What is Wrong?

[CollectingStanLee]

I have a run of CGC 9.8 SS Stan Lee books up for sale on ebay:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Set-of-Hulk-1-3-9-8-CGC-SS-Stan-Lee-signed_W0QQitemZ120307115486QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item120307115486&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

I'm not getting any offers on this set. Am I doing something wrong? I'm new as a seller on ebay, so

I'm probably doing something wrong. Either that or ebay is pretty much a rotting corpse for sales these days. Anyway, I would appreciate some feedback on this. If the link doesn't work, it's a set of the new Hulk series 1-3, plus the turner variant on #1, the sketch variant on #2, and the Finch variant on #3, and World War Hulk #1 Sketch cover, all signed by Stan Lee CGC 9.8 SS.

 

If I'm asking too much, what would be a more reasonable price. Not really interested in giving it away, and I also don't want to break up the run. Let me know what you think, I need some of the room's wisdom.

[Paratrooper]

"If I'm asking too much, what would be a more reasonable price. Not really interested in giving it away, and I also don't want to break up the run. Let me know what you think, I need some of the room's wisdom. "

 

Cut your asking price in half, of course I don't know the modern market so my advice is just a guess.

[CollectingStanLee]

Has to be worth more than $950. Does anyone feel it gains value by being a collection? Typically collections always sell for less than what the individual books are worth, but it would be a shame to break up this group. If it's only worth $950, I should leave it buried in the closet for the next 10 years and see what happens. Of course that doesn't help my cash flow much now.

[THE_BEYONDER]

Since you're asking.....

 

I suspect it has alot to do with the price, and the fact that Stan had nothing to do with those books.

[Mr.Silvestri]

Has to be worth more than $950. Does anyone feel it gains value by being a collection? Typically collections always sell for less than what the individual books are worth, but it would be a shame to break up this group. If it's only worth $950, I should leave it buried in the closet for the next 10 years and see what happens. Of course that doesn't help my cash flow much now.

 

First your asking 4 C notes for every book which is common stuff. Sure Stan Lee's sig maybe hard but your stuff is only worth what some is willing to spent on it.

 

Maybe if you start out in auction form what you payed for the books or slightly more and let the market decide what their worth.

 

You asked WHY they aren't selling !!!!

 

[CollectingStanLee]

Make offer still brings the market into play. People can offer what they think it's worth. No reason to risk an auction and sell for pennies on the dollar. Stan Lee is the co-creator of the Hulk, so he has a lot to do with those books as far as I'm concerned. But you may have a point if other people feel the same way, that he doesn't have a real connection to them.

 

Stan Lee sig + Stan Lee character + 9.8 SS + variants has to be worth something, doesn't it? Maybe the financial crisis is stopping people from making larger purchases. Anyway, I do appreciate the input and the opinions.

[THE_BEYONDER]

What's the GPA on this set in Blue label 9.8?

[comicgrinder]

My ebay user id is 2716jamesk, I have sold a lot of signed books by Stan....and I sometimes test the market by putting books with a high reserve to see what the market would yield at this time. The market is a bit down right now...so there aren't a lot of people putting up a lot of money on moderns . My advice to you....sell them separately...I understand you don't want to break up the set, but in all honesty...it doesn't matter cause you're selling them anyway ....not everyone wants every issue....try something different

[Joel Elad]

I don't know if I would call this a "full set" as you've got a World War Hulk book plus some of the new Hulk books, but not every variant of the book, for example. You were smart in focusing on the variants, as Stan's signature is more significant if the book is harder to get. But you're asking a fan to get not one, but FIVE books signed by Stan to add to their collection. Breaking up the set allows people to add one prized book to their collection at a more affordable price tag.

 

I will say, for Modern books, the biggest bump I've seen from a Stan Lee signature is about $100-200. I had a Ultimate Spidey #104 1 in 100 White variant, which sold for about $100 unsigned but graded 9.8. I got Stan to sign it, graded it, got a 9.8 and sold it for $200. There are exceptions; for example, Iron Man books with Stan's signature got a big bump around the movie release, I think more than $100-200 each. (Amazing Spidey #300 with Stan's signature was a several hundred dollar bump because of Spidey 3 and Venom)

 

It does not help that the prices on these Hulk books have cooled. The Hulk #2 variant is probably the rarest book in your bunch, with the #1 Turner variant being the 2nd rarest. The 12 month average for these books (according to GPAnalysis) individually unsigned are as follows:

 

#1 9.8 Regular Edition $32 (last sale $30)

#1 9.8 Turner Variant $64 (last sale $57)

#2 9.8 Sketch Variant $109 (last sale $133)

#3 9.8 Finch Variant $39 (last sale $50)

#1 9.8 WWH Sketch $38 (last sale $31)

 

That means unsigned, but graded, this set is worth about $300. That means you value the signature at $320 per book at your current offer. Yes, Best Offer does open you up to accept lower bids, but most people will not send in "lowball' offers based on your initial asking price. Some people do, just to get the ball rolling, but most people will see the high price and assume you won't come down enough to make it worthwhile for them. Just my opinion.

 

If you lower the set to $1300, you're valuing each signature at $200, which is more reasonable. Realistically, it should sell at $800 or $900, which is $100/$120 per signature, but if you feel it's too low, then you will hold onto the books. One way to get the value up is to crack the books and get more signatures like Loeb, McGuinness, and Finch (when applicable), but you risk the books dropping to 9.6. Plus, you have to pay to regrade the books and get them shipped back.

 

When I sold my mid-range Silver Age books signed by Stan, I got a reliable $60-150 bump per book because of Stan's signature. (You should know) Modern Age books are more finicky and vulnerable to trends when it comes to pricing. I understand you bought these to keep but could use the money (I am about to sell some prized Gaiman Sandman books for cash needs too) but I think your pricing expectations are too high.

 

I hope this helps. Remember, this is all just my opinion and based on my own experiences only. Good luck!

 

Joel

[comix4fun]

Make offer still brings the market into play. People can offer what they think it's worth. No reason to risk an auction and sell for pennies on the dollar. Stan Lee is the co-creator of the Hulk, so he has a lot to do with those books as far as I'm concerned. But you may have a point if other people feel the same way, that he doesn't have a real connection to them.

 

Stan Lee sig + Stan Lee character + 9.8 SS + variants has to be worth something, doesn't it? Maybe the financial crisis is stopping people from making larger purchases. Anyway, I do appreciate the input and the opinions.

 

 

Perhaps it's because the market for those variants and the market for Stan SS books are two different markets....and neither the variant collectors or the Stan SS collectors care very much for the other collector's interests.

 

Or it could be the fact that very soon we will be reaching the point where there are actually more books out there signed by Stan than unsigned.

 

C

[CollectingStanLee]

Ok, points well taken. I'll try lowering the price next time around and see what happens or break up the set or just keep them. I think there are a lot of Stan Lee SS books on the market now, it's true. I also think the market on ebay has gotten soft, which I can see just from the books I've sold recently. Six months from now, the market might recover.

 

The bottom line for me is I have to let go of the emotion of how much work went into it, and just realize that the money that comes back in, if I can hang onto any of it, can go into more fun with collecting. And so it goes.

 

Never mind all the houses that are being lost, when the economic crisis starts interfering with my ability to collect comic books, I get especially irritated.

 

 

[CollectingStanLee]

Update: I took Joel's advice and lowered the price to $1299. Let's see what happens with that. Thanks again to everyone for their input, I appreciate it.

[PhiGam-migration]

i would go with grinder's suggestion of selling them individually...i know i would bid on one of those books, but have 0 interest in the others

[mschmidt]

Yes, Best Offer does open you up to accept lower bids, but most people will not send in "lowball' offers based on your initial asking price. Some people do, just to get the ball rolling, but most people will see the high price and assume you won't come down enough to make it worthwhile for them. Just my opinion.

 

I think Joel hit it right on the nose - If I was interested in those books, a very high initial asking price would be enough to "scare" me away from submitting a low(er) offer.

 

I also think that there's a huge difference between having Stan's signature on a SA book and then having it on a relatively common modern book - imho, the price bump you get from the Stan Lee sig is much smaller on modern books like this.

[comicgrinder]

i would go with grinder's suggestion of selling them individually...i know i would bid on one of those books, but have 0 interest in the others

(thumbs u It would be the best way to move them IMO

[Skynwalker]

Make offer still brings the market into play. People can offer what they think it's worth. No reason to risk an auction and sell for pennies on the dollar. Stan Lee is the co-creator of the Hulk, so he has a lot to do with those books as far as I'm concerned. But you may have a point if other people feel the same way, that he doesn't have a real connection to them.

 

Stan Lee sig + Stan Lee character + 9.8 SS + variants has to be worth something, doesn't it? Maybe the financial crisis is stopping people from making larger purchases. Anyway, I do appreciate the input and the opinions.

 

A lot of people won't make an offer if the initial price is too high, especially if their offer would be significantly lower than the BIN price. They figure the seller wouldn't accept it.

[CollectingStanLee]

If they don't go for this new price, I'll consider selling separately. I might just have to hang on until market conditions change. Let's see what happens.

[Mephisto]

I'm not sure that market conditions are really affecting these. Since these are moderns the chances of them cooling further are probably greater than surging up despite a poor economy. I recently had some baseball cards of all things auctioned on ebay and for the most part they met expectations including one selling for more than what the BIN was for days.

[CollectingStanLee]

Ah, you never know. I have an extensive collection of silver and moderns signed by Stan Lee, and I like the moderns sometimes more than the silver age books, especially that Hulk series. The Red Hulk pretty much roped me back into collecting after a long hiatus. I love the artwork and the fun story. I'm more a collector than a dealer, so sometimes the decisions I make in collecting are not strictly market oriented. I love the fact that Stan Lee's reach into comic books spans 70 years and his characters are still stomping their way through the marvel universe and onto the big screen. Something tells me that this Hulk series will be worth a lot of money in years to come, and if so, I'm better off hanging onto to them than letting them go for nothing.

 

Like I said, I collect a large number of Stan Lee signed books and occasionally I get duplicates, so that series I have for sale is built from duplicates that I acquired, otherwise there would be snowball's chance in that I would ever sell them. The ones in my private collection I consider to be priceless

 

[Jason Truong]

I would suggest breaking them apart. No one wants to spend $1300, if they just want one of them. And you may or may not make more, selling them separately, since this would attract people to the individual issues, rather than a set.

 

That being said, as much as I'd like to get a Stan Lee SS book (waiting on the next opportunity), I don't think this red Hulk series will be worth anything in the future to invest my money on it (my opinion). To be optimistic, I'll give it to issue 100, before it gets cancelled, or relaunched... which would probably happen sooner.