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Is anyone buying raw books from Heritage Auctions?
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40 posts in this topic

On ‎9‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 7:42 AM, Gatsby77 said:

I trust their raw books - have bought a few dozen lots from them and found the grading accurate. They're particularly good for clean-looking filler runs of mainstream Silver Age Marvels (like Daredevil, Thor, FF) in upper mid-grades (i.e., 7.0-8.5).

+1  This

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I bought a lot of a dozen or so books few months ago. One of the books was incomplete and missing an entire page. They took them back no problem, paid for return shipping and issued a refund, but I was out the original S&H I paid.

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On 9/14/2018 at 2:48 PM, FineCollector said:

Does anyone buy from Heritage regularly?  I've heard grumblings of them upping their fees, but does anyone have an opinion on the raw books they're receiving?  I've only bought from them twice, and I think they've missed on the grading both times.  I brought the last transaction to their attention, and I have to say their customer service was impeccable, but my next purchase was another miss. It's small dollar stuff, so I don't want to make a federal case out of it, but I'm curious if these transactions are outliers, or the norm.

Does anyone buy raw from Heritage, and if you do, are you happy with the grading, or do you allow for an overgrade?

Heritage used to be my favourite place to buy a book but things must have changed there in the past 5 years since their grading has gone down the pits. And it's not really about how they grade a book but how they rush grading. All the issues I have are when they clearly did not flip through the book to see if there is an issue with it or when they take a previous written grade (like a dealer unloading his stuff to them) at face value without further checking. So it's more with taking the time of double checking rather than the actual grade. I will post a few examples later when I have the time. Their customer service is good, but returning comics when someone couldn't bother to examine the back of a book sounds beyond amateurish from a company claiming to be the best. It's a hassle I don't need and for golden age books, I think I am better off just buying from Harley Yee at a show.

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Ok so here are some examples of how careless Heritage has become in its grading. I will do 3 posts so that the pics can be associated properly.

From this lot https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/whiz-comics-group-of-8-fawcett-publications-1946-48-total-8-comic-books-/a/121936-14037.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515

Captain Marvel 77 was said to be VG, but it had a page missing and a coupon cut and some scotch tape inside too.

 

 

 

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20190917_133341.jpg

Edited by William-James88
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I find this next one very frustrating since it shows how no one speaks to one another at the company. Here is a Captain marvel 90 https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/captain-marvel-adventures-90-fawcett-publications-1948-condition-vf-/a/121941-13453.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515.

As you can read in the listing, it was assessed as a 7.5. When I received it, it was clearly from a previous dealer who had marked 7.5 on the back of the board. Now, Heritage took that mark at face value, the person grading it didn't even bother taking it out of the bag and board they received it in. I know that because if they would have they would have seen that there is a piece missing from the back leading into a tear. Along with the staple tear for the upper staple, this is nowhere near a 7.5. Which makes it rather embarrassing because another department clearly had to remove it to scan the book and post it in the auction.  Here are my scans of this "7.5" book.

 

 

captain marvel adventures 90 01.jpg

captain marvel adventures 90 02.jpg

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Here's the last example for now (if anyone is entertained and wants more, I have lots more to show).

This one further proves that they didn't even take the book out of the bag and board when assessing it. Because if they would have they would have seen that it completely falls apart. Of course none of that mentioned in this listing where it comes from. https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/captain-marvel-adventures-group-of-6-fawcett-publications-1948-condition-vg-total-6-/a/121946-15449.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515

They didn't even notice that it's missing the upper staple.

 

 

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20200103_000039.jpg

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Here's another one. Right now, Heritage has a Holiday Comics 1 from Fawcett which they claim is VF-. However, the spine is torn up at the bottom right with an inch long colour breaking crease and another busted corner at the top. I gather at most 5.5 (as do others on this board), why they think it could be 7.5 is beyond me.

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/holiday-comics-1-fawcett-publications-1942-condition-vf-/p/122006-78001.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Preview-SearchResults-120115&lotPosition=1|0#

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7 minutes ago, musicmeta said:

I only buy CGC books from Heritage and only "IF" I get lucky because  the around 20% juice plus tax is within my bid price.  It's been a long time since I won a book from them. 

Congrats! Our sales tax is getting steep on all our purchases though  :eek: eek....

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20 minutes ago, musicmeta said:

I only buy CGC books from Heritage and only "IF" I get lucky because  the around 20% juice plus tax is within my bid price.  It's been a long time since I won a book from them. 

Dont forget the brand new extra tax they impose on payments made with credit card or PayPal.

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I just did a run down of the comics I've bought raw from Heritage.  Mostly in lots.  I've picked up 52 total raw comics from Heritage, 10 came back below the posted grade, 9 came back posted grade or .5 higher, 33 came back 1 grade higher or more.

That said of the 10 that came back lower all were in lots and all had missed problems like those stated above (spine splits, interior tears, etc.)  Two more caveats.  All were bought between 5 and 8 years ago.  All were pressed by @joeypost before submission.

Only one comic I bought that wasn't in a lot:

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/adventure/thrilling-comics-59-better-publications-1947-condition-vg-fn/a/121235-12709.s

0307142212221.jpg

 

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1 hour ago, thunsicker said:

I just did a run down of the comics I've bought raw from Heritage.  Mostly in lots.  I've picked up 52 total raw comics from Heritage, 10 came back below the posted grade, 9 came back posted grade or .5 higher, 33 came back 1 grade higher or more.

Is it fair to assume that the pressing played into those 33 getting 1 grade higher or more?

Also thanks for the assessment. That 20% mistake rate your example shows us is not great.

Edited by William-James88
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2 hours ago, William-James88 said:
3 hours ago, thunsicker said:

I just did a run down of the comics I've bought raw from Heritage.  Mostly in lots.  I've picked up 52 total raw comics from Heritage, 10 came back below the posted grade, 9 came back posted grade or .5 higher, 33 came back 1 grade higher or more.

Is it fair to assume that the pressing played into those 33 getting 1 grade higher or more?

Also thanks for the assessment. That 20% mistake rate your example shows us is not great.

I always assume an average of a .5 bump from pressing.  Though I have no idea how accurate that is.  Obviously it would depend on how many pressable defects the comic has and how much the dry cleaning can help.  Even then a 5.0 to a 6.5 would largely be due to them being conservative on the grade.  And the comic which I got in a batch that was listed at average grade of 6.0 which graded out at 9.4 would have been an outlier.

EDIT:  In general when I see Heritage list a lot at 'average grade of FN (6.0)' I read it as 'all the comics are at least a FN (6.0) with maybe one or two falling below'.

Edited by thunsicker
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Here is another example of plain lazy grading by Heritage.  I received this today.  An FF 19 listed as an unrestored Fine Minus (5.5).   So I open the book ... one quarter of page one missing.  Affects story.  I know they will take it back but this is my third time they've missed obvious defects that materially reduce their raw grade.

1605583653824-504117984.jpg

Edited by zosocane
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I've bought raw books from Heritage on numerous occassions, in Heritage auctions and in ebay/Heritage auctions. No complaints. The grading was fine, the books were complete without hidden surprises, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy raw from heritage because if there's an issue, they will address it and remedy, true professionals. 

But my question is this. With all the exceptionally incredible CGC books being offered by Heritage, especially this month, wouldn't going to Heritage for raw books be like going to the SuperBowl just to buy a hot dog? 

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On 1/5/2020 at 5:48 PM, William-James88 said:

I find this next one very frustrating since it shows how no one speaks to one another at the company. Here is a Captain marvel 90 https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/captain-marvel-adventures-90-fawcett-publications-1948-condition-vf-/a/121941-13453.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515.

As you can read in the listing, it was assessed as a 7.5. When I received it, it was clearly from a previous dealer who had marked 7.5 on the back of the board. Now, Heritage took that mark at face value, the person grading it didn't even bother taking it out of the bag and board they received it in. I know that because if they would have they would have seen that there is a piece missing from the back leading into a tear. Along with the staple tear for the upper staple, this is nowhere near a 7.5. Which makes it rather embarrassing because another department clearly had to remove it to scan the book and post it in the auction.  Here are my scans of this "7.5" book.

 

 

captain marvel adventures 90 01.jpg

captain marvel adventures 90 02.jpg

I dunno, that looks like some golden age cgc 7.0-7.5s I have seen over the years. 

 

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, James J Johnson said:

I've bought raw books from Heritage on numerous occassions, in Heritage auctions and in ebay/Heritage auctions. No complaints. The grading was fine, the books were complete without hidden surprises, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy raw from heritage because if there's an issue, they will address it and remedy, true professionals. 

But my question is this. With all the exceptionally incredible CGC books being offered by Heritage, especially this month, wouldn't going to Heritage for raw books be like going to the SuperBowl just to buy a hot dog? 

well, folks are doing it to get a deal on a sub-$100 book that isn't worth a slab. i used to big on heritage auctions like 15 years ago. you could occasionally win a good lot at a pretty nice price. the grading was fine then.

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On 4/6/2019 at 9:04 PM, marvelcollector said:

I've found their grading of raw books to be pretty good.

I've won a few multi issue lots from them. 

Same here. My targets are usually the GA groups of a dozen in average VG/F. There are usually a few in FIne or better. GOD BLESS...

-jimbo (a friend of Jesus)(thumbsu

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