CGC Announces Updates to Services and Fees for 2022 6 6

[Doctor Dositheus]

On 1/4/2022 at 6:53 PM, Old Fashion PB and J said:

On 1/4/2022 at 6:51 PM, D84 said:

Let's see... They were bought by a venture capital firm and now the prices have gone up twice in less than a year.

Maybe there's a correlation? 

Nope, purely coincidental. 

Blackrock reports earnings this month. Probably will include projections too.

[Ride the Tiger]

On 1/5/2022 at 2:06 AM, Mecha_Fantastic said:

Is there a chance the track could bend? 

Not on your life my Hindu friend. 

[KCOComics]

On 1/5/2022 at 2:00 AM, lou_fine said:

You do realize that this is 2022 and not 2022.  

As such, in the time that it takes to get some of the then hot books of the day back from these jokers here, the market place on them has taken almost a complete round trip from what they were selling for in the Spring of 2021 with price drops of 50% to 80% on some of them.  

If they are really keeping on top of the marketplace, then they should be decreasing their grading fees by 50% to 80% for some of these former red hot books, but now have turned stone cold dead while sitting in CGC's newly expanded 100,000+ square foot holding cell still awaiting grading.    

This is something I've been thinking about allot. The books I have with them aren't being resold, so the market fluctuation doesn't bother me. But between pressing (third party) and grading, they've been in Florida since February 2021 and aren't scheduled to be graded until the end of March 2022 (if you trust their current TAT).

It's crazy to think about the cycle they've been through in that time. Books like Xmen 3 have gone from not hot, to insanely hot, to not hot all since being submitted.

Truth be told, I don't mind the price increases if it proves to make a meaningful improvement to the overall service. I have a big batch of books I wouldn't mind slabbing one day, but I won't be submitting any of them until they get it together.  

It's worth noting that while this backlog was building, CGC has expanded their services to cards and video games. They've promoted endless signature series event and yet the experience for the comic book business has gotten worse and worse at a higher and higher cost. 

The cost increase isn't what's driving me away. It's the fact that I can't get comic books graded in a reasonable amount of time without considerably anxiety about getting damaged.  If they don't appreciate the customers who loyally built their company, then sooner or later, they will pay a price. 

[Funnybooks]

at times we are our own worst enemy by the decisions we make...stop using cgc and the price hikes will cease and the quality control will improve..until then, there is very little incentive for a business to alter the way they operate

[toro]

On 1/5/2022 at 2:51 AM, Kerdese said:

Right?! My last batch got there before the last price increase. So prices will have increased twice before they could even press my current batch at CGC. 

I'm in that boat too.

[Old Fashion PB and J]

On 1/5/2022 at 3:45 AM, Doctor Dositheus said:

Blackrock reports earnings this month. Probably will include projections too.

Yayyy.....

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 1/5/2022 at 5:33 AM, KCOComics said:

 

The cost increase isn't what's driving me away. It's the fact that I can't get comic books graded in a reasonable amount of time without considerably anxiety about getting damaged.  If they don't appreciate the customers who loyally built their company, then sooner or later, they will pay a price. 

This 

[Math Teacher]

On 1/5/2022 at 7:32 AM, Funnybooks said:

at times we are our own worst enemy by the decisions we make...stop using cgc and the price hikes will cease and the quality control will improve..until then, there is very little incentive for a business to alter the way they operate

I think that if the volume of books decreases, CGC will have to increase prices to remain profitable. I do agree that if people stop using CGC, it will certainly get their attention, and hopefully they will get their act together. I do think a helpful step would be to write a letter to CGC stating that you have a large number of books to be graded, but you won't send them in until they improve their QC and their timeliness. Many of us have expressed our opinions here, but I really doubt that any of the decision makers read this forum. In my experience, sending a letter is more effective than making a phone call or emailing. Just think how easy it is to click "Delete" when you receive an email.

[EastEnd1]

I used to submit books to sell in my eBay store that were worth over $200.  Today I only submit books that are worth over $1000 to take advantage of the express TAT... like most, I find the TATs for the lower tiers unreasonable.  I list the books that I would have previously submitted to CGC raw on Ebay now.  It may take a little longer to sell them, but I have a pretty good reputation for grading and service on eBay (and a high 100% positive feedback count) and I haven't had much issue moving these books raw for a reasonable price.  So CGC has definitely lost business from me at least.  Whether the purchasers of my books are submitting them anyway is another story.    

[AGGIEZ]

On 1/5/2022 at 9:04 AM, Math Teacher said:

I think that if the volume of books decreases, CGC will have to increase prices to remain profitable. I do agree that if people stop using CGC, it will certainly get their attention, and hopefully they will get their act together. I do think a helpful step would be to write a letter to CGC stating that you have a large number of books to be graded, but you won't send them in until they improve their QC and their timeliness. Many of us have expressed our opinions here, but I really doubt that any of the decision makers read this forum. In my experience, sending a letter is more effective than making a phone call or emailing. Just think how easy it is to click "Delete" when you receive an email.

A letter? Why not a telegraph?

No. Find out where Blackrock's earnings call is, stake out, and protest TATs... ;^)

[cd4ever]

On 1/5/2022 at 7:32 AM, Funnybooks said:

at times we are our own worst enemy by the decisions we make...stop using cgc and the price hikes will cease and the quality control will improve..until then, there is very little incentive for a business to alter the way they operate

 

But we WANT to use CGC. We like and appreciate their services. 

If there's a really great restaurant you like and enjoy eating at, but it's expensive and there's usually a long wait for a table, you don't just stop going. That doesn't solve the problem. Now you're just sitting home eating a PGX burger. And it kinda tastes like very old fish. 

[Gary Strange]

On 1/4/2022 at 7:13 PM, Gaard said:

c'mon you guys ... free grader's notes!

Lol, after you buy a membership

[Ride the Tiger]

We've been in line for a broken roller-coaster how long now? I think its time for a new ride.

[zupaphly]

On 1/5/2022 at 8:59 AM, cd4ever said:

But we WANT to use CGC. We like and appreciate their services. 

If there's a really great restaurant you like and enjoy eating at, but it's expensive and there's usually a long wait for a table, you don't just stop going. That doesn't solve the problem. Now you're just sitting home eating a PGX burger. And it kinda tastes like very old fish. 

If it's a great restaurant with a huge wait, I make a reservation on the day I want to go to avoid that wait... I show up next Thursday at 6:50pm, and get seated at 7pm... I made a reservation with CCS/CGC for an estimated turnaround of 145 business days... I am at roughly 205 business days... this restaurant sucks...

Edited January 5, 2022 by zupaphly

[blazingbob]

20 years later and multiple price increases later we are all complaining about the same thing.

At some point a price point is reached that results in lower submissions or as NWO stated the only people making money are the Shipping companies, CCS, CGC and the selling venue (Which is true,  the true money makers are the toll collectors).  

The vast tales of "riches" being made to me are always a bit skeptical since I question do people really know the true profit they are making on the book?  Time is money you know.  Lugging books to shows,  setting up is money you know.  If you aren't doing a Raw versus Slab comparison of your slabs I'm not sure you are seeing the true picture.

When you submit grade them/price them and reasonably estimate what the books will sell for.

When you do finally get them back,  price them up and estimate what the books will sell for. 

Remember to deduct the cost of getting them graded.  

If those graded numbers aren't very positive it isn't/wasn't worth getting them graded.  If that trend is going downward from previous estimates grading isn't making you money,  it is costing you money.  Waiting 6-8 months to recoup your grading investment impacts cash flow.  That is money that is not working because CGC is technically holding it.  I can turn over a lot of books in 6-8 months so that time factor can be very substantial

Don't use the home run book versus the 24 other losers method either.  To this day that is still a central theme I see in Auction posts from sellers.  Yeah I made a lot of money on one book,  lost on every other.

Edited January 5, 2022 by blazingbob

[NewWorldOrder]

On 1/4/2022 at 11:42 PM, lou_fine said:

Are you referring to books like Eternals 1 with a CGC 9.6 graded copy being able to fetch $1,200 back in September, but now only able to fetch $288 a few short months later.  Not to be left out of course, the CGC 9.8 highest graded copies which were selling into the low $3K's earlier this year can barely fetch $1K in today's red hot marketplace.  Or how about former red hot books like Marvel Super Heores 13 which were selling for multiples of guide, but now only able to sell for a discount to condition guide value.    

I am referring to that if a dealer (reseller) has a firm grasp of the comic book market, and is always disciplined its very easy to make money in this hobby IMO.  Both books you used as your example I would have told you they were obviously prime for a huge downturn swing.

 

Edited January 5, 2022 by NewWorldOrder

[Funnybooks]

On 1/5/2022 at 10:59 AM, cd4ever said:

But we WANT to use CGC. We like and appreciate their services. 

If there's a really great restaurant you like and enjoy eating at, but it's expensive and there's usually a long wait for a table, you don't just stop going. That doesn't solve the problem. Now you're just sitting home eating a PGX burger. And it kinda tastes like very old fish. 

Fair point...I would play devils advocate and say that if I made a reservation at this restaurant for 6:00 pm only to later find out that they really never had intentions of honoring that reservation but knew that I would wait for a table at 9:00 because they are the "best" restaurant in town. I would imagine that the restaurant would get lambasted and people would eventually go to another restaurant. 

You have me beat at PGX 

[sevans1979]

All this restaurant talk made me think, CGC could have bought us dinner first before….well you know the rest. 

[wombat]

On 1/5/2022 at 11:50 AM, Funnybooks said:

Fair point...I would play devils advocate and say that if I made a reservation at this restaurant for 6:00 pm only to later find out that they really never had intentions of honoring that reservation but knew that I would wait for a table at 9:00 because they are the "best" restaurant in town. I would imagine that the restaurant would get lambasted and people would eventually go to another restaurant. 

You have me beat at PGX 

they wouldn't tell you 9 was the new time. you would just have to sit there with no updates. and then it would be 9 next week. i hate this restaurant. 

[Funnybooks]

On 1/5/2022 at 12:06 PM, wombat said:

they wouldn't tell you 9 was the new time. you would just have to sit there with no updates. and then it would be 9 next week. i hate this restaurant. 

You could order a pGex steak only to get chicken