SuperTom

Hey guys, I’m putting up 4 books today. I haven’t sold any of my books in about 6 years but here is my kudos thread from back then: I don’t know what the current preferred payment methods are so I’ll be editing that after looking into it further, but for now I will certainly take PayPal, a bank check or money order. Books will ship within 3 business days from the clearance of your payment. Shipping via USPS. No returns on slabbed books. First “I’ll take it” gets it, of course. An “I’ll take it” also brings a stop to any negotiations that may otherwise be ongoing.

Hey guys, returning to selling some books after many years away. What are currently the most used and/or best methods of receiving payment when selling here on the forum? Thanks

Okay, thank you.

What is the most prevalent return policy on Silver Age CGC slabbed books in this section of the forum? As I said, I am returning to selling after many years away. Thank you.

Hey guys. I’m putting up a couple of books today and tomorrow. I haven’t sold in about 6 years. Here is my kudos thread from back then: Today I’m putting up an ASM 129, 8.0. My asking price is $3464 shipped. Payments via PayPal, bank check or money order. Book will ship within 3 business days from the clearance of your payment. Shipping via USPS. No returns on slabbed books (is this generally the current policy on the forum nowadays? I am returning to selling after several years away). First “I’ll take it” gets it, of course. An “I’ll take it” also brings a stop to any negotiations that may otherwise be ongoing. Thanks guys. I'm looking forward to selling some books again. Tom

I know the TAT is lengthy no matter where you go. I was just saying that the other pressers TATs don't seem quite as long as CGC's, but maybe they are. I'm most concerned about sending $1000 + raw books off to a presser I don't know and have no prior relationship with. I have more confidence in CGC/CSS in that circumstance.

Is the advice from the very first post still the best way to do things? Just getting back in after several years away.

I'm looking to sell some silver age books for the first time in about 6 years. There used to be a wonderful thread on best practices regarding packing and shipping your books. Does anyone have a link to a thread like that or can simply tell me best practices? Thanks.

I put together a very good collection about 30 years ago. Silver Age Marvels. I sold some books around 2009 and I sold some more about 6 years ago when I got married. But I still have a pretty nice collection – just absent most of the big #1s right now. But I still have stuff like Strange Tales #110 and all my Spidey and FFs outside of the top 10 and other “rising keys” like Avengers #8, etc. I would say a majority of my books will come out between Fine and Very Fine when graded. Pressing was fairly new to me when I sold some books 6 years ago. I did have a couple pressed by CGC (including my DD #1). Most of my remaining books are raw. I’m concerned about sending high-value books to a third-party pressing company (as opposed to CGC) because I have not been active on the forum/in the hobby and I don’t know if these entities are trustworthy. But from the little I have read some of them seem to be able to do a little more (or are willing to) than CGC when it comes to pressing. That’s the impression I have, anyway. Maybe that’s the wrong impression. These other companies also don’t seem to have TATs as long as CGC’s. I think I’m beginning to answer my own question here and that I should simply send my raw pressing candidates into CGC for both pressing and grading. Regardless, I would like to know the reputation and quality of service of these 3rd-party pressing companies (as well as a list of them, I suppose). Thanks in advance, guys. Tom

I know that there are many factors – scarcity of the autograph, etc. – but in a rough sense, how much would the autograph (CGC SS) of one of the creators, or a major ACTOR tied to the character in the movies, impact the value of a key book? For example, if you had a Hulk #181, 7.0 (current average sale on gocollect, $7000), signed by Hugh Jackman, what would that do to the value of the book (if Jackman had made himself available to CGC)? I know Stan signed everything, but, for example, there is a Suspense #39 CGC SS 7.0, signed by Stan, that sold at a comiclink auction last month for $22,572. But on gocollect it looks like a 7.0 (unsigned) should go for around $31,000. Actually, now I’m seeing that the Suspense in question may not have sold for $22,500. That was the highest bid. Maybe it did not meet the reserve. Anyway, I’m a long-time collector of Silver Age Marvels. I sold several key books about 5-6 years ago when I was getting married. I’m getting back into it now and I’m trying to reacclimate myself to everything. Am I putting too much stock in these numbers on gocollect? Really I guess I’m wondering about the impact of SS books on the value of the book. When I was collecting (and not looking to sell) I think I would’ve preferred a natural, unsigned book to something signed. I’m doing some preliminary research on this right now but I figured some of you guys would know right off the bat. Thanks in advance! Tom

Guys, the OP here was tremendous in making sure I knew how to package my books properly when I was sending off groups of them to the CGC for grading or for shipping expensive, individual slabbed books to buyers here on the forum. Now however I'm going to start selling some raw books – often in singles – that are only worth $40-$130 each. What is the cheapest and safest method for packaging and shipping a $45 raw book domestically in the US? I want to protect it but I don't want to spend $13 for priority mail on a book that's only worth $30-$50. I am reading this thread but it has 49 pages so I'm hoping for some good advice before I have to read the entire thread :-) Thanks guys, Tom UPDATE: so I read all 49 pages of the thread. Today :-) This was extremely informative. I had already read the OP for a refresher on packing up books when I started selling from my private collection for the first time in many years a few months ago. Back then I was selling very valuable books but now I'm getting ready to sell books in the $40-$130 range – mostly raw. I'm going to be selling them in boxes, not in envelopes. I'm just confused about a couple of things: It seems like from what lizard is saying that using a non-USPS box, packing securely and sending it first-class mail is a cheap, secure way to send books in this price range. Is that right? Additionally, do you HAVE to send something USPS Priority Mail if you use one of their free Priority Mail boxes? I assume so but I wanted to make sure. It seems like using Box 1095 but sending first-class would be great. I don't know if the post office allows this. Finally, what's the deal with media mail? I looked it up on the USPS website and I still don't know whether or not comic books are eligible for media mail shipping. As long as no edge is over 12 inches and the weight is under 70 pounds it looks like comic books should be eligible for media mail shipping. I found some 12 x 9 x 4 corrugated boxes that I think would be acceptable for raw books that were very well packed. If I can use media mail for them that seems great. The Priority Mail Regional Rate Box also has dimensions that qualify for media mail. But again, I don't know if you can pack something in a priority box (non-flat rate) but then send it via different method, such as media mail. I would really appreciate the answers to some of these questions. Thanks guys, Tom

Rob just purchased a book off of me – no muss, no fuss, very easy to deal with. Hopefully he buys more of my books :-)

I'm having problems with the flatbed scanner. I'm running Windows 8.1. As expected, the HP computer to scanner communication programs did not work. So I purchased VueScan – the standard version ($39.95). It reads the scanner and seems to communicate with it. When I initiate a scan it appears to start the process but never advances beyond the initial thrust. I followed on-screen advice about unplugging and rebooting and stuff like that but nothing is really working. Before I uninstall and reinstall drivers or whatever. I wanted to see if anyone might know what the problem is. I downloaded all the most recent 8300 downloads from HP. Maybe I did something wrong. Actually, I think I did not download the very first choice because it seems to be superseded by the 2nd one. I'll give that a shot but if anyone else knows what might be wrong I would love some advice. Thanks, Tom UPDATE: After checking through old HP support forums I saw several users complain of the following crazy situation: if they were using a 6-foot USB cable the scanner would not work. But it would work with the 3-foot USB cable. That sounded completely ludicrous to me but I had an 8-foot USB cable. As soon as I switched to the 3-foot cable I had no problems :-) I run Windows 8.1, 64-bit. I downloaded all the drivers from HP and I purchased Vuescan. I don't know whether or not I needed to make that last purchase but I did when it seemed like nothing else was working. Anyway, now I'm up and running. Thanks everyone for their help :-)

Just a regular old USB cable, right? I'm going to be buying a longer one because of the distance between my computer and the scanner UPDATE: yeah, I found one the length I need on Amazon easily. Sounds like I should be able to set up the scanner pretty easily. Looking forward to that.

Okay, after reading this thread and getting advice elsewhere I purchased an HP 8300 on eBay. It comes only with the power supply. I know I'm going to have to download the drivers. I'm not really a big technical guy can someone tell me what types of cables I'm going to need for this machine? Will it just be the power and a USB and that's it? There's an online manual but I'm kind of looking for the quick answers :-) And I guess I'll need ink cartridges or whatever? I'm only going to be using this for CGC slabs. Thanks guys, Tom

Kudos to SuperRich, who made my first sale here easy with good communication and timely payment. Enjoy that Hulk #2, Rich. Tom