What should be graded? 1 1

[Mercury Man]

19 hours ago, lanternfan55 said:

Been collecting comics for a while and I have been wanting to get pretty serious about it. Was told that I should start getting some of my comics graded for maximum selling potential later. 

Was the person a CGC employee?  In all seriousness, just because something is graded, doesn't mean it's desirable.  What you have mentioned will pretty much cover that description.  Save your money, and buy a cool comic. 

[Mercury Man]

19 hours ago, lanternfan55 said:

Been collecting comics for a while and I have been wanting to get pretty serious about it. Was told that I should start getting some of my comics graded for maximum selling potential later. 

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Edited April 24, 2018 by Mercury Man

[Jeffro.]

27 minutes ago, Artboy99 said:

consider the cost of stabbing

You should never stab your books. It tends to hurt the grade

[mattn792]

1 minute ago, Jerkfro said:

You should never stab your books. It tends to hurt the grade

Have them singed instead.  Preferably by a contributor with a quality lighter.

[BlowUpTheMoon]

4 minutes ago, Jerkfro said:

You should never stab your books. It tends to hurt the grade

[Jeffro.]

Suck it, Blowie

[PunisherPunisherPunisher]

What should be graded? ....mozzarella cheese on pizza 

As for books being graded, it's your decision at the end of the day, if it makes you happy that's the main thing.

[speedcake]

I'd definitely keep an eye out for already slabbed copies of all the books you are thinking of slabbing. You can likely grab them for not much more than the cost of slabbing them, if not less.

[F For Fake]

Well, y'all probably ran the OP off, but just in case he's still lurking:

The BN Wonder Woman Sook variants sell well raw ($20-$50, depending on which issue, the  grade, time of day, which way the wind was blowing, etc), so they'd probably do well graded at 9.8.

Some of the other variants also do ok, and by "ok" I mean a bit more than the cost of slabbing them, but probably none of them are selling for more than $100.

My advice would be to check completed eBay sales for 9.8 graded copies that have sold, and see what the prices are like, and see if those sold values, compared to the cost of grading, would be worthwhile to you. You can also subscribe to GPA to get an idea of the value.

My biggest piece of advice would be LEARN HOW TO GRADE before sending them in, or go the pre-screen route, because none of those books are going to be worth slabbing in anything under 9.8. And the majority of the titles probably aren't worth slabbing even in 9.8, relative to the cost of slabbing.

Of course, if you just want to slab them for your personal pleasure and preservation, go for it. Don't let anyone tell you not to if that's what appeals to you. But doing so for future investment is likely not going to yield much of a return.

Good luck!

[kdoginohio]

yeah, i still shake my head when folks in the WTB thread are looking for slabbed books that aren't worth the cost of the process.

[shadroch]

I recently set up at a small fan fest. There were three and a half comic dealers.

I put out a small box of slabs I'd picked up for next to nothing. Stuff like Spider-Man 173 in 4.5, Son of Satan 6 in 5.5.

Priced them three for $50 and they didn't move. Lowered the price to $10 each and sold most of them. Also moved a bunch of TPBs for $5 each. Guy next to me sold water at $2 a bottle and cleaned up. Food for thought.

[revat]

2 hours ago, shadroch said:

I recently set up at a small fan fest. There were three and a half comic dealers.

I put out a small box of slabs I'd picked up for next to nothing. Stuff like Spider-Man 173 in 4.5, Son of Satan 6 in 5.5.

Priced them three for $50 and they didn't move. Lowered the price to $10 each and sold most of them. Also moved a bunch of TPBs for $5 each. Guy next to me sold water at $2 a bottle and cleaned up. Food for thought.

water is always a winner.  as a great job for kids (and adults), get them two coolers full of bottle waters and send them to sell outside a football or baseball game.  Two hours will get a TON of cash.  You can sell other stuff too, but the margins are on the water.  Problem is water is heavy, so bring hand truck or wagon or cart.

 

[shadroch]

I've seen people arrested for selling water in Vegas, both on the strip and just at busy intersections. The next outdoor show I do, this will be a mainstay.

[RockMyAmadeus]

21 hours ago, BlowUpTheMoon said:

I love piracy. All the canvas, all the eye patches, all the fancy hats, all the booty, all the keelhauling, all the over the barreling, all the catami...oops. I've said too much.

[STORMSHADOW_80]

22 hours ago, Artboy99 said:

consider the cost of stabbing and then also look into the value of the book itself. There is no point to grading a 10 dollar comic. It won't help you sell it in the future.

My "cut off" for value of book is $150.00 before I consider grading.

This is good advice. Only get books graded that are worth the while. Unless it's sentimental. There's a learning curve of knowing what a book will grade as. That's the fun part

[Ride the Tiger]

On 4/23/2018 at 7:22 AM, lanternfan55 said:

I meant to ask about that. When it comes to grading, If a grading company goes out of business, are the grades worthless?

There are only 2 real grading companies out there. Both will be around probably as long as we live. The 3rd company is more or less a joke and hopefully the guys basement gets flooded and he is forced to go out of business.

[mattn792]

43 minutes ago, Ride the Tiger said:

There are only 2 real grading companies out there. Both will be around probably as long as we live. The 3rd company is more or less a joke and hopefully the guys basement gets flooded and he is forced to go out of business.

If only.  You know he’s got at least twelve PGX 9.9 Action #1s listed on his insurance policy.  Should more than pay the replacement cost of a two bit operation.

[thehumantorch]

On 4/22/2018 at 10:15 PM, lanternfan55 said:

Been collecting comics for a while and I have been wanting to get pretty serious about it. Was told that I should start getting some of my comics graded for maximum selling potential later. 

If you want to grade books for your own personal pleasure that's great.  If you're planning to grade books to sell them you should first figure out what your books are worth ungraded, what they're worth graded and what it will cost to get them graded.  You should probably also factor in room for error.  graded - grading cost > ungraded

If a book typically sells for $40 raw and it sells for $60 in CGC 9.8 do you really want to spend $40 getting it graded?  My rule of thumb threshold for grading moderns is $150 value minimum in the grade I think my book is.

[thehumantorch]

5 hours ago, shadroch said:

I recently set up at a small fan fest. There were three and a half comic dealers.

I put out a small box of slabs I'd picked up for next to nothing. Stuff like Spider-Man 173 in 4.5, Son of Satan 6 in 5.5.

Priced them three for $50 and they didn't move. Lowered the price to $10 each and sold most of them. Also moved a bunch of TPBs for $5 each. Guy next to me sold water at $2 a bottle and cleaned up. Food for thought.

  I believe that's 'Water for thought'.....