If slab says 9.8, does it matter what grade the actual comic actually is? What are we buying, anyway? The comic or the grade? 5 5

[Lightning55]

On 3/13/2024 at 11:50 AM, shadroch said:

Is it really fraud? 

I have two X-men 94s. One is in a mylar with an NM label and a $4,000 price tag. The other is in a mylar with a VF label and a $2,000 price tag. While doing my monthly check for rusty staples, I accidentally switched mylars. Someone buys the VF book in the NM label and pays $4,000 for it. Where is the fraud?

CGC goes to great pains to say their grade is an opinion only , and provides no guarantees that it is accurate. 

It's a scummy thing to do, and anyone who suspects a switched slab should avoid doing business, with the seller but I'm not convinced it is a crime. I think the lack of any real punishments in these cases is going to encourage an awful lot of imitators and open the door to more scams.

Definitely a fraud to switch out a 3rd party graded, authenticated comic of lower grade into a case of a higher grade.

The buyer is relying on the authority of the grading company as being an accurate assessment of the grade and authenticity of the comic, as well as it being the exact copy that was graded. To tamper with a certified anything is misrepresentation. 

For you, as the seller, accidentally swapping out comics, the buyer is not relying on a 3rd party opinion. He has his own opinion, and can also take your opinion into consideration. If he is comfortable with the comic and what he is paying for it, that's a legit situation.

Two completely unrelated scenarios.

[shadroch]

On 3/13/2024 at 1:39 PM, Lightning55 said:

Definitely a fraud to switch out a 3rd party graded, authenticated comic of lower grade into a case of a higher grade.

The buyer is relying on the authority of the grading company as being an accurate assessment of the grade and authenticity of the comic, as well as it being the exact copy that was graded. To tamper with a certified anything is misrepresentation. 

For you, as the seller, accidentally swapping out comics, the buyer is not relying on a 3rd party opinion. He has his own opinion, and can also take your opinion into consideration. If he is comfortable with the comic and what he is paying for it, that's a legit situation.

Two completely unrelated scenarios.

Who gave a private business the right to certify anything, especially a company that isn't exactly standing by its certifications?  Is it fraud against CGC or fraud against the buyer- who was given a chance to look over the book before he bought it?  I think it is sleazy, but I also believe any decent lawyer would have a strong defense.

[Lightning55]

On 3/13/2024 at 4:52 PM, shadroch said:

Who gave a private business the right to certify anything, especially a company that isn't exactly standing by its certifications?  Is it fraud against CGC or fraud against the buyer- who was given a chance to look over the book before he bought it?  I think it is sleazy, but I also believe any decent lawyer would have a strong defense.

I believe a person was already found to be guilty of fraud when he substituted lower grade coins into higher grade  certified cases. It's as close to a match in precedent as you can get.

It's certainly a fraud to remove the expensive inner workings of a Rolex, substitute a knock-off into the case, and sell it as authentic. Same thing.

If you intentionally "trick" someone out of their money,  it's a form of theft called fraud. Seems pretty clear.

[Mr. Zipper]

On 3/13/2024 at 11:17 AM, Ride the Tiger said:

I hear people talking about CGC boosting the value of their comic. I've always looked at it the other way around. A book in a CGC case holds the true value of the book and a raw book is worth less because it didn't get "checked out". 

I think this is a fair point. And the proof of the pudding is that dealers who are known to have really tight, CGC quality grading, often get close to slabbed prices for their raw books.