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CGC, The Only Slabbing Service Allowed Within The Walls Of C2E2/ECCC Until 2020

Started by comicwiz,

283 posts in this topic

FlyingDonut

FlyingDonut

Posted
Posted
The reactions/views towards CGC and this move on Facebook have not been good:

 

CGC, The Only Slabbing Service Allowed Within The Walls Of C2E2 And ECCC Until 2020

 

Convention organisers ReedPOP and leading comic book grading and slabbing company Certified Guaranty Company, or CGC, have signed an exclusive agreement for C2E2 and Emerald City Comicon to be the official onsite comic grading service at shows through 2019.

 

It hasn’t been uncommon for comic book graders to set up shop at shows, and bring their graders and slabbers along with them, letting people turn up with their comics books to have their mintness measured, noted and then kept under plastic for all eternity, there and then, rather than having to mail their items in and pray to the gods of UPS that all will be well.

 

But this deal will give CGC a greater dominance over a growing field of grading and slabbing at both these major comic book culture events for some time to come. And will also ensure a service that C2E2 and ECCC can promise to their attendees with a prominence to match...

 

Read more

 

Not for nothing, but you're from Toronto, correct? Can you buy a Pepsi at Rogers Centre? No, you cannot, because Coca-Cola has an exclusive contract with the Rogers Centre. If you want to buy a Pepsi, you have to go to a facility that does not have that contract.

 

Can you get a Pepsi at a McDonald's? No, you cannot. Because Coca-Cola and McDonald's have an exclusive partnership.

 

Can you get a Coca-Cola at a Taco Bell? No, you cannot. Because Pepsi and Taco Bell have an exclusive partnership.

 

Good for CGC. If CBCS wants to be the exclusive slabbing company at - just to pick one at random - HeroesCon in Charlotte, pony up the cash and go for it.

 

That's a fair comment. However, this is an apple to oranges comparison. When Coke tried to pull this boneheaded move on my old University campus, students stopped buying and either bought off campus grounds at nearby convenience stores or restaurants, or brought their own beverages for lunch. The following year, the federation of students demanded the contract be scrapped - the beverage company was all too happy since sales were well below expectations, and the boneheads at the University that made that call in the first place lost some money for breach of contract, but saved face.

 

The choices to enter into an establishment that serve a brand of beverage is a little different from exclusively offering a community of collectors one choice to grade at a convention venue. It's not like you can just go next door, a nearby mall, to have your comics graded with the competition who conveniently setup their onsite grading in the food court. Yes, you can submit to your LCS in Chicago during the time this show happens, attend another convention in another city where this restriction isn't in place or maybe find another remedy like giving it to a dealer at their hotel room to submit for you. But that's not the point here. On-site gradings major selling point is convenience, and this is a deliberate attempt to inconvenience people to just give in and submit with CGC.

 

In the not too distant past, people were abandoning ship because CGC's case was destroying comics and their response ranged from minimizing the concerns to flat out denying there was even a problem. In the most dire moments when it seemed the creep engine was requiring them to scrap the entire "new design", there were even comments praising PGX's cases as being superior to CGC's. If you still want to stick to the beverage wars example, the equivalent would be finding out Coke batches were being found with lethal doses of arsenic, and less than a year after such a scandal, were trying to push Pepsi out of every NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB teams building/stadium or arena.

 

The Koolaid may still be flowing here in copious amounts, but there are many, many people who swore never to use CGC again who will find a way to get their books to the competition no matter how hard CGC tries. They should just stick to doing things right, say less stupid mess, and be more transparent when they mess up, instead of looking like they have to resort to tactics that make them look like they are trying too hard to win over collectors. Let the market decide. my2cents

 

This is not a deliberate attempt to inconvenience people. It is a company deciding that they're going to use the power of their wallet to have an exclusive arrangement with a company. Again, if I was running CBCS, I'd go directly to one of the other conventions and see if they'll take my money to become an exclusive supplier.

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Ares

Ares

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Will witnesses from the other companies be allowed to witness books being signed/sketched or does this just cover grading/slabbing happening at these 2 cons? If so, how long before there are bidding wars for this artist or that artist to be placed under contract to only have books witnessed by this company or that one?

 

To soon

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joeypost

joeypost

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Posted
Will they slab any comic or only certain eras or price points?

 

I'm hoping for golden age.

 

I believe they'll slab anything when they do onsite grading.

 

 

No magazines on-site. As far as books that are thick like fireside books, etc...I am not sure. Would be worth asking before lugging the books to the show.

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Buzzetta

Buzzetta

Posted
Posted
Will witnesses from the other companies be allowed to witness books being signed/sketched or does this just cover grading/slabbing happening at these 2 cons? If so, how long before there are bidding wars for this artist or that artist to be placed under contract to only have books witnessed by this company or that one?

 

To soon

 

I thought that this was already happening.

 

And to tell the truth... it does not shock me. Certain baseball players are under contract to only professionally sign with Steiner Sports. Andy Pettitte is an example of one of these players. Pettitte has been known to sign things for free for fans. But if he is accepting money for a signature then he uses Steiner as a facilitator.

 

Suprised by some of the names on this list.

Steiner Exclusive Athletes

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mattn792

mattn792

Posted
Posted
Looks like Pete Carbonaro wasted not time with the hate...

 

"I guess the bullies don't stop in school. It is now apparent to me just how scared CGC is. It seems they can't even play on the same level playing field as CBCS. They are now trying to monopolize the entire grading market. Are they that afraid of a little competition they are willing to make deals To have them excluded from big shows. To me this is a real shame for the fans that want options and better service. Also for the artists and creators that will lose money because of this. Please spread this if you don't agree with what is going on here. #CBCSOverCGC"

 

Posted on Facebook.

 

Instead of complaining like a 6 year old, CBCS could easily get wise and utilize the vast array of leasing space in a city (let's say Chicago) and set up shop near a convention (say C2E2) to accommodate their customers. #secondfiddle #capitalism

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Guardian Comics

Guardian Comics

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Posted
What does the convention get out of this arrangement? More money from CGC to set up shop?

 

I think so. I could be wrong.

 

 

That is the only scenario that makes sense to me.

 

Why? Maybe Reed is paying CGC to be there. If they think that having CGC do onsite there might result in more people buying passes at $50-$100, maybe they offer booth space for free, who knows.

 

Maybe they offer CGC money, and by doing so take away the exclusivity that WWChicago has with that market for onsiting. C2E2 happens earlier in the year then WWChicago, maybe they want the Chicago collector who will only go to one show a year, and try to entice them with onsite grading.

 

People are looking at this from only one perspective, but yet two parties are involved, both with their own reasons.

 

Jim

 

 

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Iceman399

Iceman399

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Posted
Eccc tickets sell out every year :baiting: can't sell more of what you don't have.

 

All I'm saying is that Coke pays McDonalds every year for being their exclusive soda, and then McDonalds pays Coke for the syrup. It goes both ways.

 

Jim

 

The goal of eccc promoters would be:

Have every vendor have a great show (so they can reasonably increase booth fees)

Have every attendee have a great show with vendors they want to spend money with and what not. Also justify to increase ticket prices.

 

Limiting choices doesn't bode well for either by limiting a company that belongs there. Don't let the asphalt driveway company there (that makes a lot of sense) but saying the #2 grading company can't doesn't.

 

I don't like the mds and coke analogy cause it doesn't fit the model.

 

Walmart wants all the customers possible so they offer as many choices that make sense for them without being too exclusive.

Coke

Pepsi

Cola

No name

Etc

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wombat

wombat

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Posted

 

I don't like the mds and coke analogy cause it doesn't fit the model.

 

Walmart wants all the customers possible so they offer as many choices that make sense for them without being too exclusive.

Coke

Pepsi

Cola

No name

Etc

 

Comparing a con to a single restaurant really is apples and oranges. The main draw of a con is variety. Your comparison is much more relevant. How many of us would go to a grocery store that only had one brand of every product?

 

I'm guessing if we were talking about comic dealers people wouldn't have the same support for this type of thing. Imagine if one large dealer bought all the booths?

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dupont2005

dupont2005

Posted
Posted
What does the convention get out of this arrangement? More money from CGC to set up shop?

 

I think so. I could be wrong.

 

 

That is the only scenario that makes sense to me.

 

Why? Maybe Reed is paying CGC to be there. If they think that having CGC do onsite there might result in more people buying passes at $50-$100, maybe they offer booth space for free, who knows.

 

Maybe they offer CGC money, and by doing so take away the exclusivity that WWChicago has with that market for onsiting. C2E2 happens earlier in the year then WWChicago, maybe they want the Chicago collector who will only go to one show a year, and try to entice them with onsite grading.

 

People are looking at this from only one perspective, but yet two parties are involved, both with their own reasons.

 

Jim

 

I don't think C2E2 is paying CGC to have a monopoly at their convention. Why would they do that when they could instead accept money for the same thing? Otherwise, they could just accept money from both companies to set up booths there. They wouldn't likely pay one company and kick the other one out. That's the opposite of their business model, and halving the options isn't likely to increase ticket sales.

 

Now, it's possible CGC isn't paying for the monopoly, but if they aren't paying for it they played hardball in some other fashion to get their way, so it's actually friendlier to assume they just offered some money for the same kind of deal the guys who charge $8 for a warm plastic cup of domestic beer at the county fair have.

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comix4fun

comix4fun

Posted
Posted

 

I don't like the mds and coke analogy cause it doesn't fit the model.

 

Walmart wants all the customers possible so they offer as many choices that make sense for them without being too exclusive.

Coke

Pepsi

Cola

No name

Etc

 

Comparing a con to a single restaurant really is apples and oranges. The main draw of a con is variety. Your comparison is much more relevant. How many of us would go to a grocery store that only had one brand of every product?

 

I'm guessing if we were talking about comic dealers people wouldn't have the same support for this type of thing. Imagine if one large dealer bought all the booths?

 

 

Do people really submit to both companies, at the same show, simultaneously?

I am trying to find a logical reason for that. I thought that most people chose one or the other anyway.

 

 

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wombat

wombat

Posted
Posted

 

I don't like the mds and coke analogy cause it doesn't fit the model.

 

Walmart wants all the customers possible so they offer as many choices that make sense for them without being too exclusive.

Coke

Pepsi

Cola

No name

Etc

 

Comparing a con to a single restaurant really is apples and oranges. The main draw of a con is variety. Your comparison is much more relevant. How many of us would go to a grocery store that only had one brand of every product?

 

I'm guessing if we were talking about comic dealers people wouldn't have the same support for this type of thing. Imagine if one large dealer bought all the booths?

 

 

Do people really submit to both companies, at the same show, simultaneously?

I am trying to find a logical reason for that. I thought that most people chose one or the other anyway.

 

 

Good point. How much business would CGC really lose if there was another grader at a con?

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