Heritage vs. ComicLink: A Quick Snapshot

[SteveDuin]

A brief summary of what's available in February's two premiere auctions of comics and original art:

 

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf/2010/02/heritage_v_comiclink.html

[aardvark88]

Will be interesting to compare the hammer results as both seem to have Superman v. 1 #1 in slabbed 2.0 for Feb/10 auctions.

[nearmint]

Really smart of CL to end their auction a week earlier than Heritage. They'll get a head start on the war chests that everyone has built for the FEB auctions.

[SteveDuin]

Anyone have any alternate theories, beyond the buyer's commission, as to why ComicLink has a much better catalog?

[adamstrange]

The clink process for submitting items is much simpler and well-suited to lots of small consignments. It's hard to imagine someone with with 5 or 10 items worth $5k or so bothering to go through Heritage and lots of little consignments add up. In addition to lower commission, clink has demonstrated they can get top dollar for SA/BA so that the net to the seller is in many/most instances higher than for Heritage. It's not just commission prices but the net proceed that sellers are looking at when making their decision.

[tth2]

Anyone have any alternate theories, beyond the buyer's commission, as to why ComicLink has a much better catalog?

As soon as ComicLink has a better book than an 8.0 Detective #27, you might be entitled to make a statement like that.

 

Now, on the whole, their SA and BA catalog is indeed better than Heritage`s, but that`s always been ComicLink`s sweet spot. If I were selling SA Marvels or any BA, I would without a moment`s hesitation pick ComicLink over Heritage. SA DC, particularly for major keys, is less clear. For example, I`m consigning my 9.4 GL #1 in the current Heritage auction because historically Heritage has been stronger on SA DC than ComicLink and I`ve had great success selling my SA DCs on Heritage, although ComicLink has certainly narrowed the gap in that area.

[SteveDuin]

Alan and TTH2--

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not consigning to either auction, nor do I have any plans to do so anytime soon. But I'm curious about the evolution of the two auctions, particularly the success ComicLink has had carving into the Heritage niche in comics. Given how small a percentage of its business is devoted to comics, it may be that Heritage is simply devoting its resources to acquiring major collections like the illustration art of Charles Martignette ... or elite books like the Detective #27. ComicLink's edge is no longer limited to SA/BA books. As I noted, CL has 127 Fiction House titles; Heritage has eight. I've lost my enthusiasm for Heritage auctions over the years because each catalog is accompanied by the nagging sense that I've seen all this stuff before. And this month, the Tec 27 and Brenda Starr Mile High aside, there are significantly more "wow" moments -- for this Golden Age collector -- at ComicLink.

[stevescu1]

Now that Heritage is charging sales tax in California, I think that will reduce the price of some sales, giving a bigger advantage to CL. The price of books on Heritage just went up 10% for the most populated state in the country.

[Paratrooper]

Ha! My plan is working! CL is now putting in their item description Paratrooper covers

http://www.comiclink.com/auctions/item.asp?back=%2FAuctions%2Fdefault%2Easp%3FFocused%3D1%23Item%5F828064&id=828064

[G.A.tor]

Now that Heritage is charging sales tax in California, I think that will reduce the price of some sales, giving a bigger advantage to CL. The price of books on Heritage just went up 10% for the most populated state in the country.

I wonder if that will have an effect or if folks will just get friends out of cal to bid for them

[adamstrange]

Now that Heritage is charging sales tax in California, I think that will reduce the price of some sales, giving a bigger advantage to CL. The price of books on Heritage just went up 10% for the most populated state in the country.

Heritage already charges sales tax in NY and I think it's fair to say that a significant subset of the high end collectors live in those NY and CA.

[adamstrange]

Heritage continues to chase down collections and while clink might have quantity I think the "big GA book" edge clearly goes to Heritage as there's more than just Tec 27 in their sale. Heritage is definitely getting competition from clink, pedigree and c-connect and it is showing up that they have a different mix of items than they used to. In fact, the whole hobby has had a transformational shift in terms of the increasing percentage of material that is sold via auction. I noted in another thread that we don't know what the total auction sales are but it would be very interesting to find it out.

[Hamlet]

The 19.5% buyer's premium is a pretty big turn-off to me at Heritage.

 

I generally don't bother looking at their auctions.

 

[SteveDuin]

To its credit, Heritage maintains an healthy archive while ComicLink makes it much more difficult -- both in the short and long term -- to track its results.

[comicnoir]

I like some of the little surprises that come up on a Heritage weekly. Not big slabbed GA/SA books, but stuff that's maybe hard to find and doesn't show up on regular auction sites.

[G.A.tor]

The 19.5% buyer's premium is a pretty big turn-off to me at Heritage.

 

I generally don't bother looking at their auctions.

just factor it into your bids... it is really no different than if they just took 19.5% from the final bid (sellers premium, if you will)...same difference...

 

if you are willing to spend $1000 on a book, you bid 800 with heritage knowing your bid is $1000... (thumbs u

[adamstrange]

The 19.5% buyer's premium is a pretty big turn-off to me at Heritage.

 

I generally don't bother looking at their auctions.

just factor it into your bids... it is really no different than if they just took 19.5% from the final bid (sellers premium, if you will)...same difference...

 

if you are willing to spend $1000 on a book, you bid 800 with heritage knowing your bid is $1000... (thumbs u

$956 If only you'd received a degree in economics you could have handled the advanced mathematics.

[G.A.tor]

The 19.5% buyer's premium is a pretty big turn-off to me at Heritage.

 

I generally don't bother looking at their auctions.

just factor it into your bids... it is really no different than if they just took 19.5% from the final bid (sellers premium, if you will)...same difference...

 

if you are willing to spend $1000 on a book, you bid 800 with heritage knowing your bid is $1000... (thumbs u

$956 If only you'd received a degree in economics you could have handled the advanced mathematics.

yeah, but we have to round down here in the south, or folks get easily confused!

[sacentaur]

To its credit, Heritage maintains an healthy archive while ComicLink makes it much more difficult -- both in the short and long term -- to track its results.

 

Good point - and CLink's eternal "Sales Pending" notations are rather annoying (though that's perhaps their way of keeping an archive )

[nearmint]

To its credit, Heritage maintains an healthy archive while ComicLink makes it much more difficult -- both in the short and long term -- to track its results.

 

Good point - and CLink's eternal "Sales Pending" notations are rather annoying (though that's perhaps their way of keeping an archive )

 

I only give them credit if all the listed sales are genuine. With all the books in this month's auction that supposedly sold in last Feb's auction, I have to wonder. If the sales shown in the archive aren't genuine, then perhaps they're an attempt to illicit higher bids when the books are relisted in a future auction.