I don't get what I am doing wrong on ebay......

[Hammerhead]

All my auctions seem to go no where!?!?! Last month I lost hard on a ASM #238 CGC 9.8 and a ASM #194 CGC 9.8. The #194 really killed me. I bought a copy for $375 and was happy with that, unforturnatly I had to sell it to pay for some unexpected bills. I listed it on ebay for a buy it now for $600 I had about 15 watchers and no sale, I tried again a few times going as low as $375 still no sale?? I got desperate and put $330 on it and it sold in 10 minutes. I had $10 or $12 dollars listed for priority shipping with DC and insurance (fair I thought) the book had off/white to white pages and a slight miswrap. Not real horrible. Anyway since then I seen 2 more sell for well over that....on hit $600 plus without even hitting the guys reserve (so I guess that copy didn't sell) my copy that I sold was put up by the buyer for $525 and it appears it has sold really fast!?!?! I have 100% feedback so I am not sure what I do wrong. My #238 I auctioned off and it only hit $330 or so as well.....I lost big on that one too. I sarted that at $300 and had several watchers. My copy is up for sale along with my #239 for $650 and this buyer recently just sold a CGC 9.8 copy of #238 for $550 as well!! Any advice would be appreciated, I really don't have anything I want to sell right now but most likely will in the future. My wife says my handle "Spider-Slayer" is not to friendly. I don't feel it has anything to do with that? Here are the links to the auction pages:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300407001281

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300405757431

 

I posted this here in bronze because ASM #194 is from the bronze age, if there is a better place to post this let me know. Eric

[bellrules]

I would say put a reserve on the item (the minimum amount you would sell it for) and start the listing at .99. . People try to get in on a low price, at that point the bidding starts and once some bidders start, most will go to their limit to get the book. Sometimes the high start price can discourage bidders. As for all the watchers. I'd say half were people who are looking to sell theirs, looking to see what people are paying for the book. I know that's what I do.

[the blob]

well, you needed money quickly and for that you paid the price you could have gone the best offer route had you been willing to wait long enough. these are quality items and eventually someone would make a decent offer. or eventually 20 more 9.8 copies of each of these books get slabbed and the market might be 30% lower than when you bought.

 

but some people will be concerned with OW/w pages and a miswrap on a relatively common relatively recent book.

[Hammerhead]

On the #194 I did have buy it now with the make offer option. It went from $600 to $500 to $425 with make offer before it sold at $330. I had two low offers one for $250 and one for $275. I don't get how the guy who bought mine got $525 or $550 whatever it was so fast!?! I really liked the #194 as Black Cat is one of my favorite Spidey characters...I will be in the market for another copy soon enough. Maybe I will settle for a well centererd white page CGC 9.6.....there are two on the bay right now one at $450 and one at $699 way out of my price range. The $699 copy has been up for months and I don't think will ever sell at that price. He is firm as I have sent him emails before I bought my 9.8. I just paid off my #300 cgc 9.8 and finally found a #308 cgc 9.8 thanks to a Mr. Greg Reece so am almost done my first registry set! Looking forwrd to starting another!

[Dick Pontoon]

You might find the widest range of ideas in General.

 

Here’s a few random thoughts of mine. Please note that I am far from an expert in the Bronze/Copper 9.8 market.

 

It’s unlikely your handle has anything to do with it, especially since it refers to a Spider-man villain.

 

15 watchers might mean you have 15 guys waiting to see if the book sells at that price, not that you’ve got 15 guys ready to open their wallets.

 

While your realized prices are on the lower end, they’re not totally out of line with where the market seems to be. The higher priced books often have white pages, and perfect quality of production; a miswrap is going to hurt your hammer price.

 

Do you have GPA? You should if you’re buying and selling slabs.

 

Quite often, auctions that start with a high price won’t attract as many bidders as those that start at .99, and often won’t end as high, either.

 

The biggest problem I see with your listing is the poor pictures. They don’t really give an idea what the books look like.

 

Both books, even in 9.8 are pretty common. There’s 69 #194s in the census, and 128 #238s. (There’s 389 #194s in 9.6.)

 

And like Blob said, if you're desperate and can't wait for the right buyer, you're probably not going to get top dollar.

 

Good luck! (thumbs u

 

 

[Hammerhead]

Thanks for the advice. I do need a scanner, what is a good cheaper one? (I guess that could be a whole other thread in a differnt forum) I do not have GPA but think I should get it. I don't do a lot of selling but whenI do buy CGC 9.8's I always find that I probably paid too much shortly after......some I just wanted bad enough and didn't really care about the price. More then often I buy a comic I have been looking for in CGC 9.8 for a high price that I never see then more come up a bunch cheaper. I recently just bought a ASM #307 for $120 I was fine with the price and had been looking for the comic for 3 months with none to be found, 2 weeks later I saw 2 go by on ebay for between $50 and $60! I guess I need to learn some patience. My wife tells me I have none

[FlyingDonut]

Your auctions both ended at 2:51 AM Eastern Time on a Monday morning. I'm thinking that might have had something to do with it.

[cheetah]

I think it had to be the OW/W pages that killed the price. Recent books with less-than-optimal PW just don't seem to be drawing much interest.

[LordRahl]

I think it had to be the OW/W pages that killed the price. Recent books with less-than-optimal PW just don't seem to be drawing much interest.

 

It's probably a combo of all the things people have pointed out. I don't collect anything that recent but I would think that the OW/W pages on books that are common with W pages would be a bit of a deterrent, although OW/W and W are essentially identical pages considering how unreliable CGC is in this department. Better pics and a more reasonable end time would certainly help you as well.

[joeypost]

Your auctions both ended at 2:51 AM Eastern Time on a Monday morning. I'm thinking that might have had something to do with it.

 

+1

[skypinkblu]

I agree with the timing, pictures and the start price, also consider free shipping on any books over $100.00, it bumps you up in the search engine.

 

[Hammerhead]

Your auctions both ended at 2:51 AM Eastern Time on a Monday morning. I'm thinking that might have had something to do with it.

 

Those times must be wrong!??! The #238 ended mid afternoon and the #194 ended around 7:00 pm. Pretty sure they were both on a Sunday as I was home that day?! Confusing....

[Hammerhead]

I just looked again and the #238 ended a bit after 11:00 am and the #194 ended closer to 4:00....I was drinking that day maybe thats why I thought they ended later then that. But definately not 2:51?

[RockMyAmadeus]

On the #194 I did have buy it now with the make offer option. It went from $600 to $500 to $425 with make offer before it sold at $330. I had two low offers one for $250 and one for $275. I don't get how the guy who bought mine got $525 or $550 whatever it was so fast!?! I really liked the #194 as Black Cat is one of my favorite Spidey characters...I will be in the market for another copy soon enough. Maybe I will settle for a well centererd white page CGC 9.6.....there are two on the bay right now one at $450 and one at $699 way out of my price range. The $699 copy has been up for months and I don't think will ever sell at that price. He is firm as I have sent him emails before I bought my 9.8. I just paid off my #300 cgc 9.8 and finally found a #308 cgc 9.8 thanks to a Mr. Greg Reece so am almost done my first registry set! Looking forwrd to starting another!

 

Do not feel bad. I have listed dozens of super high quality, rare books over the last 6-7 months, and I simply waited for someone to come to me.

 

For example...I listed a Spidey #129 raw in VF/NM for $500 THREE times (I think...at least twice)...and no one offered anything (except ridiculous $100-$150 bids. Talk about a waste of time.)

 

Someone made an offer of $375, and while I was considering that, someone else came along and bought it for $500.

 

I listed my X-Men #94 9.4 for sure three times, once in October, then in January, and then February...for $2495, then $2295, then $1995. I realized that all of these were fairly aggressive prices. Someone offered me $1660, and I countered with $1800...before he could accept, someone came along and hit the BIN for $1995.

 

And, sadly enough, I miss having the X-Men #94 as a draw!

 

So, just be patient, and remember: when you NEED to sell, you are in your weakest position.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Oh, my Spidey #194 9.8 had white pages, and I listed it for $695, even though the last two sales prior were $418 and $448. I wasn't willing to sell mine for that low, especially a white page.

 

People made offers, and I politely turned them down. Finally, someone made an offer for $650, and I took it.

 

Spidey #129 in 9.4, white pages...last few sales were in the $1K range....I held out, got $1350 for it.

 

Batman #232, 9.6...the previous sale was for $800+, but I saw the copy, and it was badly off-cut. My copy was perfectly centered (it truly was a gorgeous copy, and I wish I hadn't sold it), and I held out and got $1250 for it...and I still think the buyer got a more than fair price.

 

Quality wins out, if you can hold steady.

[ComicConnoisseur]

You may have originally overpaid for them, don`t feel bad I done so myself a few times. A lot of these post 1965 books are really not that hard to find.

trial and error, trial and error my friend.

[kdoginohio]

Maybe you should change your board ID to Hammerhead to match you avatar?

[Hammerhead]

Maybe you should change your board ID to Hammerhead to match you avatar?

 

...or maybe I should change my avatar to a Spider-Slayer?? Spider-Man and the metal band Slayer are two of my favorite things so it works for me....well old school Slayer music.

[Hammerhead]

Thanks for all the advice people!

[hikeeba-migration]

All my auctions seem to go no where!?!?! Last month I lost hard on a ASM #238 CGC 9.8 and a ASM #194 CGC 9.8. The #194 really killed me. I bought a copy for $375 and was happy with that, unforturnatly I had to sell it to pay for some unexpected bills. I listed it on ebay for a buy it now for $600 I had about 15 watchers and no sale, I tried again a few times going as low as $375 still no sale?? I got desperate and put $330 on it and it sold in 10 minutes. I had $10 or $12 dollars listed for priority shipping with DC and insurance (fair I thought) the book had off/white to white pages and a slight miswrap. Not real horrible. Anyway since then I seen 2 more sell for well over that....on hit $600 plus without even hitting the guys reserve (so I guess that copy didn't sell) my copy that I sold was put up by the buyer for $525 and it appears it has sold really fast!?!?! I have 100% feedback so I am not sure what I do wrong.

 

So the bet with Bob is off then?