How do YOU feel about the "price guide" in the OSPG?

[slym2none]

Let me perfectly clear, even though I said I wasn't gonna post in this thread for a bit -

 

I am a loser.

 

I have no life. No friends. No job. Nothing. I make it perfectly clear to everyone here. Why this was brought up in this thread, IDK, but here it is. All laid out, nice & clear.

 

Anyone else want to discuss this with me, I am happy to PM about it. Let's leave it out of Comics General, shall we? Any furthering of this here and I will "hump the button" on those posts.

 

 

 

-slym

[Jeffro.]

I prefer Wizard!

 

 

 

Comics Values Monthly for the win!

 

[seanfingh]

Am I allowed to hump the button on OSPG-haters? Long live the OSPG!!

[slym2none]

You do whatever you feel like. I know you don't need anyone telling you what to do.

 

 

 

 

-slym

[seanfingh]

You're right about that. But I humped the button anyway.

[slym2none]

Excellent.

 

(thumbs u

 

 

 

-slym

[Dr. Balls]

I think when you utilize GPA, take time to do market research on what is hot and combine it with the OSPG, everything seems to work out. This is not a recent complaint - people have always said this about OSPG in combination with other pricing guides and market trends. For me, it comes down to doing some extra work to understand what things sell for in the hobby.

[Chip Cataldo]

Neil, you're not a loser. Knock that crud off.

 

You love comics...that makes you a winner.

 

Peace,

 

Chip

[comix4fun]

I always thought the OSPG was something for the general public to feel good about when they go to a dealer and get 30-40-50% off on books?

 

I was a dealer for over a decade in the 80's-90's and OSPG was a benchmark to be used to determine how many times guide a hot book would go for and how much under guide you'd sell dregs.

[HarveySwick]

Let me perfectly clear, even though I said I wasn't gonna post in this thread for a bit -

 

I am a loser.

 

I have no life. No friends. No job. Nothing. I make it perfectly clear to everyone here. Why this was brought up in this thread, IDK, but here it is. All laid out, nice & clear.

 

Anyone else want to discuss this with me, I am happy to PM about it. Let's leave it out of Comics General, shall we? Any furthering of this here and I will "hump the button" on those posts.

 

 

 

-slym

 

I like you.

[AGGIEZ]

Just how are they supposed to keep all of the thousands of comics listed in the guide updated?

What amount of market research would make this possible?

Do they scour ebay for sold listings?

Do they canvass every comic seller in the world?

 

Thank about the enormity of what's being asked here and then ask yourself if it's possible. If you answer yes, then you're wrong

 

 

Ask the boardie that runs Valiantfans.com. His price guide is pulled directly from E-bay, which I think is probably the best "guide" we have out there. That and GPA for slabbed.

 

http://www.valiantfan.com/valiant/guide.asp

[Erndog]

Just how are they supposed to keep all of the thousands of comics listed in the guide updated?

What amount of market research would make this possible?

Do they scour ebay for sold listings?

Do they canvass every comic seller in the world?

 

Thank about the enormity of what's being asked here and then ask yourself if it's possible. If you answer yes, then you're wrong

 

 

Ask the boardie that runs Valiantfans.com. His price guide is pulled directly from E-bay, which I think is probably the best "guide" we have out there. That and GPA for slabbed.

 

http://www.valiantfan.com/valiant/guide.asp

 

But wasn't there just a thread where someone got mad at their local comic shop owner who said "let me check eBay" when trying to price out a book?

 

And I'm not disagreeing with you- in fact, I agree. eBay is one of the best reference points.

[Tony S]

I think when you utilize GPA, take time to do market research on what is hot and combine it with the OSPG, everything seems to work out. This is not a recent complaint - people have always said this about OSPG in combination with other pricing guides and market trends. For me, it comes down to doing some extra work to understand what things sell for in the hobby.

 

This +1

[dgarthwaite-migration]

Just how are they supposed to keep all of the thousands of comics listed in the guide updated?

What amount of market research would make this possible?

Do they scour ebay for sold listings?

Do they canvass every comic seller in the world?

 

Thank about the enormity of what's being asked here and then ask yourself if it's possible. If you answer yes, then you're wrong

 

 

Ask the boardie that runs Valiantfans.com. His price guide is pulled directly from E-bay, which I think is probably the best "guide" we have out there. That and GPA for slabbed.

 

http://www.valiantfan.com/valiant/guide.asp

 

But wasn't there just a thread where someone got mad at their local comic shop owner who said "let me check eBay" when trying to price out a book?

 

And I'm not disagreeing with you- in fact, I agree. eBay is one of the best reference points.

 

There's nothing wrong with referencing eBay to determine prices. There is something wrong with taking a book priced cover price and pricing it the most expensive price you can find. Especially, if you are a retailer paying monthly overhead and it's at the expense of making a sale as you off the customer in the process.

 

I do not expect every price to be perfect and updated. I WOULD expect hot items to be tracked and to have a system in place to schedule review of all slower moving titles/books. In the 90's. Harbinger #1 was listed for $5 when it was selling out at places for $60. That is inexcusable. If the market report says a comic is moving for $100 and the price guide shows it at $10, clearly there is a disconnect Clearly the advisers knew the book was hot before the guide went to print. Why isn't the price updated? Again, that is inexcusable.

 

That being said, I don't hate the guide. Hate implies I'm angry and mull over it's inadequacies. I really don't even think about the book unless someone mentions it or I see it on the shelf. I smile and think "what a useless piece of garbage" and I move on.

 

DG

[A.Romeo]

They should probably just start a monthly magazine to keep it updated better

[DeliBebek]

The fact that we're on the verge of 2014 and the Overstreet Price Guide has absolutely no online presence is evidence enough of its irrelevance. GPA is the best model for what the OPG could have become. In the 1970s, a yearly guide was able to keep up with changes in the market. In the 1980s it began to lose credibility as books tended to spike in value quickly, which is why in the 1990s, Overstreet's monthly update was useful. Since the late-90s slump and the ubiquity of the internet, the annual publication has been useless. Even its value as a reference book is vastly overshadowed by online comic book databases.

 

In any case, slym2none, that's not how I feel. That's only what I think. My feelings about the OPG are completely nil.

[rjrjr]

Just how are they supposed to keep all of the thousands of comics listed in the guide updated?

What amount of market research would make this possible?

Do they scour ebay for sold listings?

Do they canvass every comic seller in the world?

 

Thank about the enormity of what's being asked here and then ask yourself if it's possible. If you answer yes, then you're wrong

 

 

E-Bay could create price guides on their own with a few changes to their site. Create templates for the listings in the collectibles sections (for example, comics.) Allow the community to dictate the templates. Obvious information includes publisher, title, month/year, grade, etc. Listings that follow the templates are eligible for inclusion in the price guide while free form listings are not. Use the actual sales of comics using these templates to generate price guides. Include the cost of shipping and handling as well as feedback for the particular item to determine if it is included in the guide or not. They could generate 7 day, 2 week, 1 month, 1 year, 5 year, and lifetime averages. I know at one time I was contemplating an E-Bay competition site (I use to own surfnswap.com years and years ago) that would have this as part of the draw for the site. For a nominal fee every month, E-Bay would allow you to use the price guide.

 

 

[rjpb]

I have not bought a copy in years. When pricing my stuff I use "sold items" in eBay as a gauge.

 

 

That and Heritage and Comic Connect archives for pricier stuff - which sometimes involves extrapolation.

 

When buying stuff for my collection I often use a gut feeling of what's a price I'm willing to pay absent any data - though it's mostly Gold and Atomic under $50, so cheaper stuff to begin with.

[Logan510]

[zosocane]

I no longer place credence in the pricing component of the OSPG. For pre-1980 books, I rely on GPA instead, and make appropriate price deductions therefrom if a book is raw.

 

OSPG is only good for the reference information and market reports. I also like the galleries at the end.