How is CGC possibly this busy??

[RockMyAmadeus]

It's really too bad that the market places such a ridiculous price emphasis on such little differences in physical preservation levels.

 

It's also really too bad that CGC refuses to give in to the far-more-than-obvious market need for 9.1, 9.3, 9.5, and 9.7 grades.

 

It would make things a lot easier.

[makeminemego]

And from my last experience. CGC is in a tight phase.

They are in a very tight phase.

 

Wish they'd loosen it back up a bit.

 

But the last 6 months have been a GREAT time to be a buyer of new slabs.

 

THIS.

 

Not to paint with too broad of a stroke, but it's like they're cranking out the books with 091-097 serial numbers right now, at least from what I can tell. Buyer's market for these fresh slabs, for sure.

[427Impaler]

I think more people would be less disturbed about the extended TAT if CGC offered some sort of refund or coupon for when they cant deliver.

For instance I have recently paid $95 for 2 books to go Express, thats 5 working days til graded. Well its past that and now theoretically my books have gone into the Standard service, well thats what I am getting now and thats a $60 service. I'm upset for paying and/or not knowing my grades. Now if I was to get a refund of $35 per book, now I am happy again. See how that works?

There are many business in the world who pride themselves on customer satisfaction and a high percentage would offer this discount or extend a coupon/discount for future purchases. CGC just continues to take our money, fall short on promises, and has nothing to say and I assume they dont care either.

 

This makes great business sense. I doubt we will see it happen but what a great way to show your concern for your customers satisfaction.

 

Lots of great info in this thread and obviously lots of business management people chiming in. This is a real issue when a company sets out with a service goal in mind and due to growth has to double or triple their original wait times. It was said at one point there is no need to increase their workforce or expand as there is no motivation reason to do so. I disagree as there is two major motivational reasons to do so:

 

INCREASED PROFIT AND CUSTOMER RETENTION

 

Take my meager submission for instance, I am at four months waiting time currently and there were no apologies given when I inquired as to how much longer I was going to be waiting. IF my submission was graded and returned in the companies goal TAT I would have sent in a lot more books in this extended time frame. That equals more profit for the company.

 

Instead I wait for my books and question whether: I want to go through this waiting game again, pay more for faster TAT, or (the worst option for CGC) experiment with another grading company. As a company there are better things I would want my customer considering, like loyalty, quality of service, and referrals.

 

Just to be clear this is not a bash of CGC, I literally want CGC to own the grading market. It is better for the industry and they have the biggest stake and rep to build on. If not and things continue to slide then someone steps up to pick up the slack (already happening), and then someone else, and so on. We end up with too many grading companies (if not already), and we get the whole "I'll only buy slabs from this company because they grade tight" and "I'll only submit to this company because they grade loose" scenario. This weakens the whole idea of professional grading IMHO.

 

The solution seems simple enough, CGC needs to expand (internally or externally) or restructure. Quicker TAT should equal more submissions, and fewer people experimenting with other companies, all of which should result in guess what - more growth. Customer service is good but still needs a boost, if it were up to me I would be including a "thanks for your patience" note attached to a discount coupon for customers next submission to everyone beyond a reasonable TAT for starters.

 

A long winded post, if you made it this far thanks for your patience .

[Sqeggs]

 

Take my meager submission for instance, I am at four months waiting time currently and there were no apologies given when I inquired as to how much longer I was going to be waiting. IF my submission was graded and returned in the companies goal TAT I would have sent in a lot more books in this extended time frame. That equals more profit for the company.

 

It would equal more revenue. Whether it would also equal more profit depends on the costs CGC would incur to reduce their TATs to match those advertised.

 

We have to assume that they've carefully thought all this through. One thing they may be taking into account is that this may not be a good time to take on the added expense of hiring new workers and buying additional encapsulation machines. I suppose there is also the question of whether their current building has sufficient room to house more workers and machines.

 

If they think that they may gradually lose business to the new competition and that the frenzied grading of MA books may eventually cool down, then perhaps their best course is just to ride out the current period as best they can.

[Comicdey]

And from my last experience. CGC is in a tight phase.

They are in a very tight phase.

 

Wish they'd loosen it back up a bit.

 

But the last 6 months have been a GREAT time to be a buyer of new slabs.

 

Agreed 100%. Tough grading right now.

 

I submitted a bunch and they are easily 1-2 steps better than the grade based upon my knowledge of CGC grading. Seriously perfect books coming back 9.4 and below. Also seems like they are hammering production flaws now more than ever. That doesn't really bother me but the inconsistency does.

 

 

Reminds me of when I submitted to PGA before all the knowledge about them was available and before their current incarnation as PGX. Every book I submitted was graded tight and I resubbed most to CGC for a more accurate grade. 8.5'a to 9.4's etc. now all the books being tightly graded will be resub candidates when CGC grades come back to the norms. I hate loose graded slabs. But overly tight is wrong too.

 

 

 

[Comicdey]

And from my last experience. CGC is in a tight phase.

They are in a very tight phase.

 

Wish they'd loosen it back up a bit.

 

But the last 6 months have been a GREAT time to be a buyer of new slabs.

 

THIS.

 

Not to paint with too broad of a stroke, but it's like they're cranking out the books with 091-097 serial numbers right now, at least from what I can tell. Buyer's market for these fresh slabs, for sure.

 

Guess I need to buy by cert date. I probably shouldn't sell any I've had slabbed recently. It's tough to sell a book when you know you've got a 9.6-9.8 OO book and its in a 9.4 slab or lower.

 

 

[427Impaler]

 

Take my meager submission for instance, I am at four months waiting time currently and there were no apologies given when I inquired as to how much longer I was going to be waiting. IF my submission was graded and returned in the companies goal TAT I would have sent in a lot more books in this extended time frame. That equals more profit for the company.

 

It would equal more revenue. Whether it would also equal more profit depends on the costs CGC would incur to reduce their TATs to match those advertised.

 

We have to assume that they've carefully thought all this through. One thing they may be taking into account is that this may not be a good time to take on the added expense of hiring new workers and buying additional encapsulation machines. I suppose there is also the question of whether their current building has sufficient room to house more workers and machines.

 

If they think that they may gradually lose business to the new competition and that the frenzied grading of MA books may eventually cool down, then perhaps their best course is just to ride out the current period as best they can.

 

Great post and I agree with everything you have said, it may in fact be that CGC considers this a "bubble" and will wait it out and weather the storm. I really hope their analytics are correct if this is true,

 

Fortunately there is no other company offering better TATs right now, that would spell trouble

 

 

 

[lou_fine]

Have you seen what people are subbing? I understand that what I collect isn't better than what you collect but why are you subbing last week's modern book in an 8.5-9.0 I am sorry but why?

More and more collectors are subbing books more so now than ever, which means that everything is slowing down.

 

I was really hoping a new game in town would speed things up but until they can cut down their TAT's (which they can't...they have added +20 days since con season) it won't cut down here.

 

I don't see people post too many turds on the forums, but when I see some of the stuff people post on various other sites, all I can think is : "why on earth would you grade that?". Of course, many of them are the ones that wonder why TAT's are behind (not you, KPR).

 

7.5 Copper X-books, 9.0 McSpidey ASM, 1:10 variant of the month 9.4, etc...

 

The money I see wasted on slab fees by some people boggles my mind.

 

Well, I assume they must be doing something with their slabbed books though.

 

From the local conventions which I have gone to, nobody really even bothers to pull a slabbed book out of a box to take a look at it, let alone actually buy one. All of the buying and selling seems to be with the raw books only.

[TheLiamSturgess]

Have you seen what people are subbing? I understand that what I collect isn't better than what you collect but why are you subbing last week's modern book in an 8.5-9.0 I am sorry but why?

More and more collectors are subbing books more so now than ever, which means that everything is slowing down.

 

I was really hoping a new game in town would speed things up but until they can cut down their TAT's (which they can't...they have added +20 days since con season) it won't cut down here.

 

I don't see people post too many turds on the forums, but when I see some of the stuff people post on various other sites, all I can think is : "why on earth would you grade that?". Of course, many of them are the ones that wonder why TAT's are behind (not you, KPR).

 

7.5 Copper X-books, 9.0 McSpidey ASM, 1:10 variant of the month 9.4, etc...

 

The money I see wasted on slab fees by some people boggles my mind.

 

Well, I assume they must be doing something with their slabbed books though.

 

From the local conventions which I have gone to, nobody really even bothers to pull a slabbed book out of a box to take a look at it, let alone actually buy one. All of the buying and selling seems to be with the raw books only.

 

Yes, I think that's specific to small shows because the big deal buyers tend towards the major cons - even though there are excellent graded books (or not so excellent), there's almost a guarantee that the books they want are at the big shows. The smaller shows are more for readers and superhunters who tend to want to gamble with raw books.

[Comicdey]

And from my last experience. CGC is in a tight phase.

They are in a very tight phase.

 

Wish they'd loosen it back up a bit.

 

But the last 6 months have been a GREAT time to be a buyer of new slabs.

 

THIS.

 

Not to paint with too broad of a stroke, but it's like they're cranking out the books with 091-097 serial numbers right now, at least from what I can tell. Buyer's market for these fresh slabs, for sure.

 

Guess I need to buy by cert date. I probably shouldn't sell any I've had slabbed recently. It's tough to sell a book when you know you've got a 9.6-9.8 OO book and its in a 9.4 slab or lower.

 

 

Another sub back and I'm done for a while. Crazy tight grading. I subbed a book that I had subbed back when PGA existed (now PGX). They also started out super tough in high grade. Every book I had re-subbed has come back 1-3 steps higher in a CGC slab. 8.5's to 9.4's with no manipulation or anything.

 

The book this time was my TOS 36 PGA 8.0. A sure 9.0 standard CGC grade. I even owned a CGC 8.0 already and used it as trade fodder for my AF15 as my PGA was obviously nicer. I even had this one pressed and now it resides in a CGC 8.0 slab :: fortunately its just for me and my run

 

Also submitted a few more amazing OO books and 9.4 looks to be cgc's threshold for a while for me?

 

 

Harshness but all with white or w/ow pages

 

Dd 131 9.4

dd168 9.4

sw1 9.2,

tos 36 8.0

im 55 6.0

Im 55 7.5

 

The nostalgic grading contest may be fun this year if only new slabs are used.

 

 

[Bomber-Bob]

And from my last experience. CGC is in a tight phase.

They are in a very tight phase.

 

Wish they'd loosen it back up a bit.

 

But the last 6 months have been a GREAT time to be a buyer of new slabs.

 

Agreed 100%. Tough grading right now.

 

I hate loose graded slabs. But overly tight is wrong too.

 

After a few years of very loose grading, CGC is finally grading the way they used to in the Haspel days. I view it as they are back to where they should be. I view the loose period as an aberration.

Complaining about their tight grading is a very selfish, narrow point of view. Tight grading is good for the buyer, good for the hobby, and ultimately good for CGC = they are putting out a better product.

[Mark 1]

And from my last experience. CGC is in a tight phase.

They are in a very tight phase.

 

Wish they'd loosen it back up a bit.

 

But the last 6 months have been a GREAT time to be a buyer of new slabs.

 

Agreed 100%. Tough grading right now.

 

I hate loose graded slabs. But overly tight is wrong too.

 

After a few years of very loose grading, CGC is finally grading the way they used to in the Haspel days. I view it as they are back to where they should be. I view the loose period as an aberration.

Complaining about their tight grading is a very selfish, narrow point of view. Tight grading is good for the buyer, good for the hobby, and ultimately good for CGC = they are putting out a better product.

 

Yes, this is partially true. Unless they are swinging so far the other way that it's too tight and aren't providing accurate grades. Tight grading is being conservative...but excessively tight grading is just the wrong grade.

[jimjum12]

And from my last experience. CGC is in a tight phase.

They are in a very tight phase.

 

Wish they'd loosen it back up a bit.

 

But the last 6 months have been a GREAT time to be a buyer of new slabs.

 

Agreed 100%. Tough grading right now.

 

I hate loose graded slabs. But overly tight is wrong too.

 

After a few years of very loose grading, CGC is finally grading the way they used to in the Haspel days. I view it as they are back to where they should be. I view the loose period as an aberration.

Complaining about their tight grading is a very selfish, narrow point of view. Tight grading is good for the buyer, good for the hobby, and ultimately good for CGC = they are putting out a better product.

 

Yes, this is partially true. Unless they are swinging so far the other way that it's too tight and aren't providing accurate grades. Tight grading is being conservative...but excessively tight grading is just the wrong grade.

 

..... yes it is. I was discussing this the other day with a friend ..... getting it accurate should be the objective. If either the buyer OR the submitter is bummed by the actual result then the grader has missed the mark. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[Bomber-Bob]

I also think that CGC's tight grading, again a good thing, gives them a competitive edge over the other Florida Grading company. IMO, the other company's product is a bit loose, not terribly loose but not as tight as CGC. The sellers may submit to the other company but eventually they will realize that the buyers will pay more for the CGC product. Eventually, the marketplace will win, CGC will win.

[Prince Namor]

And from my last experience. CGC is in a tight phase.

They are in a very tight phase.

 

Wish they'd loosen it back up a bit.

 

But the last 6 months have been a GREAT time to be a buyer of new slabs.

 

Agreed 100%. Tough grading right now.

 

I hate loose graded slabs. But overly tight is wrong too.

 

After a few years of very loose grading, CGC is finally grading the way they used to in the Haspel days. I view it as they are back to where they should be. I view the loose period as an aberration.

Complaining about their tight grading is a very selfish, narrow point of view. Tight grading is good for the buyer, good for the hobby, and ultimately good for CGC = they are putting out a better product.

 

Maybe, but...

 

I'll take consistency over tight or loose grading any day....put together a standard and stick to it.

 

After 15 years you should be able to submit a book and have a pretty good idea what you're getting back.

[Bomber-Bob]

And from my last experience. CGC is in a tight phase.

They are in a very tight phase.

 

Wish they'd loosen it back up a bit.

 

But the last 6 months have been a GREAT time to be a buyer of new slabs.

 

Agreed 100%. Tough grading right now.

 

I hate loose graded slabs. But overly tight is wrong too.

 

After a few years of very loose grading, CGC is finally grading the way they used to in the Haspel days. I view it as they are back to where they should be. I view the loose period as an aberration.

Complaining about their tight grading is a very selfish, narrow point of view. Tight grading is good for the buyer, good for the hobby, and ultimately good for CGC = they are putting out a better product.

 

Maybe, but...

 

I'll take consistency over tight or loose grading any day....put together a standard and stick to it.

 

After 15 years you should be able to submit a book and have a pretty good idea what you're getting back.

 

I agree but don't forget the personnel, the graders themselves are different than 15 years ago.

I always got the feeling that their 'standards' were not officially documented. Remember the Pawn Stars episode with Greg Reece and Paul Litch. Paul said something like he will evaluate the book and the magic will happen = he will produce a grade. I think this is how it happens.

[Logan510]

And from my last experience. CGC is in a tight phase.

They are in a very tight phase.

 

Wish they'd loosen it back up a bit.

 

But the last 6 months have been a GREAT time to be a buyer of new slabs.

 

Agreed 100%. Tough grading right now.

 

I hate loose graded slabs. But overly tight is wrong too.

 

After a few years of very loose grading, CGC is finally grading the way they used to in the Haspel days. I view it as they are back to where they should be. I view the loose period as an aberration.

Complaining about their tight grading is a very selfish, narrow point of view. Tight grading is good for the buyer, good for the hobby, and ultimately good for CGC = they are putting out a better product.

 

Maybe, but...

 

I'll take consistency over tight or loose grading any day....put together a standard and stick to it.

 

After 15 years you should be able to submit a book and have a pretty good idea what you're getting back.

 

 

What era are they grading "super tight"? I've been subbing mostly post 1975 books this past year and I've found them to be fairly consistent...with the occasional hiccup that can go either way.

[lou_fine]

I also think that CGC's tight grading, again a good thing, gives them a competitive edge over the other Florida Grading company. IMO, the other company's product is a bit loose, not terribly loose but not as tight as CGC. The sellers may submit to the other company but eventually they will realize that the buyers will pay more for the CGC product. Eventually, the marketplace will win, CGC will win.

 

This is just so totally wrong and bad for the marketplace no matter how you look at it.

 

Instead of having a price war whereby the consumers are the winners, it looks like we are now having a grading war out there if your scenario is true. Let's tighten up our grading by one more increment as compared to the other company so that we will be seen as the one providing a better product. Now what happens if the other company decides to tighten up by 2 increments so that they will now be seen as providing the better product. I would certainly feel sorry for any customers submitting their books for grading in this kind of environment.

 

A much better and ideal situation would be to simply provide accurate and consistent grading so that both buyers and sellers can win out.

[jimjum12]

And from my last experience. CGC is in a tight phase.

They are in a very tight phase.

 

Wish they'd loosen it back up a bit.

 

But the last 6 months have been a GREAT time to be a buyer of new slabs.

 

Agreed 100%. Tough grading right now.

 

I hate loose graded slabs. But overly tight is wrong too.

 

After a few years of very loose grading, CGC is finally grading the way they used to in the Haspel days. I view it as they are back to where they should be. I view the loose period as an aberration.

Complaining about their tight grading is a very selfish, narrow point of view. Tight grading is good for the buyer, good for the hobby, and ultimately good for CGC = they are putting out a better product.

 

Maybe, but...

 

I'll take consistency over tight or loose grading any day....put together a standard and stick to it.

 

After 15 years you should be able to submit a book and have a pretty good idea what you're getting back.

 

 

What era are they grading "super tight"? I've been subbing mostly post 1975 books this past year and I've found them to be fairly consistent...with the occasional hiccup that can go either way.

 

.... I've got a submission somewhere in the pipeline.... so I'll get to judge for myself soon. I submitted to PGX once and the grades were so loose I was embarrassed to present them for sale or trade. That was my first and last submission there. On the other hand, receiving a 9.0 back in an 8.0 holder is equally as bad ... not to imply that's what's happening. Honestly, the last two books I deslabbed seemed over graded..... but both were from over a year ago. One thing many people don't factor in is that the slab itself will mask many defects..... so that "8.0" that looks "9.2" may actually seem more "7.5" if removed from the slab. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[buttock]

I also think that CGC's tight grading, again a good thing, gives them a competitive edge over the other Florida Grading company. IMO, the other company's product is a bit loose, not terribly loose but not as tight as CGC. The sellers may submit to the other company but eventually they will realize that the buyers will pay more for the CGC product. Eventually, the marketplace will win, CGC will win.

 

This is just so totally wrong and bad for the marketplace no matter how you look at it.

 

Instead of having a price war whereby the consumers are the winners, it looks like we are now having a grading war out there if your scenario is true. Let's tighten up our grading by one more increment as compared to the other company so that we will be seen as the one providing a better product. Now what happens if the other company decides to tighten up by 2 increments so that they will now be seen as providing the better product. I would certainly feel sorry for any customers submitting their books for grading in this kind of environment.

 

A much better and ideal situation would be to simply provide accurate and consistent grading so that both buyers and sellers can win out.

 

I'm not sure what the motivation is at CGC to have variable cycles of grading, nor if there is any motivation. I suspect it's largely personnel-driven. What I see is that CBCS is grading at the exact same standard as CGC was when West was the head guy. It's looser than I'd like, but it's consistent and predictable.

 

When West left, CGC was a mess for older books, especially when Mark wasn't around. I would imagine the staff is now getting comfortable with a standard of grading old books which would explain the perceived tightening.

 

TL;DR -- grading varies with staff. More turnover = less consistency.