Would you buy a Conserved Golden age Comic book.? Looking for opinions 4 4

[Robot Man]

On 10/17/2023 at 11:17 AM, fifties said:

Pedigree shmedigree; just an excuse to up the price IMNSHO.  The copies were all "born" equal.  Tagging on a cutesy label is like putting lipstick on a pig.

Maybe so. But there is something special about a lot of them. The obvious condition and the fact that they were saved from the ravages of time and without the desire to profit from them. The stories. Both of the original owner as well as those who made the discovery. Many have a special place in the history of the hobby.

I have many of them bought at the time of discovery. I never paid the huge price jumps they have made today. Although, I paid slight multiples of guide back in the early days of the guide.

Most are wonderful books that every collector should have at least one in their collection if for nothing else than for their history. 

[fishbone]

On 10/18/2023 at 11:10 AM, Robot Man said:

Maybe so. But there is something special about a lot of them. The obvious condition and the fact that they were saved from the ravages of time and without the desire to profit from them. The stories. Both of the original owner as well as those who made the discovery. Many have a special place in the history of the hobby.

I have many of them bought at the time of discovery. I never paid the huge price jumps they have made today. Although, I paid slight multiples of guide back in the early days of the guide.

Most are wonderful books that every collector should have at least one in their collection if for nothing else than for their history. 

yup

[lou_fine]

On 10/16/2023 at 11:27 AM, whomerjay said:

CGC is charging what- 3% of FMV?- to slab expensive books. I imagine that is a deterrent to getting some books slabbed. I really don’t get that pricing policy; it’s not as if it costs them extra to grade an expensive book. 

Boy, you really are dating yourself here with this 3% of FMV to grade and slab a so-called "expensive" book.  

You do realize it's now 2023 and the CCG ownership group has you by by what's hanging between your legs and squeezing and pressing it as hard as they can while they are reaching for your wallet in the back at the same time.  

Seriously though, luckily for all of us here the cost for now is only 4% of FMV for their Unlimited Value Tier (i.e. anything above a mere $1,000) with a minimum charge of $150.  This basically means that if you have a book valued at $1,001 the cost to have it graded and slabbed is only a mere $150.  Of course, with grading standards now subtlety adjusted to target shall we say "additional revenue generating" defects, a large majority of submittors will now also send their books into CCS in order to "prep" them for grading in fear they get punished when it crosses the Grader's table.  So, if you go for this additional and almost required service, you need only pay another 4% of FMV for their Unlimited Tier with once again a minimum charge of $150.  So, for your $1,001 book you will now be paying only $300 or a mere 30% ( was that just a typo on your part when you said 3%  ) to have it prepped, graded, slabbed, and let's not forget the shipping charges on top of that.    

Since the CCG ownership group have been having annual increases in their grading and submission fees and tier adjustments every Spring for the past few years, it's probably best to send your books in right now before they bump them up once again.  I would not at all be suprised to see the next increase set at say 5% of FMV with the Unlimited Value Tier lowered once again this time to $750 and a minimum charge of $200 per book, with submittors still lining up and banging down the doors of CCS/CGC to get their books prepped and graded.   

Edited October 19, 2023 by lou_fine

[D84]

I remember when people told me I was crazy when I said Blackrock would make CGC a pump and dump, but we are the middle it right now. The dump will come in a couple years.

[fifties]

On 10/19/2023 at 7:14 AM, lou_fine said:

Boy, you really are dating yourself here with this 3% of FMV to grade and slab a so-called "expensive" book.  

 

Seriously though, luckily for all of us here the cost for now is only 4% of FMV for their Unlimited Value Tier (i.e. anything above a mere $1,000) with a minimum charge of $150.  This basically means that if you have a book valued at $1,001 the cost to have it graded and slabbed is only a mere $150.

 

  Of course, with grading standards now subtlety adjusted to target shall we say "additional revenue generating" defects, a large majority of submittors will now also send their books into CCS in order to "prep" them for grading in fear they get punished when it crosses the Grader's table.  So, if you go for this additional and almost required service   

 

I thought CGC only charged 25 bucks for grading and slabbing.  Now you say the minimal charge is $150.

AFA "grading standards now subtlety adjusted", I have noticed a decrease in the qualification of books now given grades that were previously assigned for books in better condition.

"Prepping a book for grading"?  I dunno, seems kinda like cheating, but whatever.

[lou_fine]

On 10/19/2023 at 5:52 PM, fifties said:

I thought CGC only charged 25 bucks for grading and slabbing.  Now you say the minimal charge is $150.

 

It indeed is only $25 for grading and slabbing as long as it is just a Modern book with a value of less than $400, which means $25 for anything post 1975 that's pretty much not worth grading and $37 if it's a Vintage book or pre-1975 that's worth less than $400:  

https://www.cgccomics.com/submit/services-fees/cgc-grading/

If the book is valued between $400 to $1,000 then it falls into the so-called "High Value" tier with a fixed fee of $85.  If you've actually got a book that's worth grading and valued at more then $1,000 then it falls into the "Unlimited" tier at 4% of FMV with a minimum charge of $150.    

 

On 10/19/2023 at 5:52 PM, fifties said:

"Prepping a book for grading"?  I dunno, seems kinda like cheating, but whatever.

Isn't this the whole premise behind the CPR game and for submittors to pay multiple times to get the exact same book graded and slabbed?  

[fifties]

On 10/19/2023 at 10:16 PM, lou_fine said:

 

 

Isn't this the whole premise behind the CPR game and for submittors to pay multiple times to get the exact same book graded and slabbed?  

Umm, what exactly is "the CPR game"?

Edited October 20, 2023 by fifties

[lou_fine]

On 10/19/2023 at 10:54 PM, fifties said:

Umm, what exactly is "the CPR game"?

Crack, press, and resubmit.  

As a result, pressing and cleaning is virtually part and parcel of the whole certification process now with submittors afraid that their raw books will be hit hard if they don't take care of those near invisible defects that you can see only with a loupe while the book is sitting on a light table.  Of course, if its a slabbed book that you've just brought for resale purspose, you would also then be strongly encourage to crack press, and resubmit it becasue you don't know if its potential has already been maximized yet or not.  

Of course the CCG ownership motto is: Why make money on the exact same book only once when you can make money on it multiple times, especially when your customers are gladly lining up for months on end just so they can send their books into you, even as you are raisng prices for these very services.  

From just a pure business point of view, is this not the perfect business model that all corporations dream of having.  

 

Edited October 20, 2023 by lou_fine

[action1kid]

So how much does it cost to slab a 8.0 unrestored copy of Action comics # 1 with a value of say 4 million dollars?

[CGC Mike]

On 10/20/2023 at 7:41 AM, action1kid said:

So how much does it cost to slab a 8.0 unrestored copy of Action comics # 1 with a value of say 4 million dollars?

I believe it is $160,130 provided you live in the US.  This includes $100,000 worth of return shipping insurance.  

[action1kid]

You were kind enough to answer. But that is crazy.

[D84]

@CGC Mike Is $100,000 the most insurance CGC can get on a book that valuable?

Edited October 20, 2023 by D84

[action1kid]

Let Heritage submit it for better coverage. I’ll bet they can. 

[CGC Mike]

On 10/20/2023 at 9:49 AM, D84 said:

@CGC Mike Is $100,000 the most insurance CGC can get on a book that valuable?

Yes.

CGC generally ships completed submissions to US addresses via FedEx with insurance coverage of up to $100,000 per package procured by CGC. For completed submissions being returned to an international address, CGC generally ships via FedEx, with insurance coverage of up to $50,000 per package procured by CGC. The FedEx shipping method used is based on the submitter’s declared values.

IMPORTANT: If you would like to pick up your submission at a FedEx location, you must either enter the FedEx location’s address as the return shipping address (along with your name) or sign up for FedEx Delivery Manager to manage your incoming shipments. For security reasons, CGC will not change the shipping address or instructions after the submission has shipped from our facility. Any undelivered shipments returned to CGC will be subject to additional shipping fees charged to the submitter.

[fishbone]

On 10/20/2023 at 8:25 AM, action1kid said:

You were kind enough to answer. But that is crazy.

but isn't this just a simple calculation that Mike didn't need to answer - 4% of 4 million ........    4% of anything over $1000 and there is your number ?

 

The added insurance answer is very interesting though .....

 

[fifties]

On 10/19/2023 at 11:13 PM, lou_fine said:

Crack, press, and resubmit.  

As a result, pressing and cleaning is virtually part and parcel of the whole certification process now with submittors afraid that their raw books will be hit hard if they don't take care of those near invisible defects that you can see only with a loupe while the book is sitting on a light table.  Of course, if its a slabbed book that you've just brought for resale purspose, you would also then be strongly encourage to crack press, and resubmit it becasue you don't know if its potential has already been maximized yet or not.  

Of course the CCG ownership motto is: Why make money on the exact same book only once when you can make money on it multiple times, especially when your customers are gladly lining up for months on end just so they can send their books into you, even as you are raisng prices for these very services.  

From just a pure business point of view, is this not the perfect business model that all corporations dream of having.  

 

Thx very much for the enlightenment.  As a collector for reading, keeping, and enjoying cover art, the slabbing business is foreign to me.  And yes, CGC appears to be making out like bandits.  Not to disparage them, but the activity seems similar to drug dealers, whose customers keep returning for more.

[lou_fine]

On 10/20/2023 at 4:41 AM, action1kid said:

So how much does it cost to slab a 8.0 unrestored copy of Action comics # 1 with a value of say 4 million dollars?

 

On 10/20/2023 at 4:54 AM, CGC Mike said:

I believe it is $160,130 provided you live in the US.  This includes $100,000 worth of return shipping insurance.  

 

On 10/20/2023 at 5:25 AM, action1kid said:

You were kind enough to answer. But that is crazy.

Well, if you have a book like that valued into the millions of dollars, you really should have gotten it graded when CGC still had maximum caps in place for how much they would charged you for grading a book.  If I remember correctly, they started off with a maximum cap of $3K and then bumped it up to to a maximum cap of $5K several years later, irregardless of what the FMV of the book is.  

Sad to say, but they've now replaced their maximum caps with minimum charges instead and removed the maximum cap on their Unlimited tier.  

[action1kid]

160k to grade an Action 1 ???????

[lou_fine]

On 10/20/2023 at 4:09 PM, action1kid said:

160k to grade an Action 1 ???????

You better do it now before it gets bumped up to $200K next year plus let's not forget another $200K if you want to "maximize its potential".  

[lou_fine]

On 10/20/2023 at 4:54 AM, CGC Mike said:

On 10/20/2023 at 4:41 AM, action1kid said:

So how much does it cost to slab a 8.0 unrestored copy of Action comics # 1 with a value of say 4 million dollars?

I believe it is $160,130 provided you live in the US. 

If my elementary school arithmetic is correct, then 4% of $4 million dollars should work out to only $160,000................what is the extra $130 for?