How much would you pay to get new comics in "raw" 9.8 condition?

[raybowles]

In a couple of recent threads we discussed the difficulty of getting new comics in 9.8 condition. If you order you comics on line you won't get a high percentage of them in 9.8 condition and if you do a pull at your LCS you will have the same problem. Because of this the only way a collector can only acquire "raw" 9.8 candidates is to pick out the copies himself.

 

I have tried to get a 9.8 pull from my LCS (I have 7 different stores that are close to my house or work) but all seven said they can't do this. I even offered to pay a premium but still the store owners could not do it. I have contacted ample on line companies that sell new issues and none of them offered a 9.8 raw service. I know that there are CGC 9.8 subscriptions available and I currently have one but there is nobody that I know that can do this with "raw" issues.

 

My questions to the board is how come? Could it be that there is no market for this? Has there ever been a person or company that did this and if so how much were they charging? I'm sure there are collectors out there that would pay a premium for this service and therefore I'm surprised that there is no options out there. For those of you who would be interested how much would you be willing to pay for this service?

 

One more thing I understand that "raw" comics cannot be guaranteed to receive a 9.8 grade from CGC. I'm not talking about a guarantee. I'm talking about 9.8 candidates. As an example some members of our community sell "raw" NM + comics on the sellers forum when they are at conventions. I have purchased some of these and they are all 9.8 quality. Of course these issues are not guaranteed to receive a 9.8 but the vast majority of the copies would receive a 9.8.

[Lonzilla]

I pay cover price, select them at the LCS every week myself. That method works just fine

[RockMyAmadeus]

In a couple of recent threads we discussed the difficulty of getting new comics in 9.8 condition. If you order you comics on line you won't get a high percentage of them in 9.8 condition and if you do a pull at your LCS you will have the same problem. Because of this the only way a collector can only acquire "raw" 9.8 candidates is to pick out the copies himself.

 

I have tried to get a 9.8 pull from my LCS (I have 7 different stores that are close to my house or work) but all seven said they can't do this. I even offered to pay a premium but still the store owners could not do it. I have contacted ample on line companies that sell new issues and none of them offered a 9.8 raw service. I know that there are CGC 9.8 subscriptions available and I currently have one but there is nobody that I know that can do this with "raw" issues.

 

My questions to the board is how come? Could it be that there is no market for this? Has there ever been a person or company that did this and if so how much were they charging? I'm sure there are collectors out there that would pay a premium for this service and therefore I'm surprised that there is no options out there. For those of you who would be interested how much would you be willing to pay for this service?

 

One more thing I understand that "raw" comics cannot be guaranteed to receive a 9.8 grade from CGC. I'm not talking about a guarantee. I'm talking about 9.8 candidates. As an example some members of our community sell "raw" NM + comics on the sellers forum when they are at conventions. I have purchased some of these and they are all 9.8 quality. Of course these issues are not guaranteed to receive a 9.8 but the vast majority of the copies would receive a 9.8.

 

Because it's a valuable skill and time consuming process that currently doesn't command the price it should on the market.

 

It takes time and experience to know what will grade 9.8, and what won't. Yet, the market has declared....mainly because it has gotten spoiled by people dumping 9.8s onto the market en masse....that this skill isn't particularly worth a lot of money.

 

Why work for less than minimum wage?

 

I've had tons of people ask me for "raw 9.8s" and scoff at being asked to pay $50 (forget more) for them. But, with the cost to slab *about* $25, and the time and effort spent looking for actual candidates that would qualify, you end up making $2-3 for your effort. It's simply not worth it.

 

Much risk...very, very little reward.

 

The best advice anyone can give: buy them already slabbed.

[raybowles]

I pay cover price, select them at the LCS every week myself. That method works just fine

 

 

 

 

Yes I do the same thing but I'm not talking about a few people. I'm talking about the entire comic hobby. Do you think there is a market for this service?

 

Guys I think most of the people that post on this site can grade comics and are capable of picking out "raw" 9.8 candidates. My question is not what a few collectors do but what the entire comic collecting community does.

[H0RR0RSH0W]

I thought I read on the CGC website that you can get direct submissions to them from the publishers & comic shops. Something like that.

 

Does any body know anything about that?

 

I was under the impression that was where all 9.8-10's came from. My thinking was they just do not exist in the wild.

[raybowles]

The best advice anyone can give: buy them already slabbed

 

 

Since most collectors have numerous titles they purchase each month this is really not possible. If a collector purchases 20 different titles per month that would cost around $750 a month to get them slabbed.

 

[krighton]

cover with in hand inspection

[RockMyAmadeus]

The best advice anyone can give: buy them already slabbed

 

 

Since most collectors have numerous titles they purchase each month this is really not possible. If a collector purchases 20 different titles per month that would cost around $750 a month to get them slabbed.

 

Hobbies can be expensive.

 

You've answered your own question: it's not worth it.

 

Not to mention, the risk involved. If you want to keep that 9.8 raw, what happens if you decide, months down the road, to get it signed...meanwhile, the book has been exposed to who knows what....and it comes back a 9.4. What is going to stop someone from complaining....and damaging....a "9.8 service" that "failed" to deliver a 9.8 as promised?

 

No, the easiest thing to do is buy them slabbed, or just learn how to do it yourself. Would you be willing to pay $10-$20 per book for someone else to do it?

[RockMyAmadeus]

The best advice anyone can give: buy them already slabbed

 

 

Since most collectors have numerous titles they purchase each month this is really not possible. If a collector purchases 20 different titles per month that would cost around $750 a month to get them slabbed.

 

By the way....your math is a little off. Avg "all in" costs for moderns is about $25, give or take. If you max everything, and get a 20% discount, you can get it down to about $20, or $14 if you live in Sarasota or nearby and can drop off/pick up.

 

But say $25....20 new books a month is only $500, and that's all in.

 

If you were to save, say, three months worth, and then send them in under a pre-screen, thus ensuring you get 9.8s, it can go down from there.

[Glitch215-migration]

You've got to develop a good relationship with your LCS particularly the guys doing the allocation of the books into the various boxes and piles.

 

Also in some cases (like in the UK for example where CGC isn't as big a practice) 9.8 guarantees aren't as well understood as NM+.

 

I've built a great relationship with the guys at Orbital over the years, and I just send an email a week or so ahead of a book letting them know if I'm looking for any variants or a quantity of NM+ and they do their best. Not everything a 9.8, but even under my own careful selection, I pick 9.6's all the time. I think its hard to make a "guarantee" for 9.8s unless you're doing CGC pre-screening.

[Lonzilla]

I thought I read on the CGC website that you can get direct submissions to them from the publishers & comic shops. Something like that.

 

Does any body know anything about that?

 

I was under the impression that was where all 9.8-10's came from. My thinking was they just do not exist in the wild.

I never pulled a 9.9-10 off the rack but every modern I bought new and subbed got a 9.8 except for 1 because the store clerk dented the corner when he rung it up and I didn't notice. So, 9.8s are plentiful in the wild at least

[Glitch215-migration]

I thought I read on the CGC website that you can get direct submissions to them from the publishers & comic shops. Something like that.

 

Does any body know anything about that?

 

I was under the impression that was where all 9.8-10's came from. My thinking was they just do not exist in the wild.

I never pulled a 9.9-10 off the rack but every modern I bought new and subbed got a 9.8 except for 1 because the store clerk dented the corner when he rung it up and I didn't notice. So, 9.8s are plentiful in the wild at least

 

Just take your time picking them out by hand, and be careful on the car ride, train ride, walk home, unless you have top loaders or one of those Volstor/plastic carrying cases.

[raybowles]

By the way....your math is a little off. Avg "all in" costs for moderns is about $25, give or take. If you max everything, and get a 20% discount, you can get it down to about $20, or $14 if you live in Sarasota or nearby and can drop off/pick up.

 

But say $25....20 new books a month is only $500, and that's all in.

 

If you were to save, say, three months worth, and then send them in under a pre-screen, thus ensuring you get 9.8s, it can go down from there.

 

 

 

 

I know of 3 different services that sell CGC 9.8 subscriptions. They all cost $35 plus postage. 20 titles at $35 is $700. Add in postage and your costs are around $750.

 

My topic is how much a person would be willing to pay for "raw" 9.8 candidates. A CGC 9.8 service runs around $35 per issue. The figures you are giving are how much it would cost for someone to purchase the "raw" issues themselves and then send them in for grading. Very few comic collectors do this and this was not what I was asking. I apologize if I did not explain myself better.

 

[towards2112]

By the way....your math is a little off. Avg "all in" costs for moderns is about $25, give or take. If you max everything, and get a 20% discount, you can get it down to about $20, or $14 if you live in Sarasota or nearby and can drop off/pick up.

 

But say $25....20 new books a month is only $500, and that's all in.

 

If you were to save, say, three months worth, and then send them in under a pre-screen, thus ensuring you get 9.8s, it can go down from there.

 

 

 

 

I know of 3 different services that sell CGC 9.8 subscriptions. They all cost $35 plus postage. 20 titles at $35 is $700. Add in postage and your costs are around $750.

 

My topic is how much a person would be willing to pay for "raw" 9.8 candidates. A CGC 9.8 service runs around $35 per issue. The figures you are giving are how much it would cost for someone to purchase the "raw" issues themselves and then send them in for grading. Very few comic collectors do this and this was not what I was asking. I apologize if I did not explain myself better.

 

So to cut to the chase and end the mellowed drama.... what will you pay ?

Fin

[raybowles]

So to cut to the chase and end the mellowed drama.... what will you pay ?

 

 

 

 

I thought one of the points of this message board was to discuss issues dealing with the comic book industry? I thought bringing up a topic for discussion would be a good idea. I was also interested in hearing different perspectives and hopefully trying to educate myself on why there is no "raw" 9.8 service out there.

 

The tone of your response seems to say I should not be posting this. I'm not trying to cause drama like you suggested I'm simply asking a question that has been discussed in other threads over the years. Plus once again I'm not talking about what I would pay or any one individual would pay. I was hoping to get some different opinions or hopefully find someone that actually knows of a present or past service and how much it would/did cost.

 

Personally I pay cover price and pick out my own copies at my LCS. I have no need of a "raw" 9.8 service but that was not the point of my topic.

[oakman29]

I would never pay over cover for new books.

[fastballspecial]

We continue to believe we are a larger part of the market then we actually are.

 

Just contact a couple of boardies and they will get your books, but you will have to pay for them either way.

 

If I was a LCS and a members continually asked me for the highest grade copy I have, sooner or later I would charge you more. I am not how any of you would think otherwise unless you spend a TON at that store.

[TXReplicant]

Currently I buy new moderns already slabbed as 9.8. I am patient enough to wait until they show up as an auction and try my best for the right timing to buy.

 

To answer your question though, yes, I would be interested in said service. On any given Wednesday I am likely interested in between 0-4 books, average 1-2. I would happily pay cover price, plus 10 bucks for the pre-screen, plus the cost of some sort of mylar/top loader.

 

Which leads me to wonder if I would prefer having a 9.8 pre screen in a top loader the week of release, or wait 6 weeks to win an auction for a slabbed version. I would probably do some of both.

 

Next, I would allow a 20% margin of error, for every 5 of these pre screens I submit, I would expect 4/5 are returned in 9.8. Maybe even 5/6.

[RockMyAmadeus]

I know of 3 different services that sell CGC 9.8 subscriptions. They all cost $35 plus postage. 20 titles at $35 is $700. Add in postage and your costs are around $750.

 

Yes, if you have someone else do it. There's nothing stopping you from doing it yourself, and saving that extra money.

 

My topic is how much a person would be willing to pay for "raw" 9.8 candidates. A CGC 9.8 service runs around $35 per issue. The figures you are giving are how much it would cost for someone to purchase the "raw" issues themselves and then send them in for grading. Very few comic collectors do this and this was not what I was asking. I apologize if I did not explain myself better.

 

You explained yourself just fine...but like I said, if you want "9.8s", your choices are to buy them slabbed (either on the market, or through a sub service), or do it yourself.

 

You might be surprised at how many comic collectors do that.

 

You're not going to be able to find anyone, as you have already expressed difficulty in finding, who will pre-screen you 9.8s for the price you can do it yourself. It's not worth it. Again...are you going to be willing to pay someone $10-$20 a book to do it?

 

[Vikingreed]

The best advice anyone can give: buy them already slabbed

 

 

Since most collectors have numerous titles they purchase each month this is really not possible. If a collector purchases 20 different titles per month that would cost around $750 a month to get them slabbed.

 

Hobbies can be expensive.

 

You've answered your own question: it's not worth it.

 

Not to mention, the risk involved. If you want to keep that 9.8 raw, what happens if you decide, months down the road, to get it signed...meanwhile, the book has been exposed to who knows what....and it comes back a 9.4. What is going to stop someone from complaining....and damaging....a "9.8 service" that "failed" to deliver a 9.8 as promised?

 

No, the easiest thing to do is buy them slabbed, or just learn how to do it yourself. Would you be willing to pay $10-$20 per book for someone else to do it?

 

100% agree.

If you want them raw for the PC, then crack them out after you receive them.