CGC Turnaround Times Update

Dear Valued Customers,

We have experienced extraordinary growth in demand for our expert and impartial certification services. Unfortunately, this has resulted in significantly longer turnaround times for our Trading Cards Bulk and Trading Cards Economy grading tiers as well as select comics grading tiers. We sincerely apologize for the delays and we are working as hard as we can to get our turnaround times under control and eventually back to our target levels.

Expert grading should not be rushed, and we will never compromise on the quality and integrity of our services. We are taking a number of steps to increase our capacity while maintaining our high quality, but all of this takes time. We have hired more than 70 new employees in the last three months, purchased an additional 21,000 square feet of space, implemented comprehensive training programs, brought in efficiency consultants and worked thousands of hours of overtime. We have increased incentives to motivate and reward our employees as well as attract new talent. We will not rest until this situation has been resolved.

We understand that some of you are disappointed that your turnaround time is longer than expected. Our posted turnaround times are our best estimates, but a variety of factors — including many outside of our control — can impact the actual turnaround time. We are working on a first-in, first-out basis with higher grading tiers prioritized.

Significant work is performed to a submission from the moment it is received in order to prepare it for grading. Our highly trained employees receive each package, unpack it, check its contents, verify each collectible in our proprietary tracking system, individually label each collectible and carefully place them in boxes before grading. While awaiting grading, submissions are kept in our climate-controlled secure storage with full insurance coverage based on the submitter’s declared value.

CGC is not able to accommodate requests to pull and return unfinished submissions because this would divert critical resources from completing submissions as quickly as possible. In addition, since turnaround times are explicitly not guaranteed and significant work is performed prior to grading, CGC is not able to give refunds due to any delays. Rest assured that your submission is in the queue for the graders and will be completed in the order in which it is received within its grading tier.

These are exciting times for the hobby. The growth in collecting is unprecedented and CGC is honored to be the certification service of choice for so many collectors. We appreciate your patience. If you or someone you know is interested in a career in this fast-growing market, please consider applying for a position with CGC at collectiblesgroup.com/careers.

For current turnaround times, click here.

Sincerely,
CGC