Facebook and Comic Books: Tales of Woe and Joy by DavidTheDavid

[CSJournals-migration]

People have shared different experiences on the CGC boards about their Facebook comic-buying experiences. Here are my own.

 

I first learned about Facebook buying groups from a friend who sells online and at cons as Twisted Heroes. I shrugged off the mention, but somehow I caught wind of a Show Off Your Slabs group, which was fun, and its admin had a sister group called Slabbed Comics Buying and Selling. I also found a group for buying and selling raw comics.

 

This raw comics group didn't last long. I did acquire some good comics through here, all from one buyer, though the transaction went sour. He had several nice comics; and I bought a Doctor Strange which would grade a 6.5, a Captain America 100 that would grade a 6.0, and a Teen Titans. The latter two comics, however, did not arrive in the described condition. I can stomach a slight difference between a seller's grade and my own, as any reasonable collector should, but these were far off. The Teen Titans had some of the worst tanning I'd ever seen. The Captain America had a subscription crease; it wasn't a pronounced crease but it was visibly there.

 

I contacted the seller and he immediately became irate, stating that the pictures I shared were of another comic, that the book did not have a crease, and that he would fight it through PayPal. Whoa! Right off the bat, he goes hard on the defense. Accustomed to buying here, I had never had someone react that fashion; of course, buying here, I'd never had a book so badly misgraded. I proceeded with a PayPal claim for a partial refund, and he never replied and eventually relented. I returned the Teen Titans, and that was that.

 

I bought from a second seller there, who sent me a Fantastic Four issue with numerous spots of color touch along the spine. He resisted a return, too, but eventually took the book back.

 

This group imploded soon thereafter over some behind-the-scenes drama, which was probably for the best.

 

The slabbed group proved better, and there are some other boardies there. I sold a FF 112 and an FF 52 there. I've bought a few comics without incident that way, too, including my Giant Size X-Men #1, which I had pressed and got a .5 bump out of. That one is hanging on my wall. I grew up devouring the X-Men of Claremont, Austin, Byrnes, and that era. It was my first collection as I owned 94 to 200-something. I was working on 1-93 when I bailed on collecting in my early 20's.

 

In that group, I've also encountered a knuckle-head seller or two. One person had an FF 67 that he wanted at top of GPA for. I have a thing for that book, with four copies, my best one slabbed at 7.5. We talked, I offered an amount, he countered, I dithered, let him know I'd take it, he then wanted $10 more. I responded and he went quiet for two weeks, until he replied that the book was still available. I passed.

 

He also had an Iron Man 55 at a reasonable price. I passed on it, too, after a bit of discussion. He would later message me and tell me that he "might have a bidding war going" and that I might want to offer more than the asked for amount. I said no thanks. He later posted in the group that he was getting low ball offers and not to waste his time. It was apparent that he was stringing people along, including me, fishing for the best price. I understand maximizing value and all that, but he was baiting agreements, retreating, and fishing for more money. Not a good seller.

 

In the meantime, I joined another raw comics group, which has worked out well. I got an raw FF 67 in about 5.5 at a very good price. That same seller has approached me with some other comics I'd like, also at a good price, but I've been busy soothing a tooth-weary toddler today, and other people have bought them before me! I also bought a MSH 13 that was in fine condition, though I would've liked to have known about the spine damage. My big pulls were a VG/F Tales of Suspense 52 from someone who turned out to be a boardie that I've transacted with previously at a reasonable price, and a 6.0-ish ASM 129 that I bought just today. My fingers are crossed that it looks as good as advertised; it actually looked better in the pics than the seller advertised it, in which case it'll be a bit of a bargain.

 

So it's been largely positive. There's a lot of over-priced stuff, like the Doctor Strange 169 4.5 that someone keeps posting for $250, but overall, I've liked it.

 

See more journals by DavidTheDavid

[uchiha101]

you must be talking about Jeremy

[surfer99]

Great journal, thanks for sharing your experience. I'm not a facebook guy but tnerb got me set up on Instagram while at ECCC and that seems to be the same kinda thing. Good to know what hazards to expect whether buying or selling.

[1950's war comics]

enjoyed reading this journal -- thanks

[spidrvacc]

Great journal. Looking forward to future post.

[SW3D]

Four copies of FF67!... a collector after my own heart.

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Although I don't have a FB, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest account, I have been burned by eBayers selling raws, which is why I avoid buying them in favor of slabs.

 

BTW: I love your Galactus cover set; looking forward to see it grow.

 

SW3D

[STORMSHADOW_80]

Great journal, thanks for sharing your experience. I'm not a facebook guy but tnerb got me set up on Instagram while at ECCC and that seems to be the same kinda thing. Good to know what hazards to expect whether buying or selling.

 

IG is kinda crazy with how many sellers there are now. Most books are way overpriced. A lot of people on there try to give grades on books without ever having books CGC'd themselves. 9.8 isn't a term that should be so loosely thrown around. Even with experience I almost never say a book is 9.8

[DavidTheDavid]

Instagram, that just seems an odd place to buy comics. I haven't explored it at all though.

 

Thanks for the comments, all.

 

I picked up a nice Rai #0 from one person, and ASM 89 and 64 from the same guy who sold me the FF 67 at such a good price. Both provided me tracking right away...one thing that is nice is that these sellers tend to take a phone pic of the tracking receipt and/or shipping label and just send it through FBook messenger.

[bagofleas]

I've sold on eBay, Facebook and Instagram at one point or another, but it's always been for graded books, not raws.

 

I do have some raws that I plan on moving now, and will probably use IG for them at first. Having been in the grading world for a number of years now, and having developed my eyes for pretty accurate grading, I can usually say what a book truly is for the most part.

 

But when I sell raws, it's because they aren't 9.8 worthy. I keep the 9.8 candidates, so when I sell it will always be 9.6 and below when dealing with raw books. The only time I will sell 9.8s is when they are already graded and I've decided to move on from them.

 

So far, I haven't had any really bad experiences with buying from anywhere, but then again, I'm VERY careful and specific about what raw books I buy. You'd be surprised how often you can tell ahead of time when someone isn't being completely forthcoming and who will be hard to deal with, just from reading item descriptions.