It's not always about the technical grade. I'd buy 5.0s and 6.0s that looked like this book all day long.
Would you be willing to pay multiples of what the book is worth?
I believe that the point is that you can't decide what a book is worth solely on the technical grade. There's more to it than that. Sure it's a consideration but worth or value isn't that one-dimensional. That would be analogous to saying that two houses with the same square-footage side-by-side on the same street should be worth the same price regardless of any other factors like finish or curb appeal. I can tell you that it doesn't work that way. Value is whatever two people, a buyer and a seller, agree to in an at-arms-length transaction.
But why offer it to other board members 4-5x the value of the book? This isn't Ebay
So it's your opinion that a fair value for this book would be in the range of $1000 to $1250, correct? According to GPA, that range falls between the 12-month average prices for CGC 6.5 books and CGC 7.0 books. If that's how you would value this book, that's fine. I respect that. Value is different to everyone. I value it differently. When I look at this book, I see a book that has more appeal than most 9.0s I've seen and as much appeal as many 9.2s... except for the crease on the back. And the 12-month average for a CGC 9.2 is almost $7500. So the real question is how much does that crease on the back, which is hardly ever seen, reduce the value of the book. And my answer is certainly not by $6250 or $6500.
I didn't set the price at $5000 to disrespect the members of this forum. Quite the contrary. I doubt if there's a more savvy group of comic fans and collectors anywhere on the Internet. I also didn't set the price so that the first person that came across this thread would buy that book. The price is set so that, hopefully, a majority of the forum members who are in the market for such a book will have an opportunity to see the scans, ask questions and if they're interested, make what to them is a reasonable offer. The person that ends up buying this book (and most likely not for $5000) will appreciate that I set the price where I did because it gave them the opportunity to see it and buy it. And, whoever ends up buying this book will be happy with it because they will have an Avengers 4 which, for all intents and purposes, looks like a 9.0 to 9.2 for less than they would have otherwise had to pay.
So, the reality is that I'm not so much offering it to the other board members at $5000 as I am giving everyone an opportunity to decide how much they might want to offer. Still, if someone offers me $5000 for it, it's definitely theirs.
I don't believe I ever sent that book to Matt. I got that AV 4 in a trade with a Baseball Card/Comic shop in North Carolina that I used to do business with around 1990 and I don't think that it's been out of my possession since then. On the other hand, I understand that someone might wonder about restoration on a pricey book and it's a legitimate concern. I've been burned before on a couple of books although they were worth much less than this one. I have been around the block enough times to not be surprised by anything that happens although I can assure you that I would be very disappointed in the people that I used to do business with. So, with that in mind, I wouldn't be opposed to providing reasonable assurances against that possibility to any buyer. I can check with the local museums to see if they have anyone on staff qualified to make that determination. What are your thoughts? If you're not 100% sure it's unrestored you have no business offering it (imo). Get it graded then re-list it. I don't have any doubts about whether or not it's restored. I was merely exploring options to put others at ease.