Grading THEN cracking...anybody do this?

[Silver Surfer]

Well what if you spend $3K on a book or even $1k only to find out years later that it was restored and trimmed. It's value would plummet and any chances of recourse from the seller is long gone. If CGC damages your book then they would have to compensate you. Plus its a lot easier selling a deslabbed graded book than a raw book that has never been professionally reviewed.

 

The reward(s) out weigh the potential risks.

 

If all you need is a restoration check, there are cheaper and, in my opinion , better ways to have that done.

 

Maybe but it will pay off when it comes time to resell the book.

 

 

How?

 

It will give the buyers some level of confidence that 1) it is unrestored and 2) the grade is accurate. Generally speaking, saying it has been proofed for resto and then giving an opinion on its grade in its raw state would seem like a tougher sell, no? Which option would you prefer to buy from if the same two books were listed on EBay?

 

From an unknown seller, both would be equally useless.

 

Sorry but your wrong.

[InvstmntComcSuply]

Say I want to have a nice copy of a Bronze book but not necessarily an uber grade. I think you can find a better deal with an already slabbed 8.5/9.0 range of book rather than buying a raw. It is not only safer but cheaper to buy an already slabbed book and crack it out. A 9.0 slabbed book, sold in auction, will probably sell for a 9.0 price, maybe less. A raw 9.0 book will probably be priced as an Overstreet 9.2 . It's just the way the marketplace works. In summary, if the book is a keeper, keep an uber graded book in the slab otherwise feel free to crack it out.

 

This is partially due to a perceived "I might get lucky", "the seller may undergrade", "it might even get a 9.4"!!! If it is already graded, there is far less +EV to the novice. Akin to a mystery box fascination.

[MintyMint]

Interesting thread that I'm just bumping into now. I'm in the group of crazies who buy slabbed books and crack out the more common ones, even in high grade. I collect mostly silver age books (and mostly in 9.6) and certainly for the major Marvel titles, to the extent I have a copy I consider a keeper, then I will crack out issues 51-100 and keep them in mylars on an acid free board. I keep the labels because if I ever want to sell the book, dealers who know me personally can assure CGC that the book comes from a legit collector and the label hasn't been married to a random copy. So under that scenario, I think the label has real value. That said, agree with whoever said that the label only has value if the seller is known to you personally. I wouldn't recommend the practice if you intend to re-sell the books anytime soon. Either way, those of us who crack are definitely eating into any longer-term appreciation potential by having to re-slab at some point but for me having the tactile enjoyment of the book in a mylar is worth it. Plus as I don't intend on selling the vast majority of those books for say 20 years, having the books in mylar makes them MUCH easier to store and manage. Slabs are great, and a must for expensive early issues, but they are antiseptic and take away a big part of the enjoyment of the hobby for me. I don't think I'm alone on this one...

[rodan57]

Either way, those of us who crack are definitely eating into any longer-term appreciation potential by having to re-slab at some point but for me having the tactile enjoyment of the book in a mylar is worth it. Plus as I don't intend on selling the vast majority of those books for say 20 years, having the books in mylar makes them MUCH easier to store and manage. Slabs are great, and a must for expensive early issues, but they are antiseptic and take away a big part of the enjoyment of the hobby for me. I don't think I'm alone on this one...

 

You are not alone.