And every time I think about trying out PSA they do something dumb. I'm really keen to see how things keep going for you with GMA. I definitely might use them for stuff I intend to sell locally. When I can get $30 on a raw base Burrow rookie from LEAF of all companies, adding it in a slab of any manner would give me a definite reason for an added premium.
When getting back in, I just didn't trust PSA at all. From the liberal card trimming/association (BGS/SGC I'm sure are guilty too), FBI probing into them, the recent YT post by Flipping Steve about them pocketing hundreds of $$ when he was trying to crossover and they just sent the slabs back, and now the price hiking to try and get things under control that was kind of their own making when they'd grade cards 70-80% 10s.
Printed out the UPS Label at home (declared value of $400 likely bumped up the fees) and dropped it off at the UPS Store locally. Super fast and painless. Like I said, this is about a 66 card submission with a lot more selectivity and using a microfiber cloth, etc. so I'm curious how I do as well. My last sub I still got 60% as 9s or better without truly knowing WTH I was doing, lol.
If you have stuff you want in a quick, cheaper fashion to where you don't care what the grade is necessarily, I'd definitely recommend GMA (especially since they are based in Florida and closer to you). What I like is I know several cards in this shipment have flaws so I'm expecting 8s and 8.5s here too. I never got the impression GMA was trying to pull a 'pop report control' on any card or anything.
If bumping the declared value over $500 - GMA = $330. SGC would've been $990(!). PSA would've been $3,300... And the latter 2 would be literal months of waiting to get the cards back. If selling on a 'hot' player, you'd be trying to project their value maybe 5-8 months down the line from the month you submitted.
With GMA there are a few things to note
The Good: The prices and turnaround time are phenomenal. The grading seems very fair and reliant on the card itself (thus no inventory/pop count on the website). I really like the enlarged grade of the number too. The slabs are bigger/thicker than the PSA slabs. People are selling their GMA cards within $20-$40 of PSA 9s or 10 grades ignoring the low ball sellers who perpetuate GMA's low tier status. GMA does seem to be moving up a bit as they've gotten more submissions in.
The Bad: Aesthetically, the logo at the top isn't the most professional. Cards can be loose in the holder if you shake them hard enough but that same issue is with PSA as well & is reliant on people going around shaking the holders for some stupid reason. They are seen as a distant 4th in the market and the fact the address points to a house isn't the best reflection (then again Paul Heyman would film promos in his house's basement so...) GMA still doesn't seem to show up as a grading company on Ebay so there's a bit more manual work in finding what their cards have sold for.
PSA 9 Fred McGriff RC went for $$24.58 and $22.55 w/Shipping while a GMA 8 went for $8.50 w/Shipping.
Drew Brees Cards = GMA 10 2001 Press Pass Die Cut went for $44.20. GMA 10 2001 Topps Chrome Refractors went for $43.99. GMA 10 2001 Sage Hit went for $29.14. GMA 9 2001 Atomic went for $26.98. GMA 7 2001 Bowman went for $24.49.
You can definitely make money selling GMA if you're smart about establishing it as a BIN with no offers (asking for offers implies immediately that you are willing to take lower than asking) and price it relatively close to a BGS or PSA with a similar grade. It may just take more patience.