Every market is driven by supply and demand and the rare and collectible comic book market is no different.\u00a0 Minuscule differences in grade can mean the difference between thousands of dollars of value and final sales prices.\u00a0 With this reality where can the serious collector or investor go for information?\u00a0 Enter the CGC census.<\/p>\n
Since the beginning of CGC they have been collecting data on every comic book they have ever graded.\u00a0 This data is searchable in two different places and is easy to use. The first location is CGC itself<\/a>.\u00a0 In order to search their database you need to be a member, but fortunately it’s free.\u00a0 If you don’t want to bother with that you can visit CGCdata.com<\/a> and also search their version of the database.<\/p>\n Each service provides the same data, only the search presentation is slightly different.\u00a0 The data is broken down my title and issue number, and then by how many total books have been graded along with how many in each specific grade.\u00a0 The data is important for both grading and purchasing.<\/p>\n If you’re contemplating grading your comics you may want to know if there are hundreds of other copies in the same condition as yours and then research what they are selling for.\u00a0 In the end it may not be worth having your comic professionally graded.\u00a0 On the other hand, if you think your comic could achieve the highest grade to date, submission to CGC may be very important to the final value.<\/p>\n Before I purchase a graded comic book I always take a look at the census.\u00a0 The “best” seems to always sell and I don’t want to overpay for an issue that’s readily available in the grade I’m considering.\u00a0 It’s a personal decision, but you need to be armed with all the information possible before you part with your hard earned money.<\/p>\n If you are serious about comic books, make sure you check out both sites.\u00a0 Once again, here are the links:<\/p>\n CGC Census Data<\/a><\/p>\n