Detective Comics #35 on eBay - Is the price Fair or To High?

[Bat-Man]

We all know Pre-Robin Tecs are incredibly valuable and will sometimes sell for crazy multiples of guide. In general 2x-3x guide seems normal to pay when you go after Tecs now-a-days. Every Pre-Robin I have ever bought has cost me 2x-3x guide in general.

 

So my question is about this Tec 35 that has just popped up on eBay

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220555185964

 

Start price is $3,995

 

and this is the same book that sold 2.5 years ago on Quality Comix Auction for $850

 

https://www.qualitycomix.com/auctions_archive_detail.php?archive_id=580

 

And when it was listed on quality comix it was said to be a 1.0

 

So if you take the 2009 OSPG and do 50% of the G price of 1533 that means a 1.0 is worth $766.50, so $3995.00 start price is a whopping 5.2x guide

 

 

So do you feel that is too much for a 1.0 Tec 35 or just right? What is your opinion?

 

 

(My opinion - Tec 35's are "priceless" and easily worth multiples of guide, but maybe 5.2x is a little high - but still I would not doubt this may sell for that!)

 

 

[Silver Surfer]

I think that's a board members book.

[aardvark88]

Nothing wrong with aggressive asking price. Perhaps it is just the low grade market for Tec 35 or 31 adjusting itself compared to $3k copies of ASM #1 or $4k copies of AF #15?

[Bat-Man]

I think that's a board members book.

 

Really? Maybe he will post his opinion!

 

[Bat-Man]

Nothing wrong with aggressive asking price. Perhaps it is just the low grade market for Tec 35 or 31 adjusting itself compared to $3k copies of ASM #1 or $4k copies of AF #15?

 

Very true - good point.

[1koko]

I think the price is actually around market.

 

A 3.5 market value is around $13k currently and current guide for a 4.0 is $3,066 (4.25x 4.0 guide).

 

You also need to take into account that there is always a floor price for a comic due to the numbers of sellers able to purchase at a given level. In the case of a low grade #35 the price looks fine to me.

 

 

 

[Bat-Man]

I think the price is actually around market.

 

A 3.5 market value is around $13k currently and current guide for a 4.0 is $3,066 (4.25x 4.0 guide).

 

You also need to take into account that there is always a floor price for a comic due to the numbers of sellers able to purchase at a given level. In the case of a low grade #35 the price looks fine to me.

 

 

 

I agree with you there on a floor price. And I wonder when the OSPG (and other guides) will up the Detective Comics values since we all keep buying at such a multiplier. I also think it must be very hard for the people at OS to keep up with the radical changes - the reason why alot of people are turning to GPanalysis (I just got it recently finally.)

[1koko]

meant buyers not sellers at a certain level

 

OSPG is a guide that movers very slowly and won't reflect surges in pricing for particular comics.

 

GPA is useful for comics with decent supply and sales in grade.

 

GA unfortunately is a much tougher nut to crack when it comes to pricing.

 

GPA and Overstreet can be guides but for GA experience and information is key. There is plenty of experience that can be leveraged on the boards and people are happy to discuss endlessly the availability and pricing at which comics can be obtained.

[GreatEscape]

GPA and Overstreet can be guides but for GA experience and information is key.

 

(thumbs u

[Bruce1971]

I think the price is actually around market.

 

A 3.5 market value is around $13k currently and current guide for a 4.0 is $3,066 (4.25x 4.0 guide).

 

You also need to take into account that there is always a floor price for a comic due to the numbers of sellers able to purchase at a given level. In the case of a low grade #35 the price looks fine to me.

 

 

 

I agree with you there on a floor price. And I wonder when the OSPG (and other guides) will up the Detective Comics values since we all keep buying at such a multiplier. I also think it must be very hard for the people at OS to keep up with the radical changes - the reason why alot of people are turning to GPanalysis (I just got it recently finally.)

 

Why would they do that? Books selling for multiples of guide creates a buzz. Not that I think this will happen to the Pre-Robin Tec's, but look what happened to Mystery Men #1 after the huge price increase, to the price level the book was reported to be selling at.

 

Bruce

[G.A.tor]

5x guide for tec 35 a few years ago was very accurate...since then, "we" have gotten the guide to move up a bit, so that 4x guide is now more "accurate"

[Bruce1971]

5x guide for tec 35 a few years ago was very accurate...since then, "we" have gotten the guide to move up a bit, so that 4x guide is now more "accurate"

Nice to see an direct and honest response even though it was stated it's a boardies book.

 

But I think you should have gotten the hint when someone said "nothing wrong with an aggressive asking price" that the book was priced above current perceived market value. On the other hand someone has to pay over current market value to drive the price up

 

 

 

Bruce

[G.A.tor]

5x guide for tec 35 a few years ago was very accurate...since then, "we" have gotten the guide to move up a bit, so that 4x guide is now more "accurate"

Nice to see an direct and honest response even though it was stated it's a boardies book.

 

But I think you should have gotten the hint when someone said "nothing wrong with an aggressive asking price" that the book was priced above current perceived market value. On the other hand someone has to pay over current market value to drive the price up

 

 

 

Bruce

absolutely... if everyone priced book A for price A, then there would never be a price movement... the boardie that owns it knows the market for the book, and has it priced at a level he is willing to sell it at... (thumbs u

[Point Five]

We all know Pre-Robin Tecs are incredibly valuable and will sometimes sell for crazy multiples of guide. In general 2x-3x guide seems normal to pay when you go after Tecs now-a-days. Every Pre-Robin I have ever bought has cost me 2x-3x guide in general.

 

So my question is about this Tec 35 that has just popped up on eBay

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220555185964

 

Start price is $3,995

 

and this is the same book that sold 2.5 years ago on Quality Comix Auction for $850

 

https://www.qualitycomix.com/auctions_archive_detail.php?archive_id=580

 

And when it was listed on quality comix it was said to be a 1.0

 

So if you take the 2009 OSPG and do 50% of the G price of 1533 that means a 1.0 is worth $766.50, so $3995.00 start price is a whopping 5.2x guide

 

 

So do you feel that is too much for a 1.0 Tec 35 or just right? What is your opinion?

 

 

(My opinion - Tec 35's are "priceless" and easily worth multiples of guide, but maybe 5.2x is a little high - but still I would not doubt this may sell for that!)

 

In fairness, he is selling a different book with the same cover wrap, so it's kind of an apples to oranges comparison.

 

And yeah, the guide is a joke on these...

[bluechip]

We all know Pre-Robin Tecs are incredibly valuable and will sometimes sell for crazy multiples of guide. In general 2x-3x guide seems normal to pay when you go after Tecs now-a-days. Every Pre-Robin I have ever bought has cost me 2x-3x guide in general.

 

So my question is about this Tec 35 that has just popped up on eBay

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220555185964

 

Start price is $3,995

 

and this is the same book that sold 2.5 years ago on Quality Comix Auction for $850

 

https://www.qualitycomix.com/auctions_archive_detail.php?archive_id=580

 

And when it was listed on quality comix it was said to be a 1.0

 

So if you take the 2009 OSPG and do 50% of the G price of 1533 that means a 1.0 is worth $766.50, so $3995.00 start price is a whopping 5.2x guide

 

 

So do you feel that is too much for a 1.0 Tec 35 or just right? What is your opinion?

 

 

(My opinion - Tec 35's are "priceless" and easily worth multiples of guide, but maybe 5.2x is a little high - but still I would not doubt this may sell for that!)

 

 

That is my book. I didn't buy it from Quality Comix, though. I don't recall offhand whom I bought it from 'cause I was out of town at the time and didn't see it til months later. But I paid a lot more than 850.

 

I am not sure that taking 50% of good guide in overstreet guide works as a starting point for a few reasons. First, the guide is a joke on this and some other issues as we know. But aside from that the range of what is "fair" condition is so wide that even when using good guide the percentage can vary greatly -- from less to 50% to nearly the good price. (or more, of course, for books the guide isn't revelent on).

 

More importantly, though, the grade on that slab (which I don't have) was clearly assigned because of much damaged interior. So it's not even the same book. The married (or cohabiting) interior is far better and makes the book present as well as many I've seen graded gvg.

 

As has been pointed out very astutely by Gator, a married or cohabiting cover is not the same as, for example, a broken statue with a piece from another statue made somewhere else and glued on. Comics covers and interior pages were all made separately but in the same place and at the same time and were simply married during the printing process So it never bothered me to think a cover and an interior were separate at one time, because they all were, initially. Decent interiors to Tec 35 are not easy to find, and it seems to me a waste to have a decent interior separate from a decent cover because you're stuck in keeping the decent cover with the ravaged interior.. That way, instead of one decent book and one ravaged reader, you have two ravaged readers.

 

But I believe there are some purists who would really prefer to have the cover with the interior it was presumably first married to back in 1939. So, I gave that option, and if anyway wants the book that way then of course they can call it a 1.0; If they want to pay the higher price for the lesser book, I'm happy to take it. But I don't see a reason to sell the better book at the price of a bug chewed 1.0 because it isn't the same book.

 

btw, I don't consider the actual market price of a bug chewed 1.0 to be 850 -- for one, because I paid more. And for another, because I am pretty sure many other guys would;ve also paid more. I know it's hard for some to get past it when they hear what something went for under the rader, if only they'd known about it at the time. But what they often forget to consider is that a lot of other guys didn't know about it either, and if everybody had known, it wouldn't have gone for that in the first place.

 

I had real offers for this book in the mid 4Ks but foolishly passed when a dealer promised to pay 5400 and never came through.

 

Mid 4s or more still feels right to me, based on what I know about the demand, how much restored copies go for and how much it would cost to do the work, etc. When I think about sales I've seen where people spent the same or even more money on 70s and 80s Batmans that to me look identical to ones I've seen in stacks for a dollar, it seems even more reasonable.

 

 

Sorry for the long-winded reply. It's too early and I've had too little coffee to pare it down.

 

 

 

 

[tabcom]

Well stated. While you are still feeling the desired effects of the caffeine, I'd suggest you revise your listing with an edited version of your post. I would omit the derogatory phrase 'married cover' and insert something like 'the comic book has been enhanced with a cover from the same original printing process that produced the book'.

 

 

Best wishes with the sale.

[Bat-Man]

We all know Pre-Robin Tecs are incredibly valuable and will sometimes sell for crazy multiples of guide. In general 2x-3x guide seems normal to pay when you go after Tecs now-a-days. Every Pre-Robin I have ever bought has cost me 2x-3x guide in general.

 

So my question is about this Tec 35 that has just popped up on eBay

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220555185964

 

Start price is $3,995

 

and this is the same book that sold 2.5 years ago on Quality Comix Auction for $850

 

https://www.qualitycomix.com/auctions_archive_detail.php?archive_id=580

 

And when it was listed on quality comix it was said to be a 1.0

 

So if you take the 2009 OSPG and do 50% of the G price of 1533 that means a 1.0 is worth $766.50, so $3995.00 start price is a whopping 5.2x guide

 

 

So do you feel that is too much for a 1.0 Tec 35 or just right? What is your opinion?

 

 

(My opinion - Tec 35's are "priceless" and easily worth multiples of guide, but maybe 5.2x is a little high - but still I would not doubt this may sell for that!)

 

 

That is my book. I didn't buy it from Quality Comix, though. I don't recall offhand whom I bought it from 'cause I was out of town at the time and didn't see it til months later. But I paid a lot more than 850.

 

I am not sure that taking 50% of good guide in overstreet guide works as a starting point for a few reasons. First, the guide is a joke on this and some other issues as we know. But aside from that the range of what is "fair" condition is so wide that even when using good guide the percentage can vary greatly -- from less to 50% to nearly the good price. (or more, of course, for books the guide isn't revelent on).

 

More importantly, though, the grade on that slab (which I don't have) was clearly assigned because of much damaged interior. So it's not even the same book. The married (or cohabiting) interior is far better and makes the book present as well as many I've seen graded gvg.

 

As has been pointed out very astutely by Gator, a married or cohabiting cover is not the same as, for example, a broken statue with a piece from another statue made somewhere else and glued on. Comics covers and interior pages were all made separately but in the same place and at the same time and were simply married during the printing process So it never bothered me to think a cover and an interior were separate at one time, because they all were, initially. Decent interiors to Tec 35 are not easy to find, and it seems to me a waste to have a decent interior separate from a decent cover because you're stuck in keeping the decent cover with the ravaged interior.. That way, instead of one decent book and one ravaged reader, you have two ravaged readers.

 

But I believe there are some purists who would really prefer to have the cover with the interior it was presumably first married to back in 1939. So, I gave that option, and if anyway wants the book that way then of course they can call it a 1.0; If they want to pay the higher price for the lesser book, I'm happy to take it. But I don't see a reason to sell the better book at the price of a bug chewed 1.0 because it isn't the same book.

 

btw, I don't consider the actual market price of a bug chewed 1.0 to be 850 -- for one, because I paid more. And for another, because I am pretty sure many other guys would;ve also paid more. I know it's hard for some to get past it when they hear what something went for under the rader, if only they'd known about it at the time. But what they often forget to consider is that a lot of other guys didn't know about it either, and if everybody had known, it wouldn't have gone for that in the first place.

 

I had real offers for this book in the mid 4Ks but foolishly passed when a dealer promised to pay 5400 and never came through.

 

Mid 4s or more still feels right to me, based on what I know about the demand, how much restored copies go for and how much it would cost to do the work, etc. When I think about sales I've seen where people spent the same or even more money on 70s and 80s Batmans that to me look identical to ones I've seen in stacks for a dollar, it seems even more reasonable.

 

 

Sorry for the long-winded reply. It's too early and I've had too little coffee to pare it down.

 

 

 

 

(thumbs u Good Point - I think you will get your asking. Especially since you replaced the interior with a better version. And for the record, I was not disagreeing with the price for this book (I actually fully agree) just wanted to get some opinions going on not only this but Tecs in general!

 

And also who ever did get this book at Quality originally for only $850 even with a chew is an absolute Especially considering I paid $1,300 for a CGC 0.5 Tec 33 only a few months ago and it is missing the back cover and has bad rat chew at the top - but still its a Tec 33 (and it looks disgraceful next to my CGC 2.5 Tec 31 - gotta upgrade my 33 soon )

 

[bluechip]

Well stated. While you are still feeling the desired effects of the caffeine, I'd suggest you revise your listing with an edited version of your post. I would omit the derogatory phrase 'married cover' and insert something like 'the comic book has been enhanced with a cover from the same original printing process that produced the book'.

 

 

Best wishes with the sale.

 

Thanks. Tho' I can see some people getting a headpin off that and sending me getting questions about when that "same original printing process" took place.

 

I never thought the phrase married cover was necessarily all that derogatory or misleading, but according to one questioning potential bidder, some think it means the cover has been physically attached to the book, which this hasn't. It wouldn't make that much difference to me, attached or not, but if it does to some then I think I cleared that up in the Q&A section.

[Bat-Man]

Well stated. While you are still feeling the desired effects of the caffeine, I'd suggest you revise your listing with an edited version of your post. I would omit the derogatory phrase 'married cover' and insert something like 'the comic book has been enhanced with a cover from the same original printing process that produced the book'.

 

 

Best wishes with the sale.

 

Thanks. Tho' I can see some people getting a headpin off that and sending me getting questions about when that "same original printing process" took place.

 

I never thought the phrase married cover was necessarily all that derogatory or misleading, but according to one questioning potential bidder, some think it means the cover has been physically attached to the book, which this hasn't. It wouldn't make that much difference to me, attached or not, but if it does to some then I think I cleared that up in the Q&A section.

 

You could say that it is "A married but detached cover"

 

And when I read your listing it was not misleading at all - I got what you meant! Don't get how other would not.

[agro23]

So when it's reslabbed is the prospective buyer going to get a green label or a purple for the married interior?