . you can look at the other members collections and contact them .

Are you referring to the "PSA Set Registry"?

If so this doesn't show all cards and only cards within a set right?

[monkeymcgee]

Originally Posted by vthobby

Kind of funny and interesting that they have no one currently "on board" that fulfills these requirements.

Actually, I'm not surprised at all!

Some corporate policies require you to post job openings even if you plan to fill them internally. Not sure if that's linked to any public company regulation, but that's where I ran into it.

[vthobby]

Originally Posted by monkeymcgee

Some corporate policies require you to post job openings even if you plan to fill them internally. Not sure if that's linked to any public company regulation, but that's where I ran into it.

I'm aware. My real point being, they are so far behind the 8 ball that if they had the "right" people on board, this concept would be implemented by now.

Even as I type, I laugh at the prospect of them being in front of the 8 ball anytime soon. That pool table is uneven you know?

I agree and understand your post. Thank you!

[KD35Russ0]

Originally Posted by vthobby

I'm aware. My real point being, they are so far behind the 8 ball that if they had the "right" people on board, this concept would be implemented by now.

Even as I type, I laugh at the prospect of them being in front of the 8 ball anytime soon. That pool table is uneven you know?

I agree and understand your post. Thank you!

It’s truly from scratch. Interviewed for a position 6 months ago. Interview process and flow of information was arguably the worst I’ve experienced in my career. I’m sure it will be successful because it’s PSA backed, but doesn’t seem to be an area of focus from my experience


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[grade]

Originally Posted by Shaz

Are you referring to the "PSA Set Registry"?

If so this doesn't show all cards and only cards within a set right?

I am new to the registry world, but read that cards that are not in sets can be shown in a collection. Anyone can make a collection and any card can be added to that collection.

[HalfNipponese]

Originally Posted by Inferno

Meanwhile at BGS: “We got a new fax machine today”

hahahahaha

My favorite post of the day.

[lisu]

It makes sense to me that they would do this - so if your orders pop, you can have PSA store them at their facilities for future sale or just storage/security.

[oddstuff]

Originally Posted by lisu

It makes sense to me that they would do this - so if your orders pop, you can have PSA store them at their facilities for future sale or just storage/security.

Yes...they recently started scanning every card graded, so things are falling into place for them to do this. Saves them from having to ship every card back out and of course they will make money in the whole process. They'll do some sort of consignment service either themselves or partner with one of the existing companies (or buy one of them out)

[Scottish Punk]

Originally Posted by oddstuff

Yes...they recently started scanning every card graded, so things are falling into place for them to do this. Saves them from having to ship every card back out and of course they will make money in the whole process. They'll do some sort of consignment service either themselves or partner with one of the existing companies (or buy one of them out)

Agreed, they will get some vertical alignment in the entire life cycle of grading a card. This is very similar to what Fanatics will be doing (likely with CSG). The one advantage for Fanatics is that they are supplying the cards. Of course, PSA has the advantage of being the dominate player in the grader space.

As much as I like SGC, they are likely to be squeezed out and BGS will slowly wither away. SGC may very well be happy being a number three and taking in their allotted cards per week and just focus on turn around time.

Lots of changes coming with all these companies that deal with sports cards. I expect more mergers, partnerships, buyouts, etc in the future with the smaller players.

[discodanman45]

Originally Posted by Inferno

Meanwhile at BGS: “We got a new fax machine today”

If HGA bought a fax machine, they would call it AI.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by oddstuff

Yes...they recently started scanning every card graded, so things are falling into place for them to do this. Saves them from having to ship every card back out and of course they will make money in the whole process. They'll do some sort of consignment service either themselves or partner with one of the existing companies (or buy one of them out)

Doesnt the same company own PSA and Goldin?

Originally Posted by discodanman45

If HGA bought a fax machine, they would call it AI.

[discodanman45]

Originally Posted by Scottish Punk

As much as I like SGC, they are likely to be squeezed out and BGS will slowly wither away. SGC may very well be happy being a number three and taking in their allotted cards per week and just focus on turn around time.

SGC will definitely be squeezed out of the ultra modern market, but they will be fine. The graded vintage market is expanding and SGC will continue to thrive with their turnaround times and expertise in this market. SGC's model is to use grading price to meet turnaround time. If they need more supply to grade, they will drop prices. If they ever reach $15 again, I have hundreds of cards I would send them.

Once PSA finishes off their backlog from last year, there will be chaos in the grading market. All of these companies expanded their capacity, well maybe not Beckett, and we will see if the demand of graded cards can match this capacity. In my opinion, prices will fall dramatically and the majority of these new gimmicky grading companies with pretty slabs will go bankrupt pretty quickly. I think Beckett will be fine, because they didn't try to grow during this explosion. SGC will continue to grade vintage, maybe have some layoffs. CSG will offer really cheap grading and be a bulk submitter. Will these pretty slab companies like HGA continue to exist? It doesn't look good for them IMO.

[TheHeel]

Originally Posted by discodanman45

SGC will definitely be squeezed out of the ultra modern market, but they will be fine. The graded vintage market is expanding and SGC will continue to thrive with their turnaround times and expertise in this market. SGC's model is to use grading price to meet turnaround time. If they need more supply to grade, they will drop prices. If they ever reach $15 again, I have hundreds of cards I would send them.

Once PSA finishes off their backlog from last year, there will be chaos in the grading market. All of these companies expanded their capacity, well maybe not Beckett, and we will see if the demand of graded cards can match this capacity. In my opinion, prices will fall dramatically and the majority of these new gimmicky grading companies with pretty slabs will go bankrupt pretty quickly. I think Beckett will be fine, because they didn't try to grow during this explosion. SGC will continue to grade vintage, maybe have some layoffs. CSG will offer really cheap grading and be a bulk submitter. Will these pretty slab companies like HGA continue to exist? It doesn't look good for them IMO.

I hear ya but how much vintage is left that is ungraded? How many more years until everything dries up?

[discodanman45]

Originally Posted by TheHeel

I hear ya but how much vintage is left that is ungraded? How many more years until everything dries up?

Great point. I still think that there is still a lot out there, more than what people think. As the younger generation gets into vintage, it will place more demand for this era of cards. I like to collect graded cards, but I think it is insanity for premiums placed on them. In a few years there will be some pretty bad times for this hobby and grading unless this hobby becomes international and the market is expanded.

Australia and Canada are two markets that can really help the hobby. It is a PITA for shipping cards internationally and if this process can be made easier and cheaper, it will really help the hobby. I know a lot of people in Australia that collect cards and the prices they pay to get cards and the premiums in their country are outrageous. The demand, especially for basketball, is there. They have resorted to getting NFT's, because it is easier for them to collect that way. If PSA can have a vault and get cards to other countries with small fees, this will be a game changer.

[AnthonyT]

Originally Posted by TheHeel

I hear ya but how much vintage is left that is ungraded? How many more years until everything dries up?

I think there is a lot more than you think. Not everything is ripped and there is a huge unopened market out there, much of which will probably never be opened. So what is available for grading probably goes down each year, but what is considered vintage now, say anything before 1991, starts to head into junk wax era. People searching for gems in these boxes is their second life. If Clemens and Bonds gets into the Hall, its gonna stir something in this era that could increase demand and chase the 10 grade.So maybe anything 1973 and earlier is starting to get really scarce, especially for grading purposes, but anything after, there is plenty to go around still. Anything pre-war is probably already graded or yet to be discovered in someones attic.

[Tails01]

Originally Posted by TheHeel

I hear ya but how much vintage is left that is ungraded? How many more years until everything dries up?

I think there's still so much out there. Anecdotal, but a buddy of mine "remembered" a collection of Clemente cards underneath his stairs after I mentioned baseball cards. Based on our conversation, he's going to get the best ones graded.

I think there's plenty of collections sitting there, and every day a few more people discover grading. Also, as the years pass, more and more cards qualify as "vintage." Even though my brain does't think of mid-70s cards as vintage, they technically are, and someday the 80s will qualify, right?\

SGC will be fine, and every day that PSA prices remain high, they make more money.

[TheHeel]

Originally Posted by discodanman45

Great point. I still think that there is still a lot out there, more than what people think. As the younger generation gets into vintage, it will place more demand for this era of cards. I like to collect graded cards, but I think it is insanity for premiums placed on them. In a few years there will be some pretty bad times for this hobby and grading unless this hobby becomes international and the market is expanded.

Australia and Canada are two markets that can really help the hobby. It is a PITA for shipping cards internationally and if this process can be made easier and cheaper, it will really help the hobby. I know a lot of people in Australia that collect cards and the prices they pay to get cards and the premiums in their country are outrageous. The demand, especially for basketball, is there. They have resorted to getting NFT's, because it is easier for them to collect that way. If PSA can have a vault and get cards to other countries with small fees, this will be a game changer.

Solid post.

I am just playing Devil's Advocate but how much does Australia and Canada really care about American vintage? I can see them being interested as investments but that is about it. Good points on NFTs.