BGS

[oddstuff]

Originally Posted by auburn35

Not even waiting for the National....it's the New, New BGS grading scale.
Black Label 10, even with three 9.5's.

Interesting...not unexpected. I'm guessing they will soon publicize this so that holders of high value non black pristine 10 cards will bring them to the National to drop off to get the new label. Question now is if any of the other mentioned changes might happen...like quad 9.5s or higher get the gold 10 label. BGS is getting slaughtered right now in terms of submission volume so they needed to do something to stimulate their brand.

[auburn35]

Originally Posted by oddstuff

Interesting...not unexpected. I'm guessing they will soon publicize this so that holders of high value non black pristine 10 cards will bring them to the National to drop off to get the new label. Question now is if any of the other mentioned changes might happen...like quad 9.5s or higher get the gold 10 label. BGS is getting slaughtered right now in terms of submission volume so they needed to do something to stimulate their brand.

If you watch the Rattle video, I believe this was done in error and not a legit change.

My comments were intended to be sarcastic, based on the prior backtracks and lack of update from Beckett.

[KhalDrogo]

Did they ever go through with the new scale or labels? Can’t remember what’s happened given how many times they’ve backtracked.

[oddstuff]

They haven't done anything but I do expect them to do something this year to move more of their already graded cards into the "10" grade.

[daveyc1]

Any updates/news on BGS? I didnt hear anything groundbreaking from the national

[imbluestreak23]

Originally Posted by daveyc1

Any updates/news on BGS? I didnt hear anything groundbreaking from the national

Only that Base and collectors special is 5 months if dropping off at the national.

Gave em 5 cards that aren't time sensitive, but seems to be slowing tremendously

[Jaypers]

They've opened up a new facility in Las Vegas. Just received an email from them.

[auburn35]

According to Darren Rovell, Beckett has finally decided to move on from Jeromy Murray.
Maybe they actually listened to the surveys they sent out?

https://twitter.com/darrenrovell/sta...816239980?s=20

BREAKING: Beckett has informed employees that it has let go Jeromy Murray and Andrew Medal.

Murray was the president who oversaw the daily operations of BGS (cards), BAS (autos & tickets), VHS and comic authentication.

Medal was mostly responsible for the Beckett Collect app.

[oddstuff]

Ownership needed a couple of scapegoats for the brand's downfall.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by oddstuff

Ownership needed a couple of scapegoats for the brand's downfall.

Don’t think you’re using scapegoat correctly. Murray is a moron who helped run the business into the ground. If it wasn’t for the black label, the company would be dead already.

No surprise Murray was popular. The guy allowed incompetence at every level.

[asujbl]

BGS is dead. I haven’t even read any other post

[oddstuff]

My take on BGS's downfall is that the owners at the very top did not invest money (which PSA did when grading volume exploded in 2021) to expand capacity to improve turnaround time which is still their biggest problem. I graded with BGS primarily for 14 years until their horrible turnaround time really got bad in 2017. I stuck with them as long as I could (had bulk orders that initially took 60-90 days to complete turn into 6-8 months to complete) but then had to switch to PSA. I didn't think Murray had the power to bring in more resources to improve turnaround times. Seeing the posts by others here about their current turnaround times leads me to believe that Murray's hands were tied in terms of trying to fix BGS's biggest problem, capacity. We'll see what happens with the next president whether that person is able to "fix" the capacity issue and then their website/customer service.

[rfgilles]

Originally Posted by oddstuff

My take on BGS's downfall is that the owners at the very top did not invest money (which PSA did when grading volume exploded in 2021) to expand capacity to improve turnaround time which is still their biggest problem. I graded with BGS primarily for 14 years until their horrible turnaround time really got bad in 2017. I stuck with them as long as I could (had bulk orders that initially took 60-90 days to complete turn into 6-8 months to complete) but then had to switch to PSA. I didn't think Murray had the power to bring in more resources to improve turnaround times. Seeing the posts by others here about their current turnaround times leads me to believe that Murray's hands were tied in terms of trying to fix BGS's biggest problem, capacity. We'll see what happens with the next president whether that person is able to "fix" the capacity issue and then their website/customer service.

They had guaranteed turnaround times up until the pandemic and then everything went off the rails.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by rfgilles

They had guaranteed turnaround times up until the pandemic and then everything went off the rails.

The guaranteed times went away on February 19, 2020. Had nothing to do with the pandemic. Group subs, which were understood to be guaranteed, no longer were in the spring/summer of 2018.

[rohara99]

Only up from here.... right?

Lets hope they can get some new blood in there and start to move things in the right direction. The hobby really needs BGS to step up and move forward with some innovation.

- Redesigned flip with some added security features.
- QR code on flip to pop report and scanned image of the card (like everyone else does) is needed.
- More clarity on the inner sleeve.
- Tweak the grading scale, or not (I actually am OK with the current scales).
- Improve the website and submission process.
- Clean up the turn around times and at least be accurate on them.
- Hire more graders and improve turn around times.
- Clean up the customer rep program, so its clear who to talk to about issues.

Boom! Done.

[oddstuff]

The problems are clear...but will the owners actually step up and put the money needed for the improvements? PSA hired a lot of graders and invested in technology/physical space.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by rohara99

Only up from here.... right?

Lets hope they can get some new blood in there and start to move things in the right direction. The hobby really needs BGS to step up and move forward with some innovation.

- Redesigned flip with some added security features.
- QR code on flip to pop report and scanned image of the card (like everyone else does) is needed.
- More clarity on the inner sleeve.
- Tweak the grading scale, or not (I actually am OK with the current scales).
- Improve the website and submission process.
- Clean up the turn around times and at least be accurate on them.
- Hire more graders and improve turn around times.
- Clean up the customer rep program, so its clear who to talk to about issues.

Boom! Done.

It is easy. But the problem with BGS is that their customers have been requesting these changes since before the pandemic. What real changes have they implemented since that time? Certainly hasn’t been much.

[rohara99]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

It is easy. But the problem with BGS is that their customers have been requesting these changes since before the pandemic. What real changes have they implemented since that time? Certainly hasn’t been much.

I agree in general that most of that is pretty basic stuff to fix.

But didn't Jeremy complain in multiple interviews that they weren't given the thumbs up to expand or spend money improving stuff during the last couple years?

Maybe the investment $$'s wasn't/isn't there.... or maybe that was just a lazy excuse by the old regime?

Some of those company advancements need some capital investment. Others can likely be improved with a change of thinking/management.

[oddstuff]

Unless someone can show an article or video, I can't imagine Murray complaining openly to the general public about the ownership over him...quick way to lose a job. I guess we will see if the new president can actually make any inroads towards rebuilding the brand and increase capacity. If that person does not, then the most likely reason for the continual spiral downwards of the company is the ownership is content sitting on their hands and not investing more capital.

[rohara99]

Originally Posted by oddstuff

Unless someone can show an article or video, I can't imagine Murray complaining openly to the general public about the ownership over him...quick way to lose a job. I guess we will see if the new president can actually make any inroads towards rebuilding the brand and increase capacity. If that person does not, then the most likely reason for the continual spiral downwards of the company is the ownership is content sitting on their hands and not investing more capital.

I'm positive he mentioned it. Don't remember what social media stuff it was in though.

May have been a more recent interview where he noted that they didn't have the ability to spend previously during Covid, but did have that ability now moving forward.

[oddstuff]

Ah ok...if it's recent, then most likely he was already on his way out...either the writing was on the wall or he was working out his exit package with ownership which I'm sure includes something where he can't bad mouth the company after he's gone. I won't believe the ownership is actually spending until there are visible changes.

[DKsportscardsWI]

My base order from April just finished grading. the grades haven't been released yet but i got the email saying grading was done and i found the cards in the pop report.
Grading started: 4/24/23
Finished grading: 8/17/23
cards shipped: ???

[rfgilles]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

The guaranteed times went away on February 19, 2020. Had nothing to do with the pandemic. Group subs, which were understood to be guaranteed, no longer were in the spring/summer of 2018.

The pandemic started right around that time......

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by rfgilles

The pandemic started right around that time......

Had nothing to do with the pandemic. But whatever helps you sleep at night.

[imbluestreak23]

This is not on Murray at all.

Just simple middle management getting fisted due to the overlords being incompetent. I been there, tough getting pounded from the top and bottom