Why is CGC so slow with pressing/grading? 1 1

[Martian Manhunter]

I sent in a gorgeous copy of Swamp Thing #4 from the early 70s to get pressed and graded. Its been in pressing for almost a month now. Anyone know what's going on? This can't be normal!

[revat]

On 5/8/2024 at 1:21 PM, Martian Manhunter said:

I sent in a gorgeous copy of Swamp Thing #4 from the early 70s to get pressed and graded. Its been in pressing for almost a month now. Anyone know what's going on? This can't be normal!

they give estimates of turnaround times on the website, which are usually at least little bit under reality.  Aside from that, pressing might be over but it hasn't hit the system on the grading side yet, so it still looks like pressing hasn't finished.  

But in general, turnaround time is largely based on volume of submissions and staffing.  They are not actively pressing your specific book for 30 days.  They can't always control how many books come in on a given day and for what service.  They can't control if two staffs call in sick on the same day.  I guess think of it like a suit alteration. When the tailor sits down with your suit, it'll probably just take him 1 or 2 hours to finish it, but if there's 500 hundred suits to alter before yours, it could take a while - days/weeks/months.  Hopefully that example helps you understand.  

Think about what the pressing/grading/administrative process would entail from a business/operations perspective, and its not tough to see why there might be delays or errors or why the process takes so long to begin with.  Which is not to say they couldn't improve processes or communicate better, they for sure could.  You could also give feedback to CGC customer service, let them know they're not meeting expectations if that's the case.  If enough people do that they will be more compelled to improve.

 

[Tony S]

CGC's listed TAT for pressing is 15 BUSINESS days and is only an estimate. "Almost a month" isn't far enough outside 15 business days to be concerned about and falls within "normal". 

[seanlinc]

I sent my first submission in with pressing in late 2021, It was at ccs for 11 months lol. It did get graded quickly after getting pressed.

[Stefan_W]

On 5/9/2024 at 7:57 AM, seanlinc said:

I sent my first submission in with pressing in late 2021, It was at ccs for 11 months lol. It did get graded quickly after getting pressed.

2021 was an anomaly - everything was backed up during the height of the comic boom. 

Nowadays the TATs given by CGC are generally accurate with some slowdowns happening if there is a glut of submission from a Comic Con or something along those lines.