Flipping different ages of comics

[FlyingDonut]

Here's the only hints I'm going to give.

 

1) ONLY BUY what you know. If you buy stuff to flip and don't know it cold, you WILL get burned.

2) Understand the concept of a "sunk cost".

3) Do not fall in love with your books. Everything has a price.

4) A good good time to buy is at the end of the year. People have bills to pay.

5) eBay ROCKS in January and February.

 

Makes sense Donut. I'm aware of these rules already but hearing it from another does help to reinforce it. I was under the impression though that the market picked up again in January, I know December rocks for buying on Ebay. Or maybe you are talking about starting to SELL in January?

 

Yes, my mistake for not being clear. January and February are GREAT selling months on eBay - no major conventions.

[PovertyRow]

POV, oh I understand that concept for sure. But how much work does it take to sell 100 $1 items for $2 versus selling one $100 item for $150? Wouldn't you be better off selling two of the $100 items for $150?

 

Basically you are asking would you be better off with a $100 profit by selling two of the $100 items rather than selling 200 of the $1 for a $200 profit. I say no...IF you know where to sell the items. Why settle for half of what your raw money can bring? And as far as work goes - again - if you know the market you should be able to dump the 200 items.

 

(I am just using this as an example. Bottom line - if you have a place or places to flip a lot of low priced stuff for a better percentage - then do it. If you don;t, then find one! )

[BassGMan]

POV, oh I understand that concept for sure. But how much work does it take to sell 100 $1 items for $2 versus selling one $100 item for $150? Wouldn't you be better off selling two of the $100 items for $150?

 

Basically you are asking would you be better off with a $100 profit by selling two of the $100 items rather than selling 200 of the $1 for a $200 profit. I say no...IF you know where to sell the items. Why settle for half of what your raw money can bring? And as far as work goes - again - if you know the market you should be able to dump the 200 items.

 

(I am just using this as an example. Bottom line - if you have a place or places to flip a lot of low priced stuff for a better percentage - then do it. If you don;t, then find one! )

 

From my experience the cons are GREAT for flipping the cheap stuff. Very easy to set out your long boxes and then take a bunch of $1s and throw them in a small metal box. But selling cheapo stuff on Ebay can be waaaay too time consuming when considering listing, e-mails, shipping, etc.

[PovertyRow]

But selling cheapo stuff on Ebay can be waaaay too time consuming when considering listing, e-mails, shipping, etc.

 

I'll tell you - as far as ebay goes I would not really consider it except for bulk cheap items. You betcha!

[sfilosa]

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Here's the only hints I'm going to give.

 

1) ONLY BUY what you know. If you buy stuff to flip and don't know it cold, you WILL get burned.

2) Understand the concept of a "sunk cost".

3) Do not fall in love with your books. Everything has a price.

4) A good good time to buy is at the end of the year. People have bills to pay.

5) eBay ROCKS in January and February.

 

 

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Makes sense Donut. I'm aware of these rules already but hearing it from another does help to reinforce it. I was under the impression though that the market picked up again in January, I know December rocks for buying on Ebay. Or maybe you are talking about starting to SELL in January?

 

#4 & #5 were what I was getting at regarding the comic market being cyclical.

 

That said, the quality of good books to purchase in December is VERY SLIM. But it is a great time to get a higher priced, or rarely offer for sale item, without everyone bidding against you.

 

February and March are good times to sell HIGH PRICED books as, most holiday bills are paid off and year end bonus money / tax refunds come in to play. Plus, there is the NEW GUIDE effect at work.

 

Still, all trends end, and this could be the year.

[sterlingcomics]

 

When's the seminar at the Holiday Inn?

 

Actually it is going to be held in the housecleaning closet at the Sham Hotel just off of I-40 next to the truck stop

 

Hurry, spots are filling up! Call today and make your reservation!!!

[pjthib]

Maybe it's just a coincidence but some of the best deals I've gotten on books have been in VF range on Heritage. Their clientele may be more interested in the extreme grades than e-bay customers and sometimes let anything below a 9.0 pass by.

 

Good deals:

 

JIM 89 7.5 - Paid $185 - GPA $265 - Last sale $312

Richie Rich #7 - 8.5 - Paid $285 No GPA but it was a sweet price

 

Pete

[ninanina]

POV, oh I understand that concept for sure. But how much work does it take to sell 100 $1 items for $2 versus selling one $100 item for $150? Wouldn't you be better off selling two of the $100 items for $150?

 

I do know of a local dealer who spends his time selling $5 - $10 dollar books all week. (Yes he only deals in back-issues)

 

The reason he does this is because there's a HUGE market out there for these types of books.

 

....just stating an observation which I feel is loosely along the lines of what's being discussed here.