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ebay observation

Started by the blob,

55 posts in this topic

Logan510

Logan510

Posted
Posted

If the scans aren't the greatest and they claim it's NM and it's not I will return it every time unless it's a cheapie book. If they provide a krappy description like "high grade" and no details, but large scans and I just happened to miss something because I didn't take the time to really study the scan, I'll eat the cost as it was my bad.

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Logan510

Logan510

Posted
Posted
I am thinking of just saying high grade, medium grade, and low grade.

You're a lawyer, why don't you just include a detailed definition of "NM" or whatever grades you're listing, in the auction description?

 

I find this a really interesting thread, and I'm just reacting to the question, and not presuming obviously to answer for the OP.

 

I left the hobby in the mid 1980s and came back into it in the mid 2000s, and it was a different universe. Those friends of mine with the same timeline who didn't come back, look at the grading now with a lot of scepticism.

 

There is scepticism about the plausibility of finely cut grades, meaning 9.2 vs 9.4 vs 9.6 or even less plausibly, 9.9

 

I have a friendly and ongoing argument with a friend who got out of comics and everytime he sees me grading a book it usually ends with something like the following (to paraphrase):

 

"VF+??...8.5??...look at the book...its beautiful...in my day we would have put it down on the table, everybody would have gone WOW what a beautiful book and called it and sold it a NM..."

 

I would then list what imo were the various defects that by present standards prevented me from selling it as a NM, however beautiful it may look on the table, I say, if I tried to sell this as a NM I would lose customers.

 

Our discussions usually end with him shaking his head in disbelief and saying something like "This is what I hate about (expletive deleted name of grading company deleted) and what it's done to this hobby" and than we both laugh about it.

 

That one should have to think it necessary to draw on legal skills to grade and sell a comic is a sign of the times, and a sad sign of the times. Part of the problem is the prevalence of sociopaths on Ebay, but the hobby now is feeding those monsters with the potent forces of big money and the pretension of pseudo-scientific standards. 2c

 

 

I've also bought from several boardies on eBay, and it's interesting to see which ones lose their grading ability when they sell at that venue. Not all of them, but some of them. And of course, some couldn't grade to begin with in either venue.

 

There are several boardies who think just because someone is a member here for more than a year it means they can grade.

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lizards2

lizards2

Posted
Posted
I am thinking of just saying high grade, medium grade, and low grade.

You're a lawyer, why don't you just include a detailed definition of "NM" or whatever grades you're listing, in the auction description?

 

I find this a really interesting thread, and I'm just reacting to the question, and not presuming obviously to answer for the OP.

 

I left the hobby in the mid 1980s and came back into it in the mid 2000s, and it was a different universe. Those friends of mine with the same timeline who didn't come back, look at the grading now with a lot of scepticism.

 

There is scepticism about the plausibility of finely cut grades, meaning 9.2 vs 9.4 vs 9.6 or even less plausibly, 9.9

 

I have a friendly and ongoing argument with a friend who got out of comics and everytime he sees me grading a book it usually ends with something like the following (to paraphrase):

 

"VF+??...8.5??...look at the book...its beautiful...in my day we would have put it down on the table, everybody would have gone WOW what a beautiful book and called it and sold it a NM..."

 

I would then list what imo were the various defects that by present standards prevented me from selling it as a NM, however beautiful it may look on the table, I say, if I tried to sell this as a NM I would lose customers.

 

Our discussions usually end with him shaking his head in disbelief and saying something like "This is what I hate about (expletive deleted name of grading company deleted) and what it's done to this hobby" and than we both laugh about it.

 

That one should have to think it necessary to draw on legal skills to grade and sell a comic is a sign of the times, and a sad sign of the times. Part of the problem is the prevalence of sociopaths on Ebay, but the hobby now is feeding those monsters with the potent forces of big money and the pretension of pseudo-scientific standards. 2c

 

 

I've also bought from several boardies on eBay, and it's interesting to see which ones lose their grading ability when they sell at that venue. Not all of them, but some of them. And of course, some couldn't grade to begin with in either venue.

 

There are several boardies who think just because someone is a member here for more than a year it means they can grade.

or 10
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the blob

the blob

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If the scans aren't the greatest and they claim it's NM and it's not I will return it every time unless it's a cheapie book. If they provide a krappy description like "high grade" and no details, but large scans and I just happened to miss something because I didn't take the time to really study the scan, I'll eat the cost as it was my bad.

 

That is fine. I was more wondering about whether folks are seeing more people attempting to impose 9.8 criteria on nm books. Frankly, I used to almost never call anything nm and knocked anything with anything at all down to nm- other than a perfect book I bought new and bagged and boarded right away, but then I saw so many slabs with some minor things getting a 9.4 that I figured I was selling myself short on some books. I sold a large batch of nm- bronze to someone on ebay and he slabbed them and told me they came back 1/3 9.4, 1/3 9.2 and 1/3 9.0, so not bad. I feel uncomfortable grading anything a 9.8 though.

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StuporMan

StuporMan

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Posted
If the scans aren't the greatest and they claim it's NM and it's not I will return it every time unless it's a cheapie book. If they provide a krappy description like "high grade" and no details, but large scans and I just happened to miss something because I didn't take the time to really study the scan, I'll eat the cost as it was my bad.

 

That is fine. I was more wondering about whether folks are seeing more people attempting to impose 9.8 criteria on nm books. Frankly, I used to almost never call anything nm and knocked anything with anything at all down to nm- other than a perfect book I bought new and bagged and boarded right away, but then I saw so many slabs with some minor things getting a 9.4 that I figured I was selling myself short on some books. I sold a large batch of nm- bronze to someone on ebay and he slabbed them and told me they came back 1/3 9.4, 1/3 9.2 and 1/3 9.0, so not bad. I feel uncomfortable grading anything a 9.8 though.

 

Even if it looks 9.8 to me I still list it as 9.2/NM-. I think if one were to sell something as a 9.8 they better have a iron-clad and spectacular return policy and/or base returns on CGC grading. Otherwise, it's just trying to squeeze more out of a book than it's likely worth.

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jcjames

jcjames

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Posted
If the scans aren't the greatest and they claim it's NM and it's not I will return it every time unless it's a cheapie book. If they provide a krappy description like "high grade" and no details, but large scans and I just happened to miss something because I didn't take the time to really study the scan, I'll eat the cost as it was my bad.

 

That is fine. I was more wondering about whether folks are seeing more people attempting to impose 9.8 criteria on nm books. Frankly, I used to almost never call anything nm and knocked anything with anything at all down to nm- other than a perfect book I bought new and bagged and boarded right away, but then I saw so many slabs with some minor things getting a 9.4 that I figured I was selling myself short on some books. I sold a large batch of nm- bronze to someone on ebay and he slabbed them and told me they came back 1/3 9.4, 1/3 9.2 and 1/3 9.0, so not bad. I feel uncomfortable grading anything a 9.8 though.

 

Even if it looks 9.8 to me I still list it as 9.2/NM-. I think if one were to sell something as a 9.8 they better have a iron-clad and spectacular return policy and/or base returns on CGC grading. Otherwise, it's just trying to squeeze more out of a book than it's likely worth.

 

If a nearly-flawless "9.8" is advertised as NM- then what do you grade your NM- books as?

 

 

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Logan510

Logan510

Posted
Posted
I am thinking of just saying high grade, medium grade, and low grade.

You're a lawyer, why don't you just include a detailed definition of "NM" or whatever grades you're listing, in the auction description?

 

I find this a really interesting thread, and I'm just reacting to the question, and not presuming obviously to answer for the OP.

 

I left the hobby in the mid 1980s and came back into it in the mid 2000s, and it was a different universe. Those friends of mine with the same timeline who didn't come back, look at the grading now with a lot of scepticism.

 

There is scepticism about the plausibility of finely cut grades, meaning 9.2 vs 9.4 vs 9.6 or even less plausibly, 9.9

 

I have a friendly and ongoing argument with a friend who got out of comics and everytime he sees me grading a book it usually ends with something like the following (to paraphrase):

 

"VF+??...8.5??...look at the book...its beautiful...in my day we would have put it down on the table, everybody would have gone WOW what a beautiful book and called it and sold it a NM..."

 

I would then list what imo were the various defects that by present standards prevented me from selling it as a NM, however beautiful it may look on the table, I say, if I tried to sell this as a NM I would lose customers.

 

Our discussions usually end with him shaking his head in disbelief and saying something like "This is what I hate about (expletive deleted name of grading company deleted) and what it's done to this hobby" and than we both laugh about it.

 

That one should have to think it necessary to draw on legal skills to grade and sell a comic is a sign of the times, and a sad sign of the times. Part of the problem is the prevalence of sociopaths on Ebay, but the hobby now is feeding those monsters with the potent forces of big money and the pretension of pseudo-scientific standards. 2c

 

 

I've also bought from several boardies on eBay, and it's interesting to see which ones lose their grading ability when they sell at that venue. Not all of them, but some of them. And of course, some couldn't grade to begin with in either venue.

 

There are several boardies who think just because someone is a member here for more than a year it means they can grade.

or 10

 

:ohnoez:

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StuporMan

StuporMan

Posted
Posted
If the scans aren't the greatest and they claim it's NM and it's not I will return it every time unless it's a cheapie book. If they provide a krappy description like "high grade" and no details, but large scans and I just happened to miss something because I didn't take the time to really study the scan, I'll eat the cost as it was my bad.

 

That is fine. I was more wondering about whether folks are seeing more people attempting to impose 9.8 criteria on nm books. Frankly, I used to almost never call anything nm and knocked anything with anything at all down to nm- other than a perfect book I bought new and bagged and boarded right away, but then I saw so many slabs with some minor things getting a 9.4 that I figured I was selling myself short on some books. I sold a large batch of nm- bronze to someone on ebay and he slabbed them and told me they came back 1/3 9.4, 1/3 9.2 and 1/3 9.0, so not bad. I feel uncomfortable grading anything a 9.8 though.

 

Even if it looks 9.8 to me I still list it as 9.2/NM-. I think if one were to sell something as a 9.8 they better have a iron-clad and spectacular return policy and/or base returns on CGC grading. Otherwise, it's just trying to squeeze more out of a book than it's likely worth.

 

If a nearly-flawless "9.8" is advertised as NM- then what do you grade your NM- books as?

 

 

Ah you think you got me there... :grin: I typically grade down so VF/NM.

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Logan510

Logan510

Posted
Posted
If the scans aren't the greatest and they claim it's NM and it's not I will return it every time unless it's a cheapie book. If they provide a krappy description like "high grade" and no details, but large scans and I just happened to miss something because I didn't take the time to really study the scan, I'll eat the cost as it was my bad.

 

That is fine. I was more wondering about whether folks are seeing more people attempting to impose 9.8 criteria on nm books. Frankly, I used to almost never call anything nm and knocked anything with anything at all down to nm- other than a perfect book I bought new and bagged and boarded right away, but then I saw so many slabs with some minor things getting a 9.4 that I figured I was selling myself short on some books. I sold a large batch of nm- bronze to someone on ebay and he slabbed them and told me they came back 1/3 9.4, 1/3 9.2 and 1/3 9.0, so not bad. I feel uncomfortable grading anything a 9.8 though.

 

There are people who list books as NM / unread, perfect, CGC ready etc. If I get books that don't meet that criteria, I will have no issue sending it back. If it's a book I take a chance on and it doesn't meet my criteria for a 9.8 candidate, that's my fault and I end up eating the cost.

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jcjames

jcjames

Posted
Posted
If the scans aren't the greatest and they claim it's NM and it's not I will return it every time unless it's a cheapie book. If they provide a krappy description like "high grade" and no details, but large scans and I just happened to miss something because I didn't take the time to really study the scan, I'll eat the cost as it was my bad.

 

That is fine. I was more wondering about whether folks are seeing more people attempting to impose 9.8 criteria on nm books. Frankly, I used to almost never call anything nm and knocked anything with anything at all down to nm- other than a perfect book I bought new and bagged and boarded right away, but then I saw so many slabs with some minor things getting a 9.4 that I figured I was selling myself short on some books. I sold a large batch of nm- bronze to someone on ebay and he slabbed them and told me they came back 1/3 9.4, 1/3 9.2 and 1/3 9.0, so not bad. I feel uncomfortable grading anything a 9.8 though.

 

Even if it looks 9.8 to me I still list it as 9.2/NM-. I think if one were to sell something as a 9.8 they better have a iron-clad and spectacular return policy and/or base returns on CGC grading. Otherwise, it's just trying to squeeze more out of a book than it's likely worth.

 

If a nearly-flawless "9.8" is advertised as NM- then what do you grade your NM- books as?

Ah you think you got me there... :grin: I typically grade down so VF/NM.

So then are your "9.8s" that you advertise as "NM-" priced competitively with with other "NM-" books?

 

Or would you post a "really-9.8-but-advertised-as-NM-" book at a "9.8" price?

 

hm

 

 

 

 

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the blob

the blob

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There are people who list books as NM / unread, perfect, CGC ready etc.

 

But that's it, a NM listing does not imply perfection or CGC ready (although for some books it still makes sense).

 

Anyway, I will try to be more descriptive. Sort of a PITA for the 100 or so listings I already have up, which mostly have just a grade. I am converting over to grade "ranges" to avoid some nitpicking. That's all going to take a while. Uhg.

 

 

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Logan510

Logan510

Posted
Posted

 

There are people who list books as NM / unread, perfect, CGC ready etc.

 

But that's it, a NM listing does not imply perfection or CGC ready (although for some books it still makes sense).

 

Anyway, I will try to be more descriptive. Sort of a PITA for the 100 or so listings I already have up, which mostly have just a grade. I am converting over to grade "ranges" to avoid some nitpicking. That's all going to take a while. Uhg.

 

 

I don't think there's anything wrong with listing a grade range. I've listed raw books as 9.4/9.6 several times. I don't think I've ever listed a book as 9.8 raw, even if I think it is.

 

I don't think I was clear enough before. I've seen people list. "NM unread, perfect in every way, CGC ready!" as their description.

 

These are people who I think don't know much about grading, because NM is obviously not perfect.

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StuporMan

StuporMan

Posted
Posted
If the scans aren't the greatest and they claim it's NM and it's not I will return it every time unless it's a cheapie book. If they provide a krappy description like "high grade" and no details, but large scans and I just happened to miss something because I didn't take the time to really study the scan, I'll eat the cost as it was my bad.

 

That is fine. I was more wondering about whether folks are seeing more people attempting to impose 9.8 criteria on nm books. Frankly, I used to almost never call anything nm and knocked anything with anything at all down to nm- other than a perfect book I bought new and bagged and boarded right away, but then I saw so many slabs with some minor things getting a 9.4 that I figured I was selling myself short on some books. I sold a large batch of nm- bronze to someone on ebay and he slabbed them and told me they came back 1/3 9.4, 1/3 9.2 and 1/3 9.0, so not bad. I feel uncomfortable grading anything a 9.8 though.

 

Even if it looks 9.8 to me I still list it as 9.2/NM-. I think if one were to sell something as a 9.8 they better have a iron-clad and spectacular return policy and/or base returns on CGC grading. Otherwise, it's just trying to squeeze more out of a book than it's likely worth.

 

If a nearly-flawless "9.8" is advertised as NM- then what do you grade your NM- books as?

Ah you think you got me there... :grin: I typically grade down so VF/NM.

So then are your "9.8s" that you advertise as "NM-" priced competitively with with other "NM-" books?

 

Or would you post a "really-9.8-but-advertised-as-NM-" book at a "9.8" price?

 

hm

 

 

 

 

I auction them off, so the bidder pays what they think it's worth. I never list a 9.2 at a 9.8 price, that's just (tsk) It's so hard to call a 9.8... besides, if I'm that confident it's a 9.8, I'll get it graded by CGC :grin:

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