Is GPA Analysis still worth it?

[Red_Hood]

I don't use GPA at all when pricing books or considering offers.

It's more relevant to look at sold results on eBay (as this is the majority of recent GPA results) and to then check eBay and other sites for current asking prices of like books to help establish your pricing.

If you have the only CGC X.X available then ask whatever you like, if there is a lot of competition then price according to whether you want to move it fast or don't mind hanging onto the book to eventually realize your price.

 

So, how is it more relevant to take only a portion of what GPA reports? How, when trying to establish an average, is it better to take a smaller sample?

 

And how are asking pricing relevant in the least?

 

Asking prices establish the line or set the bar more than a poorly run auction. Many people use GPA to establish what they will pay when realistically there are a lot more factors to consider then just GPA.

What the competition is priced at, how many copies are available of the same book.

Being first to market or having the only copy available at a set point in time. The objective/reasoning/motivation of the seller.

Is he/she trying to sell to free up capital or are they going to sit on the book in hopes of sitting a new record price.

You would only need a sample period of approximately 6 months to understand the trends of most "speculation" books and this can be found from previously sold listings on eBay.

Of course there are other genre of books such as "rarely for sale/ highest graded golden or silver age" that don't follow short term trends but for the most part, the buyer is a different creature now. They aren't just collectors satisfied to fill holes in a series, they are people investing in comics/collectibles or pseudo-dealers trying to give a reason why they should only pay a certain amount because GPA reported the last sale based on a poorly run/timed auction.

[zosocane]

I find that it gives me piece of mind about the ballpark to target.items I am interested in. Often sticking to the GPA value in an auction can have you lose quite a bit.

 

It's a good service but I wouldn't say I save $11/mth on avg from everything I bought.

 

For me, it also has some entertainment value. I like checking out trends on different books, even if I'm not actively buying or selling them.

 

This. It's fun to have!! I have all my slabs recorded in My Comics and can easily see how each book has performed.

[musicmeta]

I use GPAanalysis and find it very useful. it's not the "be all" "end all" solution and I don't think it was intended to be that way. you still have to do additional research but it works for me.

[Brandon Shepherd]

I recently resubscribed, I started using it several years ago and I have canceled and resubscribed a few times over. I really like the inventory feature, if you cancel and reactivate your user name, GPA will still have your cert numbers saved in "my comics!"

 

Overall, I think it's fun to see sales history, it's also fun to find out that some cert numbers in your collection have sold to others before you. I have several slabs that sold for some high prices before they found their way to my collection, and I got the better price. I have a few books where I paid the lowest GPA recorded price, just fun facts.

 

With the majority of my CGC collection being focused on Bronze/Copper Action Comics, the census and sales numbers aren't really relevant in the long run, due to a smaller interest, compared to say Batman or X-Men, so it's not a driving force on pricing.

 

Overall, I like GPA, if I'm searching out a books that's outside my 'Action' than I might take the pricing into consideration, but it's all about going with your gut in the end.

 

[bababooey]

I don't use GPA at all when pricing books or considering offers.

It's more relevant to look at sold results on eBay (as this is the majority of recent GPA results) and to then check eBay and other sites for current asking prices of like books to help establish your pricing.

If you have the only CGC X.X available then ask whatever you like, if there is a lot of competition then price according to whether you want to move it fast or don't mind hanging onto the book to eventually realize your price.

 

So, how is it more relevant to take only a portion of what GPA reports? How, when trying to establish an average, is it better to take a smaller sample?

 

And how are asking pricing relevant in the least?

 

Asking prices establish the line or set the bar more than a poorly run auction. Many people use GPA to establish what they will pay when realistically there are a lot more factors to consider then just GPA.

What the competition is priced at, how many copies are available of the same book.

Being first to market or having the only copy available at a set point in time. The objective/reasoning/motivation of the seller.

Is he/she trying to sell to free up capital or are they going to sit on the book in hopes of sitting a new record price.

You would only need a sample period of approximately 6 months to understand the trends of most "speculation" books and this can be found from previously sold listings on eBay.

Of course there are other genre of books such as "rarely for sale/ highest graded golden or silver age" that don't follow short term trends but for the most part, the buyer is a different creature now. They aren't just collectors satisfied to fill holes in a series, they are people investing in comics/collectibles or pseudo-dealers trying to give a reason why they should only pay a certain amount because GPA reported the last sale based on a poorly run/timed auction.

 

I agree that asking prices can be relevant, if the asking price you are referring to is the "lowest unsold asking price" - I think the earlier poster was thinking of all the BS asking prices on e-bay.

 

In fact I'd even go so far as to say that a book's market value is more accurately determined by what everyone won't pay for it than what one person did pay for it.

[Red_Hood]

I agree that asking prices can be relevant, if the asking price you are referring to is the "lowest unsold asking price" - I think the earlier poster was thinking of all the BS asking prices on e-bay.

 

In fact I'd even go so far as to say that a book's market value is more accurately determined by what everyone won't pay for it than what one person did pay for it.

 

That is also a good point.

 

Also, it's not just eBay. mycomicshop is also a good example of consigners pricing books unrealistically.

[Lazyboy]

In fact I'd even go so far as to say that a book's market value is more accurately determined by what everyone won't pay for it than what one person did pay for it.

 

Also known to readers of the "Heating Up" threads as "the divad rule."

[Jaylam]

Why doesn't ComicLink and some others not report to the GPA? This has always confounded me.

[TheLiamSturgess]

Why doesn't ComicLink and some others not report to the GPA? This has always confounded me.

 

It's my understanding that they wanted to report only some sales and not others, meaning they would have a say in essentially manipulating the perceived market value of certain books.

[divad]

In fact I'd even go so far as to say that a book's market value is more accurately determined by what everyone won't pay for it than what one person did pay for it.

 

Also known to readers of the "Heating Up" threads as "the divad rule."

 

Well, in 2001, I set a GPA record for a 9.6 copy of Hulk 181. My copy was raw. Since then, I have set many GPA records on sales of both slabbed and raw books. All of those books are worth much more now than they were then.

 

So . . . what's your point?

[divad]

Just wondering about your thoughts about GPA. I've had it on and offer for a few years and always found it useful. I havent subscribed for a year or so though. I planned to activate my account for a month if I go through with possible sales of some of my slabs. However, I heard that eBay transactions are no longer being tracked. Given that eBay is such a major hub for comic sales, I was wondering if GPA was still worth the $11 a month fee. What do you think?

 

Like all things in life, the more information you have, the better your bargaining position is, be it for sales or purchases.

[SuperZar]

These services seem like an especially great idea for someone like me who's just getting back into the hobby after a few decades . Most of you probably know off the top of your heads what certain books are selling for, but I on the other hand need to continuously research and it's extremely time consuming! I'll give it a try at least for a couple of months to fast track my knowledge base!

[Immortal Hulk]

I recently got it b/c of all the praise it got on this forum, especially since a couple of times I asked for opinions regarding auction prices, and a select few would get flustered and send me to purchase GPA.

 

Now that I have it I can honestly say it's just OK. For auctions it makes you aware of all the sales for a particular title and issue, filtered by CGC grade and years, with the high low prices. It also conveniently has a CGC census link, however it's kind of gimmicky in the way that when you are redirected you need to be signed in to see that census (as opposed to mycomicshop which gives you a census for some comics on the site itself).

 

As a whole, if you want to make sure you're not over bidding\paying for a comic within your comfort range relative to it's sales history, or just want to know what is a descent price based on sale history, it serves it's purpose. Like others said, it would be nice to have images especially to distinguish for variants.

 

However, keep in mind that you can search ebay sold history, albeit yes the search manually is a little tedious and it doesn't aggregrate other site sales. But honestly speaking, when I compare my own manual ebay search against that of the results of GPA, I can independently get a similar picture of what a certain book is being sold for, so GPA is more for convenience and may add a bit more information on the history that you might miss.

 

I personally don't think it's worth the price for someone that is just a comic fan as myself. For someone who takes this seriously as an investor, then for convenience perhaps. But if you just love comics and want to buy something you really enjoyed without feeling like you were robbed, a simple ebay sold history search (as well as on the other sites), and a search on the other big online comic shop like comic connect etc. should suffice IMO.

[BlowUpTheMoon]

However, keep in mind that you can search ebay sold history, albeit yes the search manually is a little tedious and it doesn't aggregrate other site sales. But honestly speaking, when I compare my own manual ebay search against that of the results of GPA, I can independently get a similar picture of what a certain book is being sold for, so GPA is more for convenience and may add a bit more information on the history that you might miss.

 

Doesn't eBay past sales only go back 90 days?

[sterlingcomics]

However, keep in mind that you can search ebay sold history, albeit yes the search manually is a little tedious and it doesn't aggregrate other site sales. But honestly speaking, when I compare my own manual ebay search against that of the results of GPA, I can independently get a similar picture of what a certain book is being sold for, so GPA is more for convenience and may add a bit more information on the history that you might miss.

 

Doesn't eBay past sales only go back 90 days?

 

Last I checked, which to be honest...was in 2007.

[mschmidt]

However, keep in mind that you can search ebay sold history, albeit yes the search manually is a little tedious and it doesn't aggregrate other site sales. But honestly speaking, when I compare my own manual ebay search against that of the results of GPA, I can independently get a similar picture of what a certain book is being sold for, so GPA is more for convenience and may add a bit more information on the history that you might miss.

 

Doesn't eBay past sales only go back 90 days?

 

Yep.

 

I guess 14 years of data vs 90 days is what he means by "a bit more information on the history" ::

[thunsicker]

However, keep in mind that you can search ebay sold history, albeit yes the search manually is a little tedious and it doesn't aggregrate other site sales. But honestly speaking, when I compare my own manual ebay search against that of the results of GPA, I can independently get a similar picture of what a certain book is being sold for, so GPA is more for convenience and may add a bit more information on the history that you might miss.

 

Doesn't eBay past sales only go back 90 days?

 

Yep.

 

I guess 14 years of data vs 90 days is what he means by "a bit more information on the history" ::

 

Which for thinly traded comics (like GA) is the difference between no sales and maybe a dozen in a similar grade that I'm looking at. Is it possible to search eBay and keep the data yourself, combine it with Heritage info and other sources to get an idea of what a certain comic is going for? Probably, but I can earn a bunch more than the $119 a year of GPA costs me in the amount of time it would take to research two or three purchases. And I use GPA for a lot more than two or three purchases in a year.

[Immortal Hulk]

However, keep in mind that you can search ebay sold history, albeit yes the search manually is a little tedious and it doesn't aggregrate other site sales. But honestly speaking, when I compare my own manual ebay search against that of the results of GPA, I can independently get a similar picture of what a certain book is being sold for, so GPA is more for convenience and may add a bit more information on the history that you might miss.

 

Doesn't eBay past sales only go back 90 days?

 

Yep.

 

I guess 14 years of data vs 90 days is what he means by "a bit more information on the history" ::

 

I'm not sure about the 90 days, but if you research all sites plus ebay history, regardless of 90 days or more, you can get a picture of what the relevant sales trend is looking like presently. What something sold in ebay 2004 is irrelevant to a fan, new or old, that is just trying to buy something right now. For an investor again, that's a completely different story,

[namisgr]

I use GPA whenever selling or buying slabbed books. For me, it's a highly valuable database, and well worth the subscription.

[mschmidt]

However, keep in mind that you can search ebay sold history, albeit yes the search manually is a little tedious and it doesn't aggregrate other site sales. But honestly speaking, when I compare my own manual ebay search against that of the results of GPA, I can independently get a similar picture of what a certain book is being sold for, so GPA is more for convenience and may add a bit more information on the history that you might miss.

 

Doesn't eBay past sales only go back 90 days?

 

Yep.

 

I guess 14 years of data vs 90 days is what he means by "a bit more information on the history" ::

 

I'm not sure about the 90 days, but if you research all sites plus ebay history, regardless of 90 days or more, you can get a picture of what the relevant sales trend is looking like presently. What something sold in ebay 2004 is irrelevant to a fan, new or old, that is just trying to buy something right now. For an investor again, that's a completely different story,

 

It's completely relevant if you're buying books that aren't common as dirt.