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Copper's Heating/Selling Well on Ebay
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18,721 posts in this topic

On 12/21/2022 at 6:42 PM, FlyingDonut said:

I'm trying to dump the $1 inventory on some bulk guys here. My $5 stuff is stuff that could sell for $10-20 on a good day but I just have too much of it and its got to go. Think late Bronze/early Copper Marvels minus any keys, all 8.5 to 9.2 Nice solid run filler things.

I'd be there in a NY minute, but I'm in San Francisco. :peace:

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On 12/22/2022 at 2:22 PM, fastballspecial said:

I recommend this for everyone. Being an armchair quarterback is nothing compared to actually 
doing a show and understanding how it really works. I really appreciate dealers more now 
since while I knew it was some work your first show is a TON of work then it gets easier. 

 

Considering it. Have not done a show since a carbonaro church show in the late 90s. Need to find a weekend where I can get my teen to help.

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On 12/22/2022 at 8:19 PM, the blob said:

Considering it. Have not done a show since a carbonaro church show in the late 90s. Need to find a weekend where I can get my teen to help.

I attended those semi-regularly in the late 1990's back when I lived "only" a 2 hour rail road ride away.

5 books in my current signature were purchased raw at those shows. Good times! Also I seem to recall at one of the earliest having Jim Steranko sign a small poster.  

Edited by MAR1979
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I was in way better shape then. I remember one show I filled up two long boxes with treasure and walked home 20 blocks away with one long box on each shoulder. To be young again. Today I would collapse after half a block trying to carry one long box

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On 12/22/2022 at 10:35 PM, the blob said:

I was in way better shape then. I remember one show I filled up two long boxes with treasure and walked home 20 blocks away with one long box on each shoulder. To be young again. Today I would collapse after half a block trying to carry one long box

I apologize if I have told this story before. 

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On 12/21/2022 at 7:42 PM, FlyingDonut said:

I'm trying to dump the $1 inventory on some bulk guys here. My $5 stuff is stuff that could sell for $10-20 on a good day but I just have too much of it and its got to go. Think late Bronze/early Copper Marvels minus any keys, all 8.5 to 9.2 Nice solid run filler things.

(thumbsu

That is the way to move the stuff. It is interesting to see how even late bronze and copper books from the 80s and early 90s are becoming a bit harder to find in collections locally when you consider how high the print runs were. I realize how old I am getting when I have younger collectors talk about "how old" or "vintage" those books are that I bought off of the rack as a kid.

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On 12/21/2022 at 4:10 PM, the blob said:

I just don't see how there is money in $1 boxes with today's costs in doing a show. Sure, if you are able to buy bulk at $20-30 a box and actually move stuff at $1 a pop, but if you bring 10 long boxes and sell 2 that doesn't seem to be a productive use of the table. $2 seems to make more sense.

 

I’ve always assumed that most of the $1 box books at conventions were bought as part of collections where the keys paid for the collection and they were just trying to move the rest as gravy.

I don’t think it would make sense to purposely buy dollar books to sell at conventions.  Don’t most dealers who buy collections just end up with a bunch of dollar books by accident?  Conventions seem like the only outlet for dollar books aside from bulking them out.

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On 12/23/2022 at 9:53 AM, Hamlet said:

I’ve always assumed that most of the $1 box books at conventions were bought as part of collections where the keys paid for the collection and they were just trying to move the rest as gravy.

I don’t think it would make sense to purposely buy dollar books to sell at conventions.  Don’t most dealers who buy collections just end up with a bunch of dollar books by accident?  Conventions seem like the only outlet for dollar books aside from bulking them out.

Depends on the dollar box and the dealer, but I agree, over the last 5-8 years that $2-5 boxes are where to look for missed treasure. Of course, 90% of those books (at least in $2 boxes) can be found in the boxes of the $1 guy. I’m just thinking more that with everything being more expensive a price point from 1996 just doesn’t make sense, not where there is a market for them. 

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On 12/23/2022 at 4:06 AM, kimik said:

(thumbsu

That is the way to move the stuff. It is interesting to see how even late bronze and copper books from the 80s and early 90s are becoming a bit harder to find in collections locally when you consider how high the print runs were. I realize how old I am getting when I have younger collectors talk about "how old" or "vintage" those books are that I bought off of the rack as a kid.

Or finding them in NM at least is not a given in the boxes.

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On 12/23/2022 at 2:23 PM, the blob said:

Depends on the dollar box and the dealer, but I agree, over the last 5-8 years that $2-5 boxes are where to look for missed treasure. Of course, 90% of those books (at least in $2 boxes) can be found in the boxes of the $1 guy. I’m just thinking more that with everything being more expensive a price point from 1996 just doesn’t make sense, not where there is a market for them. 

Yeah, I’m not a frequent convention goer, but I’m finding fewer books of interest to me in the dollar boxes these days.  Pre-Covid, there were little conventions around here that had decent dollar boxes, and even some decent 50 cent boxes.  The guy who ran the conventions actually brought a huge amount of drek that he sold 50/$20.  It was unbagged, lots of early 90s stuff, but there was also some okay 80s stuff mixed in.  When prices on most books got beyond what I was willing to pay a few years ago, I would scratch my collecting itch by spending $20 at his boxes.  
 

He hasn’t started them up again here in Minneapolis, I think mostly because he can’t find a room to hold it in at a comfortable price point anymore.  I think the price point of even drek may be moving up a little bit 😀

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On 12/23/2022 at 8:20 PM, Hamlet said:

Yeah, I’m not a frequent convention goer, but I’m finding fewer books of interest to me in the dollar boxes these days.  Pre-Covid, there were little conventions around here that had decent dollar boxes, and even some decent 50 cent boxes.  The guy who ran the conventions actually brought a huge amount of drek that he sold 50/$20.  It was unbagged, lots of early 90s stuff, but there was also some okay 80s stuff mixed in.  When prices on most books got beyond what I was willing to pay a few years ago, I would scratch my collecting itch by spending $20 at his boxes.  
 

He hasn’t started them up again here in Minneapolis, I think mostly because he can’t find a room to hold it in at a comfortable price point anymore.  I think the price point of even drek may be moving up a little bit 😀

It was also a time issue. my goal in going to a show would be to buy enough books to flip over the next month or two to pay for my day and have a big chunk left for my collection/inventory. The flips generally needed to be $10-50 books. If I hit dollar box guys first and then the $2 boxes most of the gems would be gone. There were some $10 flips in the $1 boxes, sure, but rarely better, for me more like books that might need to age more like a big run of the bone books, or more generally books from 98 - 01 I like to buy or late bronze early copper in nice shape

Edited by the blob
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On 12/23/2022 at 1:25 PM, the blob said:

Or finding them in NM at least is not a given in the boxes.

I have had some luck that past few collections with most of the 80s stuff being VF or better. And, more importantly, the largest one (31 longs), had a nice selection of 1997-2001 books.

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On 12/24/2022 at 1:59 PM, kimik said:

I have had some luck that past few collections with most of the 80s stuff being VF or better. And, more importantly, the largest one (31 longs), had a nice selection of 1997-2001 books.

I was thinking about dollar boxes at cons that are getting pawed over not a collection that has been sitting

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Not to mention, with boards and bags even in bulk perhaps being 15 cents each after shipping, unless you want the inventory wrecked after 2 shows I just don’t see how $1 boxes make sense financially even if you are not paying for the books. Gas to/from. Cost of tables. Your time, a helper? You need to be blowing out $10-20 books. Aren’t there better venues? 

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On 12/24/2022 at 12:34 PM, the blob said:

I was thinking about dollar boxes at cons that are getting pawed over not a collection that has been sitting

It is tough in collections now as well. I used to find NM or better copper collections steadily. Now it tends to be FN to FN/VF books since the foolish owners read the books back then. :censored:  Didn’t they know that books were supposed to be bagged and boarded and tucked away?

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On 12/24/2022 at 2:40 PM, kimik said:

It is tough in collections now as well. I used to find NM or better copper collections steadily. Now it tends to be FN to FN/VF books since the foolish owners read the books back then. :censored:  Didn’t they know that books were supposed to be bagged and boarded and tucked away?

Early 80s a board was a serious luxury

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On 12/24/2022 at 12:39 PM, the blob said:

Not to mention, with boards and bags even in bulk perhaps being 15 cents each after shipping, unless you want the inventory wrecked after 2 shows I just don’t see how $1 boxes make sense financially even if you are not paying for the books. Gas to/from. Cost of tables. Your time, a helper? You need to be blowing out $10-20 books. Aren’t there better venues? 

People still make a go of it at shows, otherwise you would not see so many vendors with them. I prefer selling higher priced items instead as it is more worth while for me. One day comic shows tend to be $2000+ on average for sales now if you bring decent stuff so it is worthwhile doing them if you have the right inventory and most importantly grade/price accurately. The problem I see for a lot of sellers is that they overgrade and overprice. Do that for a couple of shows, word gets around, and it can take a long while to correct that.

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On 12/24/2022 at 2:48 PM, kimik said:

People still make a go of it at shows, otherwise you would not see so many vendors with them. I prefer selling higher priced items instead as it is more worth while for me. One day comic shows tend to be $2000+ on average for sales now if you bring decent stuff so it is worthwhile doing them if you have the right inventory and most importantly grade/price accurately. The problem I see for a lot of sellers is that they overgrade and overprice. Do that for a couple of shows, word gets around, and it can take a long while to correct that.

Sure I am thinking more about devoting a ton of table space to dollar books. If donut is selling 3 longs of $5 books that’s $3-4k right there, very viable, mix in better stuff…

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On 12/24/2022 at 1:29 PM, the blob said:

Sure I am thinking more about devoting a ton of table space to dollar books. If donut is selling 3 longs of $5 books that’s $3-4k right there, very viable, mix in better stuff…

Agreed and that is my approach. There are too many others with $1 or $2 boxes that they cannibalize each others’ sales.

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On 12/24/2022 at 11:40 AM, kimik said:

Now it tends to be FN to FN/VF books since the foolish owners read the books back then. :censored:  Didn’t they know that books were supposed to be bagged and boarded and tucked away?

:whatthe: ??? :cry:

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