Overstreet vs. ComicPriceGuide.com

[codfish]

 

Where the guides create major havoc, however, is when people who don't know any better are "told" by an official looking publication or website that their "comics" are "worth" this much money.

 

Major problems ensure.

 

Even further, when you deal with one of those people, and you buy books graded "Near Mint" that are about VG/F, and they then tell you, based on the final bid, that "according to the price guides, you still "got a good deal"..."

 

 

Major problems.

 

And that doesn't happen with GPA data? I am sure plenty of folks use GPA data to prop up the value of their slabbed books even after a plateau or down trend is established. Or folks with raw books thinking they can get CGC/GPA values.

 

How people use or abuse guides or GPA isn't the fault of those companies.

 

As for moving prices up and down in OSPG. Yeah it is a problem and I have come across plenty of occasions where certain title in lower grades are greatly undervalued. Heck some of the books I collect have about the same value raw or graded because they are so rare in VG and up. Is this reflected in OSPG, CPG or GPA? Nope. (the latter because there are so few graded IMO you really cannot get a good grasp on pricing trends with only one or a few graded.)

[Boozad]

I assume you are talking GPA data here. GPAnalysis is not a "guide" though. It tracks sales

 

Isn't a guide based on past sales though, no matter how loosely?

 

Personally I'd take GPA over CPG or OSPG anyday as it's giving you 'real' information. I know it's slabs versus raw, but at least you can take a look at GPA and actually see if a trend in a book has fallen, and not been ignored by people who want to try and hold value in their books that isn't there.

 

It is my opinion....and I believe this is an opinion shared by many, if not most, in the hobby...that a book that has been slabbed Universal in a particular grade is, and should be, worth more than the same book raw, in the same given grade, on average.

 

Did I give the impression that my opinion was the opposite of that?

[RockMyAmadeus]

 

Where the guides create major havoc, however, is when people who don't know any better are "told" by an official looking publication or website that their "comics" are "worth" this much money.

 

Major problems ensure.

 

Even further, when you deal with one of those people, and you buy books graded "Near Mint" that are about VG/F, and they then tell you, based on the final bid, that "according to the price guides, you still "got a good deal"..."

 

 

Major problems.

 

And that doesn't happen with GPA data? I am sure plenty of folks use GPA data to prop up the value of their slabbed books even after a plateau or down trend is established. Or folks with raw books thinking they can get CGC/GPA values.

 

How people use or abuse guides or GPA isn't the fault of those companies.

 

I don't think you're understanding.

 

The Guide is an opinion. It is a group of people TELLING YOU what they think the value of an item in a specific grade should be. Because it is an opinion, it should logically be a fairly accurate reflection of what actually exists, not wishful thinking (like it is now.)

 

GPA is nothing but data of actual sales.

 

Even if someone were to use GPA to "prop up" their prices, anyone else can clearly see a downward trend in prices. Such is not the case with any Guide, except over a very long period of time.

 

As far as the OPG being "abused" by others...sorry, but they open themselves up to that abuse quite on their own, as it is. Because the publication carries an air of authority, there is no reason for anyone to disbelieve that it is accurate who doesn't know any better. Therefore, those people aren't "abusing" anything, because the OPG TOLD THEM that was what their comics are worth!

 

Look at it this way: if you paid someone to guide you through the Grand Canyon, and you ended up in Flagstaff, would that be a very accurate or useful guide?

 

Of course not. Yet, that's what the OPG does, across the board. it does not reflect the market as it exists, but rather a market of wishful thinking by people with a vested interest in that wishful thinking. It's no longer the Overstreet Price Guide...it's the Overstreet Gosh I Really Want To Get These Prices For My Stuff, So Let's Just Pretend These Prices Are Accurate Wishful Thinking Guide.

 

As for moving prices up and down in OSPG. Yeah it is a problem and I have come across plenty of occasions where certain title in lower grades are greatly undervalued. Heck some of the books I collect have about the same value raw or graded because they are so rare in VG and up. Is this reflected in OSPG, CPG or GPA? Nope. (the latter because there are so few graded IMO you really cannot get a good grasp on pricing trends with only one or a few graded.)

 

GPA doesn't "value" anything, and cannot be used as such. If there are too few sales to get a clear idea of what an item is "worth", then it is up to tbe buyer and seller to come up with a value they both agree on.

 

OPG and CPG don't because OPG abdicated their responsibility to accurately reflect the market, and CPG never had it to begin with.

[RockMyAmadeus]

I assume you are talking GPA data here. GPAnalysis is not a "guide" though. It tracks sales

 

Isn't a guide based on past sales though, no matter how loosely?

 

Personally I'd take GPA over CPG or OSPG anyday as it's giving you 'real' information. I know it's slabs versus raw, but at least you can take a look at GPA and actually see if a trend in a book has fallen, and not been ignored by people who want to try and hold value in their books that isn't there.

 

It is my opinion....and I believe this is an opinion shared by many, if not most, in the hobby...that a book that has been slabbed Universal in a particular grade is, and should be, worth more than the same book raw, in the same given grade, on average.

 

Did I give the impression that my opinion was the opposite of that?

 

Not at all. I was just doing my usual verbose version of "+1" to your post.

 

I mean, come on...you know me, if it can be said in 3 words, it can JUST as easily be said in 300.

 

[COI]

Verbosity.

[jordanscott]

I have been looking for 1965 Pixie Dixie & Mr. Jinks Kite Fun Book since 1987.

I don't think it exist.

 

But it is good to see the OSPG continues to adjust the price.

 

[Boozad]

I assume you are talking GPA data here. GPAnalysis is not a "guide" though. It tracks sales

 

Isn't a guide based on past sales though, no matter how loosely?

 

Personally I'd take GPA over CPG or OSPG anyday as it's giving you 'real' information. I know it's slabs versus raw, but at least you can take a look at GPA and actually see if a trend in a book has fallen, and not been ignored by people who want to try and hold value in their books that isn't there.

 

It is my opinion....and I believe this is an opinion shared by many, if not most, in the hobby...that a book that has been slabbed Universal in a particular grade is, and should be, worth more than the same book raw, in the same given grade, on average.

 

Did I give the impression that my opinion was the opposite of that?

 

Not at all. I was just doing my usual verbose version of "+1" to your post.

 

I mean, come on...you know me, if it can be said in 3 words, it can JUST as easily be said in 300.

 

 

(thumbs u

[Boozad]

The one thing that sticks out to me is that on CPGs message boards there is a 'Hey these prices need fixing' thread. I would wager that not a lot of people ask for prices to be lowered.

 

And let's take a Batman RIP variant. CPG has most of the 1:25s at $25 in 9.4. #678 last sold in CGC 9.8 for $21. Fact. The 12 month average is only $31 over six sales. Fact. So is a raw 9.4 worth $25? I wouldn't think so.

 

Hard fact is far more reliable than conjecture.

[the blob]

And you cannot factor in "shipping costs" into this argument.

-----------------------

 

Of course you can. It directly impacts what most people are willing to pay on ebay or here (except for the guy who bought a $4 comic from me and paid $12 to ship it internationally). You have a relatively common book that guides for $10. A $4-$5 shipping charge is going to make it really tough to crack 50% of OPG. Someone can go to their local shop (if they have one) and pay that much while being able to examine the comic in person. And shipping doesn't "go away" after $20, we're still talking perhaps 20-25% of your overallycost. I gave free shipping after $50 on ebay, would normally charge $3 combined. I'd have people buying $100+ stacks of books contingent on making sure I was actually going to give them that free shipping. I buy tons of $1-$2 books at my LCS and at shows that I would NEVER consider buying on ebay at that price due to shipping costs. Shipping costs have killed many a potential purchase for me on ebay. As for hoping for "combined" shipping to average things out, I gave up on that long ago after too many instances of making 50 bids on a seller's items and only winning one or two and getting stuck with the shipping. And I suspect a lot of others have too given how dead so many auctions are. Hence you probably have a better chance of achieving better value out of more common stuff in a store setting, provided that you have enough variety of items that a purchaser will be able to pick up a few items in order to average out their shipping costs, than in the auction setting. The auctions setting is quicker money, true. Unless you're willing to roll the dice and offer free shipping, but that's a big chance to take on the less expensive stuff.

 

So when you sell a comic or $5 + $4 shipping you have sold that comic for $9. Granted it cost you at least $4 to sell it! But then again, when a comic shop sells a comic for $9, how much of that went into their overhead? When you sell your house for $1 million and hand over $60K to the broker, how much did you sell the house for? You're trading rent for shipping costs being an ebay seller. So given that the Guide is a brick and morter guide (doesn't it say "retail setting" in the front --- it never says "net proceeds on an ebay sale"), when comparing ebay to retail prices, you should include shipping costs in the comparison.

 

Anyway, we've had this argument here about 10 times. You come in with a sweeping generalization that OPG is 3X too high for 99.99% of the material post 1964 unless in NM and I counter with the argument that this is a humungous overgeneralization, at least for the SA stuff and a good chunk of the BA. Most modern stuff is listed at $3 or less anyway, so 3X is actually not too far off on that.

[RockMyAmadeus]

And you cannot factor in "shipping costs" into this argument.

-----------------------

 

Of course you can.

 

No, you cannot. I already gave you a list of reasons why not.

 

It directly impacts what most people are willing to pay on ebay or here. You have a relatively common book that guides for $10. A $4-$5 shipping charge is going to make it really tough to crack 50% of OPG. Someone can go to their local shop (if they have one) and pay that much while being able to examine the comic in person.

 

You're talking about a single book.

 

Now, what happens when you buy 17 from the same seller?

 

And shipping doesn't "go away" after $20,

 

I did NOT say "go away", so please do not quote me as if I did.

 

I said it becomes SUPERFLUOUS. There's a difference.

 

we're still talking perhaps 20-25% of your overallycost.

 

Irrelevant percentage compared to my point.

 

You bid $25 on a book that guuides for $75. S&H is $5. So, you pay $30, or 40% of Guide instead of 33%. Big difference.

 

 

And that still assumes you're only buying ONE book.

 

I JUST won an auction at Heritage for a lot of early SA Flash, including #123. OPG in those conditions was $450. My winning bid, with BP? $144. S&H = $7 for that lot, so total was $151 out of my pocket. Percentage of OPG? 33% all included.

 

33%!

 

I gave free shipping after $50 on ebay, would normally charge $3 combined. I'd have people buying $100+ stacks of books contingent on making sure I was actually going to give them that free shipping. I buy tons of $1-$2 books at my LCS and at shows that I would NEVER consider buying on ebay at that price due to shipping costs. Shipping costs have killed many a potential purchase for me on ebay.

 

Yeah, again, how is this relevant to the discussion? You are talking about $3-$5 items...do you not realize that the vast majority of books from the Silver Age guide for much more than $3-$5, even down to Good...?

 

I never said S&H doesn't have an impact on "the final price" for low, low, low dollar books. But the fact remains...you're talking about $3-$5 books, and I'M talking about EVERYTHING. And the fact is simple...the vast majority of most everything sells for 50% or less of OPG on any given day, in any given grade, outside of the exceptions already stated.

 

As for hoping for "combined" shipping to average things out, I gave up on that long ago after too many instances of making 50 bids on a seller's items and only winning one or two and getting stuck with the shipping. And I suspect a lot of others have too given how dead so many auctions are. Hence you probably have a better chance of achieving better value out of more common stuff in a store setting, provided that you have enough variety of items that a purchaser will be able to pick up a few items in order to average out their shipping costs, than in the auction setting. The auctions setting is quicker money, true. Unless you're willing to roll the dice and offer free shipping, but that's a big chance to take on the less expensive stuff.

 

This S&H tangent aside, the vast majority of raw books sell for 50% or less of OPG on eBay and elsewhere, outside of the exceptions I stated.

 

You can argue with this all you want, but do you really want me filling posts with examples proving otherwise?

[RockMyAmadeus]

And you cannot factor in "shipping costs" into this argument.

-----------------------

 

Of course you can. It directly impacts what most people are willing to pay on ebay or here (except for the guy who bought a $4 comic from me and paid $12 to ship it internationally). You have a relatively common book that guides for $10. A $4-$5 shipping charge is going to make it really tough to crack 50% of OPG. Someone can go to their local shop (if they have one) and pay that much while being able to examine the comic in person. And shipping doesn't "go away" after $20, we're still talking perhaps 20-25% of your overallycost. I gave free shipping after $50 on ebay, would normally charge $3 combined. I'd have people buying $100+ stacks of books contingent on making sure I was actually going to give them that free shipping. I buy tons of $1-$2 books at my LCS and at shows that I would NEVER consider buying on ebay at that price due to shipping costs. Shipping costs have killed many a potential purchase for me on ebay. As for hoping for "combined" shipping to average things out, I gave up on that long ago after too many instances of making 50 bids on a seller's items and only winning one or two and getting stuck with the shipping. And I suspect a lot of others have too given how dead so many auctions are. Hence you probably have a better chance of achieving better value out of more common stuff in a store setting, provided that you have enough variety of items that a purchaser will be able to pick up a few items in order to average out their shipping costs, than in the auction setting. The auctions setting is quicker money, true. Unless you're willing to roll the dice and offer free shipping, but that's a big chance to take on the less expensive stuff.

 

So when you sell a comic or $5 + $4 shipping you have sold that comic for $9. Granted it cost you at least $4 to sell it! But then again, when a comic shop sells a comic for $9, how much of that went into their overhead? When you sell your house for $1 million and hand over $60K to the broker, how much did you sell the house for? You're trading rent for shipping costs being an ebay seller. So given that the Guide is a brick and morter guide (doesn't it say "retail setting" in the front --- it never says "net proceeds on an ebay sale"), when comparing ebay to retail prices, you should include shipping costs in the comparison.

 

Anyway, we've had this argument here about 10 times. You come in with a sweeping generalization that OPG is 3X too high for 99.99% of the material post 1964 unless in NM and I counter with the argument that this is a humungous overgeneralization, at least for the SA stuff and a good chunk of the BA. Most modern stuff is listed at $3 or less anyway, so 3X is actually not too far off on that.

 

I guess you DO want me to fill posts with example after example.

 

Nice edit, by the way.

 

And seriously...is it really too much to ask that you STOP "quoting" me with words I never typed? I never...not even once...said "OPG is 3X too high for 99.99% of the material post 1964."

 

Never.

 

Those words have NEVER left my fingers (well, until just now, anyways. )

 

And yet, you're sitting there, responding as if that's EXACTLY what I said.

 

Who are you, JC Jr.?

 

If you're going to have a conversation, fine, have one, but don't sit there and invent things and then say that I said them.

 

Fair enough?

[RockMyAmadeus]

So given that the Guide is a brick and morter guide (doesn't it say "retail setting" in the front --- it never says "net proceeds on an ebay sale"), when comparing ebay to retail prices, you should include shipping costs in the comparison.

 

And, of course, herein lies the real crux of the discussion, silly $3 "you have to include shipping!!!" arguments aside...

 

IS the OPG only for "retail settings"...?

 

If so, WHY?

 

By what right does a price guide, that claims to represent accurate values for these items, IGNORE the single largest market for buying and selling comics that exists today?

 

And if, as you claim, it IS only retail...then you have PROVEN MY POINT. The OPG is clearly out of touch with the realities of the market, as it exists. The market...whether you like it or not...MUST include eBay, as it is the lion's share of comics trading in any given time frame.

 

And...as I stated..take 50% of OPG, then take another 1/3 off that for the really junky, common stuff, and you have a fair AVERAGE of FMV for any given book in any given grade at any given time.

 

(thumbs u

[Flaming_Telepath]

So given that the Guide is a brick and morter guide (doesn't it say "retail setting" in the front --- it never says "net proceeds on an ebay sale"), when comparing ebay to retail prices, you should include shipping costs in the comparison.

 

And, of course, herein lies the real crux of the discussion, silly $3 "you have to include shipping!!!" arguments aside...

 

IS the OPG only for "retail settings"...?

 

If so, WHY?

 

By what right does a price guide, that claims to represent accurate values for these items, IGNORE the single largest market for buying and selling comics that exists today?

 

And if, as you claim, it IS only retail...then you have PROVEN MY POINT. The OPG is clearly out of touch with the realities of the market, as it exists. The market...whether you like it or not...MUST include eBay, as it is the lion's share of comics trading in any given time frame.

 

And...as I stated..take 50% of OPG, then take another 1/3 off that for the really junky, common stuff, and you have a fair AVERAGE of FMV for any given book in any given grade at any given time.

 

(thumbs u

 

eBay might be the 'single largest market', but what volumes trade through there compared to the market as a whole?

 

I would suggest a small percentage.

 

I would also suggest that as the rest of the market (online stores, bricks-and-mortar, show dealers) generally works off or close to OSPG, your view of what constitutes FMV is off the mark.

[RockMyAmadeus]

So given that the Guide is a brick and morter guide (doesn't it say "retail setting" in the front --- it never says "net proceeds on an ebay sale"), when comparing ebay to retail prices, you should include shipping costs in the comparison.

 

And, of course, herein lies the real crux of the discussion, silly $3 "you have to include shipping!!!" arguments aside...

 

IS the OPG only for "retail settings"...?

 

If so, WHY?

 

By what right does a price guide, that claims to represent accurate values for these items, IGNORE the single largest market for buying and selling comics that exists today?

 

And if, as you claim, it IS only retail...then you have PROVEN MY POINT. The OPG is clearly out of touch with the realities of the market, as it exists. The market...whether you like it or not...MUST include eBay, as it is the lion's share of comics trading in any given time frame.

 

And...as I stated..take 50% of OPG, then take another 1/3 off that for the really junky, common stuff, and you have a fair AVERAGE of FMV for any given book in any given grade at any given time.

 

(thumbs u

 

eBay might be the 'single largest market', but what volumes trade through there compared to the market as a whole?

 

I would suggest a small percentage.

 

I would also suggest that as the rest of the market (online stores, bricks-and-mortar, show dealers) generally works off or close to OSPG, your view of what constitutes FMV is off the mark.

 

 

Then you would be wrong.

 

The volume that is done on eBay far, far outstrips all other venues combined.

 

There are 73,000 auctions, and another 62,000 Buy It Now items for sale on ebay right now. This is just North America.

 

The average auction length is about 5 days. That means that every day, lately, there are approximately 14,000 transactions.

 

Every day.

 

And that's not including the BINs.

 

Are you seriously suggesting that there are 14,000 transactions...per day...every single day....going on in the rest of the market in North America?

 

Yeah. Ok.

 

And this isn't even the height of the market right now. And that's not counting the BINs.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Now, all of those auctions do NOT end in sales, true, but the vast majority of them do. I think one can safely say that eBay easily exceeds sales for the entire rest of the market combined (online, B&M, shows), and in its heyday, did it by 3-4 times as much.

[the blob]

JUST won an auction at Heritage for a lot of early SA Flash, including #123. OPG in those conditions was $450. My winning bid, with BP? $144. S&H = $7 for that lot, so total was $151 out of my pocket. Percentage of OPG? 33% all included.

 

33%!

------------------------

 

was that one of heritage's auctions or one with the 15% commissions attached in each direction?

 

i'm not saying deals aren't out there.

 

and you don't think you can bust that up and do a lot better than 33% of guide?

 

I sold a Flash 111 in Fair for $20, right around guide....

 

Your pointing to what you can get random books for if you throw out a ton of bids.

 

I'm pointing to what you can sell books for with some patience.

 

Not everyone is an accumulator bidding on hundreds and thousands of books. Many people out there are buying specific issues they want at that time. Mr. Donut has made an art form out of buying books for 50 cents and selling them for $5-$10, should everyone think their books are worth 50 cents because he finds them for that much?

 

The initial question I believe was about evaluating your own collection. Neither one of our tangents hit the mark. Factoring shipping into the equation doesn't answer the question, but it helps explain, in part, why books may sell for a given % of guide when the guide doesn't reflect shipping costs factored into sales prices. I will price a book that guides for $20 at $11-12, maybe a little more if it's a Spidey or something, figuring that my $5 shipping will be factored into whatever people are willing to pay. (I'll start the auction at $9.99 if I want to auction it, but I have to say, I only bother with auctions nowadays for something I feel will get some action). Someone will come along and make a best offer of $9-$10. I'll probably take it. Yes, I have sold the book for 50% of guide, maybe slightly less, but I have to be realistic, the buyer is paying $14-$15 for the comic, which is not that much better than retail and they don't even have the book in hand. Not to mention, I probably paid $1-$3 for it, so I'm probably happy.

[Flaming_Telepath]

So given that the Guide is a brick and morter guide (doesn't it say "retail setting" in the front --- it never says "net proceeds on an ebay sale"), when comparing ebay to retail prices, you should include shipping costs in the comparison.

 

And, of course, herein lies the real crux of the discussion, silly $3 "you have to include shipping!!!" arguments aside...

 

IS the OPG only for "retail settings"...?

 

If so, WHY?

 

By what right does a price guide, that claims to represent accurate values for these items, IGNORE the single largest market for buying and selling comics that exists today?

 

And if, as you claim, it IS only retail...then you have PROVEN MY POINT. The OPG is clearly out of touch with the realities of the market, as it exists. The market...whether you like it or not...MUST include eBay, as it is the lion's share of comics trading in any given time frame.

 

And...as I stated..take 50% of OPG, then take another 1/3 off that for the really junky, common stuff, and you have a fair AVERAGE of FMV for any given book in any given grade at any given time.

 

(thumbs u

 

eBay might be the 'single largest market', but what volumes trade through there compared to the market as a whole?

 

I would suggest a small percentage.

 

I would also suggest that as the rest of the market (online stores, bricks-and-mortar, show dealers) generally works off or close to OSPG, your view of what constitutes FMV is off the mark.

 

 

Then you would be wrong.

 

The volume that is done on eBay far, far outstrips all other venues combined.

 

There are 73,000 auctions, and another 62,000 Buy It Now items for sale on ebay right now. This is just North America.

 

The average auction length is about 5 days. That means that every day, lately, there are approximately 14,000 transactions.

 

Every day.

 

And that's not including the BINs.

 

Are you seriously suggesting that there are 14,000 transactions...per day...every single day....going on in the rest of the market in North America?

 

Yeah. Ok.

 

And this isn't even the height of the market right now. And that's not counting the BINs.

 

Right now there are 102,000 comic books on eBay. This includes BINs/store items and covers all ages, including this week's releases. Average auction length, including BINs, is at least seven days and not all of them will sell. Actually, a large chunk of them won't sell, but let's say that 70% will.

 

That's 10,000 books (including all the latest releases) sold per day.

 

And you think that the combined internet and bricks and morter outlets don't shift 10,000 books a day? I'm sorry but who is it who's just a touch ?

[the blob]

Are you seriously suggesting that there are 14,000 transactions...per day...every single day....going on in the rest of the market in North America?

------------------------------------

 

As you pointed out, MANY of those auctions do not result in sales. It seems like the majority do not.

 

If you're including sales of new comics in the mix, I would think so. And shouldn't volume (or $ volume), rather than individual transactions, count?

 

I don't know how many comic shops there are left. Is it down to 500? (that seems pretty low, no?) Used to be thousands. If it's 500, you don't think they're averaging 30 transactions a day? If not, I think they're going out of business soon. I've been to Midtown comics and they do about 30 transactions a minute or two. Throw in all the shows around the country? I bought 400 comics last show I went to, I've probably bought close to 400 comics from my local shop in the last month (yes, I've been a little nuts lately). Just picked up another 30 from another shop and 20 from another shop. Yes, there's bulk buying going on on ebay too.

 

I'm not entirely sure that ebay is the bulk of the comic market. Perhaps it's just my own experience has led me to buy less on ebay over the years and ready proximity to decent shops and the occasional show. I'm not convinced. It may very well be close to 50%, I dunno, but I'm not sure how to splice and dice the data you get from it. Obviously it is part of the equation. Prices in the retail setting must be impacted (lowered) by it. But you look at auction data, what about factoring in the BIN and store sales data? Slimey feedback/sellers, high shipping charges, etc. are going to skew the data down. JScomics, Zillaf, etc....sellers who are considered highly reputable and when they say something is a VF it is a VF and they do very well vs. guide....so who knows? But then again, Heritage often does poorly (as large, well known, sellers go), even when there's isn't a buyer's premium, and I don't think they grade badly. Somehow Mile High Chuck sells his wares....

[Comicopolis]

The one thing that sticks out to me is that on CPGs message boards there is a 'Hey these prices need fixing' thread. I would wager that not a lot of people ask for prices to be lowered.

 

And let's take a Batman RIP variant. CPG has most of the 1:25s at $25 in 9.4. #678 last sold in CGC 9.8 for $21. Fact. The 12 month average is only $31 over six sales. Fact. So is a raw 9.4 worth $25? I wouldn't think so.

 

Hard fact is far more reliable than conjecture.

 

CPG's message boards are full of loons though aren't they

 

Isn't over there where they think Master CPU is the King of Restoration

[RockMyAmadeus]

JUST won an auction at Heritage for a lot of early SA Flash, including #123. OPG in those conditions was $450. My winning bid, with BP? $144. S&H = $7 for that lot, so total was $151 out of my pocket. Percentage of OPG? 33% all included.

 

33%!

------------------------

 

was that one of heritage's auctions or one with the 15% commissions attached in each direction?

 

I'm not familiar what the "15% commissions attached in each direction" that you're talking about, but as noted, it was a 19.5% BP auction. My high bid was $121, it ended at $144, $151 out of my pocket with S&H.

 

i'm not saying deals aren't out there.

 

And I'm not saying that higher prices arent out there, either.

 

and you don't think you can bust that up and do a lot better than 33% of guide?

 

I sold a Flash 111 in Fair for $20, right around guide....

 

Your pointing to what you can get random books for if you throw out a ton of bids.

 

No, I'm not. How many times do I have to keep saying this? I'm talking about AVERAGE, not "lucky."

 

On AVERAGE, the vast majority of books on eBay can be had for less than 50% of OPG. For really common books, the average becomes even lower.

 

I'm pointing to what you can sell books for with some patience.

 

Not everyone is an accumulator bidding on hundreds and thousands of books. Many people out there are buying specific issues they want at that time. Mr. Donut has made an art form out of buying books for 50 cents and selling them for $5-$10, should everyone think their books are worth 50 cents because he finds them for that much?

 

The initial question I believe was about evaluating your own collection. Neither one of our tangents hit the mark. Factoring shipping into the equation doesn't answer the question, but it helps explain, in part, why books may sell for a given % of guide when the guide doesn't reflect shipping costs factored into sales prices. I will price a book that guides for $20 at $11-12, maybe a little more if it's a Spidey or something, figuring that my $5 shipping will be factored into whatever people are willing to pay. (I'll start the auction at $9.99 if I want to auction it, but I have to say, I only bother with auctions nowadays for something I feel will get some action). Someone will come along and make a best offer of $9-$10. I'll probably take it. Yes, I have sold the book for 50% of guide, maybe slightly less, but I have to be realistic, the buyer is paying $14-$15 for the comic, which is not that much better than retail and they don't even have the book in hand. Not to mention, I probably paid $1-$3 for it, so I'm probably happy.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/the-Amazing-Spider-Man-67-VG-Fine_W0QQitemZ130324406733QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1e57f0a1cd&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

Spiderman #67, graded VG/F sold for $5.56, with S&H (assuming no combining), $9.56. Guide = $22.50. Total price, 42% of Guide.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/X-Men-30-Fine_W0QQitemZ140341227269QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item20acfd2f05&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

X-Men #30, Fine, $10.50, $5 S&H, assuming no combining, $15.50. Guide = $39 Total price, 39% of OPG

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/BATMAN-186-Nov-1966-JOKER-Cover-Story-NICE-FINE-6-0_W0QQitemZ390080960246QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5ad2a316f6&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

Batman #186, Fine+++ (whatever that means). $10.49, S&H $5, toal $15.49, OPG = between $36 and $45. Total price, 34-43% of OPG.

 

And these are "lower dollar" books, where the S&H charge makes a significant difference in the final price.