Buying raw comics on ebay 0

[Bodhi396]

I am happy right now focussing on raw comics, and not paying the premium for graded ones. However, I'm a bit weary of buying raw on ebay, especially listings that have just one pic thats not high resolution. Some questions I have are:

 

Are the grades people give on ebay usually accurate?

 

If there is only one low resolution photo, should i stay away, as the person may be hiding something about the books condition?

 

 

[bass4punk]

If you're going to buy raw on eBay, and you're not sure about the seller, ask as many questions as possible. Reputable sellers will usually provide scans of the front and back, and will disclose information, if you ask nicely. I'd personally look for raw books from boardies first in the Want to Buy section. There's a lot of sellers on eBay who overgrade books.

 

If you do find something worth taking a chance on (I.e. scans look good, etc.) ALWAYS ask how they package books, BEFORE making the purchase there's nothing worse than finding some high grade book at a decent price, only to have to return it due to poor packing

 

 

[DeliBebek]

Are the grades people give on ebay usually accurate?

 

If there is only one low resolution photo, should i stay away, as the person may be hiding something about the books condition?

 

 

Both of these really depend on the seller. Checking the pictures is always a better bet than looking at the guessed grades. I saw one yesterday "very good though near mint" which is a pretty big range.

 

I've bought books with low-resolution photos, only at low prices, because sometimes you get the sense that the seller means well, but just doesn't know how to sell and doesn't know comics.

 

As with most things, the best way to develop the intuition for this is to make a few mistakes. Just make sure the mistakes don't cost too much.

[Scrooge]

Is the grade important to you?

 

A scan or blurry picture on eBay is enough for me to know if I am interested in the book or not, as I am not grade sensitive and am looking for books that dealers might not automatically have on hand.

 

If you are looking for common books and have a grade minimum in mind, you're better off using dealers. You'll get where you want to be faster and more easily with fewer headaches.

[oakman29]

I am happy right now focussing on raw comics, and not paying the premium for graded ones. However, I'm a bit weary of buying raw on ebay, especially listings that have just one pic thats not high resolution. Some questions I have are:

 

Are the grades people give on ebay usually accurate?

 

If there is only one low resolution photo, should i stay away, as the person may be hiding something about the books condition?

 

Personally I stay away from Ebay these days,as the boards here provide me with a sense of security.I know who I buy from,I trust the people that I buy from,and I have never returned a book yet.The sellers here are steller,some or most sell on Ebay too,find out who is a board member and go with them.You won't regret my advice.

[VintageComics]

I am happy right now focussing on raw comics, and not paying the premium for graded ones. However, I'm a bit weary of buying raw on ebay, especially listings that have just one pic thats not high resolution. Some questions I have are:

 

Are the grades people give on ebay usually accurate?

 

If there is only one low resolution photo, should i stay away, as the person may be hiding something about the books condition?

 

 

That depends on what type of books you collect and what your collecting goals are.

 

If you're looking for main stream (superhero or other popular characters) high grade bronze age or earlier comics, the chances of finding ungraded copies, accurately graded is going to be slim.

 

If you are a low or mid grade collector then you might have some luck finding decent books.

 

If you are buying books of any value, you really should learn how to grade yourself (at least to a small degree to get an idea of range that a book falls into) rather than blindly trust strangers with your money.

 

It takes some time and effort but unless you are buying from a trusted seller, you will waste a lot of time and money buying books that are not accurately graded and possibly have undisclosed restoration.

 

The good news is that there are a lot of trusted sellers out there should you choose to stick with them.

 

Another option is finding affordable slabbed copies of the books. It's a myth that all slabbed books are priced at a premium over unlsabbed books. High grade, mainstream titles are generally "over guide" books but there are plenty of books that sell below guide even when graded. Again, it all depends on what you are collecting. You might be able to find slabbed, affordable copies of books that you collect and then just remove them from the CGC holder like many collectors do.

 

 

 

 

[Spiderphill]

I stopped ebaying when I purchased a raw vf asm 50 top edge trimmed but I only paid 100 for it.

[Trev]

For me it's about the risk I'm willing to take. I would not buy high grade, expensive books on ebay except from sellers I recognize and trust. Generally for me that means books that are more than a couple hundred dollars.

 

I build the risk of misgrading into my bids, so I'm covered. Sometimes I miss but more often I end up with a good deal. Sometimes it is just a great deal.

 

Sellers who can't provide high quality scans on high priced books are generally penalized for that in the final result.

[rjpb]

small and fuzzy images hide faws - with a reputable seller that's not a huge problem, unfortunately a stellar feedback rating doesn't mean that much. I've generally found that sellers who include details of flaws and information like page quality, and don't obviously overgrade are about as reliable as dealers in general and even the boards when it comes to grading.At least when it comes to midgrade and marginally higher grade stuff. If you are looking for true high grade material then it's more of a crapshoot.

 

Some of the most generously graded books or books with unmentioned problems that I have bought on ebay come from professional dealers.

 

I would tend to avoid any seller with a no return policy, unless the book is cheap enough that it doesn't really matter.

[the blob]

Many of us here sell on ebay too, so I'm not about to say everything is overgraded, etc. You need to scrutinize listings though. Does a seller call everything NM? If it looks like the seller takes the time to mention flaws and assign a range of grades to their books you have a good shot an honest attempt at grading and probably a consistent one

 

As for scans, bigger is better. Back cover is good but I often don't do it for sub-$20 books.

Edited April 30, 2012 by the blob

[Roundguy]

One thing i have been burned on myself and im still learning i quit collecting for a long time and am just now comming back to it is ask what the pages look like i have bought a couple of GL that looked Great front back and get them here and the pages are really bad One i just got in the cover looks great back looked good and once i had it in hand there was chew marks between the covers where you could not see on the scans Even the seller didnt know he bought the book with bag/boards already and didnt take it out to look at it Im learning to not be afraid to ask questions and dont wait till last minute to ask sometimes it took up to 2 days for a seller to get back to me This is just my opinion

[dupont2005]

I am happy right now focussing on raw comics, and not paying the premium for graded ones. However, I'm a bit weary of buying raw on ebay, especially listings that have just one pic thats not high resolution. Some questions I have are:

 

Are the grades people give on ebay usually accurate?

 

If there is only one low resolution photo, should i stay away, as the person may be hiding something about the books condition?

 

It depends completely on the price of the comic on how much I'll trust an eBay dealer. For a $20+ comic I want a good sized pic or scan, otherwise I'll give it a gamble if it's bargain priced.

[comicsnyc22]

Not sure if it's been said, but I wouldn't pay big money for a raw book on ebay unless it's from someone on here you know, or one of the more reputable sellers. If it's raw and at a crazy price, it's probably too good to be true.

 

I've been burned twice on restored books that were guaranteed Blue. Not worth the chase in those cases.

 

On the flip side, I've gotten some beautiful mid-grade books, pressed them and have seen awesome results with this, if you're OK with 6.0's, 7.0's and 8.0's!

[the blob]

The funny thing is probably the best deal I have ever gotten was an ebay auction with no pics, no grades and payment by check or money order only. I put my faith in the guy's feedback (always tricky) and what were described as VG to fine copies averaged about 9.2, paid about $65 for the lot of about 150 comics valued at about $2,000 in OPG. Nice copies of ASM 136, 137, Hulk 182, Peter Parker 27 ...lots of BA semi-keys and such.

 

I don't buy much on ebay anymore, mainly because I don't want to spend 2 hours a day bidding and what not and then getting yelled at by my wife for the packages, but I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised more times than I felt I was burned by a pretty high margin. Maybe I was lucky. I also never really bid expecting to get high grade books advertised as high grade, so I tempered my expectations that way.

[Webhead1981]

Any raw books I buy on Ebay I ask the seller for multiple scans, if they aren't going to do that I don't bid. Plain and simple. For every sweet deal I've gotten I've gotten books returned to me by CGC with a much lower grade than I thought.

[eastcoaster]

I've had decent luck with eBay. I scrutinize the pictures and ask questions. The best thing is to take some risks and when you find a seller with accurate grades and safe shipping, buy whatever you can!

[dupont2005]

This is exactly why there is a premium for slabbed comics. Grading is subjective. Standards of grading are not universal. CGC and Overstreet, for example, have different standards. Common sense goes a long way. Is the comic you’re buying worth $150 in a CGC 9.8? Is it listed on eBay for a dollar? If yes to both don’t get upset when it arrives in 8.0 condition. If it was as easy as buying raw and slabbing and making a ton of money in the process everyone would do it. There’s risk to buying raw, there’s risk to submitting. This is why high grade slabs cost what they do