Sales Forum more like the Bermuda Triange

[jonjesper]

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

 

people were just sucking up for the grade bumps

 

 

Problem with that is, I was not working at CGC when I was selling on the boards.

 

Sympathy sales

 

love the Miracleman stuff up Steve!!!!!!!

 

[Scrooge]

Prospective buyers: the ComicLink, Heritage, and Quality Comix auction archives are your friend.

 

So true. Ran into an example just last night. Book sold on HA for $X. Is being offered here for 3 times X. I am passing on it ... Though, I know it is my fault for not seeing the original auction on HA. Still, not ready to pay up that much premium.

[Arcade]

I have a very basic formula... I generally buy some books with an eye towards slabbing. Those books will be offered here first, but usually get sold as a block to a dealer or on ebay. I have a lot of success selling slabs to dealers because I favor reducing my labor and selling as a block. Generally the dealers are paying very good percentages on these slabs.

 

For raw stuff, I buy most of my stuff through collections or stores and a very small percentage through shows, major dealers etc. My cost basis is generally very low in the book unless we are talking about a key. Anything I buy from a major dealer is generally looked at as for my collection or a book or a book I may have to less at a loss or break even. That's okay. As someone who does this for fun, I need to, overall, make money rather than lose money, but almost all of this comic money gets funneled back into comics or new collections etc.

 

The idea here is to know who you're catering to. For the most part, I think that I want to give bargains where I can, and I leave something on the table that's cool. I hope some people make some money off of me, just like I hope that there's some good deals for collectors.

 

That being said, my high quality stuff I don't want to give away. And people here do pay when you offer them really high end stuff and i've never met with pushback when you offer super high end material (white pages, perfectly wrapped stuff or rare books)

 

 

 

I appreciate all of your great deals Brian. (thumbs u

All of the books I have ever purchased from you are still in my personal collection.

So not everybody is flipping your books.

[Peter Loves Gwen]

Thanks for the comments here guys. I have never sold anything of what may be 3500 comics now, except for one trade deal for a blue cover OPG. My ASM collection has been good enough for about 20 years that the CGC grading is very helpful. I need to stop buying any raw ASM because my top copy is usually equal or better to it. Meaning I also need to CGC everything, which is not cheap.

 

I hope to start selling everything but my first ASM's or OPG collection. I'm trying to learn how to decide what grades are worth it to CGC, and what should be sold raw. I have bought through HA and Comics Link, eBay too, and they all have a good market. I just sent back a raw ASM6 that was trimmed(great pictures that didn't hint at it), and I hate to send things back.

 

I just ordered 2000bags/boards, and nothing I have is labeled by grade, so I can't yet list anything. I hope to make a thread with my grades on all my old SM, AF15 to about ASM129, and see if it is worth doing some raw here. I only know of a couple of mine that are not original, a slightly top trimmed ASM11 and a 130 with no MVS. Most of my ASM to sell are copies that I bought and read, so they should all be complete. I value paper quality a whole lot more than CGC. I don't go by a dumb OWL card, I smell the book and notice how fragile the paper is, it all suggests how long a book will last, and what it will be like 50 years from now.

 

Keep making these thread about the selling/buying subjects. I'll get the hang of it eventually. Regards,

[chrisco37]

Thanks for the comments here guys. I have never sold anything of what may be 3500 comics now, except for one trade deal for a blue cover OPG. My ASM collection has been good enough for about 20 years that the CGC grading is very helpful. I need to stop buying any raw ASM because my top copy is usually equal or better to it. Meaning I also need to CGC everything, which is not cheap.

 

I hope to start selling everything not my first ASM's or OPG collection. I'm trying to learn how to decide what grades are worth it to CGC, and what should be sold raw. I have bought through HA and Comics Link, eBay too, and they all have a good market. I just sent back a raw ASM6 that was trimmed(great pictures that didn't hint at it), and I hate to send things back.

 

I just ordered 2000bags/boards, and nothing I have is labeled by grade, so I can't yet list anything. I hope to make a thread with my grades on all my old SM, AF15 to about ASM129, and see if it is worth doing some raw here. I only know of a couple of mine that are not original, a slightly top trimmed ASM11 and a 130 with no MVS. Most of my ASM to sell are copies that I bought and read, so they should all be complete. I value paper quality a whole lot more than CGC. I don't go by a dumb OWL card, I smell the book and notice how fragile the paper is, it all suggests how long a book will last, and what it will be like 50 years from now.

 

Keep making these thread about the selling/buying subjects. I'll get the hang of it eventually. Regards,

 

If you're looking to sell an ASM run (and you've got uber-HG books), I'd send in a few in the 41-60 range for grading. Sell those books (if they're 9.4-9.6 range, you should do very well). Take that money to grade the earlier books and then sell those for the windfall.

[Peter Loves Gwen]

I wish that they were so high. All but the 31 or so in my registry were bought raw 20+ years ago. I never had the opportunity to buy real NM and better old copies. I started in 1974, and as kid the only choices I had was the once a year convention, and mail order dealers. I know Bob Crestohl and a few of the oldest dealers too well. Back then they sold things as VG or better, you got what they sent. I paid for a "MINT" ASM1 from Bob Crestohl and he sent me a VG+. I returned it and the Canadian PO delivered it without a signature. He got the book and I had to file for insurance, $400 of the $500 I paid. There were a lot of crooks out there, and I learned the hard way.

 

My best stuff is in the 8.5-9.2 range to about the 150's, and then I was buying them new. My doubles range from the VG level for the first year or two, then it's closer to VF. Regards,

[trmoore54]

As far as I'm concerned, there are far too many "wannabe dealers" floating around these parts. I'm not talking about the full-time dealers who are out there working hard to bring new stuff to market, the collector-dealers who spend hours at cons and local shops trying to find unique specimens and under-priced gems, or the collectors who have held their stuff for years. I'm talking about the folks who think they can get over by buying stuff from a well-publicized auction (ComicLink, Heritage, Quality Comix, etc) one month and flipping it here for a 20-400% profit the next.

 

Dude, if I wanted the book at that price, I would've competed for it more aggressively during the auction. I'm sure not going to reward you for running up the bid on me last month by helping you turn a profit today. And don't be surprised if you can't even recover what you paid. Remember, you were the winning bidder (which, by definition, means that you were willing to spend more on the book than anyone else).

 

Prospective buyers: the ComicLink, Heritage, and Quality Comix auction archives are your friend.

 

XLNT post Jay! Couldn't have said it better myself!

[chrisco37]

You shouldn't worry about anything, Tom. You're top notch. (thumbs u

[VintageComics]

Seems like it takes the special secret handshake to get anything sold in the Sales Forum. I really can't get a handle on it on the several attempts I've tried to sell some CGC books for reasonable prices seems like there is little or no action.

 

Help me out with some suggestions. I try to stay away from raw books and sell my CGC books. Is that the right way to do it?

 

 

 

 

WEBHEAD Class of '03

 

It's just a matter of supply and demand. If there is no demand here that doesn't mean that the supply isn't good. This little forum is a very small pie slice of what is actually going on out there. There are many sellers that simply move their wares somewhere else (is that a play on words? ) and do better elsewhere.

 

I often get much more elsewhere than I would here. Don't take it personally. It's just business.

 

(thumbs u

[trmoore54]

You shouldn't worry about anything, Tom. You're top notch. (thumbs u

 

Hey Chris! Appreciate the thumbs up!

[WEBHEAD]

Seems like it takes the special secret handshake to get anything sold in the Sales Forum. I really can't get a handle on it on the several attempts I've tried to sell some CGC books for reasonable prices seems like there is little or no action.

 

Help me out with some suggestions. I try to stay away from raw books and sell my CGC books. Is that the right way to do it?

 

 

 

 

WEBHEAD Class of '03

 

It's just a matter of supply and demand. If there is no demand here that doesn't mean that the supply isn't good. This little forum is a very small pie slice of what is actually going on out there. There are many sellers that simply move their wares somewhere else (is that a play on words? ) and do better elsewhere.

 

I often get much more elsewhere than I would here. Don't take it personally. It's just business.

 

(thumbs u

 

Thank you for the advice Roy, I guess I need to see what moves and by how much, I do have a rather large personal collection so there is lots of silver, bronze and copper.

 

This thread seems to have struck a chord with many of us and I'm glad a lot of people participated.

 

 

WEBHEAD

[VintageComics]

No worries.

 

Just wanted to clarify my initial post and say that if a book does not sell that does not necessarily mean that there is something wrong with either the buyers or the sellers here, it's just a case of not finding the right buyer here for the book you are offering at the time that you offer it.

 

You might have the most amazing book but if nobody is looking for it then it won't sell.

 

If it's fairly graded and fairly priced then the right person just has not seen the book yet.

 

Good luck!

[chrisco37]

No worries.

 

Just wanted to clarify my initial post and say that if a book does not sell that does not necessarily mean that there is something wrong with either the buyers or the sellers here, it's just a case of not finding the right buyer here for the book you are offering at the time that you offer it.

 

You might have the most amazing book but if nobody is looking for it then it won't sell.

 

If it's fairly graded and fairly priced then the right person just has not seen the book yet.

 

Good luck!

 

You must've thought it was "white boy day"....

 

[VintageComics]

Wish I was showing my gold teeth and my glock in that pic.

 

 

[chrisco37]

Wish I was showing my gold teeth and my glock in that pic.

 

 

How perfect would that be?

 

I hope you've been trained properly to hold the piece at the correct 90-degree angle (sideways for all you crackers).

[Silver Surfer]

A couple of years ago stuff moved here pretty well, even I use to scoop up stuff I didn't really need but I know my buying patterns have defintely taken a step back, or two. I think the economy is forcing more people to sell but the amount of dollars to go around is defintely less. BTW does anyone have a cool set of rims they want to sell me.

[AGGIEZ]

I think its pretty obvious that sales on the boards are a lot tougher these days than 6 months ago...but it isn't limited to the boards. If you take a look at GPA prices they're pretty much down across the board with the exception of the "HOT" key books (JIM 83, AV4, etc.). At least that's my impression.

[asteroid-comix]

Mid to high grades of popular small keys/runs at discount to reasonable prices (<$500) = sales all day long in the ST.

 

Nice books (1k +) at close to GPA prices = sales when the right buyer comes along that is looking for that book.

 

Brian's the bomb, but even his "museum" thread wasn't a sell out. Tough to find buyers for high dollar books over the course of a few days given the small amount of folks using the site (compared to eBay).

 

(Thumbs u

 

[The Less Blob]

I think its pretty obvious that sales on the boards are a lot tougher these days than 6 months ago...but it isn't limited to the boards.

----

 

Wasn't the economy deeper in the krapper 6 months ago?

 

Prices on already outrageously overpriced apartments in my neck of the woods (really, $1500 a square foot, really???) have already creapt back up... not to 2007 levels, but getting there. I have no frigging idea where the money is coming from because all of these folks can't work at Goldman Sachs.

[comix4fun]

No worries.

 

Just wanted to clarify my initial post and say that if a book does not sell that does not necessarily mean that there is something wrong with either the buyers or the sellers here, it's just a case of not finding the right buyer here for the book you are offering at the time that you offer it.

 

You might have the most amazing book but if nobody is looking for it then it won't sell.

 

If it's fairly graded and fairly priced then the right person just has not seen the book yet.

 

Good luck!

 

You must've thought it was "white boy day"....

 

 

All that hair on your head and you have just slightly more hair than those Thai lady-boys everywhere else.