Our Recent Experience Selling Comics Through Mycomicshop 23 23

[thehumantorch]

This is our second batch of books consigned to mycomicshop.  Arrived there about 3 weeks ago and have been listed for sale for 15 days.  Sales are not as robust as our first submission but I'm not surprised as I don't consider the overall quality of the books as high.  Generally we're selling a book every day or two and that's okay.

Edge of Spider-Verse (Mexican 2015 Marvel Mexico/Editorial Televisa) Marvel Especial Semanal 2B CGC 9.2 Restored
Eternals (1976 1st Series) 1 CGC 9.8
Eternals (1976 1st Series) 1 CGC 9.2
Fantasy Quarterly featuring Elfquest (1978) 1 CGC 9.6
GI Joe (1982 Marvel) 152 CGC 9.6
Incredible Hulk (1962 Marvel 1st Series) 181 CGC 4.0
Moon Knight (1980 1st Series) 1 CGC 9.6
Star Wars (1977 Marvel) 41 CGC 9.4
Star Wars (1977 Marvel) 41 CGC 9.2
Strange Tales (1951-1976 1st Series) 180 CBCS 9.4
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen (1954) 134 CGC 7.5
Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) 4 CGC 9.6
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1984) 7REP.2ND CGC 9.2
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures (1988) Canadian Edition 1 CGC 9.4 Canadian Price Variant
Uncanny X-Men (1963 1st Series) 282 CGC 9.8
Uncanny X-Men (1963 1st Series) 282 CGC 9.6
Usagi Yojimbo (1987 1st Series Fantagraphics) 1 CGC 9.8

Out for recasing:

Infinity Gauntlet (1991) 2 CGC 9.8 -damaged case
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures (1988) Canadian Edition 1 CGC 9.8 - label did not indicate canadian edition

Sold, first sold at bottom and most recent sale at top:

Edge of Spider-verse 2 2nd print CGC 9.4
Uncanny X-Men (1963 1st Series) 221 CGC 9.4
GI Joe (1982 Marvel) 21 CGC 9.2
Star Wars (1977 Marvel) 43 CGC 9.4
Spider-Gwen (2015 2nd Series) 1B CGC 9.8 Bradshaw Variant Cover
Thor God of Thunder (2012) 2A CGC 9.4
Thor God of Thunder (2012) 5A CGC 9.4
Venom Sinner Takes All (1995) 3 CGC 9.6

Sold awaiting payment:

Thor God of Thunder (2012) 6 CGC 9.6

[jimjum12]

On 5/18/2022 at 4:32 PM, GACollectibles said:

Called MCS today, got some new guy on the phone.  Seemed to be quite the Deadhead.**

 

 

 

 

 

**DISCLAIMER- No actual call was made to MCS and no Deadheads were harmed in the making of this post.

Does he have a touch of gray ? GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[Ed Hanes]

I have been using MCS over the past year for consignment and been a buyer for past three years. I have sent in about 100 raws and 25 slabs. Here is my take on them and why I wont ever send them anymore raws but I will continue to buy from them

On raws that I bought from elsewhere and sent to them..they consistently grade lower than what I thought they would be..okay, they have stricter grading ..no big deal 

but 

I have sent them comics that I bought from them ...and in almost every case they graded them lower to much lower than the grade  I bought it at (from them, MCS)

On raws that I have bought and sent to CGC...all of them were graded higher by CGC..in some cases much higher (without press) (as in 6.5 to 9.2)

My last straw was sending them two restored comics that had previously had purple labels (only color touch on one and pieces added on another)..but MCS said they were both TRIMMED...so i had them sent back..I rechecked the comics..and I dont see how they said they were trimmed, every edge has the frayed look (the type of fraying that comes with wear and tear, not a splinter cut from scissors, etc)...you may be asking why i removed the slab anyway..they were old slabs and  at the time I listened to people saying purple labels were value killers...I will be sending them back to CGC for new purple labels maybe one day..if I decide to sell ( i have since changed my mind and want to keep them)

All in all, my experience with consigning my raws has been balanced with some of the raws I got from them (like a 9.4 New Mutants 98) that I sent to CGC and they graded a 9.8...and the 6.5 to 9.2 Xmen 129..so I am okay with it...and their policy with consigning slabs has been great for me. I just wont send them raws anymore. 

I have my theories on why the under-grading ..when you think about it, it makes good business sense when you consider their business model (consignments)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 14, 2022 by Ed Hanes

[manetteska]

On 6/14/2022 at 4:58 PM, Ed Hanes said:

I have been using MCS over the past year for consignment and been a buyer for past three years. I have sent in about 100 raws and 25 slabs. Here is my take on them and why I wont ever send them anymore raws but I will continue to buy from them

On raws that I bought from elsewhere and sent to them..they consistently grade lower than what I thought they would be..okay, they have stricter grading ..no big deal 

but 

I have sent them comics that I bought from them ...and in almost every case they graded them lower to much lower than the grade  I bought it at (from them, MCS)

On raws that I have bought and sent to CGC...all of them were graded higher by CGC..in some cases much higher (without press) (as in 6.5 to 9.2)

My last straw was sending them two restored comics that had previously had purple labels (only color touch on one and pieces added on another)..but MCS said they were both TRIMMED...so i had them sent back..I rechecked the comics..and I dont see how they said they were trimmed, every edge has the frayed look (the type of fraying that comes with wear and tear, not a splinter cut from scissors, etc)...you may be asking why i removed the slab anyway..they were old slabs and  at the time I listened to people saying purple labels were value killers...I will be sending them back to CGC for new purple labels maybe one day..if I decide to sell ( i have since changed my mind and want to keep them)

All in all, my experience with consigning my raws has been balanced with some of the raws I got from them (like a 9.4 New Mutants 98) that I sent to CGC and they graded a 9.8...and the 6.5 to 9.2 Xmen 129..so I am okay with it...and their policy with consigning slabs has been great for me. I just wont send them raws anymore. 

I have my theories on why the under-grading ..when you think about it, it makes good business sense when you consider their business model (consignments)

 

 

 

 

 

 

If they are under-grading consignments, how does that help their business model?

As you said, that's great for the buyer, but not only is the consignor potentially upset (as you were as a consignor), but MCS (in most cases) makes less money as a 6.X sells for less than an 8.X.

[Ed Hanes]

On 6/14/2022 at 3:09 PM, manetteska said:

If they are under-grading consignments, how does that help their business model?

As you said, that's great for the buyer, but not only is the consignor potentially upset (as you were as a consignor), but MCS (in most cases) makes less money as a 6.X sells for less than an 8.X.

Not if someone buys that raw, has it slabbed then sends it back to MCS for consignment (buyer and MCS wins and MCS doesn't have to worry about a customer being mad for over-grading)..which is what I have done on several occasions ...but I suppose that would only work if a lot of buyers do that..it was just a theory...probably not valid but ask yourself..will you ever see MCS grade a book a 9.8?

Edited June 14, 2022 by Ed Hanes

[Ed Hanes]

On 6/14/2022 at 3:42 PM, The Bomber said:

Less returns.

that too and probably the biggest reason

Edited June 14, 2022 by Ed Hanes

[shadroch]

On 6/14/2022 at 3:35 PM, Ed Hanes said:

Not if someone buys that raw, has it slabbed then sends it back to MCS for consignment (buyer and MCS wins and MCS doesn't have to worry about a customer being mad for over-grading)..which is what I have done on several occasions ...but I suppose that would only work if a lot of buyers do that..it was just a theory...probably not valid but ask yourself..will you ever see MCS grade a book a 9.8?

Do you grade books 9.8?  Whats your return rate on raw 9.8s?

[Courageous Cat]

MYCOMICSHOP is good venue to sell your books at auction until the buyer decides not to pay 

[Ed Hanes]

On 6/14/2022 at 3:47 PM, shadroch said:

Do you grade books 9.8?  Whats your return rate on raw 9.8s?

not sure what your point is

1. I wouldn't want to be a company responsible for having to process returns on a misgraded 9.8, especially on expensive comics (it's an extreme example and MCS is not gonna get many potential 9.8's from sellers..just using it to illustrate a point)  

2. A large market in comics is sending potential 9.8's to CGC ..it's fairly easy to grade a 9.8 or at least see a potential 9.8 ..so far I am 100 % on about 5 submissions to CGC in which I expected a 9.8, but I am sure if I sent in a lot more , I would be less lucky (in case your question wasn't rhetorical)

Edited June 14, 2022 by Ed Hanes

[Ed Hanes]

On 6/14/2022 at 3:48 PM, Courageous Cat said:

MYCOMICSHOP is good venue to sell your books at auction until the buyer decides not to pay 

Ive only had that happen once in 125 auctions

[Courageous Cat]

On 6/14/2022 at 7:10 PM, Ed Hanes said:

Ive only had that happen once in 125 auctions

just happened to me

[Ed Hanes]

On 6/14/2022 at 4:16 PM, Courageous Cat said:

just happened to me

yeah, it 's annoying..hope you didn't need the money right away

Edited June 14, 2022 by Ed Hanes

[Number 6]

On 6/14/2022 at 3:35 PM, Ed Hanes said:

Not if someone buys that raw, has it slabbed then sends it back to MCS for consignment (buyer and MCS wins and MCS doesn't have to worry about a customer being mad for over-grading)..which is what I have done on several occasions ...but I suppose that would only work if a lot of buyers do that..it was just a theory...probably not valid but ask yourself..will you ever see MCS grade a book a 9.8?

That only works if customers continue to consign raw books with MCS. 
 

You just said you’re not going to consign raws with them anymore. I’m not going to consign raws with them anymore for the same reason. 
 

Consigners are their customers too. The model you outlined above depends on bending their consigners over. Clearly that’s not sustainable. 

[sckao]

That's true. I tried sending some RAWS as a test. Probably won't be consigning any raws in the future. 

 

[Bird]

I bought a book recently and consigned it back without shipping it to me because I was worried about them downgrading it when I sent it back.

[jjfversion1]

What has been people's experience with auction consignments? I have a backlog of slabs and not enough time to list them on my own. I have been trying to find a quick and reliable auction consigner. Curious how the sales compare on MCS to Ebay auctions. Also, what percentage does MCS take for auction sales?

[Axe Elf]

The wages of sin is death, but after the consignment fee, it's more like a bad cold.

[mycomicshop]

Our auction consignment fee is 8%. Minimum $5 for slabs, minimum $7 for raws, maximum $1000 (so any sales above $12,500 the commission is capped at $1000).

[mycomicshop]

Regarding sentiment that our grading is too tight, couple of thoughts:

One, I've mentioned in this or other threads about this topic that this is something I'm reviewing. I'm very happy with our tight grading, but I agree it's possible to go too far. If there are some defects we hammer especially hard, and our grade ends up too far below CGC, I want to identify those areas and potentially adjust a bit. But my goal is not for us to grade exactly the same as CGC. I'm fine with us being a little tighter. That review is a longer term process, not anything that's going to happen immediately.

Two, I would encourage potential consignors deciding whether to send their raw books to us to look at it in terms of where can you get the most money for your comics relative to your investment (labor, shipping, slabbing costs, etc). Focus on that return rather than whether we grade something differently than you would. Because of our reputation for grading, buyers really like buying raw books from us. You can often sell a raw book through us for as much as a slabbed book in the same grade would go for, and in some cases, for somewhat more, and that's without the time and expense of slabbing. But if you prefer slabbing first, we support that too, can submit to CGC for you, and then list your slabs when they come back.

The number of raw consignments submitted to us has increased every year since we started accepting consignments in 2010, with just two exceptions: 2020 was down a bit for covid-related reasons, and 2015 was higher than 2016 due to one especially massive submission. Other than those, we've received more raw consignments every year, and 2021 was our highest ever by a significant margin. Our system works well for a lot of people and a lot of books.

Edited June 15, 2022 by mycomicshop

[DBizzle]

Hi everyone, great information in here, thanks so much for posting.  I'm in a similar spot, too many slabs that I had the intention of selling but no time.  

I'm also from Canada and was thinking of using MCS for consignments, so it was really helpful to find this.   @thehumantorch question for you -- who do you use to ship and do you have to pay customs to get your comics down to MyComicShop?  I've looked through shipping options and customs and the cost seems really high.  For example I have about 30-35 slabs to send down, bought a big box, and was quoted $400 to ship.  I didn't ship it and am looking for other options now.