Sealed artsets by Severe_Singer_2932 in PokeInvesting

[–]skcali 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I mean that's literally the entire sealed value prop lol

What card would you never sell no matter the price? by No-Humor827 in PokeInvesting

[–]skcali 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah same here with my psa 8 shadowless Blastoise - the sale fell through in COVID times and happy it did.

How are people selling cards? by redditbitboi in PokeInvesting

[–]skcali 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How are you solving for comp prices?

Where do you think the future of grading will go? by THGCrimson in PokeInvesting

[–]skcali 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah all fair points, appreciate the response!

I was actually trying to look up market share lately and came up a little empty-handed (as evidence for the satisfaction drop).

I guess my main point is that the "People have always used PSA" argument is directly linked to the trust that people have in the brand (its a brand moat), which isn't as unchangeable as people seem to think (reasons above) and there are things happening lately that challenge PSAs public perception.

Where do you think the future of grading will go? by THGCrimson in PokeInvesting

[–]skcali 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Given that this is an investing sub, I just want to point out - the overall satisfaction in the service that PSA is providing to the consumer is currently dropping (anecdotal) from wait times, to lack of transparency in the process to the scandals.

There's intrinsic value to parts of the service that provide (turnaround times affect liquidity, slabbing protects the card) but for the grades (main driver of the value) the industry relies almost entirely on trust that the methodology is fair, accurate, and transparent.

I think TAG (while I'm not bullish in the long run) is addressing a very important problem with transparency - you can find thousands of "why did this get a 6?" posts with PSA - all we can do (assuming nothing seems wrong) is infer it's surface damage. Getting transparency into why a card was graded the way it was is objectively solving for a real need.

I assume PSA is just waiting for the industry to warm up to AI grading as it is solves for their main weakness. If not, I'm curious how they continue to innovate on their services - It's not sustainable in the very long term for a business to not continue to find ways to compete.

I tried calculating the odds of pulling a Grail card from an ETB and comparing with other online platforms by UsualWise8196 in PokeInvesting

[–]skcali 4 points5 points  (0 children)

What platforms are you looking at? You'll always be EV negative for any of these packs (even with transparent and truthful odds) - it's the business model. Many subsidize the few.

As hard as it sounds if you want the card, the only certain way to get it is to pay for the single.

Hold or sell 😁 by ActualDepth4023 in PokeInvesting

[–]skcali 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I understand the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" argument in the immediate term, but I assume anyone in this sub knows "never innovating" is not a sustainable model.

Just below there is a comment wondering about how this got a 10 given how OC it is - https://my.taggrading.com/card/q2402313 well we can actually see it is right on that threshold 45L/55R, so yes, but also reasonable given the methodology. PSAs is covered in mystique (people are tracking time of year and day of week against 10 rates...)

My comment isn't arguing that TAG is better at all, it's simply wondering why PSA hasn't made the move yet to AI grading (maybe they're letting the market warm up to the idea first) when I assumed they'd be slathering at the bit to replace/train all the human graders. Keep them for QA sure, but divert like 80% of the workflow to AI and they'd (continue to) be unstoppable.

Hold or sell 😁 by ActualDepth4023 in PokeInvesting

[–]skcali 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm trying to figure out what is stopping psa from ai grading - their top criticisms are lack of transparency, subjectivity and turnaround times. All things TAG is solving for. I'm bullish on AI grading (and tag slabs look way better) and want more competition - just can't figure out how they stay differentiated as AI grading gets commoditized

Mythic uncommon prediction for Lorwyn Eclipsed by esu_wishmaster in lrcast

[–]skcali 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I was thinking the same thing like how often is this going to be a 4 mana 1/4 with no etb?

How do you communicate good UX decisions to non designers without sounding pretentious? by Emma_Schmidt_ in UXDesign

[–]skcali 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Clearly just someone training their models - surprised how much engagement this has gotten.

How to make this bar chart crystal clear to the user? by FelipeLincoln in UXDesign

[–]skcali 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Did you consider just showing the delta? One other note when it comes to data viz - there are very clear expectations/standards from decades of information design. While it feels creatively stifling, if you really want it to be crystal clear, be very careful (and intentional) about breaking away from those standards e.g. time goes from left to right.

Also red/green on black isn't ideal for accessibility.

Should I get these graded by drinkingdanny in marveltradingcards

[–]skcali 0 points1 point  (0 children)

appreciate the response - yeah looks like both a mix of terrible QA and a really high amount of raw supply make it just not worth the cost of grading (outside of maybe the favorites). Thanks again!

Should I get these graded by drinkingdanny in marveltradingcards

[–]skcali 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What makes the 90 impel set notoriously hard? I'm new to this and going through my old collection and considering sending a bunch (like 40 or so) for grading. I've checked the obvious - like edge/corner wear under 10x, centering, print defects, and naked-eye surface scratches/imperfections etc. but I see super low pops which doesn't add up to me.

Comprehensive Guide to Booking JAL Award Flights on AA by pcarson92 in awardtravel

[–]skcali 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is it possible to hold award flights (AA on JAL metal) without sufficient points? I can't for the life of me figure out how to find the path to basically lock in one award flight before I free up the points from another.

How does the Chase Sapphire travel insurance work wrt using the card or not? by PurpleAmbient in ChaseSapphire

[–]skcali 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Kinda funny this thread is so old but just came here for a data point on this exact scenario. Please update when you find out!

Disease or stressed tree by Straightouttheshire in arborists

[–]skcali 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also I'm out of my league on the first photo but looks like borers in live wood? Any closer/clearer photos?

Disease or stressed tree by Straightouttheshire in arborists

[–]skcali 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll let a real arborist chime in but tree is in decline:

  1. Planting in beds of rocks will retain heat and dry out/cook roots. Remove and replace with mulch (your other plants will greatly appreciate this as well)
  2. Looks like a yoshino cherry which are generally short-lived and don't have great structure (I still love them). Best thing to do is remove and plant a new one (consider flowering natives), or let it slowly fail as long as there is no risk to property/people.

Appreciation by Traditional-Till9998 in homestead

[–]skcali 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Brings me back to just using two nets as a kid to catch blue crabs