So Dealers.......tell me what book you've had the longest.

[Jaded Savage]

I go to conventions, to the LCS, and peruse eBay and seem to see the same books time and time again owned/listed by the same dealers. I always wondered why you gentlemen hold on to your inventory. Wouldn't it make sense to lower the price and move product? What is your POV.

 

Anyways, what is/are the book(s) you just can't seem to shake and just what do you plan on doing about it.

[Calamerica]

I go to conventions, to the LCS, and peruse eBay and seem to see the same books time and time again owned/listed by the same dealers. I always wondered why you gentlemen hold on to your inventory. Wouldn't it make sense to lower the price and move product? What is your POV.

 

Anyways, what is/are the book(s) you just can't seem to shake and just what do you plan on doing about it.

 

My original TOS # 83, with the 4 Siamese pages. I tucked him away in the old New York based Rogofsky's bags, no backing board, but managed to place him flat in my keepsake box since 1967. The first CGC comic I got back as NM 9.4. Going to keep him, with a few others. The rest will be sold.

 

CAL

 

 

[goldust40]

My tranche of Iron Man 1s.

[Anfield Fox]

My tranche of Iron Man 1s.

 

[mycomicshop]

Our oldest book in inventory: Police Comics (1941) 19 CGC 9.2 Restored SP

 

A few runners up:

 

Captain Marvel Jr. (1942) 27 CGC 9.2

 

Captain Midnight (1942-1948) 14 CGC 9.2

 

Jimmy Wakely (1949) 4 CGC 9.2

 

Leading Comics (1941) 1 CGC 8.0

 

Not surprisingly, the books that have been in stock the longest are generally ones that we overpriced initially. Within the past year or two I've started reviewing some of the books we've had in stock the longest, and knocking the price down 10% every couple of months. The ones listed here have all had their prices reduced from where we initially set them. I'll also occasionally pick books to put in our auction.

[thehumantorch]

Mid grade, late run TOS and TTA are tough to move for me. Even at 50% off.

[shadroch]

At NYCC 2011, a dealer who I won't name had the exact same Superboy 89 that he declined my offer on at Wizard World 2005. Book hasn't sold in seven years but keeps going up in price. I'm not sure how he can afford the omni-present chicken. Another had the same double cover Avengers 93 from the first NY show.

Neither of these are key enough to justify tieing up money in useless inventory imo.

When I was full-time, I used a different colored sticker for each months new books. If it were September and the sticker showed it was put in in january, I was much more receptive to making a deal with a person.

[Bookery]

I've known a lot of dealers over the years that just keep raising the prices on their inventory each year... particularly in past years where many dealers treated the Overstreet at the definitive word on everything. My feeling has always been, if it didn't sell at X price, why would I want to mark it up to X+ ?

 

On the other hand, when you're talking obscure golden-age books, price isn't always the issue-- it's just a matter of coming across an interested collector. There are lots of books that guide at $100 I bet I could put out for $10 and still not get my regular clientele to give them a second glance. Years ago, when I owned about 200 Centaur comics, there would have been no local interest in them at any price. But they all sold quickly when dealers or out-of-towners came through.

 

But yes, for the most part, if something's been sitting around for a year or more, it gets marked down in my shop. And if you are doing a lot of shows in different parts of the country, have offered the book for years on line or on eBay, and it hasn't sold... most likely a price correction is in order.

[Bookery]

On another note, I'm a rare exception as I don't collect what I sell. Most dealers, however, are collectors to some degree or another. I think a lot of them may feel that, especially if it's a book they personally like, that if it sells at a strong price... fine. But if not, they'll just keep it as part of their traveling personal collection, rather than mark it down.

 

Some books may also be kept at higher prices with an eye toward trading more than outright selling.

 

 

[VintageComics]

On another note, I'm a rare exception as I don't collect what I sell. Most dealers, however, are collectors to some degree or another. I think a lot of them may feel that, especially if it's a book they personally like, that if it sells at a strong price... fine. But if not, they'll just keep it as part of their traveling personal collection, rather than mark it down.

 

Some books may also be kept at higher prices with an eye toward trading more than outright selling.

 

 

 

That's me. The only books that have been around longer than a year are the books that I don't really want to sell but will for a strong price, or are consignment books where the consignor is not in a hurry to sell.

 

 

[porky]

Mid grade, late run TOS and TTA are tough to move for me. Even at 50% off.

 

still don't understand how little love those titles get.

guess people just like solo titles. same deal with strange tales...

[MrBedrock]

On another note, I'm a rare exception as I don't collect what I sell. Most dealers, however, are collectors to some degree or another. I think a lot of them may feel that, especially if it's a book they personally like, that if it sells at a strong price... fine. But if not, they'll just keep it as part of their traveling personal collection, rather than mark it down.

 

Some books may also be kept at higher prices with an eye toward trading more than outright selling.

 

You are so right. That's why I decided long ago to only collect the books that I don't sell.

 

[DrWatson]

If I could bottle the sentimentality attached to my comics... I'd sell that too.

[Jaded Savage]

I used a different colored sticker for each months new books. If it were September and the sticker showed it was put in in january, I was much more receptive to making a deal with a person.

 

I gotta start doing that. Great idea.