What's your comic budget?

[Rickdogg]

 

Was talking to Bruce and found out that my sale blew all of the other 9.6 sales out of the water; close to double

[Rob]

Back to the original question: What's YOUR comic budget?

 

I'll answer first. Probably about $100-$200/month

[Rickdogg]

It all depends... $250-$500 a month, but my sales offset those costs a bit since I am usually upgrading or sell other books to get the ones I want.

[dam60]

Rob - my comic "budget" is $100 a month and I am really trying to stick to it. I often fail miserably. I don't mind spending money though once I sell a lower copy or some dupes that I have. I prefer SA books in the 6.0-8.0 range which makes them attainable at around a 25% to 0% discount to guide, but rarely will you pay a premium for books in that grade. For a GA book, I would be happy with a 6.0 which would (depending on the title) be probably 25% either side of guide.

 

My collecting goals for the year are as follows:

1 - finish my Ghosts collection (currently missing 7)

2 - knock the Batman books down to 200 through 6?? complete (currently at 264-611 complete)

3 - add to the other runs at 50 cents a piece or better (currenlty working on Avengers, Action, Detective, Green Lantern, X-Factor, DD, Web of SM, ASM, and Darkhawk). These don't have to be NM copies, anything above a 7.0 for my completionist side.

 

For my birthday and for Xmas I anticipate spending a bit more.

 

Comic collecting should be an enjoyable hobby. Don't feel pressure to keep up with the Jones's.

 

All the best with your collecting goals,

 

DAM

 

[blowout]

I agree with monumental. I also collect SA and their are lots of nice books to be had at great prices. Books in the VF range are a steal at the moment.

[murph0]

I don't go by a budget..what I do is put acceptable prices I'll pay for a book..and then when that book comes along I'll bid it up to the price range I have placed. Sometimes I'll go over it if it's a book I've been having problems finding, but with my ASM collection I usually stay within the range.

 

Brian

[Rob]

2 - knock the Batman books down to 200 through 6?? complete (currently at 264-611 complete)

 

Dam, your collecting sounds similar to mine. $100/month, collecting a Batman run. I had 400-5XX, and about half of the 300's, and sold them all! (Won't make that mistake again). I can't see paying the money to get those newer books back, especially when my interests lies in the older issues. I had a VF/NM 200, solid F/F+ 139 and 140, and a Fair but complete 100. And of course the VG/F 27 I mentioned earlier. All gone now. My first goal will be to get those back. For some reason, I have sentimental value on the issues I used to own. Has to be same condition or better.

[dam60]

I think that you'll find that at a major con you can get your hands on MANY of the 400-600 books for 50 cents. It's really a shame that they never held their value, but heh, now more people can enjoy them

 

I can tell you a few of the dealers that I used to get my books, but I started out by buying a Batman collection on ebay. I really liked the stuff, so I just kept adding to it. One day I'll have them all. Not only is it really cool to read, but it gives somewhat of a American Pop Culture overview through the years. From the sci-fi 50s to the campy 60s to the dark and gritty 70s, etc. It is fun to watch how Batman is portrayed differently and the subject matter changes throughout the years. If I had some real bucks I would try to do this too with an Action run. After I finish the Batman, I'll start on Detective and then Action, but I don't have high hopes for those runs!

 

Plus with $100 a month you can get pretty far, especially if you are just starting out! I have some of the nicer issues CGCed and I paid some money for those, but I like 'em.

 

Another cool thing about doing the Batman run is that it is a relatively easy goal. I can get down to 100 no sweat - meaning that the issues are out there. Even down to 1 isn't too bad, although extremely expensive. Metropolis has every Bats from 1-100 missing 16 I think? At least that's how it was last time I checked their site.

 

Cheers to a fellow Bats collector!

 

DAM

 

[lighthouse]

Back to the original question: What's YOUR comic budget?

 

Mine is a little different, given that I am a full-time brick-and-mortar shop owner...

 

But my budget is for a net outflow of around $300/month for my personal collection. Some months that means I buy one book that runs $300. Some months it means I buy $3500 of stuff and turn around and sell $3200...

 

And so far it seems as though the total value of my collection climbs around $1500/month. Some of that is appreciation, but most of it is just being able to buy better stuff than what I sell. If I can sell a $150 book for $100 and turn around and buy a $500 book with that same $100... woo-hoo...

 

Now the budget for the shop... that's a whole other kettle of fish...

[COI]

I'm one of these Buyer/Seller types. I'm 24, self employed, and not married, so my budgetary lines are a little blurry. It all depends on my cashflow with my business on any given month. If cashflow is good on a particular month, I'll look to buy as much high quality stuff I can find(at good prices, of course), and on Months where the flow is lesser, I'll focus on selling for profit. So I guess I'm more of a seller than a collector. Unless it's a book I feel I would not be able to find an equal or better of, everything I have has a price.

 

And like Darth mentioned, I can tell you that I've seen massive hoards of silver books, especially 1967-1970. They are NOT hard to find at all at a decent price, especially in the VG/VG+ range. This is even more true with bronze. As for Gold, I won't comment as I know very little about it.

[Ariamus]

Cool...I'm a Batman collector too. I read every Batman related book that comes out nowadays (I especially like Birds of Prey because Oracle is an awesome heroine and I also like the new Catwoman).

 

As for filling in my back issues, Batbooks are third on my priority list behind Thor and Daredevil. Actually, when I really think about it, they're currently second on my priority list; I'm waiting for the movie hype to pass so that Daredevil books become more reasonable. With regards to Batman, I have Batman 421-425, 430-473 (just got those) and 491-present and I have Detectives in the five hundreds up to 591 where I have a complete run to present except for 653-655.

[ninanina]

If you feel CGC has priced you out of the hobby, stay away from it and buy raw books. Mid-grade silver age are very affordable right now. You could have a lot of fun chasing down a run of a book on e-bay. You just have to be careful, because A LOT of the sellers can't grade. When you get a bit older, a little more out of debt, a better paying job, it's easier to spend on the higher priced stuff. By then all you'll need are the last 10 issues and if you don't want to spend 1000's of dollars for them, you can buy "good" copies to fill in the run. Even after getting the copies, you can up-grade. No hurry, take your time and have fun.

 

Comic collecting does not have to be an expensive hobby. Just buy within your means or what you can afford to spend. You have the rest of your life.

 

So many different ways to accumulate a collection. Pick the way that's best for you. And, it's not always best to chase the books everyone else is chasing. Those are the one's that usually are the most expensive. It's cheaper to chase the one's you like.

 

.

[Joanna]

I like SA/GA DC. I'd much rather have a JLA #21 in VG or F, than a NM 70's Batman.

 

Rob, I've been putting my JLA's up for sale recently (just sold my 22 -- the companion to 21), and there are lots left. Although I've really just started to sell off the JLA's, I spent months selling off my GA & SA Superman, Superboy, Action, Adventure, Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane (still have some of these left), Flash, GL, Batman, Detective, etc. all at way below guide (because no one wants to pay guide for anything that isn't NM). There are tons of bargains to be found on ebay. I know because I was a source for a whole lot of them. sniff.

 

(don't mind me, I'm just sick of selling stuff on ebay, and right now not much is selling. In a dry spell. Plus, I really, really, really hate selling my JLAs because I love that series).

 

I don't want to put an ad in here, so no links, but if you see jsandsmark as a seller, she's trustworthy.

 

-- Joanna

[dam60]

Nice!! I am more of a purist and stick to Batman primarily, but working on a run of Detective 400-778 too.

 

I actually really enjoythe current Thor series but can't see myself spending the money for the issues. I track lots of em on beay and one of these days I am going to pounce all over it! I have a few DDs but want to add to that run with a few 50 cent books.

 

Here's to some cheap DD books after the movie!

 

DAM

[Rob]

When you get a bit older, a little more out of debt, a better paying job, it's easier to spend on the higher priced stuff.

 

I must have given the impression that I'm green to the hobby. I'm not that young, and have been collecting my whole life. I just got out of collecting a few years ago, and am getting the itch again. I was just worried that while I was gone, the hobby has become a CGC market, geared for those who want to buy $1000 comics. Money's not a problem, I make enough money. I was just wondering how others justify their spending limits. I can afford to spend about $3000/month on comics, but that would be foolish. Are people out of control, and racking up credit card debt on comics? Or are they spending in lieu of saving, or paying down the mortgage? Or does eveyrone here make over $100K/yr? If that's the case, buying $1000 comics would be no problem.

[Rob]

Oh, and I have a wife who monitors all spending.

[ninanina]

Ok, thanks for letting me know.

 

Obviously you're at that stage when you can afford to spend lots if you want to. Personally, right now I'm spending about $80.00 a month on average and it's mostly new stuff.

 

When the new guide comes out, I am going to probably spend closer to about $300.00 a month average going after expensive early X-Men and Fantastic Four & Avengers comics. Issues I need are probably going to run about $3-$400.00, so it might take me a few years to finish. But, I got lots of time.

 

How I justify it is I am thinking when these finally do sell, I should at least get my money back for them. If I manage to make money, great. If you drink, smoke or gamble or party away you're money, it's gone. Spending hundreds of dollars on that is a waste, but not comics. You have something you can look at, feel and smell over and over and over again. Lose that $100.00 gambling, smoking, drinking and partying and it's gone. GONE I TELL YOU!

 

So, spend it on comics, be happy.

 

 

[Smitty]

Ebay has opened-up new opportunities for the average collector. Hard to find

issues are listed every week in multiples. I have bought several collections

over the last few years and sold the ones I didn't need and kepted the others.

So if done right collecting can be a self-supporting hobby.

I also like Thor & Daredevil , having thier first apperances and other keys.

I bought a set of Dark Knight Returns all cgc 9.8 off a local area man who purchased hundred copies of each back in '86. Happy collecting

[FlComicFan]

I stopped buying new comics many years ago so I take what I would have been spending to keep up with the amount of books I used to keep up with 60-80 books a months and spend that on Golden Age books. I also stopped investing in stocks and put away some modest Gold books away for my future offspring. I dont drive a new car I choose to save money and some of it I invest in comics. Probably sounds goofy but if the trends continue at a modest pace the books I am buying now should be worth a few times what I've paid in 20-30 years. I also try and buy well below guide even above guide books which you have to have a lot of patience for.

[comicwiz]

My comic collecting started at a very young age. But in the early eighties something happened that would forever change the way I would pursue the hobby. A dear and magnanimous relative passed-on, and I inherited what is arguably one of the largest collections spanning mainstream and undergrounds, from atom to bronze ages. The collection was appraised a few years before his passing, and because of the value, it was put into a trust, and I didn't actually recieve it until I turned 18. It was a strange age to inherit, because I was easily distracted by athletics and girls. It remained that way until about the mid-twenties. When I graduated from University, and got my first job, I started collecting again -- mostly filling gaps in the runs. But I ran into a dilemma because these books were costing me a fortune; another big problem was that I was holding on to everything with no desire to sell any of it.

 

I later promised myself that I would only continue to buy comics so long as I could afford to, but my perspective has changed much since then. So I started to subsidize my purchases through other avenues. I started by freelancing as an ice-hockey "rent-a-goalie" with a pull of about $450 cash in a week; that kept things interesting -- and believe it or not, it was very lucrative -- but physically VERY taxing. Web-development was my first real cash-cow; at one point, I was making more freelancing as a web-developer than I was with my full-time job. That was the heyday of comic collecting. Nowadays, its difficult to justify buying, being out of work for almost 4 months, but I still do a fair bit. The difference is that I've been buying prudently, and purely on residuals that I've been making through cash jobs, and maintenance contracts from my web-dev days which are still keeping me busy. Kind of like hammer says, don't sweat the small stuff. It is in this collectors opinon that the measure of a true collector is not how much s/he spends, but rather how much s/he enjoys collecting.