But only twice as fast.

Being impatient can cause you to make mistakes. It has also been known to cause regret later on after a decision. On the flip side, it can get things done quicker, which can sometimes turn out to be very advantageous and put you ahead of the curve over others.

Impatience has its pros and cons.

No, I dont mean that there are professionals at being impatient, though some people are habitually so. And I dont mean that there is an Impatient Convention, though I will admit to being impatient a time or two at the cons I have attended because of wanting to get my signatures as fast as possible to avoid missing out on any.

There were a couple of times in Baltimore alone where I felt this way, but the CGC guys can only do so much and go so fast with the sheer number of people and items being thrown at them. Personally, I dont see how they do it.

Big shout out to Mike and Mike, Darren, Molly (pants),Joe, Bree, Cynthia and all of the other CGC staff in Baltimore who helped make everything happen for me and Tnerb. YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!

Ok, ok, stop being impatient. I will get back to the subject at hand.

Most people dont think there is any value in being impatient. But CGC and CCS have put an actual monetary value on it.

$10 for CGC and $6 for CCS. What am I talking about?

Why, Fast Tracking, of course.

As most CGC collectors know, CGC has always had the option to Fast Track your individual items at $10 each. This reduces the amount of turnaround time for your comics by half. Now that CCS has become part of the CCG family, they also have Fast Tracking available at $6 per item, thereby giving the same time cutting results for pressing.

Now the question I propose to all of you other collectors out there is...

What does or does not make this option worth it to you?

I will say that I take a number of things into account before I decide on Fast Tracking anything.

1. How many issues are on the invoice? Marking Fast Track on the invoice means you are agreeing to Fast Track everything on the invoice.

2. Am I keeping or selling the item or items on the invoice? I might be more or less willing to pay the extra if I am trying to flip the item for profit. I just have To take into account that it takes $10 away from my profit per item.

3. How sentimental or important is the comic to me personally? Sometimes this has a bearing on the decision for me.

4. What are the current turnaraound times? This can be a major factor in determining whether to add Fast Tracking or not. if the current turnaround times are 60 days or more, I may be more willing to consider this option.

5. When are the registry awards? The deadline for the registry awards can also have a bearing on choosing to apply Fast Track, since you may be trying to put yourself at the top of a set or have a shot at a best presentation award or best set award.

These are some of the reasons I consider when marking that little box on the upper right of the CGC submission forms. It can add up fast though. Take my most recent trip for example.

I didnt Fast Track ANY of the invoices from Baltimore. If I had Fast Tracked the CGC side of it, it would have cost me an extra $800!! If I had Fast Tracked the CCS side of it, it would have cost me an extra $480!!

Put those together and you will see that to do Fast Tracking on both the CGC and CCS forms would have lightened my wallet by $1280!!!!! YIPES!

As much as I would love to get all of these items back as quick as possible, that is just too much money, even with turnaround times being bad right now.

When CCS first started with CGC this year, their turnaround time was 20 days. I fast tracked an invoice with 4 comics back in March through both companies and it took exactly 10 days at CCS and 15 days at CGC, so I got what I paid for. My stuff was back to me in 30 days, pressed and graded for $64 extra bucks. It was worth it to me at the time.

I currently have one invoice with 4 items from Tampa that I am Fast Tracking through both companies, so we will see how that goes.

But right now, CCS turnaround times are... ready for this?.... 60 days! Thats just for pressing!! CGC is pretty much the same!

In the last nine months, the sheer volume of submissions has absolutely skyrocketed at both CGC and CCS. And a lot of the people that were hired at the end of last year have either been let go or simply moved on to other occupations.

That same $64 that got my items back to me in 30 days will probably take more like 60 days now!!

So lets discus it, folks!

What do each of you think about Fast Tracking?

What do you consider when deciding to do Fast Tracking or not?

Is it even an option you consider at all?

What about these slow turnaround times? Any influence at all?

Would you Fast Track CCS and not CGC? Or vice versa?

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