Does GC "upsell" to PCGS?

Hi. I recently sent 40 coins to Great Collections (GC). Based on my amateur evaluation, my guess is that will likely sell in the $200 to maybe $700 range. As far as GC sending these to the TPGs, they have an option that says..."Let GC decide (best option)!" Being the frugal person that I am, I elected ANACS at $10 per coin with conservation for all of them as they probably need some work here and there. The difference between the two TPGs is $20 ($30 for PCGS with handling fee; $10 for ANACS) or $800 for the lot of 40 coins.

I received an email and a call from GC indicating that they are recommending PCGS and that only one coin needs some conservation (residual PVC) and they could do that service in-house at no charge.

I've noticed that GC is an authorized dealer of PCGS and that GC is near PCGS in CA. As these aren't high value coins it sort of feels as if GC is trying to "upsell" me to PCGS as I am a first-time user of GC's services.

Is there that much extra auction value in going with PCGS vs ANACS or is there some upselling going on here?

Many thanks for your help!

 

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Sigh......

 

GC is really good at this. If they use PCGS they don't have to ship the coins, they deliver them. The PCGS holder will bring more bids.
Be ready for a long wait on the grading. Express will take a few weeks and economy can take a few months. GC will have to image the coins after they get them back. I believe they are having a tough time keeping up with imaging.

After GC sees the grades they may spot some of the coins that should be sent to CAC. I have done well letting them decide. Several came back with gold stickers.

 

Check prices realized on the GC website for ANACS versus PCGS. Then decide. Cal

 

I've probably sold in excess of 500 coins through GC the past 10 years and wouldn't consider using anyone else to sell my NGC and PCGS certified coins. As far as selecting the CAC option, I usually don't use this. The one time I did was a number of years ago (I think during the pandemic) and the two coins they sent to CAC held up the selling of my coins by 3+ months. I'm sure the turnaround time isn't that bad now but if you want to sell your coins in a timely manner, having CAC evaluate any of the coins may slow down the time that your coins get sold.

 

Geek, a very intriguing response!

It may explain why some of my best coin acquisitions were in ANACS slabs (less competition perhaps?). What happened to "buy the coin, not the slab"?

OK, I get it, selling you may want to upgrade the slab, but buying, you are shorting yourself if you unilaterally dismiss an ANACS slab. I get it, they are not attractive & clash with the other slabs, but some of my best, most valuable, fabulous specimens were/are ANACS.

I don't know that "many other people" summarily dismiss ANACS because of the slab, but they would be foolish to do so. (While I run the risk of increasing my competition for these, my purchases have greatly reduced the last few years since both my collection & accumulation are pretty much complete. )

I have some other specimens that are in "off" slabs, but I try to always buy the coin. Furthermore, I have never bought a coin because it was in a PCGS or NGC slab. (Also, I've never let a CAC sticker influence me, although I do possess several.)

 

I just sold 23 coins through GC in last Sunday's auction. I sent them to GC raw and they were received May 30th. I specified PCGS grading, no CAC. A few of the coins I requested to have variety labeling which no doubt slowed down grading time. GC got the coins back from PCGS about early to mid September.

I specified PCGS for two reasons:

1) Proximity to GC's offices.
2) I figured the PCGS slabs would sell "better". Don't know if that actually happened but every coin sold despite many being graded "Details".

This is the second batch I've sold through GC. I don't have any reason to doubt their integrity or general alignment with the consignor's interests. This is a bit like the Fisher Investments TV ad: "We make more when our clients make more."

So, to answer the OP's question, I think it would be wise to let GC slab your coins with PCGS rather than ANACS. Nothing against ANACS, they are a reputable company but I don't think anyone doubts that PCGS coins market better than ANACS coins, i.e. sell faster and for more money.

BTW, my 23 coins were all purchased raw early in my coin collecting career (from eBay and local shows) when I didn't know much and could prove it. As a result, the lessons learned have been dramatically brought home to me during this grading and sale. Only one of these coins sold for more than I paid for it. It was also painfully brought home to me how some local dealers that I had taken time and effort to develop relationships with were more than willing to take advantage of me.

In contrast, earlier this year I sold a group of 27 graded coins through GC, also purchased early in my career. But this time, every coin brought more than I had paid for it even taking into account the fees associated with shipping and selling.

 

I'll echo the above and say that as a buyer I'm glad. Also when I sense that bidders are in it for the supposed PCGS or CAC "premium", I drop out. When there's stiffer competition on an ANACS coin, I know that the competition also sees the coin for what it is. Just my two cents...

 

With your coins in the $200 to $700 range you are definitely better off with PCGS. The extra cost should more than pay for itself in higher sales prices. I collect coins in that price range and typically shy away from ANACS. In fact, if looking at a coin at the higher end of that range I would wonder what problem I’m not aware of caused it to be sent to ANACS.

 

My recent experiences with a small subset of Anacs coins at GC-primarily toned Morgans-showed that most buyers did not ignore these coins. I thought I might get a deal but all of the coins were bid up.

However, the general consensus would be to send coins to PCGS over Anacs if that is what GC recommends since there will be more potential buyers across almost any series.

 

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. I totally agree, if you are preparing to sell, & want to slab, PCGS is the optimum TPG choice among all others (because the "market" says so). (Aside: I've seen enough of the beans on various slabs to know it's just a gimmick - but that's just me.)

However, I was addressing Geek's statement that he intentionally excludes (doesn't even look at, at all; intentionally excludes them from searches!!!!) ANACS slabs, which I think is a very bad choice, and very bad advice to collectors (at least those who are adept at self-grading). I stand by my belief that some of my best specimens were obtained in ANACS slabs (and some remain there, albeit they are artistically "out there"). Again, I've never bought a coin because of the slab...but that's just me. (Truth: I twice bought coins I didn't "need", because of the doily!)

If you're a discriminating collector (wow, there's a good use of that word), all slabs should be "in play". I suppose that depends on your confidence as a grader.

JMHO!

 

The first half of my reply was agreeing with you. Despite there being many people who say they ignore Anacs slabs, I have seen strong results on GC that would imply that enough people still pay up for the coin regardless of slab. Now the sampling was limited to toned Morgans so if we looked at something else the results might differ (and the discerning collector could get a deal based on others passing on the slab).

 

I've sold coins with GC before, but they were already certified. I would trust their recommendation.

On the subject of ANACS coins, I always evaluate the coin. I've gotten some pretty nice coins for a fraction of the cost because they were in ANACS slabs. I cracked them out and sent them to NGC because that's the company I'm used to and I collect world coinage.

 

Sorry d, it didn't really intend to direct this at you directly, but I was wanted to correct any misunderstanding of my previous comments. And wanted to convey that I totally agree with your second paragraph!

 

This has become self-perpetuating and it's all because of marketing.

 

A while back, I sent a consignments to Great Collections. Many of the coins were in the old small ANACS holders. Many had a fun variety shown on the label. I ask for PCGS to crack them and grade before going to auction. GC contacted me and said these small holders had a strong following.
They were right. We left them in the old holders and they brought great prices. They might have brought a little more in PCGS holders but I saved $20 to $40 per coin by not cracking them.