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Looking for advice on buying collections

Started by rshale,

19 posts in this topic

rshale

rshale

Posted
Posted

Looking for some tips on buying individual collections. I have several people at work interested in selling their collections to me - the talks just started today so I haven't even seen any of the yet - some sound promising. My real goal is to re-sell what doesn't fit into my collection, possibly finding some nice CGC candidates in the process too.

 

One thing I'm worried about is the whole, "My collection is worth $5K" when it would never fetch more than $500 on eBay.

 

Thoughts? Tips?

 

Thanks!

Randy

 

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garthgantu

garthgantu

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I've purchased collections from co-workers... it's not quite as potentially volatile as an office romance, but close...

- be prepared to let the person down easy. As you noted, they often have inflated expectations re: value.

 

- be honest about your intentions re: their collection(s), but to the extent possible, make it clear that you're a collector and most of their books will be finding a 'good home' within your personal collection. This always makes people feel better, kinda like putting a pet up for adoption.

 

- whatever you do, don't show them the OS Guide... everyone thinks everything in their collection is high grade, or else they don't even grasp the concept of grades, which may be even worse in today's grade-centric market.

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joe_collector

joe_collector

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One thing I'm worried about is the whole, "My collection is worth $5K" when it would never fetch more than $500 on eBay.

 

That's a biggie, and here's what I told some of my relatives who "are always finding boxes of comics at flea markets, yard sales and thrift shops..." and want to know what they should be looking for.

 

If the cover price is 25-cents or less, the books are either Marvel or DC, and the lot is extremely cheap, then nab them.

 

You really don't need to know anymore.

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CosmicBob

CosmicBob

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One thing I'm worried about is the whole, "My collection is worth $5K" when it would never fetch more than $500 on eBay.

 

That's a biggie, and here's what I told some of my relatives who "are always finding boxes of comics at flea markets, yard sales and thrift shops..." and want to know what they should be looking for.

 

If the cover price is 25-cents or less, the books are either Marvel or DC, and the lot is extremely cheap, then nab them.

 

You really don't need to know anymore.

 

The rule of thumb I was thinking of was cover price of 15 cents or less, Marvel or DC. And anything in 10 cents.

 

What about that one?

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rshale

rshale

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Good point on the OS guide - I already had one guy ask if I had 'a book with prices' so he could go through it ahead of time.

 

I want to be honest with these folks - I'm not trying to hose them. Clearly I intend to pay more than an average shop owner would offer them.

 

What's a good 'guide' to provide them if it comes to that?

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joe_collector

joe_collector

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I already had one guy ask if I had 'a book with prices' so he could go through it ahead of time.

 

Okay, scratch that guy off the list. 27_laughing.gif

 

Seriously, I'm the last guy to be ripping anyone off, but on the other hand, I'm not going to be haggling with some sop-head who thinks that his F/VF Black Goliaths should fetch OS values....

 

The best way to do it:

 

Ask them what years they are (prices are sometimes easier), and what they want for the collection. Once you have a number, then offer to look them over and if it looks fair, then nab them. DO NOT renegotiate it, and either take it or leave it.

 

If you find out later that there are some choice books in there, sell some off and give the guy/gal who sold them to you a nice Xmas present. That's the motto I live by, I buy at the set price (and you can get burned or come out a winner) and if the actual value is well above what you paid, then slide some back and be a nice guy.

 

What you don't want to be doing is taking each and every issue out, going through OS and haggling on the price. Time is money, EBay is cheaper than OS (except if it's NM+ copies of EVERYTHING), and the only rational way to conduct business is in relative bulk/box.

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garthgantu

garthgantu

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I agree with most of JC's points... although I think the whole xmas gift thing might get dicey... I could see this gesture being misinterpreted by the original owner/co-worker... "cripes - the guy buys my collection, then tops off his buying price with a $50 bottle of wine - he musta made out like a bandit!" This also points directly to the fact that you SOLD some of the co-worker's precious collection, which in many cases will not be well-received news...

 

I would explain to the co-worker that dealers typically pay 30-40% of the going rate *at most*, and that the co-worker *might* be able to make somewhat more by selling the books on eBay, but that's time consuming and no guarantee of more $. That you, on the other hand, are a collector and are planning to keep the majority of the books, if not all of them, in your personal collection, depending on exactly what they are.

 

*Depending on how well you know the co-worker, you may even be able to take the collection home and grade/price it by the book. If you and the co-worker are comfortable with this, you can then come up with a more definitive "value" for the collection, and offer the co-worker 50% of guide or whatever. By the time you get this far, most people who aren't collectors don't relish the prospect of taking the collection back and storing it in their attic/closet/basement for another 10-20 years.

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rshale

rshale

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Here's some info on one of the collections - I don't have any info on the condition yet. Thoughts?

 

Complete run of Mystery in Space 1 - 117

Strange Adventures 30,55,57,71,100,105,108-110,113,119,129,132,133,136,138,139,145,148,149,154,157,158,160,162,164-168,170-188,191,192,194,197,217-244

House of Secrets 23,27,28,35,37,48,51,57,58,60,62,64,69,80

House of Mystery 104,107,143,145,149,150,152-155,161,163-171

Tales of the Unexpected 6,27,40,42,48,51,54,55,58,61,66,68,72,74,77-79,83-86,89-98,100-103

Showcase 20,32,34,35,40,48,49,52,62,63,65,97,100-103

Brave and Bold 31-33, 40,41

Rip Hunter 9,14,25

Atom 24

Chanllengers of the Unknown 42,48,51

Metal Men 51

Dell Four Color #9 Tom Corbett

Dell Four Color #512 Flash Gordon

Harvey Captain 3D #1

 

The complete run of Adam Strange in Green Lantern

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duncan36

duncan36

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My advice is to be fair, pay a % of guide that you think is fair but gives you a decent profit, something inline with fair industry averages. Explain to the seller that your buying rates are competitive.

You dont want to be 60 years old and look back and realize you purposefully tried to ripoff friends/coworkers, ugly.

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ghoulaid

ghoulaid

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That's an interesting assortment of titles. It's also interesting how the Mystery in Space is complete whereas the others are more scattered. I'm guessing your co-worker is not the original owner and may not have assembled the collection himself. I wonder if this was once part of a larger collection? Where are the superhero books? That Metal Men #51 sure seems out of place. Of course, none of this matters much. Is this the group supposedly worth 5K? smile.gif

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FlyingDonut

FlyingDonut

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Here's some info on one of the collections - I don't have any info on the condition yet. Thoughts?

 

Complete run of Mystery in Space 1 - 117

Strange Adventures 30,55,57,71,100,105,108-110,113,119,129,132,133,136,138,139,145,148,149,154,157,158,160,162,164-168,170-188,191,192,194,197,217-244

House of Secrets 23,27,28,35,37,48,51,57,58,60,62,64,69,80

House of Mystery 104,107,143,145,149,150,152-155,161,163-171

Tales of the Unexpected 6,27,40,42,48,51,54,55,58,61,66,68,72,74,77-79,83-86,89-98,100-103

Showcase 20,32,34,35,40,48,49,52,62,63,65,97,100-103

Brave and Bold 31-33, 40,41

Rip Hunter 9,14,25

Atom 24

Chanllengers of the Unknown 42,48,51

Metal Men 51

Dell Four Color #9 Tom Corbett

Dell Four Color #512 Flash Gordon

Harvey Captain 3D #1

 

The complete run of Adam Strange in Green Lantern

 

That's an outstanding set. Somebody liked Adam Strange. Let us know. Even in lower grades the early DCs are very very very hard to find, especially the Mystery in Space books.

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thanos_oftitan

thanos_oftitan

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That's a biggie, and here's what I told some of my relatives who "are always finding boxes of comics at flea markets, yard sales and thrift shops..." and want to know what they should be looking for.

 

If the cover price is 25-cents or less, the books are either Marvel or DC, and the lot is extremely cheap, then nab them.

 

You really don't need to know anymore.

 

The rule of thumb I was thinking of was cover price of 15 cents or less, Marvel or DC. And anything in 10 cents.

 

thumbsup2.gif

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nochips

nochips

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Looking for some tips on buying individual collections. I have several people at work interested in selling their collections to me - the talks just started today so I haven't even seen any of the yet - some sound promising. My real goal is to re-sell what doesn't fit into my collection, possibly finding some nice CGC candidates in the process too.

 

One thing I'm worried about is the whole, "My collection is worth $5K" when it would never fetch more than $500 on eBay.

 

Thoughts? Tips?

 

Thanks!

Randy

 

As soon as they ask about a guide, they are starting trouble. Everyone goes to the NM price, because their books are at least NM. Even the VG books missing centerfolds are worth NM guide to them.

 

"Creases, tears, folds, soda stains, boy are you being nit picky!" They never address the faults in the books, just the fact that you want to try and steal the collection from them.

 

Ask them to set a price. The books belong to them. Do not offer to do an appraisal of the collection, that can get you in hot water. They may go shop your appraisal price around. Let them set a price. It may be a fair price, it may be a crazy price, but at least they named it. You can't agree, counter offer or pass altogether.

 

If they want 2000.00 and they are worth 200.00, you may never reach a common ground. However if you offer 200.00, what they are really worth and the guy finds out later that NM guide is 2000.00 he will think you cheated him.

 

To sum it all up:

 

They alway set the price. That way you are never at fault. Be prepared to walk away. That can sometimes lower a price to a more real dollar figure.

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