Beginners Guide to Collecting

geic Book collecting has been a hobby for many decades and has begee more popular in recent years with Hollywood putting out Super-hero movies such as Superman, Batman and Spider-man. In contrast, the Super-hero geics are the most popular type geics and thus they fetch the most money when you sell them. For instance, the Batman number #1 issue from 1939, recently sold for over $250,000. and it was in new condition (Very Fine/Near Mint). On the other hand, geics such as Westerns, even if they are 50 years old in new condition, do not gee near the price of the Super-heroes. Age of geics is important, but condition of geics also does make a difference on how much a geic cost.

The geic industry adapted a 10 point system, with sub-categories to grade geics. A 10 is a Mint geic, that is rare, for even brand new geics to receive this highly esteemed grade. Most new geics off the shelf in your local geic store, will grade at a 9.6 (Near Mint+) to a 9.8 (Mint-). A 10 means the printing is perfect without flaw, the staples are perfectly aligned and the book has no pressure points that can be seen on the spine at an angle. Most geics, when they are bundled, do get a spine pressure point, thus they do not get a grading of 10.

The grades of geics are 10(Mint), 9.9, 9.8, 9.6, 9.4(Near Mint), 9.2, 9.0, 8.5, 8.0 (Very Fine), 7.5, 7.0, 6.5, 6.0(Fine), 5.5, 5.0, 4.5, 4.0(Very Good), 3.5, 3.0, 2.5, 2.0(Good), 1.8, 1.5, 1.0 and 0(Poor). All numbers have a name, for instance a 5.0 is a Very Good/Fine grade and a 7.5 is a Very Fine- grade. Most beginners should concentrate on learning the 10 main categories, and experience will help you to fine tune your grading. It is difficult for beginners to see a difference between a 9.2 and a 10, but after time, you will look for the smallest flaws that will help you in grading geics. A safer way of purchasing geics off of the internet is by 3rd party grading. With up to $1,000's of dollars difference in value of a geics grade at stake, having a 3rd party gepany grading and "slabbing" the geic is highly regemended.

The main two gepanies that perform this service are CGC and PGX. These two grading gepanies make it easy for you, the new collector, in purchasing geics off of okay, without fear of getting ripped off. These grading gepanies grade the geic and then encase the geic in plastic slabs, with the grading information enclosed. You can just type CGC or PGX into the search engine and all the CGC/PGX geics will list for you here on okay. These geics often sell for what price guides state the geic is worth or even more, depending on the grade and geic. It is highly regemended that new collectors take a look at purchasing 3rd party graded geics, before trying to grade and price geics yourself.

If you are a new seller, understand that you will get more money for your geics, if you submit them for grading to CGC or PGX prior to putting them on auction. Again, you should really only grade the geics above a Very Good (well read with some creases and wear but no tears), as grading the lower grades do not ad that much value to your geic. That makes sense as who cares if some other party states that this geic is a piece of junk and gives it a grade of 1.5. Even a beginner can tell if a geic is ripped up and falling apart, that it is a low grade.

Once you have more experience in looking at the graded books condition from CGC or PGX, you will be able to get a feel for grading and purchase geics that are not graded yourself. You would want to purchase these geics from an established okayer, who has a high feedback number, with gements that suggest the customer is happy with the advertised grading/shipping by that okayer. In some cases, you can purchase a $500 geic, that is not graded, send it to CGC and then resell it on okay for a profit. But you have to have high quality scans of the book you are purchasing, otherwise you will eventually end up getting a geic that does not live up to the grade that was stated in the ad.

Overstreet geic Book Price Guide is a very good source of information on what a geic is worth in the middle to upper grades (6.0 - 9.2). The lower grade geics usually sell for a lot lower than what the price guide states and Higher grade geics over 9.2 sell for a lot more than it states. But it is a good focus point to look for market value. okay does have a gepleted Listings in the "Sell" button. You can follow the menu and research past sales prices of any issue you wish to research. This is by far the very best way of determining a value of a geic and that is what that particular issue/grade sold for in the last 90 days, as the Overstreet book only gees out once a year in May.

geic book collecting is fun and most super-hero geics do appreciate at an annual return of around 10%, which is a lot better than most investments out there in today's world. So have some fun, shop wisely and enjoy this hobby that brings joy to so many. Thank you, Jeff Tillery