ComicsAndCode

That someone referenced GCD on the board totally made my day! Folks there at GCD are doing good for the comic community. And all volunteerism if I'm not mistaken.

I was just about to say the same. They have full control of their auctioning system, let's just say it is highly plausible that it is baked into their system.

This may or may not qualify seeing that the context is an offline transaction that started via eBay messaging. However, I felt I should let the comic community be aware. First off, his information: eBay handle: comicaldreams instagram: comicallyfightingcancer Name: Jason Westlund He might be a board member and even done deals with many here. We agreed (or so I thought) on the purchase of a comic collection in the amount of $2,000. I was shown pictures of the items and given the fact that his personal information is readily accessible on the internet, I thought I could trust him. I sent a check - I admit, not the best way to conduct business, should have at least used PayPal. In any case, after he cashed the check, it became very difficult to get a hold of him. I insisted on tracking info, but never received it. Days later, I filed a police report, contact his employer and in the process of small claims. This was so blatant and done in "broad daylight", it is hard to believe. Looks like he sold a Tales of suspense run: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Marvel-Comic-Tales-Suspense-39-99-Full-book-set-Silverage-1st-App-Iron-Man-Lot/284189517485?hash=item422b03e6ad:g:pAgAAOSwB6JgLyTx Not sure if that was a legit transaction either.

Hate to resurrect this thread, but enough boardies have reached out to me about it that I should mark this set as SOLD.

That's an interesting point. I definitely was not looking at the problem with an evolving model in mind - I realize this is where the deep learning comes in. I have to admit, I know little about the subject. My perspective is one of removing the human factor out of the process and yet still uphold a standard. And that standard being a well defined model worked out by a consortium of reputable graders and is completely public information. But if the model is ever evolving, then I am not sure how practical it would be to the comic community. And if the ultimately goal is to have a "better model," that's great but when does one or group of people decide it is finally "better"?

Actually I was discussing this very subject with my wife the other night..how to get the grade of a comic book from photo scan(s). Don't ask why. But we concluded that it is impossible, at least in the practical sense. Lol. It is an incredibly difficult endeavor because it requires large amounts of data and you're trying to translate something that is very subjective into objective, empirical, repeatable results. And really, grading involves assessing interior pages, staples, and I think side views. That's a lot of images for one comic book. That said..if you take a step back and remove the image recognition part of the problem and treat it much like designing a credit score model, it could lead to something very interesting. Here's how I envision the effort to be, and this is the 30,000 feet view: Control your experiment to one comic book. Looks like you've got that covered. But I would have chosen Hulk #181. Work on the grading model. Define every type of flaw, perhaps with the assistance of the Overstreet grading guide(?), giving each flaw type a score and weight. Take a set of comics and with the flaw type chart you designed, have a person very knowledgeable and capable of grading comics to document flaws on each book (I'm actually laughing as I write this because it is so error-prone) With the documented flaws, calculate the grade giving the aggregated score and weights. The result should fall within the NG - 10.0 range. Translate the above model and calculation into code, specifically an API and run a bunch of permutations against it. Might be simpler to build J.A.R.V.I.S

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per PM.

Walked away from the last CLINK auction really disappointed - I was outbid on the Supersnipe #8 at the last few seconds. Closed at $4,000. So which boardie was it?

I bought a bundle of comics from Sohrab at a great price. Really impressed with his packaging technique. Thanks bud

That is a stunning 8.5!

I had an equally terrible experience with them...actually twice, thinking the next time would be better. Shame on me. Will never buy from them again, no matter how enticing the lot is. THEY ALSO TRIM BOOKS WITHOUT DISCLOSING. They also have a crew of shillers, which explains the often unrealistic winning bids.

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And for non-store, non-MPS accounts, this page. Also $750 max.

Good question...according to this ebay page, accounts not activated for MPS, the $750 cap applies for both #1 and #2.

Hey Brian! So I am glad you asked because I was wrong. I did a bit of digging and found the ebay page on fee structure for managed payments sellers (MPS). Apparently, when you switch to MPS, the FMV fee no longer caps at $750 and is just slightly more complicated. I recommend reading that page to get a good understanding of what to expect to get charged on your sold items. In most cases, ebay is still a more cost-effective sales channel than ComicLink and ComicConnect, provided you are comfortable handling the packaging and DIY promoting. I put together this table below to help summarize with an example what that page explains in regards to the total FMV in $ and % for non-store and basic/premium/enterprise subscribers. Note that the selling fee % is charged on the selling price, tax, shipping and handling. Store Type Final value fee % + $0.30 per order (Managed Payment Seller) Fee Amount. (Example: $10000 Sale, 10% Tax, $30 Shipping) Total FMV Fee % Total Sales Amount to Reach $750 FMV Cap #1 - Non-Store and Starter Store Subscription ($4.99/month plan) 12.35% on total amount of the sale up to $7,500 2.35% on the portion of the sale over $7,500 $1,013.21 9.19% ------- #2 - Basic, Premium, Anchor and Enterprise Store Subscription (Starts at $21.99/month) 11.5% on total amount of the sale up to $2,500 2.35% on the portion of the sale over $2,500 $480.21 4.35% $20,000.00 Based on this quick exercise, here is what I have come to find: 1) Though neither give you the $750 cap, the #2 store type will offer the better rate because the % drops significantly at $2,500 2) With store type #2, you will start to see the fees exceed $750 at the $20,000 mark. That is not bad at all! With #1, you've hit that cap even before a $7,500 selling price. 3) I am not out to win a popularity contest, so I will outright say it... given ComicLink and ComicConnect's 10% consignment, it is in the seller's best interest to list on ebay when the item is projected to sell at or above $2,700 (in case of store type #2) and $8,900 (for store type #1). Interested to get thoughts from others!

Just reading this for the first time, sorry. Happy to help! I'm interested to find out what you decide to do and if you do submit those three carded SW ESB figures, what grade they come back with. Ewoks don't get much love. But they fair slightly better than the ROTJ creature figures.

Agreed. I like this one-stop shop / all-things integrated architecture. As a seller, I also find the Payment and Performance tools are actually very useful. Even if the fees were hiked up a bit (which I argue they haven't really changed), given the transparency through their metrics tools and comparatively high traffic volume, with some smart DIY marketing through social media/Google, eBay is a better sales channel than CLink, ComicConnect, and maybe even Heritage. eBay's FMV caps at $750 by the way...last I checked. But I am sure there are some decent counterarguments to what I said.

I literally watched the Submit button churn for 3-5 seconds after I clicked.