Hi from Mark - CGC guarantee - other stuff

[PGCMint]

I realize that during these very troubled times that any problem is a big problem but just know that I have been in the hobby for years and hope to be here for many more.

Accessability is important and so you can always email me at pgcmintsales@aol.com

If you want to PM me and need to talk, I can give you my phone number.

 

I will be adjusting website prices again this weekend, so take a look when you have the time.

PGC Mint - Huge assortment of CGC graded NM books

 

I don't mind offers, so feel free to ask.

I realize my website does not allow for bids but I am working on that.

 

As soon as I get up and running with ebay again, I will post to let everyone know.

I intend to continue with the $1 No Reserve auctions in November

 

I am also considering putting books up for auction on these Boards but am unsure if it is OK.

Anyone know?

 

And finally, I am always open to suggestions. So if you see anything that will help improve the way I do things, I would be appreciative. Just don't hit too hard.

 

Oh, finally (really)... I know how tough it has been on some of you in regards to the Ewert/CGC situation. A lot of considerations and questions. I can't do much to resolve anything but I can at least help market confidence a bit by offering the following guarantee:

 

* Any blue label CGC graded book that you purchace from me (off my website, ebay, or even private transaction) is fully guaranteed to be as stated as long as it remains in the original holder. If you send it to CGC in it's original holder for a restoration check and it comes back as trimmed or what ever, I will always take it back at full price. It will be my job to hassle Steve and CGC.

 

It is not enough for me to believe in the product but I must stand behind the product, especially as a dealer. So count me in.

 

Sincerely,

Mark Wilson

[Deathlok]

[shrunkenhead]

 

 

 

I am also considering putting books up for auction on these Boards but am unsure if it is OK.

Anyone know?

 

That sounds awesome to me, Mark. I've been in favor of an boards auction for some time...you've got such great material, I can't think of a better way to kickstart such a venture!

 

I'll keep my ear to the ground.

[paperheart]

mark,

 

excellent policy. will it be posted on your website?

[tth2]

[PGCMint]

That sounds awesome to me, Mark. I've been in favor of an boards auction for some time...you've got such great material, I can't think of a better way to kickstart such a venture!

 

I'll keep my ear to the ground.

 

I sent a PM to the CGC Boards Moderator and have asked permission. I am waiting for them to respond.

Question: What is the most fair way to do this?

My thoughts are that it should not be by PM because then their will always be a question of it being legitimate. I would rather everyone see that the bids are real.

Any thoughts are appreciated

Mark

[PGCMint]

mark,

 

excellent policy. will it be posted on your website?

 

Yes - definately. I will send the proper wording to my web guy this week.

Mark

[drbanner]

That sounds awesome to me, Mark. I've been in favor of an boards auction for some time...you've got such great material, I can't think of a better way to kickstart such a venture!

 

I'll keep my ear to the ground.

 

I sent a PM to the CGC Boards Moderator and have asked permission. I am waiting for them to respond.

Question: What is the most fair way to do this?

My thoughts are that it should not be by PM because then their will always be a question of it being legitimate. I would rather everyone see that the bids are real.

Any thoughts are appreciated

Mark

 

Realistically, you would do better on ebay b/c 1) everyone that would bid on the book here would also bid on the book were it listed on ebay, and 2) when people start seeing their "buddies" bidding on the book, they'll back off (even if you don't use their user ID's as their bidder ID's, you can be sure the PM's will be-a-flying in setting up such "gentleman's agreements").

 

Arch (the Board Moderator) has already commented on whether or not auctions were allowed here, and he said something to the effect of "I don't see anything in the board rules that would preclude it, but...(something about being cautious about anonymous bidding and the potential for abuse/shilling)."

 

Ponder these things...

[PGCMint]

[2) when people start seeing their "buddies" bidding on the book, they'll back off (even if you don't use their user ID's as their bidder ID's, you can be sure the PM's will be-a-flying in setting up such "gentleman's agreements").

 

Arch (the Board Moderator) has already commented on whether or not auctions were allowed here, and he said something to the effect of "I don't see anything in the board rules that would preclude it, but...(something about being cautious about anonymous bidding and the potential for abuse/shilling)."

 

Ponder these things...

 

Well, it sounded like a good idea but Yikes!!! I didn't consider any of this. Typical...

Now i have to think this through

Thanks for the thoughts

[supapimp]

Realistically, you would do better on ebay b/c 1) everyone that would bid on the book here would also bid on the book were it listed on ebay, and 2) when people start seeing their "buddies" bidding on the book, they'll back off (even if you don't use their user ID's as their bidder ID's, you can be sure the PM's will be-a-flying in setting up such "gentleman's agreements").

 

Arch (the Board Moderator) has already commented on whether or not auctions were allowed here, and he said something to the effect of "I don't see anything in the board rules that would preclude it, but...(something about being cautious about anonymous bidding and the potential for abuse/shilling)."

 

Ponder these things...

 

there's always haters bringer of the 20,000+ poster dude.

[Silver Surfer]

Mark, always a pleasure.

[nearmint]

Of course, here you don't have to deal with eBay fees.

 

Also, if I don't say so myself, you're dealing with a higher class collector who will actually send payment, and promptly.

 

As for people backing off because other board members are bidding, that happens on eBay as well. We pretty much know each others' eBay handles.

[sfilosa]

As for people backing off because other board members are bidding, that happens on eBay as well. We pretty much know each others' eBay handles.

 

Back off.......Hmmmm, I usually bid higher.

[esquirecomics]

Oh, finally (really)... I know how tough it has been on some of you in regards to the Ewert/CGC situation. A lot of considerations and questions. I can't do much to resolve anything but I can at least help market confidence a bit by offering the following guarantee:

 

* Any blue label CGC graded book that you purchace from me (off my website, ebay, or even private transaction) is fully guaranteed to be as stated as long as it remains in the original holder. If you send it to CGC in it's original holder for a restoration check and it comes back as trimmed or what ever, I will always take it back at full price. It will be my job to hassle Steve and CGC.

 

It is not enough for me to believe in the product but I must stand behind the product, especially as a dealer. So count me in.

 

Mark, I wrote this in response to the similar position Josh/CL espoused and it is equally appropriate here.

 

Let me say first that I applaud your stated stance. That being said, to be quite frank, I don't see why any dealer should have to make this pledge. Why should a seller assume such a significant risk when they did nothing wrong. I was one of the early sellers who was willing to accept returns on CGC books without question if someone was not satisfied with it upon receipt. But that willingness was based on the notion that there should be no difference between purchasing a raw book subjectively graded and one that has been CGC subjectively graded. If a buyer was not happy with how the book looked and thought the grading was off why should they be stuck with it? Or perhaps the buyer even simply changed his mind. The book could then be resold to someone else who would be happy with it.

 

That is completely different from accepting a return and providing a refund because CGC inadvertently, incompetently, negligently or even intentionally missed restoration or some other form of alteration. That is not the dealer's fault (assuming, of course, the dealer was not responsible for or knew of the restoration or alteration).

 

I like CGC. I support CGC. I want CGC to succeed and better itself. But I do not see why I should guarantee CGC's professional workmanship when CGC itself is unwilling to do so until some scandal hits. If CGC doesn't have confidence or faith in its own system and abilities, why should I?

 

CGC, not Mark and other dealers, should be making the pledge that if CGC missed restoration or alteration of a book and that fact is subsequently discovered then CGC will buy the book back. Exactly what does "Guaranty" stand for anyway?

 

Again, I applaud your stance Mark, but you may end up biting more than you can chew. For your sake, and that of the hobby, I hope I am wrong.

[drbanner]

Mark, I wrote this in response to the similar position Josh/CL espoused and it is equally appropriate here.

 

Why should a seller assume such a significant risk when they did nothing wrong.

 

That is completely different from accepting a return and providing a refund because CGC inadvertently, incompetently, negligently or even intentionally missed restoration or some other form of alteration. That is not the dealer's fault (assuming, of course, the dealer was not responsible for or knew of the restoration or alteration).

 

But I do not see why I should guarantee CGC's professional workmanship when CGC itself is unwilling to do so until some scandal hits.

 

CGC, not Mark and other dealers, should be making the pledge that if CGC missed restoration or alteration of a book and that fact is subsequently discovered then CGC will buy the book back.

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pending

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litigation

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against

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CGC.

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[drbanner]

As for people backing off because other board members are bidding, that happens on eBay as well. We pretty much know each others' eBay handles.

 

My sniping software doesn't know anyones eBay handles!!

[Sal]

wrt the auction quandry; it's actually pretty simple.

 

pick a date, all bids in by that date, highest bid takes the book.

 

[whetteon]

 

Mark, I wrote this in response to the similar position Josh/CL espoused and it is equally appropriate here.

 

Let me say first that I applaud your stated stance. That being said, to be quite frank, I don't see why any dealer should have to make this pledge. Why should a seller assume such a significant risk when they did nothing wrong. I was one of the early sellers who was willing to accept returns on CGC books without question if someone was not satisfied with it upon receipt. But that willingness was based on the notion that there should be no difference between purchasing a raw book subjectively graded and one that has been CGC subjectively graded. If a buyer was not happy with how the book looked and thought the grading was off why should they be stuck with it? Or perhaps the buyer even simply changed his mind. The book could then be resold to someone else who would be happy with it.

 

That is completely different from accepting a return and providing a refund because CGC inadvertently, incompetently, negligently or even intentionally missed restoration or some other form of alteration. That is not the dealer's fault (assuming, of course, the dealer was not responsible for or knew of the restoration or alteration).

 

I like CGC. I support CGC. I want CGC to succeed and better itself. But I do not see why I should guarantee CGC's professional workmanship when CGC itself is unwilling to do so until some scandal hits. If CGC doesn't have confidence or faith in its own system and abilities, why should I?

 

CGC, not Mark and other dealers, should be making the pledge that if CGC missed restoration or alteration of a book and that fact is subsequently discovered then CGC will buy the book back. Exactly what does "Guaranty" stand for anyway?

 

Again, I applaud your stance Mark, but you may end up biting more than you can chew. For your sake, and that of the hobby, I hope I am wrong.

 

Very solid points.

[Zanarkand]

Mark, I wrote this in response to the similar position Josh/CL espoused and it is equally appropriate here.

 

Let me say first that I applaud your stated stance. That being said, to be quite frank, I don't see why any dealer should have to make this pledge. Why should a seller assume such a significant risk when they did nothing wrong. I was one of the early sellers who was willing to accept returns on CGC books without question if someone was not satisfied with it upon receipt. But that willingness was based on the notion that there should be no difference between purchasing a raw book subjectively graded and one that has been CGC subjectively graded. If a buyer was not happy with how the book looked and thought the grading was off why should they be stuck with it? Or perhaps the buyer even simply changed his mind. The book could then be resold to someone else who would be happy with it.

 

That is completely different from accepting a return and providing a refund because CGC inadvertently, incompetently, negligently or even intentionally missed restoration or some other form of alteration. That is not the dealer's fault (assuming, of course, the dealer was not responsible for or knew of the restoration or alteration).

 

I like CGC. I support CGC. I want CGC to succeed and better itself. But I do not see why I should guarantee CGC's professional workmanship when CGC itself is unwilling to do so until some scandal hits. If CGC doesn't have confidence or faith in its own system and abilities, why should I?

 

CGC, not Mark and other dealers, should be making the pledge that if CGC missed restoration or alteration of a book and that fact is subsequently discovered then CGC will buy the book back. Exactly what does "Guaranty" stand for anyway?

 

Again, I applaud your stance Mark, but you may end up biting more than you can chew. For your sake, and that of the hobby, I hope I am wrong.

 

I like CGC. I support CGC. I want CGC to succeed and better itself. But I do not see why I should guarantee CGC's professional workmanship when CGC itself is unwilling to do so until some scandal hits. If CGC doesn't have confidence or faith in its own system and abilities, why should I?

 

Speaking as just a regular guy collector, and not a dealer of any sort here. The intentionally crafted market perception is that CGC's grading and resto detection abilities are "better" than yours or mine. (I don't happen to think so, so I don't buy slabbed books.) Maybe really you don't think so either, but for a dealer it's different.

 

Even if you don't really think that CGC is any better than you are, in pursuit of a higher selling price you are more than happy to exploit the market perception that they are. Therefore when you sell a CGC slabbed book, you are also selling the statement that you have confidence that CGC's skills are greater even than your own, so much so that you were willing to spend $$$ and wait months before putting your merchandise up for sale. If you aren't willing to make that statement, don't sell slabbed books.

 

So if your chosen method of grading a book - having someone else do it rather than doing it yourself - turns out not to be such a hot [embarrassing lack of self control] idea after all due to consistently missed restoration, are you responsible? Yes! It was your decision!

 

Nobody put a gun to your head and made you surrender all responsibility for the quality of your merchandise to some guys in Florida. You did that.

 

No dealer should be expected to prove that CGC's work is accurate, butat the very least this should put an end to the "No return on CGC books" policy that everyone seems to have.

[esquirecomics]

Mark, I wrote this in response to the similar position Josh/CL espoused and it is equally appropriate here.

 

Let me say first that I applaud your stated stance. That being said, to be quite frank, I don't see why any dealer should have to make this pledge. Why should a seller assume such a significant risk when they did nothing wrong. I was one of the early sellers who was willing to accept returns on CGC books without question if someone was not satisfied with it upon receipt. But that willingness was based on the notion that there should be no difference between purchasing a raw book subjectively graded and one that has been CGC subjectively graded. If a buyer was not happy with how the book looked and thought the grading was off why should they be stuck with it? Or perhaps the buyer even simply changed his mind. The book could then be resold to someone else who would be happy with it.

 

That is completely different from accepting a return and providing a refund because CGC inadvertently, incompetently, negligently or even intentionally missed restoration or some other form of alteration. That is not the dealer's fault (assuming, of course, the dealer was not responsible for or knew of the restoration or alteration).

 

I like CGC. I support CGC. I want CGC to succeed and better itself. But I do not see why I should guarantee CGC's professional workmanship when CGC itself is unwilling to do so until some scandal hits. If CGC doesn't have confidence or faith in its own system and abilities, why should I?

 

CGC, not Mark and other dealers, should be making the pledge that if CGC missed restoration or alteration of a book and that fact is subsequently discovered then CGC will buy the book back. Exactly what does "Guaranty" stand for anyway?

 

Again, I applaud your stance Mark, but you may end up biting more than you can chew. For your sake, and that of the hobby, I hope I am wrong.

 

I like CGC. I support CGC. I want CGC to succeed and better itself. But I do not see why I should guarantee CGC's professional workmanship when CGC itself is unwilling to do so until some scandal hits. If CGC doesn't have confidence or faith in its own system and abilities, why should I?

 

Speaking as just a regular guy collector, and not a dealer of any sort here. The intentionally crafted market perception is that CGC's grading and resto detection abilities are "better" than yours or mine. (I don't happen to think so, so I don't buy slabbed books.) Maybe really you don't think so either, but for a dealer it's different.

 

Even if you don't really think that CGC is any better than you are, in pursuit of a higher selling price you are more than happy to exploit the market perception that they are. Therefore when you sell a CGC slabbed book, you are also selling the statement that you have confidence that CGC's skills are greater even than your own, so much so that you were willing to spend $$$ and wait months before putting your merchandise up for sale. If you aren't willing to make that statement, don't sell slabbed books.

 

So if your chosen method of grading a book - having someone else do it rather than doing it yourself - turns out not to be such a hot [embarrassing lack of self control] idea after all due to consistently missed restoration, are you responsible? Yes! It was your decision!

 

Nobody put a gun to your head and made you surrender all responsibility for the quality of your merchandise to some guys in Florida. You did that.

 

No dealer should be expected to prove that CGC's work is accurate, butat the very least this should put an end to the "No return on CGC books" policy that everyone seems to have.

 

I presume the above is not directed at me since I have always permitted returns on CGC books for the very reasons you state above.