How Long Is Cgc Fast Track Grading

*The normal cost for Modern Tier Grading is $22 per book. But because I am have an Elite CGC Membership, I receive a 10% discount off grading for all tiers.

So as you can see in the chart above, when you take all the costs into consideration that equals a true cost of $28.60 per comic graded.

Understand that the associated shipping costs are variable based on quantity, shipping weight and how you choose to insure your shipments to and from CGC.

For example, in another recent submission to CGC, I sent in 10 Modern Tier comics for grading and the average cost per book was $25.70. However if you submit only 2 or 3 comics, your average cost could go up over $31 per book.

But as a rule of thumb, as I'm deciding which comics to submit for grading I always estimate the true cost of having a Modern Tier comic being graded by CGC to be around $30.

If you're the type who likes to know everything up front (like me!) then to figure out shipping costs ahead of time, you can calculate the cost of shipping your comics to CGC in Florida (zip code 34230) using the USPS Postage Price Calculator. And to figure out return shipping from CGC it just takes a little basic math. CGC will charge $16 for the first slab, and then $2 for each additional slab. So as in the first example above, return shipping from CGC for five graded comics would be $24.

IS CGC WORTH THE EFFORT?

In addition to the financial aspect of deciding if CGC grading is worth it for you, there's also some effort you have to put into the whole process.

Now it's not a terrible amount of effort, but enough that you should be aware of what you'll need to do prior to submitting your comic books to CGC.

The first thing you need to do is either become a member of CGC or locate a trusted 3rd party to submit your comics on your behalf. If you don't do either of these things, then your only option is to wait for CGC to attend at a comic con in your neighborhood and personally drop them off there.

Now, once you are a member — or have located a reputable 3rd party to submit for you — you have to prepare your actual submission. For me this includes a final visual inspection of each comic I plan on submitting just to make sure that I didn't overlook anything on the comic that might prevent it from getting the best grade possible.

Once I've finalized my CGC candidates, then I go to CGC's website and fire up their trusty online submission form. The new online form is pretty simple to use, and is light years ahead for the old (but still available) pdf form that you fill out by hand.

Using CCG's online submission form is a breeze!

Make sure you print and include the packing slip your online submission will generate once complete. Without that piece of paper, CGC will have no idea what they're supposed to do with that box of comics that just arrived at their facility.

From there, it's a matter of getting your comics (and packing slip!) securely packed up, printing a shipping label and dropping the box off at your local USPS or delivery service of your choosing.

Now the only thing left to do is wait. But for how long?

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR CGC TO GRADE COMICS?

The other part of deciding if having your comics graded by CGC is worth it for you, is discovering how you feel about being without your comics for an extended period of time.

For the Modern Tier, the typical turnaround time for grading is 55 business days. However, this does not include the number of days it takes for your submission to reach CGC, or the time it takes for your graded comics to arrive back at your door.

Also, depending on how busy CGC is, it may take longer than 55 days. The good news is that on their website, CGC maintains updated turnaround times so you'll know prior to filling out your submission form how long grading should take.

And a final note is that if there are any major comic conventions or holidays that fall within your grading window, that can extend the time it takes to get your graded comics back as well.

Keep in mind too that different grading tiers have different turnaround times. For example theEconomy Tier where you can submit any book regardless of publish date with a value of $400 or less currently has a turnaround time of 79 business days. That equals over four months that you'd have to wait before your books are graded and returned to you.

However if you want your books back faster than the listed turnaround time, CGC does offer aFast Track option where you pay extra per book to reduce the turnaround time by half or more. While I didn't take advantage of theFast Track option much when I first started sending in comics for grading, I now hop in theFast Track with every single submission I make because it's been proven to make good business sense. But if time isn't of the essence for you, then feel free to stick with the standard grading turnaround times.

Lastly, in my personal experience I've found the turnaround times listed on CGC's website to be pretty darn accurate and it's not uncommon for your comics to be graded a day or two ahead of time, which is always a nice surprise.

WHY DO COLLECTORS HAVE THEIR COMICS GRADED?

Aside from the time, effort and money — the final part of the equation is thinking about WHY you want to have your comics graded in the first place. For me it usually comes down to one of these reasons:

• Graded comics can hold a higher value over their raw counterparts
• Slabs help preserve the condition of a comic
• Graded comics make for cool display pieces

Let's dive into each one of these reasons why you might want to have your comics graded…

Graded vs. Raw Comic Values

All it takes is a quick eBay search to see that high-grade CGC comics will always sell for more than their raw counterparts. Part of the reason is because it's understood that — at minimum — the cost of grading the comic is added to the raw value of the book. But there's also this social contract that exists which allows buyers to put more faith in a book graded by CGC because of the confidence their reputation brings to the table. And with that high level of confidence, people become more willing to pay a higher price than they would for a raw comic listed in the same grade.

To illustrate this, I thought it would be fun to look at some recent sales data from eBay comparing how much a graded comic sold for compared to an equivalent raw copy of the same book.

How Long Is Cgc Fast Track Grading

Source: https://certifiedcomic.shop/blog/is-cgc-worth-it/

Share this post