VintageComics

That should be a 'must watch' before you can ever sign into an account for the first time.

It's always my fault.

So, Batman...are you looking for a Robin? Eh, no. Catowman is good enough.

I had a post written out but my mobile device went dead. Honestly, it's probably because of your age but you're putting the cart before the horse with your venture. First thing I'd do is find a part time job so you can earn money while you decide how to attack your new venture. You're going to need to pay for convention tables, collections if you find them and other possible start up costs. Then, if you want to actually get into the buying and selling comics you need to cultivate a professional outward image and cultivate a relationship with possible customers. Starting a discussion on a chat forum doesn't cultivate a relationship. You'll need to do something like buy and sell for a year or two to show that you're not a 'flight by night' outfit before you become 'credible' enough for people to trust you with their things. Good luck with people buying from you, let alone trusting you with selling for them. There have been enough 'flight by night' outfits come through here that people's tolerance for noobs who come here just for the money is pretty low. You'll need to build a customer / client base. Only way to do that is by dealing with them over time. You'll probably want to find collections in your local area to sell. Set up at shows to build experience is one way. You'll need to figure out a better system than having people from the US mail you books to Canada for you to sell them back into the US. There are shipping and brokerage fees, insurance costs, taxes, etc. Doing stuff like I listed above for a year or two will help you decide if you want to do this or not. Heck, after 2 months you may not even feel like doing this anymore. There's a reason why not everyone does it. Everyone is inspired at the notion of selling a big book to make the headlines or to collect the big paycheck, but not everyone follows through or gets there. Why? Because it takes more than just wishing you could do it to make it happen. Many people you're talking to have been selling stuff for years for themselves. I started late but some people reading this thread have been setting up at shows since they were in high school. Many have been on eBay for a decade or longer. Some have grown into part and full time dealers. Others just do it for fun, but regardless they have all put in the work. From what they all see, there is very little incentive for them to want to ship their books to an unknown person in a different country so that they can give up 20% for very little to no benefit. You'll want to rethink this business plan through from beginning to end and in the end the more you do and less you say is usually the most successful approach. Yes, I see the irony in my post!

Glad that I carry with me my personal 'bulldetector' everywhere I go ... well I said I'm going to let everyone get to know me and start buy and selling on here so that people trust me! Where in Ontario are you? Honestly, nobody is going to trust you to send you their books for quite a while. You need to start building some sort of a following, and that includes dealing with people, setting up at shows, meeting people in person...that sort of thing. What you're asking right now is akin to asking a perfect stranger on facebook to hold a bag of money for you. Ain't gonna happen.

He is always using a different eBay name. It changes all the time.

Just a bump regarding Armen Sahakian from State College, PA. You owe it to yourself if you sell on eBay to read this thread. He is still apparently very active.

I have a very pretty Captain America Comics #21 CGC 7.0 and a Sensation Comics #65 CGC 9.2 in case anyone is interested.

It's going to be the final book in the grading tournament. I win then since a month ago I guessed right: Trimming isn't restoration, it's damage. That's why it's the hardest thing to detect, unless it's a hack job a blind man could see. Damn, you are good at this!

Yeah, and maybe I also forgot how to grade. Nobody is discounting SCS it just barely applies to this conversion...but you get a big * star for mentioning it.

We're discussing old and new grading styles. I understand that some books might have SCS disguised as defects but those are going to be in the minority and a different discussion altogether. If it means anything, I heard from a source that CGC is redesigning their holders. I don't know how true it is or why (if it is true) but I'm interested to see what they come up with.

If ever a dead horse was beaten, it's this one by you. We're talking about how CGC grades then vs. now. I'm pretty sure not every overgraded book that is in an old label is only overgraded because of SCS.

Perhaps you became a better grader or learned to grade differently in those 13 years so as to align with CGC and make your customers happier (never over-grading)? Subconsciously or otherwise... That was my thought as well (minus the align with CGC part). Nick's raw books have always been tighter than CGC for as long as I can remember. The most noteworthy example of that was when Nick sold the Mildenhall collection and his raw 8.5's were coming back as slabbed 9.2/9.4's When was that? Circa 2006/2007? Not all of the raw books were coming back higher Roy. I bought several of the Mildenhall books and subbed a number of them a few years later. There was at least one (if not more iirc) that came back lower than what Nick graded them at. Not significantly lower mind you (9.0 instead of a 9.2 for example) and I just chalked it up to slightly different grading. Just like not all books are overgraded by CGC, not all books are undergraded by Nick. But many were, and the reason I stated it was to show that Nick has historically (by my observation) been a tighter grader than CGC in many, and possibly even most cases.

Of course you don't see them, that's the whole point of the Peter Principle of Comics. Tightly graded books have a propensity for being resubbed (with or without additional manipulations), whereas 9.6 books with 1/4" creases remain in stasis. Who's going to resub that X-men 113? No one, that's who. (thumbs u I'm not sure I follow your logic. I believe what RMA said was that he doesn't see [only] tightness in the early years (only being mine and added for clarification). He sees both. Is that correct?

Did you guys ever argue whether a book was a Good or a Fine back in the day?

Yes.

If someone's family member unattractive to you, pointing it out while viewing someone's family pics might be honest but still in bad taste. Sometimes discretion and manners is more valuable than just being blatantly 'honest' when nobody asked for it.

Yep, and it's not only because of CGC's systematically loosening grading standards either. Over time, the normalized distribution of over/undergraded books gets skewed as the undergraded books are disproportionately resubbed while the overgraded books never get the "opportunity" to be given the correct grade. It's still better than the alternative in the Wild West with no real standard like when people buy a NM range book and actually receive a Fine range book (and possibly with undisclosed resto), none being the wiser. But that's apples and oranges. You're talking about comparing any old clueless dealer with a company that sells itself as an independent authority, solely in business to grade books. You'd be staggered if the latter couldn't do a better job of it. From where I'm standing, I'm talking about it from the perspective of the average buyer who hasn't a clue. It's apples and apples. While a percentage of books will always be in the 'wrong grades no matter who grades them (even the best dealers make mistakes) the majority will be in the correct range. The market will decide the values to place on them IMO.

Actually, it's the "better than everything else" endorsement. It's not a perfect system but I have yet to find a better one unless I put in the work, take my losses and learn how to grade myself (or until I find those dealers who tend to undergrade). People don't call and chat until they get the grade they want. That's a fabrication on your part. My own personal frustration stems from inconsistency, which nobody in this thread will argue hasn't existed. And while 'the majority of books in the hobby gradually skew towards over-graded' (also an exaggeration - at least namisgr qualified his as such) nothing happens in a vacuum except for internet disagreements. People will continue to get more educated about graded books (just as they have been from 1999 until now) and markets will continue to evolve, pay premiums for tightly graded books and avoid over graded books. While every system has it's flaws, you are focusing on all the negatives while turning a blind eye to the positives. Throwing out baby and bathwater.

Yep, and it's not only because of CGC's systematically loosening grading standards either. Over time, the normalized distribution of over/undergraded books gets skewed as the undergraded books are disproportionately resubbed while the overgraded books never get the "opportunity" to be given the correct grade. It's still better than the alternative in the Wild West with no real standard like when people buy a NM range book and actually receive a Fine range book (and possibly with undisclosed resto), none being the wiser.

(thumbs u I agree as well. Just as a tightly graded VF/NM with a book length crease graded as a VG+ would probably set records. It works both ways.

Perhaps you became a better grader or learned to grade differently in those 13 years so as to align with CGC and make your customers happier (never over-grading)? Subconsciously or otherwise... That was my thought as well (minus the align with CGC part). Nick's raw books have always been tighter than CGC for as long as I can remember. The most noteworthy example of that was when Nick sold the Mildenhall collection and his raw 8.5's were coming back as slabbed 9.2/9.4's When was that? Circa 2006/2007?

As I said, I deal primarily with books in the 9.2 - 9.8 ranges and while I've had a nearly 80% success rate since about 2004 at guessing the grades on submissions were going to be, that dropped to around 50% over that two year period with most books being graded tighter than expected.

It's well known in Detroit circles that eminem collects comics. He used to buy regularly from local dealers. I wouldn't call him super savvy like someone who lives on this chat forum but he likes his comics.

That's absurd. Do you even remember why pristine comics commanded higher prices to begin with? Do you remember the 'awe' of finding old comics that had been PRESERVED that way? State of Preservation. Remember that? You're above statement is complete asshattery. Mission accomplished.