General discussion thread - keep the other threads clean 29 29

[Jimmy Linguini]

Looks like I'm adding them to the pile of shoes that don't fit anymore

 

[vaillant]

Do you have ever-growing feet?

[Jimmy Linguini]

I just want everyone to know that I make a conscience effort to wear purple shoes all the time.

[Sqeggs]

Random question from a noob. Why would someone who would appear to be adept at grading ask for other people to grade his comics?

 

I'm not trying to imply anything, just curious. I always assumed that forum was for newer people who need help with grading.

 

Well, one can speculate that he wanted to ensure that he didn't undergrade any books he was selling.

[Sqeggs]

In the Giving Tree thread, Chip Cataldo posted a Strange Tales #115 that he graded 4.0. Another boardie pointed out to me that he had this same book listed on ebay as a 5.5.

 

So I did a little bit of digging. Huge grade bumps from PGM to eBay and there are a LOT of examples. Here are some:

 

PGM: DD 7 3.5 and he said "that's about what I had it pegged at". --------------------- ebay 5.0

 

PGM: Avengers 55 5.5/6.0 ------------------- ebay 7.5

 

PGM: Captain Marvel 1 4.0 ------------------ ebay 5.0

 

PGM: Captain Marvel 26 8.5 --------------- ebay 9.2

 

PGM: Iron Man 30 6.0 ------------------- ebay 8.0

 

PGM: Iron Man 76 8.0 ------------------- ebay 9.2

 

PGM: TOS 31 4.5 ----------------- ebay 6.0

 

PGM: FF 74 4.5 ------------------ ebay 7.0

 

PGM: ASM 33 4.5 ------------------- ebay 6.0

 

Look at any of his other PGM and you'll almost certainly see a hefty grade bump when placed on ebay.

 

To me, it looks like purposefully overgrading for a higher wining bid. What makes it worse is that's he advertises directly through this site.

 

I had a thought that maybe the grade disparity was due to undergrading in the PGM sub-forum. Not so. Why list the ST115 here as a 4.0 and on ebay as a 5.5? Or the DD 7, where he agrees with the 3.5 average but posts it on ebay as a 5.0? It reeks of serial overgrading.

 

Thoughts?

 

I don't think it's a marketplace issue truthfully, outing him as knowingly overstating grades on e-bay doesn't look good at all ...I don't think there's anything actionable other than sharing what you found to warn others.

 

You did that & Chip obviously is doing some things wrong, his only defense is that he starts his auctions at a low price. On e-bay grade/price go hand in hand, I usually ignore what a seller quotes & look at scans anyways. That still doesn't make him right.

 

I personally think this is just TGT butthurt carrying over to here. There seems to have been a pattern of judging Chip and Chip's offers harshly, one or more people over there have been continuing to take a keen interest in his participation in that thread since the beginning.

 

I'm sure people are busy cleaning up their e-bay history, post history, squaring up charitable history, photobuckets, facebooks, etc...so that they can come over to participate The Giving Tree thread, give away a book (as per PGM results) only to have it get researched enough to blow up in their faces like this has for Chip.

 

Surely with all of this disclosure at Chip's expense we'll learn who did the "pointing" shortly.

 

Another boardie ____________ pointed out to me that he had this same book listed on ebay as a 5.5.

 

No disrespect to those that are honestly invested in trying to make the trading threads work, but it really does seem like it's the same 10-15 people who are in a constant state of butthurt over them. I'm a little tired of seeing these silly PIF/TGT/Trading thread vendettas spill over into the other areas around here.

 

So you don't think the point Boboset raised is legitimate, leaving aside what may have motivated him or the person who brought the issue to his attention?

[comicdonna]

In the Giving Tree thread, Chip Cataldo posted a Strange Tales #115 that he graded 4.0. Another boardie pointed out to me that he had this same book listed on ebay as a 5.5.

 

So I did a little bit of digging. Huge grade bumps from PGM to eBay and there are a LOT of examples. Here are some:

 

PGM: DD 7 3.5 and he said "that's about what I had it pegged at". --------------------- ebay 5.0

 

PGM: Avengers 55 5.5/6.0 ------------------- ebay 7.5

 

PGM: Captain Marvel 1 4.0 ------------------ ebay 5.0

 

PGM: Captain Marvel 26 8.5 --------------- ebay 9.2

 

PGM: Iron Man 30 6.0 ------------------- ebay 8.0

 

PGM: Iron Man 76 8.0 ------------------- ebay 9.2

 

PGM: TOS 31 4.5 ----------------- ebay 6.0

 

PGM: FF 74 4.5 ------------------ ebay 7.0

 

PGM: ASM 33 4.5 ------------------- ebay 6.0

 

Look at any of his other PGM and you'll almost certainly see a hefty grade bump when placed on ebay.

 

To me, it looks like purposefully overgrading for a higher wining bid. What makes it worse is that's he advertises directly through this site.

 

I had a thought that maybe the grade disparity was due to undergrading in the PGM sub-forum. Not so. Why list the ST115 here as a 4.0 and on ebay as a 5.5? Or the DD 7, where he agrees with the 3.5 average but posts it on ebay as a 5.0? It reeks of serial overgrading.

 

Thoughts?

 

I don't think it's a marketplace issue truthfully, outing him as knowingly overstating grades on e-bay doesn't look good at all ...I don't think there's anything actionable other than sharing what you found to warn others.

 

You did that & Chip obviously is doing some things wrong, his only defense is that he starts his auctions at a low price. On e-bay grade/price go hand in hand, I usually ignore what a seller quotes & look at scans anyways. That still doesn't make him right.

 

I personally think this is just TGT butthurt carrying over to here. There seems to have been a pattern of judging Chip and Chip's offers harshly, one or more people over there have been continuing to take a keen interest in his participation in that thread since the beginning.

 

I'm sure people are busy cleaning up their e-bay history, post history, squaring up charitable history, photobuckets, facebooks, etc...so that they can come over to participate The Giving Tree thread, give away a book (as per PGM results) only to have it get researched enough to blow up in their faces like this has for Chip.

 

Surely with all of this disclosure at Chip's expense we'll learn who did the "pointing" shortly.

 

Another boardie ____________ pointed out to me that he had this same book listed on ebay as a 5.5.

 

No disrespect to those that are honestly invested in trying to make the trading threads work, but it really does seem like it's the same 10-15 people who are in a constant state of butthurt over them. I'm a little tired of seeing these silly PIF/TGT/Trading thread vendettas spill over into the other areas around here.

 

So you don't think the point Boboset raised is legitimate, leaving aside what may have motivated him or the person who brought the issue to his attention?

I think he raised a legitimate point, and glad he did. I will wait for Chip to chime in before jumping to any conclusions, in case there's something I have missed.

[Green]

I just want everyone to know that I make a conscience effort to wear purple shoes all the time.

 

I have retro OG 8s purple and black deadstock.

[vaillant]

For the record: there was no malice in the initial pointing out: Bobo posted the eBay link without realizing it was Chip's for a comparision, and 1Cool realized it.

Then, I assume, Bobo looked at the other grades for a comparision. I do not see this as "butthurt" – grading should be consistent wherever you sell, or at least I think everyone expects that.

 

Overgrading and undergrading are another matter.

[Boboset]

For the record: there was no malice in the initial pointing out: Bobo posted the eBay link without realizing it was Chip's for a comparision, and 1Cool realized it.

Then, I assume, Bobo looked at the other grades for a comparision. I do not see this as "butthurt" – grading should be consistent wherever you sell, or at least I think everyone expects that.

 

Overgrading and undergrading are another matter.

 

Thanks Caludio.

 

However, I did know that they were both the same book and both were from Chip when I originally posted the ebay 5.5 link against his board advertised 4.0.

 

This is not butthurt or malice, although some may think it is.

[jaybuck43]

Looks like I'm adding them to the pile of shoes that don't fit anymore

 

You know you could get some really cool books if you didn't buy so many pairs of shoes

[Jimmy Linguini]

I just want everyone to know that I make a conscience effort to wear purple shoes all the time.

 

I have retro OG 8s purple and black deadstock.

 

Honestly. They're not purple enough and they're not rare enough for me.

 

I will now stop talking about shoes and allow the gift card watercooler debate to continue

[vaillant]

For the record: there was no malice in the initial pointing out: Bobo posted the eBay link without realizing it was Chip's for a comparision, and 1Cool realized it.

Then, I assume, Bobo looked at the other grades for a comparision. I do not see this as "butthurt" – grading should be consistent wherever you sell, or at least I think everyone expects that.

 

Overgrading and undergrading are another matter.

 

Thanks Caludio.

 

However, I did know that they were both the same book and both were from Chip when I originally posted the ebay 5.5 link against his board advertised 4.0.

 

This is not butthurt or malice, although some may think it is.

 

I just think it’s fair if Chip explains the reason of the inconsistency.

Some may see slight overgrading and pricing lower as a selling strategy, and it might be as long as you provide scans, although to me it’s always shady terrain.

 

Above all, I expect the grade to be consistent if you sell here and there – at least as a buyer. A VG can be a rag for some graders, while a tightly graded FN- can be a nice FN.

 

 

[CAHokie]

I just want everyone to know that I make a conscience effort to wear purple shoes all the time.

 

I have retro OG 8s purple and black deadstock.

 

Honestly. They're not purple enough and they're not rare enough for me.

 

I will now stop talking about shoes and allow the gift card watercooler debate to continue

 

Thats the other thread Jimmy, but I am still glad the great shoe debate is over.

[porcupine48]

What the hell are you people talking about?

 

If you think spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on pulp and ink is ridiculous, then doing the same on sneakers will blow your mind.

As long as no one is collecting socks...

Some people pay for stinky socks...

[RockMyAmadeus]

What the hell are you people talking about?

 

If you think spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on pulp and ink is ridiculous, then doing the same on sneakers will blow your mind.

As long as no one is collecting socks...

 

Underpants, man, underpants is where it's at...

 

1. Collect underpants.

2.

3. Profit.

[porcupine48]

[RockMyAmadeus]

Some observations:

 

1. It is difficult to grade a book by scans. As a result, the PGM forum has historically *undergraded* books. This is a well known fact to board members who have been here for a long while. There are psychological reasons involved, too, that needn't be gotten into here.

 

2. No one has to agree with the grades given in the PGM thread, but a seller needs to be consistent in his/her assigned grades. A book isn't a "CGC boards 4.0" and an "eBay 5.5." That harkens back to the bad old days.

[Boboset]

For the record: there was no malice in the initial pointing out: Bobo posted the eBay link without realizing it was Chip's for a comparision, and 1Cool realized it.

Then, I assume, Bobo looked at the other grades for a comparision. I do not see this as "butthurt" – grading should be consistent wherever you sell, or at least I think everyone expects that.

 

Overgrading and undergrading are another matter.

 

Thanks Caludio.

 

However, I did know that they were both the same book and both were from Chip when I originally posted the ebay 5.5 link against his board advertised 4.0.

 

This is not butthurt or malice, although some may think it is.

 

I just think it’s fair if Chip explains the reason of the inconsistency.

Some may see slight overgrading and pricing lower as a selling strategy, and it might be as long as you provide scans, although to me it’s always shady terrain.

 

Above all, I expect the grade to be consistent if you sell here and there – at least as a buyer. A VG can be a rag for some graders, while a tightly graded FN- can be a nice FN.

 

 

I hate to continue this before Chip chimes in, but I do want to restate an earlier point with a touch of elaboration because it seems to be lost here.

 

Grading is an opinion. The PGM threads are a collection of opinions. One persons 5.0 can look like another persons 6.5 and it's not necessarily because either are doing anything unethical. Again, grading is subjective.

 

What is not subjective is simultaneously listing the same Strange Tales 115 here as a 4.0 and on ebay as a 5.5. Or agreeing with a 3.5 average on the DD7 here and listing it on ebay as a 5.0. That same 1.5 grade bump is coincidentally the average for all 19 sub 9.0 examples (more accurately a 1.57 average) .

 

[vaillant]

I thought it wasn’t lost at all: in fact it’s the only thing I said, but maybe my english still needs finetuning…

[Boboset]

I thought it wasn’t lost at all: in fact it’s the only thing I said, but maybe my english still needs finetuning…

 

No, I think its my reading comprehension that needs fine tuning.