Help me help you!14694
 The Fifth Golden Girl
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sborock private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I think that we have a lot of great people here, but even more so, we have (from reading the posts here)vey articulate and smart people here as well! I would love to see this thread with some/all of you responding in a non-hater and cool collector sort of way. Not just "I hate XXX" but give me the reasons you like or dislike something at CBCS. Please no CGC bashing, just well thought out responses. So what do you like best at CBCS, what new program(s) would you like to see and what is something you would change? I will take all answers into consideration and bring them up at our weekly ops meeting. Thanks in advance! Peace! -Steve |
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 Captain Corrector
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CaptainCanuck private msg quote post Address this user | |
| . I like the President of CBCS’s engagement with the forum. |
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 Collector
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andy49 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| magazine slabs | ||
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 If I could, I would. I swear.
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DrWatson private msg quote post Address this user | |
| CBCS really does need a registry. Don't underestimate the power of obsessive compulsive collectors needing to complete a checklist. Also, the label needs a redesign. I can't be specific. It's just lackluster. Personally, I like XXX.  |
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If I could, I would. I swear.
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DrWatson private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Oh, and I am sure you are aware but the area CBCS needs great improvement is customer service. If you all improve your customer service, your stock would skyrocket. | ||
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The Fifth Golden Girl
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sborock private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by andy49 Already saw the prototype for the holder! Hopefully mid summer. |
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The Fifth Golden Girl
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sborock private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by DrWatson Looking into both, thanks! |
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The Fifth Golden Girl
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sborock private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by DrWatson Yes, another thing we are changing, just takes time to hire these days. |
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The Fifth Golden Girl
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sborock private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by CaptainCanuck Thanks! I really enjoy talking comics and helping collectors! Heck, you can't get me off the "just for fun ID this cover" thread! I am addicted to that game! |
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 Collector
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mediaslave private msg quote post Address this user | |
Pretty sure you know where I stand.  |
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The Fifth Golden Girl
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sborock private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by mediaslave No, I don't. Please be more specific, thanks! |
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 Moderator
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Jesse_O private msg quote post Address this user | |
| The customer dashboard REALLY needs a "date received" field!! | ||
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The Fifth Golden Girl
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sborock private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Jesse_O I will bring that up at the next ops meeting. |
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 You think I'm joking, I'm not.
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earthshaker01 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @sborock I would like to see satellite office here on west coast and one on the east coast. If for nothing else, if on site grading wasn't an option, but atleast a submission location where clients could send in, or walk in their submissions. Then satellite office could package properly and send to main office. I know I would drive a few hours each way to submit larger orders. Plus I've noticed many perspective clients on different social medias who have never sent in books that want to, don't out of fear or packing wrong and their books getting damaged. Oh! and I'd like to be hired out here to work that office. Lol. |
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 Masculinity takes a holiday.
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EbayMafia private msg quote post Address this user | |
| An invitation to offer ideas? My time has come! I've seen too many companies put out of business by trying to execute too many good ideas. I'm going to try to limit my ideas to things that A) Cost little or nothing to implement. B) Will not hurt the company if they don't succeed. 1) Try to get a closer relationship with MCS...try to get them to accept Raw Grade books. I don't know what the history is between Beckett and Lonestar, but they are both in Texas so their must be some history there. MCS and CBCS share a common demographic. The customer for both companies see themselves as different from the average Ebay/CGC customer. MCS customers would likely be more easily persuaded to become CBCS customers. Also MCS has a bottleneck at grading that limits their ability to accept raw books for consignment. If they were persuaded to accept CBCS Raw Grade books, I think over time a deal would be worked out for MCS consignment customers to send all raw books to CBCS first for Raw Grade certification. 2) I noticed that the Max grading fee is something like $2,700. Take a close look at how many books you grade in the average month with a fee over $1,000. If it's less than a handful, try cutting the Max fee to $1,000 for a 90 day promotion and see what happens. Getting high dollar books into CBCS slabs has marketing value and raises the brands perceived level of panache. It's a low-risk, high-reward proposition. 3) Some of the simplest business advice I ever got: Track it and it will improve. Anything you want to improve...start tracking it and make the whole company aware of the numbers on a regular basis. Typically it will start improving immediately just by doing this. |
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The Fifth Golden Girl
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sborock private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by earthshaker01 I think that a satellite drop off spots would be a great idea! Oh, and your hired!  |
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 Collector
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Lonestar private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @sborock Thanks for this thread. I would like to see a better, more comprehensive and more informative system for informing the customers of the status of their orders, throughout the process. Example: I have an order that is currently with CBCS. I received an e-mail 8 weeks ago informing me that the order had arrived. Since then, nothing. Yes, I can and do regularly look at my dashboard to see the order status. On that is states "Grading". When I click on the invoice and look at it, it states 'Labels". I can get some info, but it's not really a good system. (As an aside, my order seems to have been in Labels for 3 weeks now, which seems odd to me, but I may not understand what each part of the process entails and how long each part of the process takes.) I'd like to see a system that is better at informing us costumers of the true status of our orders (within CBCS) with estimates of when it will go to next step in process and when the order will be completed. Think about how you can track a package at FedEx or even USPS. And maybe an e-mail pushed out at various key steps in the process. I got one when the order was received, how about one when it goes to grading, or labels, or QC, etc. I honestly think this would assist in the amount of questions Customer Service gets and we see on the forum. I mean this in a constructive feedback manner. Please take it this way. |
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The Fifth Golden Girl
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sborock private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by EbayMafia Thanks for the well thought out response! We have a great relationship with MCS and Buddy is one of my great friends. Buddy loves CBCS, but has to offer both services to their clients. That said, I will talk to him about the raw grade. The high end special sounds like a great idea! |
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If I could, I would. I swear.
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DrWatson private msg quote post Address this user | |
| As far as the good stuff. The cases are great. Notes are great. The boards are great. The CBCS personel that end up as representatives of the company are much more people friendly than some other companies. | ||
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The Fifth Golden Girl
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sborock private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by DrWatson Thanks Doc! |
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 Collector
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Darkseid_of_town private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Steve, First let me say this posting you are doing here is perhaps what is most needed , and more of. Asking what the market wants and what the customer sees as missing. This is a rather awesome thing in itself you have offered here. Thanks for opening the gate. I refuse to try and speak for the entire market or even others. I am such a specialized oddball collector I can only speak for and about my own thoughts. I have a large collection obtained over a good forty solid years, and at some point will need to cross the grading , slabbing and in some cases reducing inventory stages. I have watched the back and forth between other companies and this one for a few years now. I had been watching for a few things before starting the grading stage....one being a case holder type I was fond of, coupled with labeling and services I could make work for me. I think the newest holders are the answer ..they are what I had been watching for. I just need something more for the labels. I am not an artist or design type myself, but bring a better label to this product, and I will be ready to start grading en masse. My only other suggestion is somehow make the submission process less "rigorous" and more intuitive. I get headaches and worries watching all the questions and pitfalls coupled with questions people keep posting. KISS....keep it simple, and stupid. Thanks for your time Steve. |
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 SpongeBob Comics #1 sells for $991!
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Joosh private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Great stuff posted already! I really like the new slabs, the labels are OK, but they are missing something subtle, if I were to nitpick. Could be font alignment, I dunno. Biggest improvement I would be tickled to see is carrying newsstand/direct edition designation beyond 2000. Marvel had newsstand distribution through 12/2013, DC into 11/2017. Independents up through 2019, maybe later. I’d be happy to offer up what I know to CBCS on the subject to help keep things accurate. This is an issue your competitor has fell behind on as well; they designate some newsstands across all years, inconsistently. This is further reason to jump on it and be the best. I second the notion of working more closely with MCS. I use MCS a lot, so I’m a bit biased. |
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Masculinity takes a holiday.
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EbayMafia private msg quote post Address this user | |
| In pretty much all business it comes down to the cliches of Price, Speed and Quality as far as what customers want. Right now you are winning on all 3 fronts. Whatever you do, don't lose focus on those three things. If you keep winning on those 3 fronts long enough, the market will take notice and reward you. | ||
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The Fifth Golden Girl
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sborock private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Darkseid_of_town Awesome stuff! Thanks for taking the time! |
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 Collector
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atrembley private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Hey! This is cool. 1) I think some sort of label refresh is a great idea, too. I certainly think the amount of detail and the free grader’s notes are both terrific. I don’t buy the gimmick labels (with characters) from CGC but something to make it pop would be cool. 2) The submission tracker very inadvertently gives different info for status based on whether you check the page or the invoice. It’s nice to check the invoice because you know a little more info (rejected pre-screens, etc.) I think it’s probably just a data parsing thing, but it’s worth looking in to. 3)Keep yo with the typeform for AW work. I live in Minnesota where we have a lot of small cons where it’s great to be an AW for your own books. Maybe even like a facilitator option for these smaller cons? Dan Jurgens and Jen Bartel both live here and come to our micro shows. 4) maybe a part time gig for local shows would be a good option. Like “hey we’ll buy your pass to (random con) in exchange for being a witness for the day. I’d sign up tomorrow. 5) it seems like one cool opportunity would be to open an office in Canada. I think you’ll hear a lot of that though. Not really my spot. Overall, CBCS has a superior process and product. I never doubt the grades I get like I have with CGC now. The people like Darryl who answer the call are great. Being in Dallas is great, too! Keep up the good work, Steve! |
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The Fifth Golden Girl
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sborock private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Joosh Yes, MCS is awesome as well as awesome to CBCS. I am not 100% sure about the newsstand issue, but will bring it up at the ops meetings. |
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The Fifth Golden Girl
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sborock private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by atrembley Great suff! Thanks for taking the time! And thanks for the kind words! |
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 I live in RI and Rhode Islanders eat chili with beans.
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esaravo private msg quote post Address this user | |
| After a 2+ decade “vacation” from comics, I returned about 7 years ago with renewed interest and passion. I was very curious about third party grading and slabbing, and did some research about the three companies that were offering these services. Then at a local convention I stopped by the booths of both CGC and CBCS. Needless to say, I was blown away by the knowledge, passion, and friendliness of the CBCS staff (especially versus the aloofness of the other guys). At that moment I made up my mind to only submit to CBCS. Over the years I have continued to submit to CBCS, and make sure I stop by and talk to them if they are at any local conventions (and I really like dropping off books in person). I have yet to meet anyone at their booths that wasn’t courteous, knowledgeable, and genuine. Steve B. is the most knowledgeable and experienced grader on this planet, and Daryl and Jesse O. constantly go out of their way to help people out (and they all are great guys too). And I have been able to meet dozens of amazing intelligent and trustworthy people on the CBCS forum over the years, many that I now consider friends. Nobody’s perfect, so there is always room for improvement, and CBCS has improved in many ways. The new cases are amazing (I am hoping for a reholder special). The population report/census was finally made available. In-house pressing is running smoothly (and in the same location as grading). Now I look forward to Magazine slabs and possibly a registry. TATs have fluctuated wildly over the years, and I don’t know how that can improve. It’s not like you can call a temp service and get a few extra graders during busy times. It will be interesting to see what happens when the convention circuit returns, pumping thousands more books into the mix. And with the recent increases seen in comic prices (and submissions too) maybe the top dollar values per tier should be bumped up a bit before too many books have to be submitted in the top tiers. Things that need to be changed/improved/addressed (IMO) are customer service and the issues with the Canadian Office. I have never really had any issues personally with customer service, but just a quick read of some of the threads will tell you there are major problems. This reflects badly on the company and used to be one of the strong points of CBCS. The Canadian Office was originally another positive for CBCS, that has become problematic, even before the C crisis. Hopefully things in both areas will improve soon. Ed |
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The Fifth Golden Girl
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sborock private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by esaravo Thanks for the kind words and well thought out post! I can tell you we are working on both issues you have. |
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| Post 29 • IP flag post | ||
 Collector
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Sebastsk8 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I like the new cases, and obviously cant complain about the pricing or turnaround. The only things I like more about CGC would be the custom labels(although they could maybe be done a little differently, but it's a fun addition), and I do like their label design a little better(font, print placement etc). The other thing which generally probably just comes with time and size of the company would be exclusive signings. Especially during covid, CGC seems to have had a ton, and even more with shops that participate in their witnessed sig program that had signings. The only thing I see they do that could be done better is grouping artists/writers. A perfect example is Michael zeck, john beatty and jim shooter who do a good bit of group signings for secret wars 8. I know the logistics of some of that could be difficult, but I would jump at the chance to get something like mcfarlane, michelinie, milgrom and bagley for a group signing opportunity(I'm a venom/carnage junkie, but you get my point). |
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