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Matt Hawes
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 16502
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| Posted: 04 November 2013 at 7:13pm | IP Logged | 1
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Neil wrote:
| ...Matt, what about us old timers who collect complete runs? I have a run of Uncle Scrooge from 1985 to present, as well as X-Men from 102 up to about 2003. Is it better to try to sell as a complete run or to split it up?.... |
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It's always better to split it up when selling, not matter what, when trying to get as much as you can for a collection. I know it seems that someone would pay more to get a complete run, but the truth is that people nearly always expect a discount to buy a run of comics.
The buyer thinks, "Hey, I'm buying 200+ issues of Captain Powerdude, I wonder what kind of break the seller will offer if I buy that whole run?"
That's human nature. Of course, if you hate the idea of breaking up the set, chances are you'll still get more than if it was a mixed lot, since you would be selling to someone who would want all the issues. But it wil still most likely be a bulk deal of some sort selling it like that.
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Matt Hawes
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 16502
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| Posted: 04 November 2013 at 7:37pm | IP Logged | 2
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Trevor: "...If I wanted a tax deduction it would be more beneficial to just sell them and claim a capital loss from the sale of a collectible..."
Good luck with that.
Trevor: "...It will be more fun to have people pay me to burn them -- and comics are all about having fun, right?..."
Whatever floats your boat. I don't think it's a cool idea, but it is your stuff. But if you betting someone will pay you to burn your collection, I'd say the chances are not that high. Maybe if you threatened to burn "Action Comics" #1 (1938), it would spark enough interest from people who would see if you'd go through with it. But, if you had that comic, I'm sure you wouldn't do that. You'd sell it just like you wanted to do with all the comics you do have, but are unhappy that you can't sell for the price you want.
You're basically threatening to burn the comics as some sort of cathartic exercise to "punish" those people that wouldn't pay you what you thought your comics were worth. It's an odd reaction, but if it pleases you, go ahead and do it. Film it, as you suggest, even. I'll watch your video. I won't shed a tear, nor will I pay you a cent to burn them. I'll just watch and shake my head that this is somehow healing for you.
Trevor: "...I bought them - I read them - now I'm trying to squeeze out some residual value from them in the most profitable way I can..."
Nah, expecting people to pay to watch you burn comics isn't a profitable business model. You'd make more money selling them to a dealer for that price you initially refused to take because you thought you'd get more money. Again, this is just your way of "punishing" those that wouldn't pay you what you wanted for the comics. Only, it doesn't punish them at all.
Trevor: "... see I, like tens of thousands of others, held on to these things thinking they would be valuable one day..."
Well, you bought them for the wrong reason. You should have invested in stocks.
Trevor: "...So one day soon I'll have the platform together for you folks to pledge support for a mass burning. It's just in the planning stages right now...."
Keep us updated, won't you? I would be interested if people would pay you anything at all to do this.
Trevor: "...Oh -- I'm also binding some of them -- destroying their collector value but preserving their readability for me). it does make it hard when I have to include a $200 book in a binding, but...alas... "
Heck, JB has you beat. He has thousands of dollars worth of comics that he had bound.
People can do what they want with their comics (or whatever other items they collect). I think burning them or destroying them are wasteful, but whatever makes you happy, I guess.
Binding comics is fine, as well. I mean, if the owner never wants to sell the comics anyway, and this preserves them in an easy and accessible way for storing and reading, why not?
In the end, it's about enjoyment. Personally, if something no longer gives me joy, I would like to pass it on one way or another, so others can enjoy it. If you get more enjoyment out of destroying your own property, well, it's legal. Go ahead and light the match.
Edited by Matt Hawes on 04 November 2013 at 7:41pm
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Matt Hawes
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 16502
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| Posted: 04 November 2013 at 7:40pm | IP Logged | 3
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Shaun wrote:
| ...Trevor, I really hope you're joking, 'cause I just can't understand the thinking behind this... |
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Eh, he is either just being deliberately provocative for his own amusement, or he is mad at not getting what he wanted and will now show the cruel world its folly by burning his comics. There are worse ways for him to work out his frustrations, so if that will make him happy...
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Jozef Brandt
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 03 March 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 2669
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| Posted: 04 November 2013 at 7:43pm | IP Logged | 4
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I was just thinking back...the only time I ever sold comics was because I saw an immediate buck to be made. I was at a comic convention and I saw a guy with a sign up that said he was paying a certain price for Robotech comics 1-5. I had just come from another table where a guy had those very issues for half-off, and I even talked him down lower! Made a tidy profit there.
In my small home town there was a book store that sold comics for 20 cents and bought them for 10 cents (regardless of what they were). I would go to garage sales and buy boxes of Archie comics and trade them for stuff I really wanted. ( I got FF 239-255 that way).
I have never sold a comic I loved. I don't even know what I have that would be considered valuable these days. I have the first few Eastman and Laird TMNT comics. Everything Dark Horse put out their first couple years (their store was my LCS for a time so all the stuff is signed). But that stuff has more sentimental value than monetary value.
I think what took the fun out of it for me (and this deals with baseball cards too) was the emergence of professional grading. It was much more fun to eyeball something when you made a trade than to have someone with lasers measuring it.
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Shaun Barry
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 08 December 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 6904
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| Posted: 04 November 2013 at 8:25pm | IP Logged | 5
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I got much more pleasure out of GIVING my comics away than selling them...
Once I finally moved out of my Dad's almost 20 years ago, I'd amassed probably around (conservatively) 2,000 comics. Not a colossal amount, but enough that I could try to sell some of them for some rent money, at a time that I also thought I'd outgrown the hobby and love of comics in general.
Over the next few years, I sold off batches at local LCSs; had a comic book table at a local weekend flea market for a couple months; then eventually took to selling off the remainder on eBay...
After all those avenues, not only did I still have a sizable chuck of comics left over, but I also came to realize I was never going to make a killing on the issues I had. I think the most I ever got in one pop was a birthday-gifted copy of CONAN THE BARBARIAN #1, which I sold for around $50 (at the flea market).
When I got engaged and moved in with my fiancé, I still had to thin the rest of my collection. From there, I just GAVE THEM AWAY, to friends and co-workers who had sons, nephews or younger brothers, who had a love (or at least passing interest) in superheroes.
I got the most gratification out of hearing how much they enjoyed getting those issues out of the blue. One co-worker had a young son who loved and appreciated the comics so much, the son wrote me a thank-you note and my co-worker's wife even sent me an e-mail explaining how thoughtful my gesture was. My co-worker even told me an instance where his son actually exclaimed, "Wow, that was the greatest comic book I ever read!" (Sadly, I never found out WHICH issue this was in reference to!)
In the end, that's what mattered to me and those are the memories I cherish. Try it sometime. You might be surprised.
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Tim O Neill
Byrne Robotics Security
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 10937
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| Posted: 04 November 2013 at 8:33pm | IP Logged | 6
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Trevor, I don't want any "updates" about your knuckle-headed book burning scheme. You're not promoting efforts to make money here, so knock it off. You're derailing what is an otherwise interesting thread.
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Neil Lindholm
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 January 2005
Location: China
Posts: 4944
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| Posted: 04 November 2013 at 11:03pm | IP Logged | 7
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Matt, what about trades? Are comic shop owners more open to trades than with cash? I would be willing to trade my stuff for 4 or 5 silver age high quality, or example.
Edited by Neil Lindholm on 04 November 2013 at 11:04pm
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Matt Hawes
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 16502
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| Posted: 05 November 2013 at 1:52am | IP Logged | 8
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Neil, most dealers would be more likely to work out a trade deal, and often for more than they would offer in cash.
Edited for typo.
Edited by Matt Hawes on 05 November 2013 at 1:53am
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Neil Lindholm
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 January 2005
Location: China
Posts: 4944
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| Posted: 05 November 2013 at 2:23am | IP Logged | 9
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That's what I thought. I am going to start checking out the shops when I get back to Canada in the summer. I would love to sell them slowly but I am in Canada for only a short period of time so it really is the only way to do it.
Thanks Matt.
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Eric Jansen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 October 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 2364
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| Posted: 05 November 2013 at 3:43am | IP Logged | 10
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Value is relative. I look at it like this: If I were a billionaire and I really, really wanted a copy of ACTION COMICS #1, I would easily spend a million dollars on it! Wouldn't even think twice probably. In these days of eBay reaching all over the world, OF COURSE you can make money off of the things that are rare. All you need is to reach that ONE person who really wants what you have. Recently, I've been buying a lot of "old" (60's & 70's) comics at cons from the $3 or less boxes. I never had a full run of HOWARD THE DUCK or MASTER OF KUNG FU and it looks like they are not (or can't because of legal reasons?) going to be collected/reprinted any time soon, so I really want the originals and I'm finding good "readers copies" for $1 or $2 each. BUT I can't find HTD #12 or #13 for anything less than $12! (I guess KISS was featured, so those are more rare.) Now, I'm VERY willing to pay $5 or $6 for those. I'm also missing two issues of Mr. Byrne's SHE-HULK and when I finally find those, you KNOW I'll open my wallet and say "Here, just take as much as you want"!
Edited by Eric Jansen on 05 November 2013 at 3:44am
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Craig Robinson
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 November 2010
Location: United States
Posts: 1756
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| Posted: 05 November 2013 at 7:23am | IP Logged | 11
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I've sold a few collections in bulk (most recently, all of my Geoff Johns Green Lantern comics - somewhere around 150). I didn't have a specific price per issue that I wanted. I was looking at buying a Fender Strat. So I tried parceling it into collections to see what kind of bites I got and then all together as one run. Based only on what I needed to get the Strat. So when I sell comics on eBay, it's usually a strategy to make money toward a specific goal rather than on any perception of "value" on the comics in the market. I look at what similar lots sell for and I try to sell in that margin. That's the extent of my market research. But it's not a business for me, so I don't have to put so much thought into selling price. I read Geoff Johns GL run and enjoyed it. It's still in my head. And by selling the collection, I gained a guitar that I love. So in my book, it's not about money that I "lost;" I won twice. I sell my randoms, duplicates and small or spotty runs to Half Price Books without any thought of making money. My hope is that someone will get more enjoyment out of it than it just sitting in my boxes after I know I won't read it anymore.
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David Ferguson
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 March 2007
Location: Ireland
Posts: 6782
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| Posted: 05 November 2013 at 8:00am | IP Logged | 12
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Neil, most dealers would be more likely to work out a trade deal, and often for more than they would offer in cash.
*** My LCS offers store credit > than the cash amount they would offer to buy stuff (for single issues or trades) as an option. Other shops might offer this too.
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Topic Closed)
