Selling GA books

[CKB]

 

Greetings everyone.

 

I recently acquired a collection that included over 4000 GA books. I realize this may be a bit hard to swallow, and I will post a few pictures when I can.

 

I've been going through them, grouping them by genre and major publisher. There are no superhero books to speak of. The gentleman that collected these was buying from catalog dealers fro 1970-1980. He collected stuff under $2 - he really liked books that cost him $0.25 and $0.50 at that time. An english professor, he was more interested in Romance, Crime, Humor, and some War and Western. As the prices indicate, condition was not a factor for him, so most of these are Fair-VG. A gem here and there. And they were adult owned and well taken care of.

 

I am no where near completing a list yet, but the following would be a general breakdown (these are nearly all pre-code):

 

Atlas/Timely: 600

Harvey: 200

Charlton: 500

Dell: 200

 

Crime: 800

Romance: 600

Horror: 300

Humor: 400

War: 300

Western: 300

Action/Adventure/Minor hero: 500

Funny Animal: 300

 

Once I get these catalogued and listed, I'm looking for ideas on how to sell them.

 

I am familiar with the show circuit - I have sold at a couple shows in the last 2-3 years (silver/bronze) and was doing shows monthly in the early-mod 1990s.

 

I'm not worried about the market for the Marvels. :-) It's more the other stuff. I know that the local Boston show is not the place for much of this material. Would I be better off in Chicago? New York?

 

Also, I notice that many of this type of stuff, especially the crime books, aren't exactly flying on ebay either.

 

Any thoughts appreciated. I promise to come through with pictures. There was one Young Allies I should post - brittle, torn, coverless, and falling apart. Someone had written "FREE" on the top of the first page. :-)

[rjpb]

If they are mostly low-grade issues without huge collector demand, I would suggest selling them by the lot. While individual copies of low-interest books can sit on Ebay forever, as collectors often don't think they are worth the cost of postage. Lots of 5,10 or 20 comics of a similar genre, combined with a low starting bid, usually seem to sell on Ebay. Unless they are totally trashed the horror books will probably sell individually.

[eccomic]

I am amazed and astounded at such an acquisition! Congratulations all around.

You must have some attachment to the books I assume.

Is everything from the Golden/Atom Age era 1938-1956??

[dgillock]

Kudos on your score!

 

I think that my answer to your question would have to center on how much $$$ you have in on the collection and how much of a return you are hoping for and when.

 

If you got these books really cheaply and you don't instantly need to re-coop your money, I would suggest selling them individually either in person or on Ebay and try to maximize your profit on each book. If you don't have "real" money invested, don't be in a rush to unload them. I've made this mistake too many times.

 

If you got them cheaply but you really want to turn them very quickly for a profit, I would consider listing them on Ebay in small lots with several similar auctions at the same time. Get some hype going among buyers who see big runs listed from a single seller in the same week. Start them low and combine shipping. You could either separate out the gems or leave them in lots of less-desirable items to tempt buyers.

 

If you have a lot of money in on them and need to make it back quickly, you're really going to have to focus on the best stuff in the collection. Sell the gems on Ebay individually or in-person at a Con and see how you do relative to your over-all expenses for the lot. Make your decision on the other, less desirable stuff later.

 

Lastly, if you spent a bunch of funny money that you don't need to see back anytime soon then sell the crud quickly on Ebay and make a bit of your money back. Sit on the good stuff until you find the right buyer at the right price point.

 

That, at least, is how I would handle it... Good luck. Looking forward to seeing some scans!

PS- I like Lev Gleasons a lot!

[sterlingcomics]

Good deal there! I wish you the best of luck in selling them. I personally like the offbeat material....

[PovertyRow]

800 Crime, 600 Romance and 300 Horror! Are most of these pre-codes??

[CKB]

Wow, lots of excellent replies.

 

There were 10000 books total, and the post code books were largely bronze stuff he bought off the stands (70-80). These were kept in superior shape, though, and I will be gathering a CGC order. I have come across some good silver, too. I have finished a pass at the pre-code, and am making a first pass at the bronze/silver.

 

On the 4-5K pre-code books, the majority seems to be post-WW2. A lot of books right around 1949-53. I have found some pre-WW2 stuff, but the majority is around 1950.

 

On paying - I did overpay. The sellers had been lowballed by some local BIG dealers, and were just happy to talk to someone normal. I gave them what they asked for, which was reasonable. I do not need to sell these quickly, which is why I am compiling a list of everything before I start. Low interest rates are a great thing.

 

These comments about selling them in lots have me surprised. I would think collectors would need to be filling runs, and big lots of books that they already have may be a turn-off. For example. there are near complete runs of "Crime Does Not Pay" and "Crime and Punishment". (Who liked Gleasons? ) I guess you would list these (on ebay) in runs of 10-20 books, separating out the first issues?

 

My first thought was to just SPAM them in 100 auctions all starting under $10, and have the people who need to fill holes grab what they want. Unsold books would increase expenses, though, I do understand.

 

I will come thorough with pictures tonight. I was almost hoping someone would doubt me. Wait till you see my van!

[PovertyRow]

I will come thorough with pictures tonight. I was almost hoping someone would doubt me. Wait till you see my van!

 

Can't wait!!!!!!!

[dgillock]

For example. there are near complete runs of "Crime Does Not Pay" and "Crime and Punishment". (Who liked Gleasons? )

 

That would be me...

 

As far as lots go, I wouldn't be thinking about 10 to 20 books on GAs, unless they are incomplete, coverless, or so beat as to be nearly unreadable. I would lean more towards lots of 3 to 5 for any items that you think would sell for under $10 each. This could be many or a few depending on where the majority fall on the FR to VG spectrum. The sort of stuff that would (should) go for more than $10 a pop, I would generally lean towards selling individually. My opinion and I'm not a pro.

But I have turned a bit of a profit selling on Ebay over the past few years.

[rjpb]

Complete runs, even in low grade can get surprising action on Ebay. There was a seller not that long ago who listed quite a few complete or near-complete runs of pre-code crime, and I was surprised at the percentage of guide they were closing at - likely as much if not more than he would have realized selling them individually. These were generally runs with at least 2 or 3 higher demand books in them, but they went for a price that would have made it difficult to profit by breaking them up.

[CKB]

This could be the "completionist" factor. It's hard to start collecting a run from scratch. If you can get 80% of it in one shot, well, that's an opportunity. If I did a big run, I would need to use a reserve or a decent starting bid - two things I don't like to do. I can see your point, and it could be worth it.

 

Scans when I get home from work and after dinner.

 

Complete runs, even in low grade can get surprising action on Ebay. There was a seller not that long ago who listed quite a few complete or near-complete runs of pre-code crime, and I was surprised at the percentage of guide they were closing at - likely as much if not more than he would have realized selling them individually. These were generally runs with at least 2 or 3 higher demand books in them, but they went for a price that would have made it difficult to profit by breaking them up.

[CKB]

Well, these are just the beginning. But you should get the idea.

[CKB]

Sorry I'm using the attachment feature. I don't want to host these.

[CKB]

More attachments.

[CKB]

Ditto

[CKB]

[CKB]

[dgillock]

Where's the "jealous as hell" icon?

 

 

Looking forward to seeing some of these for sale.

[valiantman]

So... the seller(s) already had bags and longboxes?

[CKB]

I brought the comics boxes myself. The pictures show how all the books were - in stacks on the floor and in bookcases. I had been out there, and came back a week later with boxes (28 Magazine boxes and 11 long boxes) - about 10 too few. I ran out. That's why you see the random boxes in the van on top.

 

The books were mostly/nearly all in bags, some multi-bagged. Many in "Bell" bags, for those from the Northeast.

 

Here's the very strange part. This collector had taken the time to put little stickers on the back of each bag with some notes on the book. Each sticker also had a grade and guide price, and notes if pieces were missing. The prices had been updated a few times, usually, so it had been kept up to date somewhat.

 

But, after all that, the books were COMPLETELY random. I mean completely. He had no idea what he had or in what quanitity. He remembered back to having a

"black book" keeping track of the runs he was collecting, but it had been lost long ago. How could you do all that work enjoying these books, and not make even a half-hearted attempt at organizing them?

 

He was obviously a terrific gentlemen. His plan was to open a store when he retired. Unfortunately, Parkinson's has set in, and it made this impossible. Again, I had no problem overpaying for this, and beating their best offer by nearly 10K - exactly what they wanted.

 

I thought I was in an episode of the twilight zone. They told me about the big dealers who had come to look. One of them spent two days going through the stuff. It wasn't enough time. I think the randomness just gave the sense that they had no clue what was really there after 2 days, and it got lowballed. They couldn't even talk about it on the phone with people - it was like

 

Dealer: "What are the top 50 books in the collection?"

Collector: "Well, gee, it's hard to say, you know."

Dealer: "What do you mean? What are the top 10 books?"

Collector: "I can't really find anything specific. There's lots of pre-code stuff, though."

Dealer: "Yeah, sure. OK. Bye".