• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

bc

Member
  • Posts

    5,879
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by bc

  1. It's for the Card Grading division. -bc
  2. They at least suspected something or they would not have hired a private investigator. -bc
  3. This may be a bit of a Gor-kill...I'll be Oog-ing along shortly... -bc
  4. Overstreet does not break out pricing by page quality, only grade. What about extra points for perfect centering, or bettor ink colors or ideal staple placement? Those things are at least visible thru the slab (unlike White pages). None of those are feasible as well since they are all subjective, just like page quality. -bc
  5. All good man! The LTL freight truck had a pallet jack and a lift-gate so it was very easy to load and unload the pallet anywhere. -bc
  6. Having recently rented cars, SUVs and UHaul trucks - they are significantly more expensive than other shipping options once all the fees, insurances, taxes, travel costs, etc, are factored into the equation. Last December, I shipped a pallet full of network switches via LTL half-way across the country and it cost around $450. -bc
  7. I had pretty much given up on new books by this point, but this title drew me in instantly. Sold the raw set years ago, but picked up the hardcover collection a while back. -bc
  8. Same with those QVS stickers or custom labels. The dollar value of books is based on many external factors - the quality of the auction or sales venue, the time of the year, the current hot collecting interests among a few. Should registry points be deducted now that many books have seen their prices reduced since the COVID mania? -bc
  9. Not sure how much a CPR job costs, but if you add in shipping charges - is it worth it? Using GPA, a 5.0 sold recently for $567. A 6.0 also sold this month for $725. That's $158 more for a full point grade bump. How does that compare to the CPR job cost and the associated shipping risk? It's a nice presenting book either way. -bc
  10. Your best bet is to post this over in the Golden Age thread. -bc
  11. Signed books are a binary - the book is either signed or its not. Page quality is entirely subjective. -bc
  12. That's about what I paid for the original version -bc
  13. Not to derail your journal - Is the issue really the certification process or maintaining a secure chain of custody? What has been revealed is that the existing authentication methods have failed resulting in fraudulent behavior. The existing certification methods mainly relied on physical criteria such as the book and the information on the label. Of course the information on the label is a subset of the digital record found in the Certification database that we can access using things like the Verification web tool. My point is that they are currently utilizing a very basic two factor authentication method akin to just a username and a password. Both of the authentication criteria (the book and the label) are housed in the outer well; whether it leaves a noticeable trace or not, at least one method has been presented that compromises the integrity of the outer well using commonly available materials. This permits multiple fraudulent activities that we've already witnessed & documented since the inception of the new case and the rollout of the Custom Label programs: Label swapping Custom Label abuse (specifically with Restored/Conserved books getting Universal labels) Inner Well/Book swapping (our current scandal) How do they increase the security in the chain of custody (which in turn increase the value of the certification and the brand name)? By adding another authentication factor that is not part of the outer well, label/Certification or book. Same thing that Financial services companies deployed: they added a chip to the cards. Same thing that most Banking apps deployed: they added authentication thru a text message Same thing that Gaming platforms deployed: they added authentication thru a token or phone app Same thing that the multi-billion annual Italian Parmesan cheese industry is using to avoid counterfeiting; they added authentication thru a microchip https://wired.me/technology/parmesan-cheese-microchip/ I'll quit rambling now before the board software loses my post. -bc