Pop reports in graded games - what do actual/potential consumers want?

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

why would you even trust a pop report from any of these companies?

they will just control it to there advantage like psa does with gem 10 kevin durants. you get a 9 you get a 9 everyone gets a 9!.....except you joe, you get a 10. not because its in any better condition than the 9's but because you spend the most money with us and we sleep with you.

so even if you get a pop report it wont be real.

[GPX | 1,371]

On 9/5/2021 at 10:05 PM, docile tapeworm said:

why would you even trust a pop report from any of these companies?

they will just control it to there advantage like psa does with gem 10 kevin durants. you get a 9 you get a 9 everyone gets a 9!.....except you joe, you get a 10. not because its in any better condition than the 9's but because you spend the most money with us and we sleep with you.

so even if you get a pop report it wont be real.

But contrary to the subjective nature of the grading scale, pop reports are there to give the consumers a more objective measure of rarity and condition rarity. You also can’t fake a pop report because consumers would quickly point that out on social media.

In the past it shouldn’t matter too much because it was more a niche market, and 4 to low-5 figures to make educated guesses on the values. The guesses won’t have much of a life impact if you get it wrong. Nowadays, with the values going 6-7 figures, it’s now become more a must to get an idea of the numbers to know what you should be bidding on and for how much.

 

 

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

3 hours ago, GPX said:

But contrary to the subjective nature of the grading scale, pop reports are there to give the consumers a more objective measure of rarity and condition rarity. You also can’t fake a pop report because consumers would quickly point that out on social media.

In the past it shouldn’t matter too much because it was more a niche market, and 4 to low-5 figures to make educated guesses on the values. The guesses won’t have much of a life impact if you get it wrong. Nowadays, with the values going 6-7 figures, it’s now become more a must to get an idea of the numbers to know what you should be bidding on and for how much.

 

 

you might get a more accurate measure as to the amount of whats out there but not condition. people been calling out psa for controlling pop for a while now.

[inasuma | 1,203]

I mean, we have evidence of watas shoddy over-grading already. So yeah some of the pop report might be questionable. It’s more so about the willingness to listen to consumers when they ask for it. You know, transparency.

Edited September 7, 2021 by inasuma

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

if you get a pop report at least take it with a grain of salt.

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

"i lied" theres your transparency. after the fact.

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

hey guys got a pop report! its all good now. watas free and clear and i trust everything they do now. cause, ya know, transparency, after they got completely railed for some shady buisness practice.

Edited September 7, 2021 by docile tapeworm

[GPX | 1,371]

1 hour ago, docile tapeworm said:

if you get a pop report at least take it with a grain of salt.

Yep, absolutely. When it comes to grading companies, everything they say you have to take it with a grain of salt. Pretty much the same with all companies who are there to make money. The issue isn’t ever about “trust all pop reports”, but “would you rather them present or not?”

And I would like to reiterate, this isn’t a thread to target WATA, but a general enquiry on thoughts of grading pop reports relative to the present cash-bonkers market.

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

@GPX i understand what your saying, i think. but ya my angle on a pop report is take it or leave it. i guess at the least you would know an amount. like the sm64 i suppose. i wouldnt trust the grade on them at all. from any of the graders.

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

@GPX oh shit. but from a money making standpoint i see where a pop report would help. no doubt you could use that tool, even if its completely fabricated, to sell to buyers what you have has value. "see look here on the pop report, only 10 of them".

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

is it ironic that grading companies, so ive heard, are supposed to help uneducated buyers from buying fake items or overpaying but really its fucking them even more. i would say at the least they could trust the item is original but we have seen fakes get authenticated before, no?

[GPX | 1,371]

2 minutes ago, docile tapeworm said:

@GPX oh shit. but from a money making standpoint i see where a pop report would help. no doubt you could use that tool, even if its completely fabricated, to sell to buyers what you have has value. "see look here on the pop report, only 10 of them".

It would help both the buyers and sellers to have a fairer negotiation. For example, the buyer could say “there’s more than 1000 of them in that high grade, and I don’t think that PS2 game is worth over 20K”. 

Here’s a decent analogy, think of pop reports like Ebay “sold listings”. You take both with a grain of salt, but is better to have that tool as a consumer? Or better without?

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

i suppose ot doesnt really matter in the millionares club though as none of them know the differance anyway. they can still go over there buddies house and say "look at my 9.8a++ sm64" and they all ooohhh and aaahhh. i guess thats good for them.

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

4 minutes ago, GPX said:

Here’s a decent analogy, think of pop reports like Ebay “sold listings”. You take both with a grain of salt, but is better to have that tool as a consumer? Or better without?

that makes sence.

[GPX | 1,371]

2 minutes ago, docile tapeworm said:

is it ironic that grading companies, so ive heard, are supposed to help uneducated buyers from buying fake items or overpaying but really its fucking them even more. i would say at the least they could trust the item is original but we have seen fakes get authenticated before, no?

Your point just means you need to be smarter as a consumer. Or if you think it’s too much of a monetary risk, then don’t partake in the niche hobby. Remembering though, there’s silliness and risk with all forms of collecting, loose, CIB, sealed or graded.

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

Just now, GPX said:

Your point just means you need to be smarter as a consumer. Or if you think it’s too much of a monetary risk, then don’t partake in the niche hobby. Remembering though, there’s silliness and risk with all forms of collecting, loose, CIB, sealed or graded.

its def not for me.

[GPX | 1,371]

2 minutes ago, docile tapeworm said:

its def not for me.

I can tell. 

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

6 minutes ago, GPX said:

I can tell. 

would you say you need a bigger grain of salt to go with a pop report than ebay sold?

[GPX | 1,371]

5 minutes ago, docile tapeworm said:

would you say you need a bigger grain of salt to go with a pop report than ebay sold?

I dunno. Likely, both can be as dodgy, but both can be as useful. 

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

16 minutes ago, GPX said:

I dunno. Likely, both can be as dodgy, but both can be as useful. 

at least e bay sold is only shill bids and fake sales though right? pop report your basing value not only on amount but also the grade that makes up most of the value. "theres a million of these but only 5 in this nice of condition"

[AdamW | 713]

6 hours ago, docile tapeworm said:

is it ironic that grading companies, so ive heard, are supposed to help uneducated buyers from buying fake items or overpaying but really its fucking them even more. i would say at the least they could trust the item is original but we have seen fakes get authenticated before, no?

Yes, although it's kinda generally accepted that this is a possibility in all forms of grading/authentication. It's a difficult thing to do 100% accurately. A larger concern is that neither WATA nor VGA has any kind of guarantee that they will buy back items they graded which turn out to be counterfeit, which is something grading companies in other areas do do.

Someone told me that they'd heard of WATA buying back something fake that they graded, which is good if true, but since it's not a policy, it's still at their discretion, which isn't great. I have personally notified VGA of counterfeit games they've graded which were for sale on eBay, and got no response beyond a canned customer service reply. The counterfeit games were still being offered for sale some time later.

edit: I would be inclined to mostly trust population reports, because the cost/benefit calculation on manipulating them would be very bad for a grader. Doing it would absolutely be a company-killing move if they were caught, and it's actually quite difficult to do it without getting caught, given how much information about graded games is or eventually becomes public, and how many people within the company would be in a position to know or suspect it was happening.

Edited September 7, 2021 by AdamW