WATA Turnaround Times?

[retro.magnus | 136]

Got my other order from last June moved to Grading. The two orders (both Select) were placed/shipped 5 days apart and there are 53 orders between my two order numbers. My first one that went into grading 3~ weeks ago is still in grading. Will update once either goes into post grading. Hopefully this is helpful for anyone still waiting on orders placed a while ago. 

EDIT: The order that went into grading earlier today is now in post grading. Not sure how that one went to post grading in a day and the first still hasn't moved out of grading. lol

Edited July 13, 2021 by epiczail

[Gulag Joe | 582]

This is what I think of after knowing my games have been in Post-Grading for 5 weeks

[Calan87 | 45]

I wonder how times are going to be pushed back when they start their move. 

[3rdStrongestMole | 430]

The post grading is ridiculous. If it's done,  box the damn thing up and ship it. Can they not hire employees that are capable of packing and shipping an item?? I get that there's only a certain number of people they trust in the grading process,  but after that it's like... don't hire criminals and you're good. Glad to see the company is changing hands. The turn around times cannot be worse.

[Gulag Joe | 582]

14 minutes ago, 3rdStrongestMole said:

The post grading is ridiculous. If it's done,  box the damn thing up and ship it. Can they not hire employees that are capable of packing and shipping an item?? I get that there's only a certain number of people they trust in the grading process,  but after that it's like... don't hire criminals and you're good. Glad to see the company is changing hands. The turn around times cannot be worse.

It really makes me think this delay in time is them shopping my games around without my consent.

[3rdStrongestMole | 430]

2 minutes ago, Gulag Joe said:

It really makes me think this delay in time is them shopping my games around without my consent.

Could also possibly be manipulating high influx of certain games hitting the market FS at the same time. Created scarcity=inflated prices. 

[retro.magnus | 136]

6 minutes ago, 3rdStrongestMole said:

Could also possibly be manipulating high influx of certain games hitting the market FS at the same time. Created scarcity=inflated prices. 

Yep. While I don't think it's safe to assume any of this. It's hard not to wonder after what has happened over the past year & specifically the past couple weeks. 

[OptOut | 8,884]

They're just sitting around a table trying to decide which game they're going to get pumped up to a million next...

After Mario 64 they're starting to get cocky, they're gonna try and pump a sealed cardboard sleeve copy of Wii Sports to TWO MILLION! 

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

34 minutes ago, OptOut said:

They're just sitting around a table trying to decide which game they're going to get pumped up to a million next...

After Mario 64 they're starting to get cocky, they're gonna try and pump a sealed cardboard sleeve copy of Wii Sports to TWO MILLION! 

Well, legitimately, Wii Sports is arguably more recognizable to more people since more people played it, and it was a far better system seller than Mario 64, regardless of how old school gamers feel about it.  There were a bit less than 32M N64's sold worldwide in its lifetime, but apparently Wiis are STILL selling, and as of May of 2021, the worldwide total is just south of 102M, more than 3 times as many.

[OptOut | 8,884]

22 minutes ago, darkchylde28 said:

Well, legitimately, Wii Sports is arguably more recognizable to more people since more people played it, and it was a far better system seller than Mario 64, regardless of how old school gamers feel about it.  There were a bit less than 32M N64's sold worldwide in its lifetime, but apparently Wiis are STILL selling, and as of May of 2021, the worldwide total is just south of 102M, more than 3 times as many.

Alright... Gotcha.

FIVE MILLION then! 

[retro.magnus | 136]

On 7/16/2021 at 10:21 AM, Gulag Joe said:

This is what I think of after knowing my games have been in Post-Grading for 5 weeks

 

Has your order moved out of post grading yet? Lol 

[inasuma | 1,203]

On 7/16/2021 at 7:34 AM, 3rdStrongestMole said:

The post grading is ridiculous. If it's done,  box the damn thing up and ship it. Can they not hire employees that are capable of packing and shipping an item?? I get that there's only a certain number of people they trust in the grading process,  but after that it's like... don't hire criminals and you're good. Glad to see the company is changing hands. The turn around times cannot be worse.

well, in fairness to wata, they've had material shortages (allegedly, i've not confirmed personally; just heard it from someone) and also there's a separate "QA" process that likely involves additional human validation. so in many ways the grading stage is only ever going to be ~1/2 of the full process, at best. combined with shortages, more checks, and encapsulation, the delays make a lot more sense.

[Gulag Joe | 582]

1 hour ago, epiczail said:

Has your order moved out of post grading yet? Lol 

Sort of...I had an order with 12 games. They shipped one, then a week later shipped 9, and now 3 more are still with them and in post grading. I think they have a slab shortage because they were different sized games. Also, one of the games I got back looks like somebody dropped something on it. I thought for sure I had at least a 9.6, but I got it back and it looks like something fell on it. I'd like to see how they store orders for long periods of time.

[retro.magnus | 136]

1 hour ago, Gulag Joe said:

Sort of...I had an order with 12 games. They shipped one, then a week later shipped 9, and now 3 more are still with them and in post grading. I think they have a slab shortage because they were different sized games. Also, one of the games I got back looks like somebody dropped something on it. I thought for sure I had at least a 9.6, but I got it back and it looks like something fell on it. I'd like to see how they store orders for long periods of time.

Oof. I'm sorry. The post-grading pics on all of mine thankfully look good. 

Were those games all on the same order? Did you get the dreaded email asking for more money before they shipped them to you?

Edited July 29, 2021 by epiczail

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

2 hours ago, Gulag Joe said:

12 games. They shipped one, then a week later shipped 9, and now 3 more are still with them and in post grading.

1 + 9 + 3 = 12? Did you get an extra game back? lol

[Startyde | 175]

It's material shortages. They are getting their cases out of country and there are massive disruptions in supply chains. They need to invest into an internal facility or manufacturer, and even then, may be overrun (see VGA). I can almost assure the backup is not due to an overabundance of QA, haha.

Edited July 29, 2021 by Startyde

[Gulag Joe | 582]

1 hour ago, epiczail said:

Oof. I'm sorry. The post-grading pics on all of mine thankfully look good. 

Were those games all on the same order? Did you get the dreaded email asking for more money before they shipped them to you?

Thats what I thought too when I saw them prior to the grade being posted, but the damage isn't visible in the post grading pics. It's an indentation that's slightly pushed in with creases but you can only see it if you look real close or tilt it at an angle. It's like somebody dropped the corner of a book on it or something.

[3rdStrongestMole | 430]

Got a FedEx tracking number for 1 sealed game order submitted April 26th on Speed Run. It just so happened to come 1 day after I messaged in to complain... It looked like they were accepting WZ submissions again, and I'm like... yo, you better not be sending off any games before the ones that are almost double their expected turn around time. Idk if that's what did it. But I should be getting my game next week.

 

Edit: Also, the grade info that @A_Feisty_Pickle showed how to get matched the final grade. It may not always be the case, but it was for me. 

Edited July 29, 2021 by 3rdStrongestMole

[tidaldreams | 654]

1 hour ago, Gulag Joe said:

Thats what I thought too when I saw them prior to the grade being posted, but the damage isn't visible in the post grading pics. It's an indentation that's slightly pushed in with creases but you can only see it if you look real close or tilt it at an angle. It's like somebody dropped the corner of a book on it or something.

Oof, imagined if this happened with a Mario 64? There goes a million dollars.

[A_Feisty_Pickle | 244]

2 hours ago, 3rdStrongestMole said:

Got a FedEx tracking number for 1 sealed game order submitted April 26th on Speed Run. It just so happened to come 1 day after I messaged in to complain... It looked like they were accepting WZ submissions again, and I'm like... yo, you better not be sending off any games before the ones that are almost double their expected turn around time. Idk if that's what did it. But I should be getting my game next week.

 

Edit: Also, the grade info that @A_Feisty_Pickle showed how to get matched the final grade. It may not always be the case, but it was for me. 

What system was your 1 game for? I've got 3 Speed Run games from April 26th I'm still waiting on as well. Genesis and 32X. 

[3rdStrongestMole | 430]

2 minutes ago, A_Feisty_Pickle said:

What system was your 1 game for? I've got 3 Speed Run games from April 26th I'm still waiting on as well. Genesis and 32X. 

It's a Game Boy Color game. Didn't consider shortages for certain case designs... but it seems like they'd at least have a number that fit 32X on reserve? Who knows

[Mijael | 347]

I sent 3 ps2 games, the order was scanned June 10 i paid Speedrun that means 35 business days have passed and the order is still in scanned status. I sent a mail 3 days ago and still no answer. Is this normal ? should i expect more delay?

[3rdStrongestMole | 430]

17 hours ago, Mijael said:

I sent 3 ps2 games, the order was scanned June 10 i paid Speedrun that means 35 business days have passed and the order is still in scanned status. I sent a mail 3 days ago and still no answer. Is this normal ? should i expect more delay?

This is unfortunately normal for right now. Like I said, mine was Speed Run from April 26 and I'll be receiving mine via FedEx tomorrow. So that's nearly double the estimates. For yours,  expect closer to September if things stay at this rate.

[inasuma | 1,203]

On 7/30/2021 at 12:54 PM, Mijael said:

I sent 3 ps2 games, the order was scanned June 10 i paid Speedrun that means 35 business days have passed and the order is still in scanned status. I sent a mail 3 days ago and still no answer. Is this normal ? should i expect more delay?

As 3rd said… it will be longer, sadly. Door to door the whole thing will likely take more than 4 months, ie 3-4x their estimates. We should expect them to update turnaround times again soon, prices and maybe even close off turbo entirely.

especially with the 1.5m Mario 64, more attention is on grading than ever before.

Edited July 31, 2021 by inasuma

[AnimalHouse | 117]

On 7/30/2021 at 3:54 PM, Mijael said:

the order was scanned June 10 i paid Speedrun that means 35 business days have passed

All service levels are estimates. Real waiting period is x2 or more. So expect to be waiting 70plus business days. And with what inasuma mentioned above. Could be x3 that.