Professional Grading Service Costs

I have a question about the "listed" costs for grading services from PCGS, NGC, etc. I see certified coins all over the internet and from coin auction houses such as Teletrade selling for $5.00 to $20.00. This is not just an isolated coin or two here and there, but countless coins changing hands all the time. How can this be when PCGS has a "listed fee" of $18.00 economy for US coins and $14.00 for coins from 1965? I can't imagine a person 1) paying for a coin 2) paying shipping and insurance to a grading service 3) paying for the grading service itself 4) paying return postage and insurance 5) and finally turning around and selling that coin for anywhere from $5.00 to $20.00. Do grading services offer better pricing for grading than the prices listed and, if so, are these prices available to all who choose to join a service such as PCGS or NGC in order to get their coins graded? There has to be more to this than meets the eye. Ther simply can't be that many people happily taking a beating all day long in selling certified coins. Thoughts?

 

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I have wondered the same thing but after some thought and after having considered sending coins in for grading myself and then realizing that it wouldn't be worth it, it occurs to me that some people may have sent the coins in believing they were worth more than they really were. I think there are some that may have believed that getting a coin slabbed and graded automatically makes it worth $50 or more. When they discover their error there really isn't any point to removing the coin from the slab. The grade probably does add some value just not enough to cover the costs of grading.

Also, it may be that for some people the cost of grading the coin is irrelevant and they just want to know the grade of the coin in their collection. Then later they sell it or it gets sold at an estate sale.

 

I do know that the Coin Vault and another coin selling service on HSN have said they receive substantial discounts because of the coin quanities they submit to NGC, PCGS and ICG. I do however find it amusing that they can sell a set of graded coins at 1/4 the cost that you and I would pay just to get the coins graded at NGC or PCGS. I personally do not purchase IGC graded coins. I saw an IGC graded 2005 Silver Eagle with a huge scratch on the reverse of the coin. All the same, it was graded MS69 Cameo. It's almost like they did not look at the reverse of the coin, and just slapped it into an MS69 holder. One coin show on TV is even giving away two free grading certificates for IGC with other coin purchases. Maybe NGC and PCGS do this too, but I haven't seen that happen. Jim

 

I've wondered the same thing, a couple of days ago I called Teletrade thinking that they get a volume price break, they charge 11.00 bucks for grading, quite a bit less than doing it yourself, the downside is you have to auction the coin. It still is a question mark as to why someone would sell a coin for 6.00 to12.00 bucks when the cost of a slab nullifies any profit.

 

I just bought a Slabbed PCI SAC $1 ERROR coin with a neat Die Fill Error for $13, Go figure that one. I'm very pleased.

 

It's always been my understanding that, for grading, you are paying for a service that does not effect the overall value of the coin itself. I read somewhere, once, that grading services started for consumer protection against fraud with coins that were being purchased 'sight unseen' - and they never imagined it would be used to the extent that people are using it today. I don't know how much of that was factual, but it sounds right to me - at least it makes sense.

take a 100 dollar coin, you put it in a professionally graded slab, it's still a 100 dollar coin. If the retailer feels he can charge more because of the slab, and sell it, he will do so. If the buyer feels the coin is worth more because of the slab, he will pay more. In the end, it's still a 100 dollar coin - all you've done is attached a professional opinion concerning the grade on the table.

 

Misunderstanding

What I am really asking about by starting this is PR69 Nickels and PR69DCAM Quarters, including state quarters. People are paying $11.00 to have these coins graded in PR69 and PR69DCAM, the shipping and insurance to and from the grading service, not to mention the cost of the coin itself, and it is these coins that are only selling in the $10.00 to $20.00 range. These coins have been in this range for a long time so why are people getting them certified and selling them for so much less than what their original investment is!? I am not talking about an occasional coin here in bad condition but prime coins that are on the market. I just can't believe everyone is paying the "listed" charges for getting coins graded.

 

here here!


I call it financing my local casino organization... somebody has to keep those refreshment people in a job!

 

I know a lot of people do it to make sure the coin is authentic.

 

As was mentioned, cost and worth are two different things. Sure, you can go ebay trolling for a cheaper MSthis or PRthat, or even choose to get hosed by some TV shopping show, but then its not "Your" coin that "you" found in the slab. There's no story to it. Nothing making it special. Nothing that seperates it from the 100s of other slabbed coins. Human beings have a long LONG history of paying prices based on their emotions and not on economic sense Just my take on the "why" in your question.

 

Got another one last night, An ANACS MS64 10 cent double struck part collar Error coin, for $10.50. And I even sniped it. The grading cost 10 bucks, so I got a nice double struck dime for 50 cents.

 

depends on if you would have paid 10 bucks for an empty ANACS holder

seriously, if you had planned to have it graded if you purchased it for 10.50, then you saved yourself the grading costs by purchasing one already processed - which was a good move.