PokemanDude90

brb ordering some custom boxes with “EX”written in continuous bold red lettering all over.

You know it. I know it. CGC knows it. Demand will not change at a small increase in price. PSA set the new bar, follow the market leader. Raise the price of Bulk to a competitive range of $12-$16/card and use that extra $ to: Hire an additional mail receiver so Express/Walkthrough submissions aren't sitting for 3 weeks untouched Hire additional graders/improve tech Buy another encapsulation machine which appears to be another bottleneck in the process I really am not trying to be snarky or edgy, this is free advice from a passionate Customer looking in from the outside. Even if I don't know the ins and outs of CGC internally, I can 100% say Bulk is too cheap. Think about what that money can do for your operation, CGC!

It says to write it clearly on the outside of the box. IT DOES NOT SAY "write in sharpie on all sides of the package".... this is something PaulS has told us on here. I got you guys all beat... I have an Express package that was delivered 03/02, with EX written in massive font on the side of it per their instructions, and it hasn't been logged yet. Pretty backed up is an understatement.

Yep, Paul S confirmed it as delivered which is the most important thing. You can shoot him the tracking # and he’ll let you know if it was successfully delivered or not.

You are likely SOL. I had an Express order deliver there on 03/02. I wrote in big font “EX” on the side of the box. It was missed by the sorting team, and it still has yet to be entered into the system, 3 calendar weeks after being delivered. My advice, write “walkthrough” all over the entire box on your next WT shipment.

Bingo. This is basic economics guys, if your lowest grading tier that also yields you the lowest Topline Revenue on a per card basis (Bulk) is causing strain on your entire system, and is causing frustration amongst your biggest proponents (customers) and is also harming you PR-wise due to increased TAT, I can think of at least a few easy solutions to right the ship: Raise the price of Bulk with the goal of forcing your customers do at least some type of cost/benefit analysis before submitting, because at $9/card there is no need to think you just send in literally almost any card to make guaranteed profit Remove Bulk/Economy to create some additional capacity to clear up the backlog (like PSA did w/ their economy tier) effectively making Standard your new lowest tier (for a temporary period) Make sub-grades mandatory, thus making Bulk $16/card which is still lower than PSA and it gives your brand consistency!!! <--- my vote If sub-grades were to be mandatory, and assuming people have a fixed amount of $ to spend on grading, the amount of cards submitted at the Bulk tier would decrease 43% ($9/card vs $16/card on a fixed budget). No brainer in my opinion.

Standard Submission 21 cards w/ sub-grades Received: 02/04/2021 Scheduled For Grading: 03/08/2021 Grading/Quality Control: 03/17/2021

@PaulS. just curious... has a Pristine or Perfect 10 ever been given for this card (Pikachu Vmax 188/185)? If I ever see a Perfect 10 I'm selling off whatever I need to in order to buy it lol.

Yeah the digital scans are tough to see imperfections, my guess would be the corners aren't "round" enough or that top left nick on the front of the card. They are grading this card very tough. I was .5 away from a Gem Mint 9.5 because I got a 9 on centering. One of the few times I disagreed with the grade I got on a card with CGC. https://www.cgccomics.com/certlookup/3764647004/

I wrote EX on the side of the box in very large font. I'm also having people get cards graded that were received after mine for a Standard submission. I am not having a good time right now.

Express order delivered 03/02... still not in system. I think I saw a comment last week saying they were still opening packages received the week of 02/22, but don't quote me on that. To not even be able to open and log EXPRESS orders after 2 weeks of being delivered illustrates the current demand for CGC has to be so off the charts compared to even their most optimistic forecasts. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see a price increase here soon, or for them to just shut off Bulk/Economy for a while to get things more stabilized.

Bunch of comic posters are havin' a giggle on the TCG forum, acting like high school seniors around freshmen. Meanwhile, @mattyzeepgam continues to bait and troll others in hilarious fashion.

I just appreciate greatness when I see it. He even got me in a thread a few days ago saying Bulk was like 60 days or less (when the TAT was 79 per CGC at the time). Dude's a legendary troll.

He's making you think he's sensitive while getting everyone else all in their feelings over his antics. Again... truly remarkable trolling. Once you see it you can't unsee it.

I think quite a few people have been had by a god-tier troll. I can only tip my hat to you out of respect at this point, @mattyzeepgam

Oh wow, CGC is about to drop some draconian speech limiting measures on me for even asking and reopening these old wounds I had no idea is got this bad, jeez. So let's shift gears.... uhhh.... how about CGC being really fair but harsh graders am I right guys? Cheers to being the Pokemon community standard soon! P.S. get your cards in ASAP... stimmies are only going to make the TATs worse in my opinion.

Any insight into what is happening?

Did your submission have sub-grades? Below is my 21 card Standard submission that was received before yours, still in "scheduled for grading". Any info is appreciated, thanks dude. Standard Update: Service: TCG - STANDARD w/ subgrades Received: 2/4/21 Scheduled for Grading: 3/8/21 and still in scheduled for grading

Hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. 111 days for Bulk now. I don't even know if a Bulk price increase will help. Demand is just too high and CGC is well on their way to becoming the Pokemon community standard. Although I think CGC should make sub-grades mandatory (thus making Bulk $16/card), and they should have done so from the beginning. This might deflect some Bulk to competitors or deter some lower tier cards from being graded. It also gives the brand some consistency, and I think long-term sub-grades will be viewed as somewhat mandatory by the community. But what do I know.... the only thing I do know is $9/card is seen as free tendies.

Bulk is at 79 days, what are you talking about? That’s 4 months and the PSA spike hasn’t even been realized yet. It’s okay for us to discuss this stuff openly, we don’t need a forum arbiter always downplaying any constructive discussion on this forum.

I have an Express order that was delivered 03/02 and it's not in the system yet. Tried to warn people that the PSA exodus was going to hit and hit hard.

Happy Friday, everyone. To those of us that occasionally sell cards ("true collector" trigger warning): do sub-grades have almost no value-add in terms of a price premium on the secondary market? Based on all the convos I've had, the consensus was CGC slabs without sub-grades were far less appealing. All I've ever heard is "I won't buy a slab unless it has sub-grades". Turns out I am talking to a bunch of liars because 80%+ of CGC slabs on Ebay sold listings do not have sub-grades, and as far as I can tell there's no real price difference between sub-graded slabs and non sub-graded slabs. It's no wonder people are abusing the $9/bulk tier right now. So I ask the community.... is this just a byproduct of a super hot and inflated market, and in the long-term sub-grades will play a factor in CGC slab value? Or have I just been wasting money on sub-grades? (while grading fewer cards per $ on top of that and now waiting longer as well )

I am getting my final Bulk submission ready to mail out tomorrow, and I am prepared to not get it back this year. The writing is on the wall: CGC's natural exponential growth + the mass exodus from PSA + slabbing any card at $9/card is guaranteed profit + stimulus checks + booming card market = you are going to WISH Bulk was still only 4 months here very shortly. Or you can just keep complaining on here and we can all come back in a month and laugh.

Things are about to get a lot worse. PSA doubled prices, and the general consensus from what I've seen is CGC is the best alternative. I really, really hope CGC can flex their operation to absorb some of this new demand in stride. Time will tell.

Just my two cents here... If the PSA price increase rumors are true.... then CGC Bulk is about to be 6 months+ almost overnight and I'm assuming the other Tiers will suffer as we have already seen. FANTASTIC! I can't wait to wait even longer for my bulk because no-subgrade unlimited Neo Chikoritas are getting slabbed in the thousands at $9/card at an average grade of 7.5. Okay enough salt.... I'm sure a lot of us are kicking ourselves for not sending in 10x the bulk when return times at CGC were basically a calendar month or less lol. The glory days....