Is my comic worth slabbing?
You don't need a grade to answer that. You need the raw comp, the slabbed comp and the fee, subtracted in the right order. Here's the check, and here's the tool that runs it from a photo.
~30s from one photo to a submission verdict, against roughly 45 days to hear back from CGC
Without the press, a 9.6 result nets about $72. The half grade is worth more than the press costs, which is the whole reason this book isn't a straight GO.
Example report · comps illustrative
A comic is worth slabbing when the slabbed price at its likely grade beats the raw price by more than the cost of submitting — roughly $27–45 in CGC tier fees plus about $5 handling, postage both ways, and the sale fee on the far end. Books whose raw-to-slab gap sits under about $70 are usually worth more raw.
What the report gives you
Four things, in about thirty seconds, from one photo of the front cover. None of them is a promise about what CGC will do — they're the inputs to a decision you're making today.
A grade band, with confidence
Not a single number pretending to be certain. A range, plus how confident the read is. A wide band on a marginal book is the useful answer, not a failure.
The comps on both sides
What the book sells for raw and what it sells for slabbed at your band, so the gap you're chasing is a number rather than a feeling.
The full cost of sending it
Correct tier for the book's age and declared value, plus handling, postage both ways and the sale cut. The costs people forget are the ones that flip the answer.
A verdict with a dollar figure
GO, NO-GO or PRESS FIRST, with the net beside it. That's the output. The grade estimate is how we get there, not what we're selling.
Why we report a verdict and not a grade
A grade estimate invites one question — how accurate is it? — and nobody can check the answer for about 45 days. That's a bad trade for you. A verdict is checkable now, because it's a decision with money attached, and it holds up even when the grade estimate is half a point off.
Take the card at the top of this page. If the book lands 9.6 instead of 9.8, the verdict was still right: press it, because the press is what buys the half grade that carries the value. The dollar figure changes. The decision doesn't. That's what we're actually trying to get right, and it's why you'll see a band with a confidence level here rather than a precise-looking number. The break-even math behind the verdict is worked line by line on our first guide.
The five-minute check, by hand
You can do all of this yourself with a browser and a calculator. Do it once on a book you care about and the logic will stick.
- Find the raw comp Search completed sales for your exact issue and printing, ungraded, in the last 90 days. Take the median of the sales that actually closed, not the asking prices. If there are fewer than three, you don't have a comp. About 90 seconds
- Find the slabbed comps at two grades Your realistic grade and one band lower. Both matter, because the lower one is what tells you whether this is a decision or a bet. Our what's my comic worth guide covers where to look and which sources to distrust. About 2 minutes
- Add up the real cost Tier fee of roughly $27–45, about $5 handling, postage in, insured postage back. A single modern book usually lands near $60–70 all in. The tier-by-tier cost breakdown has the current schedule. About 45 seconds
- Subtract, then subtract again Slabbed comp, minus raw comp, minus the costs above, minus about 13% for the sale fee. Then run the whole thing again one grade band lower. About 60 seconds
- Read the two numbers Both positive means send it and stop researching. Both negative means the book is worth more raw, today. One of each means you're placing a bet — fine, if you know that's what you're doing. About 15 seconds
Four ways to answer this, compared
The real competitor isn't another grading service. It's the thing most collectors do instead, which is ask somebody or just send the book.
| Approach | Time per book | Out of pocket | What you end up with | Where it breaks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ask a forum or group | Hours to a day | $0 | Opinions about the grade | Nobody prices your submission |
| Pull the comps yourself | 5–15 min | $0 | Your own arithmetic | Easy to miss postage or the sale cut |
| Send it and find out | ~45 days | $27–45 + ~$5 | A certified, encapsulated grade | You learn the answer after paying |
| ComicMintAI | ~30 sec | Not yet priced | A GO, NO-GO or PRESS FIRST with the net | Estimates a band — it can't certify |
The things you're probably wondering
What does it cost?
One-time options are being built and aren't live yet, so we're not going to quote you a number we might change next month. What we can tell you is the figure that dominates the decision either way: a single CGC submission runs roughly $27–45 on the tier plus about $5 handling before postage, per the schedule CGC publishes. That's the cost this check exists to stop you spending on the wrong book.
How accurate is the grade?
We don't publish an accuracy percentage, and you should be sceptical of anyone who does — a claim like that can't be verified until 45 days after you've already paid. What you get is a grade band and a confidence level, and the verdict is built to survive being half a point off. When the band is wide enough to flip the answer, the report says the call is too close rather than picking a side.
Does this replace CGC?
No, and it isn't trying to. If you need a certified slab to sell into the graded market, CGC or one of its competitors has to grade the book. This decides which books are worth handing over. Different job, same pile.
Who this is wrong for
Anyone slabbing for reasons that aren't resale. Insurance schedules, a signature witnessed at a con, a shelf you want to look a certain way — the arithmetic here doesn't touch any of that, because you're buying the slab itself and the spread is beside the point. Estate work is its own problem too, and what to do with an inherited collection starts with sorting rather than submitting.
It's also wrong for dealers moving real volume. If you grade by eye faster than you can photograph, you don't need this. And it's wrong for anyone hoping for a restoration or trimming check — that's a physical inspection, covered in our guide on spotting a restored comic, and no photograph settles it.
Questions collectors actually ask
Is my comic worth slabbing?
It's worth slabbing when the slabbed comp at your likely grade beats the raw comp by more than the total submission cost. That cost is roughly $27–45 in tier fees plus about $5 handling, plus postage both ways and the sale fee. As a filter, a raw-to-slab gap under about $70 usually means the book is worth more raw.
What's the minimum value before slabbing makes sense?
There's no fixed floor, because the gap decides it rather than the price. A $40 book with a $400 slabbed comp is worth sending. A $400 book with a $440 slabbed comp isn't. Look at the difference between the two comps, not at either one on its own.
What does a PRESS FIRST verdict mean?
It means the submission only pays properly at the higher grade, and the defects on the book are ones a press can fix — non-colour-breaking spine ticks, bends, light waviness. Pressing adds cost and a couple of weeks, so the verdict only appears when the grade bump is worth more than the press. Our pressing guide covers which defects respond.
Can you really tell from a photo?
A photo shows cover gloss, corner sharpness, spine stress and colour breaks, which is most of what moves a grade. It won't show interior tears, a trimmed edge or restoration. That's why the report returns a band with a confidence level rather than a number, and why the confidence drops when the photo can't settle something.
I have a box of books. Where do I start?
Start with the cheapest per-book pricing question. CGC's lowest tier requires a bulk submission of 25 books minimum, so the real task is choosing which 25 in the box earn their fee. Run the check on the twenty or thirty you think are candidates and keep the ones that clear. Our guide on which comics to send in a bulk submission works through the selection.
How long until I get the book back?
Roughly 45 days on standard tiers, longer when submission volume spikes. Add packing and postage at both ends and two months door to door is realistic. If you need the money sooner than that, sell it raw and skip the whole question.
What if there are no slabbed comps for my book?
Then there's no arithmetic to run and the honest answer is that you're guessing. A book with no graded sales history has no demonstrated demand at grade, which is itself a signal. Wait for comps, or accept that you're paying the fee to find out.
Check the book in front of you
One photo, about thirty seconds, and you'll have the band, the comps, the correct tier fee and a GO, NO-GO or PRESS FIRST with the net attached. Then you can decide whether it's worth 45 days.