Hard Decision

[CBT]

Anyone ever decided to pull the chute and punch out? I am unsure whether I want to or not. I hate Epay and the board is not all that much better to sell.Have not had much luck on Craigslist and that is what is making keep everything more than anything,

 

I hate selling collectibles but am hemorrhaging money on a business venture and my time working with the military is coming to an end soon, which has helped offset some of the cost but could use more. Sorry for the rant just venting. Would love to hear how and if you have ever decided to sell off. I will keep a few special books/art if I decide to sell.

 

I have a few comments to make, but last time I defended an OP I got a lot of grief for being too douchy while calling out some of the hi-post person_who_is_obnoxiously_self-impressed ego maniacs on teh board, who think they are important and funny and are actually real life losers trying to be the man on the internet. I won't do that again... (some of the worst culprits are yet to show up and post their worthless two cents)

 

Instead, I will try to give you an honest and sincere answer, and hopefully you will get the chance to read it amongst the endless neckbeards posting garbage.

 

/rant

 

The main problem with selling a collection as a whole, unless it is mostly high valued stuff, is liquidity. It is difficult to move a whole collection for what it's "worth", because most of what you have will already be for sale by someone else. Moving it in small pieces, and trying to ensure value is achieved, requires a lot of time, money, and shipping.

 

It's essentially the same dynamic that let's pawn shops makr a killing. Someone who needs to sell is forced to take less, so someone who can wait to sell, can make more.

 

If I were to sell "everything", I would choose what I wanted to keep and separate it out. Then I would individually sell all the high value books (worth $100 or more) on the boards. Base you asking price on the most recent ebay completed sales, not GPA. If the most recent completed sale is an auction style, you will almost certainly be able to match it or beat it. If the most recent completed sale is a BIN, chances are that person reached and overpaid, be prepared to settle for less, maybe even 20% less.

 

Once you have maximized your value on the books that are easy to sell and desirable to buyers. Try to do the same with the rest of your collection in runs. Runs will sell, especially if priced properly. Any sort of batman, spiderman, x-men, type stuff will sell easy. Use completed sales if you can, and looks at runs as a cost per book, compared to similar lots sold.

 

You have now essentially sold everything for a decent price. Whatever is left, assume you are going to get it for 25% of its "guide" value at best, sell it on craigslist, or to your local store by weight essentially.

 

That is how I would liquidate a whole collection, to achieve the best value, minimum time and shipping effort. Sell $100 books solo on here, sell everything else in runs on ebay/here, dump the rest at weight to a store/dealer. No individual sales of books worth sub-$100.

 

 

Lastly on life, and selling collectibles. Having no debt, and being financially sound are the best thing you can do. Collectibles can always be rebought at a later point in life from a position of strength. They will cost more, but so will everything else (inflation), and who knows....maybe you will be able to buy back in during the bubble collapse for a song! The main thing is you will have more buying power and available money to spend on them, since you will be debt free and financially stable.

[comix4fun]

Anyone ever decided to pull the chute and punch out? I am unsure whether I want to or not. I hate Epay and the board is not all that much better to sell.Have not had much luck on Craigslist and that is what is making keep everything more than anything,

 

I hate selling collectibles but am hemorrhaging money on a business venture and my time working with the military is coming to an end soon, which has helped offset some of the cost but could use more. Sorry for the rant just venting. Would love to hear how and if you have ever decided to sell off. I will keep a few special books/art if I decide to sell.

 

I have a few comments to make, but last time I defended an OP I got a lot of grief for being too douchy while calling out some of the hi-post person_who_is_obnoxiously_self-impressed ego maniacs on teh board, who think they are important and funny and are actually real life losers trying to be the man on the internet, but I won't do that again. (and some of the worst culprits are yet to show up and post their worthless two cents)

 

Instead, I will try to give you an honest and sincere answer, and hopefully you will get the chance to read it amongst the endless neckbeards posting garbage.

 

/rant

 

The main problem with selling a collection as a whole, unless it is mostly high valued stuff, is liquidity. It is difficult to move a whole collection for what it's "worth", because most of what you have will already be for sale by someone else. Moving it in small pieces, and trying to ensure value is achieved, requires a lot of time, money, and shipping.

 

It's essentially the same dynamic that let's pawn shops making a killing. Someone who needs to sell is forced to take less, so someone who can wait to sell can make more.

 

If I were to sell "everything", I would choose what I wanted to keep and separate it out. Then I would individually sell all the high value books (worth $100 or more) individually on the boards. Base you asking price on the most recent ebay completed sales, not GPA. If the most recent completed sale is an auction style, you will almost certainly be able to match it or beat it. If the most recent completed sale is a BIN, chances are that person reached and overpaid, be prepared to settle for less, maybe even 20% less.

 

Once you have maximized you value on the books that are easy to sell and desirable. Try to do the same with the rest of your collection in runs. Runs will sell, especially if priced properly. Any sort of batman, spiderman, x-men, type stuff will sell easy. Use completed sales if you can, and looks at runs as a cost per book, compared to similar lots sold.

 

You have now essentially sold everything for a decent price. Whatever is left, assume you are going to get it for 25% of its "guide" value at best, sell it on craiglist, or to your local store by weight essentially.

 

That is how I would liquidate a whole collection, to achieve the best value, minimum time and shipping effort. Sell $100 books solo on here, sell everything else in runs on ebay/here, dump the rest at weight to a store/dealer.

 

 

Lastly on life, and selling collectibles. Having no debt, and being financially sound are the best thing you can do. Collectibles can always be rebought at a later point in life from a position of strength. They will cost more, but so will everything else (inflation), and who knows....maybe you will be able to buy back in during the bubble collapse for a song! The main thing is you will have more buying power and available money to spend on them, since you will be debt free and financially stable.

 

 

 

This was solid advice....especially the last part. Getting into debt or not paying bills to support comic collecting is a recipe for long term disaster.

 

 

But:

 

[HighRadArt]

Why not send a list to several of the dealers here and see it they're interested?

[makeminemego]

You had me at "neck beards posting garbage".

 

+1 on your ideas in the post.

[whisp]

I don't sell comics very often but I did a batch of video games and gi joe toys. What I learned is patience when selling online. Get lots of lowballs and just people mad because they want to pay a certain price in which I will give deals if they buy a decent amount but usually I pass. I find that if you give it time someone will eventually come along and buy it. An example that collection of Intellivision and Atari I got. I was willing to let it go for $600 for the quick flip but everyone wanted to pay $500 or less. Over time I split it up and made $785 so far on it and I still have half the Intellivision games which is an other $230 easily. It took me awhile but I think I did well with it. But it did take awhile to do it. So as I mentioned patience. I have to have lots of it especially with the gi joe toy collectors they want everything at a steal.

 

 

[OrangeNemesis]

So did we ever determine what is being sold here??

[Columbia Comics]

So did we ever determine what is being sold here??

 

Apparently advice...someone should send CBT $50 for his sound financial planning skills.

 

(thumbs u

[vaillant]

Anyone ever decided to pull the chute and punch out? I am unsure whether I want to or not. I hate Epay and the board is not all that much better to sell.Have not had much luck on Craigslist and that is what is making keep everything more than anything,

 

I hate selling collectibles but am hemorrhaging money on a business venture and my time working with the military is coming to an end soon, which has helped offset some of the cost but could use more. Sorry for the rant just venting. Would love to hear how and if you have ever decided to sell off. I will keep a few special books/art if I decide to sell.

 

What an interesting and innovative new kind of thread you started.

 

I think you are the first to ever feel this way.

 

So what advise do you need from all of us to help you make money?

 

How can we give you information that helps you only?

 

 

 

Didn't realize the forum was set to person_too_unaware_of_social_graces tonight. Don't need anything form you.

 

 

Sorry if my ramblings offend you, but really I just don't care.

 

You remind of people who call fellow collectors just for selfish advice on how to help them only make money.

 

This thread is so predictable and so basically simple.

 

What a joke and disgrace.

 

Sell your collection and hit the bricks......

With the due difference you have no clue to who you are talking with.

Over 17000 posts do not give you the permission of insulting people, sorry.

[CBT]

So did we ever determine what is being sold here??

 

Apparently advice...someone should send CBT $50 for his sound financial planning skills.

 

(thumbs u

 

 

apparently, I didnt believe this was a genuine sentment, so i'll re-qrite it as if it were, and reserve judgement.

 

Thank you for your compliment and not sarcastic thumbs up

[Columbia Comics]

So did we ever determine what is being sold here??

 

Apparently advice...someone should send CBT $50 for his sound financial planning skills.

 

(thumbs u

 

you could tell him to pretend to be a dealer, and charge 120% GPA

 

You just cannot help being an arsehole can you? You actually gave decent advice, yet your next post is filled with venom and anger.

 

You really need to take your own medicine and stop being the loser you preach against.

 

[CBT]

You really need to take your own medicine and stop being the loser you preach against.

 

You are the one taking sarcastic shots at me, dont dish it out if you dont want it back.

 

If I misinterpreted your post and it was sincere, then fine I will take you at your implied word, and edit out my other post, and I apologize for assuming.

 

Cheers

[Columbia Comics]

You really need to take your own medicine and stop being the loser you preach against.

 

You are the one taking sarcastic shots at me, dont dish it out if you dont want it back.

 

If I misinterpreted your post and it was sincere, then fine I will take you at your implied word, and edit out my other post, and I apologize for assuming.

 

Cheers

 

As an accountant and someone who's been involved in financial markets for over 10 years, I've seen what debt can do.

 

Being debt free (or on that path) is very rewarding and is a sound plan, regardless of where it comes from or who says it.

 

You're very quick to judge, esp. when its with individuals you have a history with. Not everyone is out to get you all the time.

 

Every so often, even you deserve a pat on the back.

[miraclemet]

not to derail the derailment...

 

OP: two approaches. One nets you the most money, but takes the longest time, the other nets you the least money, but you get it quickly.

 

But in between the bulk sale (fast, less money) and the piecing it out (long time, more money) there is the hybrid approach...

 

As someone said, cherry pick out the bigger dollar books, sell them to hobbyists for market value (here first, then ebay). Group the rest in runs (by title or subject) and try to get 50% of market value for them by selling them in lots (better to sell a 20 issue run for $20 than to try and sell each issue for $2 each... even if you sell 10 books (so same $20) you're dealing with up to 10 different shipments. Not worth your time.

 

I sold of 90% of my collection last year before moving abroad. Used the above approach. In the end I had about 2 long boxes of comics and trades that were left and I had a mystery box sale for the price of shipping. Super easy way to unload lots of content (and it was good stuff, reading-wise!) and to sow some good will on the boards.

 

Now I wasnt getting out of the hobby for money reasons, so I turned all of that bulk into a few books that I loved basicly converting 2 bookshelves of TPBs/HCs and 4 long boxes into 5-10 slabs (which were much easier to move!) If you just need the cash then dont do that part, but do think to keep a few sentimental books. I have a few gifts from boardies that would never be sold, and a few favorites that are always in my "keep" pile.

 

again, sorry to derail the derailment, back to your regularly scheduled circus.

[CBT]

Being debt free (or on that path) is very rewarding and is a sound plan, regardless of where it comes from or who says it.

 

I agree, a good way to think of debt is this:

 

When you die, over the course of your life, you will have made a certain amount of money. That total amount of money you make, will not only be minus the interest you paid on debt, it will be minus every single cent of return that money you lost to debt payments DIDNT make.

 

The younger a person is when they have debt, the less money they will make in their lifetime. The bigger a persons debt, the more pronounced the effect.

 

If people actually ran an annuity formula on the amount of interest they pay on debt for even just ONE year, let alone, their entire life up to this point, it would blow their minds.

 

Debt = slavery

[CBT]

not to derail the derailment...

 

OP: two approaches. One nets you the most money, but takes the longest time, the other nets you the least money, but you get it quickly.

 

But in between the bulk sale (fast, less money) and the piecing it out (long time, more money) there is the hybrid approach...

 

As someone said, cherry pick out the bigger dollar books, sell them to hobbyists for market value (here first, then ebay). Group the rest in runs (by title or subject) and try to get 50% of market value for them by selling them in lots (better to sell a 20 issue run for $20 than to try and sell each issue for $2 each... even if you sell 10 books (so same $20) you're dealing with up to 10 different shipments. Not worth your time.

 

I sold of 90% of my collection last year before moving abroad. Used the above approach. In the end I had about 2 long boxes of comics and trades that were left and I had a mystery box sale for the price of shipping. Super easy way to unload lots of content (and it was good stuff, reading-wise!) and to sow some good will on the boards.

 

Now I wasnt getting out of the hobby for money reasons, so I turned all of that bulk into a few books that I loved basicly converting 2 bookshelves of TPBs/HCs and 4 long boxes into 5-10 slabs (which were much easier to move!) If you just need the cash then dont do that part, but do think to keep a few sentimental books. I have a few gifts from boardies that would never be sold, and a few favorites that are always in my "keep" pile.

 

again, sorry to derail the derailment, back to your regularly scheduled circus.

 

very similar to my advice, and well said

[retrothecollector]

Wednesday is the new Friday.

 

This thread has the drama, one can not simply get without a subscription.

 

[NewWorldOrder]

 

I am trying to be as nice as I can here.

 

.

 

 

Custom title material if I ever heard one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NewWorldOrder]

Anyone ever decided to pull the chute and punch out? I am unsure whether I want to or not. I hate Epay and the board is not all that much better to sell.Have not had much luck on Craigslist and that is what is making keep everything more than anything,

 

I hate selling collectibles but am hemorrhaging money on a business venture and my time working with the military is coming to an end soon, which has helped offset some of the cost but could use more. Sorry for the rant just venting. Would love to hear how and if you have ever decided to sell off. I will keep a few special books/art if I decide to sell.

 

What an interesting and innovative new kind of thread you started.

 

I think you are the first to ever feel this way.

 

So what advise do you need from all of us to help you make money?

 

How can we give you information that helps you only?

 

 

 

Didn't realize the forum was set to person_too_unaware_of_social_graces tonight. Don't need anything form you.

 

 

Sorry if my ramblings offend you, but really I just don't care.

 

You remind of people who call fellow collectors just for selfish advice on how to help them only make money.

 

This thread is so predictable and so basically simple.

 

What a joke and disgrace.

 

Sell your collection and hit the bricks......

With the due difference you have no clue to who you are talking with.

Over 17000 posts do not give you the permission of insulting people, sorry.

 

Yes it does give me the right to call out BS woe is me threads, but have a please help me make money undertone.

 

Sad you can't see through that.

[makeminemego]

Anyone ever decided to pull the chute and punch out? I am unsure whether I want to or not. I hate Epay and the board is not all that much better to sell.Have not had much luck on Craigslist and that is what is making keep everything more than anything,

 

I hate selling collectibles but am hemorrhaging money on a business venture and my time working with the military is coming to an end soon, which has helped offset some of the cost but could use more. Sorry for the rant just venting. Would love to hear how and if you have ever decided to sell off. I will keep a few special books/art if I decide to sell.

 

What an interesting and innovative new kind of thread you started.

 

I think you are the first to ever feel this way.

 

So what advise do you need from all of us to help you make money?

 

How can we give you information that helps you only?

 

 

 

Didn't realize the forum was set to person_too_unaware_of_social_graces tonight. Don't need anything form you.

 

 

Sorry if my ramblings offend you, but really I just don't care.

 

You remind of people who call fellow collectors just for selfish advice on how to help them only make money.

 

This thread is so predictable and so basically simple.

 

What a joke and disgrace.

 

Sell your collection and hit the bricks......

With the due difference you have no clue to who you are talking with.

Over 17000 posts do not give you the permission of insulting people, sorry.

 

Yes it does give me the right to call out BS woe is me threads, but have a please help me make money undertone.

 

Sad you can't see through that.

 

How many posts do I need to attain such an atmospheric level of misplaced confidence in my opinion of the motives of others?

 

[Brian48]

I bulk sold my collection once.

 

Never again. Take the time. Do it slowly or the hybrid approach Miraclemet mentioned.