Lightning55

Looks like a possible copyright violation. Depends on what the statute of limitations is on copyrights, before they fall into the public domain. Some intellectual property material, like old books, movies, songs, etc., are emerging from their protected status. The laws protecting them have a time limit. Certainly the Silver Age stuff by Marvel and DC are not able to be reproduced without permission, but people will do what they can get away with, until someone makes the effort to stop them. Also, I have seen situations where the items are for sale here in the U.S., but the products are shipped from outside the country. That makes it even more complicated to stop.

If it's for your own use, your personal collection, then it's up to your judgement as to whether or not to have a comic graded. If it's to sell, that becomes an economic consideration. You have to do some research, and then do the math. Use EBay to see what the comics are selling for graded vs. raw. Use sources like GoCollect and mycomicshop to get a additional input. Read up on how to assess a grade for the comics you have, to know if your comics will meet the desired grading standards. If you have any comics that are worth over $1,000, you have to use higher services such as Express or Walk Through. Check out the Services and Fees page here: https://www.cgccomics.com/submit/services-fees/cgc-grading/

You don't HAVE to do free 30 days returns, but if you are a Top Rated Seller, that status goes away, along with your 10% discount on Final Value Fees. For me, that would be a $2000 annual loss. I'll gladly pay for a few questionable returns during the year and keep the $2k. If it gets out of hand, I'll have to react accordingly.

To make a refund, full or partial, it used to be that the buyer had to open a case. That is no longer true. It is super easy to make a partial refund. I do it about once a week, takes a few seconds. There is a drop down list on Seller Hub, where the sold item is: You just select "Send refund" and follow the short process.

With the centerfold missing, it should be a Green label, and it is. That's what it's for. It's a 4.0 Qualified, with a centerfold missing. Otherwise, it would be a Blue with a single digit grade, being incomplete. I don't see any problem with the way this was handled by CGC.

Yes, identified incorrectly. The UK always uses "cents", right?

And then there's this: "Shipped with USPS First Class" A $10k book going first class. What could go wrong?

I thought the check mark was to indicate that the book presents better than the grade, inferring that there is something inside the book that causes the grade to drop. That the cover doesn't seem to match the grade, so tipping you off that they are aware that the cover doesn't match the grade. Like if the centerfold was loose, or the staple tips rusted, or foxing on the pages, etc. Otherwise, you would look at the comic and say to yourself "this is way better than the grade I see" and fault the grading company. But you don't see the whole story.

Any time you crack and resubmit (to either company), you are rolling the dice. It gets a fresh look, different eyes on it. Maybe the 7.0 was a generous grade, or the new graders saw something that the first ones missed, or gave more weight to some particular defect. There will be notes to check, maybe just not posted yet. All Voldy's books get notes to look up, or so they advertise. Probably won't help much, as most notes from either company are a bit vague.

I use a simple bag and board, because the goal is not to let anything even get near the comics in the box during shipment. So I spend my resources on that, protection of the payload. I put the b/b comics in multi-layers of bubble wrap. I put that in a box with padding. I put that whole assembly in another box with padding between the boxes. I don't use post office supplied boxes, since they are sub-regulation and made out of light duty cardboard. I use regulation 32ECT cardboard, or double wall cardboard. Pack them like they were eggs.

The credit takes time to apply, but it is there. Everyone has the same reaction when they join or upgrade. There should be some kind of message during the process, but that would be too logical. When you create your printed packing slip, just write a note to please apply the $150 credit. They probably will anyway, but just in case. As you probably know, the credit applies strictly to grading fees - not to shipping, pressing, custom labels, admin fees, etc.

Is there a prize for guessing right??

That's about right for the timing, right for the opinion of the transfer speed (sucks). You have to see it coming, be ready for the lag. Every week at this time, that's how it will be. The weekend jams it up. Other days, not so bad. If you had a brick and mortar store, it would be just like this.

I prefer mine steamed, with Tabasco sauce.

They do this all the time. Not at all saying the total is wrong, but they are the least transparent of any company I have ever dealt with. Frequently comes to a different number than you planned on. Usually an added tier fee of $5, or higher shipping than anticipated due to insurance, higher estimated weight, signature confirmation, residential delivery, you name it. There should always be a way to find out without calling CS or accounting, but there isn't. With multiple invoices being different, I have had to call accounting to request a statement (on their insistence, their procedure) and go over it item by item. This should always be available to you, but again, no. Then go over it with the accountant on the phone to make corrections, or find out why it is correct. Say hi to Jose in accounting for me when you call.

I'm not sure if it was always this way, but you are charged in advance for grading. They receive the order, and create a submission number. A couple of days later, you are billed. Then the wait begins, longer if pressing. Regarding pre-screening, I haven't done one yet. But it sounds correct that they would want to do the pre-screen as soon as possible to be able to charge for it. Also sounds correct that it would be the grading fees for the total of the books to be graded, plus $5 per reject, plus $5 admin fee, plus pressing, plus shipping, and whatever else they can think of, like custom labels.

Impressive says "Examples of Work". It doesn't say it is their work. Multiverse says "gives the book a way newer look". So technical.

Yeah, looks right (for EBay land). The method is what I usually see. The odd thing here is that the order, with shipping, is $22.50 for 3 items, easily divisible by 3 to get $7.50 each. But they have 7.49, 7.49 and 7.52. And they wonder why we don't like to trust eBay with our finances.

Your link isn't working, but yes, I think that is how they do it. For multiple item orders they prorate shipping and fees to get the totals. Just easier for their database, probably. It's like when you use a Rewards coupon at some stores. They apply part of the rewards to each item you purchased, not all to one item.

In October of 2018, I was looking at purchasing a Venom: Lethal Protector 1 that was signed by Mark Bagley, blue Universal label. This was on eBay. I thought it odd that it had the blue label. I messaged the seller, and they said CGC lets them decide if it will be a blue label with a grading hit due to "writing on the cover", or the actual grade with a green Qualified label. To be sure this was right, I wrote to CGC customer where it was soundly refuted: Thanks for your email. It seems like the owner of this book is not giving you correct information. Books with signatures that were not witnessed will never get a Blue Universal label. They would always get a qualified label. We do not offer a "choice" to the customer in a case like that. There are some instances where we will give an unsigned book a universal label even if there is some major defect if the grade of the book is very low. In a case like that the low grade is already factoring in the defect. But this would apply to unsigned books only and only very low grade books. It looks like for this book, there was an error when it was encapsulated and the wrong label was used. It should have been a qualified label and that is what it is showing in our system. If you have any other questions, please let us know. Thank you! Customer Service Certified Guaranty Company

The hits just keep on coming. And to add insult to injury, the X-Men graphic is for the "New X-Men", not even the same characters in the comic. It's sacrilege! Wait - is that Dylan's hand holding the comic???

Could be that the slab is signed, as you suggest. The registration number shows it as a 9.8 Modern, no mention of a signature. If the signature was on the comic, it should be a Green label. They got it signed pretty fast, as it was graded on 7/23. Not an easy feat these days.

Completely agree. You are kind of trapped into going along with the new system, trusting it, if you are Top Rated. Some people are unable to go through all the hoops, and I might be one someday. Those who have longer handling times, or don't want to do free returns, have the flexibility to delay their shipping to make sure they have the funds in place first. Over the many years, I have had some odd financial things happen here and there with eBay, and they have always made it right. Things can go sideways, always true. But so far, I can't say they have ever cheated me out of any money, so I am going along. They don't have to cheat - they just find new ways to take it within the framework.

Yes, eBay needs the SSN to comply with money laundering laws. PayPal required it too, but it was probably so long ago that you might have forgotten that process. There is a lag to get your funds. This is industry standard for processing fees, but PayPal got us all a bit spoiled by having it available instantly. It's like when you get a new job after not having worked for a while. You start on a Monday and don't get paid that Thursday or Friday, like everyone else does (sad emoji). But you get paid the next time around and regularly from there. When you leave that job, you get paid one more time after you've left, even though you weren't there. It all evens out. But it is agreed that the early stage can be tough. Yes, the fees are taken out as you go. If you have store, the subscription is still taken out using the old monthly method, whatever you had set up. Or any other fixed costs, like if you had some type of monthly subscriptions at eBay. I don't have those, so I only know of the store thing not coming out on the fly. If you are top rated and get a 10% discount on your FVF's, that is applied on the fly, too. Probably promoted listing fees would come out as each applicable item sells. I don't know when they charge for listing fees, like if you go beyond any free listing allowance. I would suspect it's charged right when you list. They can't wait until it sells to charge you - could be months. But they may add to the monthly thing, just not sure. Maybe someone else can speak to that.