How much does slabbing add to actual value of non keys? 0

[SkintDoctor]

3 minutes ago, valiantman said:

That's essentially a crooked seller.  If they're asking exactly what the slabbed value would be, then not only are they keeping the slabbing costs for themselves, they don't even have to prove the grade is accurate or let you do the same when you try to sell it later.

Assume a dealer has a raw book they bought for $10.

Selling as a raw book = $50, (they bought it for $10, so their profit is $40)... and need to resell it raw someday for $50 to break even.

Selling a slabbed copy = $100 ($10 plus $35 slabbing/shipping costs), so their profit is $55 instead of $40... and you will need to resell a CGC slabbed copy for $100 to break even.

Selling a raw book as the slabbed price, their profit is $90... and you will need to resell a $50 raw book for $100 to break even -or- you'll have to pay the $35 slabbing/shipping costs and resell a $100 slabbed book for $135 to break even.

You broke it down.

 

I wouldn't even say crooked is their intention. I've seen some dealers selling books undervalued and at the same time selling books overvalued.

[valiantman]

3 minutes ago, BaronSamedi said:

You broke it down.

 

I wouldn't even say crooked is their intention. I've seen some dealers selling books undervalued and at the same time selling books overvalued.

Dealers who sell raw books for reasonable raw prices aren't crooked.  Dealers who want full slabbed price for raw books are wanting to get paid for slabbing fees they didn't spend and get full price for books they haven't proven are actually that grade.  That's stealing from you twice.

[MetalPSI]

5 minutes ago, BaronSamedi said:

You broke it down.

 

I wouldn't even say crooked is their intention. I've seen some dealers selling books undervalued and at the same time selling books overvalued.

See this at shows ALL the time. Sad thing is the amount of the uninitiated just forking over that disposable cash, paying ridiculous amounts for certain books, while sneering at the legitimate hard to find books 

[SkintDoctor]

1 minute ago, valiantman said:

Dealers who sell raw books for reasonable raw prices aren't crooked.  Dealers who want full slabbed price for raw books are wanting to get paid for slabbing fees they didn't spend and get full price for books they haven't proven are actually that grade.  That's stealing from you twice.

Exactly

[SkintDoctor]

1 minute ago, IkewithMike said:

See this at shows ALL the time. Sad thing is the amount of the uninitiated just forking over that disposable cash, paying ridiculous amounts for certain books, while sneering at the legitimate hard to find books 

And I imagine slabbing worthless stuff too!

[Glassman10]

1 hour ago, BaronSamedi said:

I'm totally confused...

If a book retails at $10

And slab cost $25

And slab book value is $25 after slabbed

and stab cost 3-5

It seems like a whole lot of wasted time and money

you need to read Joesph Heller's masterpiece Catch 22. Milo Minderbinder buying eggs for three cents each and selling them back to himself for two cents each at a profit. It makes sense, especially if you're CGC. 

[Bird]

some of us are bottom feeders

for example...I bought a small collection for $850 or something. this was early on for me in the flip collections hustle so I sold the few keys immediately instead of keeping the keys and taking my time to sell the bulk So I got 75 or so copies of Bloodshot 1 in there...really sharp with a few having light scuffs in the hologram but dollar books still, maybe $5 on the right day. But a 9.8 might fetch $50...and they look good enough to skip pressing. So what to do? Sell for $2 each or do I pull one or two that look sweet and send them in? Bottom feeding needs return and with the collection more cost recovered I could put more $ in and slab or just keep. Now what sells easier...a $2 Bloodshot 1 or a $49 Bloodshot 1 9.8? And do I press it anyway...or maybe I can press it myself? 9.6 might be break even but could even be a loss if pressing fee is in there and 9.4 is a sure loss. 

Me- I went without press and sent 1 in with some other books. My first was a 9.8 and yes I got the $50, so $2 profit became $20 or $25 profit. Second also 9.8, but 3rd 9.4. Full stop. Wait for movie!

[MetalPSI]

3 minutes ago, Bird said:

some of us are bottom feeders

for example...I bought a small collection for $850 or something. this was early on for me in the flip collections hustle so I sold the few keys immediately instead of keeping the keys and taking my time to sell the bulk So I got 75 or so copies of Bloodshot 1 in there...really sharp with a few having light scuffs in the hologram but dollar books still, maybe $5 on the right day. But a 9.8 might fetch $50...and they look good enough to skip pressing. So what to do? Sell for $2 each or do I pull one or two that look sweet and send them in? Bottom feeding needs return and with the collection more cost recovered I could put more $ in and slab or just keep. Now what sells easier...a $2 Bloodshot 1 or a $49 Bloodshot 1 9.8? And do I press it anyway...or maybe I can press it myself? 9.6 might be break even but could even be a loss if pressing fee is in there and 9.4 is a sure loss. 

Me- I went without press and sent 1 in with some other books. My first was a 9.8 and yes I got the $50, so $2 profit became $20 or $25 profit. Second also 9.8, but 3rd 9.4. Full stop. Wait for movie!

So with the rest of the collection you bought, did you make back your $850?

[Bird]

7 minutes ago, IkewithMike said:

So with the rest of the collection you bought, did you make back your $850?

oh yeah! easily doubled it and more...NM98 came back 9.6 which I sold and turned into a 9.8 instead. It was my first major sales thread here...mixed items with magazines, book and records, sci fi, all over the place. I have 30-50 copies of Superman 400 as well, I get a few signed every so often.

[MetalPSI]

Just now, Bird said:

oh yeah! easily doubled it and more...NM98 came back 9.6 which I sold and turned into a 9.8 instead. It was my first major sales thread here...mixed items with magazines, book and records, sci fi, all over the place. I have 30-50 copies of Superman 400 as well, I get a few signed every so often.

I've always wanted to just go through kijiji or craigslist and pick a collection up, but I never really know what I'm looking at

[Bird]

1 minute ago, IkewithMike said:

I've always wanted to just go through kijiji or craigslist and pick a collection up, but I never really know what I'm looking at

well, that was craigslist as well as my second one...but in the second big buy those books had surface grime on them and I ended up selling the remnants on craigslist myself. I still made money but it wasn't fun. So you can do okay there but it is far more misses than hits. I don't do craigslist anymore myself but it found me those two large collections and some smaller ones as well

 

Edited February 21, 2020 by Bird

[MetalPSI]

I'm guessing that buying a collection and flipping, sitting on it for awhile is part of how it goes?

[Bird]

2 minutes ago, IkewithMike said:

I'm guessing that buying a collection and flipping, sitting on it for awhile is part of how it goes?

everyone does it differently (some move large volume of books immediately after) but generally yes. I myself do not look for more to buy until I am organized and selling well but I also do not have a storage unit filled like some of these here nutters

Edited February 21, 2020 by Bird
I just have two full closets and 3 filled bakers racks!

[MetalPSI]

1 minute ago, Bird said:

everyone does ti differently (some move large books immediately after) but generally yes. I myself do not look for more to buy until I am organized and selling well but I also do not have a storgae unit filled like some of these here butters

I think my biggest problem would be wanting to hold.

I've got a NM 98 7.5, and if I came across a collection that had a higher grade, I'd definitely want to keep it and sell the 7.5

Edited February 21, 2020 by IkewithMike

[Bird]

I wish words work in brain for me. trying to express thoughts on range in one grade...

even among comps (same grade books...not truly identical but what are you going to do) you can never know...I chose this book at random...ASM 60...9.0 last year $241 low and $567 high (11 days after someone paid $264) with 7 sales...this year 3 sales $350, $249, $218. This may not be representative, but just determining how much value slabbing added to a 9.0 copy of this issue is pretty difficult. But I would venture to guess that whomever got $567 will be slabbing more books.

I am not a dealer, just my side hustle and I cannot count on my reputation and grading skills to carry the day so cgc lets me value books more accurately and I feel that they are easier to sell, except for the bad bad mistakes

 

Edited February 21, 2020 by Bird

[William-James88]

So, after really thinking about this, the only non keys which I can see selling for higher than a raw book+ cost of slabbing are some 9.8s. 

In any other case, and even with many keys, you are always better off selling it raw, you will make more money out of it. Let someone else think they can make money off it by spending more money to have it presses and graded. I've been buying a bunch of non key slabbed golden age books at a cheaper price than Harley Yee sells them raw. People have wasted a bunch of money getting those non key books slabbed. So the answer to your question is that in most cases, slabbing non keys adds nothing to the actual value. It might even lower it, because then the grade is cemented and people are less likely to pay more hoping to press/grade it.

I love this example below, raw copies of Showcase 37 in 5.0 have sold for double the price of slabbed copies:

 

Also, I do consider all early golden age appearances of the main DC trinity to be key here. A Detective Comics 35 might not have the first appearance of anyone but that is definitely a book where the fraction of a grade difference can spell a huge change in money, far outweighing the price of having it graded. Whether that's a key book to you or not is up to you.

Edited February 25, 2020 by William-James88