Regular Tier Suspension

CAC_Team

Regrettably, we will be suspending our normal tier ($16) service. We have received unprecedented amounts of submissions in previous weeks and are, unfortunately, unable to keep up with demand. The suspension will begin on September 1st; please stay tuned for notice via E-mail or other CAC media indicating the suspension has ended. Submissions postmarked for after September 1st will not be accepted on the regular tier. Note that re-sticker ($5), high value $10,000 - $25,000 ($35) and rarities over $25,000 ($75) tiers will remain open.


Thank you for your continued patience and support,

CAC Team

Vincent.Savage

There needs to be a minimum inspection fee.

 I believe it would reduce the abuses .  I’m sure you have people and dealers that know they got nothing to lose by just sending them all in .   Hoping to land a few green beans!

 That is surely time consuming and without
putting money in your till unless it is approved.

 CAC minimum submission fee $5 ( which goes toward the cost should it sticker .)

 It’s time CAC Team 

john

Concur.

pcgscacgold

Getting a green or gold sticker on some coins is like winning the lottery. Some dealers are addicted to playing and trying to win. It has to get frustrating seeing some of the same coins return time after time. Best of luck.

CACfan

pcgscacgold said:

Getting a green or gold sticker on some coins is like winning the lottery. Some dealers are addicted to playing and trying to win. It has to get frustrating seeing some of the same coins return time after time. Best of luck.

I have just such an addiction. It certainly beats the addiction of the bums who beg for money at intersections.

CACfan

Vincent.Savage said:

There needs to be a minimum inspection fee.

 I believe it would reduce the abuses .  I’m sure you have people and dealers that know they got nothing to lose by just sending them all in .   Hoping to land a few green beans!

 That is surely time consuming and without
putting money in your till unless it is approved.

 CAC minimum submission fee $5 ( which goes toward the cost should it sticker .)

 It’s time CAC Team 

Or, maybe CAC could still charge $16 for the cheapie service but extend the handling time to four months, with lesser waits for pricier tiers. In other words, pull a PCGS.

Vincent.Savage

CACfan said:

There needs to be a minimum inspection fee.

 I believe it would reduce the abuses .  I’m sure you have people and dealers that know they got nothing to lose by just sending them all in .   Hoping to land a few green beans!

 That is surely time consuming and without
putting money in your till unless it is approved.

 CAC minimum submission fee $5 ( which goes toward the cost should it sticker .)

 It’s time CAC Team 

Or, maybe CAC could still charge $16 for the cheapie service but extend the handling time to four months, with lesser waits for pricier tiers. In other words, pull a PCGS.

 Trying to have a serious conversation on the matter.   

 It’s time to stop working long days for the cheapskates and lowest common denominator types .  Get the focus back on better coins worth stickering , raise approval ratings ( people will be more selective in what they submit ) , increase turn around time and free up some time for the 3 graders and JA himself .   

CACfan

Vincent.Savage said:

CACfan said:

Vincent.Savage said:

There needs to be a minimum inspection fee.

 I believe it would reduce the abuses .  I’m sure you have people and dealers that know they got nothing to lose by just sending them all in .   Hoping to land a few green beans!

 That is surely time consuming and without
putting money in your till unless it is approved.

 CAC minimum submission fee $5 ( which goes toward the cost should it sticker .)

 It’s time CAC Team 

Or, maybe CAC could still charge $16 for the cheapie service but extend the handling time to four months, with lesser waits for pricier tiers. In other words, pull a PCGS.

 Trying to have a serious conversation on the matter.   

 It’s time to stop working long days for the cheapskates and lowest common denominator types .  Get the focus back on better coins worth stickering , raise approval ratings ( people will be more selective in what they submit ) , increase turn around time and free up some time for the 3 graders and JA himself .   

I am being serious. CAC needs to adjust their business model to the changing market while accommodating everyone.

SilenceOfTheClams

Vincent.Savage said:

CACfan said:

There needs to be a minimum inspection fee.

 I believe it would reduce the abuses .  I’m sure you have people and dealers that know they got nothing to lose by just sending them all in .   Hoping to land a few green beans!

 That is surely time consuming and without
putting money in your till unless it is approved.

 CAC minimum submission fee $5 ( which goes toward the cost should it sticker .)

 It’s time CAC Team 

Or, maybe CAC could still charge $16 for the cheapie service but extend the handling time to four months, with lesser waits for pricier tiers. In other words, pull a PCGS.

 Trying to have a serious conversation on the matter.   

 It’s time to stop working long days for the cheapskates and lowest common denominator types .  Get the focus back on better coins worth stickering , raise approval ratings ( people will be more selective in what they submit ) , increase turn around time and free up some time for the 3 graders and JA himself .   

Just an honest question as to what qualifies as a cheapskate or LCD type?  I agree that something can be done about the volume, but not clear on what your measure is. Thanks

Bushmaster

CACfan said:

Or, maybe CAC could still charge $16 for the cheapie service but extend the handling time to four months, with lesser waits for pricier tiers. In other words, pull a PCGS.

I like your idea CACfan.

john

Paying a $5.00 submission fee even if no sticker is earned, IS adjusting the business model to the changing market and accommodating everyone. I would be very supportive of an $8.00 fee if no sticker is earned, and I would be in favor of a $20.00 fee for what is being labeled a "cheapie service".

noahlh

Disclaimer:  I like the rest of you am just being an armchair quarterback. Apologies for any dumb opinions lacking context or complete information. 

This seems like a supply and demand issue. CAC has done a spectacular job building a brand and high demand for its services (and resulting stickered coins). The supply - of time and graders - is being stretched thin. The way to fix that (if they want to fix that, of course) is either by increasing supply (more graders) or by reducing demand (higher prices).

Prices can be raised in a multitude of ways beyond just “it’s now $20/coin for regular tier”.  Frankly I think the deal offered to Collector members whereby folks only pay for coins that sticker is far far far too good a deal and sets up the wrong incentives. Why wouldn’t someone send 100, 200, 300 coins if they only pay for the successes?

For the others, a tiered system probably makes sense. $15/coin up to $1000 in value, $20 up to $5000, $30 up to $10k, $40 over $10k, etc (or some variation thereof). 

My $0.02, in proof 66 RD with a green bean

WilliamJ

I wonder how much some of these big collections being sent to CAC from Auction houses are creating the backlog problem...

WilliamJ

As a collector, not being afraid of paying for failure has helped me learn tremendously. I am forever thankful for this learning experience. Knowledge is priceless. 
    If I do not think a coin will CAC, I will not send it in. I try to only pick out the coins that I believe are acceptable.
   Perhaps, collectors should have a limit of how many coins they can send in each year before they have to start paying for the failures. 100 silver? 50 gold?
   Perhaps, everyone should only be able to send in coins at a certain time of the year set aside for them? If your last name starts with ( J.) Then you can submit coins from---- and to----?  And also....

Vincent.Savage

john said:

Paying a $5.00 submission fee even if no sticker is earned, IS adjusting the business model to the changing market and accommodating everyone. I would be very supportive of an $8.00 fee if no sticker is earned, and I would be in favor of a $20.00 fee for what is being labeled a "cheapie service".

Thanks John .  That takes care of cacfan. 

Silenceoftheclams ,   That is entirely up to CAC to decide.   However for me it’s the guys that send in a bunch of low grade stuff and bitch about any fees other than paying for stickered coins .

 Listening to JA in a few interviews , to me it’s apparent that grading a bunch of common date ms 62 saints isn’t really the vision he has for his business .     So I think it’s safe to say that sifting through a 100 coins for a dealer to sticker a few AU , XF & F 12 coins isn’t fulfilling a dream or vision for anyone or CAC . 

MarkFeld

john said:

Paying a $5.00 submission fee even if no sticker is earned, IS adjusting the business model to the changing market and accommodating everyone. I would be very supportive of an $8.00 fee if no sticker is earned, and I would be in favor of a $20.00 fee for what is being labeled a "cheapie service".

I think the cost for a submission should be the same for a fail as for a pass.

While I believe CAC cares far more about doing good for collectors and the hobby than about money, I dislike the idea of any grading entity making extra money due to stickers, crossovers, upgrades, etc.

In the case of CAC, the extra fees tend to be small, but for some other companies, they can be quite significant. And that at least has the potential to affect objectivity.

fadetoblack1004

I've floated this elsewhere and folks have liked it. In my opinion, the easiest way to maintain the concept behind free failure to sticker for collectors is to offer collector accounts a set amount of attempts per year before they have to pay for every coin sent.

My suggestion would be 100 coins. It's high enough to allow most collectors plenty of chances to get stuff beaned, as well as pressure them to consider what exactly is worth one of their free shots at a bean. On the flip side, it's also low enough to weed out the dealers masquerading as collectors and abusing the system.

EliteCollection

Totally agree that the fees should be the same whether pass or fail. The amount of work is mostly the same, so you should pay for JA and team spending time looking at your coin. Otherwise, the incentives aren't aligned and it causes these backlogs, which hurts everyone.

Winesteven

I’m in favor of doing away with the collector benefit of free inspection for failed coins.

I would also strongly argue against a concept of allowing a certain number of free fails (100 per collector EVERY year has been suggested). Just as dealers get around U.S. Mint low household limits of low production modern releases and end up with hundreds to sell at outrageous markups, they’ll easily figure out ways to abuse a free annual allotment as well.

Steve

WilliamJ

If it were not for a few free failures I would have given up learning how to grade properly and what original coin surfaces should look like. 
  I have invested many more dollars into my favorite hobby as a result of CAC allowing me to submit coins.
   Some  Free failure chances or not may make a huge difference to some young collectors, and they are the future of numismatist. 

WilliamJ

fadetoblack1004 said:

I've floated this elsewhere and folks have liked it. In my opinion, the easiest way to maintain the concept behind free failure to sticker for collectors is to offer collector accounts a set amount of attempts per year before they have to pay for every coin sent. My suggestion would be 100 coins. It's high enough to allow most collectors plenty of chances to get stuff beaned, as well as pressure them to consider what exactly is worth one of their free shots at a bean. On the flip side, it's also low enough to weed out the dealers masquerading as collectors and abusing the system.

I agree