Copper's Heating/Selling Well on Ebay 33 33

[fastballspecial]

Hitting refresh and watching the Cap 275s disappear. Kudos to whoever grabbed the CGC 9.8 for just over a $100. Well done you d*ck

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Comics-/63/i.html?_from=R40&_sop=1&_nkw=captain+america+275&LH_Complete=1&rt=nc

**edit- looks like the only copies left are either Mile High, MCS or others who use stock photos. Insane

 

More silly madness.

 

On a related note, why, why, WHY would anyone sub this??

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Captain-America-275-CGC-2-5-GD-Universal-CGC-1002843012-/201056774107?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item2ecfeae7db

 

 

W.O.W.

I have a friend who slabbed the 1st comic he remembered ever getting as a kid that he managed to hold onto, some random issue of Marvel Team-Up that was pretty beat up, came back a 3.0. He just wanted to preserve it. Other than for some sentimental reason I don't get it. But watch some nut job buy it

 

I can relate to that. Although I just couldn't slab Condorman because it was my first book when I was sick in the hospital as a 10 year old.

 

[thirdgreenham]

Hitting refresh and watching the Cap 275s disappear. Kudos to whoever grabbed the CGC 9.8 for just over a $100. Well done you d*ck

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Comics-/63/i.html?_from=R40&_sop=1&_nkw=captain+america+275&LH_Complete=1&rt=nc

**edit- looks like the only copies left are either Mile High, MCS or others who use stock photos. Insane

 

More silly madness.

 

On a related note, why, why, WHY would anyone sub this??

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Captain-America-275-CGC-2-5-GD-Universal-CGC-1002843012-/201056774107?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item2ecfeae7db

 

 

W.O.W.

I have a friend who slabbed the 1st comic he remembered ever getting as a kid that he managed to hold onto, some random issue of Marvel Team-Up that was pretty beat up, came back a 3.0. He just wanted to preserve it. Other than for some sentimental reason I don't get it. But watch some nut job buy it

 

I can relate to that. Although I just couldn't slab Condorman because it was my first book when I was sick in the hospital as a 10 year old.

 

Condorman.

[FlyingDonut]

Did everyone in this thread take a hit off of Carbonaro's pipe...?

 

 

Where is Donut when I need him??

 

Reading. Hold on, young Padawan. Calvary's coming.

[fastballspecial]

Hitting refresh and watching the Cap 275s disappear. Kudos to whoever grabbed the CGC 9.8 for just over a $100. Well done you d*ck

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Comics-/63/i.html?_from=R40&_sop=1&_nkw=captain+america+275&LH_Complete=1&rt=nc

**edit- looks like the only copies left are either Mile High, MCS or others who use stock photos. Insane

 

More silly madness.

 

On a related note, why, why, WHY would anyone sub this??

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Captain-America-275-CGC-2-5-GD-Universal-CGC-1002843012-/201056774107?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item2ecfeae7db

 

 

W.O.W.

I have a friend who slabbed the 1st comic he remembered ever getting as a kid that he managed to hold onto, some random issue of Marvel Team-Up that was pretty beat up, came back a 3.0. He just wanted to preserve it. Other than for some sentimental reason I don't get it. But watch some nut job buy it

 

I can relate to that. Although I just couldn't slab Condorman because it was my first book when I was sick in the hospital as a 10 year old.

 

Condorman.

 

See now I would have a buyer as well.

 

[FlyingDonut]

Just got all through this.

 

Everything RMA has stated is accurate. If CopperAgeKids was getting $25 for New Mutants 98 in 1999, he was not selling on eBay or at any show I went to/set up at and I was setting up at 15 shows a year all along the East Coast.

 

Just a little background - I've been a PowerSeller of one kind or another since 1998, and have had - conservatively - 50,000 transactions on eBay over the period. People do not understand what the marketplace in the late 90s was like - eBay was an arbitrage dream. You could buy books at shows and flip them almost instantly for 100-300% profit easily. And, conversely, you could do the same by buying something on eBay and moving it at a show.

 

eBay in the late 1990s was the wild wild west. It was awesome and scary at the same time. The end came from CGC and just volume. Hard to be the frontier when everyone moved in.

Edited January 27, 2015 by FlyingDonut

[thecopperagekids]

 

For comparison sake, a little over a year ago I happened on an ebay seller who lists dealer overstock.He had a lot of 10 copies of Suicide Squad # 1 (the 1st 80's series) for $10, plus priority shipping , via buy it now.

 

I caught it just as it was listed and bought the lot immediately.I now have 10 copies (all of which are newsstand edition).

 

I bet I get a least four 9.8's out of that stack, when I get around to sending them in.They are sitting on the top of my bookshelf, waiting to be graded.This was back when CGC 9.8's were selling at $75-$100 for the book in 9.8.....but newsstand with a black cover? I'd call that a $200 book now.BUt I digress....

 

Now does this mean that back when I bought this lot (12-14 couple months ago) that Suicide Squad 1 was selling for $1 in raw NM (or better)?

 

'EFF NO....it does not.

 

A year ago, raw NM copies were going for around $25.I can tell you that because I have been tracking the sales of that book on ebay and what dealers have it listed at, when i am at conventions.I also have casually asked convention dealers what they get for that book.As I do with any book which interests me, which is key in having a better understanding of being to accurately gauge market value.

 

 

A year ago Suicide Squad 1 from 1987 was not $25 in NM. It was selling for half that, including shipping. How do I know? Because I bought every decent copy off eBay over the course of a few months. I even made a WTB thread here on the boards and was willing to pay over market price for the book because the all black cover makes it unforgiving when it comes to color breaks.

 

There was no established market price of $25 for that book a year ago, not even close. This was a dollar box book at every show. Legends 3 wasn't even a $25 book a year ago. Hell, the priciest issue from the '87 Suicide Squad run a year ago was 48.

 

There was no consistent demand for the '87 series a year ago. It was mostly irrelevant with a few interested parties occasionally paying a premium price for the Oracle related books (23,48,49) or the first issue, again because of the cover. I bought a slabbed 9.8 copy of Legends 3 off Rich Henn in February for $75. This was a book he had to source; he didn't already have a slabbed copy. I mention that not because I think it was hard for him to find, but because I imagine this bit of extra legwork went into his price.

 

I Suicide Squad # 1 in raw *twice* a year ago, at conventions.A VF/NM for $25 and a solid NM for $30 (or $35).

 

In my area, it was not a book that was commonly available in $1 boxes at shows, either.

 

Note that these 2 sales were both made in person, when the buyer had the chance to hold the book and inspect it in hand.Even with high res scans, buyers will pay more for the same book when they have the chance to make sure they're not getting FN/VF copy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[thecopperagekids]

You said you were selling a dead book...NM #98...for $25 to $50...in 2000.

 

That alone pretty much puts a dagger through the rest of your arguments.

 

:shrug:

 

I may have been off on this one book but all of my other assesments were dead on.I do remember selling a sweet copy of this book for around $30, at a show, during that time period.I probably just got lucky buuut then again, as a rule of thumb, collectors will pay more for virtually any raw book at a show than on ebay for the simple fact that can be sure of what they're buying.

 

I'll also say that it is nigh impossible to accurately gauge market prices fr raw books in 1999 for the very same reason:

 

Collectors don't want to get softly graded books through the mail.Waiting a week after you've paid then winding up with a book that looked better in the scan aaaand then having to send the book back, usually at their own expense.

 

 

 

[Zack1973]

Hitting refresh and watching the Cap 275s disappear. Kudos to whoever grabbed the CGC 9.8 for just over a $100. Well done you d*ck

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Comics-/63/i.html?_from=R40&_sop=1&_nkw=captain+america+275&LH_Complete=1&rt=nc

**edit- looks like the only copies left are either Mile High, MCS or others who use stock photos. Insane

 

More silly madness.

 

On a related note, why, why, WHY would anyone sub this??

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Captain-America-275-CGC-2-5-GD-Universal-CGC-1002843012-/201056774107?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item2ecfeae7db

 

 

W.O.W.

I have a friend who slabbed the 1st comic he remembered ever getting as a kid that he managed to hold onto, some random issue of Marvel Team-Up that was pretty beat up, came back a 3.0. He just wanted to preserve it. Other than for some sentimental reason I don't get it. But watch some nut job buy it

 

My bet is it finishes at $55.00 , any guesses

[RockMyAmadeus]

Did everyone in this thread take a hit off of Carbonaro's pipe...?

 

 

Where is Donut when I need him??

 

Reading. Hold on, young Padawan. Calvary's coming.

 

 

Cavalry!

 

[Shark]

Hitting refresh and watching the Cap 275s disappear. Kudos to whoever grabbed the CGC 9.8 for just over a $100. Well done you d*ck

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Comics-/63/i.html?_from=R40&_sop=1&_nkw=captain+america+275&LH_Complete=1&rt=nc

**edit- looks like the only copies left are either Mile High, MCS or others who use stock photos. Insane

 

More silly madness.

 

On a related note, why, why, WHY would anyone sub this??

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Captain-America-275-CGC-2-5-GD-Universal-CGC-1002843012-/201056774107?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item2ecfeae7db

 

 

W.O.W.

I have a friend who slabbed the 1st comic he remembered ever getting as a kid that he managed to hold onto, some random issue of Marvel Team-Up that was pretty beat up, came back a 3.0. He just wanted to preserve it. Other than for some sentimental reason I don't get it. But watch some nut job buy it

 

My bet is it finishes at $55.00 , any guesses

 

It's a Buy It Now for $30.00. Believe it or not, there are 2 watchers.

[Plantman]

Just got all through this.

 

Everything RMA has stated is accurate. If CopperAgeKids was getting $25 for New Mutants 98 in 1999, he was not selling on eBay or at any show I went to/set up at and I was setting up at 15 shows a year all along the East Coast.

 

Just a little background - I've been a PowerSeller of one kind or another since 1998, and have had - conservatively - 50,000 transactions on eBay over the period. People do not understand what the marketplace in the late 90s was like - eBay was an arbitrage dream. You could buy books at shows and flip them almost instantly for 100-300% profit easily. And, conversely, you could do the same by buying something on eBay and moving it at a show.

 

eBay in the late 1990s was the wild wild west. It was awesome and scary at the same time. The end came from CGC and just volume. Hard to be the frontier when everyone moved in.

 

Okay, you got me. Why was eBay in the late 1990s scary?

[Aweandlorder]

Just got all through this.

 

Everything RMA has stated is accurate. If CopperAgeKids was getting $25 for New Mutants 98 in 1999, he was not selling on eBay or at any show I went to/set up at and I was setting up at 15 shows a year all along the East Coast.

 

Just a little background - I've been a PowerSeller of one kind or another since 1998, and have had - conservatively - 50,000 transactions on eBay over the period. People do not understand what the marketplace in the late 90s was like - eBay was an arbitrage dream. You could buy books at shows and flip them almost instantly for 100-300% profit easily. And, conversely, you could do the same by buying something on eBay and moving it at a show.

 

eBay in the late 1990s was the wild wild west. It was awesome and scary at the same time. The end came from CGC and just volume. Hard to be the frontier when everyone moved in.

 

Okay, you got me. Why was eBay in the late 1990s scary?

 

Waitaminute.. You mean it's not scary now???

[RockMyAmadeus]

You said you were selling a dead book...NM #98...for $25 to $50...in 2000.

 

That alone pretty much puts a dagger through the rest of your arguments.

 

:shrug:

 

I may have been off on this one book but all of my other assesments were dead on.I do remember selling a sweet copy of this book for around $30, at a show, during that time period.I probably just got lucky buuut then again, as a rule of thumb, collectors will pay more for virtually any raw book at a show than on ebay for the simple fact that can be sure of what they're buying.

 

I'll also say that it is nigh impossible to accurately gauge market prices fr raw books in 1999 for the very same reason:

 

Collectors don't want to get softly graded books through the mail.Waiting a week after you've paid then winding up with a book that looked better in the scan aaaand then having to send the book back, usually at their own expense.

 

 

 

Here's a good bit of advice: before you tell someone what they post is "nonsense", you might make sure you have all of your ducks in a row first, and your arguments are unassailable, or someone will invariably find the leaks and exploit them.

 

You don't know who I am, and I don't know who you are. Fair enough, and no one expects you to. But, you've been here a month and a half...and this board is, in my opinion, the deepest, broadest, most experienced and intellectually gifted "comics" board that exists. The depth and breadth of knowledge and experience here puts everything else to shame. No one...not me, not you, not anyone...can post questionable comments and not be challenged. And no one is immune. If your facts are in order, no problem...if they're not...beware!

 

In any event, the point about eBay is this: whether you believe it wasn't representative of the market as a whole...and, at that early stage, it certainly wasn't, though it was making those serious inroads I mentioned earlier...the point was this: if a person could buy Book X for $Y on eBay, then that's what the market was for that person, for that book, at that time. And, since most buyers do NOT buy multiple copies of books, once that item is obtained, they are no longer in the market FOR that item...which means a seller trying to sell it for $Y +$Z isn't going to be able to sell it to that buyer.

 

The market isn't, and never has been, about asking prices. It's about what the buyer pays.

 

And, the idea that customers were as grade sensitive in 1999 as you are suggesting...nothing could be further from the truth.

 

Don't misunderstand: there have ALWAYS been buyers, ALWAYS, who were sensitive to grades. But, prior to CGC, they were a tiny, tiny minority of buyers. No one knew, because no one COULD know, what the minute differences in grade would bring in regards to price differences, because CGC didn't exist.

 

If 1 buyer out of 1,000 cared enough about grades to really have an issue with overgrading in 1998, 1999, 2000...I would be surprised. I used to get, all the time, the excuse of "well, no one's ever complained about my grading before!"...and they were mostly correct! No one DID complain about grading, because it just wasn't *that* important to *that* many people before CGC.

 

I was one of those super-anal, super-picky buyers, and retailers all over the SF Bay Area got pissed at me because I would be so picky about books, grabbing a stack of 40 and spending much time examining every single copy...I did this for several years. No one else cared. People thought I was crazy...but I have a couple of years' worth of mostly worthless books that are, nevertheless, 9.8s and better. But in 1991, no one, including me, knew if such pickiness would ever matter. And I was the very, very rare duck.

 

So, would you have sold a "sweet copy" of New Mutants #98 to someone for $30 in 1999...? I guess anything's possible, but that customer would have been incredibly rare, and massively overpaid. The book was, in all likelihood, no better than a 9.8, and 9.8s are still quite common.

 

And, interestingly enough, you can see the remnants of this outlook/attitude/philosophy even today: when a buyer buys a "CGC X.X", and the book has quite obviously been overgraded by CGC, do they send the book back? Do they care?

 

No, of course not. All that matters is the number in the upper left hand corner.

 

So, did buyers pay MORE for books they could look at in person? Hard to say. Some did, sure. But the vast, vast majority? No. It didn't matter then. Hardly anyone knew the difference between what would BECOME an average 9.8 and an average 9.4, and they didn't care. So long as it didn't have multiple color breaks on the spine, or a big ol' crease...good enough. A "near mint" was the same price, whether it was a "what would become" 9.8, or 9.0.

 

And if you could get a copy that was acceptable to you for $17 on eBay...why would anyone pay $45 for it from a dealer's wall, at a store or con?

 

That's exactly how eBay became eBay.

[the authority]

Just got all through this.

 

Everything RMA has stated is accurate. If CopperAgeKids was getting $25 for New Mutants 98 in 1999, he was not selling on eBay or at any show I went to/set up at and I was setting up at 15 shows a year all along the East Coast.

 

Just a little background - I've been a PowerSeller of one kind or another since 1998, and have had - conservatively - 50,000 transactions on eBay over the period. People do not understand what the marketplace in the late 90s was like - eBay was an arbitrage dream. You could buy books at shows and flip them almost instantly for 100-300% profit easily. And, conversely, you could do the same by buying something on eBay and moving it at a show.

 

eBay in the late 1990s was the wild wild west. It was awesome and scary at the same time. The end came from CGC and just volume. Hard to be the frontier when everyone moved in.

 

Congrats on over 50,000. That is incredible.

 

It was arbitrage heaven. I remember the late 90's and even early 2000's being a time when you could not only do as you've stated but you could buy collections using ebay and remarket them a couple of weeks later for very great returns. The JLA, JSA, The Authority, Planetary, and Ultimate anything, Origin, and Captain America 25 were kind of the end of my personal glory days but I'm sure many of you guys kept on rocking.

 

I thought it was more fun because it was mostly collectors and dealers back then. Now ebay has a more commercial feel and seems less raw. Its still fun to get a deal but they seem to be fewer and farther in between now compared to then imo.

[500Club]

Did everyone in this thread take a hit off of Carbonaro's pipe...?

 

 

Where is Donut when I need him??

 

Reading. Hold on, young Padawan. Calvary's coming.

 

 

Cavalry!

 

I just assumed he was preparing to crucify someone...

[Bosco685]

Hitting refresh and watching the Cap 275s disappear. Kudos to whoever grabbed the CGC 9.8 for just over a $100. Well done you d*ck

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Comics-/63/i.html?_from=R40&_sop=1&_nkw=captain+america+275&LH_Complete=1&rt=nc

**edit- looks like the only copies left are either Mile High, MCS or others who use stock photos. Insane

 

More silly madness.

 

On a related note, why, why, WHY would anyone sub this??

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Captain-America-275-CGC-2-5-GD-Universal-CGC-1002843012-/201056774107?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item2ecfeae7db

 

 

W.O.W.

I have a friend who slabbed the 1st comic he remembered ever getting as a kid that he managed to hold onto, some random issue of Marvel Team-Up that was pretty beat up, came back a 3.0. He just wanted to preserve it. Other than for some sentimental reason I don't get it. But watch some nut job buy it

 

My bet is it finishes at $55.00 , any guesses

 

It's a Buy It Now for $30.00. Believe it or not, there are 2 watchers.

 

 

Hurry. Someone send over a $60 offer.

 

[Zack1973]

Hitting refresh and watching the Cap 275s disappear. Kudos to whoever grabbed the CGC 9.8 for just over a $100. Well done you d*ck

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Comics-/63/i.html?_from=R40&_sop=1&_nkw=captain+america+275&LH_Complete=1&rt=nc

**edit- looks like the only copies left are either Mile High, MCS or others who use stock photos. Insane

 

More silly madness.

 

On a related note, why, why, WHY would anyone sub this??

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Captain-America-275-CGC-2-5-GD-Universal-CGC-1002843012-/201056774107?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item2ecfeae7db

 

 

W.O.W.

I have a friend who slabbed the 1st comic he remembered ever getting as a kid that he managed to hold onto, some random issue of Marvel Team-Up that was pretty beat up, came back a 3.0. He just wanted to preserve it. Other than for some sentimental reason I don't get it. But watch some nut job buy it

 

My bet is it finishes at $55.00 , any guesses

 

It's a Buy It Now for $30.00. Believe it or not, there are 2 watchers.

 

 

Hurry. Someone send over a $60 offer.

 

 

Oops should have spent more then 5 seconds looking at the listing.

[Bosco685]

Oops should have spent more then 5 seconds looking at the listing.

 

 

 

There's enough 'heat' in this thread for crazy reasons.

[whetteon]

Love me some SPLATT MK.

 

One day I will own a SS 9.8 set... One day...

 

I have a nice HG set if your interested.

[Vikingreed]

Love me some SPLATT MK.

 

One day I will own a SS 9.8 set... One day...

 

I have a nice HG set if your interested.

 

Oh, I am.... haha

 

But at the moment I have too many comic irons in the fire...