Never dismiss small show.

[Doktor]

Yeah. I agree. I mean, dude already decided how much he wanted. I might feel a little guilty and round the price up if I'm getting a IH180-182 and a bunch of other key books in the mix, but if he asks $1/book, I'd give him $1 a book & count my blessings.

 

I know I have sometimes just "dumped" stuff because it was just taking up too much space & I was too lazy to parse it out. I know I left a bunch of money on the table, but it was more worth it at that time to be rid of about 3k comics than it was to get FMV or even close to FMV for it.

 

Today, I'm kinda kicking myself for it, knowing what was in those boxes & what has since got "hot" and what was undercopies of things I didn't care enough to sell individually, and maybe this old dude might do the same one day, but both he and I got what we asked for out of our sales and can't really complain to anyone but ourselves about it.

[jaeldubyoo]

Another thing to consider is that some people just don't care. They simply want to get rid of stuff. My wife is like that. If I were to kick off, she would likely dump my comics for almost nothing.

 

My wife is the same way. Somebody will get my comic collection for next to nothing.

[krighton]

Another thing to consider is that some people just don't care. They simply want to get rid of stuff. My wife is like that. If I were to kick off, she would likely dump my comics for almost nothing.

 

My wife is the same way. Somebody will get my comic collection for next to nothing.

 

hah same, I've warned the kids not to let mom go crazy and dump my stuff on the curb during trash day. And no, sitting down and logically discussing what it's worth doesn't work. She'd just make me sell it all now.

[1Cool]

Every small show within an hour drive of me I'll hit up. You see far less big ticket books but there is usually at least one seller who has a nice selection of books that are dirt cheap. In fact - I usually spend 10x the money at the mid size cons compared to the couple big ones I've attended since the amount of cheap books is also ten times.

[youmechooz]

If a comic shop offers $1 for IH 181 I personally think it's different than a collector at a garage sale or whatever.

Comic shop owner is ripping him off and the collector is just getting a deal?

 

Difference between asking a price and offering a price. If a guy is asking $1 on the #181 at a show that's his decision, and his responsibility. He set his price. The shop owner offering a super lowball even though they know better, that is on them and their responsibility. Not a double standard. If you feel you're taking advantage of an asking price set by a seller you can always offer to pay more (I mean "you" in the general sense, not youmechooz or anyone else specifically).

Lets say it was the same scenario for both shop owner and random buyer at the show. Both instances the seller says he wants a $1 a book. Is there still a difference?

[krighton]

I think when the seller states a price all bets are pretty much off.

[Doktor]

I would say no. There's no difference who the buyer is if they're agreeing to the seller's price. Though, I would hold it against a buyer (dealer or collector) that low-balled someone who didn't have a set price in mind.

 

But that's just me.

[Comics-n-ERB]

If a collection prices out retail for $10,000 then what do you consider a fair offer to all concerned Doktor?

[FineCollector]

If a collection prices out retail for $10,000 then what do you consider a fair offer to all concerned Doktor?

 

That's a loaded question and you know it.

[sckao]

 

The buyer is a dealer. To sell at a table at a convention, you usually have to get a permit and pay taxes.

 

There's little distinction between collector and dealer these days.

 

deal·er

ˈdēlər/

noun

noun: dealer; plural noun: dealers

 

1. a person or business that buys and sells goods.

 

[Doktor]

As someone else pointed out, it's a loaded question. But one I'll give a shot at answering, with a few assumptions:

 

- Assuming you plan to sell it & it's not going into a collection.

- Assuming it's not 99% drek with a handful of key books that make up 7-8k of that 10k retail value).

- Assuming the seller is ASKING retail for it.

- And assuming that it's something that isn't in a certain niche of collectors where it doesn't generally appeal to most customers (ex. not a bunch of western GA or Disney GA books that have value but don't really appeal to the majority of comic store patrons

 

I would offer in the range of 70% of retail.

 

However, the question was an issue of ethics and lowballing and if buying well-below FMV is ever OK. I think it's OK to pay well-below FMV for a collection when that's what the seller is asking (regardless of if you're a dealer or collector).

 

But if the seller is coming to you in good faith with no price in mind to appraise & potentially make an offer on a collection, lowballing either with appraisal or offer price is unethical IMO.

[revat]

two adults agree on a price. Nobody lies or misleads anyone. sounds like you've got a deal.

 

Otherwise where would the arbitrary judgment line be? Every sale provides something of value for the participants.

 

How much is your time worth to sell 100 $100 comics when you don't know anything and you're a busy rich lawyer with a small apartment with a pregnant wife and a baby on the way?

 

How much is your time worth when you're clearing out your parent's attic after your dad just died and you're just trying to mourn and get back to your family?

 

You can't know about every circumstance and they can't all know about every comic book. You know about your circumstances and what price you'll accept, that's all you know and that's all you can control. You're not a CFA giving financial advice, you're just a dude trying to buy or sell comics.

[Comic Closet]

Smaller are just easier to maneuver in (and usually less strollers).

[Jeffro.]

Smaller are just easier to maneuver in (and usually less strollers).

 

And no cosplayers in front of the dealer boxes you want to look in.

[Comics-n-ERB]

Damn, just lost a long response I typed up. Oh well.

 

Doktor, you hit the head on the nail.

 

Thanks for such a good response. When buying someones personal collection it almost always has great, good, and lots of slow movers or just plain junk.

 

The collection might be big, it might have some great keys in it, but when everything is taken into consideration the final amount could seem small compared to the size of the collection.

 

It seems to me that the response around here in general (not all the time certainly and not by everyone) is dealers don't give enough for collections. But we don't have all the details of a buy to know if's it's a fair one or not.

 

That's my grief. Thanks for listening.

[Doktor]

In fairness, I generally agree with others here when they say that dealers don't offer enough of FMV for buying collections.

 

But that's probably because most dealers/store owners I've dealt with haven't been willing to go over 50% even for books that are easy sells with a solid profit margin. So I'd be ecstatic if a dealer offered me 70% FMV on their initial offer. But that's just been my experience & that colors my opinion on it.

[october]

To the people saying dealer's don't pay enough....give it a try from the other side of the counter. See how long it takes to find collections, buy them, organize them, properly market them, pay overhead at a store or show, and see how much of the inventory sits for years before it moves at "retail".

 

[Comics-n-ERB]

To the people saying dealer's don't pay enough....give it a try from the other side of the counter. See how long it takes to find collections, buy them, organize them, properly market them, pay overhead at a store or show, and see how much of the inventory sits for years before it moves at "retail".

 

Amen!

[revat]

To the people saying dealer's don't pay enough....give it a try from the other side of the counter. See how long it takes to find collections, buy them, organize them, properly market them, pay overhead at a store or show, and see how much of the inventory sits for years before it moves at "retail".

 

Seriously. If you're not being offered enough, that means that you think you can go elsewhere easily and be offered more. In which case, if its so easy, then you should probably do it. No one is doing anyone any favors, no one owes anyone anything. Its business, sometimes the numbers work out and you can make a deal, sometimes you can't. Sometimes people make better and worse decisions, we're all humans (mostly). You don't know what numbers the dealer uses to calculate his offer price, he doesn't know yours.

 

I guess you could pull up a chair and talk about line item by line item why you should get more, make a spreadsheet of ebay sales and gpa sales, and he can pull up his financial statements and call his CPA to tell you why you should take less, but that costs a lot of time and money too. Just because you're a stranger who wants to sell a dude a comic, does that give you the right to understand his business model and profit margins and cost centers? Why would he possibly have to defend or explain his price to you? Why would it matter? Are you going to teach him something about his business that he doesn't know? Even if you could, why would he want your advice? If you can't sell for that price, then don't sell. It's not HIS fault you can't sell for that price, its your choice. If HE misses on a good deal, that's his problem, not yours.

 

 

Its not bad customer service to say, "I can offer you this much, $XXXX. You may get more for it next week, next month, or next year, you may not. I can give you this much today. THanks for bringing it in."

 

Sooo if nobody lies, and adults agree on a price, we're good in my book.

[Chip Cataldo]

Great post, Revat.

 

Peace,

 

Chip