Comic retailer's response to question regarding value of CGC slabbed books

[shadroch]

I'm not sure where the idea that slabbing a book somehow makes it more valuable came about,but it certainly is a persistant myth.For the last year,I've been buying many 8.0-9.4 books for less than the cost of slabbing.In one case,I bought a book that had been broken out of a 9.4 slab,then reslabbed as a signature series 9.4. Final cost to me= $17.

As far as I'm concerned,when it comes to Copper and newer books,the vast majority of books in slabs will never get the slabbing fees recouped in sales.Of course,there are a great many exceptions to this,but on a whole,its a waste of money.

When sizing up a collection to buy,I pretty much value most modern slabs as next to worthless.A slabbed 9.6 Avengers Vol3,iss 56 is worth the same as an unslabbed. Thirty cents cash,fifty cents trade.Might go a buck if it was 9.8

[sterlingcomics]

I'm not sure where the idea that slabbing a book somehow makes it more valuable came about

 

It came about through:

 

[*] Persistent multiples of guide prices being paid for slabbed copies of popular / in demand books

[*] This is CGC's marketing plan...you know...the one with the raw copy price vs. the certified price.

 

It's been shown that the multiples are settling down now that CGC has been in business for over five years.

 

As far as I'm concerned,when it comes to Copper and newer books,the vast majority of books in slabs will never get the slabbing fees recouped in sales.

 

I agree. I would go a step further and say that Moderns are HOT (and therefore worth slab costs) within a year or two of publication. After that, it cools off significantly. Colossus Comics business model works directly off this fact with the subscription service they have in place.

[codfish]

Well when you see places like Colossus sending books to be graded they probably don't get that many slabbed and what they sell more than recoups their costs. It is really rare to net 5 or 6 dollars of profit of a brand new book. Not only that for every graded book people are subscribed to they get a "reader" copy. 5-6 dollars profit and an extra copy too bolster their numbers and likely increase their distributor discount? Sounds like a good plan to me.

 

Its not their fault that people think the value of their book will increase just because it is in a slab.

[jokersrevenge]

Still, when I come across someone that tells me they collect comics, many do not even know what CGC is......

[JammnIT]

I really think that further into my conversation with this retailer, he addressed an ideal that I firmly believe that myself and many others here would agree with, so I thought I would add his take on it as well:

 

In the end, it is the collector rather than the retailer who determines at what price a given comic or other collectible sells. Items priced too high simply don't sell until the price is dropped to a currently acceptable level. Fortunately for both collectors and retailers, not all items decline in demand and value.

 

As a collector myself, my though has been to always buy., read and collect what I enjoy and then leave it to time and luck to determine how much of my collection appreciates. For example, I bought Amazing Spider-Man #1 up at 12c each off the newsstand here in Arlington at the Big World Drug with my only thought being how cool Spider-Man was and how much fun were the stories. In this case, both time and luck were very much with me!

 

 

Ya think?