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CGC price changes

Started by KingOfRulers,

119 posts in this topic

SilverRich

SilverRich

Posted
Posted

 

 

I stopped reading this thread after 5 pages, so pardon me if this has been brought up already...

 

 

How far behind will CGC turnaround times fall with the undoubtedly huge amount of submissions in April? :o

 

 

:news: I would say pretty :censored: far behind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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LordRahl

LordRahl

Posted
Posted
CGC's payroll has to be a lot lower since they don't have to pay Steve any longer - and he was by far the most highly paid employee.

 

Raising prices in this economy just doesn't make sense.

 

Really? Why is that? We don't seem to have any lack of record setting prices at auction. I think everyone is really over-estimating how much this will slow submissions. First, it will do nothing to any sub that didn't fall in the 75-80 period. Even within that period, anything that sells for $50+ in 9.4 will still get slabbed. I think the slow down of submissions within that time period will be more than made up for by the price increase.

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SilverRich

SilverRich

Posted
Posted

 

CGC's payroll has to be a lot lower since they don't have to pay Steve any longer - and he was by far the most highly paid employee.

 

 

Yeah, but you neglect to factor in that they grade all of his books for free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:jokealert:

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

Posted
Posted

 

I also don't entirely buy "prices have to go up." Actually, we're in a deflationary period. Rents and real estate prices in Sarasota have gone down. Wages have gone down (from last year at least). And part of the cost in CGC's early years was the learning curve. Actually, they should be doing this sort of work more efficiently and it should be costing them less to do it.

 

(thumbs u

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

Posted
Posted
I agree that the price increase is long overdue.

 

I think it was a mistake to hold off this long on a price increase. Rent, insurance premiums, cost of labor, cost of materials, and other business expenses go up incrementally year over year. Waiting six years for a price increase creates unnecessary pressure on profitability for the company in the intervening years and the resulting jump in service fees will probably cause something of a shock to the customer base until they get accustomed to it.

 

CGC didn't wait 6 years to increase prices, however. Changing the "standard discount" from 20% to 10% was a de facto price increase.

 

If it costs more money to do the same thing, it's a price increase.

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

Posted
Posted
I :luhv: CGC, but the 1975-1979 increase is out of line. :boo:
I dont agree. Financially for them it was a very smart move. How many X-Men have you ubmitted that you had less then $100.00 into and made over $300.00? So the extra $20.00 would REALLY brake you?

 

Factor in the books that are pre-screened out, plus the books that are only $40 slabbed, plus shipping, plus listing, plus plus plus......

 

It's not that easy an answer.

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Old Fashion PB and J

Old Fashion PB and J

Posted
Posted
I :luhv: CGC, but the 1975-1979 increase is out of line. :boo:
I dont agree. Financially for them it was a very smart move. How many X-Men have you ubmitted that you had less then $100.00 into and made over $300.00? So the extra $20.00 would REALLY brake you?

 

Factor in the books that are pre-screened out, plus the books that are only $40 slabbed, plus shipping, plus listing, plus plus plus......

 

It's not that easy an answer.

So still a pretty penny :baiting:

 

And I am trying for the mad rush also. Pulling out as many books as I can afford the next 2 weeks to have them in sarasota before D-Day.

 

And Rich is right. Turn around times are gonna be really effed up.

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THE_BEYONDER

THE_BEYONDER

Posted
Posted

And I am trying for the mad rush also. Pulling out as many books as I can afford the next 2 weeks to have them in sarasota before D-Day.

 

 

Maybe CGC will scrap these proposed increases as soon as their vaults are full. hm

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THE_BEYONDER

THE_BEYONDER

Posted
Posted
They still ahve my books from february. If they havent graded my books from 2 months ago, I dont think they can handle much more

 

They're the sole means of production. You'll wait & you'll like it. :sumo:

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

Posted
Posted
I :luhv: CGC, but the 1975-1979 increase is out of line. :boo:
I dont agree. Financially for them it was a very smart move. How many X-Men have you ubmitted that you had less then $100.00 into and made over $300.00? So the extra $20.00 would REALLY brake you?

 

Factor in the books that are pre-screened out, plus the books that are only $40 slabbed, plus shipping, plus listing, plus plus plus......

 

It's not that easy an answer.

So still a pretty penny :baiting:

 

I actually had a customer service rep tell me that "you will be making more than we're charging, so what's your problem?" when complaining about a tier bump.

 

I will?

 

Does everyone submitting books plan on selling them?

 

And if they don't....?

 

And...let's get real, here, "jealousy" over what "others are making" is one of the reasons we're on this crazy rollercoaster economy in the first place. It doesn't matter what others are "making", because there are significant costs that are never discussed every time a "record breaking auction price" is reported.

 

How many losses did that dealer/collector have to take before he/she got that record breaking price?

 

How many books that used to sell for, say, $500 in 9.8, and are now selling for $75, is one stuck with? And how many books that used to sell for, say, $50 in 9.8 are now selling for $10?

 

How many sellers don't have ANY of those "record breaking price" books to sell in the first place?

 

Pricing a service based on the aftermarket value of an item, in a market that is as unpredictable as any other speculative market, justifying those prices based on "past sales" is silly to the extreme. That would be like a stock broker charging for stock trades based on the value of the stock being traded on yesterdays NYSE. Yes, I know some do it...but they have suckers for customers, and there are other options.

 

And do I thank you, CGC, for letting me voice that opinion on your board.

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Mio

Mio

Posted
Posted
I agree that the price increase is long overdue.

 

I think it was a mistake to hold off this long on a price increase. Rent, insurance premiums, cost of labor, cost of materials, and other business expenses go up incrementally year over year. Waiting six years for a price increase creates unnecessary pressure on profitability for the company in the intervening years and the resulting jump in service fees will probably cause something of a shock to the customer base until they get accustomed to it.

 

CGC didn't wait 6 years to increase prices, however. Changing the "standard discount" from 20% to 10% was a de facto price increase.

 

If it costs more money to do the same thing, it's a price increase.

 

Yes,see my earlier post. The standard tier has effectively gone up 24% in just over a year. That' pretty stiff. But at their current prices, they're apparently swamped with work. Maybe they really want to keep volume under control and work at higher margins.

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Old Fashion PB and J

Old Fashion PB and J

Posted
Posted
I :luhv: CGC, but the 1975-1979 increase is out of line. :boo:
I dont agree. Financially for them it was a very smart move. How many X-Men have you ubmitted that you had less then $100.00 into and made over $300.00? So the extra $20.00 would REALLY brake you?

 

Factor in the books that are pre-screened out, plus the books that are only $40 slabbed, plus shipping, plus listing, plus plus plus......

 

It's not that easy an answer.

So still a pretty penny :baiting:

 

I actually had a customer service rep tell me that "you will be making more than we're charging, so what's your problem?" when complaining about a tier bump.

 

I will?

 

Does everyone submitting books plan on selling them?

 

And if they don't....?

 

And...let's get real, here, "jealousy" over what "others are making" is one of the reasons we're on this crazy rollercoaster economy in the first place. It doesn't matter what others are "making", because there are significant costs that are never discussed every time a "record breaking auction price" is reported.

 

How many losses did that dealer/collector have to take before he/she got that record breaking price?

 

How many books that used to sell for, say, $500 in 9.8, and are now selling for $75, is one stuck with? And how many books that used to sell for, say, $50 in 9.8 are now selling for $10?

 

How many sellers don't have ANY of those "record breaking price" books to sell in the first place?

 

Pricing a service based on the aftermarket value of an item, in a market that is as unpredictable as any other speculative market, justifying those prices based on "past sales" is silly to the extreme. That would be like a stock broker charging for stock trades based on the value of the stock being traded on yesterdays NYSE. Yes, I know some do it...but they have suckers for customers, and there are other options.

 

And do I thank you, CGC, for letting me voice that opinion on your board.

 

Most slabs I buy are for myself, but not all. Paying "record breaking prices" is not something I take part in, it is bad for the hobby and I dont support this aspect. People get stuck with the hot potato, I have stated this so many times it should be in my sig line. If you dont know how to grade, then you are likely to get some turds in your submissions. I grade books as tight as I think possible, HOPEFULLY leaving a slightly lower margin of error. And I dont know why they feel it necessary to raise the prices, but they do.

 

And my original response to SOT (my friend John) was as usual me busting his chops. He does well with the books he slabs, good for him. I am glad he is a tight enough grader and finds sweet deals on books. So realistically me busting his chops should not have evolved to this conversation.

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