Selling Comics to Lone Star / MCS

[Ghost Town]

For those who say they are happy buying from them, please state if you are buying consignments or their own stock. As many people have commented, there is a disparity between the two.

The only time I've seen that consignments noted on the website is for some CGC books. I've ordered raw books from MCS multiple times and I have no idea if they were consigned or not. In any event, I've always been very happy with my purchases.

 

Consignment books are in a yellow box and have a notice denoting that they are consignment in the item description. The vast majority of their $50+ books are consignment.

Roger that. Makes sense. I'd rarely look at very many raw books priced at $50 for over. Though given what I know of MCS' grading, I would.

[ygogolak]

For those who say they are happy buying from them, please state if you are buying consignments or their own stock. As many people have commented, there is a disparity between the two.

The only time I've seen that consignments noted on the website is for some CGC books. I've ordered raw books from MCS multiple times and I have no idea if they were consigned or not. In any event, I've always been very happy with my purchases.

 

Consignment books are in a yellow box and have a notice denoting that they are consignment in the item description. The vast majority of their $50+ books are consignment.

 

+1

Yellow vs. Gray box.

[ygogolak]

For those who say they are happy buying from them, please state if you are buying consignments or their own stock. As many people have commented, there is a disparity between the two.

 

Not true. No difference in the grading for consignments vs non-consignments.

 

What you may be referring to is that most books priced under $10 are graded on the letter grade scale (NM, VF, FN, etc) and are not individually scanned, and most books over $10 are graded on the ten point scale (9.8, 9.6, 9.4, 9.2, etc) and are individually scanned. All consignments will be in the latter group, but otherwise there's no difference in the nature of our grading for something we own vs something consigned with us.

 

You've obviously been following this thread, so I assume you have seen numerous comments from buyers who disagree.

[mycomicshop]

For those who say they are happy buying from them, please state if you are buying consignments or their own stock. As many people have commented, there is a disparity between the two.

 

Not true. No difference in the grading for consignments vs non-consignments.

 

What you may be referring to is that most books priced under $10 are graded on the letter grade scale (NM, VF, FN, etc) and are not individually scanned, and most books over $10 are graded on the ten point scale (9.8, 9.6, 9.4, 9.2, etc) and are individually scanned. All consignments will be in the latter group, but otherwise there's no difference in the nature of our grading for something we own vs something consigned with us.

 

You've obviously been following this thread, so I assume you have seen numerous comments from buyers who disagree.

 

I don't recall ever seeing anybody who says that they think a $50, ten point graded book that's a consignment is graded any differently than a $50, ten point graded book that's not a consignment. As I said before, $2.00 books graded on the letter grade scale are handled differently than $20, $50, $100 books graded on the ten point scale, but whether the item is consigned or owned by us the books are treated the same.

 

I think our grading is excellent: see comments from other board members, our eBay feedback 99.9% positive and 5.0 out of 5.0 for item as described, and our TrustPilot reviews. However, within our overall excellent grading, the odds of an item being misgraded are higher for a low value letter graded book than they are for a higher value ten point graded book. By quantity, there are far more low value books in existence than high value books. And simply due to the greater granularity of the ten point grading scale and the higher value of the books themselves, higher value books will get more scrutiny and are handled by our top graders. They also are individually scanned, while our low value books are not scanned.

 

But none of that depends on the item being a consignment or not--just the value of the book. 100% of consignments will be in the high value group that is ten point graded and individually scanned, but books from our own inventory will be too.

 

Every book you order from us should be well graded, but if we make a mistake, you can return it for a refund. We also guarantee that every book we buy will be sold at the same grade we reported to the seller when buying it. What we can't guarantee is that every book you buy from us would receive the same grade the next time we graded it. It would be easier to be 100% consistent if all of our books were graded by one person within a short span of time--but that's not possible. We have millions of comics in stock, multiple graders, and some of our comics were graded a week ago and some were graded 5-10 years ago. Take any book graded by CGC 5-10 years ago, crack it out, and submit it new. Sometimes it'll get the same grade, sometimes it won't--the same is true for us.

[the blob]

I have a question. Your buying criteria/prices goes from NM- to VF, with nothing in between. If something is a 9.0 in your view (and 9.2 in my view), do you make a VF price offer or do you do something in between?

 

Also, if something is on your want list and I send 2 copies and let's say the first copy fully stocks you however you are looking to be stocked, what happens in terms of the second copy?

[jaxcomics]

I have a question. Your buying criteria/prices goes from NM- to VF, with nothing in between. If something is a 9.0 in your view (and 9.2 in my view), do you make a VF price offer or do you do something in between?

 

Also, if something is on your want list and I send 2 copies and let's say the first copy fully stocks you however you are looking to be stocked, what happens in terms of the second copy?

 

If you click the drop-down menu, you'll see buy prices for 9.0 and 8.5.

[mycomicshop]

I have a question. Your buying criteria/prices goes from NM- to VF, with nothing in between. If something is a 9.0 in your view (and 9.2 in my view), do you make a VF price offer or do you do something in between?

 

Also, if something is on your want list and I send 2 copies and let's say the first copy fully stocks you however you are looking to be stocked, what happens in terms of the second copy?

 

As jaxcomics said, all the grades are there, accessible in the dropdown. We don't show them all directly so that there's not 25 grade rows showing for every comic--it would take up a lot of space.

 

 

The prices we show for items on our want list apply to at least one copy, and may or may not apply to additional copies. If you offer us 2 or more copies of an issue, when we are reviewing your transaction (before you've ever shipped anything to us), we'll record how many copies we'll take at the full buying price (always at least 1), how many copies we'll take at 50% of the buying price, and how many we'll take at 25% of the buying price. For example, if somebody offers us 20 copies of the same book, maybe we take 5 at our full buying price and the other 15 at 50%. It just depends on the issue and our stock needs. Whatever we decide, you have that offer from us before you ever ship the comics, so you can decide if you want to ship us the full qty or a smaller number.

[the blob]

lovely, thanks, i should have clicked more aggressively!

 

anyway, when i get some time to breath between work and family stuff I hope to put together a care package!

 

 

[the blob]

of course, the thousands of dollars of books i see on your "want list" that i think i have dupes of in NM to NM- will wind up being Fines when I actually locate them and take a good look at them.

 

 

[AJD]

For those who say they are happy buying from them, please state if you are buying consignments or their own stock. As many people have commented, there is a disparity between the two.

 

Not true. No difference in the grading for consignments vs non-consignments.

 

What you may be referring to is that most books priced under $10 are graded on the letter grade scale (NM, VF, FN, etc) and are not individually scanned, and most books over $10 are graded on the ten point scale (9.8, 9.6, 9.4, 9.2, etc) and are individually scanned. All consignments will be in the latter group, but otherwise there's no difference in the nature of our grading for something we own vs something consigned with us.

 

You've obviously been following this thread, so I assume you have seen numerous comments from buyers who disagree.

 

I don't recall ever seeing anybody who says that they think a $50, ten point graded book that's a consignment is graded any differently than a $50, ten point graded book that's not a consignment. As I said before, $2.00 books graded on the letter grade scale are handled differently than $20, $50, $100 books graded on the ten point scale, but whether the item is consigned or owned by us the books are treated the same.

 

I think our grading is excellent: see comments from other board members, our eBay feedback 99.9% positive and 5.0 out of 5.0 for item as described, and our TrustPilot reviews. However, within our overall excellent grading, the odds of an item being misgraded are higher for a low value letter graded book than they are for a higher value ten point graded book. By quantity, there are far more low value books in existence than high value books. And simply due to the greater granularity of the ten point grading scale and the higher value of the books themselves, higher value books will get more scrutiny and are handled by our top graders. They also are individually scanned, while our low value books are not scanned.

 

But none of that depends on the item being a consignment or not--just the value of the book. 100% of consignments will be in the high value group that is ten point graded and individually scanned, but books from our own inventory will be too.

 

Every book you order from us should be well graded, but if we make a mistake, you can return it for a refund. We also guarantee that every book we buy will be sold at the same grade we reported to the seller when buying it. What we can't guarantee is that every book you buy from us would receive the same grade the next time we graded it. It would be easier to be 100% consistent if all of our books were graded by one person within a short span of time--but that's not possible. We have millions of comics in stock, multiple graders, and some of our comics were graded a week ago and some were graded 5-10 years ago. Take any book graded by CGC 5-10 years ago, crack it out, and submit it new. Sometimes it'll get the same grade, sometimes it won't--the same is true for us.

 

FWIW, I've bought multiple times from MCS (one of the most international customer friendly sellers out there). Every time but one I thought the books I got were tightly graded to the point of being better than what I paid for. The one exception was a book that I thought was spot on - and I was disappointed that it wasn't better!

[RockMyAmadeus]

I think the biggest thing to remember here is that the majority of the buying public are NOT on the CGC forums, and they grade strict because they have to. Sadly the majority of buyers are loonie-toons, and I'm sure at one time MCS did grade accurately and were constantly burned by it. They call something a 9.4 (back in the day), and the buyer thought a 9.4 should look like a 9.8. The battle begins, MCS takes a kicking on any number of comic book forums, which leads in time to being so tight at least we now KNOW, you grade a book 9.2, they will grade it 8.5 (or 8.0, or lower, etc).

 

I've gotten totally used to it, and I still send them stacks of books all the time.

 

But no, you won't get the grades you think when sending to them, they take books you might try to sell for years though. For me, that makes them worthwhile.

 

Jay

 

 

I recently had the same loony-toons buyer (fishyxliar on eBay, for those wondering) who accused me of outright fraud when selling him a set of Batman #426-429.

 

They were only listed as "high grade" in the listing. After he complained about the books, I graded them as follows (from memory, as he had the books in his possession):

 

#426 - 9.6

#427 - 9.4/9.6

#428 - 9.2+

#429 - 9.6

 

He screamed and yelled and hollered...really...and called me a liar and a thief and a cheat, repeatedly, over many weeks. He said there were "pages bulging out of the book" and "tan pages" and "spine creases" and you name it. He said these were, at best, Fine to F/VF, 5.0-7.0 copies. And he took them to his local comic shop and they agreed (so he claimed) with his assessment!

 

I told him to send the books back, and he would have a refund. I also told him I would send the books to CGC and see what they said. I told him I would NOT let him send my books into CGC for him, because I had no way of knowing if they would be the same books, but that he could send them back to me and I would submit them for him. I told him to scan all four books so that HE knew I wasn't pulling the ol' switcheroo.

 

Guess what the grades came back as...?

 

#426 - 9.6

#427 - 9.2 (I think the newb graders don't understand printer's creases very well)

#428 - 9.4

#429 - 9.4

 

Oh, all "White" pages, by the way.

 

He wanted perfect 9.8 copies, but he didn't want to pay the 9.8 price.

 

After all of that...months we're talking now...he says "well, I guess we were both wrong.

 

 

Mind you, he called me a cheat, a liar, and a thief, even though I told him to send the books back for a full refund, and that these books were "no better than 5.0-7.0 "at best."

 

Yes, I guess we were "both wrong."

 

 

So, here's to you, Ares Rossell, you silly nutter, you.

 

[grayzr]

I feel that they grade the book and depending on the type of flaws the book has they just take another 1-2 points off that. Its just weird and defeats the whole purpose IMO

[jaxcomics]

I feel that they grade the book and depending on the type of flaws the book has they just take another 1-2 points off that. Its just weird and defeats the whole purpose IMO

 

Because they grade more strictly than most? That's generally a good thing if you're buying. As for selling to them, it really isn't difficult to predict their grading after a few transactions. The majority of books I send them now usually grade out at what I thought they would, or they get bumped up. Most of the time books that are significantly bumped down are because I missed an internal flaw.

 

I also recently sold them back 2 $30'ish books previously purchased from them at auction; I was interested to see what the grading would be given some other stories I'd read. Both books were in Mylites, not the sleeves they were sent in. Both graded out EXACTLY the same as the grade I purchased them at. Works for me.

[the blob]

so you're telling me my anticipated get rich quick scheme of going through my inventory and selling everything i can to MCS may not pan out when they grade all these "would be NM/NM- at CGC" books as VFs?

[AnhDepTrai]

I also recently sold them back 2 $30'ish books previously purchased from them at auction; I was interested to see what the grading would be given some other stories I'd read. Both books were in Mylites, not the sleeves they were sent in. Both graded out EXACTLY the same as the grade I purchased them at. Works for me.

 

Curious of what your purchased price and the sell back price if you don't mind sharing.

[jaxcomics]

so you're telling me my anticipated get rich quick scheme of going through my inventory and selling everything i can to MCS may not pan out when they grade all these "would be NM/NM- at CGC" books as VFs?

 

You have a better chance of finding a stack of AF15's that you "forgot about" in your underwear drawer than having a large stack all grade out at NM with them.

 

You do have a decent shot at books purchased as VF from them coming back 9.4 or better from CGC, though. So it works both ways.

[grayzr]

I feel that they grade the book and depending on the type of flaws the book has they just take another 1-2 points off that. Its just weird and defeats the whole purpose IMO

 

Because they grade more strictly than most? That's generally a good thing if you're buying. As for selling to them, it really isn't difficult to predict their grading after a few transactions. The majority of books I send them now usually grade out at what I thought they would, or they get bumped up. Most of the time books that are significantly bumped down are because I missed an internal flaw.

 

I also recently sold them back 2 $30'ish books previously purchased from them at auction; I was interested to see what the grading would be given some other stories I'd read. Both books were in Mylites, not the sleeves they were sent in. Both graded out EXACTLY the same as the grade I purchased them at. Works for me.

 

At that point its not grading strictly its just not accurate if something is NM how can it possibly be set at VF? where is the logic in that. What is the point of having a grading scale if your just going to under grade every book not to mention the price they set are almost always higher for the grade then the book is worth in the assigned grade (8.0 is priced at a 9.2 or higher). I understand that buying a book in better condition then what is listed makes sense as a buyer but it defeats the grading process. Grading is subjective but when something is 3-4 points below in every grade its just not accurate.

[jaxcomics]

I also recently sold them back 2 $30'ish books previously purchased from them at auction; I was interested to see what the grading would be given some other stories I'd read. Both books were in Mylites, not the sleeves they were sent in. Both graded out EXACTLY the same as the grade I purchased them at. Works for me.

 

Curious of what your purchased price and the sell back price if you don't mind sharing.

 

I took trade, not cash, so that % would be skewed. I also would have to look through several hundred books I've sold to them recently to find the exact totals, and I just don't want to.

 

I would guess around 60% of original purchase price (at auction), but I'm really just guessing there. Sorry.

[jaxcomics]

I feel that they grade the book and depending on the type of flaws the book has they just take another 1-2 points off that. Its just weird and defeats the whole purpose IMO

 

Because they grade more strictly than most? That's generally a good thing if you're buying. As for selling to them, it really isn't difficult to predict their grading after a few transactions. The majority of books I send them now usually grade out at what I thought they would, or they get bumped up. Most of the time books that are significantly bumped down are because I missed an internal flaw.

 

I also recently sold them back 2 $30'ish books previously purchased from them at auction; I was interested to see what the grading would be given some other stories I'd read. Both books were in Mylites, not the sleeves they were sent in. Both graded out EXACTLY the same as the grade I purchased them at. Works for me.

 

At that point its not grading strictly its just not accurate if something is NM how can it possibly be set at VF? where is the logic in that. What is the point of having a grading scale if your just going to under grade every book not to mention the price they set are almost always higher for the grade then the book is worth in the assigned grade (8.0 is priced at a 9.2 or higher). I understand that buying a book in better condition then what is listed makes sense as a buyer but it defeats the grading process. Grading is subjective but when something is 3-4 points below in every grade its just not accurate.

 

They grade according to their own tight scale. They use Overstreet as a basis, but go from there according to their own standards. Honestly, anything else I said on that would just be a rehash of explanations already given by MCS.

[shadroch]

I also recently sold them back 2 $30'ish books previously purchased from them at auction; I was interested to see what the grading would be given some other stories I'd read. Both books were in Mylites, not the sleeves they were sent in. Both graded out EXACTLY the same as the grade I purchased them at. Works for me.

 

Curious of what your purchased price and the sell back price if you don't mind sharing.

 

I took trade, not cash, so that % would be skewed. I also would have to look through several hundred books I've sold to them recently to find the exact totals, and I just don't want to.

 

I would guess around 60% of original purchase price (at auction), but I'm really just guessing there. Sorry.

 

It rarely happens, but I've won books at their auctions for less than their buying price and they've bought them. I once listed a book for sale and received a note saying I should look at the buying price. I sold it to them for more than I was asking.