Selling Comics to Lone Star / MCS

[ygogolak]

MCS is strict at grading. This is good when you're buying CONSIGNMENT.

 

Fixed that for you. As others have said, their own stock does not go through the same scrutiny as consignment items. At least in the cases that I've delt with them.

[Kevin76]

I bought a handful of Near Mint Conan books off their site, I had to return them cause they books weren't NM at all, tons of surface wear, spine creases that broke the color on a few of them, then when I sent in some books that looked like slam dunk 9.8's they downgraded the grades from NM to VF+ and FN and offered 0.20 cent a piece, this is how you make money selling a book for a dollar. I'll never buy or sell raw books to them again. It's all NM when selling, VF+ when they are buying.

[shadroch]

I mostly buy off their auctions and almost everything is undergraded. I've only bought a handful of books from their site and never had an issue with any.

[THB]

Never had a problem with them and the new packaging is stellar. The only thing I would like to see is the grading guide that they use.

[shadroch]

Never had a problem with them and the new packaging is stellar. The only thing I would like to see is the grading guide that they use.

 

 

You are in Tejas. Why not go intern there. I'd take a job there in a heartbeat if offered one.

[bffnut]

MCS is strict at grading. This is good when you're buying CONSIGNMENT.

 

Fixed that for you. As others have said, their own stock does not go through the same scrutiny as consignment items. At least in the cases that I've delt with them.

 

I would say I have bought and sold thousands of dollars worth of comics with MCS over the years. I would agree that their grading is strict - much tighter than CGC.

 

When buying comics from them, my experience is that any comic with a grade number assigned to it (i.e. 9.0, 8.5, 7.0, etc) is going to be at least that grade if not not higher. Anything assigned a letter grade will fall anywhere within that grade's range. For example, a NM comic can be anywhere from NM+ to NM-. I use that rule whenever I buy from them and it has served me well.

[ttfitz]

Never had a problem with them and the new packaging is stellar. The only thing I would like to see is the grading guide that they use.

 

Do you have some reason to think they use something different than what they have posted on their site?

 

MyComicShop Grading Guide

[anstettoman]

I have sold numerous times to lonestar as well and have never felt that I am as poor of a grader than when 75-80% of books are downgraded. their grading system allows for NM, NM-, VF and when I've graded a book as NM- they will come back with a grade as VF+

 

how is this possible since I never had the chance to grade it thru their site as VF+ ??

 

I have learned to have thicker skin when dealing with their grading services when selling books for cash however.

 

interesting though that I have bought and sold books for many years and selling direct to a buyer have had maybe 1-2 customers that had questions with my grading judgment and 75-80% incorrect with lonestar.

 

on the + side transactions are easy to complete and they pay quickly. So I continue to sell on books that they have interest in just to get rid of things hassle free.......

 

 

[Real Elijah Snow]

MCS grades books that would get a cgc 9.2-9.4 as VF- every month on stuff I consign. It's just a thing. If you ever consign a nice and pricey hardcover to them be prepared to be shocked. I have consigned some and they put grades like VG+ on books that literally 99% of people here would call NM. I think repeat buyers realize they harshly undergrade, so those books they call VF- actually sell for 9.2 prices often since that's what they actually are.

 

I know you can't grade completely from a scan, but take some time and click on the oversized scans of books that they have graded Fine-, or VF-. You will disagree on the grade on a lot of the consignment books on the site.

[Rommin]

I've had great experiences selling to MCS in the past. The process is neat and tidy, and if you don't like the quotes once they have the books in hand, you don't have to accept the offers.

 

For sake of sanity, I sold them my Showcase 22 last year instead of listing it here. They gave me $910 and sold it for $1100. I was happy, they were happy, new owner was happy (I suppose, heh)

 

I agree with whomever mentioned the consignments though. They REALLY make the site look bad. If you happen to see a book which is both consigned and for sale by MCS, you will see how good their prices usually are. But, if you are a new visitor and just see a book with only consignment prices you'd think it was the second coming of MHC.

[Carefulwiththatax-migratio]

Really, MCS packing to me is unimprovable. They bundle your lots to larger thick cardboard and then bag that bundle, and then seal those bundles onto another larger board and put the whole thing in a box with packing material. I am always amazed at their packing.

 

My recent order was packed even better than that, as they now include some L-shaped styrofoam spacers/shock absorbers that go in each corner of the box. It really holds the comic bundle in place and saves on those corner crunches.

 

Edit: this was the $4.95 Economy shipping option too.

[TheLiamSturgess]

Really, MCS packing to me is unimprovable. They bundle your lots to larger thick cardboard and then bag that bundle, and then seal those bundles onto another larger board and put the whole thing in a box with packing material. I am always amazed at their packing.

 

My recent order was packed even better than that, as they now include some L-shaped styrofoam spacers/shock absorbers that go in each corner of the box. It really holds the comic bundle in place and saves on those corner crunches.

 

WTTB

[ygogolak]

I bought a handful of Near Mint Conan books off their site, I had to return them cause they books weren't NM at all, tons of surface wear, spine creases that broke the color on a few of them, then when I sent in some books that looked like slam dunk 9.8's they downgraded the grades from NM to VF+ and FN and offered 0.20 cent a piece, this is how you make money selling a book for a dollar. I'll never buy or sell raw books to them again. It's all NM when selling, VF+ when they are buying.

+1

[mrwoogieman]

This thread prompted me to visit their site and see what's what. Just got an email today that they've gone through the box of low grade readers that I sent them and they are sending me a check for $52. About $1.25 a book from a pile that was just gathering dust.

 

Thanks OP!

 

 

[shadroch]

They are good on low grade books, much too strict on high grade. I sent a bunch in recently. They upgraded a FF 24 I called a 1.8 to a 3.0 but downgraded books like crazy.

[mrwoogieman]

After reading the thread I deliberately excluded any high grade because I didn't want any hassle with grade disagreement.

 

This batch was all ultra low grade bronze and a few coppers within reach when I was inputting them into their website. Lots of books that go for $1-3 on ebay, if that, that I was never going to list there.

 

It seemed to me they upgraded as many of mine as they downgraded, for the most part adding or taking away a +/- from the grade or half a grade either way, so Good became Good+ or Good- or Fair/Good, or VG to VG+/- or G/VG, etc. They don't give you the half grades to pick from when you input however, so that's not really a reflection on either of our grading skills I guess.

 

Overall very satisfied and going forward I will keep a "check with MCS pile of comics" that don't make the eBay cut.

 

 

[Silver Surfer]

How do they pay for graded material?

[mrwoogieman]

How do they pay for graded material?

 

No clue if they buy CGC or other graded books, sorry.

[Chaseman210]

I'm getting ready to submit my first book (graded) for consignment. I'm not sure if they buy graded books or if you can only consign them.

[Ryan.]

They buy graded books.