Ask the community for help and advice here
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michaelro95 Posts: 2
11/20/2016
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So, I have a whole bunch of comics that I want to sell. I was planning on mostly selling them based on my raw grade. However, there is some comics that I feel would be of outstanding value if I got them graded by a service like CGC. The downside is that it seems sending in comics to be graded and encapsulated costs a lot of money, especially if you are sending in more than one comic. Is professional grading more for the benefit of collectors? Are professionally graded comics easier to sell? And lastly is this something that a novice comic seller should not be looking into? Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm new to this site and selling comics. I look forward to getting to know this community 
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crcovar Posts: 4
1/9/2017
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IMHO the main benefit to getting a book graded if you plan to sell is the independent score you get. With more expensive titles this helps protect both the buyer and seller. Ease of selling depends on how you plan to go about it. if you're seeing a book for 3-5 figures online, get that thing graded so the buyer can see the grade with a single photo. If you're selling a book in person then it's less important as the physical book is right there, and one or both parties can look through and identify/agree on the condition.
Whether or not you should look into grading depends on what's in your collection. Most comics don't need to get slabbed. Identify books you think are likely candidates for grading, then give them a look yourself. Now the vast majority of people will grade their own books favorably. That's just natural, and I'm even guilty of it myself. Consider picking up the Overstreeet Guide to Grading Comics or something similar. This has all the criteria and photo references you need to grade a book on a 10 point scale that is similar to, if not the same, criteria as the major grading services.
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adampasz Posts: 9
1/9/2017
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A good rule of thumb is that grade adds about $20 of value to a comic. Of course if it's a comic no one wants, you still won't be able to sell it. Unless you're planning to grade a lot of books 20+, or your books are good condition and high value, it's probably not worth the trouble to get them graded.
As a buyer, I only worry about getting slabbed books if I'm paying 300$ or more. Otherwise, I will usually roll the dice and pick up a raw books from a reputable seller. So you might consider investing in a good scanner and the Overstreet Grading guide instead, and sell your books raw.
edited by adampasz on 1/9/2017
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+1
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Defiant1 Posts: 720
1/10/2017
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As a collector and buyer, a graded comic deters me from buying entirely. I was interested in a Tales of Suspense #1 until the shop owner had it graded. At that point I didn't want it. I like opening my comics and not just looking at the cover. Yes, I can remove the comic from the case, but the case typically jacks up the price that a seller wants to get for their comic. For that reason I quit negotiating.
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adampasz Posts: 9
1/10/2017
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Defiant1 wrote:
the case typically jacks up the price that a seller wants to get for their comic. For that reason I quit negotiating.
Fair enough, but it really depends what you're buying. If I were spending 4 figures or more on something, I would probably want it graded, unless I had extreme confidence in the seller's grading capabilities.
Also, in most cases, prices should not be much of a mystery. A seller can over-charge you whether it's graded or not.
Another downside of slabbed books is that it costs (a lot) more to ship them! 
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