Raw Condition Grades 0

[sternworm]

I'm coming over from a sports card background where when someone posts a raw (ungraded) card to the forums they may say it's NM or whatever, but we never assume that a raw card is graded PSA 9 or whatever when it's in raw form.  I notice a lot of sellers here will post an ungraded book and say that it is a 5.0 or 5.5 grade or whatever. Are they just experienced enough to assume that CGC will grade a book a certain way? It just seems odd to me that they would post that vs VF or NM.  Obviously, I'm a noob so I don't know, but I'm starting to buy from sellers on here and would like all the condition information I can gather. 

Thanks.

[Mercury Man]

Much like PSA that is why CGC exists.  Some experienced sellers can be very accurate.  Others can be liberal with their grades.  

[Ride the Tiger]

None of us can guess what CGC would grade a book every time but there are those that will come pretty close. It takes years of observing all types of defects and how they affect a grade. Sometimes its tougher to grade a book with many defects because you don't know how the CGC grader will take each and how many points will be knocked off. You must remember that you grade the whole book so a Near Mint book with a coupon cut out from it will be worth a ton less on the market compared to a NM book with no coupon cut out. When you take all that that be wrong with a comic (loose staple, minor soiling, corner crease, surface wear, blunted corners, subscription crease, foxing, chipping ect…..) it goes on forever. A good place to start is the Spare a Grade forum. And welcome to the Board.

[FineCollector]

CGC grading standards are becoming the norm in the market, so people are using their numerical grades.  I tend to grade Overstreet's way, but there are differences.  The old timers will often revert to verbal grades for uncertified books, but some young collectors dont entirely understand them, and ask for the numerical grade.

[Lazyboy]

On 2/23/2019 at 12:42 PM, sternworm said:

I'm coming over from a sports card background where when someone posts a raw (ungraded) card to the forums they may say it's NM or whatever, but we never assume that a raw card is graded PSA 9 or whatever when it's in raw form.  I notice a lot of sellers here will post an ungraded book and say that it is a 5.0 or 5.5 grade or whatever. Are they just experienced enough to assume that CGC will grade a book a certain way? It just seems odd to me that they would post that vs VF or NM.  Obviously, I'm a noob so I don't know, but I'm starting to buy from sellers on here and would like all the condition information I can gather. 

Thanks.

I don't know (or care) how it works with cards, but CGC doesn't use a different grading scale than the rest of the hobby. Unless the seller is guaranteeing the book will be a CGC X.X, it's just regular grading.

[revat]

The answer is as it always is and has been.  Your interest, experience, and intelligence and your time spent will lead you to be better grader and make better financial decisions.  Grading companies have allowed some leveling of the playing field, but they also are not perfect, and there are still many variances in realizeable prices within a given grade depending on a host of factors.

[comicginger1789]

As a collector, I have spent time going over CGC grading books and looking at what makes a 5.0 or an 8.0 or a 9.8

When I sell stuff, I try to provide a grade range based on my experience. I also would tend to trust someone who includes something like this as having a general idea. As always though, I advise buyers to view pictures and judge. A 6.0 to me could be a 5.0 to someone else. Someone else may be fine with a spine split, but hate seeing date stamps and vice versa.

The ones to watch or be wary of are the ones who just say Near Mint or perfect condition. Nothing (or very few) comics are perfect. Trust a seller who takes the take to give a grade range and list flaws they notice. 

[evilskip]

IMO I think CGC does a great job with books from the last 30 years or so that are 9.0 and above. Older books leave me scratching my pointy head trying to figure out why is it that high of a grade.  I posted in another thread comparing my Rip Hunter #1 3.5 (vg-) to a CGC 6.0 (fine) and liked mine better. Grading is subjective, even from a grading company.

And eBay, well, I usually downgrade a raw book at least one grade from what is stated,( if anything is stated)  unless I've dealt with the seller before. Then it may be two grades down....;)

Edited March 7, 2019 by evilskip
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[dporges]

This is just me, but I feel better calling raws on eBay a VF for instance as opposed to an 8.0, for exactly the reason the OP mentioned; the number grade seems to imply a slabbing house.  Just my convention.  (The eBay "grade" selection considers them the same; I'm talking about the text of the listing.)

[dfx1]

I just wanted to add that a 9.8 is the easiest to grade of all the grades for me.