Copper - borderline modern collection...what would you offer?

[Mayor006]

So I might have a lead on a collection of about 15,000 books roughly that have been in storage for about 12 years or so and consist of a range of books from moderns at the time all the way back to early copper. SIGHT UNSEEN because the guy simply doesn't deal with comics anymore, what kind of number would you guys throw out at him to make him consider digging them out of storage?

 

If some of you want to just hit me up with a PM that's fine, just looking for a little guidance since I don't want to get stuck with 14,998 pieces of drek and 1 copy of New Mutants 98 and maybe a Caliber Presents #1.

[FlyingDonut]

So I might have a lead on a collection of about 15,000 books roughly that have been in storage for about 12 years or so and consist of a range of books from moderns at the time all the way back to early copper. SIGHT UNSEEN because the guy simply doesn't deal with comics anymore, what kind of number would you guys throw out at him to make him consider digging them out of storage?

 

If some of you want to just hit me up with a PM that's fine, just looking for a little guidance since I don't want to get stuck with 14,998 pieces of drek and 1 copy of New Mutants 98 and maybe a Caliber Presents #1.

 

Are they bagged and boarded and sorted?

 

If they are, $3000 (20 cents each)

If they're not $1500 (10 cents each)

[awakeintheashes]

So I might have a lead on a collection of about 15,000 books roughly that have been in storage for about 12 years or so and consist of a range of books from moderns at the time all the way back to early copper. SIGHT UNSEEN because the guy simply doesn't deal with comics anymore, what kind of number would you guys throw out at him to make him consider digging them out of storage?

 

If some of you want to just hit me up with a PM that's fine, just looking for a little guidance since I don't want to get stuck with 14,998 pieces of drek and 1 copy of New Mutants 98 and maybe a Caliber Presents #1.

 

Wow. I haven't purchased a collection that large before, so I'll let someone else who has suggest a number.

 

One thing I will say, is to factor in the time and effort you will have to put in going through copies of Stone Protectors 1-4 to find the NM 98. I've found some awesome stuff hidden in collections that were completely out of order, but they were only 300-1000 books.

[Bosco685]

Are they bagged and boarded and sorted?

 

If they are, $3000 (20 cents each)

If they're not $1500 (10 cents each)

 

I would agree.

 

And what makes it tougher is if they are the old bags and boards that you have to peel apart because they stuck together while being stored improperly for too long. Then you have to account for your time in sorting/bagging & boarding.

 

$2,500-$3,000 max

[B-Smooth]

Tree fiddy... Can't believe it's taken this long.

[the blob]

I am surprised Donut would go as high as 10 cents a book!

 

there is a legit chance these have been cherry picked into oblivion and then what would you have?

 

figure 225-250 bagged and boarded books per longie. 300+ is with no bags and boards.

 

personally, i'd feel him out and ask him what he is looking for. he might just be thinking $20 a longie to get rid of his headaches. offer to do all the lifting/dragging. he's probably paying $50-$100/mo to store all that krap (remind him of that).

 

Which raises the question, do you have safe/dry space for all this junk? If you are going to turn around and rent a storage room for it you will be burning money (been there, done that).

 

Do you do shows where you might have a shot at blowing these out at 25-50 cents each (problem is, even at 25 cents you will be stuck with a lot of stuff)

 

are you married? because if there isn't some good stuff in there, picking up 60 longies of drek may result in divorce. factor that cost into your calculations.

[FlyingDonut]

I am surprised Donut would go as high as 10 cents a book!

 

there is a legit chance these have been cherry picked into oblivion and then what would you have?

 

figure 225-250 bagged and boarded books per longie. 300+ is with no bags and boards.

 

personally, i'd feel him out and ask him what he is looking for. he might just be thinking $20 a longie to get rid of his headaches. offer to do all the lifting/dragging. he's probably paying $50-$100/mo to store all that krap (remind him of that).

 

Which raises the question, do you have safe/dry space for all this junk? If you are going to turn around and rent a storage room for it you will be burning money (been there, done that).

 

Do you do shows where you might have a shot at blowing these out at 25-50 cents each (problem is, even at 25 cents you will be stuck with a lot of stuff)

 

are you married? because if there isn't some good stuff in there, picking up 60 longies of drek may result in divorce. factor that cost into your calculations.

 

12 years ago is 2001. Then back to early Copper is worth a gamble. 10 cents a book is $25 a long box.

 

I'd buy it, but be ready to very quickly spin the drek off.

[Pete Marino]

I am surprised Donut would go as high as 10 cents a book!

 

there is a legit chance these have been cherry picked into oblivion and then what would you have?

 

figure 225-250 bagged and boarded books per longie. 300+ is with no bags and boards.

 

personally, i'd feel him out and ask him what he is looking for. he might just be thinking $20 a longie to get rid of his headaches. offer to do all the lifting/dragging. he's probably paying $50-$100/mo to store all that krap (remind him of that).

 

Which raises the question, do you have safe/dry space for all this junk? If you are going to turn around and rent a storage room for it you will be burning money (been there, done that).

 

Do you do shows where you might have a shot at blowing these out at 25-50 cents each (problem is, even at 25 cents you will be stuck with a lot of stuff)

 

are you married? because if there isn't some good stuff in there, picking up 60 longies of drek may result in divorce. factor that cost into your calculations.

 

12 years ago is 2001. Then back to early Copper is worth a gamble. 10 cents a book is $25 a long box.

 

I'd buy it, but be ready to very quickly spin the drek off.

 

If you don't have a comic store. What do you do with your drek to get rid of it?

 

Line the walls for insulation? I can't see it being worth selling on ebay or Craigslist

[the blob]

60 longs may also require renting a truck. factor that in.

 

problem is, if it's 1980 - 2001, but 80-90% of it is 1991-1993 speculation books...

 

of course, one NM 98 pays for 4-10 or so boxes

 

anyway, I don't think 10 cents is way overpaying...but you might try to get things started at $20 a box. it shaves $300 off your total vs $25 a box and sounds less insulting than $15 a box. i've been to enough shows where dealers are closing out their tables at $20 a box and you have some control over what you get (though at that point it's mostly junk).

 

 

 

[the blob]

I am surprised Donut would go as high as 10 cents a book!

 

there is a legit chance these have been cherry picked into oblivion and then what would you have?

 

figure 225-250 bagged and boarded books per longie. 300+ is with no bags and boards.

 

personally, i'd feel him out and ask him what he is looking for. he might just be thinking $20 a longie to get rid of his headaches. offer to do all the lifting/dragging. he's probably paying $50-$100/mo to store all that krap (remind him of that).

 

Which raises the question, do you have safe/dry space for all this junk? If you are going to turn around and rent a storage room for it you will be burning money (been there, done that).

 

Do you do shows where you might have a shot at blowing these out at 25-50 cents each (problem is, even at 25 cents you will be stuck with a lot of stuff)

 

are you married? because if there isn't some good stuff in there, picking up 60 longies of drek may result in divorce. factor that cost into your calculations.

 

12 years ago is 2001. Then back to early Copper is worth a gamble. 10 cents a book is $25 a long box.

 

I'd buy it, but be ready to very quickly spin the drek off.

 

If you don't have a comic store. What do you do with your drek to get rid of it?

 

Line the walls for insulation? I can't see it being worth selling on ebay or Craigslist

 

I think there are shops that would pay 10 cents a pop for this sort of stuff...problem is, they may not want to deal with more than one long box at a time, so it's a PITA schlepping them around.

 

I don't know the Craigslist market in Chatanooga, but I could see this selling basically for 7-10 cents a book on craigslist in a big city like NYC or LA. My friend cleared out the drek from his shop after he closed in the early 2000s this way. at that point you have yanked out the best 1-5 long boxes of stuff. maybe sprinkled a couple of decent looking books in the remainder for show like the X-Men 266 with the huge crease on the back cover or a couple of mid-grade McFarlane ASMs and Hulks and Vertigo books.

[divad]

are you married? because if there isn't some good stuff in there, picking up 60 longies of drek may result in divorce. factor that cost into your calculations.

 

True-dat!

[Mayor006]

I am surprised Donut would go as high as 10 cents a book!

 

there is a legit chance these have been cherry picked into oblivion and then what would you have?

 

figure 225-250 bagged and boarded books per longie. 300+ is with no bags and boards.

 

personally, i'd feel him out and ask him what he is looking for. he might just be thinking $20 a longie to get rid of his headaches. offer to do all the lifting/dragging. he's probably paying $50-$100/mo to store all that krap (remind him of that).

 

Which raises the question, do you have safe/dry space for all this junk? If you are going to turn around and rent a storage room for it you will be burning money (been there, done that).

 

Do you do shows where you might have a shot at blowing these out at 25-50 cents each (problem is, even at 25 cents you will be stuck with a lot of stuff)

 

are you married? because if there isn't some good stuff in there, picking up 60 longies of drek may result in divorce. factor that cost into your calculations.

 

 

Great insight guys! Exactly the questions I want to have in mind when I approach him if I do decide to take this on. He is storing all these which is one of the things I'm hoping to bring up as a selling point with my offer. We recently moved and built a new home with an unfinished basement with poured concrete walls. The temperature remains fairly constant and at the moment I have the space. Two years from now when we plan on finishing the basement if they are not all gone then I'm going to have one heck of an offering of comics at the next community yard sale. At the very least there is a book store in town that offers to pay $.10 per book. I'm wondering if they have a limit.....

 

Of course I would have to discuss all this with my wife before trying and then again he might be wanting to just sit on these for another 10 years. I just know he's not doing anything with them now and hasn't for over a decade.

[Mayor006]

Quite honestly I'm of the mindset that if the collection HASN"T been cherry picked, and there is a copy or two of Batman Adventures 12, New Mutants 87, 98, a Teen Titans 2, 44, and just more of those emerging moderns this could turn out pretty amazing. I just don't want the maybe 100 emerging books to blind me to what I'm going to have to put up with on the other 14,900.

[Bosco685]

I just don't want the maybe 100 emerging books to blind me to what I'm going to have to put up with on the other 14,900.

And there in is the challenge with purchasing a collection.

You have to be willing to take Man of Steel 1-16 in order to get to 17-18, or Tales of Teen Titans from 45 on to get to 42-44.

[B-Smooth]

I'll take the rest. It's getting freaking cold up here.

[the blob]

just keep the boxes off the ground and you should be ok. dry basements don't always stay that way, even new ones.

[Bosco685]

I'll take the rest. It's getting freaking cold up here.

 

 

[B-Smooth]

I'll take the rest. It's getting freaking cold up here.

 

 

[thehumantorch]

Quite honestly I'm of the mindset that if the collection HASN"T been cherry picked, and there is a copy or two of Batman Adventures 12, New Mutants 87, 98, a Teen Titans 2, 44, and just more of those emerging moderns this could turn out pretty amazing. I just don't want the maybe 100 emerging books to blind me to what I'm going to have to put up with on the other 14,900.

 

Lots of good advice on this thread.

 

Bagged and boarded books are far more valuable than lose books. Figure 15 cents to bag and board each book plus your time.

 

Collections with lots of runs - big and small - are great. We package them up and price them at $1 to $2 per book. At the last show we sold 5 of the 11 long boxes we took.

 

I'm at 5 to 10 cents per book and more if there are hot CA/MA keys.

[NinjaSealed]

Pretty much everything has already been said.

 

It all depends on if it was picked/when it was picked/how hard it was picked.

 

If it was picked recently by a knowledgeable guy I would stay the hell away. If it is packed away untouched non picked stuff sitting for a decade, it's a gold mine.