So you buy a lot of books off of eBay...

[DKB]

12 in the lot. Books are advertised as NM-/NM+ with only one picture of all the books from far away. 100 feedbacks, 100%.

 

In the 12 book lot, half are within the advertised grade range, the rest are 8.0-9.0. No complete trash. Also, certainly no 9.6s.

 

How have you done?

[skybolt]

I would say as expected. However, I would check the sellers feedback first to see if multiple people have left positive comments about the seller's grading ability.

[evilsly]

an ebay NM+ usually translates into a CGC 8.5

[Ze-man]

I guess I need to know how much I paid/overpaid for them to determine how I feel about 1/2 the books being overgraded. Because if we got them cheap it might change how one feels about not recieving what they expected, but if we paid more then we should have expecting to slab them, well then..frustration city.

 

Lets say since the books were raw, and advertised as NM, we paid right around guide, but not much over?

 

Ze-

[SuperBird]

well above expected. My recent eBay misadventures include:

 

- advertised G+ book, came in with replaced staples, tear seals, and married cover

- VG/F book came in as VG with missing 2 centerfolds (returned to seller)

- advertised F book, came in at Good with tape repairs to inside cover

- advertised F+ book came in at VG- (pretty happy with this purchase, actually)

- advertised VG+ book, seller refused to complete transaction!

- advertised F book, in the mail, from the picture I expect a VG-

 

eBay clearly hates me. At this point I simply disregard the sellers grading altogether, and just ask questions and carefully review scans. And I almost never bid above the G/VG Overstreet price.

[nik]

I would say you probably did alright. Chances are good you paid below guide.

[DKB]

I think you can make the call without knowing what was paid. Just, you know, given those circumstances, and the grades of the books, how does that match with your expectations when buying from eBay?

 

Certainly the results change if I added: "You paid 5% of guide for the lot". In this case, the buyer, lets call him...BKD, with shipping included, paid around 21% of 2005 NM- guide. But lets not consider that. And besides, in this case, NM- guide is probably a little inflated.

[nik]

As expected and maybe a little better.

[Sal]

I think you can make the call without knowing what was paid. Just, you know, given those circumstances, and the grades of the books, how does that match with your expectations when buying from eBay?

 

Certainly the results change if I added: "You paid 5% of guide for the lot". In this case, the buyer, lets call him...BKD, with shipping included, paid around 21% of 2005 NM- guide. But lets not consider that. And besides, in this case, NM- guide is probably a little inflated.

 

what era are these books from? i'm guessing BA or modern

[skybolt]

I once purchased a set of 20 raw Daredevils (between issues 70 and 100) that were advertised as FN/VF to VF on Ebay for $80. When the books arrived, I was disappointed to see that most of them were in the VG/FN range. However, issue #77 was in great condition, and later graded at 9.4. Even though I was initially upset that I had to sell these books and go after higher graded ones, I was still pleased that I could make my money back with the #77 issue. In the end I probably came out ahead by $20 to $30, but had to go through the hassle of buying and selling again.

[DKB]

I think you can make the call without knowing what was paid. Just, you know, given those circumstances, and the grades of the books, how does that match with your expectations when buying from eBay?

 

Certainly the results change if I added: "You paid 5% of guide for the lot". In this case, the buyer, lets call him...BKD, with shipping included, paid around 21% of 2005 NM- guide. But lets not consider that. And besides, in this case, NM- guide is probably a little inflated.

 

what era are these books from? i'm guessing BA or modern

 

Luke Cages/Power Mans in the 10-30 range...so says our friend BKD.

[nik]

Must have bought them from SNE

[evilsly]

Must have bought them from SNE

 

 

he hasn't mentioned writing on the cover

 

[skybolt]

Must have bought them from SNE

 

It's possible.

 

Heck, now I'm interested enough to check my records from 3 years ago.

[the blob]

I'd expect that sort of range, particularly if they aren't moderns. If these are BA books I'd actually be pretty happy with that sort of distribution of grades. Of course, it depends on what I paid. The scan you describe would result in me bidding only a small fraction of guide anyway.

[tilleycs]

I'd be a little nervous to spend $80 on a single purchase on ebay, honestly.

[Inhuman Fiend]

I voted as "Typical" although depending on the price, you probably did pretty darn well. I buy 99% of my books from eBay, and the key thing you must understand about the venue is that probably 80% of the sellers AND buyers have no clue how to grade. As others have said, you must adjust bids accordingly and can usually come out ahead. I've come to expect significant overgrading and that frame of mind helps to minimize disappointment, even when stuff is horribly overgraded.

One recent example was a poorly described auction with tiny, fuzzy pictures of an Uncanny X-Men 265 and 266 described as VF/NM and NM, respectively. I stumbled upon the auction in the closing seconds and won with a snipe of only $8.00 and change. I have multiple copies of these issues and the seller was a relative newbie, but heck, at that price I figured I would just flip them and make a decent profit. Well, good thing I got them cheap because they arrived yesterday (unprotected in a priority envelope, of course!) and the 265 (described as VF/NM) was in VG shape with tons of wear including book-length creases on the back. The 266 (described as NM) was in VF- with edge wear and multiple bends and impact dents. Even worse than I expected, and I would have returned them in a heartbeat if not for the super-low price. It will certainly be a big a waste of my time after I flip the 266 for (maybe) a minimal profit, but that is all part of the fun of the eBay crapshoot!

[Darrell F]

As expected