How do you grade? 4 4

[jcjames]

Try the stairstep method:

1. Take a box of books to the top of a staircase.

2. Throw books down staircase.

3. Assign grades based on what step they end up on.

 

 

[theCapraAegagrus]

Poorly.

[Galen130]

Most of my raw collection wasn’t really ‘graded’ per se, until I decided to start selling it off back in 2017.  I originally bought my comics to read them, then bag and board to protect them.  My first foray into grading a raw book came in the form of an OPG and Google.  Then I signed up with CGC, found the PGM forum, and the rest is history.  I will say that in these last four-ish years, I won’t send a book in for slabbing if someone breathed on it to hard.  I don’t use a magnifying glass, but I do use quality lighting to look for the imperfection that will keep new moderns under a 9.8...and I’m talking books from the last 10 years or so.  I’m very conservative, but that’s helped to get back 48 of 50 9.8 graded moderns in my last shipments.

Older books, on the other hand, are still difficult for me...but I’m learning from these forums.  Maybe ten percent (at most) are older than 1985.  I just didn’t collect that stuff...I was a reader.  The only book I was able to keep out of the hands of my younger brothers for years is Devil Dinosaur #1, 1978.  It survived in a trunk, and when I pulled it out over a decade ago...I bagged and boarded it.  I looked it over for grading back in 2018 and I thought it would be a 9.2.  That was before I learned about pressing services (shout out to @Tony S).  It came back an 8.5, but that’s fine...it’s in my PC now.

So in a nut shell, I’m late to the game, but I’ve crammed a lot of knowledge into four years.  It’s helping me run a decent sales thread, and it’s fun to hang out in the boards.  I’m conservative in my grade estimates and I still refer to a current copy of OPG, but I’ve learned so much more from the threads.  I don’t really collect as much as I used to, but it was fun while I did.  Wish I knew then what I know now.  Hmmm, where have I heard that before. 🖖🖖🖖

[Gonzimodo]

I usually just give a book a quick once-over and get a gut feeling on the "letter value" range (NM, VF, Fine, etc.).  If I'm selling a book, I will take a deeper dive into it to be sure there are no missing pages or coupons, gunk, loose staples, etc. and give my best guess.  (I always accept returns if the buyer isn't happy with my grading.)

I'm uncomfortable trying to assign a number grade to anything, because the scans of slabbed books I see just seem too inconsistent within the same grades. I guess I'm just a big dumb-dumb. 

Edited March 23, 2021 by Gonzimodo
Fixing a typo

[Bird]

I sold this book on eBay a while ago  and it came back because in a few panels faces were cut out. How many of you would’ve missed this? Actually I didn’t even count the pages

[Galen130]

14 minutes ago, Bird said:

I sold this book on eBay a while ago  and it came back because in a few panels faces were cut out. How many of you would’ve missed this? Actually I didn’t even count the pages

Whoa!!!  I probably would’ve missed this...

[jcjames]

3 hours ago, Bird said:

I sold this book on eBay a while ago  and it came back because in a few panels faces were cut out. How many of you would’ve missed this? Actually I didn’t even count the pages

Ugh. I've been burned a couple times buying books with coupons cut out or part of interior page missing so I check.

You sure it was the same book?

 

 

 

[xvipah]

As I'm still very new to grading I like to grade by making it a whole production. I check it over first and get an idea in my head (that's usually close, but almost never spot on), mostly just to see how I'm doing in the quick grade area.

Then I sit down and count out defects. I sometimes even sit with a notebook and write them down just to be sure I'm not missing anything. Start with the front cover corners, then look for creases/folds/indents/spine stresses. After that I check the spine and staples, page quality, and that the centerfold is firmly in there. Then I check the back cover for the same. After I count em all I compare to the range allowed for that many defects and then decide on a grade (or two, I usually will do something like 6.5/7.0, etc...) based on how good the front looks in general. If it has nice eye appeal then I'll usually assign it a grade higher in the range of allowed defects, if not, a grade lower in that range.

I'm hoping to do this enough that it becomes more second nature and doesn't have to be such a production anymore. But, that could be a while. Luckily, I enjoy doing it.

[Bird]

1 hour ago, jcjames said:

Ugh. I've been burned a couple times buying books with coupons cut out or part of interior page missing so I check.

You sure it was the same book?

 

 

 

I have no reason to suspect it wasn't, it is a cheap book, avengers annual 3. I told the guy to keep it and refunded his money but he paid to ship it back to me, he seemed pretty offended and left feedback without even contacting me.

I couldn't find the best one, small heads of Jan and another Avengers missing. There are maybe 5-7 instances in the whole book.

Edited March 24, 2021 by Bird

[shadroch]

I form an opinion on the book thru the bag. NM/VF/F/VG

Lets call it a VF. Then I examine the front cover, inside cover, check for smell , fan the book to see if anything falls out, then do the back cover. 

I rarely upgrade after examining, and mostly downgrade about a grade. 

[ttfitz]

6 hours ago, Bird said:

I sold this book on eBay a while ago  and it came back because in a few panels faces were cut out. How many of you would’ve missed this? Actually I didn’t even count the pages

I'm a page counter, and with at least some of those missing faces being on the outside edge portion of the page, I'm pretty sure I would have seen at least one of them.

I've missed coupons that were cut out that were on the spine side, where you might not see them when flipping thru counting pages, though.