BrntWS6

T shirt presses work great. I bought one off amazon for $125.00. Just make sure to feel the heat plate for imperfections. There may be small bumps that can easily be sanded smooth. Use 1000 and then 2000 grit sand paper with a sanding block. Its just heat and pressure, not to hard to figure out with some $1 bin books to practice on. People act like its some secret art that requires years of practice. Build a humidity chamber for $20 and you will get out a lot more flaws.

I can't 100% tell of its torn or not. But I'm sure 90% of that could be pressed out. I have 9.8s with two spine ticks so I dont know how far down they would grade a small tear if everything else was fine. 9.8s are not perfect. Problem is these guys only press it 1 time and i don't know if they humidify the book or not, I would guess not. Getting moisture in the book first is what compliments the pressing. Without that pressing isn't nearly as effective. I always tell guys to buy a cheap press and do it themselves, its really not that hard but no one talks about how to do it. I have had to press books 5 or 6 times to get creases out, and each time leaving the book in a humidity chamber overnight. There is no way they are going to do this for you. I don't know if you can PM here but am happy to pass along what i have learned. I have pressed 300 - 400 of my own books and learned a lot. I have turned books in the 8s to 9.6 - 9.8s...not common but it does happen. Just to be clear I don't do this as a business, just for myself.

I have bought a lot of books on ebay and always look for people that take many close up pictures. If I am interested and the pictures are iffy I will ask to be sent better ones, if no response they are not worth dealing with. I have been pretty successful with that method. But the camera still won't show everything, in the right light a lot of flaws show up sometimes. Mostly indents in the front cover. At home pressing will cure a lot of headaches too.

Most sellers are reasonable. I look any book over very hard when I receive them and compare with the notes and pictures. If in worse condition than led on you are very protected through ebay and paypal, just ask for a partial refund or return it. Don't leave negative feedback unless they won't work with you, this is how a lot of these guys earn a living. That book would benefit from a pressing. Some research and a $150 t-shirt press will make a big difference, yes a t-shirt press works very well. I press my own books (probably 300-400 by now) and these older books press out very well, new books are harder and you need to be careful with the staple pressing through to the cover. But it is not hard at all, just a bit of a learning curve. Practice on the .50 bin for awhile, you will save a ton of money. Books need to be humidified first too, that is what makes all the difference. Make a humidity chamber, costs all of $20. I have turned 8.0 books into 9.6 - 9.8s, sometimes takes 4 or 5 presses that most won't do for you though.

I press my own books and have made terrible covers with indents spine ticks you name it come out looking like glass. As long as it doesn't break color I would say you won't even be able to tell it was there.

So I stopped collecting in 1993 and recently started going through all my books. Never sent anything off but I have a lot of key issues that I would like to grade (probably 70 over time) and eventually sell. What I am most confused about is how do we know what the value of the book is and what tier to choose? I get checking the price guide but I could be submitting something I feel is a 9.8 and it's only a 9.4 for example. And am I charged off the graded or ungraded price?