CBCS Expands Grading Services with Raw Grade

 Looks like the press release has finally come, thanks to Stu for pointing it out. 
CBCS has announced the launch of their new grading service, Raw Grade. According to CBCS, it will be a less expensive and faster method of providing independent third party grades on comic books, magazines, and treasury edition books.
The new service is designed to give customers a fast and reliable grade to help them sell their books without paying for traditional grading and encapsulating. It is directed at collectors who believe the return on the investment doesn’t need traditional grading or is looking to sell collections quickly.
In the Raw Grade service, books are evaluated, graded, and placed in Mylar bags with backing boards. The grade is displayed on a sticker on the front of the Mylar bag, which is sealed with a tamper evident sticker for security. Raw Grade services do not include a restoration check, it is simply for evaluating the condition of the book.
It is also not meant to provide long-term protection. Customers who are looking for that type of protection should use the traditional grading service. The Raw Grade was developed to assure potential buyers of the book’s quality and condition.
Another feature of the Raw Grade service is that it can be used in conjunction with the CBCS grade screen option. That means that if it’s chosen during the submission process, any book that fails a CBCS grade screen can be graded with the Raw Grade service, if the customer chooses.

23 thoughts on “CBCS Expands Grading Services with Raw Grade”

  2. I like the concept, but idk how it will help once the book ships or gets some age on it. Books can get plenty banged up in a mylar. If it’s cheap though, that’s a great option for pre-screening rejects and should help boost the value a little over regular raw books with claimed grades. Say a $10 self proclaimed 9.6, might be a $15 CBCS raw 9.6.
    If they vacuum sealed them in with a fullback and grade for $5, that would be awesome.

  3. I’m not sure if I like this. They do not check for restoration, so this will absolutely be abused.
    Plus once they return ship, damage in transit can happen easier than with a stabbed book, thus causing the grade it was given to be useless.

    1. Well, I wouldn’t think the raw grade will command huge price. Look at it more as a little piece of mind, it’s better than trusting the seller’s eyeball. You’ll know what grade it’s not, and have a little better idea as to what to expect, so you don’t have too high of hopes. It will still be up to the buyer to determine what they are willing to pay, but I wouldn’t say this is a bad thing. Just something new, and like anything new with potential to be abused or scammed, it might be, but I don’t see the benefit in doing so? It is not the same as faking a slab.

    2. I agree on the damage part. Coming back from cbcs I don’t think would cause damage because they are excellent packagers. However you get the raw slanted book just shoved in an envelope and it’s not so raw graded 9.8 any more.

  4. Anyone know how much per book? Might be a good idea for people who inherit comics and don’t want to get screwed over by a shady dealer. I’ve heard a comic shop owner tell someone he assigns grade and value for collections at 1$ per book. If it’s something like that could help a lot of people out.

    1. It’s on their website now.. “The Raw Grade service provides buyers with assurance as to the condition of the book at a much lower cost, Modern books are $10, and Expanded is $15.”

      1. Honestly, if you’re going to spend $10 on a book to get this mylar quick grade with some stickers.. you might as well just fork over the other $15 – $20 to get the slab cause I’m sure the shipping to and back is still around the same price.
        You spend $15 to ship there and $15 to ship back.. what’s another $15 or so to just get it fully slabbed and fully protected.
        I don’t usually bother with slabs, I’m definitely not going to bother with these. I like most of my books floppy.. 🙂

        1. Shipping price on a slab is about $20. I am sure the shipping on this will be cheaper. I like the idea of having assurance on grade when buying a book.

  5. I’d they give out a raw grade then later want to slab the book, will they honor the grade given?

        1. I always told myself there’s not need for those pills when it’s natures way of telling you to not bother.. 😉

  7. Aren’t slabs the whole point of getting books graded? If you get a “raw grade” you still can’t open or handle the book, read the book, drop the book, mail the book, store it poorly in a box without changing the grade. Stupid idea

  8. Off topic but for all you pop collectors looking to beef up your collection the Hollar app has quite a few pops for 3$ free shipping on your first order.

  9. The service I actually need is restoration check. That is objective and important to me. The grading is subjective and not to brag but I can do that just as poorly as they can.

  10. I like the idea….for moderns. How many people do you buy from that absolutely can’t grade a book to save their own lives ? Lol. This will inexpensively allow people to have some assurance that the book they’re paying for is the book they will receive from the seller. An additional benefit is this takes a lot less storage space than slabs. Accurate, cheaper, and smaller in boxes. Win, win, and win 🙂

  11. Interesting concept, but I think it needs a little more tweaking. A “what if” idea is if they had a consignment market arm (similar to CC). So the books could be raw graded, put into mylar and held for consignment for sale on their website. This would be a service I could really use. Some books just aren’t worth slabbing….but they’re still valuable enough to make sure they are properly taken care of and could be objectively seen by prospective buyers. This would provide peace of mind for both buyer and seller…..rather than losing one’s piece of mind….

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