Panini America Best in Industry at Handling Redemptions According to Beckett Survey

A reader survey in the November 2013 issue of Beckett Sports Card Monthly reaffirmed something that many collectors have known to be true for quite some time: Panini America is the industry's clear-cut leader when it comes to handling redemption cards -- by a wide margin.

Beckett Redemption Poll Main

A reader survey in the November 2013 issue of Beckett Sports Card Monthly reaffirmed something that many collectors have known to be true for quite some time: Panini America is the industry’s clear-cut leader when it comes to handling redemption cards — by a wide margin.

According to magazine editor Chris Olds, more than 800 readers participated in the magazine’s “20 Questions” poll revolving around the thorny issue of redemption cards. But it was question No. 16 that likely resonated the loudest online, in hobby shops and in manufacturer boardrooms across the country: “Which company handles its redemptions the best?” Panini America received a resounding 39 percent of the vote, more than twice the number of votes received by the nearest runner-up.

“I wasn’t that surprised to see Panini get the approval of about 40 percent of our readers based on the constant/weekly updates it provides,” Olds said. “That’s actually something other companies have recently adopted to help satisfy us collectors a bit more.”

Few will argue that Panini America has made tremendous strides in the customer service arena in recent years, the result of new leadership, a new staff, improved accessibility and the embracing of social media as a primary consumer touch point. In addition to providing comprehensive weekly redemption updates that began more than two years ago, Panini America Customer Service representatives now attend every major card show to conduct live redemptions on site and to interact with customers.

“No one likes redemptions at Panini and we’ve made it a priority to establish multiple touch points so that we can engage with collectors and work hard with them to resolve redemptions, and create a level of transparency so they see what cards are going out each week through our Weekly Redemption Card Updates on The Knight’s Lance,” said Jason Howarth, Panini America’s Vice President of Marketing. “Customer service is one of the most important things we do here on a daily basis, and it’s rewarding to know that our efforts are noticed and appreciated by Beckett readers. The survey results for this question are something we’d prefer to not even be a part of, but we will continue to do everything we can to minimize redemptions and create a more engaging experience for collectors.”

While question No. 16 in the Beckett poll was the only one to single out individual manufacturers, answers to the other 19 questions revealed many interesting insights. And according to Olds, they also illustrated that the word “redemption” just might not be the dirtiest word in the collecting language.

“Redemptions are a hot-button topic for collectors as well as card companies — something nobody likes among either group — but I was surprised by the response to the poll,” Olds said. “More than 800 collectors offered their views — a higher number than normal — and the results were perhaps not as doom-and-gloom as I had expected considering the typical kinds of comments from collectors online about redemptions. Many of them showed that they do understand the process and it might not be as bad as people can sometimes make it sound.”

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0 Replies to “Panini America Best in Industry at Handling Redemptions According to Beckett Survey”

  1. Keep up the Good Work Panini America. I’ve been a retail seller for nearly 29 years and have owned a card shop for over 21 continuous years. The hobby is better than ever and Panini America has had a lot to do with that fact.

    Panini America has done a lot to help the card shop. Thanks Panini America.

    1. I don’t know if this is what you mean, but I did my redemtion online almost a year ago ( Feb 13) & I have not been sent anything…. It’s only the fumbler Ronnie Hillman, but I love my AUtOS………

  2. People hate redemptions… but there is no question that Panini does the best job of that in the industry. I’m always honest, I post negative here when I think something is bad and positive when its good… they do a very good job with most customer service and redemptions.

  3. No doubt Panini has set the standard. Heck you can credit them with making Topps come out with their copy cat program of letting collectors know when their redemptions have been completed. There is no way they do that unless Panini was as successful as they have been..hey I give credit when credit is due 😉

  4. so the other 61 per think what, u fill in the blank. look that poll was so one sided, given same Question just worded different

  5. True;panini is very good at what they do, how did you get so far behind in the first place with redemptions ? You didn’t fall that far behind with bringing out new products !Which you have been at the top of your game !!

  6. Tracy, I have been telling everyone that listens How GREAT a JOB I think you guys have been doing with Redemptions, I have noticed a HUGE decline in your 2013 football products the quantity of redemption cards, so thanks and like I tweeted, you guys are killing everyone in Customer Service, if it were a boxing match the other companies would be sayin’ “NO MAS”

  7. To be honest the current process is quite good but we do not have more than a few years of experience with Panini.

    The biggest issue with redemption is not really the delay to have the card, it’s more when the card is never produced.

    I had this case with other companies and it’s always frustrating. You do not know what you will get as replacement. For all big collectors, receive a replacement card doesn’t mean anything, the card goes direct on the tradelist and you cross your finger to retrieve your money…

  8. what makes the difference is the accessibility you guys offer. this includes the weekly updates for all to see, and customer service that actually lives up to its name. you don’t treat us like beggars asking for more bread. thank you for all you have done and what you will continue to do.

  9. I agree panini is better at redemptions than other brands. The problem i have is if your a panini spokesman your cards should be in packs. And if not in packs should be in company hands within a few weeks after the product goes live. The other problem is panini making every effort to get new higher end or just newer product signed by the spokesman and getting updates and photos of the new product signed. While we wait for along time for past redemptions that were great at release but now are not as important or a priority as the new product being signed. I understand that some players take forever to sign. But if your a spokesman for the company the outstanding redemptions should be signed before new items for panini authentic.

  10. Hands Down Panini is the best with redemptions!!! I do about 10 a year with Panini and they ship fast, and properly!!

  11. Based on my recent experience with another company I must agree with the 39% that voted Panini the best. I found myself frequently asking why this other company wasn’t doing what you folks seem to do so easily as part of this process and I believe it’s a philosophically different approach to the process. You acknowledge openly that it is a needed part of the process at this point and take ownership of the fact that you produce these, if the person I was dealing with said “we’re not in the business of making redemptions” one more time I was going to lose it. What is there a magic redemption fairy flying around your facilities waving a wand and turning physical cards into redemptions without your knowledge? Of course you are in that business, you made the redemption card! Never again with them, I am part of that segment that will now only purchase live cards on the secondary market unless it’s Panini. At least with Panini they have a transparent process and open lines of communication with us collectors, plus you get the basics like sending an e-mail when a card has shipped that they seem to totally fail on. Thanks Tracy, David S and the entire fulfillment team for the continued great work!

  12. The redemption process was efficient and quick for the VAST majority of my submissions. But now I’ll have to try out Panini’s customer service. Three of my redemptions have stalled, 21 to 26 months pending.

  13. My dream would be that Panini has a hands on, user type of system, where u could go and check ur redemptions(which u already have set up), if u have redemptions that u have been waiting on for maybe 2 or 3 or 4 months(or longer), you could click on them and drag them to an “exchange my card” column, then a list of what Panini has available at that moment for a comparable card(BV wise) would pop up, we could check it a couple times a week, see something u want, click and Panini will exchange it, So if people are always complaining about waiting, after 3 months or even 2 months depending on how it would be set up, they don’t have to wait, maybe they could even swap out for an auto of the same player they were waiting on,just a different brand. Think everyone gets my idea, think it would be fun to check it and see what u guys have every week. All of a sudden for certain collector’s, maybe a redemption card isn’t a negative anymore, if they know they only have to wait 2mnths and they can parlay it into potentially a player or team they collect, then its a positve. 🙂

  14. Panini has made some good improvements the last year and a half. The weekly updates are much appreciated.

    A few points though i would like to see improved:

    – You can select the option 4 or 8 months when entering your redemption. But when the selected time expires nothing happens (so whats the point to it?). Perhaps collectors could automatically be offered a replacement or some other option?
    – You can add a question/remark to your redemption, for instance to ask for a replacement. No-one from CS ever responds to it or even reads it which to me is a missed opportunity.
    – A lot of players (basketball) have live on-card and sticker autos in new products but still have pending redemptions from products 6-12 months old! Most notably 11-12 limited basketball, but also the famous 11-12 xrc autos and for instance still no Kyrie Elite inscriptions autos from februari, but many new autos of him since.
    This to me is inexcusible!
    – Collectors should be notified when a card will not be made or will never be fullfilled. Now we sometimes are waiting months/years for a card that probably will never see the light of day.
    – Collectors should be given the opportunity to send in a request to get a replacement of a player/team they collect (that matches in value).
    Now its just completely random just to match BV.
    – Perhaps when sending in an email request for a replacement you guys could set an auto-reply that the request has been received and will be worked on asap. Because of busy CS people it can take days before you hear something which makes you think that the request has been ignored or not received.

    Just some of my thoughts.

  15. I agree. I have never had a problem getting my panini redemptions back and if I have a question Panini CSM on Twitter is awesome.

  16. lol i would of had the option “None of the Above”
    Panini is the best out of the 3 top companies, i’ll give you guys that, but all redemptions suck

  17. Hey Tracy,

    I have an awesome idea on how u can improve redemptions……if u put a redemption in a box u should add an extra hit. so let’s say i buy a box of 13′ limited and u normally get 3 hits per box well if i pull 2 auto redemptions in the box u guys should add 2 live autos to the box b/c redemptions can take forever to get back anymore. another suggestion would be to put out less products every year so the players don’t have to sign so much…..remember back in the day where only 1 product would come out a month…..u guys have way too many products on the market the past 3-4 years.

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