Flipping Books vs. Just Collecting

[SuperbeastCraig]

I'm kind of torn on this subject lately. I like the idea of buy a small stack of what could be a popular title to flip them for profit. I'm always toying with the idea of just buying a copy of what I like for myself and leaving it at that. Is there anyone that prefers one way of collecting over the other?

[lizards2]

I prefer buying low and selling high, but I always f that up like Fat Freddie on a dope run.

[cloudofwit]

::

[stroszek]

The ideal is to flip enough books to make money to buy the ones you want to keep. That's just a little bit easier said than done though!

[Jay1982]

Ideally I would do that, but I can't seem to part with the comics I have. I missed the boat on selling high for my 9.8 ASM 300 and Ultimate spiderman 1 white variant when they both were over a grand a piece. Kind of regret it now but happy to still have them.

[dupont2005]

I never buy multiples of a modern off a rack, if that's what you're talking about by "small stack."

 

I will sometimes buy a small or large lot because it has a few things I want and the price is so low I can make my money back on the rest. It always works out for me but it always ends up being such a major PITA as well.

[Hawkman]

I prefer both.

[dscott]

I only sell the moderns Hawkmans blog tells me to sell.

[Underground44]

It's tough to make a lot of profit on the latest hot title. What do you do? Buy 20 + copies of everything that you think will turn a profit and then cross your fingers? It probably can be done if you're discerning but I'm way to lazy for that and I prefer to just buy and read what I like.

But good luck with it (thumbs u

[Cyclops]

I "flip" to offset some of the price of collecting.

 

The trick is not to get greedy.

[Beige]

I prefer to flip to make a profit to collect what I really want.

The ones this year that are working well so far (fingers crossed) have been

 

Peter Panzerfaust

Saga

Revival

 

Hopefully Ant-man will take off and I've sold a couple for $7 when I paid a $1 each.I have 40.

At $1 each,the potential loss v potential gain is fine.

I only need sell another 3 to break even so its ok for me.

Branget once said,if you go,go all in.

Like him or not - if it works then great, if it doesn't buy early to moderate your hit.

Currently I have about 50 of the above 3 titles on their way to CGC and hopefully they will turn out ok.

I think the new ongoing Bedlam will be a hit and have pre-ordered accordingly, and at 50% off of cover the risk is relatively low $ wise.

Losses - Dancer was a stinker but taught me not to touch mini-series with a bargepole - in fact I cancelled every mini-series order on the back of that.

Choose an upcoming ongoing you really like.If you are a regular guy,chances are others will.

See if it has a print run under 10,000 (if its possible to find out pre-orders numbers)

Research the Writer and artist - have they been successful?

If it ticks the boxes - go for it.

 

The ultimate point of this is not to get wealthy - that won't happen in modern comics unless you literally have endless mint #1 copies of Chew or TWD for example.

But hopefully it will fund what you really want to do which in my case is to eventually have as many 9.8 minimum slabbed full sets of The Walking Dead as I can acquire before I die,or the series does! (Can't see the popularity ever really waning as the comic is not scheduled to end until 2032!)

 

If its a bomb - try to see it coming before anyone else and bail out!

 

Of course some people on here have ridiculously unfair advantages regarding contacts and location but don't be fooled that thats just luck.

Beachbum doesn't get 9.9's and 10,s by being lucky - he gets it by hard work and networking,which with this new interweb thingy,anyone should be able to do.

 

Many,many very wise people on here - I am but an incontinent puppy compared to some Top Dogs around these boards - so if they let slip a tip or two,its generally good to remember them.

My tip is Bedlam,but hell, who knows?

 

Good luck mate.

[Anfield Fox]

I collect 99% of what i buy.

 

I don't mind flippers per se, i just find it frustrating when these people buy up every copy of a hot book to profit at the expense of collectors who would just like one copy for their collection.

 

Case in point, i would love a NM Hulk 271 now with all the Guardians hype to read and own but thanks to the flippers the book is priced ridiculously for a common copper Hulk 2 whole years before the movie even comes out.

[Underground44]

I collect 99% of what i buy.

 

I don't mind flippers per se, i just find it frustrating when these people buy up every copy of a hot book to profit at the expense of collectors who would just like one copy for their collection.

 

Case in point, i would love a NM Hulk 271 now with all the Guardians hype to read and own but thanks to the flippers the book is priced ridiculously for a common copper Hulk 2 whole years before the movie even comes out.

 

That's the great thing about digital books (If you like reading them that way)

 

Once I started reading digitally I was hooked right away and now I'm reading tons of stuff that would cost me a fortune to just read.

But I agree that you can't beat having the physical book in hand sometimes too.

[Trev]

I collect what I think I will like, then immediately list to trade anything I don't to mycomicshop. 2-4 times a year I flip stuff out of the collection to fund other things. Took me a while to come up with the system but it is working well so far. I don't have the space or time to speculate.

[oakman29]

I'm just a collector,and only sold twice here.I don't like selling my prized gems.

[DeliBebek]

I prefer collecting. Flipping never occurred to me. I think to be a good flipper you'd have to be a collector at heart. Otherwise, you're guessing randomly at what collectors will desire.

[Ringfinger]

I just horde.

[ComicConnoisseur]

I collect 99% of what i buy.

 

I don't mind flippers per se, i just find it frustrating when these people buy up every copy of a hot book to profit at the expense of collectors who would just like one copy for their collection.

 

Case in point, i would love a NM Hulk 271 now with all the Guardians hype to read and own but thanks to the flippers the book is priced ridiculously for a common copper Hulk 2 whole years before the movie even comes out.

Wait untill after the Guardians of the Galaxy movie,as the price will go down.

Anybody remember Tales of Suspense #97 prices before the Iron Man #2 movie?

The prices have dropped on them. The same thing will happen to Hulk 271. imho

[Anfield Fox]

I collect 99% of what i buy.

 

I don't mind flippers per se, i just find it frustrating when these people buy up every copy of a hot book to profit at the expense of collectors who would just like one copy for their collection.

 

Case in point, i would love a NM Hulk 271 now with all the Guardians hype to read and own but thanks to the flippers the book is priced ridiculously for a common copper Hulk 2 whole years before the movie even comes out.

Wait untill after the Guardians of the Galaxy movie,as the price will go down.

Anybody remember Tales of Suspense #97 prices before the Iron Man #2 movie?

The prices have dropped on them. The same thing will happen to Hulk 271. imho

 

True but two different things here.

 

ToS 97 is a silver age book. There are fewer copies to go round, in high grade at least.

 

Hulk 271 is a common copper book with the vast majority in high grade.

 

I doubt many people were sitting on dozens of copies of ToS 97 like they are Hulk 271.

 

It's all about supply and demand. Hulk 181 for example. Lots of supply but equal demand. Walking Dead 1 on the other hand low supply but high demand. Hulk 271? I would guess it's high supply, low demand but prices have risen purely by speculators hoarding stacks of them in anticipation for a demand they think will happen in 2014.

[SuperbeastCraig]

Thank you all very much for the amazing feedback, and a tip here and there. What I've always done is just collect what I like, but often will pick up an extra copy of something I really like in the event that it becomes the next Walking Dead. Things like Revival, Think Tank, Bedlam, and Massive. This is what works for me and after seeing everyone talk about flipping vs. collecting, I may just stick with collecting.