W16227

nothing wrong with reader grade silvers ----- especially for a "rescue" project nice find

Dude...are we married to the same woman? Must be three timing us........ plus of course - she expects to share in any and all $$$$ from sales.........

Plustek OpticPro A320 Anyone use this? - ccd sensor large format price is not as obscene as the other ones available new.... My HP - still kicking - but lots of dust under the glass shows up in the scans......

Ah I see I think that hard parts will be learning the accounting and taxes part of comics but if this turns out to be a good side venture I'll be happy with that too. ya - being "above board" (for the US ) - is tough I am VERY small potatoes compared to others - what I wrote (minus a bunch) - is how you are supposed to account for stuff - as a SMALL guy. This does not include the fun of state taxes. Illinois has an easy all online site to take care of this - but you still have to be on top of stuff....... learning all of the steps, though, - helps a TON with weather or not you are actually making a profit (if any) - and making the whole thing worthwhile. It is also FUN - and a good way to make some extra $$ ---- to pay for the ones you want to keep......

I clipped some stuff - This may be one of those BIG behaviors to readjust - you NEVER know for sure. I posted earlier about one of my tactics when I am buying for myself- and this (breaking even or near that) - is how I gauge a bad deal/good deal --- but for buy/sell stock - you have to resist this. You never know what any book will hopefully sell for - until it sells. If you set up a solid strategy (or even as a gauge of results) --- you look at the average over time. For ones that I can hold in the collect me inventory- I do not mind being at that price point where I "think" i can move it for close to what I paid - as I do not really want to sell these. It looked like you did ok with the sales so far (if the numbers are true NET profit)-- if you can move everything else in a couple months - and break even - you did real well for what you have. Continue to simplify SMARTLY and you may be able to work up a side income. Look at Chips online auctions - that is what a person has to do to make a living at this. He is a beast - I do not think you are ready yet for this kind of pressure and throughput. PACE YOURSELF!!!!!

Believe this was the actual stock cost (would then line up with my process) - if you are selling enough to pay taxes - you need to know the cost paid. What you think it will sell for - just an opinion (but boy - I wish I could pay taxes based on opinion, ) Even if you have to sell it for LESS than what you paid - this should be the general "inventory" number. This is what is used for the gross profit calculation --- or in some cases,,,,, gross loss ( and boy, any loss is gross)! Sales for losses happen. They need to be tracked as much as gains--- and at the end of the year, the hope is the business plan was strong enough to be in the positive side.

I think part of it---- was with what is considered "inventory"..... He was using the paid amount - you were asking for overall value estimate. Both whorthwhile numbers to know. Gabriel - that first set of numbers you gave sales of ~ 5K, made about 1300 --- this is not a bad return. BUT make sure this is a real number minus all expenses. For any of the calculations - you need to keep track of everything. Get into the habit of doing this - will only help in the long run. For any of the info below - realize that this is based on US tax law and an individual running this as a side or lower end business (for US peeps - filing schedule C). This is a very simple way of looking at a business. A larger business with many other expenses - usually have to operate under more sophisticated rules and guidelines, but hopefully this will help you. It is based on "cash based accounting". This simplifies a lot of the record-keeping. Simply put - whatever money comes in and out is accounted for at that time. Also - it REALLY helps to have ONE credit card and ONE paypal - that is exclusively used for the business. I can download my ccard transactions at the end of the year - and pretty quickly sort items into the right categories. so Gross sales - cost of goods sold (COGS) = gross income/profit. Gross income - expenses = net income. Net income = the one we all want. With the exception of taxes - this is the profit in your pocket! ___________________________________________________ Gross sales = what you were paid. Easiest to throw shipping in this as one sum (as it can be accounted for separately). Ebay makes this pretty easy - you have a transaction for $500 including shipping - they send this over as one payment - then bill fees and shipping separately. This helps a lot. ___________________________________ COGS: This is everything associated with procuring and prepping the material for selling. This example is based on year end taxes - but can really be applied to any time frame - Any inventory cost listed here- is what you paid for it. Inventory value (unrealized gain or loss) - is a separate discussion. to calculate COGS - take------ last years inventory (what you paid for comics) add any new purchases made this year add supplies (bags and boards) add grading/pressing fees from this - subtract end of year inventory (last year inventory + buys MINUS the cost paid for anything sold during the year). ________________________________________________________ so - gross income = gross sales - COGS. Looks great - but now we have EXPENSES....... Expenses: Outbound shipping shipping materials ebay fees paypal fees office suppliers advertising (business cards) legal fees storage (shortboxes) etc..... NET profit = gross profit - expenses

-- to succeed at consignments - you REALLY need to have an established business. Small consignments - what this translates into - " I found someone to sell all my dollar drek for me". This will translate into a lot of work for little profit. You would be better off doing this for your own good - instead of someone else. Larger commissions - you have to really look at what you bring to the table vs Comiclink, HA, Comicconnect - or any one of the dozens of board member WHO HAVE THEIR OWN STORES bring to the table. There are plenty of hard workers that are established and can maximize the return for their consignees. Step back ---- start selling a MIX of what you have - some small and some bigger books. Stick to ebay as this is the LARGEST audience out there. USE THIS MONEY AS SEED MONEY TO PURCHASE SMALL COLLECTIONS. If you are unable to find a good cost to resale value when buying in bulk from someone - you will never be able to accurately consign anything. Even HA has some good BULK deals - you will not make a ton of $$$ back on them - but if you choose carefully you will get some cash back buying and splitting up for resale - but more importantly you will get more EXPERIENCE!!!!. You keep trying to skip 100 or so steps on the way to success. If you mess up your own sales - your learn a great lesson and have an opportunity to develop great customer service. If you mess up consignments - you are in a lose lose situation as you have no experience to guide you.

10% paying for the other 90% --- we hope for this - it is not always a hard and fast rule as some collections may not have that good 10%. The reverse of that too - is that in a lot of collections, 90% of what you are paying for is that cool 10% of the collection. The way is hopefully works - you get back a majority of the purchase price on the best 10% of the books. These are the highest value and easiest to sell. After that - the 90% which will have to be more bulk sales - give you that profit. My latest collection buy - turned into a great example of this - my offer was really 90% based on the silver aged books. about 290 of them. Collection also had ~ 2300 copper/ modern DC books. The copper/modern - I can blow out with dollar/50 cent pricing at a local show (and cherry pick better ones before that) - but the collection will pay for itself and more with only the silver. With the gauntlets - many things going on there with them - a lot is cash flow and how fast they can move. Another side is really the movie bump. Altogether it is really timing. Look at GPA - things for 12 months are up - but down for 90 day. Not really known why. If you hold all of them - your money is tied up and not working for you. It is all at the risk of the market. Since it is already well known that Thanos and the infinity gauntlet are in the plans - the movie bump may already be priced in. Maybe not - but if you hold all of them you are risking it all. There are also more than 50 for sale right now - (around 50 referenced in GPA and many more from other grading companies out there) - so there is competition for sales now (heck - I have a full set of 1-6 9.8s on ebay myself). If the book heats up more - I would expect that the price will not jump quickly - because more people will list theirs. I think for this particular book ( and I am NOT an expert on this exact one) - the upside (if any) is pretty far out and would potentially be linked to the first avengers infinity movie. So - lets say that there is a 100% bump by then. What could be valued today at 145 - you are waiting to 2+ years to "potentially" double your money. But - you have MANY of these - and there is no guarantee of doubling. So - if you sell a couple at a time (list one of each grade). Keep a couple of the 9.8 - and sell slowly. Look over ebay - there is one for 140 now - and others at 160 and up. List the first 9.8 at 160 (look over GPA and ebay to gauge what the 9.6 should sell for). If they move quick - great the price point was good - list the next set for ~ $5 or $10 more each. Start the listings as BIN only - then shift to BIN w best offer after the first month. Lets say after three months - you have moved 2 of the 9.8 and 9.6. After fees and what not - maybe $350 in cash. Invest that back in comics - which you could flip another 2x by the time the movie bump hits. This keeps you working and not sitting on the whole stack hoping. Also diversifies your stock. If the book is stagnant - then you have at least gotten $$ out and put to use somewhere else. I am not saying to drop them all on the cheap - but move some of them. Keep a couple of the 9.8 in case there is a big bump - but move others. If you have bandwidth to be listing - you need to list. Keep the inventory churning - if you do and you get into a good buying routine, you may be able to generate a decent side income. Someone mentioned earlier - get on good terms with your local shop. If you get to the point where you do a local show -they may be willing to help you out and wholesale "dollar" books to you.

wow - lots of stuff here - Gabriel - you obviously are dedicated to making this work. This is a positive trait - but make sure you are also flexible in your business model. Some advice for you - (and a lot of this is almost the same as others have posted - hopefully some will sink in) 1. SIMPLIFY - you need to pull back. It is almost like you are trying to do everything at once - but without experience and a LARGE bankroll - this is dangerous. It can also be confusing - as you try and manage too many things at once. 2. TRADING: Do NOT trade. I have seen a couple that you have done (this one - and trading a lot of avengers for graded infinity gauntlets) --- and it is hard to see where the positives may lie for you. A graded 129 is a VERY good book to have regardless of any movie or TV hype. It never should have been part of any trade for a single book. If anything - a trade locally for say 100 books that can sell for $20 a piece may have been a better trade (but not one I or many would have made). You need a LOT more experience with books as a whole before you trade as part of the business. It is hard to "uptrade" and get more value than you give- and can open you up to being taken advantage of. 3. Speculation - cannot be your ONLY strategy. A lot of the books you mention purchasing - you seem to be buying individually or in small groups on the upswing. Buy and hold - some books have historically been good for this - hulk 181 for example - but movie hype is fleeting, unpredictable, and may not even be a thing in a year as we are now flooded with movies. If you still have those infinity gauntlets - look at what has happened to #1 recently - it is still at a decent price but falling a bit. It may get some bump once the final movies are around the corner - but that is a long wait, especially for a very common book (over 700 CGC 9.8 alone ). 4. Buying strategy: Key books are great - but expensive. Even if you buy in a small batch - they will still have a lot lower margin than others. You need to find a way to purchase more in volume - at some level of discount. Low cost bins at a comic shop - or show - are GREAT hunting grounds when starting out. Local shows - closer to close on the final day? - this is dealing time! Many of the larger dealers will be blowing out lower stock as they get this in BULK. Develop a strategy for buying local collections. Whatever the "craigslist" of Canada is - this is your morning read. Things may not turn up quickly or constantly - but there will be some good finds out there. This is your very best way to get a nice inventory for the least amount of investment. BUT - it is hard work and you do have to look at many collections that you will not buy. 5. Selling - limit yourself to 1-2 selling outlets for now. Each that you have listed here (FB, CGC boards, Ebay) - need some fine tuning for selling - and I would avoid FB line the plague. I know that some do really well there - but it is much more of a "wild west" out there. Selling here - one thing to realize is that the buyers here are VERY picky!!!! This is NOT a bad thing, but then again it sometimes makes things more difficult. Average common books will most likely not sell - you have to bring something nice. BUT - you also have to price properly. I was looking at your pre move "sell it all" listing - if it was not for local pickup only, I might have made an offer - but you might not have liked it. Looking over all of the books roughly - it looked like I could put together all of the more desirable books for less than half of what you were asking for - individually. Just like buying - if you are selling a LOT of books and they are not top tier - then you are not going to get full GPA for them. GPA - most of this data comes from the big auction houses (ebay, HA, Clink) - that charge commissions. With no commissions - most will likely pass on a book priced at the high end of GPA - or make you a lower offer. Take your BATB 28 consignment - the last three sales -4000, 4302, 5400. The price you have listed now - is 5800. Not incredibly high (and much better than the first listing) - but might sit for a bit at t hat price. If you are trying to sell a bigger book - make sure to check over other listings and GPA. You have a coverless JLA 1 for 300 - I found one for 200 on another site. You have a .5 listed for 600 when 1.0 books have been selling for 300. You have a JLA 1 1.8 listed for 900 --- but another 1.8 is 800 and a 2.0 at 900. 6. Cash flow - there is no magic formula that will help you figure out how long to hold a book. What may be more useful - is to figure out how many books you can list and manage at once. If that number is close to what you have on hand --- then you should not be holding on to anything really. People with large inventories - have a LOT more flexibility than a smaller seller. They can hold higher value books to keep their listing a mix of everything - and have the luxury of holding on to a book in case there is "movie" upswing. But - since they are already selling a lot - they have cash flow and (hopefully) profit coming in. An example from my latest collection buy - I have the top 14 books in the press/slab cycle. They will all do well. When I get them back - I will probably sell of 3-4 pretty quickly. This is to pay back a large chunk of the purchase (and grading) costs. The rest - go in the safe. I have the rest of the collection that I can focus on selling - and still be making a nice profit on those books. I know the books that I will be keeping are stable in price - so there is no need to get them out there (some are keepers anyway). Contrast that to a past discussion of the Infinity Gauntlet slabs that we discussed earlier in this thread. You had ~ 9 of them, 6 were 9.8. Now - if you are holding on to all of them - you are NOT maximizing any level of profit. Even if there is a bump later - selling 9 at once is not that likely - and there are a LOT of these for sale now. Just imaging if the price goes back up 10% - even more will come out for sale. You would be better off having one of the 9.8 and one of the 9,6 listed right now! - sell as many as you can - keeping 1-2 as backup in case of any renewed hype bump. This will get you more $$$ back - that you can use to buy more books - and get them listed and sold. if anything - go back and read FTs one man show journal. This is a great example of how to work a one person show. You seem keen on skipping a LOT of steps that are extremely valuable on the learning curve. Making a mistake on some $15 book? -can be an easy fix and you are only out $15. Jumping ahead of the curve and making a mistake on a ASM 129 --- MUCH more costly.

Hey - this is real sound advice - Looking over GPA - the very best bump you will get for this book as a SS would be ~ 100 to 300, and this is somewhat based on grade. There is not a ton of SS data - but the 9.8 is in the 300 range - 9.0 may be closer to 100 (though not any real data on 9.2 and below for timm only) . What is the cost for the sig/extra shipping for the sig? - and when will he be signing next at a location that you can get a SS (does not look like he is currently listed anywhere)?..... Also have to consider if you will only press/slab IF it gets a sig - or no matter what. Will the book jump in value by at least $75 for slabbing alone (cost of a press and standard submission if this is indeed a 9.0+ candidate) ? - or would it be better to get a good raw price out of it and get that $$$ back into more books. At $75 - you are really just breaking even (or worse with shipping) for the investment required. Get into a habit of really examining the numbers for slabbing any books (SS or otherwise). Some books - are well worth it and this one may be in that ballpark, but you really need to set a strategy for this. If you are going to continue to keep focusing on single issues - the margins are TIGHT as you do not have volume to deal with (if you but a 3000 book collection - you can lose money on some books as you will make it ip on others) . Something like-- (I am using some ballpark estimates for the BA 12) cost of book: $400 estimated grade: 9.0 what I can sell for now : $500 (use ebay as a reference for similar books) seller fees: 65 potential profit: 35 slab/press costs: 85 (press/standard and shipping) cgc range 9.0-9.4 slabbed sales - 528/600/725 (use reasonable GPA average numbers - not just the highest) seller fees 70/78/95 potential profit -27/ 37/ 145 keep in mind - pretty much estimating all the numbers here - you will need to fill in your own "blanks" (and then track to these numbers so you can see if your estimating correctly) For the example - you are investing $85. If the book stays the same grade - you lose money - if it gets a good bump you may make 145 total. At a 9.2 --- you make the same as an unslabbed book- PLUS - you cannot sell the book until it is back in your hands. The numbers - have to be your own here - the most accurate ones I have above are the slabbed selling from GPA. If you have many books you want to analyze - then put them into a spreadsheet to see what is slabworthy. The more you trust your ability to predict CGC grades - and how much a press may improve the grade - the more risk you can take. This example (as I laid out - not the exact book you have) - I would not slab unless I was going to keep for my collection. I would sell raw - it can turn quick - and moderns are easier to grade raw. Plus - while the book is HOT now - the closer you get to the movie, the more likely you will see a lot of these come out both graded and raw - than can quickly deflate that price. /

I think everyone is still waiting on the rest of the flying post!!!!

The mighty doughnut

While we are waiting for the flying one - one last pic from the haul Saved the best for last........

Luck! Chicago area. Was word of mouth - part of an estate. Spoke with the new owner a couple of times - and was invited over today. It was actually a contact made by a buddy of mine - so he is getting a good bottle of Tequila. He was incredibly organized - was not really a comic book person - but knew about collecting. He had a list of all of the books - and had used overstreet to get a good value estimate (using REASONABLE grades too! ) - it was wild - as he also had a "sell" price that was reasonable. Note - that I actually analyzed the pricing myself too..... Some books are definitely dogs - but I will still do ok and even some of the dogs will sell for $20..... I also did the right thing - his asking price was a little low - so I upped his offer, ...... It is actually a great example of what Robot Man and others were saying to one of the boardies - you have to keep plugging and networking. I have found many other decent collections - but this one probably has the most "wow" in the fewest books. I usually sell on ebay - but I will definitely save some of them for board sales. Especially the ones I get graded. later dave

no - was a purchased collection - looking over several earlier discussions - this is kind of the best all in one "in the wild" area to drop book finds (keeps main area cleaner). one last pic - I have not posted all the books - but a nice sampling of them. Total for silver was 290 - mostly marvel and dc -like 20 others. been holding on to that CGC coupon - looks like a great time to use it the spideys - are in the best shape of the bunch. Though- a little staining on the 9. ...

starts getting more interesting....

there is a complete 1-14 GL run in there- 1-4 have the same binder holes as the showcase. 7 is solid.

the "what a shame" part of the collection - lots of showcase in there - the green lanterns (and the early GL series in the collection) - were kept for a binder at one time. Any guidance on what hole punches do to grades? Nothing good I know - but I is a 4 with them added make it now a 2? Cant complain much - showcase 22 is showcase 22.......

on to the silver age goodness!!! some of the books have condition issues - but a lot of 4-6 range

A few more book samples (they fill like 2 longboxes on their own) some of the books are silver age - the "great comic book heroes" is from 1965 I believe.

If you look hard enough, beat every bush, tell everyone you know, get up early, and leave no stone un-turned it is bound to happen some time. I have had many nice stashes of comics (and other collectibles) come my way over the years but had to work REAL HARD to get them. They ain't gonna land in your lap... This...... and sometimes dumb luck ... Just got back with a haul. OO collection............ lots of goodies some of the standards for a big collection - ~ 130 books/tpb - some in decent shape - many older ones. ~ 2000 mix of 80 and 90s around 1985 to 92, Some decent items - Crisis 1-12, forever people 1-6 - and a box of goodness - will get pics going...... Starting with some of the books... I am pretty sure all are read - but many well cared for.

the only press you will ever need - highly recommended

"The GoBots are like the Kmart of Transformers" (thumbs u still a cool find