Tight Grader . . Loose Grader . . Does it matter if the price is the same?

[1Cool]

I may be opening a can of worms but I'm generally interested in the topic so that means a thread is born.

 

I see a bunch of sellers advertise their grades as extra tight which translates in most cases to mean even tighter then CGC grades. But these people tend to have prices which are fairly high for the grade which makes sense if the book they are selling is undergraded.

 

So my question is does it matter if the seller is slightly loose or very strict as long as the grader is consistent in their grading? If you buy a Hulk 105 for $50 and its advertised as a VF/NM from a known slightly loose grader and you could buy the exact same book from a very strict seller as a VF for $50 which would you pick? And lets say the book would come back from CGC a VF+ 80% of the time and a CGC 8.5 (minus grading fees) is $50. So in all three instances it's the same book that is "worth" $50 - which do you chose and why?

[1Cool]

Wow - a Hulk 105 CGC 8.5 is about $50 after grading cost. I pulled that number out of the air.

[jcjames]

If they include enough good quality pics, whatever they grade it at doesn't matter. I buy the book, not their assessment of the book, or else I'd ask for more info. But the trouble is, a lot of the time buyers want at least a starting point and look for certain grade ranges so you kinda have to put that in when selling. So in that way, as long as they're consistent that helps a little I suppose.

 

A seller who calls themselves a tight grader means nothing really. That's like a car salesman saying he's got "the best deals in town".

 

But if it's slabbed/gradded 8.5, I know it's not been restored which sometimes you can't tell from pic, and plus that's the whole point of 3rd-party grading, to get an objective assessment of the condition of the entire book which pictures alone usually can't show.

 

If it's a "known" tight grader (like certain boardies), I'd feel better about it, but still - I'd have to make the call myself.

 

 

 

[entalmighty1]

If I know a seller is super tough on their books, I'm definitely more inclined to buy from them. I've gotten things from here and ebay that you could stretch to the assigned grade, but you'd have to get lucky at CGC. Others you look at and say, "I wonder why they listed this at VG/F, it looks almost F/VF to me."

 

Honestly, there are a couple sellers on this board that I would feel perfectly comfortable buying from without even seeing scans.

 

I guess my point is, I don't care what the seller grades their books at in most cases, I have learned to study the scans/pictures and make my own assessment. Sometimes you come out on top, sometimes not.

[Firespitter]

If they are loose, then it could swing either way (in you favor or out), so I'd rather pick-up the book from someone who is more OCD than CGC graders or (someone who tends to undergrade).

Case in point, if I see a FN book from MyComicShop, I know that it's most likely going to be FN+ or FN/VF. And I'd rather get a $50 VF from MyComicShop, than buy the same comic for $50 from some guy on ebay who calls his book VF+ but takes fuzzy pics, doesn't photo the back, or (after looking at his other listings) seems to show a large swing in variety in what they call "NM".

 

I think it's common sense, really. It's going with what you know, with what you might get.

 

And if you can look at website pics of a comic book and say "That has an 80% chance to come back as X grade from CGC", you may have missed your calling in life as a prognosticator.

 

-Terry

 

[shadroch]

I'd buy the book that's already slabbed.

[Junkdrawer]

The price is the grade.

[vaillant]

I would be annoyed if the grade is significantly different when it is a book I really care to have in the nicest shape possible – the same when I am trying to upgrade.

 

Once I bought a few Bronze books on eBay: prices were good but most were overgraded compared to how they looked in the pictures, and so my upgrades went poof.

[Bomber-Bob]

The concept of 'No grade - that's the price' was around before CGC. The obvious logic for the seller was there is no argument about the grade. Usually, this was used by some dealers at conventions, where the book could be seen in hand. I don't see it working from a scan, I just don't.

[darkstar]

 

A seller who calls themselves a tight grader means nothing really. That's like a car salesman saying he's got "the best deals in town".

 

 

It means quite a bit if its actually true and consistent.

[makeminemego]

 

A seller who calls themselves a tight grader means nothing really. That's like a car salesman saying he's got "the best deals in town".

 

 

It means quite a bit if its actually true and consistent.

 

If it holds water, it means a ton.

 

I'm sure most dealers claim to be tight graders. Same goes with the whole "nobody pays more than we do for your collection!!" ads.

 

I know of several dealers who actually are tight graders. I know of a lot more who call a VGF a 6.5 raw........

 

 

[1Cool]

 

A seller who calls themselves a tight grader means nothing really. That's like a car salesman saying he's got "the best deals in town".

 

 

It means quite a bit if its actually true and consistent.

 

If it holds water, it means a ton.

 

I'm sure most dealers claim to be tight graders. Same goes with the whole "nobody pays more than we do for your collection!!" ads.

 

I know of several dealers who actually are tight graders. I know of a lot more who call a VGF a 6.5 raw........

 

 

I guess it would matter if you were looking for a copy FN or better book for your collection but if the 5.0 tight graded book was the same price as the 6.5 then wouldn't it be the same book in the end? And if CGC would give the book a 5.5/6.0 depending on the day of the week then is the 5.0 a bad grade since its 0.5 under the low CGC grade or 6.5 since its 0.5 over the high grade?

[makeminemego]

 

A seller who calls themselves a tight grader means nothing really. That's like a car salesman saying he's got "the best deals in town".

 

 

It means quite a bit if its actually true and consistent.

 

If it holds water, it means a ton.

 

I'm sure most dealers claim to be tight graders. Same goes with the whole "nobody pays more than we do for your collection!!" ads.

 

I know of several dealers who actually are tight graders. I know of a lot more who call a VGF a 6.5 raw........

 

 

I guess it would matter if you were looking for a copy FN or better book for your collection but if the 5.0 tight graded book was the same price as the 6.5 then wouldn't it be the same book in the end? And if CGC would give the book a 5.5/6.0 depending on the day of the week then is the 5.0 a bad grade since its 0.5 under the low CGC grade or 6.5 since its 0.5 over the high grade?

 

For me personally, it's a book-by-book evaluation. There are plenty of 6.0s with rusted staples, water stains, etc. I'd rather have a clean 4.5 with a light sub crease and Marvel chipping, frankly, but that's just my own tastes, and I can't take that out on a dealer.

 

But I don't really compare Dealer A to Dealer B, because I don't really care what they call a given book. If quality scans of both covers are provided, I've got an idea of what grade the book is, and if I don't, that's my problem not theirs. At that point, I just buy the one that makes the most sense in dollar and cents. Just figure bang for buck, I guess.

[techtre2003]

With all things being equal as in your example, I don't see why it would matter. However, I don't think that's usually how it works is it? Isn't it usually more like:

 

Tight grader VF @ $50

Loose grader same book VF/NM @ $60

[lizards2]

I may be opening a can of worms but I'm generally interested in the topic so that means a thread is born.

 

I see a bunch of sellers advertise their grades as extra tight which translates in most cases to mean even tighter then CGC grades. But these people tend to have prices which are fairly high for the grade which makes sense if the book they are selling is undergraded.

 

So my question is does it matter if the seller is slightly loose or very strict as long as the grader is consistent in their grading? If you buy a Hulk 105 for $50 and its advertised as a VF/NM from a known slightly loose grader and you could buy the exact same book from a very strict seller as a VF for $50 which would you pick? And lets say the book would come back from CGC a VF+ 80% of the time and a CGC 8.5 (minus grading fees) is $50. So in all three instances it's the same book that is "worth" $50 - which do you chose and why?

 

I'm not sure you're question even makes sense to me. I've always been a condition collector, so am trying for NM/NM- . So if the book is advertised as that condition, and arrives in less than that condition, the pricing part is only a minor part of the unhappiness.

 

Having deslabbed hundreds of books, any expectation of grading consistency from CGC is laughable. In my experience, most of the reputable dealers here are more consistent, and I echo a previous poster's statement that I probably don't even need a scan from them - if they're calling a book NM or NM- there is a 99% chance I'll agree with them.

[ItsJustRyan]

I may be opening a can of worms but I'm generally interested in the topic so that means a thread is born.

 

I see a bunch of sellers advertise their grades as extra tight which translates in most cases to mean even tighter then CGC grades. But these people tend to have prices which are fairly high for the grade which makes sense if the book they are selling is undergraded.

 

So my question is does it matter if the seller is slightly loose or very strict as long as the grader is consistent in their grading? If you buy a Hulk 105 for $50 and its advertised as a VF/NM from a known slightly loose grader and you could buy the exact same book from a very strict seller as a VF for $50 which would you pick? And lets say the book would come back from CGC a VF+ 80% of the time and a CGC 8.5 (minus grading fees) is $50. So in all three instances it's the same book that is "worth" $50 - which do you chose and why?

 

 

 

 

[jcjames]

A seller who calls themselves a tight grader means nothing really. That's like a car salesman saying he's got "the best deals in town".

 

It means quite a bit if its actually true and consistent.

That's a big if.

 

Like I said - If it's a "known" tight grader (like certain boardies), I'd feel better about it, but still - I'd have to make the call myself.

 

 

 

 

[1Cool]

I may be opening a can of worms but I'm generally interested in the topic so that means a thread is born.

 

I see a bunch of sellers advertise their grades as extra tight which translates in most cases to mean even tighter then CGC grades. But these people tend to have prices which are fairly high for the grade which makes sense if the book they are selling is undergraded.

 

So my question is does it matter if the seller is slightly loose or very strict as long as the grader is consistent in their grading? If you buy a Hulk 105 for $50 and its advertised as a VF/NM from a known slightly loose grader and you could buy the exact same book from a very strict seller as a VF for $50 which would you pick? And lets say the book would come back from CGC a VF+ 80% of the time and a CGC 8.5 (minus grading fees) is $50. So in all three instances it's the same book that is "worth" $50 - which do you chose and why?

 

I'm not sure you're question even makes sense to me. I've always been a condition collector, so am trying for NM/NM- . So if the book is advertised as that condition, and arrives in less than that condition, the pricing part is only a minor part of the unhappiness.

 

Having deslabbed hundreds of books, any expectation of grading consistency from CGC is laughable. In my experience, most of the reputable dealers here are more consistent, and I echo a previous poster's statement that I probably don't even need a scan from them - if they're calling a book NM or NM- there is a 99% chance I'll agree with them.

 

So you want to buy from dealers who grade their books tighter then CGC? If CGC is the standard then I think it would be pretty much the goal of almost all dealers to be in line with CGC as much as possible since they then would be matching the standard. I've always been confused by the notion of grading books much tighter then the standard (which some people on the boards do all the time).

[kav]

The loosest grader I know of on ebay puts 'tight grading' in every title. You should see some of his 'NM' books.

Edit-I just checked and he's no longer on ebay!

[Junkdrawer]

Its far more important to agree on price rather than agree on grade. Its all about the bottom line. If you got a text book 4.0, but you call it a 3.0 to save face, but you're asking 5.0 money for it...pass.