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Rarity / Scarcity
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91 posts in this topic

Is there a website that will give you a Rarity / Scarcity rating? I dont have a Gerber photo journal. 

The reason Im asking is I bought a GA book today that said it was "Scarce" on the post it note, and last Sunday I bought a book Ive never heard of, both books have less than 2 books listed on ebay with 1 at least sold of each. Does that make them "rare or scarce"?

One book has a CGC census of 13 (grade ranges from .5-7.0) the other has 63 (grades .5-9.0)

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On 10/27/2022 at 12:26 AM, Raze said:

Is there a website that will give you a Rarity / Scarcity rating?

You can get this from pretty much every dealer's website or eBay store. :juggle:

Possible Sources for Scarcity Info:

Gerber included a Scarcity Index in his Photo Journal Guide to Comic books, which is highly recommended for any GA collector, especially new ones.  This index is from 1990 and reflects the thoughts of a few knowledgeable individuals at that point in time.

Overstreet Guide

Heritage Auction Archives (but not everything has been sold through their site)

CGC Census (but not everything has been slabbed, especially inexpensive comics)

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I like to Think that he term scarce is only used for books Overstreet names as scarce.  Similar to how a book may use a first appearance notation also grandfathered into their selling description data.  And since he old scarcity rankings have evolved, old listings debunked, others now considered scarce, sellers probably keep saying scarce where the Guide uses it, but feel free to use it for other books talked about as s scarce, or scarce in grade — which often gets left off.

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On 10/27/2022 at 12:26 PM, Raze said:

One book has a CGC census of 13 (grade ranges from .5-7.0) the other has 63 (grades .5-9.0)

Based on those census numbers, however the terms are defined, the 2 books you just bought are neither rare nor scarce.

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On 10/26/2022 at 11:47 PM, Dr. Love said:

As regards your second question

Commonly, rarity speaks to value while scarcity speaks to availability relative to demand

Thats is a great way to look at that. 

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All of the sources mentioned are helpful especially as the books get more expensive. Not so much for low price books with little to no demand. I also use CGCdata.com to get a historical perspective of the census. My personal definition is scarce are books I don’t own and rare are books I’ve hardly if ever seen. 

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On 10/27/2022 at 8:33 AM, tth2 said:

Based on those census numbers, however the terms are defined, the 2 books you just bought are neither rare nor scarce.

I thought the one book with only 13 graded would be scarce. It seems like a low number, and for that matter 63 seems low as well. 
 

I say that because Ive seen somewhere that the gerber rating said something to the effect of a gerber 6 have 20-200 known copies, but because it was released in the 90s (gerber photo journal) that you should double the number. So a gerber 6 should have 40-400 copies. Both have under that number.

 

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On 10/27/2022 at 7:50 AM, ThothAmon said:

Without knowing what comics you are referring to makes the numbers themselves somewhat meaningless. Take my Comics on Parade 37, a Gerber 4. rare? Scarce?  Neither in my book because the demand is low. Cool fodder. 
 

F53ED2BF-1118-4CE2-BBE0-836A700BA312.jpeg

DD3F1589-305C-4A06-AEF3-D8EA48F551FC.jpeg

05FF3C28-BB63-44F5-8417-5A8B5915303B.jpeg

But just try to find one if you are looking for one…

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The problem -- well, okay, a problem -- with using the CGC Census as a measure of actual scarcity is that the Census is something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. People largely (but not exclusively) get books slabbed because they are perceived as having broad market appeal, which in turn ensures they are more visible on the secondary markets, which increases that very perception. Books that don't get drawn into that cycle -- especially including disfavored genres like joke books or non-Disney funny animals -- are encapsulated less often on both a relative and absolute basis. It is very difficult to take that (or any) single data set and use it to distinguish between lack of available copies versus mere lack of interest.

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Here's Ernie Gerber's scarcity index;  Keep in mind though that it was done "pre-internet".  If it had been done this century, the numbers might look different.  There is no reference to money value, nor should there be, since that depends on demand.  A copy of Phantom Lady is certainly going to be worth far more than a different comic book female, such as Little Lulu.

Gerber_Scale.jpg

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On 10/27/2022 at 5:42 PM, Raze said:

If I share them I cant put "Rare / Scarce" in my sales thread title :shiftyeyes: lol

Here they are. I wanted the Approved Comics 9 for the Baker cover the post it said "Very Scarce Matt Baker Cover Golden Age!" and the Atomic Thunderbolt was a late add on to a multi book deal.

Scan 2022-10-26 22.56.43.jpg

Scan 2022-10-27 19.42.12.jpg

Scan 2022-10-23 23.56.42.jpg

I hope you didn’t have to pay “very scarce” prices for them…:roflmao:

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