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polished_gem_comics aka diamond_comics_llc aka silver_valley_comics CGC slab cracking and overgrading for profit
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595 posts in this topic

4 minutes ago, kav said:

(thumbsu

It's true. I will own it. Dont know the seller yet I said I love this guy. I make bold statements all the time to stimulate conversations. One of the more interesting threads. I seen the guys listings, but didn't do any research to see how he was acquiring the books. I see people over paying for books all the time. But how this seller does it is takes it to another level. I love you polished gem diamond comics. 

 

Ps I have no problem with you buying my comics and selling them for more. Hit me up tell me what you are looking for.

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It's funny the number of threads around here where people will absolutely go nuts over someone buying a collection for cheap and making a profit off of it - but a seller who lies about what he's selling to make a profit is ok? Bizarro world.

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31 minutes ago, Hollywood1892 said:

This is true...but more to the point Sellers sell as though they are proffessional graders at the price of a slabbed book when it's not in a slab yet...and they aren't held accountable when the book doesn't come back in the grade they said it was

This also goes back to the ignorance of the buyer too for not being able to grade books themselves....

But as for the seller

If they think it's a 9.4

Sell it for the price of a 9.4 minus grading costs, shipping costs from point of sale and to CGC and whatever other "hidden" costs there might be.

GPA or Gocollect (probably the most reputable pricing platforms at the moment) don't put a FMVGST (fair market value grading shipping tracking) as a price for a book, and sellers aren't going to say "my bad I'll take off all those extra fees and sell my book well under FMV (at least most won't)

I think a seller can sell a book for whatever they want. I sell books above GPA go collect whatever all the time. Those tools aren't the be all end all. Maybe a seller ran a 1 day auction going off at 4 am or in wrong category or had low or negative feedback. Maybe book was ugly copy. Buyers will knowingly pay over gpa to get white pages, well centered or press it to better grade etc. I have collectors who refuse to by cgc because they have cracked books and didn't agree with the white page assessment.  Maybe buyer thinks you graded too low. Something is worth what someone is willing to pay. If I auction something claiming it's a 9.4 with clear pictures and it goes for over gpa 9.4 cgc and they paid for it do you expect me to say, sorry I am going to have to cancel your order because you paid over gpa.

 

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21 minutes ago, Hieronymus Bosch said:

It's funny the number of threads around here where people will absolutely go nuts over someone buying a collection for cheap and making a profit off of it - but a seller who lies about what he's selling to make a profit is ok? Bizarro world.

Ummm... NO. There are a couple of people in this thread that seem to be OK with it, certainly a minority. Probably the same minority that would be just fine with the other scenario too. 

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21 minutes ago, Hieronymus Bosch said:

It's funny the number of threads around here where people will absolutely go nuts over someone buying a collection for cheap and making a profit off of it - but a seller who lies about what he's selling to make a profit is ok? Bizarro world.

I am not ok with it. Just the earth I live on ( earth 227 ) ebay sellers lie about grades and the history of books. This isn't the first seller to have done this. Just the one who has had the most success that I can remember seeing. Athletes that have cheated I am not ok with, I wouldn't put them in the hall of fame. But I can still be impressed with the numbers they put up.

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1 hour ago, kav said:

I don't know what this is about.

 

I do know that my disappointment before bed stems from the fact that www.story-train.com does not work 

 

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18 minutes ago, LordRahl said:

Ummm... NO. There are a couple of people in this thread that seem to be OK with it, certainly a minority. Probably the same minority that would be just fine with the other scenario too. 

Guilty as charged. Not a fan of paying more for a collection than what it is worth. I also have no problems with buying a nyx 3 bat 12 nm 98 etc for a buck and selling it for 300. I do not make any claims to there ownership history though. 

I can't wait until someone discovers the seller buying restored books and selling them as non restored for GPA non restored prices. Thread will get real interesting then.

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1 minute ago, Buzzetta said:

I don't know what this is about.

 

I do know that my disappointment before bed stems from the fact that www.story-train.com does not work 

 

 

Screenshot 2020-05-03 at 9.09.55 PM.png

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21 minutes ago, raybowles said:

Nothing this seller is doing should be liked or respected. He's a thief and a liar and people like him are hurting the hobby. When people realize they have been ripped off a percentage of them will leave the hobby for good. That hurts the hobby.

What's great about the CGC community is we look out for each other and all collectors. We do this by alerting the public of sellers like this. It makes me sick when I see people pulling scams and it should always be looked down upon. This seller is a crook.

 

 

 

 

 

I have a problem with his story. Wifes father's books bought off Newsstand. Does that story make people over pay for his books? It must it seems. Majority of books I see on ebay are over graded and people over pay. I admire people's outrage and disgust. I used to be more passionate but now just accept there are bad people who will do anything to make a buck. I reported people in past to ebay paypal and they did nothing so now I just block them. I am not up on my high horse either. I dont lie to deceive people but if I see new mutants 98 at flea market for a buck I happily pay it, maybe even pick up the harbinger and asm 361 and ask if they would do all 3 for $2. At the comic shop when I buy a book for 3 bucks that just shot up to $30 I don't say excuse me but this book has recently shot up and is now worth 10 times more so will you take $30 for it. I guess I am a terrible person. Yet when someone is asking $400 for a raw vf nm 98 or a comic shop owner takes the book he has priced at $3 and looks it up on ebay and trys to charge me $50 I dont get outraged or sick and look down upon them. I just choose not to buy their item.

True story. I just bought something off ebay. It arrived in a amazon box. Open box, receipt from Amazon. Guy sold item on ebay he doesn't even have, when I bought it, he bought one on Amazon and Amazon seller shipped it to me. Called a drop ship. I dont blame the ebay seller. I didn't do anything about it and just accepted my purchase. I didn't think to or was to lazy to check Amazon or another marketplace or store etc. I paid over gpa per say, but yeah good for that seller. Sold a item he didn't even have and made a profit. I can appreciate it. I hate to over pay for anything. Usually I shop around and check prices. I messed up. Even if he said he was the original owner and had the lowest price available anywhere for the product it is still my fault for trusting another human being. Now if some seller doesn't disclose restoration or a missing page that book gets returned so fast. Now if I didn't check for any and discover it a year from now. Yeah crappy scamming seller but I should have checked. I want to live in this world where all sellers are honest but I know the world actually live in is buyer beware. 

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On 4/26/2020 at 1:15 PM, Lightning55 said:

This seller can do exactly what he is doing WITHOUT committing fraud by just eliminating the hype.  The boasts (lies) about the history of the comic is what is misrepresented, fraudulent.  If he buys nice looking 9.0's, cracks them, posts them with an opinion that they are 9.6, and leaves it at that, he technically has done nothing wrong.  If someone agrees with his opinion, ponies up the money, that's their prerogative. The UNTRUE EMBELLISHMENT is what makes it fraud.

It's just like when we see $50 collectibles priced at $200.  We laugh that the seller thinks he can get $200 for it.  But that's the seller's OPINION of value, the asking price.  And then we are astonished that it sells for $200, to someone naive, maybe.  That happens ALL THE TIME.  And who are we to say it is wrong?  Someone asked a price, and someone stepped up and said, "I'll take it!":takeit: 

I saw it happen yesterday.  I sold a book to someone for $50 last year.  It's still a $50 book today, if you go by recent sales.  My buyer put it on eBay for $100, same book.  I kind of chuckled that he thought he could get that.  It sold for $100.hm

 

 

I thought the same thing about these... he also had Aquaman #1 New 52 for $150 on his wall!

 

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3 minutes ago, Hollywood1892 said:

Seller(s) should stop giving grades and let CGC do their jobs!

I think that's a cop out by sellers who do that. "I'm not a professional grader so please look at the pictures... blah, blah, blah".   Hobbyists graded raw books for 30+ years before CGC started up. Grading a book is the most basic nd necessary element in hobbyists communicating condition when conducting trade, and we do it with an organized letter and/or letter and number system, not superlatives like, "Look at this", "Wow", "Unread", and the like, terms that have nothing to do with the grading system for our hobby. Clear large pictures will show us when the seller is off or close to what we, the buyers, feel are accurate grades, and as such, when a seller calls a book "unread/NM", and there's a tan halo around it, we don't even have to wait to get the book in the mail to know it's vastly over-promised. You can see it. But grades are a very important part of the sales details for a comic, and how the seller and buyer grade it will determine if they are in agreement with each others grading and the transaction on a whole.  CGC's opinion comes later, if submitted, but the initial approval period usually involves only whether the buyer and seller are in agreement with the grade given by both of them.

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47 minutes ago, James J Johnson said:

I think that's a cop out by sellers who do that. "I'm not a professional grader so please look at the pictures... blah, blah, blah".   Hobbyists graded raw books for 30+ years before CGC started up. Grading a book is the most basic nd necessary element in hobbyists communicating condition when conducting trade, and we do it with an organized letter and/or letter and number system, not superlatives like, "Look at this", "Wow", "Unread", and the like, terms that have nothing to do with the grading system for our hobby. Clear large pictures will show us when the seller is off or close to what we, the buyers, feel are accurate grades, and as such, when a seller calls a book "unread/NM", and there's a tan halo around it, we don't even have to wait to get the book in the mail to know it's vastly over-promised. You can see it. But grades are a very important part of the sales details for a comic, and how the seller and buyer grade it will determine if they are in agreement with each others grading and the transaction on a whole.  CGC's opinion comes later, if submitted, but the initial approval period usually involves only whether the buyer and seller are in agreement with the grade given by both of them.

Good point

I think you put it perfectly.

I bought a book from an LCS where they graded it 7.5 and it came back 8.5. I'm not complaining, and as a buyer I'm not going to return the book and say "You sold it to cheap".

I think it is just discouraging for new collectors when things like that happen and they put numbers like 9.4 ect on the book and sell it as though it was already in the slab. Like you say with good pics a 'buyer' should know what the grade will be and the seller and buyer should be in agreement. Also I don't think all other factors are taken into account when purchasing it like shipping, grading costs

Edited by Hollywood1892
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