I recently sold a CGC 9 Jumpluff on eBay - shipped it out with cardboard protection inside a bubble mailer like I always do (have shipped hundreds of slabs and never had an issue). There was two slabs in the mailer and one of them arrived cracked according to the buyer and the picture he sent me (the Jumpluff). I was pretty pissed at USPS of course but that’s irrelevant.
I immediately messaged CGC on Instagram and they responded and told me they would cover all extra fees and I would just need to pay the $10 reholder fee if I include it with any submission. I was already getting ready to do a submission so this was a good deal.
I messaged the seller and told them if he sent it back I would take care of the reholder fee and keep him up to date with the whole process at that it would probably take 30 days (their slowest tier). He was ok with this - which I was not expecting him to be. I was thinking he was just going to ask for a refund like most people would. He shipped it back to me and I shipped it out to CGC. In my CGC order I had one express, one standard, and one economy submission. Without even asking - CGC flipped it and included it in my express order and I had it back in my hands 8 days after I shipped it out. I sent it back to the customer and he was thrilled and left awesome feedback for me.
Couple things from this story I took away… Glad there are some buyers out there genuinely trustworthy and interested in the card itself and not feeling that ‘gotta have it now or never’ mentality and actually willing to let the seller make it right. He even told me I had the best shipping and packing out of any he’d ever bought even though his card came cracked.
Also - big shout out to CGC. From the time of the initial order to the time of having the fixed card back in the customer’s hands - it was less than a month and it only cost $10 to have it fixed and good communication all the way. Not to bash on PSA or anything but that would NEVER have been possible with them and I’m very happy with my experience regardless of losing money on the sale due to USPS being themselves and dropping a bag of bricks on my card in transit.
This is the kind of thing that will help CGC gain market share. Especially during a period where PSA is nuking its own reputation via unbelievable mismanagement, efficiency and good customer service are going to stand out.
Love this. I love when you find people like that on ebay. It is actually surprising to people. When someone messages me on ebay, they assume I will be cold, despondent. When I respond warmly with detail, and ready to be extra helpful and honest, they always are taken aback, happy to find another one of those good guys. And I am always so happy when I find those as well. This says a lot for people’s expectations on ebay. Anyway, so great man. Also, you aren’t ripping PSA. This is just the fact. CGC seems to be doing way better, and if it weren’t for PSA being industry standard with the clout, they’d be bending over backwards for people after seeing how well their competition is doing against them in terms of excellence and service. Cheers to CGC. Cheers to your experience and thanks for sharing!!
Glad it all worked out in the end, It was great of CGC to do that for you, this kind of customer service will go a long way for sure.
We mostly only hear about bad people on ebay, not many people share the good stuff that can happen so thanks for sharing
I bought a Sealed Diamond & Pearl Trainer Kit once from an old guy on ebay but somehow he also shipped out someone else’s package to me as well (a complete sealed set of Stephen King books) It had my address on it so i contacted the seller and let him know about it. He was completely unaware what had happened but i let him know if he wanted to arrange another delivery for the item he could have it picked up at my address and sent straight to the original buyer & it all worked out in the end. Would of cost him and extra delivery charge but saved him a lot of headache and ebay cases / potential neg feedback. I think Karma had a play here because when i opened my Diamond & Pearl Trainer Kit there was a EX Holon Phantoms Booster Pack inside which i was over the moon about as they have a chance of having a number of booster packs inside ranging from ex-d&p
