Best Comic Book Grading Apps
I’m old enough to remember when the saying, “There’s an app for that!” was new. Apps are now taken for granted and are such an integral part of life that it’s hard to imagine when they didn’t exist. There’s an app for everything now, even if you’re looking for the best comic book grading apps.
The Best Comic Book Grading Apps
Before we can talk about the best comic book grading apps, let’s first talk about comic book grading.
If you want to be taken seriously as someone who wants to sell valuable comic books, then you must have your comics appraised and graded by a professional third-party evaluator.
There are several grading systems, but the most universally recognized and used is the CGC comic book grading system. Comics with a grading of 0.5 or lower are considered poor – they could be aesthetically damaged. A grade of 9.9 is considered mint – a “10” comic is considered gem mint, which means it is valuable and in perfect aesthetic condition.
Valuable comics sold as collectibles are first encased in a rigid plastic shell called a slab. The slab has an ID sticker with all relevant information, including the comic book grade.
To get a comic book grading, you need to mail the comic books to a third-party comic book grading company. And the company will charge processing fees to grade each comic. The processing fee increases the more valuable the comic book is.
You can use comic book grading apps to get a baseline estimate of the comic book on your own before you consider trying to sell it.
You will learn about three cheap or low-price comic book grading apps in this post.
But first, let’s talk about the ComiXology digital comic book reading app, and why you should spend $6 monthly for it if you are a comic book collectibles investor.
Amazon’s Free ComiXology App and ComiXology Unlimited
The free ComiXology App is a cloud-based platform for the digital distribution of comic books. Basically, it is an app that allows you to read comic books, graphic novels, Kindle comic books, and even Japanese manga on a smart device, laptop, or computer.
Comixology was founded as an independent company in 2007 but was bought by Amazon in 2014.
With this free app, you can browse and read a selected range of comic books online for free. It is a persuasion tactic to get you to subscribe to the paid ComiXology service and it is worth it.
ComiXology Unlimited is a $6 monthly service that you start with a one-month free trial. You can read your comic online with the service’s proprietary immersive and cinematic viewing options.
You can read and subscribe to over 230,000 comic books, or about 45,000 individual titles with ComiXology Unlimited. You can read comic books from publishers like DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, IDW, Dynamite, Image, Boom!, Kodansha, manga, and various European titles.
ComiXology even publishes its own exclusive line of original comic books.
Since this is a blog post about the best comic book grading apps, you wonder why you should buy a comic book reading app.
Comic Book Grading Apps (Why ComiXology?)
First of all, ComiXology is probably the best and most reputable online comic book subscription and reading service around. ComiXology also has the widest selection of digital comic books to choose from.
Finally, subscribing to ComiXology is a great way for you to vet the potential comic book investments that you could make in the future.
When comic books first went digital, I was so against it. Nothing beats the tactile sensation of holding a comic book in your hands. But reading digital comic books is convenient and easy. I usually read them on a widescreen laptop for the best reading experience.
But I’ve come to also realize that since ComiXology offers access to over 230,000 comic books, graphic novels, and one-shots, I can also use my subscription to vet comic books I’m interested in buying as collectible investments.
You may not find every comic book you’re looking for. But if you are a casual reader and unsure about buying a comic series or specific comic book, you have a choice of almost a quarter million comic books to choose from.
ComiXology can be your viewing launching pad to read a comic book online and then perhaps buy a physical copy as a hobbyist or as a collectible investment. Take advantage of ComiXology to vet digital comics before buying physical copies that you can later preliminarily grade with comic book grading apps.
The 3 Best Comic Book Grading Apps
These three comic book grading apps are user-friendly, free, or very affordable.
Comics Price Guide
The Comics Price Guide comic book grading app will cost you a one-time $1.99 fee. You can get it at Google Play.
The app claims to have over one million comic books from 6,000 publishers stored in its database. It’s an extension of the website Comics Price Guide, where you can go to check the value of comic books online.
The app will give you data points to follow to assess whether or not the comic book in question is valuable.
Comic Book Price Guide
The Comic Book Price Guide comic book grading app is available for download at Google Play. The price guide is free to use – you can use it to get a ballpark estimate value of your comic book.
Comics are graded on a scale from:
- Poor
- Good
- Fine
- Mint
Key Collector Comics Mobile Database App
The Key Collector Comics mobile app is one of the best comic book grading apps around. It is available for download at Google Play and is free.
This comic book grading app distinguishes itself from others because it focuses on adding valuable, hard-to-find, speculator-favored, and highly collectible comic books to its database.
You can use the CGC or CBCS comic book grading system to assess the value of your comic books vis a questionnaire. The app allows you to sign up for a notification system that tells you what latest comics have become highly collectible.
The app will also notify you if another local user is selling a comic book on your grade list.
Read More
Top Comic Book Recommendations for Kids Ages 8 to 10
The 6 Best Comic Book Grading and Slabbing Companies
6 Best Comic Book Display Shelves
Allen Francis is a full-time writer, prolific comic book investor and author of The Casual’s Guide: Why You Should Get Into Comic Book Investing. Allen holds a BA degree from Marymount Manhattan College. Before becoming a writer Allen was an academic advisor, librarian, and college adjunct for many years. Allen is an advocate of best personal financial practices including saving and investing in your own small business.
