Does anyone solidly know what AFA charges for thier service?

I have no interest in AFA, but everywhere I see AFA graded items, I see really high prices. I was just curious if they charge a flat rate for what they do, or if they take a % of what they feel the item is worth.

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I know its a flat rate, like 30 or 40 bucks a figure. I think you get a bulk discount rate too for sending in a few figures or whatever at once.

Oh, what a great deal.

Is there anyone here who prefers AFAs judgement over thier own?

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I do not. I dislike the whole idea of AFA Ratings.

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Yeah, it doesnt seem quite right. I was looking at some stuff on eBay and kept coming across AFA items, and of course the prices was 10xs what comparable stuff was. That made me wonder if they charged a flat rate, like $5 or so, or if they charged based on the items value, which it seems they do. I was able to find a price list on thier website, which was pretty outrageous I thought.

Certainly explains why Brians Toys sells loose Wild Bills from 84 for $55....a good chunk of that is to pay for AFAs grading! I buy and sell tons of crap every month. I base my prices on what I pay for the item and the overall availability of said item.

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I think your pricing is pretty fair,too.

For me,my Joes are still playthings,not investments,and that's why I dislike AFA. Maybe the MIB people really like it,and that's their thing,so be it.

I will never ever buy an AFA rated item.

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Thanks.
I'm a collector as well as a dealer, so I try to base everything on what I think is fair, and what I would pay. Also, the community was long overdue for a 'get everything ya need 1 place' e-store.

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From what I've heard its a percentage based on the final grade not what you can sell it for. A higher graded figure would have a higher fee than a lower graded one and thus you'd want to sell it for more to recover your costs. But I believe that's how the fees are based.

And I've ranted about AFA (and CGC, the comics side of that "business") before so I won't do so again except to say I think its a shady side of collecting.

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The only reason i can see for an "AFA" graded item, if it was vintage, like from the 70's and earlier on. I won't buy anything with that rating, it's just ridiculous.

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This recent auction for a AFA 25th B.A.T. got a big WTF from me.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 3DWatching

206 bucks? Are you kidding me? I rather buy 20 carded B.A.T.s with that coin to find a great condition MOC B.A.T. I could even buy a couple unopended cases of this wave from an online vendor to get a undamaged MOC B.A.T.

AFA is still a scam to me with the whole Brian's Toys, Cloud City Collectibles and Premiere Collectibles connections.

I'm just curious why the AFA Joes on HTS are of varying grades. Wouldn't they all be the highest grade possible coming straight from the factory to HTS and not handled by stockers in retail stores, etc?

AFA doesn't make sense to me. To pay an extra hundred bucks just for a plastic box with a sticker. If I want plastic boxes with stickers, I can go to Target!

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HTS gets their figures through the same channels as all other retailers. So, their cases are handled by the same longshoremen and sailors that handle every other case. Their odds of pulling an AFA 95+ figure from a case are only slightly better than you doing the same from a sealed case found on a pallet at Wal Mart.

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Yeah, stuff gets manhandled all the way from point A to your grubby little paws no matter what route it takes. Most 25th cards I have seen (and bought) usually have some light creasing or wrinkling down the middle from the top of the card. I have rarely found a 25th card, even fresh from a case that was wrinkle or ding free.

I personally do not go for the AFA stuff, they are collectibles but they are still just toys. However, if I ever had the pleasure of owning a unopened case of Joes from 1985, I would prolly crack the case and send the best of the best straight to AFA.