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SS Valuations

Started by evi1pau1,

29 posts in this topic

Mushie

Mushie

Posted
Posted
Start out at Tree Fiddy

 

Only for sketches of the Loch Ness Monster...

 

Glad to finally see someone else on the boards know where this meme came from. To many have been using it incorrectly and it's annoying.

 

:acclaim:

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miraclemet

miraclemet

Posted
Posted
How do you go about putting a $ value on SS books?

and sketches for that matter?

 

Thanks.

 

well starting point is the cost of creating the item.

So raw book value + signature or sketch cost + slabbing cost = starting point of value.

 

If you are listing them for insurance purposes you start with that price (which equals the price of replacing them, except for the ones that are only replaceable on the secondary market (i.e. Infantino signed Flash #101), for which you use GPA or at least ebay completed sales.

 

 

If you are looking at value in terms of selling price... well

 

As others have said used completed ebay sales, or check GPA.

 

factors that can increase the books value

+rarity of signing (a creator that no longer signs, or only does one con a year may have more demand than supply, thus the books value outpaces the cost of creating it) This includes the cases of creators passing away.

+combination of signatures (with SS rule changes its harder to pull off good multi-signs unless the signees are at the same con)

+iconic books have more demand than random books, thus they may enjoy a markup above the cost of creating the collectible.

+iconic sketches. Bob Layton doing Iron Man? Lots of demand. Bob Layton doing your favorite member of Serpent Society maybe less demand...

 

Factors that decrease the books value (ie you might take a loss if you tried to sell it vs what it cost you to create it).

- commonness of signing. Buyers might think "why buy your book when I can get my own signed for the same price or less?"

- odd book choice. Stan Lee on ASM#50? Lots of interest. Stan Lee on X-factor #27, gets a lot of head scratches, and nil demand.

- Odd sketch choices. You love The Porcupine. You have 20 sketches of him. You are probably the only one who wants them. If you decide to sell them prepare to take a loss on every one, probably down to the price of slabbing if not below.

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seanfingh

seanfingh

Posted
Posted
How do you go about putting a $ value on SS books?

and sketches for that matter?

 

Thanks.

 

well starting point is the cost of creating the item.

So raw book value + signature or sketch cost + slabbing cost = starting point of value.

 

If you are listing them for insurance purposes you start with that price (which equals the price of replacing them, except for the ones that are only replaceable on the secondary market (i.e. Infantino signed Flash #101), for which you use GPA or at least ebay completed sales.

 

 

If you are looking at value in terms of selling price... well

 

As others have said used completed ebay sales, or check GPA.

 

factors that can increase the books value

+rarity of signing (a creator that no longer signs, or only does one con a year may have more demand than supply, thus the books value outpaces the cost of creating it) This includes the cases of creators passing away.

+combination of signatures (with SS rule changes its harder to pull off good multi-signs unless the signees are at the same con)

+iconic books have more demand than random books, thus they may enjoy a markup above the cost of creating the collectible.

+iconic sketches. Bob Layton doing Iron Man? Lots of demand. Bob Layton doing your favorite member of Serpent Society maybe less demand...

 

Factors that decrease the books value (ie you might take a loss if you tried to sell it vs what it cost you to create it).

- commonness of signing. Buyers might think "why buy your book when I can get my own signed for the same price or less?"

- odd book choice. Stan Lee on ASM#50? Lots of interest. Stan Lee on X-factor #27, gets a lot of head scratches, and nil demand.

- Odd sketch choices. You love The Porcupine. You have 20 sketches of him. You are probably the only one who wants them. If you decide to sell them prepare to take a loss on every one, probably down to the price of slabbing if not below.

 

This is a pretty good analysis. Also, one of the things that George Rodriguez taught me is that (especially on UHG vintage stuff) you can't just do a pure cost based analysis. (This did not stop me from from trying, however.)

 

This encompasses the factor of, if you decide to do your own book, you could get a grade drop. So for really good stuff, it is not just the price of a blue 9.8 plus sig fees and slabbing costs, because there is no factor for the opportunity cost of potential grade drops.

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miraclemet

miraclemet

Posted
Posted

This is a pretty good analysis. Also, one of the things that George Rodriguez taught me is that (especially on UHG vintage stuff) you can't just do a pure cost based analysis. (This did not stop me from from trying, however.)

 

This encompasses the factor of, if you decide to do your own book, you could get a grade drop. So for really good stuff, it is not just the price of a blue 9.8 plus sig fees and slabbing costs, because there is no factor for the opportunity cost of potential grade drops.

 

thanks sF. You make a good point as well. Sometimes its easier/safer/better to just buy that preslabbed, pregraded CGC ss 9.8 than spend the time trying to find a raw 9.8 and roll the dice that it comes back a 9.6 and goes from being worth $100 to being worth $40.

 

Also there can be some markup value in immediacy. I buy a SS on ebay its in my hand in a week or less. I get a book SSed its in my hand in 1-3-6 months depending on tier.

 

I have a Unexpected 127 going out for a Cardy signature. Im going to spend about $75 getting it pressed, signed, slabbed, and shipped. I'm hoping its a 9.2 after the press or so, but who knows it might be an 8.5. This morning Someone lists an already slabbed 9.4 of the same book for $125...

 

and now Ive spent all moring trying to decide if I roll the dice with my book and save $50, or if I spend the extra, go with the sure thing, and have the book in hand months sooner....

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seanfingh

seanfingh

Posted
Posted

This is a pretty good analysis. Also, one of the things that George Rodriguez taught me is that (especially on UHG vintage stuff) you can't just do a pure cost based analysis. (This did not stop me from from trying, however.)

 

This encompasses the factor of, if you decide to do your own book, you could get a grade drop. So for really good stuff, it is not just the price of a blue 9.8 plus sig fees and slabbing costs, because there is no factor for the opportunity cost of potential grade drops.

 

thanks sF. You make a good point as well. Sometimes its easier/safer/better to just buy that preslabbed, pregraded CGC ss 9.8 than spend the time trying to find a raw 9.8 and roll the dice that it comes back a 9.6 and goes from being worth $100 to being worth $40.

 

Also there can be some markup value in immediacy. I buy a SS on ebay its in my hand in a week or less. I get a book SSed its in my hand in 1-3-6 months depending on tier.

 

I have a Unexpected 127 going out for a Cardy signature. Im going to spend about $75 getting it pressed, signed, slabbed, and shipped. I'm hoping its a 9.2 after the press or so, but who knows it might be an 8.5. This morning Someone lists an already slabbed 9.4 of the same book for $125...

 

and now Ive spent all moring trying to decide if I roll the dice with my book and save $50, or if I spend the extra, go with the sure thing, and have the book in hand months sooner....

 

For my calculus, I buy the completed book 10 times out of 10.

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lscomics

lscomics

Posted
Posted

This is a pretty good analysis. Also, one of the things that George Rodriguez taught me is that (especially on UHG vintage stuff) you can't just do a pure cost based analysis. (This did not stop me from from trying, however.)

 

This encompasses the factor of, if you decide to do your own book, you could get a grade drop. So for really good stuff, it is not just the price of a blue 9.8 plus sig fees and slabbing costs, because there is no factor for the opportunity cost of potential grade drops.

 

thanks sF. You make a good point as well. Sometimes its easier/safer/better to just buy that preslabbed, pregraded CGC ss 9.8 than spend the time trying to find a raw 9.8 and roll the dice that it comes back a 9.6 and goes from being worth $100 to being worth $40.

 

Also there can be some markup value in immediacy. I buy a SS on ebay its in my hand in a week or less. I get a book SSed its in my hand in 1-3-6 months depending on tier.

 

I have a Unexpected 127 going out for a Cardy signature. Im going to spend about $75 getting it pressed, signed, slabbed, and shipped. I'm hoping its a 9.2 after the press or so, but who knows it might be an 8.5. This morning Someone lists an already slabbed 9.4 of the same book for $125...

 

and now Ive spent all moring trying to decide if I roll the dice with my book and save $50, or if I spend the extra, go with the sure thing, and have the book in hand months sooner....

 

For my calculus, I buy the completed book 10 times out of 10.

I wish it was that easy for me. The vast majority of the books I sub for SS anymore most people don't even know exist. lol

 

Here's a perfect example:

Yesterday I sent off 6 books to a facilitator for SS to be signed by Nick Cardy at Florida Super Con. They are:

th_GirlsLoveStories148Mexico.jpgth_HouseofMystery174Mexico.jpgth_Showcase76Mexico_zps2807b259.jpgth_TeenTitans14Brazil_zps3f6b8b9b.jpgth_Unexpected132Mexico_zpsd6eddb42.jpg

 

The sixth book is a US edition of the Girls' Love Stories. I know it's going to be a long wait for them to come back (even though I Fast Tracked them) as the con isn't until July 4th weekend and then who knows how long with the way turnaround times have been running. It was extremely difficult to narrow down which books I wanted to send, there are probably another 25 or 30 Cardy books I have that I'd want to submit if money wasn't a factor. As it stands, I'll have both US and foreign SS versions of all of these once they're done.

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seanfingh

seanfingh

Posted
Posted
Just do what I do: Pay the asking price and deduct 40% to arrive at the true FMV.

 

SS books a lot of times don't have a true FMV. There are not enough transactions and they don't move enough times. Plus, in many cases, there are differences that keep books from being treated similarly, even though they are similar (sig placement, additional signatures, QP/PQ issues, in-slab damage) etc.

 

Plus there are times where the purchaser just has to have the item. For me, I missed the first Lee Majors signing. I went on Ebay and paid the price for the best one I could find. Didn't haggle or mess around. FMV didn't even enter into the calculus. No idea if I could get my money back, and I don't care.

 

Another example is the time Glenn got Fred Williamson, Tom Savini and Danny Trejo on a From Dusk 'til Dawn book. He put it up at an aggressive price, and I hit the BIN, immediately. I really don't think there is any way i could get my money back on that one. Again, I don't care because the book is frickin' awesome.

 

Worrying about FMV will keep you from losing money, sometimes, if you are forced to resell. It will also keep you from getting some awesome books.

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