PSA grading just announced they would suspend grading services until July 2021. Have you ever heard of a company suspending services to catch up on a backlog? Turn around times for CGC are terrible at 6 months or more to get a comic pressed and graded. Do you think CGC and CBCS should follow PSA and suspend submissions so they can catch up? The marketplace seems to be applauding the PSA move.
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Categories… please try to add categories to new topics! 
If your business cannot handle the demand, either expand capacity or don’t go after additional business. Upsetting customers or producing a subgrade product never ends well in the long run.
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Yup, hire more people or change your operations to meet your customers needs in some fashion or another.
One of my biggest issues with CGC and to a lesser extent CBCS is their constant drumming up of additional business via all of their signings/signature events. I don’t know if PSA does that sort of thing or not though.
If you can’t meet current demand, are at absurd wait times, to the point you are sending out apology correspondence and such…perhaps but a halt to that sort of crap.
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CGC just added 22,000 square feet of place to increase their operations. I think most of that is related to the card grading though. Their currently turnaround is 51 days for a modern comic.
What I don’t like are fast track options. I pay you more and you can all the sudden get it done in 19 days? Either you force me to pay more or my normal submissions just get pushed further out by people paying to fast track.
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CGC turnaround times have doubled mostly due to all the signings and signature events. It seems the comics and sportscard industry is booming to the point they are refusing to take your money. PSA is basically closing its doors for submissions for 3 months.
Why couldn’t PSA just hire another 100 people?
There’s a lot involved in hiring new people and getting them trained plus trying to work through a backlog.
Not to mention, what do you do once you work through the backlog? Let em all go? That’s a longstanding issue in many service areas. It’s not easy (or cost effective) to hire temporary staff to get you through busy periods only.
CBCS had this same problem. They didn’t shut down business but they made some moves in order to train more people and (eventually) increase production. Their TATS were really bad like 6 months for a time…but they pushed through and now back to 10-12 week TATs which is pretty standard for moderns.
But yes, if you don’t go with fast pass and pay up…you’re just bumped further and further back.
Fortunately I don’t send in books i need back in less than 6 months as most are for the PC, so I just wait it out.
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It’s probably from all the idiots sending in comic trading cards thinking they were going to get rich. The market on those already dissolved.
I’m brand new to slabs, I only own one and I have never personally submitted a book, HOWEVER one YouTuber I follow DID mention that he uses PGX for PC books. Stated reasons are that they are faster, less expensive, and the encapsulation is equally as effective as CGC or CBCS.
Perhaps that is an option folks can turn to? In the coin world PCGS & NGC are the top two services, but ANACS is a 3rd option that folks respect (again, the other offer better resale value.) Perhaps PGX can be the comic book ANACS?
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PGX is NEVER an option. Id rather set my books on fire…
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Are they unreliable?
Unreliable = their grading capabilities are abysmal
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I’d say do PGX if you just want your book encapsulated to protect, if you’re not overly worried about the actual grade itself. I think they’re fine on that aspect.
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All likely true.
What was missing was inconsistent grading and their restoration checks are not reliable…many stories of pgx books sent in
To CGC/CBCS come back lower grades and restored labels.
But you can buy your own slabs and do it yourself if that is your goal.
From the research I’ve done PGX’s recent grading is on par with CGC and CBCS but they ruined their reputation a long time ago by overgrading books. They probably are a viable option now if you just want your stuff encapsulated and the grades are probably on point.
I seen a lot of stuff online where people will buy more recently graded PGX stuff just to send it to CGC to get it cracked and regraded for the CGC holder and the price bump. But if you plan on reselling the books ever, at this point you should use CGC or CBCS. If you just want them slabbed you could use PGX or buy the slabs you can do yourself and make your own labels.
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This has one of those “Hold my beer” jokes written all over it.
Honestly, I didn’t even know they made slab-it-yourself slabs.
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I’m gonna start PGS… Poyo’s Grading Service.
Every book will be accurately graded. I’ll include the notes on why I say none of your books are perfect, no book will ever get a 10.0 because that’s physically impossible cause I’ll go beyond of what the naked eye can see. I’ll introduce the new scale that includes all decimal points… e.g: 8.8, 8.9, 9.0, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4… etc.
And for an additional $49.95, I’ll do a custom Poyo doodle label that is unique and one of a kind.
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