Sales Forum more like the Bermuda Triange

[Green]

Look at all the threads by people asking to buy RAW 9.8 copies of stuff. Do they pay CGC'd 9.8 prices minus the cost to slab...?

I hear they often pay more when in a crunch.

[mazman77]

Ssup Green?

[toro]

Well I've had only so-so sales, so I'm going to change my name to FooIkiIIer and sell like crazy. (no L's just capitol I's in that name)

 

But everyone would catch on after awhile when the quality of the books weren't as good as Brian's.

[Annihilus]

I can only speak for myself, so take my comments with a grain of salt.

 

My sales threads do pretty well, though I typically sell everything at 50% of guide. It's all raw and I'm not looking to make a big profit. I buy smaller collections, keep what I want and sell all the rest at pretty good discounts. I likely break even money-wise and get books for my collection at the same time. So that's my perspective as a seller.

 

As a buyer, I generally stay away from sales threads that:

 

1. Are slabs only. I like raw, unless it's something I'm really after.

 

2. Overpriced common moderns. This includes slabs, but most especially 9.6 and 9.8 slabs of common stuff that I wouldn't even buy raw. I see a lot of sales threads trying to move these types of slabs and they just sit there, so I'm likely not alone here. I'm not going to spend $40 on a slab when I can buy a raw copy for $1.00 and have a 50/50 shot at getting the CGC grade that's listed at $40. I see a ridiculous amount of these books in sales threads. And they never sell.

 

3. Books that I've seen bought here on the boards that are being flipped, sometimes not even a month after the original purchase for much more than they were purchased for. I realize that everyone has the right to do this, but that doesn't mean that I (or anyone else) has to like it. I've been here for 3 years now and it's pretty easy to see that boardies have long memories. If I see someone doing this, I generally don't say anything, I just stay away from their sales threads.

 

As a buyer, I am generally attracted to sales threads that:

 

1. The seller is obviously not out to make a ton of cash on what they are selling, they are here to have fun and interact with their customers. An obvious example is cd4ever, but there are several others that have fun sales threads.

 

2. Sellers that have interesting stuff that you don't see posted here every day.

 

3. Sellers that know what their buyers are after and remember their customers, track stuff down for them and don't gouge them when they know that they probably could. I've had several sellers track me down because I've mentioned that I want something, and they've usually got an instant sale.I do the same thing as a seller.

 

4. If you're selling moderns or more common stuff, it's a good idea to pay attention to other sales threads in the same forum. There have been many times when I've not listed something because I've seen it listed in one or more sales threads in the previous week. You have to pay attention to supply and demand, and your fellow sellers are providing plenty of that type of information in their sales threads.

 

5. If you are selling cheap or mid-grade books, you really need to offer media mail as a shipping option (I offer buyers choice of shipping method at cost). Believe it or not, I've had a buyer request media mail when purchasing from my sales thread, but in their own sales thread they explicitly stated no media mail. WTH? :confused: If media is not an option in a sales thread, I usually won't buy anything. Yeah, I'm a cheapskate, but that's the way it is in this economy.

 

Ok, a lot of babbling and I'm tired, but that's how I see things.

[lizards2]

 

5. If you are selling cheap or mid-grade books, you really need to offer media mail as a shipping option (I offer buyers choice of shipping method at cost). Believe it or not, I've had a buyer request media mail when purchasing from my sales thread, but in their own sales thread they explicitly stated no media mail. WTH? :confused: If media is not an option in a sales thread, I usually won't buy anything. Yeah, I'm a cheapskate, but that's the way it is in this economy.

 

Hey - as far as I know it is illegal to ship comics media mail. I'm guilty in that there is no way I can ship out through my local p.o. with media mail, because they all know what I am shipping. However, I usually select media mail if offered for shipping, because I am a cheap-@ss. I don't really know that I have any control over the matter except to either turn shippers/sellers in to the postal authorities, or elect and pay for priority when buying..., ?? :shrug:

[dupont2005]

TMNT

[Annihilus]

 

5. If you are selling cheap or mid-grade books, you really need to offer media mail as a shipping option (I offer buyers choice of shipping method at cost). Believe it or not, I've had a buyer request media mail when purchasing from my sales thread, but in their own sales thread they explicitly stated no media mail. WTH? :confused: If media is not an option in a sales thread, I usually won't buy anything. Yeah, I'm a cheapskate, but that's the way it is in this economy.

 

Hey - as far as I know it is illegal to ship comics media mail. I'm guilty in that there is no way I can ship out through my local p.o. with media mail, because they all know what I am shipping. However, I usually select media mail if offered for shipping, because I am a cheap-@ss. I don't really know that I have any control over the matter except to either turn shippers/sellers in to the postal authorities, or elect and pay for priority when buying..., ?? :shrug:

 

I've heard that argument before, but all I can tell you is that I've lived in Montana, South Dakota, Kentucky, Minnesota and Arizona and had face to face conversations with my local post offices in every city that I've lived in and every one of them has told me that shipping comics via Media Mail is 100% legal (and yes, I've asked specifically in every one of the places I live). As a matter of fact, the online company I buy my comics from (scifigenre.com) ships media mail, so if it's illegal, then there are businesses out there breaking the law right along with me.

 

So, while I hear what you're saying and not discounting it in any way, I've not ever run across that problem in the 20 years that I've spent selling comics through the mail. And since the OP was looking for reasons for slow sales threads - well, that's one thing that I look for (right or wrong) when I'm browsing. It is what it is. :shrug: It's also not my intention to turn this thread into a debate about media mail, it's only one small thing that I look for when buying. But I do look for it.

[Comicdey]

I buy on the boards

 

I sell on the boards

 

slabs

 

raw

 

sometimes by pm only

 

sometimes without the books being posted

 

I generally avoid eBay and haven't sold there for years. Leaving all the profit potential to donut.

 

Link once or twice buy and sell

 

heritage bought a couple times

 

love to buy when I travel and pass on some cool finds to boardies and keep a few things for myself

 

some books I'll never sell

 

some books I'll never buy

 

[gpanalysis]

I buy on the boards

 

I sell on the boards

 

slabs

 

raw

 

sometimes by pm only

 

sometimes without the books being posted

 

I generally avoid eBay and haven't sold there for years. Leaving all the profit potential to donut.

 

Link once or twice buy and sell

 

heritage bought a couple times

 

love to buy when I travel and pass on some cool finds to boardies and keep a few things for myself

 

some books I'll never sell

 

some books I'll never buy

 

 

It doesn't rhyme... is it meant to rhyme?

[Comicdey]

I buy on the boards

 

I sell on the boards

 

slabs

 

raw

 

sometimes by pm only

 

sometimes without the books being posted

 

I generally avoid eBay and haven't sold there for years. Leaving all the profit potential to donut.

 

Link once or twice buy and sell

 

heritage bought a couple times

 

love to buy when I travel and pass on some cool finds to boardies and keep a few things for myself

 

some books I'll never sell

 

some books I'll never buy

 

 

It doesn't rhyme... is it meant to rhyme?

 

It doesn't rhyme...no it's isn't meant to rhyme! What's wrong with you

[Comicdey]

That's Iphone Grammar.....now that I'm on the computer I can make actual paragraphs, and even include some rhyme. Just not this time.

[gaz973]

I look through the sales threads of people I know or that have a good reputation first. I usually look to pay GPA average for most stuff and would pay a bit over for stuff that I really want.

 

I'm attracted to threads that describe stuff I want in the title. I rarely even check out threads with titles like "junk for sale" or "I need a new car sale".

 

A lot of it is just luck. I can't count the amount of times that I've seen stuff that I wanted but had already spent my comic budget elsewhere.

[chrisco37]

It's always a carpshoot.

 

Best way to ensure sales is to list great books at great prices (see Foolkiller).

 

Mostly, it's all about timing. You list something that someone wants and they happen to open your thread, WIN.

 

Due to my current financial situation, I don't look at the Marketplace but a few times a week. So many sales threads are listed, so alot of stuff gets pushed into the next page or two. Alot of times, I don't go thru all the pages looking. So, I might miss something.

 

Oh, and one tiny little peeve of mine (at least for US sellers), slabbed book price should include shipping. And higher dollar raw books as well ($50+). Not a biggie at all (and I don't avoid sellers that don't do this).

[comicwiz]

In all seriousness, a real problem is that there just aren't that many people trolling the boards for things to buy at any given time.

 

Yahoo Pipes can help

[Prince Namor]

I know for me personally, my first threads didn't do that well until I busted out the cheap books.

Once I sold and sold and sold a whole bunch of cheap books (which I still sell) and members saw that I was trustworthy, sent out what I said it was, ship fast, package well, etc... it then made it easier for me to sell a higher priced book.

 

[jordanscott]

I'm attracted to threads that describe stuff I want in the title. I rarely even check out threads with titles like "junk for sale" or "I need a new car sale".

 

 

Ditto.

 

I'm not going to go into a store with no windows and a sign that just says 'pay me for stuff' even if it has all the books i could ever want.

[3319comics]

I personally have found the sales forum awesome. I have pretty much given up on Ebay. I probably buy 99% of my books here and have no complaints except 1. Low funds. There is so much awesome books and great people to deal with here. For my Ebay is like just sending your money in for a mystery grab bag. For the most part I agree with others saying here:

 

- Sellin rep in regards to grades and pricing

- Workablility with seller on package deals, shipping, time payments

- And for most of my experience here honesty and not tryin to bend over the customer with bad deals

 

 

:shrug: Sell hulk books.

[The Less Blob]

you just never know what is going to do well. last sales thread I had went over pretty well in terms of my expectations --- about a 2/3 sell-through without much subsequent discounting off my initial prices for the leftovers and bulk deals. ony 2 or 3 slab worthy books in the group. but by and large mostly nice presentable BA and SA books in the mainly 8.0 - 9.2 range helped. it helped that there was a lot of marvel and fawcett BA horror in there, which doesn't show up THAT much in nice shape. I tried to price all but the sharpest of the book in the 50-75% of OPG range depending on what it was. before that I did well with a bunch of 10 cent cover price beaters priced right, with about a 1/2 sell-through (the leftovers sold well on ebay though, where there apparently IS a market for beat up 10 cent cover price blackhawks...). In between I think I listed a bunch of BA and SA stuff that shows up here frequently enough that nobody was interested. Such is life.

 

As for "I listed a bunch of stuff here that I later sold on ebay for more"...well, sure, why not? People here expect to pay a little less than they might on ebay (though nobody knows what the heck anything WILL cost on ebay unless there are 20 BINs out there and anything I put in a sales thread is going to be 25-30% or so less than what I will stick it in my store for because, honestly, I'd rather sell it for less to y'all, particularly if you're buying multiple items, etc.

 

As for everyone here being a junior dealer....that might be true, but honestly, from the sales threads I do think a lot of those books are being bought for collections, at least until an upgrade comes along and someone no longer wants/needs their undercopy. I didn't see a tremendous amount of upward flippability (unless someone hit the CGC megaball on the few books I thought could warrant it) on my last set of sales unless you're a Harley Yee or someone along those lines. Buying $8 books here and selling them on ebay for $11 doesn't make that much sense, even in volume.

[The Less Blob]

Oh, and one tiny little peeve of mine (at least for US sellers), slabbed book price should include shipping. And higher dollar raw books as well ($50+). Not a biggie at all (and I don't avoid sellers that don't do this).

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

 

While this makes sense if you're buying one item, this doesn't make sense if someone is listing a lot of these and someone is buying 10 of them or something. Why build $7-$10 into the price of every one of the 30 $35 slabs you're selling? Make them $25 each instead and if someone buys 5 they're going to be paying a lot less overall. Just my thoughts.

 

With that said, I generally make shipping free for a $50 purchase, but I rarely sell slabs, so it's easier for me to do that.

[sborock]

I had great results selling on the forums before I joined HA. I think it was about an 85% sell through. I feel my prices were "good" for the buyers and sometimes I would negotiate a lower price, if I had room on the item, through pm's.

 

I enjoy buying on the boards from time to time, everything from cheap trades to GA books. Bought a Men's Adventures #28 yesterday

 

I think to sell here, you need to have what people want at the right price. This group are not stupid, most are very aware of what they want and what they want to pay. Trick is catching them when they check out the selling part of the boards and that they have $ to buy it at the time. [font:Arial Black]Offering time payments have helped me sell and buy here as well.[/font]

 

But, of course, you should all be buying from HA now that I am there