My road to success (Moving Update 2) 8 8

[uchiha101]

Lot of good info above

 

Also please take a basic accounting and a few basic business classes. Comic dealing isn't for everyone, but if you're gonna force yourself into it ir any self employment, you need to know the basics.

Also i suggest building relationships w local dealers or shop owners and volunteeeeing to help at cons to get experience

 

Simply put, there's no way to skip any of these steps if you're not starting out with a great collection of your own or huge capital. Lots of non pros ariund here just paying attention to trends, keeping an eye out for collections or hot comics at shows or lcs and turn $1000-$2000 into $4-5k or more each year. Yes it takes some, but it's no ones goal to turn $2k into $2300

 

yeah I've come to realize that as well as my ultimate goal is to be my own boss and be self employed I will take courses to help me learn that and I'll have to read the info above to sink in

[uchiha101]

wow - lots of stuff here -

 

Gabriel - you obviously are dedicated to making this work. This is a positive trait - but make sure you are also flexible in your business model.

 

 

Some advice for you - (and a lot of this is almost the same as others have posted - hopefully some will sink in)

 

1. SIMPLIFY - you need to pull back. It is almost like you are trying to do everything at once - but without experience and a LARGE bankroll - this is dangerous. It can also be confusing - as you try and manage too many things at once.

 

2. TRADING: Do NOT trade. I have seen a couple that you have done (this one - and trading a lot of avengers for graded infinity gauntlets) --- and it is hard to see where the positives may lie for you. A graded 129 is a VERY good book to have regardless of any movie or TV hype. It never should have been part of any trade for a single book. If anything - a trade locally for say 100 books that can sell for $20 a piece may have been a better trade (but not one I or many would have made).

 

You need a LOT more experience with books as a whole before you trade as part of the business. It is hard to "uptrade" and get more value than you give- and can open you up to being taken advantage of.

 

 

3. Speculation - cannot be your ONLY strategy. A lot of the books you mention purchasing - you seem to be buying individually or in small groups on the upswing. Buy and hold - some books have historically been good for this - hulk 181 for example - but movie hype is fleeting, unpredictable, and may not even be a thing in a year as we are now flooded with movies. If you still have those infinity gauntlets - look at what has happened to #1 recently - it is still at a decent price but falling a bit. It may get some bump once the final movies are around the corner - but that is a long wait, especially for a very common book (over 700 CGC 9.8 alone ).

 

4. Buying strategy:

Key books are great - but expensive. Even if you buy in a small batch - they will still have a lot lower margin than others. You need to find a way to purchase more in volume - at some level of discount. Low cost bins at a comic shop - or show - are GREAT hunting grounds when starting out. Local shows - closer to close on the final day? - this is dealing time! Many of the larger dealers will be blowing out lower stock as they get this in BULK.

 

Develop a strategy for buying local collections. Whatever the "craigslist" of Canada is - this is your morning read. Things may not turn up quickly or constantly - but there will be some good finds out there. This is your very best way to get a nice inventory for the least amount of investment. BUT - it is hard work and you do have to look at many collections that you will not buy.

 

5. Selling - limit yourself to 1-2 selling outlets for now. Each that you have listed here (FB, CGC boards, Ebay) - need some fine tuning for selling - and I would avoid FB line the plague. I know that some do really well there - but it is much more of a "wild west" out there.

 

Selling here - one thing to realize is that the buyers here are VERY picky!!!! This is NOT a bad thing, but then again it sometimes makes things more difficult. Average common books will most likely not sell - you have to bring something nice. BUT - you also have to price properly. I was looking at your pre move "sell it all" listing - if it was not for local pickup only, I might have made an offer - but you might not have liked it. Looking over all of the books roughly - it looked like I could put together all of the more desirable books for less than half of what you were asking for - individually. Just like buying - if you are selling a LOT of books and they are not top tier - then you are not going to get full GPA for them. GPA - most of this data comes from the big auction houses (ebay, HA, Clink) - that charge commissions. With no commissions - most will likely pass on a book priced at the high end of GPA - or make you a lower offer. Take your BATB 28 consignment - the last three sales -4000, 4302, 5400. The price you have listed now - is 5800. Not incredibly high (and much better than the first listing) - but might sit for a bit at t hat price.

 

If you are trying to sell a bigger book - make sure to check over other listings and GPA. You have a coverless JLA 1 for 300 - I found one for 200 on another site. You have a .5 listed for 600 when 1.0 books have been selling for 300. You have a JLA 1 1.8 listed for 900 --- but another 1.8 is 800 and a 2.0 at 900.

 

6. Cash flow - there is no magic formula that will help you figure out how long to hold a book. What may be more useful - is to figure out how many books you can list and manage at once. If that number is close to what you have on hand --- then you should not be holding on to anything really. People with large inventories - have a LOT more flexibility than a smaller seller. They can hold higher value books to keep their listing a mix of everything - and have the luxury of holding on to a book in case there is "movie" upswing. But - since they are already selling a lot - they have cash flow and (hopefully) profit coming in. An example from my latest collection buy - I have the top 14 books in the press/slab cycle. They will all do well. When I get them back - I will probably sell of 3-4 pretty quickly. This is to pay back a large chunk of the purchase (and grading) costs. The rest - go in the safe. I have the rest of the collection that I can focus on selling - and still be making a nice profit on those books. I know the books that I will be keeping are stable in price - so there is no need to get them out there (some are keepers anyway). Contrast that to a past discussion of the Infinity Gauntlet slabs that we discussed earlier in this thread. You had ~ 9 of them, 6 were 9.8. Now - if you are holding on to all of them - you are NOT maximizing any level of profit. Even if there is a bump later - selling 9 at once is not that likely - and there are a LOT of these for sale now. Just imaging if the price goes back up 10% - even more will come out for sale. You would be better off having one of the 9.8 and one of the 9,6 listed right now! - sell as many as you can - keeping 1-2 as backup in case of any renewed hype bump. This will get you more $$$ back - that you can use to buy more books - and get them listed and sold.

 

 

 

 

if anything - go back and read FTs one man show journal. This is a great example of how to work a one person show. You seem keen on skipping a LOT of steps that are extremely valuable on the learning curve. Making a mistake on some $15 book? -can be an easy fix and you are only out $15. Jumping ahead of the curve and making a mistake on a ASM 129 --- MUCH more costly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

wow I really appreciate you taking the time and giving me all this advice I'm going to print this out later

 

6. Cash flow - there is no magic formula that will help you figure out how long to hold a book. What may be more useful - is to figure out how many books you can list and manage at once. If that number is close to what you have on hand --- then you should not be holding on to anything really. People with large inventories - have a LOT more flexibility than a smaller seller. They can hold higher value books to keep their listing a mix of everything - and have the luxury of holding on to a book in case there is "movie" upswing. But - since they are already selling a lot - they have cash flow and (hopefully) profit coming in. An example from my latest collection buy - I have the top 14 books in the press/slab cycle. They will all do well. When I get them back - I will probably sell of 3-4 pretty quickly. This is to pay back a large chunk of the purchase (and grading) costs. The rest - go in the safe. I have the rest of the collection that I can focus on selling - and still be making a nice profit on those books. I know the books that I will be keeping are stable in price - so there is no need to get them out there (some are keepers anyway). Contrast that to a past discussion of the Infinity Gauntlet slabs that we discussed earlier in this thread. You had ~ 9 of them, 6 were 9.8. Now - if you are holding on to all of them - you are NOT maximizing any level of profit. Even if there is a bump later - selling 9 at once is not that likely - and there are a LOT of these for sale now. Just imaging if the price goes back up 10% - even more will come out for sale. You would be better off having one of the 9.8 and one of the 9,6 listed right now! - sell as many as you can - keeping 1-2 as backup in case of any renewed hype bump. This will get you more $$$ back - that you can use to buy more books - and get them listed and sold.

 

About this point you made I was told 10% of a collection should pay the other 90% and more is that about right?

 

And about the infinity gauntlet #1's can you explain how I'd be making money if I'd lose it? or is it because I have cash flow I can re-coup the losses and make even more money?

Edited October 14, 2015 by uchiha101

[W16227]

About this point you made I was told 10% of a collection should pay the other 90% and more is that about right?

 

And about the infinity gauntlet #1's can you explain how I'd be making money if I'd lose it? or is it because I have cash flow I can re-coup the losses and make even more money?

 

10% paying for the other 90% --- we hope for this - it is not always a hard and fast rule as some collections may not have that good 10%. The reverse of that too - is that in a lot of collections, 90% of what you are paying for is that cool 10% of the collection.

 

The way is hopefully works - you get back a majority of the purchase price on the best 10% of the books. These are the highest value and easiest to sell. After that - the 90% which will have to be more bulk sales - give you that profit.

 

My latest collection buy - turned into a great example of this - my offer was really 90% based on the silver aged books. about 290 of them. Collection also had ~ 2300 copper/ modern DC books. The copper/modern - I can blow out with dollar/50 cent pricing at a local show (and cherry pick better ones before that) - but the collection will pay for itself and more with only the silver.

 

 

 

With the gauntlets - many things going on there with them - a lot is cash flow and how fast they can move. Another side is really the movie bump. Altogether it is really timing.

 

Look at GPA - things for 12 months are up - but down for 90 day. Not really known why. If you hold all of them - your money is tied up and not working for you. It is all at the risk of the market. Since it is already well known that Thanos and the infinity gauntlet are in the plans - the movie bump may already be priced in. Maybe not - but if you hold all of them you are risking it all.

 

There are also more than 50 for sale right now - (around 50 referenced in GPA and many more from other grading companies out there) - so there is competition for sales now (heck - I have a full set of 1-6 9.8s on ebay myself). If the book heats up more - I would expect that the price will not jump quickly - because more people will list theirs.

 

I think for this particular book ( and I am NOT an expert on this exact one) - the upside (if any) is pretty far out and would potentially be linked to the first avengers infinity movie. So - lets say that there is a 100% bump by then. What could be valued today at 145 - you are waiting to 2+ years to "potentially" double your money. But - you have MANY of these - and there is no guarantee of doubling.

 

So - if you sell a couple at a time (list one of each grade). Keep a couple of the 9.8 - and sell slowly. Look over ebay - there is one for 140 now - and others at 160 and up. List the first 9.8 at 160 (look over GPA and ebay to gauge what the 9.6 should sell for). If they move quick - great the price point was good - list the next set for ~ $5 or $10 more each. Start the listings as BIN only - then shift to BIN w best offer after the first month.

 

Lets say after three months - you have moved 2 of the 9.8 and 9.6. After fees and what not - maybe $350 in cash. Invest that back in comics - which you could flip another 2x by the time the movie bump hits. This keeps you working and not sitting on the whole stack hoping. Also diversifies your stock. If the book is stagnant - then you have at least gotten $$ out and put to use somewhere else.

 

I am not saying to drop them all on the cheap - but move some of them. Keep a couple of the 9.8 in case there is a big bump - but move others. If you have bandwidth to be listing - you need to list. Keep the inventory churning - if you do and you get into a good buying routine, you may be able to generate a decent side income.

 

 

Someone mentioned earlier - get on good terms with your local shop. If you get to the point where you do a local show -they may be willing to help you out and wholesale "dollar" books to you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Turtle]

Gabriel,

 

I and countless others have suggested that you take a beat and start with smaller strides in order to establish your reputation as well as a foundation for your experience. You keep saying that you're appreciative of the advice, but you don't seem to heed it. It's been months now.

 

You are getting some really excellent advice on here, but you seem to be blinded by the chance to get the next "big score" so you act impulsively.

 

You should really stop buying and selling comics until you establish a business plan. Start small. Write out for all your customers to see exactly how you will pack each book or group of books. Type it up, include pictures, and post it. Then, once established, follow that process for each and every package you send out.

 

Then write out an ironclad policy for time payments...

 

Then international shipping...

 

Then returns...

 

et cetera

 

Do this before buying or selling any more comics. Post them here for review/comments. It will go a LONG way, but only if you stick to what you write.

 

Just some more friendly advice.

 

 

[Peter G]

I don't understand why he has to even be a dealer at this stage

 

Why not just collect for fun and be long on the investments ?

 

Buy quality and enjoy the fun of the hobby

 

Learn the market

 

And in due course, the age and experience to become a dealer will follow

[Semicentennial]

Lot of good info above

 

Also please take a basic accounting and a few basic business classes. Comic dealing isn't for everyone, but if you're gonna force yourself into it ir any self employment, you need to know the basics.

Also i suggest building relationships w local dealers or shop owners and volunteeeeing to help at cons to get experience

 

Simply put, there's no way to skip any of these steps if you're not starting out with a great collection of your own or huge capital. Lots of non pros ariund here just paying attention to trends, keeping an eye out for collections or hot comics at shows or lcs and turn $1000-$2000 into $4-5k or more each year. Yes it takes some, but it's no ones goal to turn $2k into $2300

 

yeah I've come to realize that as well as my ultimate goal is to be my own boss and be self employed I will take courses to help me learn that and I'll have to read the info above to sink in

 

I don't think anything anyone is telling you is truly sinking in. You lack the knowledge and experience that is necessary for you to be successful. Taking a course in school or reading the messages posted is not going to get you there as quickly as you think it will.

 

You should cut your losses and dump the junk that is tying up your money. If you need to take a small loss to move your merchandise then do it. If you really want to turn over your inventory then you need to take the emotions out from the sale. I tell my managers that in regards to the dead inventory sitting in their stockrooms that they need to "convert to cash". You can probably do the same with books that you're having a challenge with selling.

 

Once you purge your "sell box" then you should probably focus on lower priced books until you understand the business and attain more knowledge about the hobby and the books you're purchasing.

[Semicentennial]

I don't understand why he has to even be a dealer at this stage

 

Why not just collect for fun and be long on the investments ?

 

Buy quality and enjoy the fun of the hobby

 

Learn the market

 

And in due course, the age and experience to become a dealer will follow

 

Totally agree.

[oakman29]

I don't understand why he has to even be a dealer at this stage

 

Why not just collect for fun and be long on the investments ?

 

Buy quality and enjoy the fun of the hobby

 

Learn the market

 

And in due course, the age and experience to become a dealer will follow

 

Totally agree.

 

This instant gratification world doesn't work for comics.You have to earn your stripes first( time,experience etc.) Gabriel as others have stated,you can't just make a million dollars in sales. You have to learn the market ,and believe me that's not easy. Gain knowledge, make contacts with others.

I have been collecting comics for over 40 years, and I wouldn't want to be a dealer.

[porcupine48]

Listen to Dave kids,he knows his stuff.

[Batman1fan]

Unless you have found a job, and, if you have, good going, how are you able to afford to keep making these mistakes? Also, I've looked at your bay listings. What is the deal with adding the $5.00 charge for "handling" on top of the shipping charges? As a buyer, I would never bid on any auction with a fee like that attached, and I'm willing to bet a lot of other buyers feel the same way. Shipping charges are one thing, provided they are reasonable, but handling or packaging is a part, your part, of doing business. That's like owning a store and adding $5.00 to every transaction because you had to unlock the door and turn on the lights. You have been given some great advice in this thread, but you seem to ignore most of it and keep making the same mistakes. Sooner or later, you are probably going to have to step back and accept that the comic business may not be right for you. There is nothing wrong with that. A lot, in fact most of us have a regular job and enjoy comics as a hobby. Why not just enjoy the hobby and get a regular job, if you don't already have one?

[porcupine48]

Gabe,do you charge .5¢ for the bag?

Ontario joke gang,hope he gets it.

[thehumantorch]

Sometimes you have to sit on your hands and not do a deal

 

I think an earlier poster referenced that you need to calculate "margin" + "inventory turn time"

 

That is sound advice

 

I heard people give me different answers as to what inventory turn times should be and I don't know what to believe anymore

 

I've had a answers of a week's time all the way till a years time.

 

Buying and selling comics for a profit isn't easy. There's a lot to it and a lot of specialized knowledge that comes from experience.

 

For keys you're gonna have trouble buying them for a large margin unless they're embedded in a collection of junk books. I often buy keys at close to market and turn them around for a 10% margin or hang onto them until the market value increases. I picked up one SA key at the Calgary Expo this year that I sold 15 minutes later for a 5% margin ($100).

 

Your business model should take advantage of the Canadian to US exchange rate. Buy in Canada and sell into the US.

 

As far as your board sales threads you shouldn't give up. Put up good scans, grade tight, toss in freebies, and just smile and joke back if people post 'nice comic' or whatever. If you offer decent tight graded books at fair prices you'll soon earn a strong reputation.

 

When you make a deal on Facebook or wherever stick to it. Don't try to change the conditions down the road. Your reputation online is everything. Wait to discuss price and details until you have the book in hand.

 

Lastly, take a holiday during the Edmonton Expo or Calgary Expo and come check out one of these shows. They're pretty close to you and they're both great big shows. I think you'd enjoy meeting our group and possibly learn a few things. And there are a lot of decent comics for sale in the room.

 

 

Edited October 15, 2015 by thehumantorch

[chrisco37]

Did you trade for it in person or was it more of an online trade like say, Facebook?

 

The ASM #129 was easily a $1000 USD in your pocket (going by GPA)...Last sale was $1600...Why bother to trade it at all? If movie hype is your thing, the Punisher is coming to Netflix in Daredevil and a always popular book is getting another shot in the arm...

 

If $$$ is important to you and your family, why did you not just sell it instead of dinking around? You could have sold that book and bought yourself a very nice graded Harley with $$$ to spare...

 

What was the reasoning for making such a trade? Do you have GPA?

 

Based on what a graded 9.0 BA #12 goes for, a CGC 9.0 Harley is around $500 - $600 if I'm looking at the right book in GPA...Using just the 90 day averages, you just "gave away" over $600...

 

In previous entries you posted this was a good thing to acquire but I think you should present the full story if the point of this journal is to get advice, at first it was "hey, cool 1st Harley" and now it is kind of

 

Uhmmm...How did the other party "blackmail" you?

 

My plan was to sell it at it's peak to make the most money like you said and this was a deal on facebook not in person. My reason for making that trade was black mail he said if I back out he would post in the facebook groups that I'm a scammer. I do have gpa which is why I wanted to keep and sell the asm 129 for a good profit.

 

The deal went down something like this because I posted that I bought a asm 129 and was excited

 

Him: "hey you have a asm 129 cgc 9.0 right?"

 

Me: "I don't have it yet but I bought one why?"

 

Him "I have a ba12 about a 9.4 raw"

 

Me: "ok show me pics"

 

(he showed me pics and I didn't agree with his grading so I asked if he wanted to do a cash plus trade deal and this was when gpa on the asm 129 was 1075)

 

Him "what do you think?"

 

Me: "I don't agree with your grading because your overgrading and over valuing the comic as it's raw"

 

Him "ok how about this? the ba12 plus 300 cash?"

 

Me: "that's sounds fair when I get it I'll let you know"

 

Him: "cool"

 

(the comic now arrived)

 

Me: "ok I got the comic and since the value of asm 129 went up would you add 100 bucks? because if not I'd like to keep it since it will go up in value"

 

Him: are you backing out of the deal? you said you agreed and now your backing out of it?"

 

Me: "The values of the comics aren't even anymore so if you can add a little more cash we can still do this"

 

Him "No what I gave you is fair all the dealers I went to said this is a 9.4 without a press"

 

Me: I don't want to lose money on this trade"

 

Him: "You won't trust me"

 

Me: "I don't want to do the trade if you won't add some more cash to your part"

 

Him "If you back out of this deal I'm reporting this to all the fb groups that you tried to back out of a deal and scam me"

 

Me: "I didn't scam you and we didn't fully agree on the trade"

 

Him: " I don't care you went against your word and you are trying to scam me now"

 

Me: Fine! I'll do the trade ok?"

 

Him: "good"

 

(keep in mind I asked him to do the extra cash part when then comic's value was at 1225 and I would take a little lower yes but I'd still make a decent profit on it or so I thought)

 

 

Said it before,

 

That bolded line is my mistake? so what should I have said?

 

It's not what you should have said

 

You shouldnt have shipped the book. Period.

 

Even with $100 kicker you were begging for..... there is not enough of a profit margin to make this trade worthwhile

 

With the 100 more I was asking I would have made a profit I'll explain

 

I bought the comic for 950 and I though his ba12 would be worth around 750

 

so that would mean I need to cash at least to make a profit on it and I said I wanted 300 so to me that margin of profit would do well for me since it's a quick sell

 

now to where it was worth 1225

 

his comic is worth around 750+300 cash

 

this is where I said I don't feel I want to trade it but if he put in extra 100 I'd do it and take a bit lower profit on the comic

 

so taking that into consideration it would go like this

 

I paid 950 for the asm 129

his comic is worth 750+400 cash = 1150

 

1150-950=200 profit for me as it would be a quick sell and easy to move it

 

 

Am I reading it right that you and this guy set up a trade:

 

Your ASM 129 for his BA12 + $300.

 

Then, once you got the BA12 (and presumably the $300), you asked him to kick another $100 on top of it?

 

Is that correct?

[uchiha101]

Did you trade for it in person or was it more of an online trade like say, Facebook?

 

The ASM #129 was easily a $1000 USD in your pocket (going by GPA)...Last sale was $1600...Why bother to trade it at all? If movie hype is your thing, the Punisher is coming to Netflix in Daredevil and a always popular book is getting another shot in the arm...

 

If $$$ is important to you and your family, why did you not just sell it instead of dinking around? You could have sold that book and bought yourself a very nice graded Harley with $$$ to spare...

 

What was the reasoning for making such a trade? Do you have GPA?

 

Based on what a graded 9.0 BA #12 goes for, a CGC 9.0 Harley is around $500 - $600 if I'm looking at the right book in GPA...Using just the 90 day averages, you just "gave away" over $600...

 

In previous entries you posted this was a good thing to acquire but I think you should present the full story if the point of this journal is to get advice, at first it was "hey, cool 1st Harley" and now it is kind of

 

Uhmmm...How did the other party "blackmail" you?

 

My plan was to sell it at it's peak to make the most money like you said and this was a deal on facebook not in person. My reason for making that trade was black mail he said if I back out he would post in the facebook groups that I'm a scammer. I do have gpa which is why I wanted to keep and sell the asm 129 for a good profit.

 

The deal went down something like this because I posted that I bought a asm 129 and was excited

 

Him: "hey you have a asm 129 cgc 9.0 right?"

 

Me: "I don't have it yet but I bought one why?"

 

Him "I have a ba12 about a 9.4 raw"

 

Me: "ok show me pics"

 

(he showed me pics and I didn't agree with his grading so I asked if he wanted to do a cash plus trade deal and this was when gpa on the asm 129 was 1075)

 

Him "what do you think?"

 

Me: "I don't agree with your grading because your overgrading and over valuing the comic as it's raw"

 

Him "ok how about this? the ba12 plus 300 cash?"

 

Me: "that's sounds fair when I get it I'll let you know"

 

Him: "cool"

 

(the comic now arrived)

 

Me: "ok I got the comic and since the value of asm 129 went up would you add 100 bucks? because if not I'd like to keep it since it will go up in value"

 

Him: are you backing out of the deal? you said you agreed and now your backing out of it?"

 

Me: "The values of the comics aren't even anymore so if you can add a little more cash we can still do this"

 

Him "No what I gave you is fair all the dealers I went to said this is a 9.4 without a press"

 

Me: I don't want to lose money on this trade"

 

Him: "You won't trust me"

 

Me: "I don't want to do the trade if you won't add some more cash to your part"

 

Him "If you back out of this deal I'm reporting this to all the fb groups that you tried to back out of a deal and scam me"

 

Me: "I didn't scam you and we didn't fully agree on the trade"

 

Him: " I don't care you went against your word and you are trying to scam me now"

 

Me: Fine! I'll do the trade ok?"

 

Him: "good"

 

(keep in mind I asked him to do the extra cash part when then comic's value was at 1225 and I would take a little lower yes but I'd still make a decent profit on it or so I thought)

 

 

Said it before,

 

That bolded line is my mistake? so what should I have said?

 

It's not what you should have said

 

You shouldnt have shipped the book. Period.

 

Even with $100 kicker you were begging for..... there is not enough of a profit margin to make this trade worthwhile

 

With the 100 more I was asking I would have made a profit I'll explain

 

I bought the comic for 950 and I though his ba12 would be worth around 750

 

so that would mean I need to cash at least to make a profit on it and I said I wanted 300 so to me that margin of profit would do well for me since it's a quick sell

 

now to where it was worth 1225

 

his comic is worth around 750+300 cash

 

this is where I said I don't feel I want to trade it but if he put in extra 100 I'd do it and take a bit lower profit on the comic

 

so taking that into consideration it would go like this

 

I paid 950 for the asm 129

his comic is worth 750+400 cash = 1150

 

1150-950=200 profit for me as it would be a quick sell and easy to move it

 

 

Am I reading it right that you and this guy set up a trade:

 

Your ASM 129 for his BA12 + $300.

 

Then, once you got the BA12 (and presumably the $300), you asked him to kick another $100 on top of it?

 

Is that correct?

 

yes that would be correct

[PKJ]

If the price had dropped $100 would you have credited him $100?

 

[uchiha101]

If the price had dropped $100 would you have credited him $100?

 

I see what your doing and the answer to that would be no I wouldn't credit him $100 for it.

[chrisco37]

Did you trade for it in person or was it more of an online trade like say, Facebook?

 

The ASM #129 was easily a $1000 USD in your pocket (going by GPA)...Last sale was $1600...Why bother to trade it at all? If movie hype is your thing, the Punisher is coming to Netflix in Daredevil and a always popular book is getting another shot in the arm...

 

If $$$ is important to you and your family, why did you not just sell it instead of dinking around? You could have sold that book and bought yourself a very nice graded Harley with $$$ to spare...

 

What was the reasoning for making such a trade? Do you have GPA?

 

Based on what a graded 9.0 BA #12 goes for, a CGC 9.0 Harley is around $500 - $600 if I'm looking at the right book in GPA...Using just the 90 day averages, you just "gave away" over $600...

 

In previous entries you posted this was a good thing to acquire but I think you should present the full story if the point of this journal is to get advice, at first it was "hey, cool 1st Harley" and now it is kind of

 

Uhmmm...How did the other party "blackmail" you?

 

My plan was to sell it at it's peak to make the most money like you said and this was a deal on facebook not in person. My reason for making that trade was black mail he said if I back out he would post in the facebook groups that I'm a scammer. I do have gpa which is why I wanted to keep and sell the asm 129 for a good profit.

 

The deal went down something like this because I posted that I bought a asm 129 and was excited

 

Him: "hey you have a asm 129 cgc 9.0 right?"

 

Me: "I don't have it yet but I bought one why?"

 

Him "I have a ba12 about a 9.4 raw"

 

Me: "ok show me pics"

 

(he showed me pics and I didn't agree with his grading so I asked if he wanted to do a cash plus trade deal and this was when gpa on the asm 129 was 1075)

 

Him "what do you think?"

 

Me: "I don't agree with your grading because your overgrading and over valuing the comic as it's raw"

 

Him "ok how about this? the ba12 plus 300 cash?"

 

Me: "that's sounds fair when I get it I'll let you know"

 

Him: "cool"

 

(the comic now arrived)

 

Me: "ok I got the comic and since the value of asm 129 went up would you add 100 bucks? because if not I'd like to keep it since it will go up in value"

 

Him: are you backing out of the deal? you said you agreed and now your backing out of it?"

 

Me: "The values of the comics aren't even anymore so if you can add a little more cash we can still do this"

 

Him "No what I gave you is fair all the dealers I went to said this is a 9.4 without a press"

 

Me: I don't want to lose money on this trade"

 

Him: "You won't trust me"

 

Me: "I don't want to do the trade if you won't add some more cash to your part"

 

Him "If you back out of this deal I'm reporting this to all the fb groups that you tried to back out of a deal and scam me"

 

Me: "I didn't scam you and we didn't fully agree on the trade"

 

Him: " I don't care you went against your word and you are trying to scam me now"

 

Me: Fine! I'll do the trade ok?"

 

Him: "good"

 

(keep in mind I asked him to do the extra cash part when then comic's value was at 1225 and I would take a little lower yes but I'd still make a decent profit on it or so I thought)

 

 

Said it before,

 

That bolded line is my mistake? so what should I have said?

 

It's not what you should have said

 

You shouldnt have shipped the book. Period.

 

Even with $100 kicker you were begging for..... there is not enough of a profit margin to make this trade worthwhile

 

With the 100 more I was asking I would have made a profit I'll explain

 

I bought the comic for 950 and I though his ba12 would be worth around 750

 

so that would mean I need to cash at least to make a profit on it and I said I wanted 300 so to me that margin of profit would do well for me since it's a quick sell

 

now to where it was worth 1225

 

his comic is worth around 750+300 cash

 

this is where I said I don't feel I want to trade it but if he put in extra 100 I'd do it and take a bit lower profit on the comic

 

so taking that into consideration it would go like this

 

I paid 950 for the asm 129

his comic is worth 750+400 cash = 1150

 

1150-950=200 profit for me as it would be a quick sell and easy to move it

 

 

Am I reading it right that you and this guy set up a trade:

 

Your ASM 129 for his BA12 + $300.

 

Then, once you got the BA12 (and presumably the $300), you asked him to kick another $100 on top of it?

 

Is that correct?

 

yes that would be correct

 

And you really think that he was in the wrong?

 

You accepted his deal and then wanted him to give you more on top of it?

 

As others have said, I don't think this is your thing. But, if you want to keep on pushing on then, as others have said, you probably would be better served scaling it back to small books until you figure out how this works.

[chrisco37]

If the price had dropped $100 would you have credited him $100?

 

I see what your doing and the answer to that would be no I wouldn't credit him $100 for it.

 

Then why would you think he should give you more?

 

If someone pulled that on here, they'd get skewered. Not sure why you continually get the benefit of the doubt.

[uchiha101]

Gabe,do you charge .5¢ for the bag?

Ontario joke gang,hope he gets it.

 

haha no I don't but I got the joke

[PKJ]

If the price had dropped $100 would you have credited him $100?

 

I see what your doing and the answer to that would be no I wouldn't credit him $100 for it.

 

What I am "doing" is showing you integrity. I had a long advice response typed, then realized you will not heed it. Good luck to you.