Questions about grading/autographs at cons 1 1

[Pixarlover273]

I'm attending Galaxycon Columbus in December, and I want to get my copy of Edge of the Spider-Verse #5 (2014) signed by Kimiko Glenn, the voice of Peni Parker in Into the Spider-Verse, and graded by One Stop Comic Shop at the event. The problem is, I've never done this before, and don't know what to expect? How much would it cost, and would getting it autographed need JSA authentication as well?

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 7/7/2024 at 9:56 PM, Pixarlover273 said:

I'm attending Galaxycon Columbus in December, and I want to get my copy of Edge of the Spider-Verse #5 (2014) signed by Kimiko Glenn, the voice of Peni Parker in Into the Spider-Verse, and graded by One Stop Comic Shop at the event. The problem is, I've never done this before, and don't know what to expect? How much would it cost, and would getting it autographed need JSA authentication as well?

At comic con choose a CGC booth or a Facilitator to have the autograph witnessed, so you'd ask them to come over when the person is about to sign, they witness it, and THEY carry the book back to their booth to fill out the paperwork.

I would think that a witness sig, which is a regular yellow label, would be sought after more than a JSA yellow label. Witnessed signature is the regular process for that, JSA is where you have an unwitnessed signature, and they analyze it at CGC and critique whether they "think it is authentic." Which mistakes "can happen."

Look up what facilitators or if CGC will be at your Comic-Con, and you might email them before hand at whatever website they have, and I'm sure that even customer service at CGC's phone number "might" be able to hammer details out for you, but again, most of this will all be sorted and happen the day of the con. Just to get your bearings and to know how to handle it. I've given a summary of things to do, ball in your court  Cheers and have fun! 

[dbcn]

On 7/8/2024 at 9:28 AM, ADAMANTIUM said:

At comic con choose a CGC booth or a Facilitator to have the autograph witnessed, so you'd ask them to come over when the person is about to sign, they witness it, and THEY carry the book back to their booth to fill out the paperwork.

@Pixarlover273 I did this at NYCC last year - it was a bit of hassle getting the witness, but I think that was due to just the number of people waiting - but the witness didn't take the book for the paperwork - at least at NYCC, the witness did the witnessing, then they sealed the book in a 'tamper proof' bag and gave it back to you, and it was up to you to follow up at the CGC booth afterwards to do the paperwork. If this is how your show goes, I'd recommend keeping an eye on the line at the CGC booth - I spent over an hour just in line to get the paperwork done. But again, I think NYCC may just be a different beast, so they may have different protocols at different cons. 

Good luck! it's super fun to go and meet & chat with the signer, and I've sent in a bunch of books for OneStop - they're great. 

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 7/8/2024 at 8:44 AM, dbcn said:

On 7/8/2024 at 8:28 AM, ADAMANTIUM said:

At comic con choose a CGC booth or a Facilitator to have the autograph witnessed, so you'd ask them to come over when the person is about to sign, they witness it, and THEY carry the book back to their booth to fill out the paperwork.

@Pixarlover273 I did this at NYCC last year - it was a bit of hassle getting the witness, but I think that was due to just the number of people waiting - but the witness didn't take the book for the paperwork - at least at NYCC, the witness did the witnessing, then they sealed the book in a 'tamper proof' bag and gave it back to you, and it was up to you to follow up at the CGC booth afterwards to do the paperwork. If this is how your show goes, I'd recommend keeping an eye on the line at the CGC booth - I spent over an hour just in line to get the paperwork done. But again, I think NYCC may just be a different beast, so they may have different protocols at different cons. 

Good luck! it's super fun to go and meet & chat with the signer, and I've sent in a bunch of books for OneStop - they're great. 

I agree, mechanics and so on aren't always figured out until "at the con", as some are different. The last one I went to CGC didn't even attend, so the facilitator had to do "all of the process"  

It is kind of a loaded question, harmless, but Lord Willing we described the process, so they'll have a point of reference haha 
One of those things that seems daunting until you've done it a couple of times, even just regularly sending books into CGC was like that for me, used to use the LCS until I got the noive!  

[dbcn]

On 7/8/2024 at 9:48 AM, ADAMANTIUM said:

One of those things that seems daunting until you've done it a couple of times

Totally @ADAMANTIUM - kudos to @Pixarlover273 to asking questions ahead of time!

[dbcn]

One other thing to note @Pixarlover273 - in addition to the witnessing & auto fees, some celebs/artists add a 'CGC tax' when signing - even if the listed price for an auto is $60 they may well say, oh, you're getting it witnessed? that'll be an extra $20. Just go in with an open mind, extra cash, and some determination and you'll get the result you want. Also, great choice on the book & celeb combo!

Edited July 8 by dbcn

[ygogolak]

I think One Stop charged $25 last year for a signature submittal. They will have a fee if you have them submit it under their CGC account.

Price of the actual signature will vary.

[ADAMANTIUM]

I don't know the cost of that particular artist, but wouldn't think or I'd hazard a guess of $30 or under but don't really know, the cost of cgc is listed at cgccomics.com. 

A facilitator will charge like $10 or $5 to witness, which is the onky fixed cost I can present you, but that is normal and the same nominal fee they add if cracking a yellow label slab to add signatures. For future reference.

@Pixarlover273

[Pixarlover273]

On 7/8/2024 at 6:36 PM, ADAMANTIUM said:

A facilitator will charge like $10 or $5 to witness, which is the onky fixed cost I can present you, but that is normal and the same nominal fee they add if cracking a yellow label slab to add signatures. For future reference.

@Pixarlover273

This is what I was able to find from One Stop Comic Shop's website, in addition to all of CGC's fees: FACILITATION/SUBMISSION FEE: $10 per book, $25 per magazine.

EVENT WITNESSING FEE: +$10 per signature (non-Celebrity), or +$20 per signature (Celebrity)

I'm not sure what the difference between the categories is for. Can you elaborate? I really appreciate all your comments and help, @ADAMANTIUM

Edited July 9 by Pixarlover273

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 7/8/2024 at 9:00 PM, Pixarlover273 said:

This is what I was able to find from One Stop Comic Shop's website, in addition to all of CGC's fees: FACILITATION/SUBMISSION FEE: $10 per book, $25 per magazine.

EVENT WITNESSING FEE: +$10 per signature (non-Celebrity), or +$20 per signature (Celebrity)

I'm not sure what the difference between the categories is for. Can you elaborate? I really appreciate all your comments and help, @ADAMANTIUM

I'm not sure except to say some celebrities and non have special events at cons, who I would think aren't just walk up and pay them people but are only signing during an "event at the con?" Something like that, as some would have to much to sign otherwise and etc, or they want to make sure there are slots that with an "event at the con" people could "prepay" and they could further control or curb amount of tickets, lines and etc. Also prices of those events need to be set up with the facilitator to run in a professional manner so might cost them to run it and why it is more $$

imo your artist I'd say they would be regular non event, imo really for all of this Lord willing, and you only need look at the $10 facilitation/submission fee. 

[ADAMANTIUM]

That is all based on my past con this year that had Frank Miller tickets that could be prepaid for an "event", they had done the same in the past with Jim Lee, and although Jim Lee would also have a regular line and etc. If you prepaid? The signature and or photo package was a guaranteed

As opposed to getting in line and not making it to the front  before the artist hand gave out

That is all based on my experience but maybe email for clarification hitting on these points with the website you mentioned.

Hope it helps.

 

Edited July 9 by ADAMANTIUM

[Pixarlover273]

@ADAMANTIUM It does. I put in a submission inquiry to the site this morning, before I read yours and @dbcn's really insightful comments. Now I just have to wait a few days to see if they get back to me. I'm trying to plan ahead as much as I can, that's just the kind of guy I am, and I'm trying to do this whole thing "right," knowing that every event and person is different. This really helped me figure out what to expect and what works for me, and I appreciate it a ton. So thanks, guys. I'll probably be back here when the book comes Thursday the Monday coming.

[dbcn]

Fwiw @Pixarlover273, I’ve worked with OneStop to facilitate signatures multiple times - the email responses from the contact form are usually very curt - my guess is that they’re just super busy - so if you get a 2 or 3 word response, don't get discouraged - all of the books OneStop have facilitated for me have come back nothing short of exceptional. I’ve worked with a handful of facilitators and consider them one of the best, despite the sparse communication.

[RockMyAmadeus]

On 7/8/2024 at 7:30 AM, dbcn said:

some celebs/artists add a 'CGC tax' when signing - even if the listed price for an auto is $60 they may well say, oh, you're getting it witnessed? that'll be an extra $20.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/price_discrimination.asp

[RockMyAmadeus]

On 7/8/2024 at 7:00 PM, Pixarlover273 said:

This is what I was able to find from One Stop Comic Shop's website, in addition to all of CGC's fees: FACILITATION/SUBMISSION FEE: $10 per book, $25 per magazine.

EVENT WITNESSING FEE: +$10 per signature (non-Celebrity), or +$20 per signature (Celebrity)

 

 

Edited July 9 by RockMyAmadeus

[Pixarlover273]

On 7/9/2024 at 4:47 AM, RockMyAmadeus said:

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/price_discrimination.asp

Thank you! @RockMyAmadeus I thought that sounded shifty! I guess they can charge whatever they want, but in my experience, most con guests are just as happy to meet fans as we are to meet them. The money is nice, but they don't typically divert from their posted fees. Then again, maybe I've just been blessed 😅

[waynemel]

On 7/8/2024 at 10:00 PM, Pixarlover273 said:

This is what I was able to find from One Stop Comic Shop's website, in addition to all of CGC's fees: FACILITATION/SUBMISSION FEE: $10 per book, $25 per magazine.

EVENT WITNESSING FEE: +$10 per signature (non-Celebrity), or +$20 per signature (Celebrity)

I'm not sure what the difference between the categories is for. Can you elaborate? I really appreciate all your comments and help, @ADAMANTIUM

Never used them as a facilitator (I have used others) but it sounds like they have a couple of fees. The Facilitation/submission fee is probably a handling fee (ie filling out the paperwork) and the Witness fee is the actual service of witnessing per book.

One other thing to keep in mind or ask is what account is the book submitted under?  Under your account or theirs?  If yours, you will need to fill out forms (go to Submission Form and look for them and fill out) and will be able to track under your account.  If under theirs, you cannot check on status on your account, you will have to check with them and they will mail the book back to you when they have it.

[dbcn]

On 7/9/2024 at 8:17 AM, Pixarlover273 said:

I guess they can charge whatever they want, but in my experience, most con guests are just as happy to meet fans as we are to meet them.

Same - most guests imx are very friendly, but I just didn't want you to be surprised if there was a small white board with a 'CGC Sig +$20' scrawled on it in marker on their table. Not sure what the rationale for the upcharge is tbh, but not every guest does it so 

As far as 'price discrimination' ... I doubt there's much legal ground there given that prices range widely anyway (sometimes: free! Todd McFarlane: not free) and often guests will charge a different rate based on what the physical item is (funko, comic book, Star Wars comic book) - in the end all you're really getting is a signature, which arguably should be the same price across the board regardless of what type of media being signed, but the market is dictating the prices more than anything else.

fwiw, my first in-person signing experience was NYCC and that was a total sh*tshow: Unless it's someone specific I'm looking to actually meet in person, I'm more than happy to pay the facilitator fees, send in or drop off the book and have them manage the whole process, and focus on walking around & enjoying the show.

Regardless - enjoy the show & I'd love to see the signed book once it's back @Pixarlover273!

[Pixarlover273]

On 7/9/2024 at 9:42 AM, dbcn said:

Same - most guests imx are very friendly, but I just didn't want you to be surprised if there was a small white board with a 'CGC Sig +$20' scrawled on it in marker on their table. Not sure what the rationale for the upcharge is tbh, but not every guest does it so 

As far as 'price discrimination' ... often guests will charge a different rate based on what the physical item is (funko, comic book, Star Wars comic book) - in the end all you're really getting is a signature, which arguably should be the same price across the board regardless of what type of media being signed, but the market is dictating the prices more than anything else.

fwiw, my first in-person signing experience was NYCC and that was a total sh*tshow: Unless it's someone specific I'm looking to actually meet in person, I'm more than happy to pay the facilitator fees, send in or drop off the book and have them manage the whole process, and focus on walking around & enjoying the show.

Regardless - enjoy the show & I'd love to see the signed book once it's back @Pixarlover273!

Seriously, thank you, @dbcn for giving me ALL the info and experience you can, positive and negative. I know guests charge different rates for different items and perks, so like you said, I try to bring extra money and determination. I just figured this place was the best way to get a first-timer's crash course for comics. Boy, have I not been disappointed! I'll definitely start a new post when the book arrives (Thursday or Monday), and when the book is signed (December 6-8).

Edited July 9 by Pixarlover273

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 7/9/2024 at 8:58 AM, Pixarlover273 said:

Seriously, thank you, @dbcn for giving me ALL the info and experience you can, positive and negative. I know guests charge different rates for different items and perks, so like you said, I try to bring extra money and determination. I just figured this place was the best way to get a first-timer's crash course for comics. Boy, have I not been disappointed! I'll definitely start a new post when the book arrives (Thursday or Monday), and when the book is signed (December 6-8).

not to mention that you might need cash for the artist and a cc for everything else, if that wasn't "obvious", so a mixture of funds and payments etc.

I knew when you had asked, there were a lot of variables, hopefully the scope is broadened to account for what could be