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Wizard World Chicago Report

Started by FlyingDonut,

96 posts in this topic

sborock

sborock

Posted
Posted

"Just train a couple of flunkys at the basic skills.... I'm sure that is what CGC does."

 

If that were the case, we would have been out of business in the first year. (Which, of course, would have made TomMurnane very happy 893blahblah.gif).

 

TomMurnane knows nothing of how we operate.

 

I'd say we have the best restoration detection crew in the hobby acclaim.gif

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Crackandpresstoan11

Crackandpresstoan11

Posted
Posted
"Just train a couple of flunkys at the basic skills.... I'm sure that is what CGC does."

 

If that were the case, we would have been out of business in the first year. (Which, of course, would have made TomMurnane very happy 893blahblah.gif).

 

TomMurnane knows nothing of how we operate.

 

I'd say we have the best restoration detection crew in the hobby acclaim.gif

 

Just because I criticize CGC, does not mean I want you out of business. Since you have the best of the best resto crew in the hobby, why not offer resto checks without the slabbing? I would think this a much better idea than the resto removal debacle. blush.gif

 

Why don't you enlighten us just on how you work? Is one single person used to detect resto? It seems to be implied on your web site. If not, who are doing these checks? Are they trained by CGC? We all want to know........

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drbanner

drbanner

Posted
Posted

If Susan C. set up a booth at SD with 5 resto people she is training and they do resto checks on books, would you not trust their opinion? Why CGC and not someone else?

 

Sure I would trust her...but it would not be profitable for Susan. She lives on the East Coast so that means travel/food/lodging expenses, the proper equipment must be transported, etc.,. The main thing, though, is that even if she could grade 10 books in an hour at $15 a pop, I suspect that the demand wouldn't be there. In theory, such a service would have been a more profitable propisition before CGC (no competition) and no one did it then, so why would it be profitable now when you have CGC doing the resto check plus the grading plus slabbing the book for a few bucks more?

 

Like you said...it would cater to the "I'm going to keep this book for my collection so I don't need it graded or slabbed since I'm never going to sell it" crowd and not the "I'm buying this book with plans to flip it sooner or later, either in the short term or when I retire, kids go to college, etc.,." crowd. By doing so, you've reduced the pool of potential clients for this service to the point where it doesn't work when compared to spending a few bucks more for CGC. If it was a flat $15 fee regardless of value, you'd be making some headway against CGC's rates ($40 for books worth up to $1k, $55 up to $5k, etc.,.), but when you get above $1k, most buyers are going to want the grade and slab anyway as they would fall in the latter crowd as described above.

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ArAich

ArAich

Posted
Posted
"Just train a couple of flunkys at the basic skills.... I'm sure that is what CGC does."

 

If that were the case, we would have been out of business in the first year. (Which, of course, would have made TomMurnane very happy 893blahblah.gif).

 

TomMurnane knows nothing of how we operate.

 

I'd say we have the best restoration detection crew in the hobby acclaim.gif

 

Just because I criticize CGC, does not mean I want you out of business. Since you have the best of the best resto crew in the hobby, why not offer resto checks without the slabbing? I would think this a much better idea than the resto removal debacle. blush.gif

 

Why don't you enlighten us just on how you work? Is one single person used to detect resto? It seems to be implied on your web site. If not, who are doing these checks? Are they trained by CGC? We all want to know........

 

Why don't you just scrounge up a bunch of "flunkys"...train them...and start your own convention resto check service...

Gawd...you just might become "business boy of the year".... wink.gif

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jonnydouble

jonnydouble

Posted
Posted

Why don't you just scrounge up a bunch of "flunkys"...train them...and start your own convention resto check service...

Gawd...you just might become "business boy of the year"....

 

Imagine that...Business boy of the year!!

 

pee.jpg

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Kevin Boyd

Kevin Boyd

Posted
Posted

Restoration checking is not something that any flunky could do as spotting certain types of restoration requires a thorough knowledge of all professional restoration techniques available. As we all know, even some of the best and most reputable dealers in the hobby are not able to able to catch all cases of restoration.

 

And we aren't just discussing some 10 year old using a marker to blacken in a crack in the spine, but pieces added, trimming, tear seals, etc.

 

Kev

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drbanner

drbanner

Posted
Posted
Why don't you just scrounge up a bunch of "flunkys"...train them...and start your own convention resto check service...

Gawd...you just might become "business boy of the year"....

 

Imagine that...Business boy of the year!!

 

pee.jpg

 

Cool...you found Tom a new avatar! 893applaud-thumb.gif

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Crackandpresstoan11

Crackandpresstoan11

Posted
Posted
If Susan C. set up a booth at SD with 5 resto people she is training and they do resto checks on books, would you not trust their opinion? Why CGC and not someone else?

 

Sure I would trust her...but it would not be profitable for Susan. She lives on the East Coast so that means travel/food/lodging expenses, the proper equipment must be transported, etc.,. The main thing, though, is that even if she could grade 10 books in an hour at $15 a pop, I suspect that the demand wouldn't be there. In theory, such a service would have been a more profitable propisition before CGC (no competition) and no one did it then, so why would it be profitable now when you have CGC doing the resto check plus the grading plus slabbing the book for a few bucks more?

 

Could be any expert, not just Susan (just used as an example). Just because no one did it before CGC, does not mean it would not work now. Since CGC, the stigma against restored books has increased 10 fold. Almost no one wants restored book, but everyone wants to buy nm raw, unrestored books without paying for a slab. CGC has also been able to provide resto detection relatively cheap. To think that someone could not come in to perform this type of service for a flat fee is short sighted. To get a "valuable" book slabbed could cost over $100, I think (??). To get the same quality resto detection service for, say $40, for someone who has no interest in flipping, seems like a good deal.

 

Like you said...it would cater to the "I'm going to keep this book for my collection so I don't need it graded or slabbed since I'm never going to sell it" crowd and not the "I'm buying this book with plans to flip it sooner or later, either in the short term or when I retire, kids go to college, etc.,." crowd. By doing so, you've reduced the pool of potential clients for this service to the point where it doesn't work when compared to spending a few bucks more for CGC. If it was a flat $15 fee regardless of value, you'd be making some headway against CGC's rates ($40 for books worth up to $1k, $55 up to $5k, etc.,.), but when you get above $1k, most buyers are going to want the grade and slab anyway as they would fall in the latter crowd as described above.

 

Once again, I think the savings could be more than a few bucks. With the slab, you have also reduced the pool of potential buyers. I'm sure I am not the only one who hates the slab, and I am positive there are more collectors than investors in this hobby, so I think the pool of clients who don't give a rats [!@#%^&^] about the slab would be greater than those who do. I don't know if most buyers above the 1k mark who are collectors would rather have a slab. I have spent more than a grand on single books a few times, and when I have, the books have come out of the slabs.

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Crackandpresstoan11

Crackandpresstoan11

Posted
Posted
Restoration checking is not something that any flunky could do as spotting certain types of restoration requires a thorough knowledge of all professional restoration techniques available. As we all know, even some of the best and most reputable dealers in the hobby are not able to able to catch all cases of restoration.

 

And we aren't just discussing some 10 year old using a marker to blacken in a crack in the spine, but pieces added, trimming, tear seals, etc.

 

Kev

 

If you were hired tomorrow by Susan C. and trained for 4 weeks on how to detect resto, do you think you could? I'll assume you have been in the hobby for many years and have a passing knowledge of resto. I think you could do it. Why not?

How about a kid coming out of college? Maybe flunky was not the best term, but with a little training, I would think most anyone can detect resto.

Unfortunatly, the best and most reputable dealers are not trained in spotting resto.

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drbanner

drbanner

Posted
Posted

To get a "valuable" book slabbed could cost over $100, I think (??).

 

Nah...with a 20% discount, you can get a $4,000 book slabbed and returned to you within a week for $64 (plus sh/ins).

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Crackandpresstoan11

Crackandpresstoan11

Posted
Posted

I really enjoyed your insightful and thoughtful post regarding this subject. Your knowledge of the collecting community is unparalleled. We can only hope that we may one day achieve the enlightenment of a being such as yourself who has nothing better to do than post over 11k times in a 9 month span and have absolutely nothing to say about anything. Congratulations on your life fulfilling achievements! 893applaud-thumb.gif

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ArAich

ArAich

Posted
Posted
Congratulations on your life fulfilling achievements! 893applaud-thumb.gif

 

Almost as aspiring as your hopeful endevour of hiring flunkys to train for your new company... TM Resto Labs & Slab Crackers LLC....

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