CGC is a Scam

by Peter Grant
(UK)

I have a Tales to Astonish #27, married cover. It was sent off to CGC. It should have come back as a 9.2 or a 9.4 But it came back as a 6.0.

As far as I can find out from CGC, but they are a bit vague, they say it has a crease on the back cover. What a joke. I have some 6.0 X-men and they are more like a 9.0. They (CGC) cannot grade. They are so inconsistent.

I showed other dealers that they were totally gob smacked. I think they employ monkeys to grade. I have been collecting comics since I was 6 years old. I have been selling since 1960.

I think slabbing is a red herring. I opened a slabbed comic. I was amazed at the inner plastic they use. I believe that this plastic is not a neutral component and speaking to someone here in the UK, the response was that putting a comic in cheap material (cheap plastic), aint gonna do any good. The comic cannot breathe so therefore, in years to come it's no worse than sticking in a damp room. I rest my case. Anyway CGC's prices are inflated.


From admin: While I have no problem with an intelligent conversation against the usefulness of CGC as a third party grader, I do need to keep my content standards up to keep my readers happy and to keep the search engines happy.

So I had to edit Peter's narrative quite a bit for spelling and grammar mistakes, while trying to adhere to his basic intent. He also had supplied a couple of graphics that were too illegible to use.

Now, after saying this, I realize that CGC has definitely been controversial over the years. So if there are any comments to Peter's commentary, then by all means, feel free to voice them. And if need be, I will clean them up to appear on my site. Thanks. Dave

Comments for CGC is a Scam

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Dec 17, 2021
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Losing my patience
by: Susan - - Joe's mom

My son passed away in May of 2020. I inherited 9 boxes of comic books. This May I sent CGC 6 comic books like The Amazing Spiderman 300, 301, 316 plus 3 more. CGC received them on May 10 and although I have written to them several times and they keep extending the time they will be returned. CGC states I sent them with the lowest service they offer (I paid $250.00) so therefore if it takes longer for them to be graded. The last time I emailed and demanded my books be returned, they stated once you send them to CGC, they can take as long as it takes to grade them and it was part of their contract. These 6 books mean a lot to me so I can't understand their attitude. So far I think something fishy is going on but have no way of finding out. It should be another 60 days now. If anyone knows what I can do about this situation, I would appreciate hearing it. Thank you. Susan
Apr 07, 2021
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		My CGC story NEW
by: Anonymous

They actually kept the only book that I submitted to them. I sent them a Giant Size X-Men #1 and it never came back. After six months they finally admitted that it was stolen and then they proceeded to low ball me on what the replacement value should be. At the time it wasn't worth driving across the country to take them to court so I "settled" for their only offer. Years later I asked for the control number so I could verify track the book a and verify their grade. I'm till waiting...
Dec 07, 2017
Rating
starstarstarstar 		CGC Never Accepts Accountability
by: PasKen

CGC charges by the value and age of the comic book to be graded, as well as the service level desired. Service levels include a clearly stated turn-around time for books to be graded and returned. Not only does CGC make mistakes, they NEVER, EVER come close to delivering on the stated turn-around time. Most often, a stated 20-day turn-around time equates to roughly a 4 - 5 month wait. CGC Refuses to accept accountability for this, or for mistakes they make. If Customers argue a grade received or point out an mistake or issue, CGC invites them to resubmit their books. This entails paying to have it shipped insured back to CGC, often pay again for grading, and pay to have it shipped insured back to customer. All for another several month wait. This is deplorable! I have over 1000 graded books (70% CGC) and have NEVER received books back anywhere near the declared time-frame on any of their Service Levels.
Mar 15, 2017
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Keep comic books raw
by: USNav2724

CGC is a scam in the sense that they overprice for their services. Grading a current $2.99 dollar book for example costs at least $18 dollars (last I checked). When the same book is graded (any grade) and slabbed, it does NOT make the value of the book $21. My point is this, sellers who get their books graded and then sell the books have to recuperate the cost of grading/shipping. A $2.99 dollar book is worth $2.99. The encapsulation or 'slab' as they refer to it is just hard plastic that preserves the book - so they claim. The school of thought prior to CGC was to allow the book to 'breathe' in order to allow harmful gases produced through the breakdown of the inks and paper itself to escape and not cause damage. Paper is a cellulose, plant based material, it will breakdown even in sealed environments. CGC is a waste of $ and unnecessarily drives the cost of the book up. It IS a scam and will destroy the collecting hobby. The grades are inconsistent and profit driven. No such thing as a guaranteed grade.
Oct 09, 2016
Rating
starstarstar 		A Problem found with early CGC packaged books
by: RobOman

The early CGC packaged books had a problem with the cover clinging to the plastic and if the book got dropped the right way the staples would pull out, found two different books graded 9.0 or higher with torn staples. but no problem unless your buyer opens the darn package and then wants to sue you.

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