Card-grading partnerships working for PWCC

PWCC Marketplace is one of several companies in the sports collectible industry that recently formed partnerships with grading companies to help collectors get cards graded and on the market quickly.

PWCC, eBay and other sports card marketplaces are using card-grading companies like Beckett, CSG and PSA to help collectors get raw cards graded and up for bid with quicker turnaround times.

“For us, we are not graders and we are not going to be graders, but our clients need grading and we saw an opportunity to get cards that aren’t graded and have them stored,” Jesse Craig, PWCC’s director of business development, said recently about the company’s new partnerships. “It’s beneficial for us, it’s beneficial for our grading partners and it’s beneficial for our clients, because it’s easy.”

PWCC’s new deal with CSG just paid dividends when a raw Michael Jordan sticker was graded by CSG and sold for a record price in PWCC’s Aug. 21 Weekly Auction.

The 1986 Fleer Sticker Michael Jordan rookie, which received a 9.5 grade by CSG, sold for $9,300, the highest price ever paid for any Jordan card graded by CSG.

Also See: Hank Aaron rookie card sets record at PWCC 

The sticker was submitted as a raw card through the streamlined PWCC-CSG grading partnership announced in April. The partnership allows users to submit raw cards to PWCC, get them graded for $20 a card with a 10-day turnaround, and have them sent straight to auction without submission forms, value-based grading tiers, or upfront fees.

In the four months since the partnership began, more than 12,000 cards have been received for grading through the PWCC-CSG service. PWCC later announced similar partnerships with Beckett and Mike Baker Authentication.

“We’re currently seeing around 800 cards graded by CSG and CGC each week through the program,” said Chris Callahan, director of marketing for PWCC Marketplace. “We’ve now seen thousands of cards submitted raw, head to auction, and end up in the hands of collectors through this partnership. When you think about the fact that these cards likely would have remained raw and unsold — or sold at raw price points — you realize how important it is to provide streamlined grading pathways that remove the barriers traditionally associated with the grading process. Grading partnerships open up new liquidity options and get cards in the hands of more collectors.”

The 1986 Fleer Sticker Jordan also received a PWCC-A designation for eye appeal, putting it among the top 30 percent of cards for that grade.

“All cards issued from 1986 or earlier go through an eye appeal assessment when they are added to the PWCC platform,” Callahan said. “That includes cards submitted through our grading partnerships. This is a great benefit for sellers as cards with eye appeal designations often sell at prices above market value.”