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eBay very high grade
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38 posts in this topic

Despite collecting comics for 30+ years when I sell on eBay I tend to underestimate my own experience and knowledge of the hobby and I image that my potential customer is the experts and that I’m the newb. I don’t know why I do this but I realize it’s to my own detriment. Because of this I end up grading conservatively and I’m carful to add detailed descriptions of any defects. 

 

So I’m amazed when I see auctions like the one below listed as VERY HIGH GRADE. This from established sellers with thousands of feedback and a 100% feedback rating.

 

I know this is nothing new but I’ve been away from the hobby for ten years and this seems more prevalent than ever. Ebay is littered with auctions like this. Is it just my imagination? It seems to be more difficult finding higher grade non-slabbed books these days. Has there been a shift in this direction over the years or am I just looking in the wrong place?

 

To be clear despite  the way this may sound/look I’m not trying to call anyone out or shame anyone. In fact if someone is able to be successful with this business model then more power to em. Keep doing what you’re doing. In fact I wish I could list books with that kind of confidence. I’m just wondering if it truly has become more difficult to find quality raw books on ebay or like I said I’m just looking in the wrong place. what do you think?

70AC9F8B-79DE-4621-BBCC-D5A569DFB115.jpeg

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What gets me annoyed as a seller is the opposite end of the spectrum. It's the dealers that list a book as a VG and when I look at the picture i can't see any noticeable defects that would knock the book down that far. I realize there can be some hidden defects, but if a books like a vf/nm book and it's graded a very good, i think it would be important to note in the description why this book is graded this way. As a seller it makes it harder to sell a book that's a fine/very fine for a decent price when several other books look better but are graded lower. When I grade a book I try to be as realistic as i can and not let wishful thinking affect the grade I give. It seems a lot of these big dealers are leaving some money on the table. I understand being conservative, but there is a difference between grading a F/VF book as a VG/F or even a fine and grading a VF+ or better as a VG/F or less.

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4 hours ago, Monstro said:

Despite collecting comics for 30+ years when I sell on eBay I tend to underestimate my own experience and knowledge of the hobby and I image that my potential customer is the experts and that I’m the newb. I don’t know why I do this but I realize it’s to my own detriment. Because of this I end up grading conservatively and I’m carful to add detailed descriptions of any defects. 

 

So I’m amazed when I see auctions like the one below listed as VERY HIGH GRADE. This from established sellers with thousands of feedback and a 100% feedback rating.

 

I know this is nothing new but I’ve been away from the hobby for ten years and this seems more prevalent than ever. Ebay is littered with auctions like this. Is it just my imagination? It seems to be more difficult finding higher grade non-slabbed books these days. Has there been a shift in this direction over the years or am I just looking in the wrong place?

 

To be clear despite  the way this may sound/look I’m not trying to call anyone out or shame anyone. In fact if someone is able to be successful with this business model then more power to em. Keep doing what you’re doing. In fact I wish I could list books with that kind of confidence. I’m just wondering if it truly has become more difficult to find quality raw books on ebay or like I said I’m just looking in the wrong place. what do you think?

70AC9F8B-79DE-4621-BBCC-D5A569DFB115.jpeg

When I'm buying and someone is selling, I'm always the expert so I understand where you are coming from

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26 minutes ago, theCapraAegagrus said:

If that is "high grade", then my mom is Oprah.

There’s always the possibility of clarification. Message them that ‘very high grade’ is not actually a guide-recognised grade, and, do they mean very good or very fine? 

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The only odd thing here is that it is from a seller with "thousands of feedback and a 100%" rating since this has all the potential for a soon-to-be disappointed buyer return and some negative feedback.  I've found there are many listed that look like this or just a shade better, but still obviously not "very high grade" and are described as "gem mint," "newsstand mint," "9.8" and the like.

Two other descriptions that really set me off for uselessly clicking on a listing and wasting time are:  When described as above, then hidden in the additional details are things like "3 edges trimmed" or "color touch added" (I suppose I should be grateful that these defects are mentioned at all, but I don't recall buying any books from a newsstand with edge trimming).  Also, the offering of "very old" or "vintage" book(s) when in reality they are reprints or 10-20 years old. 

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1 hour ago, Ken Aldred said:

There’s always the possibility of clarification. Message them that ‘very high grade’ is not actually a guide-recognised grade, and, do they mean very good or very fine? 

There wasn't room to type the whole sentence:  "I am very high when I grade"

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7 minutes ago, valiantman said:

There wasn't room to type the whole sentence:  "I am very high when I grade"

There’s a degree of truth to this.

Back in the late 70s I received a Silver Surfer 1 in much the same condition as the Fear book from a hippyish type who’d graded it mint.

(No, not Chuck.)

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20 minutes ago, Ken Aldred said:

There’s a degree of truth to this.

Back in the late 70s I received a Silver Surfer 1 in much the same condition as the Fear book from a hippyish type who’d graded it mint.

(No, not Chuck.)

lol

What we can probably conclude from the photo and the words "very high grade" is that the seller has many, many, (MANY!) other books in lower condition than this one.  He could easily be telling the truth that the book is very high grade... relative to all the other comics he has.

True Story | Know Your Meme

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1 hour ago, valiantman said:

What we can probably conclude from the photo and the words "very high grade" is that the seller has many, many, (MANY!) other books in lower condition than this one. 

I bet they're all 'unread' as well.

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