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Pacific Comic Exchange
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1. How does PCE work? 2. Do I need a computer to use PCE? 3. What are the principal benefits of using PCE? 4. How would a collector benefit from using PCE? 5. How would a dealer benefit from using PCE? 6. Are books held by the Pacific Comic Exchange, Inc. insured? 7. Does PCE offer a third party grading service? 8. What is the CGSA Grading Standard? 9. How do your numerical values compare with the ones in the Overstreet Price Guide? 10. How are books graded by PCE 11. What are the minimum requirements to list books on the Exchange? 12. How do I ship books to PCE? 13. Are grading fees required to be paid in advance? 14. How long are books listed on the Exchange? 15. Do I need to open an account in order to sell books on the Exchange? 16. How long does it take to receive payment after the sale of a book? 17. When will I be advised of the grade assigned? 18. After learning the grade, will I be able to set the asking price on my book? 19. Can I be advised of current market value of books with grades the same as mine? 20. When and how will I be informed of bids or sales? 21. How do I purchase or bid on books? 22. Do I need to open an account in order to buy or bid on books? 23. When and how will I be informed of responses to my bids? 24. How long are bids valid? 25. What are the fees and commissions on books that are bought? 26. How long does it take to receive the book after payment has been made? 27. How are books shipped? 28. What kind of return policy does PCE have? 29. Do you accept want lists?
How does PCE work?Interested sellers submit comic books to PCE. The grading staff then assigns a grade to each book. Now the book is ready for bidding on the Exchange. Books can be purchased at the Ask price, or bids below such price can be submitted. All prices are negotiable. When bids are placed, the seller has the opportunity to lower the ask price. A sale is consummated when the bid equals the adjusted ask price. Books are then shipped via U.S. registered mail, insured for their full fair market value. Do I need a computer to use PCE? No. All information contained on the PCE On-Line Service is available through monthly mailings or via telephone. However, computer access via modem allows traders to have access to all information 24 hours-a-day, 7 days-a-week. What are the principal benefits of using PCE? PCE offers excellent benefits both when buying and selling comic books as either a collector or a dealer. The major benefits when selling books include the following: Payment is assured since we hold all books until payment is received. We guarantee payment. Because PCE is a national/international trading network, prices realized are generally higher than your local market. Because we screen all potential traders, sellers are assured that problems will be minimized when books are sold. Because of our automated procedures, we have been able to offer commission rates far lower than those of "comic auction houses". The major benefits when buying books are the following: All books are accurately and consistently graded independently by members of the grading staff using the CGSA Grading Standard. Because of the benefits of selling using PCE, we are able to offer an excellent selection of comic books including many high-grade books not generally found in today's marketplace. Since PCE utilizes a true bid/ask system (versus an auction system), prices are negotiable and generally reflect market conditions. How would a collector benefit from using PCE? The benefits for the collector include access to a large variety of consistently graded books at negotiable prices, and increased liquidity through the PCE Exchange. How would a dealer benefit from using PCE? The dealer obtains the following benefits from using PCE: Access to a variety of comics, including many high grade books. Access to information concerning recent sales and bids. Access to a national/international market for selling books. Are books held by the Pacific Comic Exchange, Inc. insured? Yes. PCE maintains full insurance coverage on all books, including loss due to theft, fire, or natural disaster. Does PCE offer a third party grading service? PCE offers a third party grading-only service. This service is used when a buyer goes outside the Exchange to purchase a book from a seller not affiliated with PCE. PCE will independently grade the book. All books are graded using the CGSA Grading Standard. What is the CGSA Grading Standard? The CGSA Grading Standard is a scientific grading system. The CGSA standard differs from the traditional standard in the following ways: Grades are assigned on an alpha-numeric basis with discrete levels. For example, there are four grades of Near Mint: NM++ 88; NM+ 85; NM 80; and NM- 75. In the higher grades, this allows the buyer to more easily differentiate between books. The discrete levels used represent the finest increments in which grades can be assigned on a consistent basis. "Mint" has been redefined. Where the traditional standard indicates that books must be perfect, the CGSA standard allows certain defects normally associated with manufacturing. Not only are overall grades assigned to the books, but raw scores are assigned to each defect contributing to the final grade. The CGSA scale currently is: Pr 3, Fr 6, G 10, G/VG 15, VG 20, VG+ 25, VG/FN 30, FN- 35, FN 40, FN+ 45, FN/VFN 50, VFN- 55, VFN 60, VFN+ 65, VFN++ 68, VF/NM 70, NM- 75, NM 80, NM+ 85, NM++ 88, NM/M 90, M 91-100. The Page Quality scale currently is: White 0.0,1.0,2.0,2.5,3.0, Near White 3.3, Off-White 3.5, Beige or Cream 4.0, Dark Cream or Light Tanned at edges 4.5, Tanned 5.0-5.5, Dark Tanned 6.0-7.0, Brittle 7.5-10.0. How do your numerical values compare with the ones in the Overstreet Price Guide? Our numbers are different than Overstreet's. In comparing grades you should concentrate on the nomenclature rather than the numerical value. In other words a VG on our scale is still a VG on Overstreet's, a FN is still a FN, etc. We only define the numeric scale in discrete steps, for example: VG 20, 25, VG/FN 30, FN 35, 40, 45, ETC. We do not have a VG 21, 22, 23, etc. Such accuracy is in our opinion unattainable. How are books graded by PCE? Each book is graded by committee. Each grader independently grades the book in question, noting each significant defect as well as their final grade. The books are graded under identical conditions. Special Halogen lighting is used providing crisp, bright "white light". Graders use gloves at all times when handing the books. Once the graders are finished, a consensus is reached and raw scores are assigned each defect and a final grade is awarded. What are the minimum requirements to list books on the Exchange? All books should have an estimated value of at least $100, with a minimum total initial consignment of $2000. The minimum grade requirement is "Good" or better. Books in "Fair" condition are only accepted if they are one of the top 100 Golden Age books as specified in the Overstreet Price Guide (e.g. Flash Comics #1, All-Star Comics #8, Wonder Woman #1, All-American Comics #19, More Fun Comics #73, Planet Comics #1, Four Color #9, etc.). Books in "Poor" condition will only be accepted if they are in the top 10 Golden Age books (i.e. Action Comics #1, Detective Comics #27, Superman #1, Marvel Comics #1, Detective Comics #1, New Fun Comics #1, All-American Comics #16, Batman #1, Whiz Comics #2 (#1), Captain America Comics #1). How do I ship books to PCE? Books should be packaged with some kind of protection (preferably in plastic Mylars with backing boards) and padding (preferably in between cardboard sheets, if not, at least bubble-wrap, Styrofoam, etc.). They should then be sent by registered mail, insured for their approximate value, with a return receipt, through the U.S. Post Office to Pacific Comic Exchange, P.O. Box. 2629, Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA 90274. Also, books can be sent overnight by sending them by U.S. Express Mail to our P.O. Box. Please notify us in advance if you use this option. Are grading fees required to be paid in advance? No. As a courtesy, PCE will defer the grading fees until the time when your first book sells. At that time PCE will deduct the grading fees from our first payment to you, the seller. How long are books listed on the Exchange? All books are required to be listed on the exchange for a minimum period of one hundred and twenty days. The penalty for early delisting is 10% of the initial ask price or the Grade Only fee, whichever is higher. A minimum notice of thirty days is required to delist books. All oustanding listing fees must be paid prior to delisting. Do I need to open an account in order to sell books on the Exchange? Yes, it is required to open an account in order to sell books. However, there is no fee to do so. You will be required to fill out a Trading Account Application and a CGSA Grading & Listing Form. PCE will then open an account in your name so that we can monitor any activity on your books. If you wish to monitor your account yourself, or purchase books, you may subscribe to the PCE On-Line Service. How long does it take to receive payment after the sale of a book? Approximately four to six weeks from when the book first "sells". The sale process entails: billing the buyer, awaiting for payment within five business days, waiting for funds to clear, shipping the book to the buyer, and allowing the buyer five business days upon which to approve the purchase of the book. After the book satisfies all the above conditions the status becomes "sold". At the end of each month seller payments are sent out to all customers whose books have sold within the past month. When will I be advised of the grade assigned? As soon as your books are processed and graded PCE will contact you with their assigned grades and recommended ask prices. This process usually takes one to thirty days. After learning the grade, will I be able to set the asking price on my book? Yes, the seller has the privilege of setting the ask price on all their books, but if necessary PCE can help by recommending a starting ask price based on our knowledge of the market. Can I be advised of current market value of books with grades the same as mine? Yes, once your books are consigned to and graded by PCE, we can advise you of the current market value of your books. When and how will I be informed of bids or sales? If you chose to subscribe to the PCE On-Line Service you will be notified automatically by E-Mail when any activity occurs in your account. Anyone not On-Line will be notified immediately by phone or mail if there is any activity in their account. How do I purchase or bid on books? If you want to purchase or bid on a book contact us by phone, e-mail, fax, or mail. Simply provide us with the name of the book, item #, and bid price. Also include your full name with middle initial, address, telephone number, and fax number if you have one. If you are purchasing a book please confirm with us the price you are buying it at. You can always place a bid on any available book. The minimum opening bid is 50% of the ask price (subject to a minimum of $50.00). If there is already a bid on a book we will let you know, as you must place a bid of at least 5% higher than the current high bid. Do I need to open an account in order to buy or bid on books? No, it is not required to open an account in order to buy or bid on books. You will be sent a Trading Account Application to fill out. PCE will then open an account in your name, at no cost to you, so that we can enter your bids and purchases. If you wish to enter your own bids or purchases, you may subscribe to the PCE On-Line Service. When and how will I be informed of responses to my bids? If you chose to subscribe to the PCE On-Line Service you can check your account at anytime to see if there has been any response to your bids. Anyone not on-line will be notified immediately by phone or mail. Possible responses are: acceptance of your bid, in which case it would be sold to you at your bid price; or a counter-offer from the seller by lowering the ask price. No response, could mean either the seller needs more time to think about the bid or was not interested in the offer. How long are bids valid? They are valid for 90 days unless canceled. What are the fees and commissions on books that are bought? There is no buyers commission on any purchase. $15 shipping and handling per order. Overseas shipping and handling, except to Canada, is $30. If your order is being shipped to California, there will be an 8 sales tax on your order, unless you have a resale license. How long does it take to receive the book after payment has been made? Approximately one to three weeks from when payment is received. This depends on the type of payment that is sent. If payment is made with a cashier's check or money order the book can be processed and shipped immediately. Payment made by check may take up to two weeks for the funds to clear. Once the check clears the book is then processed and shipped. How are books shipped? They are sent by registered mail, insured through the U.S. Post Office. Books can also be sent Express Mail (guaranteed overnight in the U.S.) for a $20 shipping and handling fee. What kind of return policy does PCE have? All books may be returned if not satisfied. However, we must be notified by phone or e-mail within five business days of when you received the book. Books must be returned undamaged to PCE within 10 business days of receipt. Do you accept want lists? Yes, we do. You can simply fill out our Want List form and mail it in. If we get the book you are looking for we will notify you. If you don't have one of our forms, let us know by phone or e-mail and we can mail one to you. Also, if you want to send in your own list all we require is: title, issue number or range, publisher, publish year (if known), minimum condition, price willing to pay, and whether you wish to make a binding bid.
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P.O. Box 2629, Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA 90274 |
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Spider-Man © and ™ Marvel Characters Inc., 2003 |
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