Survey Regarding the Potential of a New Video Game Grader in the Market

[VideoGameGradersLLC | 82]

I know that grading of vintage games is a hot topic and many feel strongly, some strongly.  And I completely respect that, totally understand that many do not want games graded for many reasons.  But other do, so for those in that camp - do we need another grading company?  

I would greatly appreciate 2-3 minutes of your time to fill out a quick survey and share your thoughts  https://forms.gle/5MWGhQfGqCjfBPnj8

You can learn more at https://videogamegraders.com/ and at  https://igg.me/at/video-game-graders

Thank you for your time and consideration. 

 

 

[RH | 4,904]

Are you already a member on this site, but created an account for this business? Who are you and your team members? What is your background with grading. Also... Less than $100k for a business sounds low to me. You will need to at least rent an office/warehouse, hire at least 4-5 employees, deal with administration, buy the supplies, train people, etc.  Those dollars add up fast.

Regardless, I wish you the best of luck. Others may disagree on the encouragement but I see your success as a good thing. As a general rule of thumb for business, when there are three specific major competitors in a market, it works out best for consumers. So, I think having another major player, but just one more, could be a net-win.

I see you are wanting to start with just CIB grading. I'm curious why just CIB and not sealed as well. Also, I highly recommend looking at what your competitors aren't doing and giving that to your customers. If you could grade the many games that WATA is not, plus CIB, that's a huge boost. Pair that with freely searchable population reports and I think you could be on to something. I know WATA doesn't offer those reports and I think VGA only gives limited searches when asked. If you just your data right out there, then I think that would encourage a lot of people to at least give your service a try.

Regarding "fast" turnaround times, that's a double-edged sword. When grading games, I want the graders to take their time and not rush the inspection. This also means inspectors need to be well trained and you also need to have specific, truly perfect specimens to examine as examples of cream of the crop. 10s can be hard to come by, but you'll want a few to compare variations in edges and shrinkwrap mechanics, etc. Of course, you are doing CIB do there is a TON of other nit-picky things you'll have to pay attention too. So, graders will need to take their time to examine every aspect of a game, especially those of the highest condition and quality.

To do this and to have fast turn around, you will need a lot of employees, but you also have to be careful. Qualified graders can't be hired in a day because they will need solid training. The market will also have an ebb and flow, so you will want to have enough graders that in the good times, games are getting out the door, but in the bad times, the backlog slowly works down and everyone has work. That's a tough balance for any business.

I could probably throw out some more thoughts but those are the big ones. This will not be an easy (or cheap) task, but I wish you the best.

[final fight cd | 186]

What are you going to offer that VGA and WATA don’t?

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

I was curious when I saw your name the other day lol

I like the idea of it, but after using VGA, an witnessing Wata be created - I was in their initial focus group, and did interviews with the two that started the company- I dont see how there is more room in the market to improve, outside of faster turn around times and population reports, both of which I assume they are working on. 
 

Im curious about your business model, and what should make me believe you are trust worthy. 
 

Took your survey btw, there should be a option on “how many graded games per month” 0-1

 

But no way in hell are you getting my email

[a3quit4s | 4,101]

Most importantly will you recognize the Florida collection?

I'm with @RH - who are you and your team and why would folks choose your company over VGA or WATA? Or as @final fight cd put it, what is your competitive advantage?

Do you have any partners in mind ala WATA and HA? Do you have a sample of what your cases look like and the options you offer?

Edit: $94,000 is the most random target I've seen lol

Edited March 5, 2021 by a3quit4s

[Murray | 2,448]

1 minute ago, a3quit4s said:

Most importantly will you recognize the Florida collection?

Yeah I want to get this slabbed 

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

Oh and I will say- that while your intentions may be good and you may want to provide a legitimate service, your website reeks of someone shamelessly trying to cash in on the biggest complaints most people have about wata. 
 

Not trying to be rude or mean, that is just the first feeling I had as someone who has collected games for a while. 

[a3quit4s | 4,101]

The other business owned by this person has little to do with video gaming as well. Scottspicks.com that's why I was curious about who would be doing the grading

[DefaultGen | 5,405]

Honest criticism here, you look like you have some graph paper designs and are trying to cash in on the current speculative craze. You’re using stock photos, have no pictures of your case design because it sounds like you don’t have solid plans for a case, and the fact that you only want to grade CIB NES to makes it seem like you have limited experience with video games, let alone sealed video games which are really what the market is crazy for. $94k seems like way too little money and flexible funding just makes it seem like you’re basically taking donations... to start a business.

The “objective” scoring system is also pretty nonstandard for grading, it sounds like you’re grading on a 1-200 scale counting defects on a large rubric? I’ve heard grading described as science for near mint things and art for lower grade things. You can count the number of miniscule defects between a 9.4 and 9.6, but the difference between a 4.5 and 5.0 will be more subjective due to all the different types of damage.

Also the last thing the world needs is more graded CIB games but that’s neither here nor there.

Edited March 5, 2021 by DefaultGen

[OptOut | 8,884]

In a recent interview, Kenneth of WATA mentioned that due to the time and complexity of grading CIB, if they ONLY graded CIB they'd go out of business.

Not sure exactly how much smoke he was blowing, but it sounds like sealed grading is the REAL cash cow (other than fixing the market for you and your slimeball buddies).

OP you're probably gonna want to listen to that podcast there, plenty of interesting tidbits, although WAY too softball in my opinion, (but that's neither here nor there).

[OptOut | 8,884]

Just now, OptOut said:

(but that's neither here nor there).

 

1 hour ago, DefaultGen said:

but that’s neither here nor there.

Goddamn it Tyler! If you're gonna copy my turns of phrase, at least have the decency to do it AFTER I've left MY comment... Now people will think I'm the copy, and I'm 100% legit real deal unique BABY! 

[jonebone | 1,307]

No, this sounds like a spinoff by someone unhappy with turnaround times.

[OptOut | 8,884]

Black Box games are WATA hype bullshit. The "SPECIAL PLACE" they have in "our hobby" is the bottom of the bargain bin, at least until those fraudsters rolled into town.

GOLF anyone? No... Thought not.

 

[O.G. CIB | 415]

As someone who’s owns a couple operations I don’t agree with the above on how much money you need or how many employees (WATA only started with two) but what you will need is a lot hard work and dedication especially with a customer base such as game collectors. 
 

Best wishes with the business venture..... it’s a rocky road but if you figure it out there is nothing more rewarding. 

[Gloves | 11,779]

I am thoroughly against grading CIBs. That is my only opinion on this. 

[VideoGameGradersLLC | 82]

I greatly appreciate everyone’s responses and especially those who have completed the survey. I want to address as many comments as I can. If I have not sufficiently covered your comments, questions and concerns please let me know. 

 

As for the money being raised on Indiegogo it is not intended to necessarily fully find the business.  This is primarily due to the still in development process of creating a full website and high quality cases. 

 

I appreciate the encouraging words and respect the contrary tones. 

 

Starting with CIB is a tactical decision to manage growth and serve the bigger (but not everyone) audience at first. 

Additionally the scoring system we’ve developed is geared toward the more challenging and extensive grading of CIB. 

 

Interesting comment about grading what WATA doesn’t since they claim to grade everything. Of course they don’t as this group knows well.

 

POP reports are important but must be handled responsible which we are aware of and will respect. If nothing else perhaps we force WATAs hand a bit. 

 

Perhaps fast turnaround times isn’t a great choice of words but there is a problem with current options not being able to deliver in a timely manner. There are several steps in the process of receiving games through to completion and shipping back so the entire process can be faster without compromising grading time and quality. 

 

What we offer that VGA and WATA don’t is another option in the market. Competition forces everyone to be better. We will also offer more transparency with our grading, publishing to each client our scorecards for each game.  And we believe our scoring system is a more fair and effective way to grade CIB. And for now we will hit promised turnaround times which neither VGA or WATA has done on a while. 

 

Part of our business plan is absolutely to form partnerships comparable to WATA and HA. For now we can’t discuss that any further. But we understand the value of such partnerships. 

 

$94000 isn’t random

 

The current website is a placeholder to get some initial information out there. 

 

I can assure everyone there is nothing shameful about this effort. 

That rolls into questions about me. I’m a business man and long time collector of many things very experienced in judging quality and have spent an extraordinary amount of time developing a grading system and business plan that takes advantage of a growing market and meeting a demand in the marketplace which is what good makes for successful businesses. 

 

As for my sketches these are early renderings of the start of our ideation process that I thought people might enjoy. I assure you that although we still have work to do before launch we have progressed significantly since those humble beginnings. 

 

A lot of talk about CIB only. And NES only. This is a starting point. We do not want to launch saying we grade everything and be buried in less than a year no longer offering consistency and great service. 

 

Tyler why are you stealing phrases. 

 

This is not a spin-off of someone unhappy with turnaround times. That would be an unwise basis to start a business. 

 

Agree to disagree on Black Box games.  

 

Comments on my business model, funding needs or employees are out of place as none of that is public. Only the amount on Indiegogo is public and as stated previously isn’t indicative of anything other than a goal on the platform. 

 

Once again I do truly appreciate the feedback. And keep in mind this remains a work in progress. 

Still a chance to be the first to donate on Indiegogo!

[cromag27 | 46]

investors like myself and my buddies are happy with wata. but if you can bring something new to the table, then good luck!  especially if it can make us more money in the long run. 

[YOURTURN | 1,256]

2 hours ago, jonebone said:

No, this sounds like a spinoff by someone unhappy with turnaround times.

The funny thing is that I tend to be one of those types. But this year I am trying out CAS with a couple of games they had never graded before. Because I prefer grading accuracy above a turnaround time the other grading companies cannot meet. 

[VideoGameGradersLLC | 82]

Just now, FenrirZero said:

The funny thing is that I tend to be one of those types. But this year I am trying out CAS with a couple of games they had never graded before. Because I prefer grading accuracy above a turnaround time the other grading companies cannot meet. 

Bottom line is simple for this or any business, consistently deliver a great product and you’ll have success. Fail to do this and the market will push you out of business. 

[RH | 4,904]

Can you go into more details about your grading levels? If you are going to offer better grading services for each perk-tier in Indigogo, people will want an idea of what they will be getting.

Edited March 5, 2021 by RH

[SNESNESCUBE64 | 541]

I guess I don't get it. I looked at your site and your indie go go, and don't understand your plan of attack. You showed a video of an actual grading, but didn't bother to show your own scale and what makes game the grade it is. Each company says they are going to be objective with the grading process and every single one says they are going to be transparent about it. It's the same crap that I remember seeing when the wata thread was first started on nintendoage years ago. I feel the first thing you should do is be transparent from the beginning. What is your process? All I saw in the video was a pair of white gloves and a writing utensil. What makes your process objective as opposed to subjective like what I have been lead to believe by your video?

You are only partially right about competition drives others to be better. Better competition does that. What sets you apart and makes you better? What makes me wanna say "Yeah I will take a risk with some random unverified person/company who joined the site less than a week ago just to promote a indie go go without laying out a real business plan of how they intend on accomplishing it instead of going with an already well established grading company"?

Good luck on the project, but in my truly honest opinion, we do not need yet another company preying on people who are speculating on video games. I think what it comes down to is that talk is cheap, show us your cards.

Edited March 5, 2021 by SNESNESCUBE64

[VideoGameGradersLLC | 82]

Appreciate the continued discussion and understand the desire for additional details but at this stage we have proprietary information that it wouldn’t be prudent to speak of in detail both for obvious reasons including it is still subject to change based on feedback and further refining. 
 

What I can say and am happy to share and discuss further is that we have identified 10 specific areas of the box to examine, 8 on the manual and cartridge. With 80 for the box, 26 manual, 24 cart specific flaws we will be looking for and deducting points for imperfections. We start as the games started, perfect and work backwards for creases, wrinkles, dirt, holes, discoloration, etc... which we turn into scores and then to a grade. 
 

I’m gathering from this great group that it’s this type of information we should do a better job of sharing as much as we can. 
 

Thanks again for all comments on both sides of the aisle. I knew this group would be honest, direct and fair. 

[YOURTURN | 1,256]

5 minutes ago, VideoGameGradersLLC said:

Bottom line is simple for this or any business, consistently deliver a great product and you’ll have success. Fail to do this and the market will push you out of business. 

Ummm... I have been studying how to both start and run a business since 2013. 

And in truth maintaining a high-quality product is just one way to obtain brand recognition, maintain repeat customers, and maybe have a chance to be a "third option" in the video game grading biz. Which requires a whole lot more than just a "200 point" grading system and QC-free cases. Stuff I can go into detail since there are portions of it that will explain why I am giving CAS a chance. Which itself is something I wanted to do when I was collecting non-video game stuff. 

But yeah... Good luck. 

[VideoGameGradersLLC | 82]

And another key point we probably need to make more clear, this scoring system and subsequent scorecard created during graded will be available for you to view attached to all games including marks on a diagram of each key element of CIB. 

[VideoGameGradersLLC | 82]

1 minute ago, FenrirZero said:

Ummm... I have been studying how to both start and run a business since 2013. 

And in truth maintaining a high-quality product is just one way to obtain brand recognition, maintain repeat customers, and maybe have a chance to be a "third option" in the video game grading biz. Which requires a whole lot more than just a "200 point" grading system and QC-free cases. Stuff I can go into detail since there are portions of it that will explain why I am giving CAS a chance. Which itself is something I wanted to do when I was collecting non-video game stuff. 

But yeah... Good luck. 

I’ve been running, not just studying, businesses since the late 80s so I’ll trust by understanding of what works and what does not. There are many ways to be successful and many ways to fail. And one of those steps is understanding what your perspective customers want from you why at this early stage in the development of this business plan I’m reaching out. Any additional details you can provide in terms what it will take will absolutely be considered as just in the few hours since we posted here changes have been to the website and the survey based specifically on comments from this group. I don’t have all the answers, I know that, it’s why I’m asking.

I expected to get attacked some, it’s all good. All feedback is helpful for us at this stage.