ft88

There's 3 9.8s on the board for $1700

Anyone know if Boba Fett or Darth Vader show up in either of the Star Comics lines Ewoks or Droids?

SS 16 seems to be everywhere. So I don't think there's a Marvel preview vs Hulk 271 thing going on.

Anything that stirs the pot.

Can we play Star Wars 42 and 68?

Sorry just a fun little piece of the past. I typically delete the photos after I have completed a sale it helps me manage my inventory so I don't list something twice.

Yes he is using OPG as well as ebay to a certain extant. I was able to walk him back from CGC grade and prices at least.

All those Hulks are long sold. That was over 2 years ago.

Story time. A few years ago I received a call on a large collection, about 80 long boxes of mostly Bronze Age comics with some Silver Age. Long of the short of it I've bought various titles each time I visit - Avengers, Green Lantern all the name titles as he has every one. His MO is to write down the NM- price and then ask for 2/3 of that. This is for each and every comic. What is interesting is this has given me a huge insight into the weaknesses of the price guide. I have no problem with educating the seller but in this case it can work against me was it would only go one way. If I let him know that the Ms Marvel 1 is really worth $100 as a VF even though guide has it at $60, not only am I killing my buy price but he would likely apply the bump up as if it were a NM-. This is what I have labelled the Potomac collection and the majority of the 1978 on up books are NM+ or better. 1975-1977 are NM to NM+ and then the 20 centers on back vary from NM or have some ding that knocks it down a lot. Still, any little flaw can crush a book which what makes NM $10 and a Fine $1. Overall though a ubber nice collection and many buyers on this board have been waiting for more. Over the past 5 years I've basically bought all the Bronze except Spiderman Xmen and Detective as he simply wanted more than I thought they were worth. Typically I could convince him that the Champions 1-17 at $100 or so was a good deal but he wouldn't budge on the Spiderman or Xmen. And the DC's the 100 pagers have been conversation enders as the NM- price is such an outlier vs the Fine price. Often I simply buy the 25 cent on up and leave him the older, lessor grade books that he valued too high (not NM- in this case but always too high) Here's the Hulk sales thread, where I was able to get the SA books. But not the 181 http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=5531940&fpart=8 Anyway, typical dealing with a somewhat knowledgeable seller on an amazing collection. While he doesn't have the time or interest to price each book, that's what he does to make sure he doesn't get taken advantage. That's fair. I've bought the books at fair prices at around 60% and have made a bit more on books that get graded either keys or some 9.8's etc. Another interesting tidbit is that these books have gone way up in value after and as I've bought/sold them. I just got back from the latest deal with him after an 18 month hiatus. Titles are: Dr Strange Star Wars Marvel 2in1 Shazam Swamp Thing Nova/Omega Avengers Anns 6-10 Strange Tales 169-181 The 2in1 and Shazam I had passed on in the past and now picked them up with the move in the prices. Nova some of the books has a corner water stain which is highly unfortunate as these are NM+ otherwise. Not a promotion but look for these on the sales threads.

A store really can't be done solo. That really is a tough animal that takes total dedication. Maybe shows you could be a one man operation with the wife helping with bathroom breaks, but even that for small shows with maybe 2-3 tables. It would take another 10 pages to give advice on how to be store owner and/or do the show circuit. I'm more the home / internet only proposition that also applies to part time board or eBay sellers.

Well shoot, a disappointing outing looking at a collection. Told over the phone there were over 5000 comics about 20 boxes. Mostly 1970's and 1980s. As I asked for details, little were coming out as he hadn't looked at them in years. I asked about price and if he wanted to sell all or how he wanted to do it. Wanted to sell everything. Thought they'd be worth $20,000 but would sell for $5000. This is the perfect setup. Large collection and he knows they have value. He did know the titles and Xmen, Spiderman and Batman were thrown around. Most are bagged and boarded. This is actually often a flag that these are late 80s and 90's but he said he was buying back issues etc. Well you can figure what happened. 20 boxes and nearly all of it is 1990s to 2000s. Titles were good but what are you going to do. I really had no interest. So I offer to buy the Amazing Spiderman run and Uncanny Xmen run and a decent 1970s box. Not all of them are NM+ either even bagged and boarded but most are nice. No ASM 300 but an XMen 266. If anyone wants to pursue the rest of these send me a PM and I'll shoot you his number. I didn't see any New Mutants and I could have missed them. Things i didn't pick up were the Xforce run which included 2. Batman and Detective long box, Green Lantern small box. Wolverine small box. etc. I am certain he would sell these for $50 a box as he is looking to unload. He lives just off I-95 a little NW of Baltimore out by Gunpowder Falls Natl Park. Hey, I was glad to at least pick up some books but I had fantasy visions in my head of 20 cent Spidey's and Avengers and Byrne Xmen, Adams Batman and a pile of 30 cent variants. Not always the case.

Talking with a Seller Like a lot of things, there is no substitute for experience. If you have or have had a sales job in the past then all those experiences apply here. Without sales experience, a good start is to buy and read the Jeffrey Gitomer book Little Red Book of Selling. It's 80% motivational and 20% technique and tips. But all those lessons apply and I'll focus on comic related communication and sales issues specifically. First of all, even when buying comics, you are really selling; and selling yourself. But the fact that you are buying and buying with cash or like cash money orders you are in a position of leverage. Find out as much as possible and do so as conversationally as possible. Be confident and non sales-y. Easiest way for me to depict this is two types of conversations over the phone. I'll go over the in person meeting after. But here's conversation 1. Seller with comics doesn't know what he has. "Hi is this Ed, you buy comics?" "Yes, I'm curious what you have." "I've got a couple of boxes of comics that I'm looking to sell." "OK, do happen to have them with you?" If no, then I would highly recommend calling back when he has them in front of him. It's possible he knows his books, but then there is a 99% likelihood he knows value etc which is a different conversation. "Yes, they're right here, lets see what I have." "Let, me ask you this, do you have just a couple or are there a couple boxes?" If just a couple, have them read off 1 or 2 and get the jist of the books, its likely not worth much. "I've got a huge collection here, at least 4 boxes." "Great, take a look at a couple of them. What titles are they?" At this point the owner is reasonably getting into it and will read off titles. After you hear the first good title - Batman go ahead and stop him. If it is all Archies and Mickey Mouse ask, get to age and make a call if it's something you want to pursue. "Here's one that's Batman, here's another Superman...." "OK, take the Batman - do you see a cover price on it? "No, where would I find that?" "It should be on the cover 15 cents or 50 cents something like that." "Ah, here it is, 35 cents" Be careful if he says $1.50. That could be a sticker price (fromt he 1980s) on the bag instead of the cover price - just double check. At this point saying 35 cents or 10 cent or $1.50 you should have an idea of what you're working with. Figure out how many Batmans etc there are etc. Is it mostly superhero, any cartoon character or Classiscs Illustrated. There are always Classics with an OO late 1960s collection. The go ahead and ask what he's looking for and other questions that help you with negotiations.

Short answer is I use Excel Track all expenses - easy enough Break up the collection in logical chunks - estimate sale price, track actual sales and remaining books Figure out gross profit. Also, go take an online or community college course in Accounting 101. I don't need to be GAAP compliant but it helps to understand the language of accounting. Professor once told me to start a business you need two things. Fat margins and Scale.

A couple old sales threads that are comical looking at todays prices. http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=66758&Number=1219742#Post1219742 http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1223734&fpart=2 Discussion about it when I first picked it up. http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1192699&fpart=5 One of the first of many #1's sales threads. Black Panther #1 NM for $12? It sold, but the Nova 1 NM- for $9 did not. http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=73949&Number=1348809#Post1348809

This wasn't the earliest but it was the biggest. From about 10 years ago I had an apartment at the time (and single no kids). I bought this collection and then two others shortly after that combined added another 20 boxes. This made it where I needed to get a storage unit and get serious about selling efficiently. Before this I would sell stuff on ebay, 1- -20 a week and the lot out what didn't sell, just to get rid of everything. This collection was simply too big to do that. If I had this collection back today it would be worth at least double if not more. There were quite a number of multi paks of #1 issues. 10 copies Nova 1, 10 copies Ms Marvel 1 etc. that I sold for $5 or $10 each. You can see the multi copies of Wolverine LS 1-4. It was a pretty sick find - all those boxes are Marvel and DC superheroes from the later 60s to mid 1980s. And like most of what I pick up, 1970s is by far the most common. The Golden Ages stuff is tough and with good titles even tougher. Very early on I bought a collectors Superman issue 2-400 collection and a few graded out very high. I had to borrow money for that one, I forget exactly but I had to pay over $20,000 so again that made it a serious business aspect and not just picking up a box of Bronze for $200. Another collection was about 10 boxes of Westerns, 1950s to 1970s. Paid over $4000 for it and lost a couple hundred on resell. Hard to forget those. The "Charm City Collection" self named and unofficial pedigree.

I will with a grumble if I do come across them. Nothing against Archies, but I'd rather not travel 8 hours round trip for a bunch of VG 60's. Of course, he called and said his brother had the flu so this would have to wait a week or so. It's never easy. Ed

A little personal story. I just got a call from a gentleman handling an estate. Says there is upwards of 1000 comics from 1950s and 1960s. He lives over 4 hours away. Doesn't have an exact price in mind and will likely shop them around to get the best price. He is going to call back when the books are in front of him to give me an idea about what he has. I mentioned two things, that I was more than happy to walk him through the value of the collection, but I wanted to be given serious consideration for my offer. Don't make me do a ton of work and then go with someone else. Also, I want to make sure he has the goods. Marvel and DC with a strong couple of keys, I'll make the round trip. Archie and Harvey's - maybe but probably not. So this is the type of deal that is on the edge and requires a bunch of stuff I've mentioned in this thread. I'm competing against dealers and their sales pitch. I need to be able to evaluate the worth of the collection. I have to be willing to travel and willing to work the risk that I get nothing. I better bring enough money to buy at least part of the collection. I need to be able to sell the collection quickly and efficiently. All those things give me an edge, either I can get to them first and win, pay more than a dealer because my costs are low, show the seller that I'm trustworthy, knowledgable and willing to help. All these things take time, experience, money, passion for the hobby, and a pleasant demeanor. If any of these are missing, it's not going to work.

I have a cover for Batman 7, need a complete interior.

I need a tutorial, couldn't figure it out on my own.

scanner user issue, I'll need to expand it.

Got it in today. Very glad to get it back.

Self Insurance I practice this and it goes with good practices. Often enough I have received packages either from the board here or from ebay where the seller spent $5 on postage and upwards or $3 on insurance. For a $50 comic. Again this doesn't seem like much but those expenses really add up. I am a huge believer in self insuring so allow me to rant a little. Insurance companies in general make a lot of money off of peoples overblown worries and unwillingness to take risk. OMG what happens when the nasty USPS steals my package, how will I manage and SOMEBODY HAS TO PAY AND IT WON'T BE ME. OK, yeah. Lets break it down financially. Sell 100 items for $50 = $5000. Insurance at $3 each is $150. Out of 50 items the post office can lose 3 items and still break even. My loss or damage rate for domestic shipments is around 1 out of 1000. Keep in mind to attempt to collect damages on a USPS insurance claim has the joy of filing taxes. Forms, faxes, photos, oops you filled it out wrong send it in again.... wait 6-8 weeks. Get judgement, is there an appeal. Plus you have to coordinate with the buyer and on and on. All for $50. Just take that money, put it aside and self insure. I'd even suggest it for high dollar books up to $1000. Can you afford to lose it? Not, is it OK to lose it, but is it worth the risk. For 1 book in a 10 year period, fine buy insurance. But over a couple years I may buy/sell 20-30 $1000 books and at $10 per shipment, that really adds up. I wonder why CGC doesn't incorporate that in their business model. Self insure shipments up to say $10,000 and then buy insurance for amounts over that. Think about it.

Good Business Practices Learn it, Live it, Love it. Whether selling here on the boards or on ebay. It also applies to buying. Offer returns. It doesn't have to be unconditional but allowing for returns is the standard. Target will let you return a once worn dress, the least I can do is allow for a return for a collectible with subjective grading. It's more than that though, it's also perception. Nothing worse than an ebay listing for a comic that says "Sold as is." Great, so if the interior is water logged, I'm stuck with it. Keep in mind paypal/ebay return policy will allow for basically any buyer to get a refund, so don't fight it even if you fell entitled, which you shouldn't. I feel like I can grade pretty well. And with that and an open grading policy I probably have a 5% problem rate. Either with condition, missing books, or postage issues. As a one man operation, I do miss things and the best thing I can do is work with the buyer. Condition issues I leave it up to the buyer to either return it or get a partial refund. I don't ask for pictures or proof or what have you. For returns I generally refund the amount and the original postage but not the return postage. That tends to be standard practice and buyers, including myself, seem to accept the loss of return postage is the risk in buying. It should happen infrequently enough as to be seen as one offs. Missing or lost books are very rare except for international where it is more frequent but still uncommon. I mentioned before that Paypal postage requires tracking, so that seems to take care of that. But if a package goes missing I generally offer to split the damages. There's a trust issue on each side. As in, the buyer of the seller could be outright lying, so and I think it makes sense to split it. Postage damage also depends but I generally take responsibility and treat it as a condition issue offering the solution option to the buyer. If you are grading and packing well, refunds might be 2% of your expenses. Not nothing but a minimal amount that you simply shouldn't jeopardize any goodwill you've created over it. And its the right thing to do all said.

I think that makes sense. It is worth looking into as the paypal fees add up over time at 3-4%

I was getting a fee even when it came from a balance. Otherwise that is correct regarding cc vs balance. Normally balance personal payments are fee free.