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Comiclink Summer Featured auction -- post 'em if you got 'em (or got blown out)

Started by mysterio,

280 posts in this topic

VintageComics

VintageComics

Posted
Posted
Even all the sites together don't make up the whole picture. There are so many variables.

 

A few years ago, GPA decided to include auctions in their data from a smaller auction house. I'm not going to name them because this isn't about them and I have nothing against them but many of the books I tracked went for record lows simply because they are not an established auction house IMO for higher end books.

 

Those recorded sales crushed some books on GPA and it literally took years for those books to recover on the open market. Why?

 

Because people would look at the recorded sales on GPA and assume that the book was in a death spiral.

 

And why? Because an auction house who didn't often auction comics was auctioning off high end comics.

 

There is also eye appeal, PQ, time of day, time of year and many other variables to take into account. And most importantly, time. It takes time to form a trend...like months. And maybe a year.

 

Analyzing things in a real time scenario will never give someone an accurate picture.

 

 

So basically... it depends.

 

...as always, it depends on what you know. And what you don't know.

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Heronext

Heronext

Posted
Posted
The FF49 went for near its all time high. Looking at lower grades and their trends, someone overpaid. Unless someone wants the story run in the highest grade and price doesn't matter to them.

 

Personally I'm beginning to like FF 49 more than 48

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VintageComics

VintageComics

Posted
Posted
GPA is great, but you will always have dealers that say that sales are anomalies in order to justify their high prices.

 

There is little reason to deal with dealers with all of these auction sites. On the buy, they claim they are dealers and need to pay you under GPA. On the sell, GPA doesn't matter because they know better. I can open an LLC for $250, get a webpage for $99. Will you sell me your books at 75% GPA and buy them at 140% GPA?

 

GPA is the guide. Don't let used car salesmen tell you otherwise. Think about what YOU can sell it for tomorrow before plopping down your money. You need to average out 6-months of GPA data and then look at lower grades to see trends because there is more movement in lower grades because of quantity.

 

lol

 

Wow, that was insulting. So dealers are basically obsolete and are used car saleseman?

 

A DIY-type guy is going to see them that way. They (and consignment sites) do a LOT of the busy work which I think is worth it to a lot of collectors - busy ones, those who want one payment for a lot of stuff after one auction, those without scanners etc

 

I agree completely.

 

But some people are not DIY types of people.

And some people want to see a book in person before purchasing. I just had a guy this morning tell me that on a book he was offered by me.

And some people like going to shows to meet people.

Or have loyalty to certain dealers.

 

All I'm saying is that dealers and auction houses both provide services that different types of customers find valuable.

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Broke as a Joke

Broke as a Joke

Posted
Posted
Even all the sites together don't make up the whole picture. There are so many variables.

 

A few years ago, GPA decided to include auctions in their data from a smaller auction house. I'm not going to name them because this isn't about them and I have nothing against them but many of the books I tracked went for record lows simply because they are not an established auction house IMO for higher end books.

 

Those recorded sales crushed some books on GPA and it literally took years for those books to recover on the open market. Why?

 

Because people would look at the recorded sales on GPA and assume that the book was in a death spiral.

 

And why? Because an auction house who didn't often auction comics was auctioning off high end comics.

 

There is also eye appeal, PQ, time of day, time of year and many other variables to take into account. And most importantly, time. It takes time to form a trend...like months. And maybe a year.

 

Analyzing things in a real time scenario will never give someone an accurate picture.

 

 

So what purpose does GPA exist then? If it has to selectively choose what books to track. Or should GPA now detail each sale with where and when it was sold?

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Columbia Comics

Columbia Comics

Posted
Posted
GPA is great, but you will always have dealers that say that sales are anomalies in order to justify their high prices.

 

There is little reason to deal with dealers with all of these auction sites. On the buy, they claim they are dealers and need to pay you under GPA. On the sell, GPA doesn't matter because they know better. I can open an LLC for $250, get a webpage for $99. Will you sell me your books at 75% GPA and buy them at 140% GPA?

 

GPA is the guide. Don't let used car salesmen tell you otherwise. Think about what YOU can sell it for tomorrow before plopping down your money. You need to average out 6-months of GPA data and then look at lower grades to see trends because there is more movement in lower grades because of quantity.

 

That is rather insulting... lol

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AnkurJ

AnkurJ

Posted
Posted
GPA is great, but you will always have dealers that say that sales are anomalies in order to justify their high prices.

 

There is little reason to deal with dealers with all of these auction sites. On the buy, they claim they are dealers and need to pay you under GPA. On the sell, GPA doesn't matter because they know better. I can open an LLC for $250, get a webpage for $99. Will you sell me your books at 75% GPA and buy them at 140% GPA?

 

GPA is the guide. Don't let used car salesmen tell you otherwise. Think about what YOU can sell it for tomorrow before plopping down your money. You need to average out 6-months of GPA data and then look at lower grades to see trends because there is more movement in lower grades because of quantity.

 

lol

 

Wow, that was insulting. So dealers are basically obsolete and are used car saleseman?

 

There are also many collectors who don't use GPA. They use OSPG. What does that make them?

 

There are many types of markets, many types of dealers and many types of collectors. There is no one right way.

 

And many of those books that you buy at auction often originate with a dealer.

 

For rare books, it is not easy to buy from a dealer. Often times it seems prices are inflated with little rhyme or reason and the dealer actually wants to keep the book. But by setting these prices, it influences other dealers to raise their prices, and the cycle continues. Just my opinion.

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1Cool

1Cool

Posted
Posted

Dealers are just like used car dealers. Most people do not want to go through the hassle of selling their own cars online or through the paper so they use the services of a dealer. The dealer deals with the crazy buyers and advertises. Not everyone has the time or expertise to sell a car (or large batch of books).

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cloud cloddie

cloud cloddie

Posted
Posted
Even all the sites together don't make up the whole picture. There are so many variables.

 

A few years ago, GPA decided to include auctions in their data from a smaller auction house. I'm not going to name them because this isn't about them and I have nothing against them but many of the books I tracked went for record lows simply because they are not an established auction house IMO for higher end books.

 

Those recorded sales crushed some books on GPA and it literally took years for those books to recover on the open market. Why?

 

Because people would look at the recorded sales on GPA and assume that the book was in a death spiral.

 

And why? Because an auction house who didn't often auction comics was auctioning off high end comics.

 

There is also eye appeal, PQ, time of day, time of year and many other variables to take into account. And most importantly, time. It takes time to form a trend...like months. And maybe a year.

 

Analyzing things in a real time scenario will never give someone an accurate picture.

 

 

So what purpose does GPA exist then? If it has to selectively choose what books to track. Or should GPA now detail each sale with where and when it was sold?

 

I would love for them to list where it was sold. I've seen many high/low sales come up on there that were not from the main sites they report from.

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mysterio

mysterio

Posted
  • Author
Posted
GPA is great, but you will always have dealers that say that sales are anomalies in order to justify their high prices.

 

There is little reason to deal with dealers with all of these auction sites. On the buy, they claim they are dealers and need to pay you under GPA. On the sell, GPA doesn't matter because they know better. I can open an LLC for $250, get a webpage for $99. Will you sell me your books at 75% GPA and buy them at 140% GPA?

 

GPA is the guide. Don't let used car salesmen tell you otherwise. Think about what YOU can sell it for tomorrow before plopping down your money. You need to average out 6-months of GPA data and then look at lower grades to see trends because there is more movement in lower grades because of quantity.

 

lol

 

Wow, that was insulting. So dealers are basically obsolete and are used car saleseman?

 

There are also many collectors who don't use GPA. They use OSPG. What does that make them?

 

There are many types of markets, many types of dealers and many types of collectors. There is no one right way.

 

And many of those books that you buy at auction often originate with a dealer.

 

For rare books, it is not easy to buy from a dealer. Often times it seems prices are inflated with little rhyme or reason and the dealer actually wants to keep the book. But by setting these prices, it influences other dealers to raise their prices, and the cycle continues. Just my opinion.

 

For rare books that aren't often traded it is very hard to set a price. Buyers and sellers are basically left to guess what is fair. Data points can help with this, but at the end of the day it may come down to the junction of whatever someone is willing to pay coupled with whatever the seller is willing to take. In that scenario it is better for the dealer to aim a little high, rather than let something rare go way too cheap. A buyer can always make an offer, but it is best to try to avoid buyers running up to your table spraining something trying to get their wallet out quickly (or sellers having to look up GPA prices and raise the sticker during a negotiation... :facepalm: ).

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thunsicker

thunsicker

Posted
Posted
Even all the sites together don't make up the whole picture. There are so many variables.

 

A few years ago, GPA decided to include auctions in their data from a smaller auction house. I'm not going to name them because this isn't about them and I have nothing against them but many of the books I tracked went for record lows simply because they are not an established auction house IMO for higher end books.

 

Those recorded sales crushed some books on GPA and it literally took years for those books to recover on the open market. Why?

 

Because people would look at the recorded sales on GPA and assume that the book was in a death spiral.

 

And why? Because an auction house who didn't often auction comics was auctioning off high end comics.

 

There is also eye appeal, PQ, time of day, time of year and many other variables to take into account. And most importantly, time. It takes time to form a trend...like months. And maybe a year.

 

Analyzing things in a real time scenario will never give someone an accurate picture.

 

 

So what purpose does GPA exist then? If it has to selectively choose what books to track. Or should GPA now detail each sale with where and when it was sold?

 

I would love for them to list where it was sold. I've seen many high/low sales come up on there that were not from the main sites they report from.

 

Personally I'd settle for GPA letting us know if a sale is fixed price (whether through EBay or a dealer) or an auction. Anyone who doesn't think there is a difference between a fixed price sale and an auction sale is fooling themselves. I do think both have a place in the market, but when I'm buying or selling an auction price would be more realistic for me as a collector not a dealer. It's one thing that gocollect absolutely got right.

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passion4comics

passion4comics

Posted
Posted
GPA is great, but you will always have dealers that say that sales are anomalies in order to justify their high prices.

 

There is little reason to deal with dealers with all of these auction sites. On the buy, they claim they are dealers and need to pay you under GPA. On the sell, GPA doesn't matter because they know better. I can open an LLC for $250, get a webpage for $99. Will you sell me your books at 75% GPA and buy them at 140% GPA?

 

GPA is the guide. Don't let used car salesmen tell you otherwise. Think about what YOU can sell it for tomorrow before plopping down your money. You need to average out 6-months of GPA data and then look at lower grades to see trends because there is more movement in lower grades because of quantity.

 

That is rather insulting... lol

 

It wasn't meant to be. It was more like collectors should get off their asses and do their homework and legwork. In the long run it would pay off. Listen to your gut and patience is your friend.

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MrBedrock

MrBedrock

Posted
Posted
GPA is great, but you will always have dealers that say that sales are anomalies in order to justify their high prices.

 

There is little reason to deal with dealers with all of these auction sites. On the buy, they claim they are dealers and need to pay you under GPA. On the sell, GPA doesn't matter because they know better. I can open an LLC for $250, get a webpage for $99. Will you sell me your books at 75% GPA and buy them at 140% GPA?

 

GPA is the guide. Don't let used car salesmen tell you otherwise. Think about what YOU can sell it for tomorrow before plopping down your money. You need to average out 6-months of GPA data and then look at lower grades to see trends because there is more movement in lower grades because of quantity.

Since you just called me a "used car salesman" can I call you a poo-poo head?

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romanheart

romanheart

Posted
Posted
Thanks for that comment.

 

 

It wasn't directed at anyone. I just think that collectors should do their own legwork and homework and know when to walk away and have patience. With multiple buying venues there is NOTHING that does not come up on the open market eventually. Patience!!!

 

I second that. You can use these tools as a guideline but really you need to guage the book in front of you and ask how much it is worth to you.

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