The art of comic book collecting has been revolutionized in recent years by the advent of third-party, professional grading services.  The service was pioneered by current market leader Comics Guaranty, LLC (more popular known as CGC).  At any time of the day, you'll find thousands of listings for CGC-slabbed books on eBay.

For many years, CGC monopolized this niche market, but as graded and slabbed books become more widely accepted, the market has finally seen the rise of a viable alternative in Professional Grading eXperts (PGX). As of this guide's initial writing, CGC still has a commanding lead in the market, (based on eBay listings, around 95%). PGX has slowly risen as an alternative choice for grading to many collectors, by offering lower prices and a faster turnaround time. This takes direct aim at collectors' top two complaints against CGC's services: high prices and slow turnaround time.  More recently, a relatively-unknown company, Accurate Comics Evaluators (ACE) has entered the market with several sales on eBay in the past few weeks.

Above (from left to right): Amazing Spider-Man #300 graded 9.4 by PGX. Amazing Spider-Man #300 graded 9.4 by CGC. Soulfire #1 graded 9.6 by ACE.

This guide will delve into the different services offered by the three companies, focusing on pricing and turnaround times.

CGC & PGX have similar pricing structures, which is based on the book's age, fair market value (FMV) and the turnaround time for the service. ACE employs a different pricing structure, based on turnaround time, regardless of the book's age and fair market value.

Modern Book
Company                          PGX                        CGC                            ACE
Pricing                                 $10                         $16                             $14
Turnaround time                 17 days                  20 days                     16 days
Maximum FMV                  $250                       $200                          no limit
Age                                  1978 to present       1975 to present           no requirement

Standard Book
Company                          PGX                        CGC                            ACE*
Pricing                                 $14                         $16                             $14
Turnaround time                 17 days                  40 days                     16 days
Maximum FMV                  $300                       $250                          no limit
Age                                  1957-1977              no requirement            no requirement

Classic/Express
Company                          PGX                        CGC                            ACE
Pricing                                 $22                         $79                             $17/$26
Turnaround time                 7 days                      5 days                      10 days/2 days
Maximum FMV                 $1,200                     $1,000                        no limit
Age                                  no requirement         no requirement            no requirement

Next Day/Walkthru
Company                          PGX                        CGC                            ACE
Pricing                                 $38                        $110**                         $26
Turnaround time                 1 day                       1 day                          2 days
Maximum FMV                 $4,000                     no limit                        no limit
Age                                  no requirement         no requirement             no requirement

* ACE prices are rounded up to the next dollar ($13.95 is listed as $14.00).
   ACE turnaround times are averaged based on their turnaround times (15 to 18 days is listed as 16 days)
** Pricing for CGC Walkthru service is 2.5% of the book's FMV with a minimum of $110 and a maximum of $1,000

The big question, of course, is which service do you use? To answer that, you need to first determine why you want to have your book graded and encapsulated? Is it for resale or for protecting and displaying for your own personal collection?

If you are submitting your books with the intention of re-selling it once you get it back, the main consideration is that collectors are currently paying a higher premium for CGC graded books in general. The gap in the selling price between a CGC and PGX graded book in the same grade can be fairly substantial.  For example, Uncanny X-Men #266 in CGC 9.8 sells for around $200 in CGC 9.8, but sells for around $115 in PGX 9.8.  As the market pioneer and overwhelming market share leader, CGC has the history and credibility (not to mention the backing from auction houses and companies) that allows them command this premium.  

With that in mind, if you're submitting a book of substantial value (at least $100), you should pay the extra few dollars to submit it to CGC. You may pay a few more dollars, but you should make it up when the book is sold. You don't want to save yourself $3 or $5 by going with PGX or ACE, but end up selling your book for $10 to $75 less than if it had been graded by CGC. However, keep in mind that ever so slowly, PGX has closed this gap, especially when it comes to key books. It can become narrower as PGX gains more acceptance and credibility.

If your intention is simply to have your book graded and protected in the hardcase slab for displaying and/or storing in your personal collection, then both PGX and ACE are viable options. The service and the resulting slabbed product are basically the same.

Also, if you're only interested in having your book slabbed and not graded, ACE offers a service to slab/seal and protect a book without a grade assignment for $8.95 with a 5 to 10 day turnaround time.

If you'd like to share your thoughts or have any questions, please post them on the got CGC? Discussion Group. We have a diversified group of buyers, sellers, collectors and speculators who love to discuss CGC/PGX/slabbed/graded comic books.

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