polished_gem_comics aka diamond_comics_llc aka silver_valley_comics CGC slab cracking and overgrading for profit 8 8

[Coverless 9.8]

1 minute ago, Lightning55 said:

I have just 2 staples, slightly used, but not rusty, still bright.  Do I have a 10.0 comic?  There are absolutely no defects.

The real feat will be proving they're from Action Comics #1 and not Kicker's Inc. #3!  

[kav]

4 minutes ago, Lightning55 said:

I have just 2 staples, slightly used, but not rusty, still bright.  Do I have a 10.0 comic?  There are absolutely no defects.

absolutely.
This is a no-braner.

[littledoom]

EVERYTHING this seller is doing is wrong

[James J Johnson]

2 hours ago, littledoom said:

EVERYTHING this seller is doing is wrong

Absolutely. And there isn't a shred of what it is he's doing that hasn't been calculated and deliberate, yet only a half-baked scheme, far more faulty and obvious a deception than he had bargained for. Quite possibly he anticipated a far lower hobby IQ? .

[Hollywood1892]

16 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Can you explain what you mean when you say that a slabbed book is 100% backed by CGC?  

Especially when CGC clearly states that grading is subjective and only based upon their professional opinion at only the particular point in time when the book crosses their grading table.  

 

 

That's exactly it...their backing is a book in a CGC slab...

The seller isn't backing anything.

The difference in some cases between a grade of 9.0 and 9.2 is hundreds of dollars, but that isn't CGCs fault, that is the markets fault....

CGC miscalculated grades is like you say "A particular point when the book crosses their grading table" but CGC doesn't mislead or lie about their product...which is far different then what the seller is doing

[kimik]

I am too lazy to read all the posts here, but my favorite part of the scam is the "We now offer Pressing & Cleaning Service’s!" bit in the item description 

[mattn792]

26 minutes ago, kimik said:

I am too lazy to read all the posts here, but my favorite part of the scam is the "We now offer Pressing & Cleaning Service’s!" bit in the item description 

The guy is modifying his listings to try and stay ahead of what is being called out in this thread.  I'd wager good dollars that if anyone actually contacted this guy about the P&C service, the press would be "in the shop for repairs" or something.  Its just an attempt at covering for his magical upgrades.

You'll also notice that the additional caveat has been added that the books are original owner from either "my wife's father or from my personal collection!"

To me, both are a clear acknowledgment of his knowledge that he's committing mail and wire fraud with these listings.

 

[littledoom]

I think there's enough evidence to prosecute this scum

[James J Johnson]

Let's  see if he makes money with this Batman #189 CGC 9.2 that he won from digauctions on April 28, and 3:03PM for $1112.68.  

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Batman-189-NM-Unread-1st-Silver-Age-Scarecrow-CGC-Ready-White-Pages-SCARCE/143598688649?hash=item216f261989:g:V5MAAOSw2aJetGfw 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/S022-BATMAN-189-DC-CGC-9-2-NM-1967-1st-SILVER-AGE-App-of-the-SCARECROW-/373022016256?hash=item56d9d84300%3Ag%3A1Z0AAOSwXMZeljM5&nma=true&si=U62yaoeFqpZI%2BK5ZqeqA4tEijiU%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

https://www.ebay.com/bfl/viewbids/373022016256?item=373022016256&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2565

 

[littledoom]

3 minutes ago, James J Johnson said:

Let's  see if he makes money with this Batman #189 CGC 9.2 that he won from digauctions on April 28, and 3:03PM for $1112.68.  

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Batman-189-NM-Unread-1st-Silver-Age-Scarecrow-CGC-Ready-White-Pages-SCARCE/143598688649?hash=item216f261989:g:V5MAAOSw2aJetGfw 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/S022-BATMAN-189-DC-CGC-9-2-NM-1967-1st-SILVER-AGE-App-of-the-SCARECROW-/373022016256?hash=item56d9d84300%3Ag%3A1Z0AAOSwXMZeljM5&nma=true&si=U62yaoeFqpZI%2BK5ZqeqA4tEijiU%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

https://www.ebay.com/bfl/viewbids/373022016256?item=373022016256&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2565

 

I was outbid on that one.. his raw one.. err they're the same thingy.. I don't think the margin is going to be profitable for him

Edited May 14, 2020 by littledoom

[James J Johnson]

5 minutes ago, littledoom said:

I was outbid on that one.. his raw one.. err they're the same thingy.. I don't think the margin is going to be profitable for him

He's shilled it already, to protect his purchase price. Those two bids that you see on it at the top, feedback (5) is him.

https://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBidderProfile&mode=1&item=143598688649&bidtid=1769370980004&_trksid=p2471758.m4792 

He has to cover fees and paypal so he's shill bidding about $1400, maybe a little more, Hi, Rebecca, a belated Happy Mother's Day! 

[Randall Dowling]

I haven't read this whole thread and I think the whole practice by this seller is very slimy.  But I have to ask, how is this different from other people that clean and press books to get higher grades?  Is the only difference that these books haven't been certified by CGC?  That seems a little thin to me as what should matter is the actual grade of the book, not whether it has a confirmation from CGC.  I've seen at least one very well known seller sell raw books on the boards in grades that were "if pressed".  I'm not a fan of the whole cleaning and pressing thing but this seems like that may be all the seller is doing.  

And before things get weird, no, I don't know or have anything to do with the seller.  Just my question of what the difference is.

But in any case, many of the examples make my skin crawl and are clearly dishonest.  I'm just responding to the cracking out and then claiming a different grade (supposedly post pressing and cleaning).

[littledoom]

10 minutes ago, Randall Dowling said:

I haven't read this whole thread and I think the whole practice by this seller is very slimy.  But I have to ask, how is this different from other people that clean and press books to get higher grades?  Is the only difference that these books haven't been certified by CGC?  That seems a little thin to me as what should matter is the actual grade of the book, not whether it has a confirmation from CGC.  I've seen at least one very well known seller sell raw books on the boards in grades that were "if pressed".  I'm not a fan of the whole cleaning and pressing thing but this seems like that may be all the seller is doing.  

And before things get weird, no, I don't know or have anything to do with the seller.  Just my question of what the difference is.

But in any case, many of the examples make my skin crawl and are clearly dishonest.  I'm just responding to the cracking out and then claiming a different grade (supposedly post pressing and cleaning).

he's also lying about the provenance aside from knowingly pacing incorrect higher grades

[WoWitHurts]

9 minutes ago, Randall Dowling said:

I haven't read this whole thread and I think the whole practice by this seller is very slimy.  But I have to ask, how is this different from other people that clean and press books to get higher grades?  Is the only difference that these books haven't been certified by CGC?  That seems a little thin to me as what should matter is the actual grade of the book, not whether it has a confirmation from CGC.  I've seen at least one very well known seller sell raw books on the boards in grades that were "if pressed".  I'm not a fan of the whole cleaning and pressing thing but this seems like that may be all the seller is doing.  

And before things get weird, no, I don't know or have anything to do with the seller.  Just my question of what the difference is.

But in any case, many of the examples make my skin crawl and are clearly dishonest.  I'm just responding to the cracking out and then claiming a different grade (supposedly post pressing and cleaning).

I believe it is in how he represents the product. He only recently added the pressing qualifier likely to cover himself. When he says CGC ready, why does he not CGC it himself?

[James J Johnson]

https://www.ebay.com/bfl/viewbids/143598688649?item=143598688649&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2565

 

I was off by $100. He shilled it at $1300 to protect his $1112 purchase. As it is, somebody won it for $1400+ so once ebay and paypal fees come out, not much profit.

Where he makes out like a bandit is cracking CGC 8.0s to 9.0s and listing them as "Unread/NM".

Also, he didn't press the FF 67, the Bat 189, nor many others he cracked and sold at inflated, spurious grades. Won't state how I know, anything about tells; but bottom line is that the talk of his pressing and cleaning is as phony as the story about books bought in the 60s and stored in climate controlled safes. At least up until now. Might he start pressing in the future? We'll see. There will be signs of that too.

Right about now, Rebecca may be searching the house for hidden cameras! 

[James J Johnson]

1 hour ago, WoWitHurts said:

I believe it is in how he represents the product. He only recently added the pressing qualifier likely to cover himself. When he says CGC ready, why does he not CGC it himself?

It's already CGCed when he buys it. He cracks and resells as raw at an inflated grade. It's a deception and more. Here's why, and what I haven't seen mentioned yet.

Let's say you were the winner. You won the book for $1425, which is $1437 with the postage. Now if you're in a state that ebay collects sales tax for, your total cost averages about $110 on a $1437 invoice, so your total cost is about $1550.

If you're a buyer of raw high grade key books, chances are that you're not going to rat-hole this book, never to see the light of day again, and that you are going to submit it to CGC in the near future (or should I say re-submit it because you are unaware that the book was in a CGC slab as recently as May 1st, less than two weeks ago!!). You're also unaware that the book was already optimized before grading, so you pay for that service as well as the submission, and postage both way. Now you can add an additional $200 or so to the total invoice cost and you're now out of pocket about $1750 for a book that will probably return as it was previously graded, because it was already pressed to begin with; 9.2.

To add insult to financial injury, you happen to come across this thread and learn that his deception cost you $1750 for something you could have won two weeks earlier from digauctions for $1100, a net loss on your item of $650.

Now, considering that, how warm a feeling in your heart would you have for this seller conducting these deceptions on a regular basis?

Edited May 14, 2020 by James J Johnson

[allthingskryptonite]

21 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Definitely my bad as I meant to say well over 3,000 copies of ASM 194 graded and slabbed in CGC 9.0 and above, with almost 6,000 copies slabbed in total.  

Looks like the truly rare and hard to find one would be one of the CGC 0.5 graded Poor copies since there's only 2 of these according to the population census report.  

If you ever want to trade a 9.0 with a 0.5, let me know. I would even cover shipping for you.  

[kav]

10 minutes ago, allthingskryptonite said:

I would even cover shipping for you

[allthingskryptonite]

53 minutes ago, James J Johnson said:

It's already CGCed when he buys it. He cracks and resells as raw at an inflated grade. It's a deception and more. Here's why, and what I haven't seen mentioned yet.

Let's say you were the winner. You won the book for $1425, which is $1437 with the postage. Now if you're in a state that ebay collects sales tax for, your total cost averages about $110 on a $1437 invoice, so your total cost is about $1550.

If you're a buyer of raw high grade key books, chances are that you're not going to rat-hole this book, never to see the light of day again, and that you are going to submit it to CGC in the near future (or should I say re-submit it because you are unaware that the book was in a CGC slab as recently as May 1st, less than two weeks ago!!). You're also unaware that the book was already optimized before grading, so you pay for that service as well as the submission, and postage both way. Now you can add an additional $200 or so to the total invoice cost and you're now out of pocket about $1750 for a book that will probably return as it was previously graded, because it was already pressed to begin with; 9.2.

To add insult to financial injury, you happen to come across this thread and learn that his deception cost you $1750 for something you could have won two weeks earlier from digauctions for $1100, a net loss on your item of $650.

Now, considering that, how warm a feeling in your heart would you have for this seller conducting these deceptions on a regular basis?

Chances are I would keep the book raw, preserve it in it's present condition, the way the original owner, the kid (Rebecca's father?) who bought it directly from newsstand, preserved it for decades. I cannot put a price tag on the happiness a kid has derived from this very book for decades. 

So yes, contrary to popular opinion, I'm not going to slab it, unless at some point CGC starts recognizing Polished Gem/Father-in-law pedigree. 

 

[James J Johnson]

9 minutes ago, allthingskryptonite said:

Chances are I would keep the book raw, preserve it in it's present condition, the way the original owner, the kid (Rebecca's father?) who bought it directly from newsstand, preserved it for decades. I cannot put a price tag on the happiness a kid has derived from this very book for decades. 

So yes, contrary to popular opinion, I'm not going to slab it, unless at some point CGC starts recognizing Polished Gem/Father-in-law pedigree. 

 

That sounds like a bulletproof plan! Good luck with that. You should reap huge rewards with that strategy. So glad I was able to point out such a fantastic get rich quick wealth-building resource to you! Very gratifying to know, and you're very welcome.   

Edited May 14, 2020 by James J Johnson