London Super Comic Con - submission abandoned posted by SREW

[CSJournals-migration]

No insurance for shipping CGC books internationally

 

I was delighted to hear that CGC would be at the London Super Comic Con this past weekend. As an eager Collector's Society member I had a coupon for four standard books in hand and spent a month figuring out the best books from my collection to submit. I settled on some gems such as Tales to Astonish #44, Batman #232, and a VG Tales to Astonish #13, one of my prized books! So then I read online, just before the show, that CGC does not offer insurance on international shipping, and uses Fedex which only insures for up to $100 per shipment, basically the paper cost of the comic. Surely CGC wouldn't do this! How could you submit expensive comics and then not have them insured for the return journey to Britain? I decided to check with CGC before carrying my best books to the Excel Centre, home of the show. So on Saturday I went to the CGC desk and duly asked and the first person I spoke to said of course books were fully insured. And I quote, "otherwise what's the point, right?" I agreed and left reassured.

 

But later in the day I decided to double check and went back to the CGC desk and asked a different person there. This time they explained that no, CGC does NOT insure international shipments and I would have to arrange third-party insurance. I could open a Fedex account and then arrange with an insurer to cover the books when they shipped. As I only had Saturday evening to do this, with no idea about who a reliable insurer might be, I decided the best thing would be to abandon my submission -- I didn't want to lose Groot or the opportunity to buy him back if he was lost. So in the end, because I wanted to use the coupon, I submitted four books that if they get lost in the mail it won't be the end of the world. But I hope they don't get lost or damaged.

 

CGC said it's too expensive for them to offer international shipment insurance. Yet when I asked various dealers and auction houses and others present at the convention if they offer international insurance, they all said yes, they do. It is common practice, it appears, for dealers to offer full insurance on packages sent from the US to the UK. So I'm bemused, disappointed, and slightly annoyed that CGC managed to overlook what I would think is a no-brainer. If you want to build a market in Europe, make it as easy as possible for your customers to use your services. Having to get Fedex accounts and take out insurance policies with some unknown entity put me off making this submission and it is not going to inspire me to make any CGC submissions again any time soon. I can only end by saying I heard that several other people had not submitted at LSCC because of this problem. I wonder if others submitted without realizing their books are not insured? I'd like CGC to be huge in Europe, so I hope they can take account of this experience and change the arrangements.

 

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[Niro]

Wonder how CGC thinks that all the international based facilitators send in their submissions, surely they must know that they will obviously be insured.

 

It's either an oversight (a big one at that) or laziness on the part of CGC.

 

I went through a UK based facilitator (Scotts Collectables) set up at the show for my submissions. Fully insured and with a good shipping price.

[Rune]

FedEx is your insurance

 

Guess I've had more than 100 FedEx packages delivered from US to Scandinavia, always perfect

 

If a private US seller ships using FedEx, shipping costs about $200 per package with up to 3 or 4 CGC books, but the CGC, CLink and CConnect can do the same for about $50 - $60 per package (FedEx is so much cheaper for companies).

 

FedEx is like transporting your books in a bulletproof case

 

USPS, Royal mail UK -

 

I would never use anything but FedEx when shipping expensive art or books. USPS (Priority) and Royal mail (Signed) are ok for the inexpensive stuff I can bear to lose.

 

CLink, Romitaman, HA, CConnect etc. use FedEx as the only choice too when shipping internationally - I see that as a great thing (and have to ask Doug at Pedigreecomics to do the same, although he prefers to only use FedEx for $25k+ books, still I would not like to ship any $1k+ book with USPS, insured or not)

[Comicshrine]

Great point about CGC and insurance to Europe, I wonder how many people don't know that. I also use Scott's Collectables, great service and comparable prices.

[1950's war comics]

Me thinks the ever increasing turnaround times gives us a clue that CGC is doing all the business they need and want....they don't need anymore business , the owners and employees are living the lifestyle they want and are working the hours they choose, everyone should be so fortunate to work for a company like CGC, not all companies care to expand. it does stink for those comic collectors overseas but you cannot blame CGC at all, its their company its in the USA and they run it like they want.

[Brittany M.]

The reason CGC didn't offer insurance for international shipments was because we were using Fedex, not because it was too expensive. Maybe there was a misunderstanding when you asked at the CGC booth? We told anyone who needed to have their book insured on the return shipment, to go to Scott's Collectibles. They are a great dealer and were offering insured return shipping on their own FedEx account. The kind of insurance that FedEx offers, will not cover the fair market value of the book, they will only replace comparable items. For instance, if your books were lost in transit, FedEx would pay for the paper the books were made from, the ink that was used to print it etc. You couldn't get back what you actually insured it for.

 

CGC uses FedEx everyday, domestically and internationally. They are great for international shipments.

 

Return shipping is the responsibility and the choice of the submitter. Fedex covers $100 per package. This is the reason why people who have their own FedEx account number have third part insurance that is attached to their accounts.

 

It was not an oversight, it was our standard shipping procedure, that we have been using since the company's inception, and other options were available, such as third party insurance, using your own shipping account, or going through Scott's Collectibles. Also this wasn't just for international shipments FedEx only covers up to $100 in collectibles no matter where they ship to, even in the states.