Moderns that are heating up on ebay! 71 71

[spreads]

Modern Comic Flipping is kinda like being a penny stock trader, only cooler.

 

I don't think that's a great analogy, but I see your point.

[spreads]

Sounds like a helluva lot of work to earn a few bucks. Aside from books that sell for any kind of real money (e.g. The Strain), speculating in recent moderns seems like a collosal waste of time, even if IRR is respectable.

 

Yea, a lot of work, like you would have to own a comic shop or something, huh?

 

Agree... flipping moderns on ebay is time consuming and as mentioned by others you have to try to hit the best window if you can. Often it's better to dump something pretty soon after it heats up, especially if it is gimmicky, so just sitting on a stack of books and waiting for the ship to come in isn't going to get you far unless you are lucky. It helps if you are quite well read when it comes to comics so you can decide for yourself which ones are going to be the keepers based on their own merit and print run.

 

I mentioned "The Strain" ages ago and picked up a few because they were dirt cheap so why not take a punt? Never really expect it to do so well. It's a comic based on a novel that now has a TV show and the market has decided it is hot hot hot. Frankly it still baffles me now because I don't see the difference between it and say the Game of Thrones comic or anything else that is an adaptation of another format. Shouldn't really appeal to the wider comic collecting culture in its own right... almost as if it's just people jumping on a bandwagon. I would be willing to bet that only a small percentage of boardies have even read "The Strain" comics but they sure as hell have sold them all the same. This may well be true for a lot of other flash in the pan stuff, just people getting wound up by everything pumped on here and review blogs giving high ratings to so many releases it's not true.

 

If you find it easy to get excited about a new title just because the CGC boards are raving about it then this should by now be ringing alarm bells in your head. If you can identify where you went wrong, if you go wrong, then that's half the battle. There seems to be this mentality out there that there are "monthly picks" which can be chased... that's what can lead to a lot of effort, spreading yourself massively thin.

 

Flipping moderns is still a fun hobby and it's still not difficult to rake in a few hundred dollars with each listing. What is making it harder for some could be that they are not appreciating that most new titles use the first issue to get a head start so they can fund the next few and it will be top heavy for a long long time, possibly always. That and there are a lot more people out there flipping now which retailers are slowly going to absorb.

 

 

This is probably the most insightful post I've read in the modern forum. It should be stickied, starred, tarred and feathered!

[spreads]

Sounds like a helluva lot of work to earn a few bucks. Aside from books that sell for any kind of real money (e.g. The Strain), speculating in recent moderns seems like a collosal waste of time, even if IRR is respectable.

 

Yea, a lot of work, like you would have to own a comic shop or something, huh?

 

If you own a shop and have time to kill, then you might as well (if it's time that isn't being put into the business). For the majority of people that don't own a shop, here's the thing...

 

If you enjoy what you do, it's a hobby, and it's not taking away from other commitments (that and you have little other interests to replace this with), then by all means. However, everybody should factor your time; I expect to get paid for sacrificing the things I enjoy away from work.

 

Two other points: 1) You need to look at professional development (for me pursuing industry designations is very important to my career lattice), and this can be anything that provides value to your career (either technical or social).

2) You need to consider all alternatives in doing anything that's 'profit-driven'. I've had a number of investment articles syndicated, some that I threw together in a few hours that I generated between $50-100, some I spent the better part of a week on where I was paid $150 and $500. The latter was produced for discourse among industry professionals, and the reward of seeing my concepts put to light.

The point is, there's lots of ways to make money (really a mess-ton), and before you take on the hassle of trying to grind out a few bucks here and there speculating on books before they hit the stands, ask yourself, is there something better you could be doing with your time?

[Jimmy Linguini]

Sounds like a helluva lot of work to earn a few bucks. Aside from books that sell for any kind of real money (e.g. The Strain), speculating in recent moderns seems like a collosal waste of time, even if IRR is respectable.

 

Yea, a lot of work, like you would have to own a comic shop or something, huh?

 

If you own a shop and have time to kill, then you might as well (if it's time that isn't being put into the business). For the majority of people that don't own a shop, here's the thing...

 

If you enjoy what you do, it's a hobby, and it's not taking away from other commitments (that and you have little other interests to replace this with), then by all means. However, everybody should factor your time; I expect to get paid for sacrificing the things I enjoy away from work.

 

Two other points: 1) You need to look at professional development (for me pursuing industry designations is very important to my career lattice), and this can be anything that provides value to your career (either technical or social).

2) You need to consider all alternatives in doing anything that's 'profit-driven'. I've had a number of investment articles syndicated, some that I threw together in a few hours that I generated between $50-100, some I spent the better part of a week on where I was paid $150 and $500. The latter was produced for discourse among industry professionals, and the reward of seeing my concepts put to light.

The point is, there's lots of ways to make money (really a mess-ton), and before you take on the hassle of trying to grind out a few bucks here and there speculating on books before they hit the stands, ask yourself, is there something better you could be doing with your time while high?

 

no.

[kimik]

The nice thing about LCSs is that at most of them the staff do not know what is hot and what is not online until it is too late. You can add most old school sellers at conventions to the list as well. With flipping you have the benefit of hindsight - the only problem is beating the other up to date sellers to the books sitting on the shelves at LCSs.

 

Speculating pre-launch on moderns is more of a mugs game now as there are too many people playing it. For every hit, there will be misses, unless you focus on popular characters or the right creators. Chasing every new Image #1, as an example, will not work out in the end.......

 

That being said, it is much easier to make money buying SA/BA/CA collections for $1 or less a book than speculating on Moderns.

Edited June 23, 2014 by kimik

[Lonzilla]

The nice thing about LCSs is that at most of them the staff do not know what is hot and what is not online until it is too late. You can add most old school sellers at conventions to the list as well. With flipping you have the benefit of hindsight - the only problem is beating the other up to date sellers to the books sitting on the shelves at LCSs.

 

Speculating pre-launch on moderns is more of a mugs game now as there are too many people playing it. For every hit, there will be misses, unless you focus on popular characters or the right creators. Chasing every new Image #1, as an example, will not work out in the end.......

 

That being said, it is much easier to make money buying SA/BA/CA collections for $1 or less a book than speculating on Moderns.

You got that right on all counts

[divad]

it is much easier to make money buying SA/BA/CA collections for $1 or less a book than speculating on Moderns.

 

And much more gratifying, I might add. (thumbs u

[Hekla]

If you enjoy what you do, it's a hobby

 

I think this is the motivation for most flippers/resellers - its a hobby within the hobby. Some people like the research, chase and thrill of selling as much as they like the research, chase and thrill of collecting.

 

 

 

 

[rjrjr]

Sounds like a helluva lot of work to earn a few bucks. Aside from books that sell for any kind of real money (e.g. The Strain), speculating in recent moderns seems like a collosal waste of time, even if IRR is respectable.

 

Yea, a lot of work, like you would have to own a comic shop or something, huh?

 

Agree... flipping moderns on ebay is time consuming and as mentioned by others you have to try to hit the best window if you can. Often it's better to dump something pretty soon after it heats up, especially if it is gimmicky, so just sitting on a stack of books and waiting for the ship to come in isn't going to get you far unless you are lucky. It helps if you are quite well read when it comes to comics so you can decide for yourself which ones are going to be the keepers based on their own merit and print run.

 

I mentioned "The Strain" ages ago and picked up a few because they were dirt cheap so why not take a punt? Never really expect it to do so well. It's a comic based on a novel that now has a TV show and the market has decided it is hot hot hot. Frankly it still baffles me now because I don't see the difference between it and say the Game of Thrones comic or anything else that is an adaptation of another format. Shouldn't really appeal to the wider comic collecting culture in its own right... almost as if it's just people jumping on a bandwagon. I would be willing to bet that only a small percentage of boardies have even read "The Strain" comics but they sure as hell have sold them all the same. This may well be true for a lot of other flash in the pan stuff, just people getting wound up by everything pumped on here and review blogs giving high ratings to so many releases it's not true.

 

If you find it easy to get excited about a new title just because the CGC boards are raving about it then this should by now be ringing alarm bells in your head. If you can identify where you went wrong, if you go wrong, then that's half the battle. There seems to be this mentality out there that there are "monthly picks" which can be chased... that's what can lead to a lot of effort, spreading yourself massively thin.

 

Flipping moderns is still a fun hobby and it's still not difficult to rake in a few hundred dollars with each listing. What is making it harder for some could be that they are not appreciating that most new titles use the first issue to get a head start so they can fund the next few and it will be top heavy for a long long time, possibly always. That and there are a lot more people out there flipping now which retailers are slowly going to absorb.

 

 

I'm guessing most of the speculators don't realize it was a book first? I've been following this Strain development and I didn't know it was a book first until you just mentioned it.

[eightclaps]

If you enjoy what you do, it's a hobby

 

I think this is the motivation for most flippers/resellers - its a hobby within the hobby. Some people like the research, chase and thrill of selling as much as they like the research, chase and thrill of collecting.

 

 

 

 

Totally this. I started flipping books because it was fun speculating and chasing down books. Wasn't so much about the money itself, though it is nice to make enough to pay for the books that stay in your collection.

[PIR8]

If you enjoy what you do, it's a hobby

 

I think this is the motivation for most flippers/resellers - its a hobby within the hobby. Some people like the research, chase and thrill of selling as much as they like the research, chase and thrill of collecting.

 

 

 

 

Totally this. I started flipping books because it was fun speculating and chasing down books. Wasn't so much about the money itself, though it is nice to make enough to pay for the books that stay in your collection.

 

+1

 

Pretty much how I look at it most of the time as well.

 

 

[MrWeen]

Sounds like a helluva lot of work to earn a few bucks. Aside from books that sell for any kind of real money (e.g. The Strain), speculating in recent moderns seems like a collosal waste of time, even if IRR is respectable.

 

Yea, a lot of work, like you would have to own a comic shop or something, huh?

 

Agree... flipping moderns on ebay is time consuming and as mentioned by others you have to try to hit the best window if you can. Often it's better to dump something pretty soon after it heats up, especially if it is gimmicky, so just sitting on a stack of books and waiting for the ship to come in isn't going to get you far unless you are lucky. It helps if you are quite well read when it comes to comics so you can decide for yourself which ones are going to be the keepers based on their own merit and print run.

 

I mentioned "The Strain" ages ago and picked up a few because they were dirt cheap so why not take a punt? Never really expect it to do so well. It's a comic based on a novel that now has a TV show and the market has decided it is hot hot hot. Frankly it still baffles me now because I don't see the difference between it and say the Game of Thrones comic or anything else that is an adaptation of another format. Shouldn't really appeal to the wider comic collecting culture in its own right... almost as if it's just people jumping on a bandwagon. I would be willing to bet that only a small percentage of boardies have even read "The Strain" comics but they sure as hell have sold them all the same. This may well be true for a lot of other flash in the pan stuff, just people getting wound up by everything pumped on here and review blogs giving high ratings to so many releases it's not true.

 

If you find it easy to get excited about a new title just because the CGC boards are raving about it then this should by now be ringing alarm bells in your head. If you can identify where you went wrong, if you go wrong, then that's half the battle. There seems to be this mentality out there that there are "monthly picks" which can be chased... that's what can lead to a lot of effort, spreading yourself massively thin.

 

Flipping moderns is still a fun hobby and it's still not difficult to rake in a few hundred dollars with each listing. What is making it harder for some could be that they are not appreciating that most new titles use the first issue to get a head start so they can fund the next few and it will be top heavy for a long long time, possibly always. That and there are a lot more people out there flipping now which retailers are slowly going to absorb.

 

 

I'm guessing most of the speculators don't realize it was a book first? I've been following this Strain development and I didn't know it was a book first until you just mentioned it.

 

V-Wars was a book first also

 

https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=22963807

[ygogolak]

So was Moby Richard

Edited June 23, 2014 by ygogolak

[Lonzilla]

If you enjoy what you do, it's a hobby

 

I think this is the motivation for most flippers/resellers - its a hobby within the hobby. Some people like the research, chase and thrill of selling as much as they like the research, chase and thrill of collecting.

 

 

 

 

Totally this. I started flipping books because it was fun speculating and chasing down books. Wasn't so much about the money itself, though it is nice to make enough to pay for the books that stay in your collection.

++1

 

The hunting around is fun and so many times I find something while looking for something else. Looking for Strains in a LCS bin yesterday and found another Sunfire & Big Hero 6 #1 for $3

[Whizzer]

Sounds like a helluva lot of work to earn a few bucks. Aside from books that sell for any kind of real money (e.g. The Strain), speculating in recent moderns seems like a collosal waste of time, even if IRR is respectable.

 

Yea, a lot of work, like you would have to own a comic shop or something, huh?

 

If you own a shop and have time to kill, then you might as well (if it's time that isn't being put into the business). For the majority of people that don't own a shop, here's the thing...

 

If you enjoy what you do, it's a hobby, and it's not taking away from other commitments (that and you have little other interests to replace this with), then by all means. However, everybody should factor your time; I expect to get paid for sacrificing the things I enjoy away from work.

 

Two other points: 1) You need to look at professional development (for me pursuing industry designations is very important to my career lattice), and this can be anything that provides value to your career (either technical or social).

2) You need to consider all alternatives in doing anything that's 'profit-driven'. I've had a number of investment articles syndicated, some that I threw together in a few hours that I generated between $50-100, some I spent the better part of a week on where I was paid $150 and $500. The latter was produced for discourse among industry professionals, and the reward of seeing my concepts put to light.

The point is, there's lots of ways to make money (really a mess-ton), and before you take on the hassle of trying to grind out a few bucks here and there speculating on books before they hit the stands, ask yourself, is there something better you could be doing with your time?

 

 

I think you deserve a punch in the nutz just for using the term; 'career lattice.'

 

 

 

 

Edited June 23, 2014 by Whizzer

[mschmidt]

I suppose if Preacher 1 is a $100+ raw book, then anything makes sense as I assume Preacher had a healthy six figure print-run. A year ago I could have gone to a big show and come back with a box of Preacher 1s and likely not paid more than $10 each, perhaps even $5 or even $2. GOTG 1 might have been a $1-$2 box book, but good luck actually finding it in such a box. (Of course, I guess copies were on ebay...)

So much of this is wrong.

 

Preacher #1 has been more than $10 since about 2 weeks after it came out.

There is absolutely no chance it had a "healthy six figure print run"

Last year you could have gone to a big show and been lucky to buy 5 copies at $40+ each.

 

Not sure it really matters, but I was buying them off ebay all day at 15-20 a couple years ago. Show prices were definitely in the $40 range, but they could be had for less. I've bought many,many copies of this book over the years.

 

And yeah, no chance there are 100K copies.

 

Same here - $15-20 a pop on eBay for years.

[the authority]

I like this list of the hot 200 titles. I don't always agree with the order but it is reflective of comics moving on ebay and elsewhere.

 

http://comicsheatingup.net

[Dukes40]

If you enjoy what you do, it's a hobby

 

I think this is the motivation for most flippers/resellers - its a hobby within the hobby. Some people like the research, chase and thrill of selling as much as they like the research, chase and thrill of collecting.

 

 

 

 

Totally this. I started flipping books because it was fun speculating and chasing down books. Wasn't so much about the money itself, though it is nice to make enough to pay for the books that stay in your collection.

 

+1

 

Pretty much how I look at it most of the time as well.

 

 

For me, it was more "Well, I'm picking up a tonne of comics to read anyway, reading the synopsis/solicit for them, coming across boards/info on what's worth somehthing/hot/etc. so why not pick up a few doubles, triples, extras, etc, purely to speculate on. I have the "Insider Info" right in front of me, and I'm at the shop anyway, or putting in an order, so why not? The thing, too, is that if something I'm reading does get valuable, am I really going to want to sell my sole copy of it?

[Lonzilla]

The weekend is over, where's the big news from Image?

[the authority]

The weekend is over, where's the big news from Image?