Am I a Sellout?

[Tnerb]

Or Selling Bronze at Silver Prices

 

Is selling a comic book selling out? Is there anything wrong with purchasing a comic book just to flip it? Is buying multiple copies wrong on the speculation that what they own will become a commodity? Did this mentality destroy the market place in the nineties?

 

Am I guilty of buying on the hopes of making money? Yes I am. What I bought though was under poor research and hoping rather than understanding. Yes I bought lots of X-Force, X-Men, and Image #1's. Hell, I bought fifty issues of Magnus vs Predator just to get the platinum edition. Still have it and it is a 9.8.

 

I would like to say I have no problem selling a book after I upgrade, but I do. I like my books, however I have sold some recently to justify other purchases. I have even tried to purchase books to sell them for a profit, my latest hope was purchasing a copy of X-Men #109 which contains the first appearance of Vindicator. As of thus writing I have it up on eBay and yes the price is steep.

 

Is holding out for the price I want somewhat counterproductive, of course it is. Of course that also gives me the reason to keep it. I purchased the book for two reasons, the first one already revealed and the second was it helped bring the price down on an Incredible Hulk #109 that I also wanted.

 

I was expecting a lower grade not the 9.8 it attained. Am I selling out by wishing someone will buy it at my asking price? Am I selling out by hoping it doesn't sell since I originally purchased it to turn a profit. Comic book shops sell comic books everyday and they aren't selling out. They are just conducting business. The problem is when you buy at retail and trying to sell for a higher retail that you sometimes have to sell at a loss... Or keep it.

 

Thanks for Reading

 

Tnerb

 

Ps. Screenwriter3d, whatever you do, keep that copy of Warlock #10, it looks beautiful.

 

See more journals by Tnerb

[Jeffro.]

You got any Harvey stuff?

[SW3D]

Dear Tnerb,

 

I don't consider you a sellout. Nor do I consider the members of this society sellouts simply because they have demonstrated their love and passion for the industry without the primary motivation of exploiting it to make a buck. We joined to display our collections and to share them... we're proud and we like connecting with like minded community members.

 

Most of us have been collecting since we were kids. We didn't have monetary motivations to read and collect comics... we were simply sucked into a world which drew us in and the fascination began and the endless love affair pulled our heartstrings.

 

Even if a collector sells his/her collectible or collection for a profit, I could never judge and label them since I have no knowledge or understanding way he/she has been moved to do such a thing. There are reasons why we come to such a decision. At lot of the times it is a reason of economy that forces to part ways with our beloved treasures.

 

In your case... you're simply selling in order to re-invest... motivated by a desire to improve your already outstanding collection. There's nothing wrong with that. That's noble and I wouldn't

consider it flipping. In my particular case... the only reason I bought it wasn't to build a Warlock

collection (although if I had the money I would do it). No... my reason was to flip it for a buck and use that money for profit and personal gain. But that little voice inside me that loves comics say's, "I don't think so... It's ours now!"

 

But I know... every now and then we get hit by that strange greedy golden bug. We read about how some lucky dude sold a 9.9 Walking Dead for $10G and we think to ourselves holy SPOON (self-censorship). And we dig through our collection to find gold. And at that instant I think it no longer becomes a noble motivation... it simply becomes an issue about making a buck... I mean is the first issue of the Walking Dead really worth 10G? Is it more prized than some vintage Golden Age, Silver Age, and Bronze Age books? Why is it selling for 10G? Honestly... and this is my opinion... for no other reason: The TV Show is HOT! Not because it is a damn good comic (and it is). Not because its rare with a low print run (7,500 if I am not mistaken). Not because of the talents of Kirkman and Terry Moore. No, because the AMC show is a hit. Why else did the prices of Amazing Spiderman, Batman, Iron-Man, The Avengers, Deadpool, Thanos, and Star-Lord all suddenly spike in value? It wasn't because their issues suddenly became hot out of the blue... or a hot new talent made to comic cool again... no... their movie adaptations sparked a gold rush mentality and suddenly everyone is buying and selling these comics like it is nobody's business at tremendous mark-ups. The danger with all that is if there is a bubble it could bring it all crashing down... on all of us... and we, the collectors are left to sift through the rubble and ruin. Will we survive... absolutely. But some of us may left holding the bag.

 

But my journal was a confession for that one book. I have not bought any other books because of a character's connection to a movie adaptation with the intentions of flipping. But I did this one time... and I admit it. So I am still curious if anyone has done the same. There's nothing to be ashamed of. It is not against the law... it's legal. I am just curious whether or not they have any doubts or reservations about it. Do they hear an inner voice cry foul? If not... no worries. I am sure Adam Warlock will forgive me for buying a book at an inflated price to re-sell at any equally inflated price.

[biggblaster]

First off I have to say buying or selling comic books for fun or profit, to me at least, is neither noble or selling out. Either way it is something that is enjoyed. I do not think in the grand scheme of things that there is any type of morality attached to the hobby. What I do think is a problem is charlatans trying to trick people into services they do not need or cheat people outright, but I will come back to that thought later. That being said , screenwriter, you are 100 percent correct about the walking dead book. It is absurd that a zombie book from 2003 is realizing so much money. There is no doubt when the show or the book dies down in popularity that the 1st issue will lose a whole lot of value. I could give a plethora of examples of this but x-files 1 sticks out in my mind. Now my first instinct is to say that is bad for the hobby, but when I really think about it I do not think so, or at least as bad as I initially thought. To understand the situation we need to look at why the book has sold for so much and mainly it is because it has broken out of the comic world and into the mainstream. Screenwriter, you used Superman 75 as an example in an earlier writing. In that books case, similar to the walking dead, the books hype broke out of the comic books genres money pool. In other words let’s say every year in the comic book collectors world there is 10 million dollars to spend(this is an arbitrary number, I do not know the actual numbers)with this number going up and down a little to compensate for new readers joining and old ones leaving. That amount in turn just gets thrown around to different sellers all year long, but when something breaks out of the pool then the sky is the limit. When the media announced that Superman was going to die everybody who ever heard of Superman said I have to get this, and that is where all the new money came from and that is why the book was so expensive. It is the same thing with the walking dead, that show is done so well and there are so many people watching that don’t know anything about comics the books are bound to go up. So going back to the problem I don’t think a bust will hurt the comic community because most of the collectors of these “fad” books are not from the original pool anyway. And the loss for the high rollers, the people that can spend 10,000.00, on one book, in or out of the pool won’t affect us smaller guys in any way. Back to what I was alluding to before, it is companies like this CVA that could do some real damage to the hobby. Them offering a service that has already been given by CGC can only jade anyone that is involved. So I think that I talked long enough, right? .

[SW3D]

Dear Bigblaster,

 

I have to agree with you on CVA... makes no sense at all to me.

 

In terms of morality... I believe there should be morality... in everything... ESPECIALLY in our hobby since we are treasuring stories of heroes and golden tales of morality... tales of good vs. evil. One would think and hope some of it would sink in.

 

In October, I was at NYComicCon, and one of the vendors had House of Secrets 92, the 1st appearance of the Swamp Thing, CGC graded 9.8. It's the top grade, and according to the CGC census, only 1 of 2 exist at this grade level out of a total 830 graded.

 

If you visit comicpriceguide.com, the suggested retail value for HOS 92 at graded 9.8 is $4,800... which is a fair value/price in my opinion.

 

Can you guess what the vendor wanted for it? $15,000... that right 15G!

 

I was willing to pay up to 5G... but no way am I shelling out 15G. And one can argue... we don't know the vendors original purchase price for the book... or how much overhead he has for running his business... much less the costs associated with the convention, but really 15G?... give me a break! That kind of price gouging gets under my skin... and I honestly believe it gives the hobby a bad name!

 

But I understand... much of it is about business.. sadly that sort of business stinks!

 

 

[biggblaster]

You are right about morality in the sense of cheating somebody or misleading them. But in the case of supply and demand I don't have a problem in a collectable market, for something that is not important in the bigger scheme of things to demand a high price. I live in NJ and there were a couple of places here that raised their prices off the chart which caused people undue hardship. Like some gas stations charging 8.00 a gallon or hotels charging 450.00 for rooms that were normally 100.00 knowing that people had no other choice and nowhere to go. To use your swamp thing example(which I have had and sold in low grade) it seems to me that his copy is really rare, so why shouldn’t he ask for that much. If he never gets it he will keep it or eventually lower the price. He will only get what the market demands. His gamble may not pay off either since a whole slew of the same book may be found and eventually graded, which of course may lower the price less than the 5000.00 you offered him. Here is the thing, at some point those books that we used to be able to get in the 1.00 bin start to go up in value if it is key. I used to buy Amazing Spiderman 300's from a store called u-trade-em for .25 each, I realize now I can't do that any longer. I understand that 10,000. is a lot to go over in price but have you seen the other 9.8 sell? That is the true value not what some guide says it should be. And at least swamp thing is a valued, time tested character, that has some age too it, unlike the walking dead books.

[mzhammer]

Morality is a tough one... Many often forget that one man's morals are another man's sandwich.

Without going "all" religious, if you look at the 10 commandments, some may say they are all "moral necessities”, however, I would "suggest" only 2 are morals society must follow to continue to be civilized. Don’t steal or kill.

How someone worships, whether they lie or commit adultery, these things are ultimately, none of my business. I mean, yeah, if someone lies to me I must consider the circumstances. Are they trying to protect me or are they trying to cheat me? Someone protecting me has my interest at heart whereas; someone trying to cheat me has their own interest at heart. One I consider a friend, the other is no longer. If someone cheats on their spouse, is it really any of my business? I can truly only be a part of my own relationships, not everyone else’s.

I mention this because a sellout paints such a derogatory picture. I think no matter “why” you collect, you should never feel guilty for selling a comic book. If you buy low and sell high, you made a great investment, vice versa, not so much. Comic Books are a market, just like anything else you buy or sell. No one should feel bad for being a buyer or a seller… Sure, sometimes we pay too much and sometime we sell for too little. I wouldn’t let this fool you. If you are reading this, YOU are a part of the comic book market and industry. Enjoy it!

If you want to feel guilty over this market, consider that your comics could have been printed on a much more friendly renewable resource. But, it’s best not to get me started on the newspapers wars of the last century, trees verse hemp. Damn you William Randolph Hearst & all your psycho friends!!!

 

P.S. If I've offended anyone, please understand it was meant as sarcasm.

 

 

 

[Ronnylama]

Keep the wheel churning.............As an artist I do not wish to sell my originals (I have plans to build a museum of sorts). I will, however, sell prints (like comic books) so, at the very least, selling out should be a one of a kind thing. It becomes a need for necessity and in that...the only flaw is Judge not for you cannot step in my shoes!

[Tnerb]

I have never purchased a book higher than I wanted to pay. The value of a book is essentially what we are willing to pay as a collector. Tings like Overstreet's and GPA can guide us to what other's value those books at. There is a store in Arkansas and every time I saw his report on may bronze age books, books I might add were gems and grades and prices that were amazing. These same books in these same grad in Philadelphia were much much higher.

 

My New Mutants #1 in a 9.8 that I originally purchased had an asking price of $60. Was it worth it?? I didn't know I only had two CGC graded books that I purchased and they were both $25 piece. We haggled and I bought the book at $45.

 

Yes $15,000 is a bit high but you never know when that eccentric collector will come around and buy it or maybe he has it so high because at the price he wanted it he had to many low offers. I have a book on ebay and yes it is high. Of course my reasoning is if I don't sell it I get to keep it, and it is a nice book to keep.

 

I collect what I like but what if I don't like it anymore. Do I throw it away. Do I try to sell it at a profit or just to recoup my expenditures. am in this hobby for the long haul but what the hobby means to me will change from time to time. And although I have spent greater and greater amounts on a comic book I still have yet to buy one that I felt wasn't worth it although it might have been more than the book is worth...if hat makes sense.

 

Tnerb