RANT: Whatever the market will bear or frustrating BS?

[GoldenPRGuy]

I don't know why it bothers me as much as it does to see a handful of sellers putting books on eBay at exorbitant prices that will never be realized. I mean it's not my sale, and in almost all cases I own the books already. You'd think I'd take the, "more power to them" approach or the, "cool, if this sells my collection will be worth that much more", but I can't … because the pricing is ridiculous! Keys are keys, and they will always sell for multiples of guide that are hard to predict … Pep 22: $111,000 on a CC auction. Love it! Archie 2: $32,000 on a HA auction. Amazing! And again, these books sold! But for some reason every time I see something like this on ebay:

 

B&V 53

 

It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It's a B&V 53 for crying out loud. And of course it's the 'highest', no one else would slab this book! I have four of them and I wanna slab them all and put them all up for $50 bucks just to be a $@#&.

 

Or this one:

 

Joke Book 26

 

The book is worth $94 bucks in 8.0, and I'd venture to say most of these copies sell for $20-30.

 

Is Overstreet not relevant anymore? I know I should be directing my frustration at the well-known crop of dealers that have always peddled overpriced schlock that they do their own resto on and sell for original. Trust me, we all know who you are! But for some reason it's these people with their heads in the clouds that seem to bother me more than the dirty dealers.

 

Here's my favorite yet:

 

Life With Archie 176

 

This book is worth $24! Who in their right mind slabs a LWA 176 … clearly the same guy that puts it on eBay for $250.

 

BTW, I don't mean to single these people out, it's just three listings that instantly met my criteria.

[pmpknface]

No, it drives me nuts too. I see the same listings over and over again of books at 10x guide that will never sell. Some of them I'd even by if they were reasonable, but they never come down. I often want to send them messages that say, "What are you thinking?!?!?!"

 

There's one book I've been dying for on ebay that's like 2x what it's worth at a BIN and has been there for years and the seller won't lower the price. Drives me nutty.

[shrunkenhead]

I hate those kind of listings. Mainly because I've pulled the trigger once or twice when drunk.

[G.A.tor]

the B and V 53 recently sold for $175...so, while $250 is a strong asking price, it is within proximity of what the seller paid, it appears

 

the Joke book 26 last sold for $153...so, 399 is a stretch, but given it is the circle 8 ped, someone obviously placed a "premium on it"...

[GoldenPRGuy]

I often want to send them messages that say, "What are you thinking?!?!?!".

 

Actually have done this, and it's amazing the kind of replies I get, everything from 'thanks for your opinion' to fantastic yarns about why they are being sold for so much. Seriously ... you just bought them at auction on HA last week and now you're listing them at 10x. One guy even argued that it was not the same book ... I uploaded the CGC number. We're not dumb people!

 

I hate those kind of listings. Mainly because I've pulled the trigger once or twice when drunk.

 

I've got one of those under my belt as well. haha

 

[GoldenPRGuy]

G.A.tor, I get it ... if someone is willing to pay $175, why not $250, but the thing that I can't get past is the idea that a slab justifies it! Or that the fact that no one else has graded one makes it magical or rare! 'Rare' and 'Scarce' are two of my other favorite eBay words!

 

So I'm trying to decide is it me ... am I stuck in this pre-CGC world where people used the price guide as a basis for selling comics. I keep thinking to myself, and now to the boards, that if a book is an 8.0 raw and worth 100 bucks, isn't an 8.0 slabbed worth 100 bucks ... and maybe some compensation for the slabbing expense?

 

Does anyone really feel that the slab alone (simply confirming a grade) should justify 4, 5 and in some cases even 10x guide?

 

Again, let's leave keys out of this discussion.

[pmpknface]

! Or that the fact that no one else has graded one makes it magical or rare! 'Rare' and 'Scarce' are two of my other favorite eBay words!

 

For fun I just did a search on these keywords, and here are the results:

 

rare: 1000 + listings

scarce: 870 listings

 

In golden age alone.

[G.A.tor]

The price guide is , in general, a pricing component of the past. It is just not accurate or relevant the majority of the time these days.

[143ksk]

My thought is if you're the person bidding top of the market in an open auction, it seems less than likely that you will be able to sell for significantly more than you paid for that book. At least in the near term.

[143ksk]

Also, Archies tend to sell for more at Heritage and Clink than on eBay...

[GoldenPRGuy]

So it's just a free-for-all?

 

How do I value my collection? If they guide says I've got say 200k worth of books, does that mean I should insure them for 2 million?

 

And let's not pretend ... and I'll tread lightly here since I'm pretty sure you're a dealer, but that Overstreet is not the first thing you or another dealer would go grabbing for when it's time to make someone an offer on their book or collection. You know ... well this book guides for $24 (look here, see) but you know it's a common book, and I need to make some money, I'll give you .... I promise your next words are not gonna be $250!

[Frisco Larson]

The price guide is , in general, a pricing component of the past. It is just not accurate or relevant the majority of the time these days.

 

Probably true my friend, but just because some impatient collector with an excess in the wallet pays whatever it takes to get a book, then that sale it "recorded" on someones website, doesn't mean that ALL of the copies of that book have been elevated to that percentage level!!! This type of rational is doing more harm than good to this hobby

[Frisco Larson]

I will add that G.A.tor pays more than most dealers to have the inventory that he has. It's true.

[GoldenPRGuy]

My thought is if you're the person bidding top of the market in an open auction, it seems less than likely that you will be able to sell for significantly more than you paid for that book. At least in the near term.

 

A realistic point, yet this is exactly what's happening. This one guy in particular is literally driving the prices of these books up on HA and buying them for much more than they are worth and then listing them the next day on eBay for 2 to 3x the purchase price. As far as I can tell, he has yet to sell even one of them. I'm dumbfounded! Granted at this rate I'm not sure I will have to worry about it for long as this seems like a pretty straight path to bankruptcy.

 

Reminds of a saying we have in my industry (boating, yachting, sailing, etc.) ... How do you make a million dollars in the marine industry? Start with 2 million!

[shrunkenhead]

So it's just a free-for-all?

 

How do I value my collection? If they guide says I've got say 200k worth of books, does that mean I should insure them for 2 million?

 

 

Your best bet is to regularly track auction prices or use GPA's service to have easy access to the numbers when it comes FMV.

 

It is a time-intensive process, but no price guide can ever serve as an actual indicator of what an item is "worth."

[GoldenPRGuy]

I am most definitely not trying to attack anyone. Business is business, and how you do it is what determines whether or not you stay in it. I'm simply saying, I'm struggling with the crazy pricing, and also that I notice 9 times out of 10 it is for a CGC'd book. Like the case itself is collectible? IT'S PLASTIC! I mean, it's nice looking, but it's plastic!

 

I'm a collector, and I need some kind of guide for buying books. If I was selling, I'd want the same thing. And if I sold to a dealer, I would fully expect them to go for the guide and laugh me out of the room if I was asking for 7x Overstreet!

[shrunkenhead]

I will add that G.A.tor pays more than most dealers to have the inventory that he has. It's true.

 

+1 He ain't no chizler.

[shrunkenhead]

I am most definitely not trying to attack anyone. Business is business, and how you do it is what determines whether or not you stay in it. I'm simply saying, I'm struggling with the crazy pricing, and also that I notice 9 times out of 10 it is for a CGC'd book. Like the case itself is collectible? IT'S PLASTIC! I mean, it's nice looking, but it's plastic!

 

And it's holding PAPER! I mean, the books are nice, but the plastic is holding paper!

[mrmyst]

So it's just a free-for-all?

 

How do I value my collection? If they guide says I've got say 200k worth of books, does that mean I should insure them for 2 million?

 

And let's not pretend ... and I'll tread lightly here since I'm pretty sure you're a dealer, but that Overstreet is not the first thing you or another dealer would go grabbing for when it's time to make someone an offer on their book or collection. You know ... well this book guides for $24 (look here, see) but you know it's a common book, and I need to make some money, I'll give you .... I promise your next words are not gonna be $250!

 

There is up-to-the-minute sales results available on-line (GPA, past auction house results etc) that are a much more accurate reflection on what collectors are paying. The Overstreet is all over the place in terms of being way too high, a little too high, pretty close, a little to low, way too low etc on many of the books listed in it. (And that's no disrespect to the Guide, there is just no way it can be anywhere near as accurate as actual sales results.

 

[GoldenPRGuy]

And it's holding PAPER! I mean, the books are nice, but the plastic is holding paper!

 

Touché