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CGC shipping and different tiers of grading. Ouch

Started by comicbookdude2014,

43 posts in this topic

comicbookdude2014

comicbookdude2014

Posted
Posted

Well I learned a valuable lesson about getting my books graded. I mistakenly thought i could get all my books shipped back as one shipment but since I sent in 3 different tiers I ended up paying like 200 dollars in shipping and insurance.

 

The thing that I really don't understand is that I'm suppose to guess the fair market value of books that I don't know the fair market value of, that's the whole reason I'm sending them to CGC in the first place. They should send me an email, text message, or call me to tell me what they graded out as so i can then decide what insurance i need. What if all the comics turn out to be restored and I have totally over estimated the value?

 

Anyways The shipping and insurance to and from CGC is going to gobble up any value your comics have unless you send a bulk amount of comics in any of the lower tiers.

 

Lesson learned the hard way.

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comix4fun

comix4fun

Posted
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If you do any volume with CGC, it pays to have a Fedex Ground account.

 

And an Amex card...I get another 5% cash back on Fed Ex Shipments.

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jaybuck43

jaybuck43

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Hi. Welcome (back?) to the boards!

 

Couple of points you might not be aware of. If you are sending in multiple tiers at once, you can mark on the invoice to mail back with invoice # x (the numbers of the other invoice). If you are mailing in a later shipment, call CGC's customer service and ask them to hold and ship together, they will be glad to.

 

The USPS shipping insurance is based off the number of books you send in and the total value you ascribe to the books. That value is also important for determining tier level (remember Economy can't be worth more than $300, Standard more than $1,000 etc) Write down a low FMV and if it is too low (i.e. if you put down a AF 15 as a FMV of $300) then they will adjust the value to what is closer to FMV. They can adjust up but they won't adjust down, so go low and let them fix it for you.

 

If USPS is too expensive, then go on FEDEX.com and create your own account and get insurance added. Then provide your account number and CGC will autogenerate a label from your account and you will be billed directly, for cost, by Fedex.

 

Hope that helps.

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comicbookdude2014

comicbookdude2014

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Write down a low FMV and if it is too low (i.e. if you put down a AF 15 as a FMV of $300) then they will adjust the value to what is closer to FMV

 

What if they lose or destroy that comic book? they are going to say hey you said it was only worth $300.

 

 

 

The person I spoke with said they wouldn't hold and ship together that they had to ship them out immediately and cant have comics laying around.

 

the express tier I only had 2 comics

 

Iron man 1

Iron man 55

 

both have no creases, chipping, wrinkles, or dings and have off white to white pages. Iron man 55 looks unread to me. These seem worth the insurance and shipping cost

 

 

The standard tier

 

X-men 4

Daredevil 3

Silver surfer 4

Amazing spiderman 17

 

These all would fall in the range of 7-8 the daredevil 3 might be 8-9 that's why i included it in this tier instead of lower although it is borderline.

 

 

The economy Tier

 

Amazing spiderman 101

the Avengers 9

the Avengers 10

the Avengers 12

 

These are probably all in the range of 8-9

 

So i get my credit card bill and its for $443 which is really $553 dollars because the standard tier I used my coupon for 4 free standard for the $100 sign up fee.

 

Anyways the lower tiers just arent worth it unless you have tons of comics and not being able to combine all my shipments into one order killed me.

 

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slym2none

slym2none

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not being able to combine all my shipments into one order killed me.

 

But you are able to combine shipping. Yes, you have to ask... so did you? If not, don't make it sound like it is the CGC's fault.

 

 

 

-slym

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comicbookdude2014

comicbookdude2014

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Like I previously stated I called them and they said they would not combine orders of different tiers because of the different turnaround times and they didn't want to have comic books laying around their warehouse waiting for the slower tier order to be be finished.

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jaybuck43

jaybuck43

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Who did you speak with? Brittany has always been more than willing to hold books for me. Heck they have an option of "Hold for Pickup" which has no return date requirement so I highly doubt they have an issue holding books for a long period of time.

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stanley1883

stanley1883

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I was gonna start a new thread but though better of it.

 

I was wondering if anyone ever had an issue with return shipping from a lost or damaged shipment standpoint? UPS seems to be the most cost effective but the insurance is barely worth mentioning. I understand Fedex would be the way to go for bulk order from people who submit on a consistent basis based on the previous posts.

 

Based upon your experience and opinion, would you recommend USPS for the "regular" person? I mean someone who doesn't submit in bulk (less than 10) and maybe submits only a handful of times a year/max. Is the money saved via UPS worth the risk of damage or losing a shipment?

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slym2none

slym2none

Posted
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Like I previously stated I called them and they said they would not combine orders of different tiers because of the different turnaround times and they didn't want to have comic books laying around their warehouse waiting for the slower tier order to be be finished.

 

Call again and make sure not to speak to the same person. They will hold different invoices for one combined shipment. Even if its too late for this time, I'd still call again.

 

 

 

-slym

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apollobuzz

apollobuzz

Posted
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Like I previously stated I called them and they said they would not combine orders of different tiers because of the different turnaround times and they didn't want to have comic books laying around their warehouse waiting for the slower tier order to be be finished.

 

Call again and make sure not to speak to the same person. They will hold different invoices for one combined shipment. Even if its too late for this time, I'd still call again.

 

 

 

-slym

Good to know. I had the same issue as the OP when I sent a single book in the Standard tier and about 20 books in the Economy tier several years ago. The customer service rep told me that they couldn't hold the Standard tier book (ASM #129) in the vault that long. If I would have known in advance, I would have held the book to submit with others within the same tier at a later date to spread the shipping costs. Sounds like if I would have talked to someone else or asked to talk to a manager, I could have had the book held. doh!

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Tony S

Tony S

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My experience on combined shipping is that in fact it does depend on who you ask. The website says they don't combine shipping of tiers with different turn around dates. But if you ask my experience is they will say yes. If you don't ask and just mark the invoices for combined shipping they will typically combine.

 

With both FedEx and UPS, it's important to note you have to arrange your own private insurance if you want insurance coverage. CGC does not declare a value on UPS and FedEx shipments. So the amount they are covered by either shipper is a max of $100. Private shipping insurance is something you have to arrange ahead of time. I believe there is a site or two where you can purchase insurance on a specific shipment (that is one time) at the time of shipping. Otherwise, most people with private cartage policies have them as riders on the insurance for their collection or in the case of dealers their inventory.

 

OP, welcome to the boards

 

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Wall-Crawler

Wall-Crawler

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I was thinking of signing up for the Premium Membership...I have been subbing through an authorized CGC dealer. As I am in Canada, I asked about shipping. Here is the reply:

 

"We only ship via FedEx internationally and that will only cover $100 of liability Insurance. It is $60 for 1-10 books, $75 for 11-20 & $90 for 21-30. Please note that this applies per invoice up to a max of 30 books. If you have multiple invoices, different tiers of service for instance, they will each ship individually."

 

 

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slym2none

slym2none

Posted
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I was thinking of signing up for the Premium Membership...I have been subbing through an authorized CGC dealer. As I am in Canada, I asked about shipping. Here is the reply:

 

"We only ship via FedEx internationally and that will only cover $100 of liability Insurance. It is $60 for 1-10 books, $75 for 11-20 & $90 for 21-30. Please note that this applies per invoice up to a max of 30 books. If you have multiple invoices, different tiers of service for instance, they will each ship individually."

 

 

Damn.

 

I think I'd still call first, but if that is the case, that sucks. Sorry...

 

 

 

-slym

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