Stefan_W

I picked up a Tec 880 CGC 9.8 at the CL auction that just ended. I sold my copies during the comic boom and told myself that I can replace them when the prices leveled out again (i.e., I can re-buy at 2/3 or less of the price I sold them for). This was one of the few cases where that process worked as planned.

I think a more apt example for this particular discussion is actual books. There are still people who love hard copies of books because of how they look, feel, and even smell, but the market is turning more and more toward formats used by the assorted E-Readers that are out there. Reading on a device is really easy, you dont have to leave your house to buy whatever it is you want to read, and it takes up way less room. I bought thousands of books when I was younger and I liquidated almost everything - I just keep whatever I can fit onto one bookcase. Comics are the same in the sense that they take up a lot of room and reading on a device is pretty easy.

I've actually bought more than one comic collection from individuals who are selling off their hard copies and switching to reading comics online. People who actually read these things and dont give a rat's you-know-what about collectability are an important subset of the comic collecting community. I dont know the numbers but I would not be surprised if people focused on reading are switching to buying their comics in a digital format.

Nah, it happens all of the time and is no biggy.

I think we already had this to some degree. Based on my own observation, it is not a new thing for people to pay more for book with really nice centering. Copies in the same grade with a thick strip of white along the left side are often the ones on the lower part of the price range. Ditto for writing on the cover. Another example that is less common is tapering. I have seen some badly tapered books come up at auction where CGC does not knock down the grade for that manufacturing defect but people bidding on it go yuck and turn up their noses if it is particularly bad. I'm not disagreeing and there are certainly new parts to this that maybe werent as common before. My argument is that we have always done stuff like this as collectors.

It was $20 when I said yes a couple of years ago. Inflation, I guess. Based on what I was told at the time when I asked, people from CVA go through the books prior to each auction and selection ones that look really nice for the grade (understanding of course that they can only look through the slab). The owners of the slabs that are selected are contacted and they have the option of adding the CVA label for a price. I had a couple of books that definitely went for a lot more because of the CVA label and a couple of others that landed in the normal range. Overall it was a win for me at that time but if they are now charging $50 each it would an automatic no from me.

24 book modern submission: Shipped out from Canada - Nov 23 Arrived at CGC - Nov 28 Box opened and SFG - Dec 1

I know someone who made a cash sale on a $105k book. The buyer flew him out to complete the deal in person with cash. It must have been a wild experience and I heard the seller tell the story but I dont have any experience with this approach and dont know all of the hidden ins and outs.

24 book modern submission shipped out from Canada on Nov 23 and arrived at CGC on Nov 28th.

It was 2017, which is when I started using CL. I was snapping up raw lots like this until 2019 before things got popular and I was priced out.

I used to buy lots of raws at Comic Link auctions years ago and I had some amazing purchases. They have grown in popularity since then and the deals have mostly dried up. My best purchases was a group of ASM 40-49 (including 41) were listed as being 4.0 avg but they averaged higher that that. I got lot for $302. Found it in my history so sharing a snapshot of it.

Everyone else on Ebay is way ahead of you

I just shipped out a 24 comic modern submission. I should be at CGC by next week and we will see how long things take after that. This is my first submission in a while so fingers crossed that it goes well.

I dont know who the most prolific is but the most pointless signature is, without a doubt, Adam Hughes.

Not sure if this helps, but here is my 2 cents: In my experience two big factors with large sales are time and patience. When it comes to big books the pool of potential buyers shrinks as the price goes up, and this is especially true if you are hoping for a local sale. Presenting your book to a larger audience usually means auctions houses which take a cut. That makes selling privately on these boards appealing, but of course it also adds the potential for hassles if things dont go smoothly. I dont know if there is a formula to all of this but it seems like a decision between good timeline, lack of hassle, and profit where you cant always have all three.

I agree that it is not the best way to sell to the current comic crowd. But the current comic crowd skews older and male, and unless the audience broadens out comics are dead in the long term. You are definitely right that being viewed as pandering can be off-putting, but the "waken" label that is endlessly tossed around has become a meme of ridiculous proportions.

I am so happy that you mentioned this point. A part of the community loves to bang the "things are sucking because of wokeness" drum when, in reality, the main issue is that the quality of movie, shows, and comics has been swirling the drain for a while. If the product is really good it will draw an audience (although probably less so for actual comics than for movie and shows), and if we are being fed a steady diet of products eventually people will spend their cash elsewhere. For movies and shows I dont care if the central character is a man, women, straight, bi, or whatever so long as the story is compelling. For comics I am in the same boat at the person I quoted in that I dont read most new comics even if I do buy them.

I have bought many collections where people have left out bags and boards, or had just bags with no boards. The latter works out best when the boxes are not moved for a long time and the plastic bags start to fuse together. This creates essentially a brick of comics that is solid and keeps them in really nice shape assuming there was nothing odd about how they were put into the box to begin with. A total pain though for trying to release comics without damaging them - basically have to gently pull them apart one at a time or else cut the tops of the bags off without cutting the comics.

Picked up a cool Bronze age collection today. The NM 98 is a newsstand with no flaws that I can see. There are full high grade sets of secret wars, infinity wars, infinity gauntlet, lethal protector, and others. It was expensive but if things go well with pressing them out and sending a bunch for grading I should do very well. The depressing thing is he sold off a bunch to a dealer 20 years ago so books like ASM 300, Hulk 340, etc were picked off from this collection long before I had the chance at them.

I ended up with 7 points this round. A forgettable end to my worst grading contest ever. Thanks again though to CGC Mike to putting this together. Even when I dont do all that great it is still load of fun

All these stories are why people use auction houses to buy and sell their comics. Cuts out the of dealing directly with the other side of the purchase.

I thought I was doing ok this round, but that grade on the Nature Boy.... definitely shaking my head.

Yikes, 10 - one of my worst rounds ever

The prices and grades on these raws speak for themselves.

They used to allow sellers to use negative feedback. Most of the changes they made over the past couple of decades are in favour of the buyers and as time goes on the value of selling there continually drops.