CGC Update

[Bill1]

I am on verified 12 business days in with my coupons, first submission. Probably will be my last if everything I read here is correct. It should never take more than 3 weeks turn around, and as it seems to take months and months, I will just buy what I want that is already slabbed, and let someone else go through all the waiting. Too bad, but maybe when CGC gets their service running properly I will submit again.

 

What are you actually complaining about here? Your books aren't due yet, and seeing that the coupons are pretty close to being on time, they'll most likely be graded shortly :shrug:

 

Not complaining-- just saying if everything everyone writes on here is accurate, I won't submit again. Many of you are waiting 3 to 6 months for submissions, and that is ridiculous. As I said in an earlier post, you can have a new car built for you and delivered to you in 3-6 weeks!

[Robert Doggett]

I am on verified 12 business days in with my coupons, first submission. Probably will be my last if everything I read here is correct. It should never take more than 3 weeks turn around, and as it seems to take months and months, I will just buy what I want that is already slabbed, and let someone else go through all the waiting. Too bad, but maybe when CGC gets their service running properly I will submit again.

 

What are you actually complaining about here? Your books aren't due yet, and seeing that the coupons are pretty close to being on time, they'll most likely be graded shortly :shrug:

 

Not complaining-- just saying if everything everyone writes on here is accurate, I won't submit again. Many of you are waiting 3 to 6 months for submissions, and that is ridiculous. As I said in an earlier post, you can have a new car built for you and delivered to you in 3-6 weeks!

 

I didn't see a complaint here either.

[Wayne Enterprises]

I don't rush books that I'm not planning to sell. I already know CGC has long wait times so I just plan ahead. Books that are going to be sold or that I really want quickly gets fast tracked. Everything else I can wait for while CGC grades it. Why rush something you're just going to put in a drawer/closet?

[Speedy-D]

I don't rush books that I'm not planning to sell. I already know CGC has long wait times so I just plan ahead. Books that are going to be sold or that I really want quickly gets fast tracked. Everything else I can wait for while CGC grades it. Why rush grade something you're just going to put in a drawer/closet?

fixed

[mschmidt]

I am on verified 12 business days in with my coupons, first submission. Probably will be my last if everything I read here is correct. It should never take more than 3 weeks turn around, and as it seems to take months and months, I will just buy what I want that is already slabbed, and let someone else go through all the waiting. Too bad, but maybe when CGC gets their service running properly I will submit again.

 

What are you actually complaining about here? Your books aren't due yet, and seeing that the coupons are pretty close to being on time, they'll most likely be graded shortly :shrug:

 

Not complaining-- just saying if everything everyone writes on here is accurate, I won't submit again. Many of you are waiting 3 to 6 months for submissions, and that is ridiculous. As I said in an earlier post, you can have a new car built for you and delivered to you in 3-6 weeks!

 

Even if the cheapest tiers were actually on track, you'd still be waiting about 2 1/2 months to get your books back - it doesn't really make any sense to claim that it should "never take more than 3 weeks turn around" or equate comic book grading with car manufacturing.

[Shark]

CGC is enjoying being the fat cats of the grading world right now. But believe me, unless they eventually do something about getting their turnaround times down significantly, it will come back to haunt them. It's happened many times before with other companies and it will happen again. Mark my words.

[MatterEaterLad]

I would assume someone in CGC keeps metrics on quality (mislabeled), quantity (books in/out), and muda (waste). All of these charted out will tell management what needs to be adjusted and what can be cut.

 

Speaking of quality. In the last month I've received 298 graded books. 11 had label errors. That's 1 of every 27 (at least for my books) with a screw-up.

 

There's obviously a human keying in this info. It's easy to catch an errant date/title/etc...but what about the numeric grade? What if it's an 8.0 and it's late on a Friday and they key in a 6.0? Do clerical errors account for the variance in grading and the changes in grade upon resub?

 

Is this good? Bad? Discuss...

[Bill1]

I am on verified 12 business days in with my coupons, first submission. Probably will be my last if everything I read here is correct. It should never take more than 3 weeks turn around, and as it seems to take months and months, I will just buy what I want that is already slabbed, and let someone else go through all the waiting. Too bad, but maybe when CGC gets their service running properly I will submit again.

 

What are you actually complaining about here? Your books aren't due yet, and seeing that the coupons are pretty close to being on time, they'll most likely be graded shortly :shrug:

 

Not complaining-- just saying if everything everyone writes on here is accurate, I won't submit again. Many of you are waiting 3 to 6 months for submissions, and that is ridiculous. As I said in an earlier post, you can have a new car built for you and delivered to you in 3-6 weeks!

 

Even if the cheapest tiers were actually on track, you'd still be waiting about 2 1/2 months to get your books back - it doesn't really make any sense to claim that it should "never take more than 3 weeks turn around" or equate comic book grading with car manufacturing.

 

I disagree. How long does it take to look at every page of a comic book? I doubt they spend 30 minutes total on everything they do to a submission, from unpacking to repacking for shipping. If that truly takes them months to get done, then they are very poorly staffed and/or managed. And if you are that far behind? Hire and train more staff-- takes a few months to do that?? Then it should have been fixed months ago. If someone was doing this in their garage, ok, I understand. But CGC takes the position that they are the professionals in this industry, and the best there is. What I read about on here does not reflect that.

 

If they really want to fix it, they should stop accepting submissions right now, until they are completely caught up and retrained/retooled to handle the business that is clearly out there. Otherwise, they are just taking the attitude that they simply don't care about the customer, and too bad if you don't like it.

 

[Tony S]

I am on verified 12 business days in with my coupons, first submission. Probably will be my last if everything I read here is correct. It should never take more than 3 weeks turn around, and as it seems to take months and months, I will just buy what I want that is already slabbed, and let someone else go through all the waiting. Too bad, but maybe when CGC gets their service running properly I will submit again.

 

What are you actually complaining about here? Your books aren't due yet, and seeing that the coupons are pretty close to being on time, they'll most likely be graded shortly :shrug:

 

Not complaining-- just saying if everything everyone writes on here is accurate, I won't submit again. Many of you are waiting 3 to 6 months for submissions, and that is ridiculous. As I said in an earlier post, you can have a new car built for you and delivered to you in 3-6 weeks!

 

Even if the cheapest tiers were actually on track, you'd still be waiting about 2 1/2 months to get your books back - it doesn't really make any sense to claim that it should "never take more than 3 weeks turn around" or equate comic book grading with car manufacturing.

 

If modern regular submissions were on time, then that tier - which is probably the the largest single tier of CGC's work - would be 4-5 weeks, not 2 1/2 months.

 

However, the CIS coupon submissions are probably going to be on time, as are all the Fast track and more expensive tiers. My FT submissions have all been close to on time. They are consistently graded within the time frame, though it can take several more days to move to shipped.

 

If books aren't worth enough to justify fast tracking I just don't send them in. If it is over the value limit for the tiers you can FT (Modern, Value and Economy) then those tiers are on time.

[oakman29]

I am on verified 12 business days in with my coupons, first submission. Probably will be my last if everything I read here is correct. It should never take more than 3 weeks turn around, and as it seems to take months and months, I will just buy what I want that is already slabbed, and let someone else go through all the waiting. Too bad, but maybe when CGC gets their service running properly I will submit again.

 

What are you actually complaining about here? Your books aren't due yet, and seeing that the coupons are pretty close to being on time, they'll most likely be graded shortly :shrug:

 

Not complaining-- just saying if everything everyone writes on here is accurate, I won't submit again. Many of you are waiting 3 to 6 months for submissions, and that is ridiculous. As I said in an earlier post, you can have a new car built for you and delivered to you in 3-6 weeks!

 

Even if the cheapest tiers were actually on track, you'd still be waiting about 2 1/2 months to get your books back - it doesn't really make any sense to claim that it should "never take more than 3 weeks turn around" or equate comic book grading with car manufacturing.

 

I disagree. How long does it take to look at every page of a comic book? I doubt they spend 30 minutes total on everything they do to a submission, from unpacking to repacking for shipping. If that truly takes them months to get done, then they are very poorly staffed and/or managed. And if you are that far behind? Hire and train more staff-- takes a few months to do that?? Then it should have been fixed months ago. If someone was doing this in their garage, ok, I understand. But CGC takes the position that they are the professionals in this industry, and the best there is. What I read about on here does not reflect that.

 

If they really want to fix it, they should stop accepting submissions right now, until they are completely caught up and retrained/retooled to handle the business that is clearly out there. Otherwise, they are just taking the attitude that they simply don't care about the customer, and too bad if you don't like it.

If you were in a business would you stop production to get caught up? I think not! You have employees that need to be paid,you just can't completely cut off your revenue stream.I have said this before a couple of years ago,that they should have a West Coast Branch as well as an East Coast Branch to keep up with the ever expanding demands.

[Tony S]

I am on verified 12 business days in with my coupons, first submission. Probably will be my last if everything I read here is correct. It should never take more than 3 weeks turn around, and as it seems to take months and months, I will just buy what I want that is already slabbed, and let someone else go through all the waiting. Too bad, but maybe when CGC gets their service running properly I will submit again.

 

What are you actually complaining about here? Your books aren't due yet, and seeing that the coupons are pretty close to being on time, they'll most likely be graded shortly :shrug:

 

Not complaining-- just saying if everything everyone writes on here is accurate, I won't submit again. Many of you are waiting 3 to 6 months for submissions, and that is ridiculous. As I said in an earlier post, you can have a new car built for you and delivered to you in 3-6 weeks!

 

Even if the cheapest tiers were actually on track, you'd still be waiting about 2 1/2 months to get your books back - it doesn't really make any sense to claim that it should "never take more than 3 weeks turn around" or equate comic book grading with car manufacturing.

 

I disagree. How long does it take to look at every page of a comic book? I doubt they spend 30 minutes total on everything they do to a submission, from unpacking to repacking for shipping. If that truly takes them months to get done, then they are very poorly staffed and/or managed. And if you are that far behind? Hire and train more staff-- takes a few months to do that?? Then it should have been fixed months ago. If someone was doing this in their garage, ok, I understand. But CGC takes the position that they are the professionals in this industry, and the best there is. What I read about on here does not reflect that.

 

If they really want to fix it, they should stop accepting submissions right now, until they are completely caught up and retrained/retooled to handle the business that is clearly out there. Otherwise, they are just taking the attitude that they simply don't care about the customer, and too bad if you don't like it.

If you were in a business would you stop production to get caught up? I think not! You have employees that need to be paid,you just can't completely cut off your revenue stream.I have said this before a couple of years ago,that they should have a West Coast Branch as well as an East Coast Branch to keep up with the ever expanding demands.

 

Certainly expansion would seem justified. Wouldn't it be just as sensible to expand where they are at? Everything still under one roof so to speak. I can easily imagine lots of specualtion and comparison of grades from the two different branches. And unlike many businesses where the available labor pool is an issue, I believe there are plenty of hobbyists that would relocate for a job at CGC. Unless the pay is low.

 

A cynic might believe that the current enviroment maximizes their revenue. Many people, myself included, have moved most of their grading invoices to faster services. Which costs more money. Grade the same books - make more money. Furthermore, In the absence of a serious, well respected competitor, they don't appear to be losing much in the way of business.

[mschmidt]

I am on verified 12 business days in with my coupons, first submission. Probably will be my last if everything I read here is correct. It should never take more than 3 weeks turn around, and as it seems to take months and months, I will just buy what I want that is already slabbed, and let someone else go through all the waiting. Too bad, but maybe when CGC gets their service running properly I will submit again.

 

What are you actually complaining about here? Your books aren't due yet, and seeing that the coupons are pretty close to being on time, they'll most likely be graded shortly :shrug:

 

Not complaining-- just saying if everything everyone writes on here is accurate, I won't submit again. Many of you are waiting 3 to 6 months for submissions, and that is ridiculous. As I said in an earlier post, you can have a new car built for you and delivered to you in 3-6 weeks!

 

Even if the cheapest tiers were actually on track, you'd still be waiting about 2 1/2 months to get your books back - it doesn't really make any sense to claim that it should "never take more than 3 weeks turn around" or equate comic book grading with car manufacturing.

 

If modern regular submissions were on time, then that tier - which is probably the the largest single tier of CGC's work - would be 4-5 weeks, not 2 1/2 months.

 

I was referring to the Economy/Value tiers - which, according to Bill1, should only take 3 weeks.

[Tony S]

II was referring to the Economy/Value tiers - which, according to Bill1, should only take 3 weeks.

 

OK. Three weeks was never the case. Those tiers were always 40 business days. Which as you point out is more like 2 1/2 months.

 

That said, 2 1/2 months is better than 6 1/2 months....

[Robert Doggett]

I am on verified 12 business days in with my coupons, first submission. Probably will be my last if everything I read here is correct. It should never take more than 3 weeks turn around, and as it seems to take months and months, I will just buy what I want that is already slabbed, and let someone else go through all the waiting. Too bad, but maybe when CGC gets their service running properly I will submit again.

 

What are you actually complaining about here? Your books aren't due yet, and seeing that the coupons are pretty close to being on time, they'll most likely be graded shortly :shrug:

 

Not complaining-- just saying if everything everyone writes on here is accurate, I won't submit again. Many of you are waiting 3 to 6 months for submissions, and that is ridiculous. As I said in an earlier post, you can have a new car built for you and delivered to you in 3-6 weeks!

 

Even if the cheapest tiers were actually on track, you'd still be waiting about 2 1/2 months to get your books back - it doesn't really make any sense to claim that it should "never take more than 3 weeks turn around" or equate comic book grading with car manufacturing.

 

I disagree. How long does it take to look at every page of a comic book? I doubt they spend 30 minutes total on everything they do to a submission, from unpacking to repacking for shipping. If that truly takes them months to get done, then they are very poorly staffed and/or managed. And if you are that far behind? Hire and train more staff-- takes a few months to do that?? Then it should have been fixed months ago. If someone was doing this in their garage, ok, I understand. But CGC takes the position that they are the professionals in this industry, and the best there is. What I read about on here does not reflect that.

 

If they really want to fix it, they should stop accepting submissions right now, until they are completely caught up and retrained/retooled to handle the business that is clearly out there. Otherwise, they are just taking the attitude that they simply don't care about the customer, and too bad if you don't like it.

 

Thank you!! This is the point I've been wanting to make all along!! It is all about the bottom dollar for them and not the customers.

 

 

 

 

[faster friends]

I don't think they will invest in another facility only because who knows how long Modern Comics will continue to be produced.

 

And there is a limited supply of old comics to grade. At some point they may actually slow down.

[Topnotchman]

II was referring to the Economy/Value tiers - which, according to Bill1, should only take 3 weeks.

 

OK. Three weeks was never the case. Those tiers were always 40 business days. Which as you point out is more like 2 1/2 months.

 

That said, 2 1/2 months is better than 6 1/2 months....

 

I remember submitting orders around the first of January 2010 value tier non pre screen, they were graded and shipped back and in my hands by now the middle of February. Moderns were graded in half that, two to three weeks non fast track. Things have changed in the past three years.

[mschmidt]

I am on verified 12 business days in with my coupons, first submission. Probably will be my last if everything I read here is correct. It should never take more than 3 weeks turn around, and as it seems to take months and months, I will just buy what I want that is already slabbed, and let someone else go through all the waiting. Too bad, but maybe when CGC gets their service running properly I will submit again.

 

What are you actually complaining about here? Your books aren't due yet, and seeing that the coupons are pretty close to being on time, they'll most likely be graded shortly :shrug:

 

Not complaining-- just saying if everything everyone writes on here is accurate, I won't submit again. Many of you are waiting 3 to 6 months for submissions, and that is ridiculous. As I said in an earlier post, you can have a new car built for you and delivered to you in 3-6 weeks!

 

Even if the cheapest tiers were actually on track, you'd still be waiting about 2 1/2 months to get your books back - it doesn't really make any sense to claim that it should "never take more than 3 weeks turn around" or equate comic book grading with car manufacturing.

 

I disagree. How long does it take to look at every page of a comic book? I doubt they spend 30 minutes total on everything they do to a submission, from unpacking to repacking for shipping. If that truly takes them months to get done, then they are very poorly staffed and/or managed.

 

If by "poorly" you mean under-staffed, then, yes, that certainly looks to be the case.

 

Your comparisons still don't make sense, though ... CGC can't just hire any schmoe off the street to grade comic books, they require highly skilled labor that isn't easy to find. Yes, throwing money at the issue would solve the problem - if graders were paid high 7 figures, there'd be no backlog.

 

But that's not how a business works - it's always a trade off between what companies can charge for their service to remain competitive (and be profitable) and how fast they can actually perform that service for the money they're charging. How long a book spends in the hands of a CGC employee is completely irrelevant.

[MatterEaterLad]

I don't think they will invest in another facility only because who knows how long Modern Comics will continue to be produced.

 

And there is a limited supply of old comics to grade. At some point they may actually slow down.

 

This is what I keep wondering. How sustainable is their business model when eventually, all the old comics that people want graded will already be slabbed? Seems that at some point they will hit a peak and business will slowly contract.

[Bill1]

"But that's not how a business works - it's always a trade off between what companies can charge for their service to remain competitive (and be profitable) and how fast they can actually perform that service for the money they're charging. How long a book spends in the hands of a CGC employee is completely irrelevant."

 

How could the time it takes to grade be irrelevant? This entire post is about time. And it sounds like they have a mountain of profit waiting to be collected (graded) so they can bill for it. How long it takes is the most relevant thing in this forum!

[Robert Doggett]

I would assume someone in CGC keeps metrics on quality (mislabeled), quantity (books in/out), and muda (waste). All of these charted out will tell management what needs to be adjusted and what can be cut.

 

Speaking of quality. In the last month I've received 298 graded books. 11 had label errors. That's 1 of every 27 (at least for my books) with a screw-up.

 

There's obviously a human keying in this info. It's easy to catch an errant date/title/etc...but what about the numeric grade? What if it's an 8.0 and it's late on a Friday and they key in a 6.0? Do clerical errors account for the variance in grading and the changes in grade upon resub?

 

Is this good? Bad? Discuss...

 

Doug: If someone is keeping tabs in the quality control department, then they need to be fired. Using BH as an example, 3.7% error rate shouldn't be acceptable. This is just for the print on the label. What if he's right and they typo the grade of the book? That could potentially be hundreds of dollars worth of investment gone because of carelessness. This percentage could be higher than the average, but it is an exact figure from BH. At least one customer for one month had these results.

 

How does CGC verify a grade is correct and not a typo? Is it only typed in once and that auto populates all applicable fields in their database?

 

BH: This is bad. If they want to be a professional company, they need to start taking on the responsibility of one. They need to take things a bit more serious because they have grown too fast, too quick and were not prepared for the growth.

 

They need to hire more qualified people, have training sessions on grading to better educate their staff and new hires. It would help to have specific teams of graders like in the NFL with the refs. That way, each team is held accountable for the books they grade.

 

If they're six months behind on books, I don't think they're hurting for money. So that shouldn't be an issue.