Cracking cases, raising grades & flipping on ebay

[Jeffreykli]

...books that I just sold a few weeks ago to Aardvarkps...The CGC grades on these were 7.0 and 6.5 respectively. Aardvarkps has them listed as 8.5 and 7.5 respectively.

 

That's his business model...the kicker is whether or not he does this with restored books? I've had to return books to him for overgrading, and have avoided his auctions ever since!

 

Not sure. He did buy my CGC 8.0 Slight (A) Trimmed Tales of Suspense #63.

[jbud73]

...books that I just sold a few weeks ago to Aardvarkps...The CGC grades on these were 7.0 and 6.5 respectively. Aardvarkps has them listed as 8.5 and 7.5 respectively.

 

That's his business model...the kicker is whether or not he does this with restored books? I've had to return books to him for overgrading, and have avoided his auctions ever since!

 

Not sure. He did buy my CGC 8.0 Slight (A) Trimmed Tales of Suspense #63.

 

[benz]

i just bought a xmen 1 raw advertised a 6.5 from this seller... this was 3 weeks ago...had i seen this post i would have never bought from him...sent it over to CGC...and still waiting...

[drbanner]

i just bought a xmen 1 raw advertised a 6.5 from this seller... this was 3 weeks ago...had i seen this post i would have never bought from him...sent it over to CGC...and still waiting...

 

Let us know what happens! He definitely buys PLODs...

[chrisco37]

i just bought a xmen 1 raw advertised a 6.5 from this seller... this was 3 weeks ago...had i seen this post i would have never bought from him...sent it over to CGC...and still waiting...

 

Return it as soon as you get it. Pay the shipping and consider it a learning experience.

[Mr. Zipper]

If you want to see some funky tanning take a look at this FF 26 PGX 8.5 and the other FFs the seller is offering. "Cream to Off-White pages"? Yeah right. The Mannarino books that CGC labeled as "Light Tan to Off-White" are ten times nicer.

 

Yeah, I was looking through these FFs and was very disappointed by the heavy cover tanning. I'd be shocked if they are NOT brittle.

[toro]

When I buy raw books I purchase no higher then 1 grade lower unless I know the seller. I will be surprised if he makes much or any profit on these books!

 

I think a better title to this thread would have been:

 

CRACKING UP!

[benz]

i just bought a xmen 1 raw advertised a 6.5 from this seller... this was 3 weeks ago...had i seen this post i would have never bought from him...sent it over to CGC...and still waiting...

 

Return it as soon as you get it. Pay the shipping and consider it a learning experience.

 

its now within the confines of CGC...dont know if someone in CGC could help me around here? its ok if its one notch lower but not the dreaded PLOD i wonder if steve can read this and maybe i could ask the pre-grade? any ideas

[sfilosa]

Here's the thing.

 

In general, I think if you bought a VF off of eBay and it came back FN/VF unrestored from CGC, most collectors would be content.

 

The fact that at least one knows that the books are unrestored (the ones this seller has cracked out of the slab), is a lot more assurance then most books on eBay. An almost everyone knows to expect at least a slight difference in grade then advertised.

 

If you want a CGC 6.5 unrestored book, then BUY a CGC 6.5 unrestored book. It's really that simple.

[uclapeterg]

...books that I just sold a few weeks ago to Aardvarkps...The CGC grades on these were 7.0 and 6.5 respectively. Aardvarkps has them listed as 8.5 and 7.5 respectively.

 

That's his business model...the kicker is whether or not he does this with restored books? I've had to return books to him for overgrading, and have avoided his auctions ever since!

 

Not sure. He did buy my CGC 8.0 Slight (A) Trimmed Tales of Suspense #63.

 

I've seen him list books and discloses the restoration, but I'm not sure if he does that for all his books.

[nik]

That guy SUCKS at grading.

 

 

End of story

[the blob]

is there really money to be made off this? you sort of have to hope to find someone willing to pay a good price for your newly "NM" (or VF or whatever) raw book, after you've already paid for a slab

 

seems like a VF slab is going to get a better price than most alleged VF/NM - NM raw books because most people don't believe raw grading and lower by a grade anyway when bidding unless they know you and trust you or it's a low dollar book.

 

or maybe it's just when he sees a really nice, perhaps undergraded by CGC book, that he thinks is going to look really good in an ebay scan?

[HighVoltage]

...books that I just sold a few weeks ago to Aardvarkps...The CGC grades on these were 7.0 and 6.5 respectively. Aardvarkps has them listed as 8.5 and 7.5 respectively.

 

That's his business model...the kicker is whether or not he does this with restored books? I've had to return books to him for overgrading, and have avoided his auctions ever since!

 

Not sure. He did buy my CGC 8.0 Slight (A) Trimmed Tales of Suspense #63.

===========

 

I recently listed an FF #5 up on ebay that had trimming to the top and right edges. He hit the BIN... so watch out for that one. Book looked like a solid VG+/F- without the trim job...

[benz]

i just bought a xmen 1 raw advertised a 6.5 from this seller... this was 3 weeks ago...had i seen this post i would have never bought from him...sent it over to CGC...and still waiting...

 

Let us know what happens! He definitely buys PLODs...

 

I just got the comic from CGC...and it was quick...around 2 week turnaround time for CGC now for the not so good news...The comic came back 3 notches lowerr than expected. It was thought to be 6.5 and i was hoping at most a 6.0 and at least a 5.5 but it came out 5.0. item#6552949960 over ebay i will never buy a raw key comic again...the one nice thing nice is there is no marvel chipping and the book came back with OW pages and not Cr/OW whew...anyway moral of the story...if you buy with aardvarkps BE VEWY VEWY CAREFULL

[sfilosa]

Well it didn't come back PLOD.

 

If the seller REALLY thought it was a CGC 6.5, he would have had it certified. Usually, there is a defect or two that the seller knows will knock a book down by CGC standards (i.e. slight stain on back cover, small tear, etc) but doesn't hurt the overall appearance much.

[benz]

Well it didn't come back PLOD.

 

If the seller REALLY thought it was a CGC 6.5, he would have had it certified. Usually, there is a defect or two that the seller knows will knock a book down by CGC standards (i.e. slight stain on back cover, small tear, etc) but doesn't hurt the overall appearance much.

 

True...but as AlphaOmega posted this seller buys CGC books and then opens the case...increases the grading in raw grade...then sells them off ebay... but you're right about the PLOD think...i was afraid it would come back PLOD...good thing it didnt...still not worth buying from this seller again.

[Mr. Zipper]

I just got the comic from CGC...and it was quick...around 2 week turnaround time for CGC now for the not so good news...The comic came back 3 notches lowerr than expected. It was thought to be 6.5 and i was hoping at most a 6.0 and at least a 5.5 but it came out 5.0. item#6552949960 over ebay i will never buy a raw key comic again...the one nice thing nice is there is no marvel chipping and the book came back with OW pages and not Cr/OW whew...anyway moral of the story...if you buy with aardvarkps BE VEWY VEWY CAREFULL

 

Judging fromt he scan a 6.0/6.5 didn't look out of the question. It certainly presents bettter than most 5.0s.

 

Perhaps that is his M.O.... buy lower grade slabs that have eye appeal much better than the technical grade. Crack out and sell as the higher "apparent" grade.

[sfilosa]

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Well it didn't come back PLOD.

 

 

If the seller REALLY thought it was a CGC 6.5, he would have had it certified. Usually, there is a defect or two that the seller knows will knock a book down by CGC standards (i.e. slight stain on back cover, small tear, etc) but doesn't hurt the overall appearance much.

 

 

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True...but as AlphaOmega posted this seller buys CGC books and then opens the case...increases the grading in raw grade...then sells them off ebay... but you're right about the PLOD think...i was afraid it would come back PLOD...good thing it didnt...still not worth buying from this seller again.

 

 

I will say it one more time.

 

If you want a CGC 6.5, then buy a CGC 6.5.

 

And expect to pay CGC 6.5 price.

 

It's really that simple.

 

While I don't particularly like what this seller does, to me it would only be dishonest if he said CGC graded the book a CGC 6.5 but he deslabbed it. Plus, by selling it raw, I'm assuming he accepts returns (unlike most sellers with CGC books).

 

How is this seller anymore dishonest then one who always overgrades, or doesn't have a clue how to grade in the first place.

 

If he deslabs a restored book, and sells it as unrestored, then I would have a real problem. Or even if he didn't mention restoration at all, that still would be unethical in my opinion (obviously hoping the buyer couldn't detect the restoration).

[Foolkiller]

have to agree with sflosa. I don't like this practice, but grading has a subjective element to it, and CGC does not have the market cornered on grading. It seems dishonest because what he is doing is taking a product and then sort of representing it to be something that a tighter grader would grade differently.

 

But -- there are times all of us have gotten books and thought CGC graded the book too low. You crack it out, and sell it raw. I'd personally tell someone I was selling it to, CGC graded it (x) but I think it's (y). I did this in selling a book to Ted VanLiew this weekend. We both thought the Avengers 57 I sold was an 8.5, but CGC had graded it an 8.0 -- he paid based on FMV of 8.5 -- even though I disclosed to him the CGC grade.

 

 

 

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Well it didn't come back PLOD.

 

 

If the seller REALLY thought it was a CGC 6.5, he would have had it certified. Usually, there is a defect or two that the seller knows will knock a book down by CGC standards (i.e. slight stain on back cover, small tear, etc) but doesn't hurt the overall appearance much.

 

 

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True...but as AlphaOmega posted this seller buys CGC books and then opens the case...increases the grading in raw grade...then sells them off ebay... but you're right about the PLOD think...i was afraid it would come back PLOD...good thing it didnt...still not worth buying from this seller again.

 

 

I will say it one more time.

 

If you want a CGC 6.5, then buy a CGC 6.5.

 

And expect to pay CGC 6.5 price.

 

It's really that simple.

 

While I don't particularly like what this seller does, to me it would only be dishonest if he said CGC graded the book a CGC 6.5 but he deslabbed it. Plus, by selling it raw, I'm assuming he accepts returns (unlike most sellers with CGC books).

 

How is this seller anymore dishonest then one who always overgrades, or doesn't have a clue how to grade in the first place.

 

If he deslabs a restored book, and sells it as unrestored, then I would have a real problem. Or even if he didn't mention restoration at all, that still would be unethical in my opinion (obviously hoping the buyer couldn't detect the restoration).

[skybolt]

I will say it one more time.

 

If you want a CGC 6.5, then buy a CGC 6.5.

 

And expect to pay CGC 6.5 price.

 

It's really that simple.

 

 

Yup, I learned that the hard way after getting burned on multiple occasions. For instance, I used to think why should I pay guide value for a key 6.5 book, if I can get one raw at 70% guide? If it comes back a 6.5, 6.0 or even a 5.5 then I can still make my money back. However, more often than not the book would come back a 5.0 or 4.5, and I wind up losing money. You may get a couple of great deals with raw books on eBay, but don't expect that to be the norm.