WPPJames

37 minutes ago, evilskip said:

She is number one in my book. I might have my first unpleasant experience with MCS some day (just tossing out a you never know, nothing concrete), but so far over the years they have gone out of their way to work with me. Everybody I've talked to, emailed etc has been really kind and patient with me.

I always thought Este was a guy  No wonder the service has been so great. Us guys can be real jerks to deal with.

11 minutes ago, ThothAmon said:

Interesting read. I know I always kick myself when I buy from them off eBay instead of going to their website. Never a problem although I’m easily satisfied. I also know they are actively buying woefully underpriced gold slabs off eBay which I’m assuming are for resale?

Here is a (maybe?) funny story. I won an older slabbed book in the "Green Egg?" contest. Again, needed immediate cash, so later listed it on Ebay. Felt bad because I really wanted to keep it and it felt disrespectful to the person who donated it for the contest. But we all have to eat Ramen Noodles at some point. Anyway, book sells. I know Buddy Saunders is the owner of MCS. Purchase was from a Jakey Saunders. Deliver address was exact same as MCS. Payment via Paypal was from a Judy Saunders. Could Buddy have a multiple personality disorder? I say this in jest Buddy. And I've been afraid to go out to MCS and see what it's currently listed for. It was what I'd consider a "rare" slabbed book. I think that was the key. And @the blob makes an excellent point. If you send something in that they already have 10 copies of, especially if they've been for sale for a while, you aren't going to get much of an offer. And that's fair. Supply and demand.

Overall, I really like MCS as a buyer and as a consignee. Especially enjoy working with Este on the consignment side.

1 hour ago, the blob said:

If they grade them at 6.0-7.0 then many books like those are $2-4 on their site. So shelling out $1.28 a pop does not seem nuts. Hack, they probably barely make a profit when you factor in other costs. You would have gotten $2 a pop here for many of them, but it would have been work.

That's a bit of a leap since you don't know what the books were. I don't remember myself. However, I do remember looking several up on their site before sending them in and they were not going for nearly that low. I don't think they could have made any kind of real profit at $2-$4 if they bought them for $1.28 each. But it's all good. I needed quick cash and they provided it. And under the option I submitted, if you don't accept their offer they'll return them to you on their dime, so your only cost in getting an offer would be your original shipping cost.

21 minutes ago, Corona smith said:

I honestly don’t recall why I found customer service rude specifically. I just remember that being my overall impression. I thinks it’s cool that MCS responded and addressed all the problems I had all those years ago. It sounds like improvements have been made and perhaps I can start ordering again. It’s always nice to have another option for books. Obviously I’m in the minority with my previous bad experiences. 

I think it's really cool that you admit that maybe you just had a bad experience(s) years ago. Instead of going on the defensive like most people would have done when challenged. And I agree that MCS's response was very detailed and informative. They also didn't automatically go on the defensive. Well handled by both parties.

I'm such a peacekeeper I should get a job at the UN 

18 minutes ago, BlowUpTheMoon said:

Examples of what books you sent? 

I know it's a lame answer, but I really don't remember. I just needed immediate quick cash and didn't have time to sell them myself thru Ebay. I sold via this method (see attached image). About 30% were in the $0.10 to $0.25 range. 60% in the $0.30 to $0.35 range and the remainder in the $0.30 to $0.35 range in "newish" condition. And almost all were in the categories they recommended.

Action, Adventure, Superhero, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Western, and War titles are the most collected. Humor, Archie, Dell, Gold Key, Harvey, funny animal (Disney, Looney Toons, etc.) comics are in less demand, and are very common in lower grades.

I hope no one takes that one comment out of context from my overall post, as my overall experience with them, as a buyer and selling on consignment, has been incredibly positive.

Oh, and they did also cover my shipping cost. So the total payment was around $128.00

I've mainly had experience with them via selling books. Either directly to them or via consignment. It's been mentioned previously that they grade harshly. That's been my experience as well. It works great if you are a buyer, but if a seller, expect that their grading will be lower than what you expected. Selling via consignment I've had nothing but positive experiences. From prices received, to their prompt and thorough responses to any inquires I made. Selling direct to them may be a disappointment. The first batch I ever sent them I requested a direct sales offer. It was very low. I thought. I initially accepted, but then changed my mind and requested they take them on consignment instead. All sold within 6 months at a total price of at least 3x what their direct buy price was. Recently I sent in a 100 book shipment of older, nice condition books, but most, if not all, not valuable enough for them to take on consignment. I was expecting a low offer, but nowhere that low. It was $100 for all 100 books. So my suggestion, as a seller, use them for consignment if possible. Otherwise consider selling them yourself thru Ebay, if you are willing to put out the extra time and effort.

As a buyer, I've had less experience. But all shipments were received promptly, safely and well packaged. And most were, in my opinion, of a higher grade that what they had them listed as.

EDIT: I'm not saying that the buy offer they give you directly will be less than other companies. For all I know, they could be the same or even higher. I have no comparison for that. Just trying to share my experience with them. Definitely, overall, a huge thumbs up from me.

Still over 6 days to go on the auctions, but so far the X-Men #10 is getting by far the most $$$ interest. Least $$$ interest is Atom #1. But a lot can (hopefully) change in 6 days. Usually the last 12 hours (or less) is when you make it or break it.

And I finally have to ask. What the heck does the  emoji mean?

8 minutes ago, MGsimba77 said:

Hear Hear! Not all BIN listings are wildly overpriced and best offers are there for a reason 

Unfortunately a lot of BIN listings on Ebay that seem like they aren't overpriced are when you actually look at the photos and realize their 9.0 grade is more like a 6.5. But you are correct, I've made a lot of BIN purchases on Ebay where I felt I got a good value. And later was able to sell for a profit. Just like times I really needed some $$$ and lowered my EBay BIN price to where someone got a really (really, really) good deal.

12 minutes ago, Black_Adam said:

My experience with MCS is to price my raw comics listed with them as if they were a grade higher than MCS has graded them (I think most of their customers know they undergrade). Non-keys will take a while to sell, and you can lower your prices by 5% every few weeks or so if you want them to reappear in the new listings. But my experience with MCS' auctions is that any non-key comics always go for way less than I expected - I assume due to a lack of auction traffic when compared to the other big auction houses. I can't even imagine how dismal the auction traffic will be over the holidays - Comiclink doesn't even bother running a monthly auction in December.

You just killed my box wine buzz I had going . Joking. Appreciate sharing your experience. I'll post back here after the auction and share what they all ended up going for.

Hopefully at least $53 each + 10% commission or I'll end up owing MCS money instead of getting a check.

Lots of great feedback everyone! Thanks to all. And a lot of conflicting opinions which is usually the case here (and everywhere else in life). I agree with the comment of just doing BIN and if it sells it sells. I've done that. *If* I don't really feel the need to move the particular book anytime soon. I see that a lot on Ebay. People set prices that must be of the mindset of "I don't really wan't to sell this book, but if anyone is crazy enough to buy it for 3x it's value I'll sell it". That's why it always cracks me up when people have a book priced high and say that they are selling on Ebay for $500. When actually there might be one listed on Ebay for $500. Look at the past sales search and the last actual sale was for like $175. Anyway, since I really do need to sell these soon and can't afford for that one right person to come along 8 months from now, I'm going to keep them in the auction and hope for the best.

My biggest potential mistake is I sent them all to MCS raw. Then afterwords requested they send them in for a C&P and slabbing. That's an additional $53 per book. I probably would have been better off just selling them raw. The grades didn't go up much (except one) and it literally took almost 6 months for them to come back.

And just in case anyone was curious, MCS's grades (before C&P and then an official CGC grade) were as follows:

Atom - 2.5 (came back 4.0)
Batman - 3.0 (4.0)
SGFLL - 4.0 (4.5)
X-Men - 5.0 (6.0)

Just for the record, these are the 4 I'm considering auctioning. None super valuable, but also not total junk.

UPDATE: Final Auction Sales Prices

Atom 1 CGC 4.0 - $135
Batman 189 CGC 4.0 - $117
Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane 70 CGC 4.5 - $150
X-Men 10 CGC 6.0 - $195

Had hoped for a bit more, but could have been worse.

So I have a few slabs on consignment with MCS/LSC that I need to move pretty soon. I put them up for their auction starting tomorrow. Then I wondered about it being the holiday season and people being distracted; travelling and needing to save money for XMas presents. Opinions on whether maybe I should remove these from the auction and hopefully expect a better return sometime after the New Year 2020?

Thanks in advance!

I'm not seeing a lot of improvement to be had with a C&P on this book. It could. Also, much less likely, it gets regraded lower. Super nice book. I wouldn't take the risk, but that's just me.

On 10/24/2019 at 12:56 AM, Red84 said:

As is, there is zero need for a guide because people can view actual sales on eBay and the various auction sites

I think you completely nailed it in that one sentence.

Not brave enough to throw out a grade after my results in the Green Eggs, but a couple of comments (questions for others to answer):

1) I don't see the stamp as a *huge* factor. BUT, I think that gets factored in less if the book is older and in lower grade in general otherwise. This book is newer and in pretty good condition, so maybe the hit would be more substantial?

2) What's up with the staples (2nd photo)? Looks like something from a handheld staple gun. Is that normal / defect / ???. Just seems odd to me.

5.0

I'm a bit surprised that Prize #76 donated by @Catwomancomics is still available. Really like the covers on those.

However, I will gladly swap my B&B #1's for any B&B #111's. Any takers?

US shipping only.

36 minutes ago, comics4all said:

Do you have more copies of Brave & Bold 111 than you do Beauty & the Beast 1?!!!

 

 

It might now be a tie 

1 minute ago, Larryw7 said:

Thanks. I really like BB 111. Has a great Joker story. Thanks very much!

 

 

Awesome! Glad they are going to someone who actually likes the books. I still have a couple of copies so I'm covered.

1 minute ago, Ron C. said:

Winner is @jcjames

 I bet you get something really nice.

6 minutes ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

I love B&B #111. One of my favorites in the run.

They were still available when you picked at #14 

14 minutes ago, Larryw7 said:

If still available, Prize 43, the two Brave and the Bold's 111. Thanks!

Glad someone took them as I'd already boxed them up. Minimal value, but cool cover I think.