Using GPA to price Raw high 9.6/9.8 grade books

[jsilverjanet]

Get a room

[Awax]

Cooties

[NewWorldOrder]

The only difference between a 9.6 and a 9.8 is the cost.

 

If both are graded accurately I completely disagree with your above statement.

 

The difference is very noticeable, or at least by my grading standards.

[blazingbob]

Is that BL or AL?

 

 

[Red_Hood]

This thread makes me think of the multiple listings in the sales forums

that have books priced at the highest realized GPA but never

consider discounting 8 to 12% as they aren't having to pay commission or

other fees for selling through alternate venues.

 

People can ask what they want but common sense

is an effective marking tool.

 

I understand the debate but I will often price

"hot" books in raw at high end prices as my

main objective is to send them to CGC

but I want to draw people in to check out the

"wall books" so that they may continue to look, inquire or request other books.

 

 

 

 

[Broke as a Joke]

Not many sellers on here even care about the non commission discount. It's funny too because some people say "before I move them to ebay", but still won't do 10% off books with already bloated prices. It's easy to just stay away from those people though.

[Shark]

It's interesting (meaning timely) that this thread came up when it did as I've had multiple boardies approach me looking for certain high grade (9.6/9.8) Copper & Modern raw books over the past year or so - some of which I have multiples of. From what I know and from the feedback I've received, customers I've sold these books to seem to be happy with the books they've received. And here's how I usually price these books:

 

Because they are 9.6/9.8 books, more likely than not customers are buying these books so they can turn around and have them slabbed or pressed & slabbed. So I do CONSIDER what these books are selling for at the time of sale in CGC 9.6 and 9.8. I don't price them AT GPA but it does factor into what I ask for each book. I also review asking and sold for prices on eBay. I generally do NOT utilize Overstreet pricing because it obviously only goes up to NM- and doesn't keep up with current price trending.

 

I basically price the books at a point somewhat below GPA 9.6 prices (not 9.8) and I also factor in the cost of slabbing. The price I end up with normally allows the customer to submit books for grading and if they come back 9.6 they make a slight profit - break even at the worst. And if they come back 9.8 - hurray for the customer and me as well (enhances my reputation).

[Shark]

Not many sellers on here even care about the non commission discount. It's funny too because some people say "before I move them to ebay", but still won't do 10% off books with already bloated prices. It's easy to just stay away from those people though.

 

It's slightly off topic from the thread subject, but I'm going to play devil's advocate here.

 

So what incentive is there for a seller to offer slabs on these boards? If, as a buyer your logic is "You have to offer the books at 10% under GPA or I'm not buying any of them", then your argument is "You have to pay at least 10% in fees if you sell them somewhere else so since you don't have to pay those fees in here you should sell them at at least 10% off.".

 

So what would entice the seller to offer books in here? He doesn't gain anything monetarily. There's a much smaller market in here than on eBay. And for those sellers like me who have an LLC and do this full-time, we get to deduct those fees as a business expense when tax time comes around. We don't get to deduct a a 10% discount. So again...what's the incentive?

[Bomber-Bob]

You raise a good point but does anybody report their Board sales ?

[Shark]

You raise a good point but does anybody report their Board sales ?

 

I pretty much have to since I normally get paid through Paypal and I get a 1099-K form from Paypal each year since I receive over $20K in payments and 200+ transactions annually.

[Antpark]

So again...what's the incentive?

 

I think you said it best yourself

 

I've had multiple boardies approach me looking for certain high grade (9.6/9.8) Copper & Modern raw books over the past year or so

From what I know and from the feedback I've received, customers I've sold these books to seem to be happy with the books they've received. . . . and me as well (enhances my reputation).

 

Repeat business

 

[rodan57]

Of course, the real question is why is the market so ridiculous that it pays $800 for a 9.8, and $400 for a 9.6.

 

That's the real question.

 

It's silly madness.

 

The problem is, you can take that a lot further. Why would a 9.4 be 5 times an 8.0? or 15 times a 6.0?

 

From a rarity standpoint the prices make sense, but from a utility standpoint they are insane. 25 years ago very few people were really paying much attention to the difference between a 9.4 and an 8.0. The 9.4 might have gotten a premium, but it wasn't multiples of the 8.0. From a collector standpoint, they are both real nice copies for your collection. From a supply standpoint though, the 9.4 is much rarer. It's just no one really cared much about the difference.

 

The question in my head is why do they care now? Why are people willing to pay $100 for a 9.8 of a book that they would leave in the dollar box in 6.0?

 

It's a pretty incredible change in mentality that really threw me for a loop when I got back into collecting again in the mid-2000s

 

Yep.

[DavidTheDavid]

And it's not just 9.6/9.8. People will use GPA to price raws all the way down, esp. for a "key".

[Dr Chaos]

First of all it is up to the seller to determine what they think they can reasonably expect to get for the book. If they overprice the book for whatever reason (they overpaid, they have become attached to the book, they think a movie will come out, they don't have GPA and just overestimated the value) that does not mean that they are somehow trying to deceive anyone.

 

Unlike a 9.9 or a 10.0 a 9.6 or 9.8 book is not some kind of a unicorn that can not be identified without the help of CGC. Sure it could get a 9.4 or lower grade from CGC but if a buyer really wants a 9.8 book they shouldn't bother with raw books to begin with. Sometimes a seller will grade a book as a 9.4 or a 9.6 and CGC will give the book a 9.8.

 

If the seller can accurately grade the book (or get someone to do it for them) and they disclose any missing pieces, restoration, etc. who is harmed by someone attempting to sell a raw 9.6 book?

 

The real problem is that the OP wants to buy a raw 9.6 or 9.8 book at a 9.2 or 9.4 price and pay a lousy $20 to get it graded. Maybe the book won't sell and the seller will have to wise up an lower prices. Then again, maybe GPA isn't everything, maybe CGC isn't the only one that can grade a book, and maybe the seller will get their price from a buyer that will be satisfied with their purchase.

[blazingbob]

I personally like the WTB threads with the buyer who states that they will pay GPA less Ebay fees. Huh? I love buyers who feel entitled to every discount out there.

[Dr Chaos]

I personally like the WTB threads with the buyer who states that they will pay GPA less Ebay fees. Huh? I love buyers who feel entitled to every discount out there.

 

Don't you mean 80% of GPA less ebay fees?

[fastballspecial]

I can agree with the OP I am seeing this more and more lately.

 

Sellers asking for 30 to even 70% over the going price for NM is starting to happen now in raw which is what I deal with mainly. Some boardies on here do it regularly. Really its up to the buyer to decide in the end and its reputation if they are wrong. It even happens at conventions.

 

I don't grade above NM+9.6 in raw ever. A 9.6 to me is perfect. I will scoured the book repeatedly before I put that grade because its my reputation.

 

If the buyer gets a 9.8 out of that book then great, but I didn't grade it that way.

 

Sellers wouldn't be getting that money though if buyers bought more responsibly.

 

[thecopperagekids]

So again...what's the incentive?

 

I think you said it best yourself

 

I've had multiple boardies approach me looking for certain high grade (9.6/9.8) Copper & Modern raw books over the past year or so

From what I know and from the feedback I've received, customers I've sold these books to seem to be happy with the books they've received. . . . and me as well (enhances my reputation).

 

Repeat business

 

You are looking at a microcosm of "repeat business" with certain buyers on this forum, who want bigger discounts......opposed to a much larger selling venue (eBay) wherein you will get more repeat business, simply by the volume of CGC collectors who buy off eBay without offering such discounts as the target audience is infinitely larger.

 

So the "repeat business" of selling slabs on here is not much of a factor, when you have these board members asking for immediate discounts of 10-20%, along with shipping costs covered by the seller.

 

I'm all for taking care of repeat customers but not when they try to hammer me;)

 

You also rarely ( as in pretty much never) see dealers who have thousands of comics in their ebay stores , offering slabbed books on here.....that is because they pay 3% , and not 10%, to eBay in fees per item sold.

 

I spoke to a bigger name dealer (Overstreet advisor and so on) whom I have known for years, through the east coast convention circuit about this the last time I saw him at Wizard Philly.He told me flat out that he pays 3% in eBay fees.

 

So right there, that narrows out a large portion of dealers who bother posting slabs for sale on here , which in turn lowers the amount of potential buyers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DavidTheDavid]

I personally like the WTB threads with the buyer who states that they will pay GPA less Ebay fees. Huh? I love buyers who feel entitled to every discount out there.

 

Don't you mean 80% of GPA less ebay fees?

 

Ya, I've had people say that to me in PMs. "If were selling on CLink or ebay, then that'd be 10%..." Exactly, which is why I'm not selling on CLink or Ebay.

[thecopperagekids]

First of all it is up to the seller to determine what they think they can reasonably expect to get for the book. If they overprice the book for whatever reason (they overpaid, they have become attached to the book, they think a movie will come out, they don't have GPA and just overestimated the value) that does not mean that they are somehow trying to deceive anyone.

 

Unlike a 9.9 or a 10.0 a 9.6 or 9.8 book is not some kind of a unicorn that can not be identified without the help of CGC. Sure it could get a 9.4 or lower grade from CGC but if a buyer really wants a 9.8 book they shouldn't bother with raw books to begin with. Sometimes a seller will grade a book as a 9.4 or a 9.6 and CGC will give the book a 9.8.

 

If the seller can accurately grade the book (or get someone to do it for them) and they disclose any missing pieces, restoration, etc. who is harmed by someone attempting to sell a raw 9.6 book?

 

The real problem is that the OP wants to buy a raw 9.6 or 9.8 book at a 9.2 or 9.4 price and pay a lousy $20 to get it graded. Maybe the book won't sell and the seller will have to wise up an lower prices. Then again, maybe GPA isn't everything, maybe CGC isn't the only one that can grade a book, and maybe the seller will get their price from a buyer that will be satisfied with their purchase.

 

100% spot on.