Best way to bag and board your comics when sending to CGC? 3 3

[Motor City Rob]

Just wondering how people who have been doing this for years bag and board their comics before sending to CGC.  Do you use the utmost protection and put it in a full back and mylar?  Or do you go the cheap route and just use a normal backing board and bag?  I don't want to assume CGC will be extremely careful with my books so I always use 3 to 4 backing boards, but it's also money down the drain because we never get those back. What does everyone else do?

[Lightning55]

I use a simple bag and board, because the goal is not to let anything even get near the comics in the box during shipment.  So I spend my resources on that, protection of the payload.  I put the b/b comics in multi-layers of bubble wrap.  I put that in a box with padding.  I put that whole assembly in another box with padding between the boxes.  I don't use post office supplied boxes, since they are sub-regulation and made out of light duty cardboard.  I use regulation 32ECT cardboard, or double wall cardboard.  Pack them like they were eggs.

[Motor City Rob]

44 minutes ago, Lightning55 said:

I use a simple bag and board, because the goal is not to let anything even get near the comics in the box during shipment.  So I spend my resources on that, protection of the payload.  I put the b/b comics in multi-layers of bubble wrap.  I put that in a box with padding.  I put that whole assembly in another box with padding between the boxes.  I don't use post office supplied boxes, since they are sub-regulation and made out of light duty cardboard.  I use regulation 32ECT cardboard, or double wall cardboard.  Pack them like they were eggs.

Sounds like you are taking good precautions. I'm more concerned about how the books are handled by CGC once they open the box. Really easy to bend single backing boards. Was just wondering if I was the only one using 3-4 backing boards per book, to keep them a little safer in case someone handles the books roughly.

[Qalyar]

I'm willing to worry about whether I've failed to properly grade my books. I'm willing to worry about whether the shipper I opt for will lose my books or crush them in a conveyor belt or just delay them for weeks because 2020 has to be awful for everything.

But I honestly don't spend anytime considering whether the employees of the professional grading service I use might mangle my books before assigning them numbers.

[joeypost]

I would think protection would be needed getting books to CGC AND while books are at CGC. I cannot see how double or triple boarding a book would hurt its chances. 

Edited August 18, 2020 by joeypost

[Motor City Rob]

21 minutes ago, joeypost said:

I would think protection would be needed getting books to CGC AND while books are at CGC. I cannot see how double or triple boarding a book would hurt its chances. 

Thanks for the response. Didn't know if someone out there had any other ideas on better ways to protect the books others than multiple boards. In the end, the books still need to be removed from the bag, so all bets are off at that point. 

[thunsicker]

 

[NebraskaGuy]

Use Painters tape when securing your books. Cannot stress that enough. Do not use scotch tape. It makes the receiving dock have to cut things open and takes longer and they have a ton of boxes to open. Make it as easy for them as possibly. I put my books in a CGC bag (That came on the outside of a gladded slab), then I tape that shut with Painter's tape and a pull tab. Then I tape USPS Priority cut up boxes to the top and bottom, again with Painter's tape with pull tabs. Then I bubble wrap both sideways and longways. Zero cutting is involved with this method and the box can be opened quickly and checked in without unnecessary handling by the people on the dock. If you only get one thing from this post, its always use Painter's tape (The blue tape). Cheap bags and boards are fine as long as they are clean. Also, rotate your books so the spines do not all align up. One book right side up, then the next "upside down" so the spine is on the other side. Then back to right side up, etc. 

[lonetree]

I put about 12-13 bagged/boarded books together in one large bag (usually an old CGC bag) and tape it securely so the books dont move around.  I then put them between two Aviditi SP811 Single-Wall Corrugated Layer Pad, 11-7/8" Length x 8-7/8" Width.  I then put them into a Aviditi M2BKK Corrugated Easy-Fold Mailer, 12-1/8" Length x 9-1/8" Width x 2" Height, Kraft.  Using my eBay store coupon, I get eBay shipping boxes for free = eBay-Branded Boxes With Black Color Logo 16" x 12" x 8".  These boxes can hold (4) of the Aviditi M2BKK Corrugated Easy-Fold Mailers with space.  I put packing peanuts on the bottom of the eBay box and packing material around the sides.  I have not had any books damaged sending them to CGC in this manner.  Costs about $60 from Denver to mail them USPS Priority Mail with Signature and Insurance.

[joeypost]

If you done correctly, you can ship 50 books very safely for the cost of a large flat rate priority box. 

Edited August 18, 2020 by joeypost

[Fantastic Firth]

So has CGC chimed in on this? Blue tape & tabs = great advice, stacking back to front and vice versa so spine's don't align = great advice, etc...

I would love to know what the volume players are doing that CGC specifically likes. I've seen video's on leaving flaps open to make it easier for CGC to process and bagging backwards or with the flap on the back. Watching the CGC video's there are some common sense recommendations but seems like there are steps that aren't emphasized like leaving the flaps open vs. taping. 

 

[wiparker824]

On 7/8/2023 at 12:07 PM, Fantastic Firth said:

So has CGC chimed in on this? Blue tape & tabs = great advice, stacking back to front and vice versa so spine's don't align = great advice, etc...

I would love to know what the volume players are doing that CGC specifically likes. I've seen video's on leaving flaps open to make it easier for CGC to process and bagging backwards or with the flap on the back. Watching the CGC video's there are some common sense recommendations but seems like there are steps that aren't emphasized like leaving the flaps open vs. taping. 

 

They “chimed” in 7 years ago when they uploaded this video showing exactly how they like books shipped to them

https://youtu.be/UTFshXVtTUI

now since then they began selling shipping kits:

https://www.cgccomics.com/news/article/8035/cgc-shipping-kits/

and there’s detailed videos in there on how to ship those. I’m sure they’d prefer this not because it’s any more protective than the first link but because you send them more money for packing materials. I’ve personally never had an issue with the first video tutorial and DIY materials. All of these extra tips like tabs with tape are fine and I’ve done it when I remember, but I’m also paying enough that I think they can handle pulling some painters tape back without a tab when I don’t remember. And the people that do this literally do it all day, they know what they’re doing. 

[Stefan_W]

On 8/18/2020 at 9:36 AM, NebraskaGuy said:

Use Painters tape when securing your books. Cannot stress that enough. Do not use scotch tape. It makes the receiving dock have to cut things open and takes longer and they have a ton of boxes to open. Make it as easy for them as possibly. I put my books in a CGC bag (That came on the outside of a gladded slab), then I tape that shut with Painter's tape and a pull tab. Then I tape USPS Priority cut up boxes to the top and bottom, again with Painter's tape with pull tabs. Then I bubble wrap both sideways and longways. Zero cutting is involved with this method and the box can be opened quickly and checked in without unnecessary handling by the people on the dock. If you only get one thing from this post, its always use Painter's tape (The blue tape). Cheap bags and boards are fine as long as they are clean. Also, rotate your books so the spines do not all align up. One book right side up, then the next "upside down" so the spine is on the other side. Then back to right side up, etc. 

The bolded part is the advice everyone gives and I do it too. However, I want to point out that they still cut the books out even when there is painters tape - I know this because when I get rejects back from pre-screen the top of each bag is cut out even though there is no scotch tape at all. 

[lizards2]

On 7/9/2023 at 6:00 PM, Stefan_W said:

The bolded part is the advice everyone gives and I do it too. However, I want to point out that they still cut the books out even when there is painters tape - I know this because when I get rejects back from pre-screen the top of each bag is cut out even though there is no scotch tape at all. 

Do your rejects have new finger dents in them?

[Stefan_W]

On 7/9/2023 at 10:20 PM, lizards2 said:

Do your rejects have new finger dents in them?

Not normally but I have had one or two with new dings that I know weren't there before. The worst one was a reject from a 9.8 pre-screen that came back with small ticks all up and down the spine, and of course I would have spotted that before sending. I would say it happened with approx 1 out of 100 books or so. 

[Fantastic Firth]

On 7/9/2023 at 12:44 AM, wiparker824 said:

They “chimed” in 7 years ago when they uploaded this video showing exactly how they like books shipped to them

https://youtu.be/UTFshXVtTUI

now since then they began selling shipping kits:

https://www.cgccomics.com/news/article/8035/cgc-shipping-kits/

and there’s detailed videos in there on how to ship those. I’m sure they’d prefer this not because it’s any more protective than the first link but because you send them more money for packing materials. I’ve personally never had an issue with the first video tutorial and DIY materials. All of these extra tips like tabs with tape are fine and I’ve done it when I remember, but I’m also paying enough that I think they can handle pulling some painters tape back without a tab when I don’t remember. And the people that do this literally do it all day, they know what they’re doing. 

Thank you for sharing. I've seen the 2nd video plenty of times but not the first. Glad to see Stan's endorsement as well. Looks like the main themes across both videos are painter's tape, alternate stacking to keep everything as flat as possible, and secure for shipping to protect spine/edges with lots of padding around all of it. I just sent in 70+ and definitely took my time with it.  

Best, 

NC