Slappy Jones

Hi - I'm relatively new to CGC myself, so I hope I'm not creating a faux pas here as I'm learning the ropes, but I have an FF 48 that was just slabbed, sold it on EBay for $1884 three weeks ago, but then the buyer flaked and didn't pay me or respond at all to invoices/emails, so I was going to relist sometime in the next couple weeks. If you're interested, we can take this off-board and start a dialog - because I specifically saw your post, this is exclusive to you if you're interested (otherwise I'll probably post for sale on the CGC board at a future date...) What I will NOT do at this point is engage with anyone else on this if you're interested (so nobody else need bother responding at this point...) E-Bay listing item was 303180397963 if want to have a look. I may be new here, but been on EBay since 2003, and this may be in your price range and an acceptable option...

slabbed: no returns. c'mon, it's professionally graded, that's where i draw the line on being nice & reasonable... raw: I offer the minimum 14 day return, but have NEVER had a book returned (probably 1,000 individual units sold in maybe 200 auctions over the past 5 years...) But, to make this work, I use 'bomb-proof bullet-proof' packaging up the wazoo AND really truly genuinely grade conservatively. I try to be as harsh as possible, and then often knock it down another 1/2 grade for good measure. Only once did I have to give a refund for a flaw I missed, but I also do it as a hobby not to put food on the table, so that kinda makes it easier to go with the flow...

I recently joined myself and sent my 1st batch of 25 books in April. Like you, I had lots of questions. Not to duck anything, but feel free to actually CALL CGC with any questions you have. Their customer service people were extremely pleasant and helpful - insurance was one of my primary questions. For my submission, Overstreet book value was roughly $15,000 which is what I insured the USPS package for. Granted, there's a 'leap of faith' on validating the amount of what you're claiming if the package is lost and you have to file a claim with the post office, but at least it's a starting point. The return side of the equation I felt much more comfortable with - at that point it's been graded AND that information will be available to you when they ship. So if the package is lost on the return trip you have evidence from the leading authority and a 3rd party. I know it costs a few bucks more to ship with a higher insurance level, but if something goes wrong you'll be happy you didn't undervalue... Also, CGC told me as far as the claimed 'tier' for grading goes, they have the latitude to adjust your books into another tier if it's been substantially misrepresented. (i.e. - someone who submits claiming a lower value, when a book CLEARLY belongs in another tier) They told me they will charge accordingly for bumping a book into to another tier, but I think there's a certain level of latitude allowed if an honest effort has obviously been been made...

yeah, what a shame... i'd truly be all over this like a $29 polyester suit if i could telecommute, but there's no WAY the wife is going to FLA...

thanks for the tip! i don't have the books handy, but now i'm really curious & will check...

re: 'CGC still use...' - I believe they do; I purchased 2 slabbed books with severely damaged cases (at a huge discount) a couple years back, when I removed them from the cases, sure enough they had the microchamber paper. (of course, I'm not sure how old these were/when they were slabbed, but it would seem odd for them to stop the practice...)

The only thing I've ever seen in writing would be the Overstreet grading narrative, which is included in every price guide. I can't imagine CGC has something in writing for wide access, but if I'm wrong I'd sure love to see something like that as well. Does such a thing exist? Otherwise, Overstreet is probably as good as it will get...

yep, sure helps, just looking for some confirmation from a 2nd set of eyes, thank you!

Oh hell, now it's on my mind, I gotta do one... FF36, bought it a decade ago on EBay. Truly blinding white pages, mostly nice sharp square corners, staples firmly attached everywhere without even a hint of splitting, no foxing whatsoever, clean staples, no rust, glossy, supple, good alignment, no spine roll, absolutely no color-breaking creases other than half a dozen very faint spider creases on the spine and a very (very) slight tanning ring starting around the perimeter of the cover . One standout issue only; two moderate abrasions along the spine around the lower staple, does not affect attachment at all. I was expecting it to come back 9.0, so I was kinda disappointed but just chalk it up to the learning curve... So my question/observation is that assuming I am correct in all of the other items as stated above, how does it come back an 8.0? What I'm speculating is that while I considered the abrasions to be a fairly minor issue, not enough to 'ding' a full grade, CGC takes a significantly leaner view. Take a good look at the pic; each abrasion is not much longer than the staple, and at only one spot to you see some inside paper showing thru - it seems quite minor relative to all the other overwhelmingly positive qualities to the book. I remember reading in Overstreet once "grade it as it really is, not what you wish it were..." (paraphrasing) which I've always tried to do, but now I have to rethink some aspects of my grading, give even seemingly isolated minor flaws even greater weight...

So having said all that, I just joined CGC in late April, sent 25 Silver Age books for slabbing, have 13 back so far, and have some observations on their grading, but I was ecstatic to find that the majority were spot-on, coming back +or- a half-grade from what I expected. Gimmie a week & I'll post a couple pics with comments, I'll be curious to hear what members with much more experience think, as the couple that came back a bit lower than I expected really surprised me... to be continued...

THAT, is truly amazing...

Out of curiosity, does archival acid-removal paper act to simply mitigate the spread of discoloration, or can it actually have a mild reversal effect? My guess is that it would not be a pro-active enough effort of restoration and would simply slow/eliminate the process over time?

my first post ever, so please be kind... I'm not a pro grader either, but c'mon, how tough is it to thoroughly read and follow the Overstreet guidelines? (rhetorical...) I'm with you; I've been collecting & selling on EBay for 15 years, and when I started I was truly stunned at the rampant grade inflation and had to adjust my expectations accordingly, but separating nefarious intent from rookie mistakes is always tough. So in order; 1) I believe you should represent as a non-professional and am of the opinion that the more details and dialog you provide, the more buyers will recognize the attempt to get it right. At least that's what the cockeyed-optimist in me believes... The more hi-res pics you are willing to provide, the better. Always outside the bag, multiple pics if you have the time and patience, and close-ups pics of any exceptionally remarkable flaws. 2) Use both letter and numerical to avoid the very misunderstanding you are describing. We're literally talking about just a few additional keystrokes. 3) I had one book returned out of a couple hundred sales, and it was legit - the book had been trimmed and I failed to notice it, even though I'm quite anal-retentive. The guy took several photos comparing it to other Silver Age books from the time, and I was convinced he was absolutely right. He also had high positive feedback, several several hundred if I remember correctly. It was only like $80, so I gave him a full refund and told him to keep the book. I was convinced he was right, and no better way to prove to the buyer it was an honest mistake, sometime you just gotta be willing to eat it... 4) re: "truly want to provide the best buyer experience possible" - I like your style, as it should be! I spent most of my life as a corporate accountant, so I use spreadsheets for everything. Attached is an example of what I use for grading, I will simply copy & paste into my auctions. Note, this is simply the mechanism, the vessel to communicate the grading if you will, sorta like a tortilla is to a fajita, but what it DOES illustrate (hopefully) to a buyer is that I have clearly taken the time and effort to make a legit attempt at honest grading. hope this helps a little...