I have noticed a disturbing trend among retailers: overpricing. Apparently, not happy with the sales prices from the Overstreet Price Guide many have abandoned it altogether. Where have they gone for their new pricing models? Mostly to eBay by studying the last several sales figures they use these as current pricing in their retail shops. Now, that would be understandable if they just limited their pricing to trends but instead; these folks have decided to price raw copies, at, wait for it. Yep, you guessed it slabbed graded comic book prices. Now, this has two major impacts on the market:

#1 Prices Skyrocket

#2 Formation of a Bubble

 

Retail Comics: Overpriced?

Two years ago most retail establishments used the latest Overstreet Guide for value pricing. This would always give the speculators a 20%-30% roughly lower price as the Overstreet Guide is about 18 months behind actual pricing. Two years later and most of the retail establishment has begun using other services like GPA that data crunch the numbers. In order to get in on the current pricing, they are charging slab prices for raw books.

How can you tell that a comic book is overpriced? I look at a raw copy and then add the shipping and CGC costs to confirm the actual price I am paying for a comic book. Let's focus on brick and mortar here. The following example shows the danger of paying too much for a raw comic priced as if it were CGC slabbed:

Comparing Slab vs. Raw Copy

CGC ASM #300 in grade 9.0 the average price is $350. The total cost to buy CGC book= $350

vs.

Raw copy ASM #300 in grade 9.0 the retail price may look like a good deal at $325 in raw format, but watch out. Retail Cost $325 + Shipping $20 + CGC Modern $20 + CSC press $12 = $377

Let's do a Bronze Age example too. How about something with a Mike Zeck cover, sound good? Well, Secret Wars #1  is still relatively cheap and marks the end of the Bronze Age for some. Hypothetically if we were to enter a retail shop and purchase a raw copy, supposedly in 9.2 at $48; then this purchase is a straight-up market purchase. You are literally purchasing at the market for a near mint minus 9.2 grade.

CGC copy Secret Wars #1 in grade 9.2 the average price is $48 FMV. Therefore, the total cost to buy a Bronze Age CGC slabbed book = $48

vs.

Raw copy Secret Wars #1 in grade 9.2 with the same price point as above $48 + shipping ($20) +CGC ($27) + pressing ($27) = $122

When you buy a raw copy it is so important that you pay below the current market price with adjustments for getting it slabbed; otherwise, you will be in the red for quite a while. The two examples above make it imperative that you try to negotiate and leverage your local retailer in order to get a fair price.

Grading: Another Hurdle

The pricing problem is big but the grading problem is giant-size! How many retailers are starting to fudge the line between near mint minus and fine plus? With bad grading and overpriced raw comics; the environment for speculators is like hopping through a minefield to get a good deal. It is much tougher than years past. My advice is to hold off on big purchases and bundle your purchases to leverage the largest discount when purchasing. Every speculator should be developing leads and looking for alternative places to purchase comics, in addition to your local retailer.