Hey all, I'm relatively new to the grading scene. I've been collecting comics since the late 1990s, keeping almost all of my books bagged and board since my middle school days. My collection has somehow survived and followed me all over the country and for that I'm grateful. I didn't start looking into comic grading until last year when I realized that some things I paid $1-3 for almost 25 years ago, now go for quite a bit more. I decided to start preserving some books that are sentimental to me and that I want to keep forever, but also some that I may put up for sale.
I've sent in five lots for grading to CGC over the past year, and I'll say that I'm generally pretty pleased with the grades they've received overall. My most recent submission had a TAT of four days, which seems crazy. Anyway, now to the meat and potatoes:
Of the grading notes I've gotten back, a lot of high 8's to low-mid 9s have a common theme: "light finger bends on cover, light spine stress lines, light indent to back cover" etc. These are things I'm now looking carefully for before I submit, but I'll be honest I have sent a couple books in where I couldn't spot these defects myself beforehand.
So my question to the masses: Of those who send books in for grading with some frequency, how often do you press every book in your submission (be it self-pressing or through a service)?
Maybe my eye will get better at spotting candidates for pressing prior to submission, but I just wonder who takes an "always press" approach. Thanks for the input.