The certified copies do not form a level above the raw copies: the two populations largely overlap.On an August 30, 2026 statement counting 157 gross listings and 18 certified ones, 88% of the raw listings are well below the least expensive certified one — but 19 gross listings exceed it, and 15 of the 18 certified ones remain under the most expensive raw listing. Better: out of three certified copies of the same number, the one with the lowest grade of the three is not the least expensive requested. The certification does not put the prices in the order that is attributed to it.
The common image is that of a staircase: at the bottom the raw copies, at the top the certified copies, with a step in between. This image leads to a very common reasoning — “if I get certified, I move to the next level.” — and the statement examined here shows that it is false in both senses.
There are indeed two populations, with very distant centers. But they are not separate: they overlap over a wide range, and within this range the presence or absence of a certification no longer says anything about the asking price.
Two clouds, not two floors
The statement was taken on August 30, 2026 on the American market, the only one of the two to offer a certified segment large enough to be examined: 157 raw announcements and 18 certified, after withdrawal of the lots. Amounts are sumsrequested, never sales concluded, and an observation of a single day does not measure any evolution. Currency doesn't matter here: everything that follows concerns relative positions within the same statement.
The centers are indeed very far away. Median at 9.99 for raw, 162.50 for certified — a ratio of sixteen. Seen this way, the image of the staircase seems confirmed.
But let's look at the boundaries. The cheapest certified one is asking 47.49. Eighty-eight percent of gross ads are below this value—and twelve percent, or nineteen ads, exceed it. In the other direction, the most expensive rough reaches 1,186.62, and fifteen of the eighteen certified remain below this amount. The interval common to the two populations is not a narrow border: it covers almost the entire extent of the certified segment.
Nineteen brutes over the threshold
Twelve percent of gross listings exceed the lowest priced certified. In this range, the absence of certification no longer signals a lower price.
Fifteen certified under the top of the brutes
Fifteen of the eighteen certified advertisements remain below the amount of the most expensive gross. The certified segment does not overlook the other: it is embedded in it.
The same number in both camps
A sought-after old number appears raw at 279.99 and 1,186.62, and certified at 1,200.00, 2,025.00, and 2,279.00. Five announcements, one issue.
The note does not list the prices
Among these three certified, the one rated 5.0 is requested 2,279.00 and the one rated 5.5 only 2,025.00. The higher grade is the cheaper of the two.
This last point is the most instructive, because it concerns three copies of the same booklet, certified by the same type of procedure, put on sale on the same day. All the variables that are usually invoked to explain a discrepancy – different series, different era, subjectively declared state – are neutralized here. All that remains is the note, and it is not enough to order the three prices.
We must be precise about what this demonstrates and what it does not demonstrate. This does not demonstrate that the rating has no effect: the copy rated 3.5 is indeed the cheapest of the three, and the gap between it and the two others is considerable.
This demonstrates that the grade is not the only factor, and that between two close copies, other elements - the whiteness of the pages, the service provider, the age of the ad, the mood of the seller - weigh enough to reverse the order. Half a rating point does not automatically translate into a supplement.
What overlap changes in practice
The reasoning “getting certified takes you to the next level” assumes that the two populations are disjoint. They are not. A rough copy in the recovery range — between 47 and 1,187 in this statement — is already at the asking price level of the majority of certified copies in the same statement.
Conversely, the apparent distance between the two medians does not measure the effect of certification. Above all, it measures the fact that the copies that we have certified are not the same as those that we sell raw: we certify old and sought-after numbers, we sell everything raw. The difference between the two medians therefore firstly reflects a difference inwhat is certified, not a bonus attached to the gesture.
This is a fundamental distinction, and it's easy to miss. Comparing the median of certified to that of raw is like comparing two baskets of different content. The only comparison which would isolate the effect of certification would relate to the same number in the same state - and the statement only provides one case, with three copies whose prices do not rank in the order of the notes.
It is worth looking at where the overlap area actually comes from, as it is not populated randomly. The nineteen raw advertisements which exceed the least expensive certified ones are, without exception, old booklets or particular pieces: a founding issue from the sixties, sought-after appearances, a signed portfolio of illustrations. These are not ordinary fascicles which have drifted upwards, these are objects which belong to the same world as those which are being certified - without having passed through that way.
Symmetrically, the least expensive certified in the survey are not old issues but recent publications with special coverage, rated at the highest of the scale. They are at the asking price level reached by certain old copies, for entirely different reasons: the rarity of an edition on the one hand, the age of an issue on the other.
The common zone therefore brings together two distinct value logics which intersect at the same price level. This is what makes direct comparison so misleading: two ads for the same amount can be justified by unrelated arguments, and nothing in the amount says which applies. You have to open the ad to find out, and that's what no aggregated indicator will do for you.
Six consequences for a collector
L'escalier n'existe pas
Twelve percent of the raw ones exceed the least expensive certified one. There is no walk between the two populations, but a large common area.
Two baskets, not two states
The difference between the medians mainly reflects what we choose to have certified. It does not measure what certification adds to a given copy.
A note does not order the prices
On three copies of the same issue, the grade 5.0 is more expensive than the grade 5.5. The order of notes and the order of prices do not coincide.
A fragile profitability calculation
Estimating the gain from a certification by comparing two medians amounts to comparing two different sets. The number obtained means nothing.
An opportunity in the common area
A certified copy at the bottom of its population may cost less than a rough one at the top of its population. The overlap area is comparable, it is not skipped.
Eighteen ads, not a deal
The certified segment here has eighteen lines. Any median calculated above is indicative; the gap of one to forty-eight that it covers is much wider.
What this statement does not establish
He is not saying that certification would be worthless. It documents a condition in an independent and transferable way, which a seller cannot do alone; it is a real service, the usefulness of which is not reduced to an additional price charged. What the survey contests is the representation in stages, not the interest of the process.
It also does not allow a supplement to be calculated. This would have required several copies of the same number, in the same condition, certified and uncertified, put on sale at the same time. The survey only offers a partial case, with two raw and three certified copies of the same issue, in different declared states.
Finally, eighteen certified announcements constitute a low number. The resulting median of 162.50 is an indicative position on a small group, not a market value. This is also why I insist on the limits and on the overlap rather than on the centers: the limits are read on individual announcements, which can be examined one by one.
Translate this into a file
The instruction:record certification as an attribute of the item, never as a price category.A certified copy does not belong to a segment; it carries a grade issued by a third party, on a date, and this information is stored next to the condition, not in place of a value level.
Systematically note four elements: the fact that it is certified, the rating, the organization, and the date of certification. The last three are what will make the rating comparable later; without them, “certified” is a checked box that provides no information about anything.
To estimate, never compare a certified copy to the median of the rough copies, nor vice versa. Look for the same number in the same regime: a crude compares to crudes, a certified to certifieds of similar grade. And when you only find two or three comparable listings, write it down — three observations give a range, not a value.
A final reflex, if you are considering having a copy certified. The only calculation that makes sense compares the asking price forthis specific numbercertified to a plausible grade, and the asking price forthis same numberraw. Comparing global medians will systematically lead to overestimating the gain, since the two medians relate to different sets of fascicles.
No. On the August 30, 2026 statement, nineteen gross announcements exceed the least expensive certified, and fifteen of the eighteen certified remain below the most expensive gross. The two populations overlap over almost the entire extent of the certified segment. The image of an upper floor is not what the ads show.
Not systematically. Three certified copies of the same number appeared in the statement: the one marked 5.0 was requested 2,279.00 and the one marked 5.5 only 2,025.00. The lower rated of the two is the more expensive. The rating weighs – the third, rated 3.5, is much lower – but it does not alone dictate the prices asked.
Because we don’t certify just anything. The certified copies are the old and sought-after issues, the rough ones include everything else. The difference between 9.99 and 162.50 therefore primarily measures a difference in content between two baskets, and not what certification would add to a given item.
Comparing the same number to itself: the price asked for this certified booklet at a plausible rating, against the price asked for this raw booklet. Comparing two global medians systematically overestimates the gain, since they relate to different sets. This statement does not allow any additional figures to be calculated.
Four elements: the fact that it is certified, the score obtained, the organization which issued it and the date. The last three make the rating comparable later. Without them, the mention “certified” is a box checked which will not allow you to compare or resell with full knowledge of the facts.
Certification is an attribute, not a level
My Comics Collection records the rating, organization and date alongside the condition, so the information remains comparable years later.