Have the No. of Listed GA Books Decreased on eBay?!

[skybolt]

Is it it just me or are fewer GA books being listed on eBay these days. I remember 2 years ago when there would be several mid to HG key DC, Timely, Fox, Fiction House, etc. books being listed on a weekly basis. These days, unless a Heritage or some other major auction comes along, the pickings seem fairly slim. Are more people consigning their books to websites like Comiclink, or are thse books finding a permanent home somewhere and not being flipped like before?

[sfilosa]

I see much less quality on eBay than in the past two years, for GA and SA. Yes, a few dealers (or other auction sites) will put their high priced books on eBay (SilverAcre comes to mind), but the pickings are usually thin.

 

For Silver-Age, it's probably more likely that the books are going on a consignment site first. Right now, a board member has some nice books on eBay, but a few have already been on a consignment site for awhile.

 

While I don't follow GA as closely, I wouldn't expect too many FLIPPER are still around. GA market values are no where as consistent as SA and BA (which has been real hot are for several years). The reason flipping doesn't seem like a good idea on GA, is because if the book is truly in demand, usually a collector will pay whatever it takes to get it.

 

I can say I haven't bought a book on eBay in months that was a good flipping candidate.

[shrunkenhead]

I think much of the key GA on the market in the past 4 or 5 years has found a few permanent homes. In the past few years, a few major players cashed out and there was an abundance of wonderful material. Ebay had lots of great HG GA auctions, and some of those heritage catalogs were astounding. In fact, Heritage pumped so much quality material into the marketplace that they temporarily devauled the GA market by about 30% (hell for flippers and dealers, wonderful for buyers). I made a number of great buys on ebay during this period, getting books for often 40% less than they sold on heritage a year before. I think a lot of folks were briefly taken in by the temporary illusion that HG GA is not all that scarce after all.

 

But all good things must come to an end. Much of the great material has been rehoarded into newer collections. Ebay is getting less and less of the good stuff, and even heritage must be having a tougher time getting quality books (note that the majority of their HG GA is often relegated to file copies/warehouse finds, plus the Gaines books which they seem to have struck a nice deal for with the Gaines estate). Those who bought during the "down" period will likely do well 10 years down the road, because as you rightly point out, offerings are rapidly drying up.

[skybolt]

I know what you mean. Two years ago I was able to purchase several 7.0 to 8.0 CGC graded early Batman's for 70% guide. Plus, even titles like Planet Comics, which were plentiful in HG 2 years ago, are becoming less and less available on eBay.

[Larryw7]

There are definitely fewer GA Batman's, which proliferated eBay for awhile.