Stefan_W

25 book modern submission Dropped off at FedEx in Ottawa - Feb 20 Arrived at CGC - Feb 26 Box opened, SFG, and card charged - Feb 26 G/E/I - Mar 11

I was not going to include these since I got only the tail end of the comic boom when prices were already slipping, but here are some Silvers I sold at the end of 2022. Better late than never, and super happy to move on when I did. Silver Surfer 1 CGC 3.5 Sold in 2022 for $445 Current GPA value: $360-370 X-Men 10 CGC 8.0 Sold in 2022 for $1027 Last GPA sale was$375, but typically go for about $600 ToS 77 CGC 8.0 Sold in 2022 for $333 Typically got for less than half that now Silver Surfer 3 CGC 8.5 Sold in 2022 for $1550 Current GPA value approx $850 (last sale was bigger) Journey into Mystery Annual 1 CGC 6.0 Sold in 2022 for $424 Current GPA value $350 Ghost Rider 1 CGC 7.0 Sold in 2022 for $485 Current GPA value $350-ish The Surfer 2 CGC 8.5 roughly held value but still happy to have moved on in a tough market.

I would be shocked if no one who collects Golden and Silver Age comics noticed a big spike in value during the height of the pandemic. It did not have the same impact across all books, with rare books with very few sales not experiencing the roller coaster (i.e., gotta have sales during that time period to see the rise and fall), but it is not as though I am just pulling random stuff out of places the sun doesn't shine. If you look at a longer time frame (like 10 years, as you suggest) the market looks more like normal with a big blip followed by prices correcting - but that big blip in prices did happen, and people bought and sold even when the market was really high. If you are curious about how the comic boom impacted upon the values of books you love I would highly recommend doing a search for You Tube videos on the topic. There are good ones that break it down by category such as Modern, Silver, Golden, etc.

A lot of discussion focuses on drops in prices and how we have overpaid for books. This makes perfect sense since no one likes to see value drops in their larger purchases. However, people who sold during the height of the comic boom may have done really well. This thread is to show examples of books that you may have had trouble parting with at the time, but that you are super glad you walked away from before prices crashed. I picked a couple of examples where I had multiple books that I am lucky to have sold off while prices were high. First one is Heir to the Empire. I picked up 6 high grade raw copies for $50 each, sent them in for grading through a presser, and ended up with 4 X 9.8 and 2 X 9.6. All of these went straight to comic link for auction, and there was a range of fantastic returns with the highest being $1700. Just checked GPA and the last 9.8 sale of this books was $312. Second one is Usagi Yojimbo. I bought 5 graded copies all at 9.2 and 9.4 from a friend, did a crack and resub, and ended up with 4 X 9.8 and 1 X 9.4. Again, all went to CL auction and all of the 9.8s had really strong sales with the best being $1399. This book has level out lately at just over 500 USD, and looks as though it may sit there going forward, but that is a far cry from the prices I got for my copies a couple of years back. Please share your stories

I am the one who brought it up, and the only reason I did so was because I had a faint memory of Comic Tom endorsing HR in his videos. So I guess I am to blame for this direction in the discussion, but it was not done with malice or any intent to vilify Tom. When someone pointed out that those videos are still up and accessible it did make me scratch my head. Given all that happened since then I would think Tom would, at the very least, take those videos down.

Gotta pay off those nasty table fees somehow.

I thought as much but wasn't sure. To be completely honest, I was so sure that those videos would have been deleted that I did not even bother searching. Given what happened I would think it was prudent to rip those down to avoid leading anyone else to try to send their books to that guy.

I don't have any skin in this but I feel awful for those who do. Quick question since I have not been following this thread - this discussion triggered a memory of a video that Comic Tom did a while back, but I am not sure if I am mis-remembering. Is my memory right that he endorsed Hero Restoration and did some videos that promoted great results from using HR?

It means the algorithm caught something that is in the list of offensive language. My guess is "Pyscho" from the second of the books you are trying to get, but it could be "Sexy" as well. Heck, every "Layeau" could trigger that if it is a swear in another language.

I do not use flat rate boxes. Too flimsy for my liking. I buy my boxes from U-Line. The model number I use is S-22186, and I include 5 sheets of packing paper (3 on the bottom, 2 on top) from Dymon Storage per box. There are cheaper options, but doing it this way I can roll a box down the stairs and the slab inside will be perfectly fine. That peace of mind is worth a couple extra bucks to me.

About 80-90% of my Ebay sales are to the USA. The charge depends on a few things, including packaging, whether you have a business account with Canada Post, and how much you are paying for your boxes. I charge a flat rate of $25 to anywhere in North America even though it does not cover my shipping expenses because I know people will not pay more. Here is a funny thing about shipping to the USA - because it is transferred to USPS a couple of our local charges do not apply, at least not in the same way, including the fuel surcharge and taxes. This leads to some bonkers situations. For example, one day about a month ago I had one box with a slab in it going to Hawaii and another same size box with a slab in it going to a city two hours down the road. Shipping to Hawaii cost me $24.12 and the one down the road cost me about $28. You will find stuff like this happening again and again. In the past I used to hate orders from the USA, but now I love shipping down there because I save so much in shipping costs (mean avg approx $3.50 per shipment for me).

Your 2/26 books are flying through. Mine Modern from the same day are still sitting SFG, hopefully there is some movement soon.

I was planning to send in a bunch of books to CL for their spring auctions with the goal of rolling them into a grail, but the hammer prices this time around plus the Jan/Feb auction have changed my mind. I am better off selling them slowly on Ebay where I can control the pricing.

I had the exact same thing happen. On the top right of your screen click the "My CGC" tab, and then click the bottom option "My Submissions." It will take you to a page that has "Submission Tracking", and underneath the "View Status" type is a hyperlink that says "View My Packing Slips." Even though you did not get an email notification, your packing slip may be in there and you can print it off and proceed with your submission as always. If not, you can PM CGC Mike with your membership info and he can try to help.

I've paid 1k in Canadian dollars for a raw book several times, but all of them were in-person sales. The most common books I bought in this price range were Hulk 181s and GSX 1s. I once tried to get a raw Fantastic Four 1 for several thousand but the seller was addicted to those comic lottery (i.e. gambling) sites and insisted on taking it there instead. So yeah, it is a thing.

Yeah, it is awesome right now. I am trying to get my submissions in before the Con season ramps up and TATs slow again.

Sure thing, will do now

Thank you Mike, much appreciated!

@CGC Mike is there an ETA on when submissions will be functional again for those impacted? I am trying every few minutes so the order I inputted is not lost, but if it will not be working anytime soon I can just close it and try again on the weekend.

Just a heads up for people doing submissions right now - there is a glitch that is impacting some people where it will not take the submission after you enter all of the info. I just found this out the hard way after slogging through the forms and not being able to complete it. I was told by customer service that this glitch started to hit some users yesterday and to try again in a few hours, and if that doesnt work to give it a couple of days. Posting this here because I actually had a small window of time between work stuff where I was planning on getting the package to Fedex and I want others to be aware of this in case they are also pressed for time.

Since the process where some moisture used to aid the pressing process is controlled and does not damage the book I would not put it into the category of "water damage." Outside of a vague "wet stuff" similarity, pressing comics and causing damage by spilling things on them, etc, are pretty much entirely different things.

Hahaha, and it isn't even one of the White page copies.

And the amount the sellers for each of them got after paying everything is probably pretty close to the same.

1 Book ME submission: Dropped off at FedEx - Feb 20 Arrived at CGC - Feb 21 SFG - Feb 21 G/E/I - Mar 1 Q/C - Mar 1 Shipped - Mar 1 Arrived at my door - Mar 4 This set a new speed record for me for an ME, which is greatly appreciated. I also want to note how pristine the slab is - absolutely perfect.

Definitely true that it is a large submission for a person, but it is still a drop in the bucket for what CGC gets in a day. Being before or after a submission like this will not really move the needle at all for you in terms of TAT. Others are doing this size and bigger but not posting in this thread about it.