People have shared different experiences on the CGC boards about their Facebook comic-buying experiences. Here are my own.

I first learned about Facebook buying groups from a friend who sells online and at cons as Twisted Heroes. I shrugged off the mention, but somehow I caught wind of a Show Off Your Slabs group, which was fun, and its admin had a sister group called Slabbed Comics Buying and Selling. I also found a group for buying and selling raw comics.

This raw comics group didn't last long. I did acquire some good comics through here, all from one buyer, though the transaction went sour. He had several nice comics; and I bought a Doctor Strange which would grade a 6.5, a Captain America 100 that would grade a 6.0, and a Teen Titans. The latter two comics, however, did not arrive in the described condition. I can stomach a slight difference between a seller's grade and my own, as any reasonable collector should, but these were far off. The Teen Titans had some of the worst tanning I'd ever seen. The Captain America had a subscription crease; it wasn't a pronounced crease but it was visibly there.

I contacted the seller and he immediately became irate, stating that the pictures I shared were of another comic, that the book did not have a crease, and that he would fight it through PayPal. Whoa! Right off the bat, he goes hard on the defense. Accustomed to buying here, I had never had someone react that fashion; of course, buying here, I'd never had a book so badly misgraded. I proceeded with a PayPal claim for a partial refund, and he never replied and eventually relented. I returned the Teen Titans, and that was that.

I bought from a second seller there, who sent me a Fantastic Four issue with numerous spots of color touch along the spine. He resisted a return, too, but eventually took the book back.

This group imploded soon thereafter over some behind-the-scenes drama, which was probably for the best.

The slabbed group proved better, and there are some other boardies there. I sold a FF 112 and an FF 52 there. I've bought a few comics without incident that way, too, including my Giant Size X-Men #1, which I had pressed and got a .5 bump out of. That one is hanging on my wall. I grew up devouring the X-Men of Claremont, Austin, Byrnes, and that era. It was my first collection as I owned 94 to 200-something. I was working on 1-93 when I bailed on collecting in my early 20's.

In that group, I've also encountered a knuckle-head seller or two. One person had an FF 67 that he wanted at top of GPA for. I have a thing for that book, with four copies, my best one slabbed at 7.5. We talked, I offered an amount, he countered, I dithered, let him know I'd take it, he then wanted $10 more. I responded and he went quiet for two weeks, until he replied that the book was still available. I passed.

He also had an Iron Man 55 at a reasonable price. I passed on it, too, after a bit of discussion. He would later message me and tell me that he "might have a bidding war going" and that I might want to offer more than the asked for amount. I said no thanks. He later posted in the group that he was getting low ball offers and not to waste his time. It was apparent that he was stringing people along, including me, fishing for the best price. I understand maximizing value and all that, but he was baiting agreements, retreating, and fishing for more money. Not a good seller.

In the meantime, I joined another raw comics group, which has worked out well. I got an raw FF 67 in about 5.5 at a very good price. That same seller has approached me with some other comics I'd like, also at a good price, but I've been busy soothing a tooth-weary toddler today, and other people have bought them before me! I also bought a MSH 13 that was in fine condition, though I would've liked to have known about the spine damage. My big pulls were a VG/F Tales of Suspense 52 from someone who turned out to be a boardie that I've transacted with previously at a reasonable price, and a 6.0-ish ASM 129 that I bought just today. My fingers are crossed that it looks as good as advertised; it actually looked better in the pics than the seller advertised it, in which case it'll be a bit of a bargain.

So it's been largely positive. There's a lot of over-priced stuff, like the Doctor Strange 169 4.5 that someone keeps posting for $250, but overall, I've liked it.

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