ComicLink CEO Josh Nathanson - Webcast on the Comics Market - March 8, 2015

[Keysnruns]

 

YOU ARE INVITED

 

To a discussion of the 2015 Comics Market hosted by

The Southeast High Grade Comic Collectors

 

the community of investment-minded collectors (and their books)

that get together to learn, share, trade and profit from what they love

 

 

Comic Investing in the Current Market

Josh Nathanson, CEO

ComicLink Auction House

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2015

1:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST

 

Webcast login to be sent to registered attendees

OVERVIEW

 

 

Josh Nathanson, who has gone from “fan to pro” to become CEO of ComicLink auction house, speaks with the High Grade Comic Collectors by webcast on the state of the 2015 comics market. ComicLink was founded at the foundation of the Internet in 1996 and is one of the top comics auction houses. ComicLink often gets record-breaking prices for its buyers and has a rich trove of transaction data on comic sales. Josh will bring these unique perspectives to the trends in today’s comics market. Josh is also a long-time comic collector since the age of 7 and had a Wall Street career before founding ComicLink. He will share his story, take questions from the group and provide a personal point of view on monetizing comic collections in 2015 and beyond.

 

In addition, this meeting will feature a discussion of the Southeast High Grade Collectors growth plans for 2015, from education on comic pressing and restoration to clinics in comic grading to new models for group comic and art investing.

 

Please RSVP on Meetup.com, and hope to join you online for this webcast.

 

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REGISTER FOR THE WEBCAST

 

High Grade Comic Collectors Meetup Page

 

Questions?

 

Contact Barry (the organizer) via PM or through the group's Meetup site

Don't miss this one-of-a-kind webcast for the high grade collector!

 

[Keysnruns]

Hoping those in the community who buy and sell with ComicLink will be interested in Josh's perspective during this meeting. Please join us!

[Mxwll Smrt]

This sounds like it could be interesting.

[Keysnruns]

Mx, are you back in town? Hope you can join us again.

[Columbia Comics]

I'll take the login info via PM plz

[Keysnruns]

Will do, thanks. Happy to PM credentials to anyone else as well.

[Mxwll Smrt]

Mx, are you back in town? Hope you can join us again.

 

Yes - let's grab a bite to eat and catch up - I'll bring along a couple of books that I've just picked up. Please send me the information.

[Jacey]

I'm interested, especially after this week's auctions

[jeBailey]

Will do, thanks. Happy to PM credentials to anyone else as well.

 

please send me the info also,

 

John B.

[mojoker]

I am planning on attending. Have not used ComicLink to buy and sell before.

 

Mojoker

[Keysnruns]

Love your deals as a ComicLink buyer? Disappointed with your results as a ComicLink seller? Please join us one week from today to discuss with Josh and learn new ways to get the most from either side of a comic/art auction.

[Keysnruns]

Final bump. Just spoke with Josh to wrap up preparations. He is looking forward to addressing collectors on auctions, investing and growing comic/art collections.

[Keysnruns]

All, we had a great meeting with Josh and amongst our collectors. Event report follows:

 

NOTES FROM JOSH NATHANSON’S PRESENTATION

 

• Josh described the origins of ComicLink in 1996, the takeoff of the marketplace and growth over nearly 20 years

• He helped us understand how CGC was a big change in 2000, which built trust by bringing in respected collectors as management

• Thereafter, ComicLink began auctions of CGC books

• He described ComicLink’s value proposition to sellers, in that CL does all the work to build trust and market books for sellers – just send material and express your preferences, and CL will work to get you a best sales price

• CL is much different from eBay - not DIY- comics/art only (high grade + vintage)

• Better strategy to use CL when you want to sell books individually

• CL also does private placement of high value books

• CL also has its classic comic exchange, which dealers tend to favor to sell at fixed prices

• As regards price trends, Josh is still seeing a strong market at the auction and exchange - across the board silver age/high grade/keys/golden age/hot covers all experiencing increases

• He perceives demand as a bigger driver of price than scarcity (e.g., Hulk 181)

• Pricing trends follow a recurring pattern: books increase in price, plateau, then increase again

• To illustrate, Josh walked us through individual record-setting high grade sales since 2007 thru the latest auction, e.g., AF15; Action 1; Tec 27; TOS 39; FF 5 and more

• Final takeaway - keys remain in demand in any grade

 

NOTES FROM THE SEHGCC MEETING

 

• We had many people stay after the presentation to discuss the future of the High Grade Comic Collectors

• Attendees included folks from the southeast, but also New York and even Quebec

• We introduced our education and networking goals for the curious, passionate investor and treasure hunter in today’s comics hobby

• We discussed evolving the group name to reflect national reach

• People volunteered to explore more use of the chat boards and member community tools on Meetup (e.g., to post want lists) – now investigating

• We identified future leaders and legends that could speak to the group

• We brainstormed on ways to improve networking between high grade collectors

• We agreed to meet again in a few weeks to continue brainstorming on ways to engage with other interested collectors who want to learn more about this information-intensive and expensive-for-the-uninitiated hobby

 

Find out more about us on Meetup.com.