Published December 16, 2025 | By Alyx E, Founder of Collectors MD
The news that PSA’s parent company, Collectors, has acquired Beckett landed with a thud across the hobby this week. With the acquisition, Collectors now owns the three most prominent grading companies—PSA, Beckett, and SGC. For some, it was surprising. For others, it felt inevitable. And for many collectors, it immediately triggered frustration, skepticism, and concern about where all of this is headed.
At face value, consolidation isn’t automatically good or bad. Companies merge. Businesses evolve. Scale can bring efficiency, investment, and consistency. But in a hobby already grappling with questions around transparency, power, and fairness, moves like this don’t happen in a vacuum. They land on top of years of rising fees, tighter control, fewer alternatives, and a growing sense that decision-making is drifting further away from collectors themselves.
A lot of the reaction we’re seeing isn’t really about PSA, Beckett, or SGC specifically. It’s about what this represents. When grading, authentication, pricing influence, marketplaces, and media narratives increasingly sit under the same umbrellas, collectors start to wonder who the system is truly designed to serve. And when Fanatics on one side and PSA on another feel like ever-expanding superpowers, it’s understandable that people worry about monopoly dynamics—even if no single move crosses a legal line on its own.
Consolidation doesn’t just combine logos—it concentrates influence. And when influence grows faster than transparency, it naturally raises questions about balance, choice, and who ultimately holds the power.
To be clear, companies are allowed to pursue growth. Revenue matters. Sustainability matters. But trust matters too—and trust erodes when collectors feel they have fewer choices, less leverage, and limited visibility into how decisions impact them downstream. That tension is what so many people are reacting to right now.
At Collectors MD, we don’t take positions for or against specific companies. Our role isn’t to attack or defend corporate strategy. Our role is to pay attention to how these shifts feel to collectors—and how they impact behavior, stress, spending, and mental health. Because when power consolidates, pressure often trickles down. And pressure is where impulsivity, overextension, and harm tend to grow.
This moment is worth sitting with. Not reacting out of anger—but not dismissing concern either. Healthy hobbies rely on balance: competition, choice, accountability, and trust. When any one of those starts to wobble, it’s reasonable for collectors to ask questions.
And asking questions doesn’t make you anti-hobby. It makes you intentional.
#CollectorsMD
When power concentrates, clarity and care matter more than ever.
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