W16227

and shipped!!! A couple of headscratchers - but likely the press did not take or the book was worse off than I expected -but many over what I expected... Many are simply keepers that I wanted to protect. Highlights - GSXM 1 spanish - 9.2 ASM 129 German 8.5 and 8.5 TEC 269 5.5 JLA 3 4.5 X Men 94 5.0 ( really happy here - I figured it for a 3) Batman 27 2.0 ASM 122 6.0 GreenHornet 6 2.5 Superman 100 3.0 ASM 122 7.0 ( Mark Jeweler insert) X MEN 48 8.0 savannah x men 28 8.0 x men 40 7.0 savannah Green Lantern 76 4.0 X Men 50 8.5 pretty much a decent "value track" fit

Definitely could be sooner - I did not figure that there would be any movement until late this week - and it is already at QC - if they get through that as fast as others I have submitted - by tomorrow night i will be either or just a values submission though - so not expecting any real surprises unless Hero really outdid themselves....

Might be tight on getting the value ones back before December.... 24 book value - received 08/25/2017 - flipped over to scheduled last week - today went to QC... if they get shipped this week, they would be 5 days under the 60 lead time....

--- I am my own "accountant" ( not by trade--- but have enough skills to do my own schedule C and taxes) -- I am constantly yelling at myself come tax time. Consistency and records ( per Revat) - are really the key to being in the safe side of the IRS. The leeway I am describing is how you assign your inventory costs for that final COGS calculation you need at the end of the year. What you described - setting the inventory costs for the quick flip books so you have zero profit until you hit the collection paid amount - applied consistently should be no issue as long as the cost for the remainder of the books is zero ( so 100% gross profit after you pay your nut). Other methods - assigning even value to all books ( 1coll mentioned) - or a more graduated scale like I use weighting the costs per book - all will work and get the tax man his due long term ( some may have more tax benefits short term). For COGS - even if you have the collection paid off and free cash flow is in your favor ( so you are in the black) --- the general inventory values does not change. Important to differentiate - is that "inventory" value for the IRS - is based on what you paid. FMV - is a different story and is more in line of what you have to deal with for insurance (well - and being able to buy/sell effectively) . Ok - so I need to turn the engineer gene off ... --- this is probably WAY more technical than needed... and honestly divad's comments looked to be more related to the fact that he already has sold enough of a given collection for it to be paid for - more of a combination of profit and free cash flow than how he does ( or does not) write up the tax forms....

Any blowback from PP? I always figured charging back on them would result in termination o Mine was even simpler - just filed a "not as described" case ( cuz nobody stated it was stolen in the description..) - they and ebay had already been served papers on the seller.

So even using the after-selling-determine-purchase-price math, the remaining items cost $0, not "less t well - depends what you mean by costs, ---- Your cost basis - ( with US taxes) - since we are buying something in bulk - but with varying values, you get a LOT of leeway as to how you handle the inventory cost per item. As long as you account for all of the purchase price - and have at least some realism involved with costs you will be good ( and you have to show consistency).... An example of what not to do ( though you might be able to get away with it )--- you should not assign an overly unreasonably high value to a dollar book from a buy - just to sell it at a loss to offset significant gains the rest of the year. For tax putposes - there is not realistically a "negative" inventory cost. Even if someone paid you to clean out storage - and you received several boxes you decided to sell - the "tax" inventory would still be zero. You would have to account for the payment to perform the clean out in another way... BUT - what divad is describing also is realistically true if you are talking free cash flow... He has taken in more $$ than spent on the batch of books so he is working in the black with a "negative" spent on what he is selling.

Probably somewhere in the middle depending on how you want to run your accounting... If you just want to average your buys against the # of books -- you are correct. But this means when buying a mixed collection, you will slant your profit a lot based on which books you bring to market. You average $1 a book in a long --- the 10 that are $100+ books will have a significantly higher tax burden. The rest - if they are in your bargain bins they are at a loss. Some may look at that and have a good way to balance the sales and profits to not take a big hit on tax day ( by which stock they are selling). If you are looking at "free cash flow" - then thinking of the books as free ( or less than free) --- a "negative" value works. From a COGS standpoint ( thinking taxes here ) --- this does not work. You can mark the value down to zero - but the IRS would probably not agree with a negative inventory cost... For a mixed lot to ensure at least some average costs basis -- I pull all of the better books and assign a value of .10 ( unbagged) to .20 ( bagged/boarded) cheap stock. The rest of the buy - split up the remaining costs based on relative values of the books. This gives me a balanced accounting - and a way to assign the profit in the case of books sold that cannot be tracked back to a buy ( happens sometimes)... Of course - for those too small to do the taxes ( or those who skip that step) --- does not really matter.....

likely a green label---- realistically not a good idea if you are looking to add "value",

30 is not a lot to list - I would do that separately to maximize your $$ ( or try MCS) - if trying to list here ( and this is based on me and not a real offer) -- for that many slabs I would research the list and pay ~ 75-80% gpa for the keys with solid data - probably 50% of GPA for SS or estimated GPA for those with poor data ( like only 1-2 sales in the last 12 months or less) . This is based more on the bulk purchase you would be looking for. Some might offer more - many less?

OP said was a blind offer - would have walked away if collection was not good in person....

but seriously ... about 600 books - if I was already there I wold offer what @Artboy99 says- about .10 US a book. If I saw the pics first - would not even bother. Ad looks like typical long-shot craigslist one - showing the older supes hoping that drawing someone in thinking there are more bronze books. Then you get to the new universe and just ....

so -actual situation here - Ebay item purchased - (heck - even posted it in the ebay wins thread).... Found out it was stolen. Helped the owner and police with the investigation ( probably on a minor level) - kept them emailing me with pictures and prices for other stolen books.. Stupid thief - he kept the emails going even after ebay shut him down requiring proof of ownership on the items he had listed... ( so he had to know something was up ) After arrest - filed paypal claim . Received refund. Sent book back ( to police ) - everybody wins. The owner at least got back some of his collection. Likely many books did not get located/ returned... Using a CCard/paypal is the likely save here for me. If I had paid by check - I would have had a lot less time to file with the bank and likely would have been out the $$$ --- I do have collectors insurance, but no idea if this is covered..... For big ticket items - best bet is to be safe - buy from a trusted source- or use payment options that have long term fraud protection......

Random Act of Kindness

Most of the time -- you get junk. The huge scores you see on TV = are planted. Stories and prices exaggerated - makes for good TV. I know of a local guy that does the auction circuit - most lockers are junk - but cheap. Better items are sometimes bid up - because of the rookies who think the shows are real. The setup in your area seems ok - sounds like it is not overcrowded so less $$$. Try a couple and see what you get. If you want to do this regularly - have a plan for moving all kings of household junk..... You will likely have to sift through a lot of that for each collectable stash.

Likely would not affect grade at all -- if the paper was not punctured, it would be considered a manufacturing defect. Many are ignored when grading - and this one ( to me ) - is something that I would not mind at all in a 9.8 - as it would not even be closes to looking like damage as opposed to production creasing which looks like junk....

- love your description..... " I know, why bother listing auctions any more if you’re not c4less, right?"

ya - just make sure your research and read the contract. I saw a news report recently and sometimes the wording leaves you screwed in the event of water damage or other nonpredictable events - so you might need an extra insurance rider for that. and they do get robbed... http://www.newsweek.com/robbing-banks-blowtorches-safe-deposit-boxes-are-not-so-safe-484224

1: Insurance 2: Camera coverage 3: keep the valuable ones hidden 4: Lock them up none of these is perfect - but all will help minimize the risk of theft as well as give you a chance at recovery/replacement if things are stolen. local to me - comix4less (another thread) had a safe stolen ( or broken in to ) - in their warehouse - so nothing is really perfect.....

nice little pickup today - about 40 random golden age - mostly romance - grades average 4.0

- I had that happen - using the blue tape! - I use that for the interior cardboard sandwich because it can be removed easily.... The stuff works great for comics. Holds under compression ( so when packed up with bubble wrap ) - but easier to remove and gives your customer a little protection from an accidental tape pull if they are careless..... .

Dreamland has been there the past three years - but starting last year they moved to only the pops and lego/game type layout. I would bet the year they had comics - they did not move that well ( shame as the store has a good selection and they get new stock in regularly). Yea - the lighting did suck Friday - but I expected it. I had flashlights for anyone who wanted to dig through the boxes. Only real issue for me was how I placed my sinage - If I had it more forward, my spots could have been lighting up the "wall" racks more instead of just the signs. My other change for next time there --- I should have put my lower cost bins out front ( did 2 for a buck Friday/Saturday and 4 for a buck Sunday) - once people moved around, they found them and looked - but he guys next to me had similar bins that you would see 1st - so the bargain bin hunters would dig there before realizing I had more to look through ( and I had plenty of weird indys, lol) For Bob ---- I definitely bring the goods when I set up - but prefer moving the small stuff as "lower value" volume is the tough thing to do on ebay. I also have a limited amount of "the goods" - so I have to pick and choose what I bring and hope it matches with what people are looking for. If anything - the show books might spark a conversation so I can bring something on day 2 or even work out a paypal sale.

One of my box diggers on Saturday - was implying the same thing. Count i Con ( to him) was not known as a comic buying con.... I still love doing it ( pretty much my hometown) --- but now that the con "stock" is better organized, I would want to bring a smaller setup to the "right" crowd! Hope you found some good items Friday ( though you had to squint in many locaitons) .....