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Grading Books (Comic Book Forums)

  • Grading Books

Author Discussion
  • Posted: January 14, 2015 11:14:58 pm
  • What's a good value to start thinking about getting a book graded? I'm thinking $25
  • Posted: January 15, 2015 12:15:44 am
  • That probably depends on your collection. You might consider getting what you consider your top 5 or 10 valuable books graded. Or the ones you're considering to sell in the next 6 to 12 months. If you're not sure, you can always ask a friend or your LCS what would they get graded. Or post pictures here and get some opinions from the CBR community.

    Last edited January 15, 2015 1:28:10 pm
  • Posted: January 15, 2015 8:28:38 am
  • If I was to get anything graded, it would be rare and or old books that are in great shape and continue to get more valuable. To me, ASM 678 Venom variant comes to mind for rare and a solid 7.0 or better silver age key issue like Avengers #4 ( 1st Cap America) for some examples.
  • Posted: January 15, 2015 9:00:16 am
  • Why are you thinking of getting something graded? Is it because you want to sell your comic, protect your comic, or something else?

    If it is for monetary reasons, you want to be sure that the value of the comic will increase enough to pay for the grading service. Typically this means you have a very high grade comic if it is less than 30 years old. A 9.6 may not be good enough for you to profit on getting your book graded on newer comics. A modern comic after shipping will probably cost you $20-$25 each to get graded.

    On more expensive or older comics you would probably want to get either very expensive comics or higher grade comics graded. I probably would not get anything graded that is worth under $100 in its current grade. Again, you have to get enough value from the grading service to pay for itself. You should estimate the cost of getting a book graded as 5-10% of the books value.

    If you are just getting a book graded because you want to do it, that's cool. I am planning on having my first comic graded at some point. It is probably only worth $0.50 but I don't want it to fall apart any more than it is and I like it.
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  • Posted: January 15, 2015 9:56:50 pm
  • i have had hundreds of books graded and some good grades and some not so good grades but when i was sending these books out i was doing it so i could get my personal stuff graded for free and would make my money back buy selling everything else..
    If your looking to send anything out to get graded take into consideration of bulk stuff and if you choose to sell the remaining stuff it might work in your favor if you can grade stuff accurately.
  • Posted: January 29, 2015 8:50:00 pm
  • Typically, people get books graded because they want to sell them. Not always, mind you, but that would most likely the main reason for doing so.

    If that's why you're getting a book graded, it has to make sense, monetarily. If it costs $25 to get a book graded, you're not likely going to get a book graded that's only "worth" $50. Why people spend $20-$25 to get a $30 book graded is beyond me, but you do see that from time to time. If it were me, I don't think I would have any book under $100 graded. Unless the book was very special to me, or I was collecting a certain group of books only 3rd party graded, would I have a book worth less than $100, graded.

    That leads right into the other group of folks that don't necessarily have books graded for resale.

    Some collect graded books because they feel they look cool. Some do it for registry points. Some do it because they feel the book will look fantastic mounted on their wall, in a CGC case. Whatever the reason people have their books graded by that 3rd party, doesn't really matter. In the end, you have to decide for yourself, which books you want graded, and only you, yourself, can determine whether this is "worth it" to you.

    Andy

  • Posted: January 31, 2015 12:03:32 am
  • I'm not planning on selling anything for a long, long time. I just figure it's a good way to protect them other than just boarded and bagged in a box. Displaying them would be cool too, but the CGC plastic doesn't necessarily protect them from fading, does it? Maybe I'll get them graded if I ever get them signed.

    Thanks everyone
  • Posted: February 1, 2015 8:34:30 pm
  • If your main concern is protection, grading is not worth the extra cost over using mylar bags and high-quality boards. There just isn't enough difference in protection to be worth the cost (if you're rich enough that cost is no object I'm assuming you wouldn't have asked in the first place). My understanding is that the CGC cases are safe for display, although personally I'm not one to want to test it out. Personally, all of my CGC'd books are signed comics with a value of at least $50, except for one comic that I was able to get in an eBay auction cheaper than the same comic typically sells for unslabbed in that condition.
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