Our Recent Experience Selling Comics Through Mycomicshop 23 23

[thehumantorch]

On 9/24/2023 at 7:27 PM, Nick Furious said:

On 9/24/2023 at 7:05 PM, RobAnybody said:

I have a question on how/why things work like they do: If I assign something to an auction, & that auction is, like, a month from now, why not keep it on my Buy It Now list until that auction starts? It appears (from what I see) that it gets removed from my active listings & is just in limbo for a month. Just curious, what's the reasoning behind that? Wouldn't it be better to keep my Buy It Now listing active until the Auction starts?

I've thought about the same thing before.  I think the answer is that there are a specific number of slots in each auction.  When you assign something to auction you reserve one of those slots.  If the book got sold a few days before the auction, that would leave a slot empty.  

Yes, I'd think it would be difficult for mycomicshop to manage a future auction when items are being added and pulled.

[circuitryusa]

Based on advice from these boards, I started putting a few slabs into consignment as well.

I pulled all my slabs from MySlabs to move into MCS... I just got NO traction at all on Myslabs...and no data telling me about any activity or views.

Whenever I want to sell into something, I first act as a buyer to understand how the whole process goes (did it with eBay, MySlabs, etc). On that regard, I bought a few slabs and was very impressed with the email notifications, shipping price, and shipping speed. Then, on top of that, they are packaged so well and very organized!!! I was very impressed! I love the slab holders they use and will use them to send more slabs back to them :-) 

As far as a seller, the site is a little clunky to use, kinda low-tech in terms of interface and organization, but high tech in terms of the data they have and make available... you just need to know where to click and find it... After being on the site for about a month, I still need to play "oops, not that link.. maybe this one?" often with many browser back button presses to find what I am looking for. I'm sure in time it'll get more natural. I recall ebay was also like that for me. I hated it at first, now I'm just used to it and know exactly where to click (for better or worse.. haha .)

It's pretty neat how they list recent sales when you set your price, and also show very detailed offer history for my slabs (with the auto-declines for low-ball offers) and price setting history (along with day counts). I have still yet to make a sale after about 2 weeks, but I am trying out the "credit option" instead of payment to basically act as a trade system for me. So, I am in no specific hurry, but would be good to sell some stuff (isn't that the whole point of putting them there anyway???) I already have their trust in that regard due to this board and the comments from all of you about how good they are. I am excited to "trade up" several of my lower priced books into 1 or 2 higher priced books in the future. I would NEVER consider letting eBay hold onto my "credits" for future purchases. I just started seeing advertisements lately to that regard:

but I wouldn't touch that with anyone's money!!!

My only gripe is that "black-hole" time at MCS when they show your consignment as "completed", yet you can't set prices yet.

They eventually email you, but to me, "completed" means I should be able to set prices or put into an auction. Yet, I still need to wait a few more days while it is "setup".

I'd prefer it more as "verified, catalogued, and scanned" or the like instead of the term "completed". But, it's all good. So far I'm happy with the process, already made my new spreadsheet calculator for net profit (loss) using MCS, and I am interested to see how this goes.

If you have been hesitant trying it out, I think there is very little risk here. The communication is clear, the trust is already there, and I think nothing here is "final". You can even get your slabs back if you really wanted to. So, you are still in control... but with more closet/garage space back!!! 

I've already eyed about 20-30 more slabs I plan to send in the next few weeks.

Thanks everyone for all the advice and info about this!!! 

 

 

Edited September 26, 2023 by circuitryusa

[Nick Furious]

Do you all tune in to the Weekly MCS auctions?  It's usually a good buying opportunity if you want the books that are offered.  A little too good.  I wish they would get more aggressive about recruiting buyers for the regular weeklies.  After my results last time, I'm hesitant to put books into anything but the Prime Auction.  As a potential buyer, I like that they have a tab for "Featured Items" each week though:

Weekly Auction Ending Oct 2 (mycomicshop.com)

Edited September 27, 2023 by Nick Furious

[Ryan.]

On 9/26/2023 at 10:32 PM, Nick Furious said:

Do you all tune in to the Weekly MCS auctions?  It's usually a good buying opportunity if you want the books that are offered.  A little too good.  I wish they would get more aggressive about recruiting buyers for the regular weeklies.  After my results last time, I'm hesitant to put books into anything but the Prime Auction.  As a potential buyer, I like that they have a tab for "Featured Items" each week though:

Weekly Auction Ending Oct 2 (mycomicshop.com)

The weekly auctions are great for clearing out stuff in that $25-$100 range. Variants, signed raws, prints, omnibi, etc. I've gotten surprisingly strong results on that kind of stuff, relatively speaking. Any books with real value should definitely be reserved for the Prime auctions. 

[1Cool]

On 8/8/2023 at 9:16 AM, Gaard said:

Just did my first consignment with them (2nd one is in this week's auction) and I couldn't believe how easy it was.

The only thing that kind of surprised me (and this is probably all me) is that every one of my comics that were sent in were vastly graded lower than what I graded them. I'm not talking most of them, or even some of them, but EVERY one of them. And I'm not talking a little off, or slightly different grades, but very different grades. Again, this is probably an indication of how sucky I am at grading. ...but every one of them? I think my next batch that I send them, I'll post all of them in the PGM forum here first.

 

Wow - that is kind of crazy to see.  No idea how you grade but a 9.4 to 5.5 is quite the drop!

[thehumantorch]

On 9/26/2023 at 5:13 PM, circuitryusa said:

Based on advice from these boards, I started putting a few slabs into consignment as well.

I pulled all my slabs from MySlabs to move into MCS... I just got NO traction at all on Myslabs...and no data telling me about any activity or views.

Whenever I want to sell into something, I first act as a buyer to understand how the whole process goes (did it with eBay, MySlabs, etc). On that regard, I bought a few slabs and was very impressed with the email notifications, shipping price, and shipping speed. Then, on top of that, they are packaged so well and very organized!!! I was very impressed! I love the slab holders they use and will use them to send more slabs back to them :-) 

As far as a seller, the site is a little clunky to use, kinda low-tech in terms of interface and organization, but high tech in terms of the data they have and make available... you just need to know where to click and find it... After being on the site for about a month, I still need to play "oops, not that link.. maybe this one?" often with many browser back button presses to find what I am looking for. I'm sure in time it'll get more natural. I recall ebay was also like that for me. I hated it at first, now I'm just used to it and know exactly where to click (for better or worse.. haha .)

It's pretty neat how they list recent sales when you set your price, and also show very detailed offer history for my slabs (with the auto-declines for low-ball offers) and price setting history (along with day counts). I have still yet to make a sale after about 2 weeks, but I am trying out the "credit option" instead of payment to basically act as a trade system for me. So, I am in no specific hurry, but would be good to sell some stuff (isn't that the whole point of putting them there anyway???) I already have their trust in that regard due to this board and the comments from all of you about how good they are. I am excited to "trade up" several of my lower priced books into 1 or 2 higher priced books in the future. I would NEVER consider letting eBay hold onto my "credits" for future purchases. I just started seeing advertisements lately to that regard:

but I wouldn't touch that with anyone's money!!!

My only gripe is that "black-hole" time at MCS when they show your consignment as "completed", yet you can't set prices yet.

They eventually email you, but to me, "completed" means I should be able to set prices or put into an auction. Yet, I still need to wait a few more days while it is "setup".

I'd prefer it more as "verified, catalogued, and scanned" or the like instead of the term "completed". But, it's all good. So far I'm happy with the process, already made my new spreadsheet calculator for net profit (loss) using MCS, and I am interested to see how this goes.

If you have been hesitant trying it out, I think there is very little risk here. The communication is clear, the trust is already there, and I think nothing here is "final". You can even get your slabs back if you really wanted to. So, you are still in control... but with more closet/garage space back!!! 

I've already eyed about 20-30 more slabs I plan to send in the next few weeks.

Thanks everyone for all the advice and info about this!!! 

 

 

Could you give us examples of the books you've sent and price you're asking?

[shadroch]

Setting up for the auction is expensive and time-consuming. 

[Nick Furious]

Would it be a violation of forum rules for members to use this thread to post the books that they have in MCS auctions?  Either with or without links to the auction?  

[shadroch]

There is a place for that in the marketplace. I don't think this is a thread for posting sale items.

[Beastfeast]

One of my auctions on MCS just set an all time GPA low this afternoon 

[1Cool]

On 10/2/2023 at 11:18 PM, Beastfeast said:

One of my auctions on MCS just set an all time GPA low this afternoon 

Congrats on making a sale!

[Axelrod]

On 10/2/2023 at 11:14 PM, Nick Furious said:

Would it be a violation of forum rules for members to use this thread to post the books that they have in MCS auctions?  Either with or without links to the auction?  

People advertise their books in MCS auctions here:

https://boards.cgccomics.com/forum/19-comics-market-sales-advertising-ebay-dealers-etc/

[mycomicshop]

On 9/24/2023 at 8:05 PM, RobAnybody said:

I have a question on how/why things work like they do: If I assign something to an auction, & that auction is, like, a month from now, why not keep it on my Buy It Now list until that auction starts? It appears (from what I see) that it gets removed from my active listings & is just in limbo for a month. Just curious, what's the reasoning behind that? Wouldn't it be better to keep my Buy It Now listing active until the Auction starts?

It's not so much an intentional omission as just something we have never built support for. Currently, items are either BINs, or auctions, but not both.

We could build something to allow items to be designated for auction in the future but remain as BINs. It's doable, and a good idea.

[MisterMR]

On 10/3/2023 at 9:50 AM, mycomicshop said:

It's not so much an intentional omission as just something we have never built support for. Currently, items are either BINs, or auctions, but not both.

We could build something to allow items to be designated for auction in the future but remain as BINs. It's doable, and a good idea.

Did you all get rid of the Zelle option for when you buy a consignment/auction item? It was a great way to avoid the buyer’s premium, especially when I’ve won items over $1k, but I’ve noticed it hasn’t been there on the last few items I’ve bought. 

[speedcake]

On 9/27/2023 at 8:31 AM, 1Cool said:

Wow - that is kind of crazy to see.  No idea how you grade but a 9.4 to 5.5 is quite the drop!

I had the same experience.  I sent in a ton of books earlier this year and just about to a book they were all quite under graded by MCS, in many instances it was not even close.  For example I sent in three books that had been cracked out of cgc slabs, a couple of 9.2s, and a 9.4.  The 9.4 book was given a grade of VF-,  one 9.2 was given a raw grade of FN/VF, and the other a VF.  Many other books that I was very confident about grading on came back just way, way too low. A few books here or there I could understand, but it was almost every single book. sigh

I mean I understand being conservative with grading, but this is a little extreme IMO and it was the only part of the selling experience that I had any issues with. So if you are buying there, ya you are likely going to do pretty well on average with actual condition of books vs as advertised condition.

Everything else is handled top notch.

[Beastfeast]

I sent my first batch of raw books last week and I’ll see how they do. Expecting some downgrades but it’s stuff I have like, $1 in so it doesn’t matter all that much. 

[1Cool]

On 10/4/2023 at 11:46 AM, speedcake said:

I had the same experience.  I sent in a ton of books earlier this year and just about to a book they were all quite under graded by MCS, in many instances it was not even close.  For example I sent in three books that had been cracked out of cgc slabs, a couple of 9.2s, and a 9.4.  The 9.4 book was given a grade of VF-,  one 9.2 was given a raw grade of FN/VF, and the other a VF.  Many other books that I was very confident about grading on came back just way, way too low. A few books here or there I could understand, but it was almost every single book. sigh

I mean I understand being conservative with grading, but this is a little extreme IMO and it was the only part of the selling experience that I had any issues with. So if you are buying there, ya you are likely going to do pretty well on average with actual condition of books vs as advertised condition.

Everything else is handled top notch.

Now that is kind of stupid in my book.  Unless there was some extreme slab shaking going on a CGC 9.4 shouldn't get a 7.5 from anyone.  I know - I know . . it all work out in the end since people just expect the books to be under graded but that level of difference is just confusing to everyone involved.  They can grade how ever they please but it just seems dumb to be that strict that 9.4 books are being graded 7.5 / 8.0 (not once but over and over again).

Edited October 4, 2023 by 1Cool

[thehumantorch]

On 10/4/2023 at 9:46 AM, speedcake said:

I had the same experience.  I sent in a ton of books earlier this year and just about to a book they were all quite under graded by MCS, in many instances it was not even close.  For example I sent in three books that had been cracked out of cgc slabs, a couple of 9.2s, and a 9.4.  The 9.4 book was given a grade of VF-,  one 9.2 was given a raw grade of FN/VF, and the other a VF.  Many other books that I was very confident about grading on came back just way, way too low. A few books here or there I could understand, but it was almost every single book. sigh

I mean I understand being conservative with grading, but this is a little extreme IMO and it was the only part of the selling experience that I had any issues with. So if you are buying there, ya you are likely going to do pretty well on average with actual condition of books vs as advertised condition.

Everything else is handled top notch.

My first submission was mostly graded books and a few raws.  Grading seemed tight and now I just send them graded books.

[Snowdon]

On 10/3/2023 at 12:50 PM, mycomicshop said:

It's not so much an intentional omission as just something we have never built support for. Currently, items are either BINs, or auctions, but not both.

We could build something to allow items to be designated for auction in the future but remain as BINs. It's doable, and a good idea.

Hey- Is there any support for new clients that want to buy a book? I can't believe there's all these restrictions for new customers for books worth over $500 or those north of the border (Canada). 

I see from the website: 

If you are a new customer without an established history of ordering from us high value orders (at our discretion) must be paid by bank transfer, check, or money order. Once you have an established order history with us you will be able to use credit card or PayPal payment for higher value orders.

I don't buy books often online and I don't have anything else I'm interested in. 

 

EDIT: Mycomicshop took care of me, I'm pretty shccked that they were able to do this. Top notch customer service, and they have my business!

Edited October 4, 2023 by Snowdon
Mycomicshop customer service here is top-notch

[mycomicshop]

On 10/4/2023 at 3:01 PM, 1Cool said:

Now that is kind of stupid in my book.  Unless there was some extreme slab shaking going on a CGC 9.4 shouldn't get a 7.5 from anyone.  I know - I know . . it all work out in the end since people just expect the books to be under graded but that level of difference is just confusing to everyone involved.  They can grade how ever the please but it just seems dumb to be that strict that 9.4 books are being graded 7.5 / 8.0 (not once but over and over again).

I can't speak to any specific books in the abstract, have to have an actual book in hand for us to look at and review why we arrived at our grade, but in our internal testing comparing our grading vs CGC's across a larger sample of test books, the most common area that produces larger differences in grade are internal flaws, such as a partially detached centerfold, and in some cases spine issues. Things that are either completely invisible once a book is encapsulated (interior flaws), or at least harder to see (some spine stuff).

In some cases, we think CGC just missed the interior flaws, and in other cases, they didn't necessarily miss them but don't account for them as strongly as we do because again, once encapsulated, the flaw isn't visible. Raw books purchased from us are easily opened up and our buyers do see those flaws.

I have no idea whether that's relevant to this book or not, and not saying it is--just pointing out that in my experience those interior and sometimes spine defects are often responsible for the largest difference of opinion between us and CGC.