Must read! Yelp reviews of PCGS

www.yelp.com/biz/pcgs-professional-coin-grading-service-newport-beach

This is why I am open to dealing with any decent third-party grading service as it seems PCGS is not really much better than any of the others. If the reviews don't convince you then nothing will.

 

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Ok nothing will.

So you are open to segs, acg, gcgs, ani, nnc, nes, wcg, unc, nga, sgs, and pgs?

Personally I stay away from them. Pcgs and ngc might mislabel or be off by a point or so but what scares me most about the other slabs is they can be WAY off. Unlike the example below you would never find this coin in anything near the current grade were it in a pcgs or ngc holder. Let me show you what I mean. Imagine there was a guy selling coins and he tried to sell you this one



Even if priced on a website for $80 it is way too much. Regardless of price my cat can grade better then this. And of course there are the new collectors who don't know what they are doing. Imagine their horror if they purchased the next one and then went to a show to find out how much it was worth.






Please remember these examples are totally theoretical. They in no way represent actual coins or coin sellers.

When people who are totally unethical are in business and selling slabs from segs, acg, gcgs, ani, nnc, nes, wcg, unc, nga, sgs, and pgs things can get downright unpleasant. And it actually hurts all of us not just the uninformed buyer. When this new or uneducated person learns exactly how much money they lost the leave coins and take their remaining cash with them. That means there is less money trying to buy coins which means prices are lower then if these buyers were treated in something resembling a fair manner. I have no problem with a dealer making a living. I just think if a new collector buys a coin and is offered less then 80% or so the sale price right after the sale from another dealer then people leave and so does their money.

This is the problem the modern graded coins are causing. I don't mean something like this



Again in this totally theoretical example every knowledgable person knows that even if the coin were completely accurate in the grade no dealer at a show would offer you anything near the cost which is priced at pcgs levels. You would have to crack it out and send it to pcgs or ngc before anyone would even look at it.

But the new problem I think we have is the modern pcgs and ngc stuff.
This article was written 2 years ago but you would think it would be very applicable to the Kennedy rush. I highly recommend that people who chase modern pcgs/ngc coins at least see what the the guy is talking about.

http://www.coinweek.com/modern-coins/the-collapse-of-the-2001-s-sacagawea-proof/

Just my thoughts on non pcgs/ngc coins and on modern pcgs and ngc coins. Just remember I'm not an expert coin dealer, nor even an expert collector. I'm just a guy who likes buying coins that one day I can sell and not vomit on my shoes thinking about how much money I lost. Please remember I didn't write the article I just happen to agree with it. And some guy named q

 

That there is a fine write up Vic. NGC and PCGS run the show for a reason. Don't buy overgraded overpriced coins.

 

There is also fault with the reviews themselves. I could write a review on there right now stating that I sent in a morgan dollar and got it back with a label saying lincoln cent.
While this never happened I could say it did and some people would actually believe it.
These yelp reviews are not credible while the company PCGS is. 1 of my main goals as an aspiring dealer is to be a PCGS authorized dealer and a png member.

 

I don't see anything of substance in those reviews. Like the other grading companies I am sure PCGS works to resolve issues around customer service. Mislabeling happens everywhere. People are unhappy about the grades received. This is news? There are over-, under-, and properly graded coins in holders at all 3 tiers of companies. A smart collector can ferret out some of the nice ones at good prices, I am sure.

 

So why do you list and sell slabs that are not decent without telling folks that the grades are wrong? You list them with the same information that's on the slab when you know it's wrong. You list any slab with a 70 grade as perfect in the title. You list them as Gem when you know that they are not.
I see no problem selling any slab as long as the listing is honest. Saying that PCGS is not better is wrong and you know it. Too many know better than to agree with you.

 

Great post, @Vegas Vic -- but I do have one small quibble:

When I think about all the "new collectors" that I've seen buying stuff at shops and shows, the prices they paid, and the stuff they got for those prices -- well, 80% seems like a pretty tough threshold. I figure 50% is a good rule of thumb, and they'd frequently get less than that. (How many dealers would pay 50 cents for a Buffalo that just came out of somebody else's "everything's a dollar" box?)

I know that I had been collecting for a long time before I ever even realized that I could sell coins to a "coin shop". I only ever thought of buying. I imagine most new collectors are in the same boat.

 

PCGS has long since gotten a favorable review from the free market.

 

As for SEGS, I used them when they first started, and their grading was dead on.
I have no clue how they are now.


But, now, I use ANACS, great folks, and contrary to PCGS & NGC I showed them a 1912 S V-nickel last year and asked about the posted grade.

They took the coin and JP Martin told Paul to 'write it up'. I asked how much for the re-evaluation? They replied: It is our screw up--why should you pay for it. I did pay for postage, no biggie.

That is the proper way to act.

 

Also, that first Yelp review MUST have been by an employee!

A dissertation of their services

 

I will say that lately pcgs is slipping a bit and NGC is doing a better job I feel pcgs has gotten a bit leinient on some coins and their detailing some for reasons I've yet to find. Their still far better then all the ones Vic mentioned above just saying NGC been more consistent recently but I also remember just the opposite a few years ago. Why a cac sticker a second approval not a bad thing

 

Biggest problem I have with anacs is their slabs. Just plain ugly and impossible to stack. As to their grades their pretty good lately and are the only other tpg I'll buy coins in their slabs their great for authenticating stuff especially colonials

 

It's not a must read for me. I use Yelp for restaurant and other local business reviews. I don't think I need to read their PCGS reviews.

 

Yes, and they will slab varieties that other companies will not ID.

 

PCGS has had a customer service problem for years. They are elitist and far more worried about their shareholders than their customers.

In the past 2-3 years, PCGS has started to have quite a "business ethics" problem, in my opinion. When they introduced their recent grading fees schedule that said that any coin upgraded upon reconsideration, or simply crossed (even at same grade) upon crossover submission, will be charged a 1% final value of the coin "guarantee premium". So, it is to PCGS' benefit to upgrade and crossover coins to generate more grading fees.

And, even worse, it is to their benefit to upgrade or crossover very high dollar coins -- as it would lead to an even higher percentage-based fee. Buy a $400,000 coin in an NGC holder, submit it to PCGS for "crossover" (which cannot be blinded because the coin is still in the slab), and PCGS makes an easy $4,000 if it crosses to the same grade. That's one expensive change of clothes! This business practice is a textbook example of conflict-of-interest.



More recently, the "egg on the face" episode with one of their "Board of Experts" personnel (Kevin Lipton and the gold JFK fiasco), left a lot of people wanting to distance themselves from such shady business associations.

Disclaimer: I own a good number of PCGS graded coins that I think are properly graded. In general, I think their grading skills are tied for #1 with NGC. But, with regard to customer service and being "collector-oriented", PCGS probably doesn't even make the top 5 TPG list. PCGS is shareholder-centric, not collector-centric.

 

Now here is a key reason never to use Yelp to judge a business!! I was recently on vacation and i generally go to the same area every year so i have already tried many of the local restaurants, there about 4 or 5 that i have not visited so i go onto google and start punching them in so i can get there menu's. First result for every restaurant is Yelp and the ratings were all horrible, under 2 stars!! So i decided to check out some of my favorite restaurants there and i got much the same result. THis being taken into account it makes me believe that the only people who want to post on yelp are those 10 people that had a horrible experience, they feel cheated out of there money and want to make a mockery of a business to get back at it.
Let me ask you this have you ever went on Yelp to write a review after a good experience ? I surely have not.

 

I agree. So PCGS has had a couple people get upset because their coins came back cleaned or they didn't like the long delay. That happens. There is no evidence here to support the lesser grading services and the OP's attempt to do so is simply mis-information that might confuse a new member.

 

I can't remember a time when PCGS wasn't perceived as arrogant or elitist. I can't remember a time when NGC wasn't nipping at their feet. After they chew off a couple of toes, PCGS will get the message.