CGC states that grading can take 106 to 133 days. A general rule of thumb that many collectors follow is that a book’s expected value needs to be worth about $200 before it makes sense to have the book graded from a financial perspective.Īlso note that the grading process often takes some time. Given these costs as well as the costs of shipping, you should only seriously consider submitting a comic book for grading if you already know it’s valuable or if you believe that it will become valuable in the future. Comics with a fair market value above $3,000 however, are charged on a sliding scale of 3% of the book’s value (minimum $150). The grading fee varies depending on the age and value of the comic, ranging from $22 to $120 for most books. Though you may be tempted to submit every comic book you purchase for CGC Grading, this process must be paid for. How Do You Know if Your Comic Is Worth Sending In for Grading? CGC built upon Overstreet’s grading by developing a more standardized process, and incorporated new elements. Prior to CGC, the standard was the Overstreet Guide’s 10 Point Grading Scale, which ranged from a 0.5 (Poor) to 10 (Gem Mint). By understanding CGC’s process, aspiring collectors will better understand why this grading process is so important.īased in Sarasota, Florida, the CGC was founded in 2000 and quickly became a global standard for determining a comic book’s physical condition. Despite the CGC’s importance to modern collectors, many still don’t understand what it means for a comic book to be graded. A cornerstone of comic book collecting is the grade that a book is assigned by the CGC, or Certified Guaranty Company.

Understanding comics book