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Mid-Grades, TO slab or NOT to slab?

Started by BassGMan,

12 posts in this topic

BassGMan

BassGMan

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Hello, one of the biggest dilemmas that I face when putting together a submission for CGC is whether I should send in some of my mid-grade books. I am talking about nice Silver and Bronze books that I expect to see come out with a grade of 6.0 - 8.0. I am not talking multi-thousand dollar books, or even keys like Hulk #181 or X-Men #94. What I am talking about is your typical Amazing Spider-Man or X-Men or other books that grade out somewhere in the F- to VF and are worth at that grade around $100 or so, or maybe even $200. Is it worth it to spend the $29 and wait 2-3 months to have it slabbed or are you better off putting it up on Ebay raw with some nice scans? In that grade, does the slab add any value? Is the book more appealing? I imagine other dealers out there are also faced with this same problem all the time. Where do you draw the line on slabbing concerning condition and value? One example, I have a few ASM #97 and 98s that all look around VF to me. They guide at about $84. Slab? confused-smiley-013.gif How about some ASM #121 and 122 also in VF. Guides at about $125. Slab? confused-smiley-013.gif I am asking this when your intentions are selling the books, not for keeping them for your own use. Thanks------Sid

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BassGMan

BassGMan

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you're better off selling them raw with a large scan and fair return policy You wont get any premium from having them CGC graded and on a $100 book the $30 or so grading/shipping is tough to absorb

 

Yeah, that is kind of what I was thinking. However, I don't want to miss out on any premium that a slab may give a book, but it looks as if the slabs may not give the book ANY premium if under 8.5. But there has got to be a line drawn somewhere. I have a nice Amazing Spider-Man King-Size Annual #1 in about F+ that I was going to get slabbed. But that is just because even in that condition it is valued at $300 or so and not really so common. ----Sid

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FFB

FFB

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Slabs do not add a premium for the books you're talking about. They are plentiful in mid-grade. Slabbing a mid-grade Silver Age or Bronze Age Marvel is a waste of money IMO. Just use a huge scan of front and back cover and you'll get full value.

 

you're better off selling them raw with a large scan and fair return policy You wont get any premium from having them CGC graded and on a $100 book the $30 or so grading/shipping is tough to absorb

 

Yeah, that is kind of what I was thinking. However, I don't want to miss out on any premium that a slab may give a book, but it looks as if the slabs may not give the book ANY premium if under 8.5. But there has got to be a line drawn somewhere. I have a nice Amazing Spider-Man King-Size Annual #1 in about F+ that I was going to get slabbed. But that is just because even in that condition it is valued at $300 or so and not really so common. ----Sid

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blowout

blowout

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Yeah, that is kind of what I was thinking. However, I don't want to miss out on any premium that a slab may give a book, but it looks as if the slabs may not give the book ANY premium if under 8.5.

 

You pretty much answered your own question with this statement. Its not worth slabbing SA below 8.5 unless its a solid key or a tough to find book. For BA its really not worth slabbing below 9.2. You will get as good as or better prices for the books raw.

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joe_collector

joe_collector

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I've seen many mid grades sell on ebay for big bucks. Especially key issues. I have all my key issues graded no matter what condition.

 

I agree, and up to the mid-Bronze era, slabbing key issues does pay for itself, along with guaranteeing you'll get market rates. That's the most important part, as CGC comics will get market rate, while mid-grade raw sales are far more volatile.

 

If you have a book in Fine that getting a few hundred in that condition CGC'd, I'd say do it. You're really just paying the CGC fee to get in that range, and who knows, you may get lucky and receive a gift.

 

My recommendation is to properly grade the issues, check EBay (or get a inexpensive GPA account) and see what they're selling for in that CGC condition. If the money is enough to justify the extra grading cost, then go for it. After all, you're really just looking at CGC to "guarantee" you get within that range, not to "pull a Greggy" and rape newbie speculators on CGC 9.8 fodder.

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Ze-man

Ze-man

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Yeah, that is kind of what I was thinking. However, I don't want to miss out on any premium that a slab may give a book, but it looks as if the slabs may not give the book ANY premium if under 8.5.

 

 

I can attest to what I recently bought.

A CGC 8.5 Nick Fury, Shield #15 -teeney tiny semi key-

 

Bought it for $27 on Ebay recently

 

So I can only assume the seller did not really make much money unless he paid 15 cents for it way back when.

As a buyer I was thrilled, here I have a 8.5 CGC graded (9.2) looking

Comic that is already slabbed, no 3 month wait on my part, and no CGC fees.

So in essense I got a decent comic slabbed for free and still paid less then guide.

I know its not a hot comic, but its one I wanted , and for the price it cant be beat.

So for a seller to slab, sell a nice looking 8.5 comic for $27 is not a good way to make money, When I am sure he was hoping for $50 at least.

 

But if it was a JIM #124 8.5, ASM #17 8.5, TOS 61, FF #50 8.5 etc.... they would have reached near top dollar for sure.

So slab what you think is hot if you intend to sell them.

if its for your collection, slab whats inportant to you,

If you have 3 favorite comics that grade 6.0 and you love um, want to keep um 6.0 then slab um.

 

Zeman

 

 

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