PGM - Help with Grade pre-purchase 2 2

[aabruzzese]

Hi, 

I am looking at this specific book on Ebay and am wondering if the 9.0 grade to 9.2/9.4 afer clean and press is close. 
The book looks clean but I feel like it has a spine roll and am not sure how much that would reduce the grade. 

Peter Parker The Spectacular Spiderman #28 Frank Miller : HIGH GRADE Cgc 9.0 | eBay

Any assistance is truly appreciated. 

 

[grendelbo]

I think you're looking at 8.0/8.5.

Among a few other minor flaws I see a couple of tiny tears on the front cover's right edge and a small stain near the back cover's coupon. The dirt and soiling probably could be cleaned up but a C&P won't fix the other issues. 

Thanks for posting.

[zzutak]

When it comes to buying, I've always avoided sellers who are (1) inaccurate (this is a raw book, not a "CGC 9.0") and (2) inattentive/sloppy ("What press tour 9.2 or 9.4" -- lousy English, even for a non-native).  The manner in which a listing is put together always says something about the general abilities and attitude of the seller.  Don't ever be surprised when a seller who is less-than-precise and careless with his/her listing is also careless with his/her description, packaging, and post-sale service.

[thehumantorch]

On 7/26/2023 at 4:23 PM, aabruzzese said:

Hi, 

I am looking at this specific book on Ebay and am wondering if the 9.0 grade to 9.2/9.4 afer clean and press is close. 
The book looks clean but I feel like it has a spine roll and am not sure how much that would reduce the grade. 

Peter Parker The Spectacular Spiderman #28 Frank Miller : HIGH GRADE Cgc 9.0 | eBay

Any assistance is truly appreciated. 

 

I'm leaning towards 8.0 to 8.5. Maybe you could get it to 9.0

I avoid sellers who insert CGC into the title and body of a auction when it isn't a CGC graded book.  One sign of dishonesty is a strong indication of more dishonesty.

What's your game plan?  If you want a ungraded 8.5 to 9.0 copy of this book this one is reasonable.

If you want a graded copy recent sales show a CGC 9.6 selling for $79, a CGC 9.4 for $40 and a CGC 9.2 for $32.  Buying this book and paying for shipping and then sending in for a press and grading will run you far more than just buying a nice graded copy  My advice is wait for a reasonably priced graded 9.6

[aabruzzese]

On 7/26/2023 at 4:35 PM, thehumantorch said:

I'm leaning towards 8.0 to 8.5. Maybe you could get it to 9.0

I avoid sellers who insert CGC into the title and body of a auction when it isn't a CGC graded book.  One sign of dishonesty is a strong indication of more dishonesty.

What's your game plan?  If you want a ungraded 8.5 to 9.0 copy of this book this one is reasonable.

If you want a graded copy recent sales show a CGC 9.6 selling for $79, a CGC 9.4 for $40 and a CGC 9.2 for $32.  Buying this book and paying for shipping and then sending in for a press and grading will run you far more than just buying a nice graded copy  My advice is wait for a reasonably priced graded 9.6

I am thinking the same thing, I look at the GoCollect page for each of these books but I am not a subcriber as I don't see the added value of paying GoCollect for data I could probably gather elsewhere. But the main thing is I am trying to build up personal collection of Peter Parker Spectacular Spider-man books. I have been away from the hobby for almost 30 years and now that I am turning 60 an no longer working I find myself scouring Ebay for PPSPM bboks at auction and since I got burned on 2 or 3 raw books by now i am really just bidding on Graded Books and save myself the extra trouble and expense. 

Remember I am in Canada and there is a 30% exchange rate, so paying to buy the book have it shipped to me then shipping it to CGC paying for Grading maybe Pressing and then return shipping makes no sense whatsoever. I am thinking to fill my Run of Peter Parkers and keep it for at least 5 or 10 more years before I look at possibly rehousing them. 

[thehumantorch]

On 7/26/2023 at 5:57 PM, aabruzzese said:

I am thinking the same thing, I look at the GoCollect page for each of these books but I am not a subcriber as I don't see the added value of paying GoCollect for data I could probably gather elsewhere. But the main thing is I am trying to build up personal collection of Peter Parker Spectacular Spider-man books. I have been away from the hobby for almost 30 years and now that I am turning 60 an no longer working I find myself scouring Ebay for PPSPM bboks at auction and since I got burned on 2 or 3 raw books by now i am really just bidding on Graded Books and save myself the extra trouble and expense. 

Remember I am in Canada and there is a 30% exchange rate, so paying to buy the book have it shipped to me then shipping it to CGC paying for Grading maybe Pressing and then return shipping makes no sense whatsoever. I am thinking to fill my Run of Peter Parkers and keep it for at least 5 or 10 more years before I look at possibly rehousing them. 

I'm also in Canada and well aware of exchange rates and insane shipping costs - just paid $185 usd for 1 box weighting about 15 lbs shipped from Heritage auctions.  To be fair, anything you do in this hobby will cost you usd and expensive shipping unless you buy locally.  If there's a comic show close to you or a well run comic store with decent back issues that should be the first place you look.  Also look for local instagram or facebook sellers.

Just to go over costs our last submission of 25 GA and SA books cost us an average of $89 cnd per book.  That includes shipping to our pressor, pressing fees, grading fees and shipping back. So if you pay $10 usd for this book plus $15 usd for shipping and then send it for pressing and grading you'll likely run $130.  And that's if you have 24 other books to send to lower the cost of shipping.  

Where in Canada are you?

[southern cross]

Is that a water mark/ stain, on the back top right of cover?

[southern cross]

I'm at a 6.0

[Point Five]

Sigh. I should just copy/paste all the stuff I said in your various PPSSM #1 threads.

Agree with the consensus; this is a nice but not super-high-grade book. If you want a high grade book *per CGC's standards*, just buy a slabbed book and call it a day.

 

[aabruzzese]

On 7/26/2023 at 5:17 PM, thehumantorch said:

I'm also in Canada and well aware of exchange rates and insane shipping costs - just paid $185 usd for 1 box weighting about 15 lbs shipped from Heritage auctions.  To be fair, anything you do in this hobby will cost you usd and expensive shipping unless you buy locally.  If there's a comic show close to you or a well run comic store with decent back issues that should be the first place you look.  Also look for local instagram or facebook sellers.

Just to go over costs our last submission of 25 GA and SA books cost us an average of $89 cnd per book.  That includes shipping to our pressor, pressing fees, grading fees and shipping back. So if you pay $10 usd for this book plus $15 usd for shipping and then send it for pressing and grading you'll likely run $130.  And that's if you have 24 other books to send to lower the cost of shipping.  

Where in Canada are you?

I am in Montreal, and to be honest I cannot believe the poor supply of Back Issues here. I never expected to check in with five or six of the better known comic shops here some with huge inventories but none of them having Peter Parker Spectacular Spiderman keys that are worth buying. Just the cost of shipping from Ebay Sellers if I buy 6 or 7 individual books would easily cover buying several books.  I still bite my fingers thinking of how I used to hit all the comic books shops back in the day and get those comics right off the rack and somehow I missed Peterr Parker #7-11 Canadian price variants.  I have allot of Justice League and one off's I will package and sell them as a bundle on Ebay for cheap.   Where in Canada are you and are you a dealer or a collector? 
 

[aabruzzese]

On 7/26/2023 at 5:48 PM, southern cross said:

Is that a water mark/ stain, on the back top right of cover?

My eyesight is just not good enough for the level of detail, I am amazed at the things you guys see from a Scan or picture. 

[aabruzzese]

On 7/26/2023 at 5:54 PM, Point Five said:

Sigh. I should just copy/paste all the stuff I said in your various PPSSM #1 threads.

Agree with the consensus; this is a nice but not super-high-grade book. If you want a high grade book *per CGC's standards*, just buy a slabbed book and call it a day.

 

I know, I have been trying to get a nice copy at a reasonable price. I lost out on a few auctions, but this book is #28 
My nest target is #64 , which I have access to a 9.2 Graded for 120$ Canadian.  I figure I can slowly replace all my mid or lower end high grade books with better copies. and pre-slabbed whenever possible. 

[LowGradeBronze]

This looks fine as a book to keep raw but check the response to the negative feedback on the Groo lot. Who does that? Who is mad enough to get the books back from the wrong buyer (!) then send them free of charge to the right buyer, after you've refunded them? Not sure I believe that. The other neg is about poor packaging. Best avoid.

[thehumantorch]

On 7/27/2023 at 7:27 AM, aabruzzese said:

I am in Montreal, and to be honest I cannot believe the poor supply of Back Issues here. I never expected to check in with five or six of the better known comic shops here some with huge inventories but none of them having Peter Parker Spectacular Spiderman keys that are worth buying. Just the cost of shipping from Ebay Sellers if I buy 6 or 7 individual books would easily cover buying several books.  I still bite my fingers thinking of how I used to hit all the comic books shops back in the day and get those comics right off the rack and somehow I missed Peterr Parker #7-11 Canadian price variants.  I have allot of Justice League and one off's I will package and sell them as a bundle on Ebay for cheap.   Where in Canada are you and are you a dealer or a collector? 
 

I'm in Edmonton.  I'm a collector but I've also set up at shows for 15 years and buy collections.  My best advice is to be patient.  Wait for the right copies.  These aren't rare and will pop up.

[Nschenks]

Just seconding what everyone else said (and what I've said before on the SSM1 post). If you want a book like this in high grade...just buy it in high grade! Especially in the current selling climate, people are looking to unload slabs like this, so you can probably find a very good deal out there (or make a reasonable offer and likely have it accepted).

Also, this is not a VF/NM book (listing a book as a CGC grade when it's raw is a big red flag), so it will almost certainly not press to higher.

Here are some other red flags to keep an eye out for when sifting through raw books on eBay (from my own anecdotal experiences):

-Something listed as 'high grade' or 'very high grade' in the listing title

-Anyone not willing to provide additional photos

-Any books that don't have photos outside of a bag

-Books where the photos are blurred or the edges are cutoff, etc. (and you still get bad photos when you ask for more)

-"CGC it!"

There are of course exceptions to these (and there are many more red flags out there), but in general a book is listed it's because someone wants to sell it--and there a lot of sellers out there who don't care if their practices are questionable/shady and will intentionally misrepresent a book to sell it. If you're bound and determined to find high grade raws, the simplest rule of thumb is just to ignore any listed grade entirely and find a listing that has a lot of very high quality images, with a responsive seller who is willing to answer questions/provide more images if necessary (doesn't even need a ton of ratings--I've gotten great books from people who probably only made an account recently to sell a few books and so only had an 11 or something). A lot of reputable sellers intentionally list books at very conservative grades or don't list a grade at all--I've bought raws listed as VF (or with no grade mentioned at all) that ended up being 9.6/9.8 books--and I've also seen the flip-side. Use your best judgment, and err on the side of caution.

If you really want this book raw in high grade, make a 'saved search' for it on the eBay app (works better on the phone than in a browser for some reason) and check the new listings every day until you find one that is unmistakably the grade you want. Make sure the price is fair, and don't go over the max you'd be willing to pay for it (whether it be auction or buy-it-now). And even if you get it, be prepared that there will be something you missed. If you are conservative in your own estimates and patient in trying to find what you want, there's a very good chance you will find a good deal.

Hope this helps--good luck! (all that said...I really think you should just buy it graded...)

[aabruzzese]

On 7/27/2023 at 3:00 PM, thehumantorch said:

I'm in Edmonton.  I'm a collector but I've also set up at shows for 15 years and buy collections.  My best advice is to be patient.  Wait for the right copies.  These aren't rare and will pop up.

I am going to just get in the habit of looking for Slabbed books, I don't trust any of these people on Ebay that give out a grade when the book is raw.  My eyesight is not that good, so I miss some of the details most of the folks on here point out.  I have a list of Peter Parkers that I am working on to complete the set of Keys and maybe the entire run. 

[thehumantorch]

On 7/27/2023 at 6:31 PM, aabruzzese said:

I am going to just get in the habit of looking for Slabbed books, I don't trust any of these people on Ebay that give out a grade when the book is raw.  My eyesight is not that good, so I miss some of the details most of the folks on here point out.  I have a list of Peter Parkers that I am working on to complete the set of Keys and maybe the entire run. 

Also consider mycomicshop, they're very good graders.

[Semicentennial]

It does not look like it'll press above VF with that back corner water stain, and slight color loss on the front cover right edge.