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Where do you prefer to shop for comics online?

Started by kowings,

53 posts in this topic

marvelmaniac

marvelmaniac

Posted
Posted
That's why I asked for some examples to look at, because it sounded like both posters who mentioned pricing were talking about common, lower grade books, not consignments.

Let me start by saying...

I am not dumping on Lonestar, I have bought numerous books from them in the past and just recently bought 8 Sad Sack Complimentary issues that were priced fairly and have had no issues with the grading or shipping.

That being said...

 

I would not say the books I am referring to are "common".

I am referring to lower grade Pre-Hero Atlas/Marvel,Horror/Westerns.

 

I am referring to the JIM and ST books before the "prototype" issues and it is not just My Comic Shop that is asking what IMO are rediculous prices, it is also eBay "Buy It Now" sellers.

Over the last 2 years the prices asked for these books, especially the JIM books(#'s below 40)have tripled or quadrupled for no apparent reason other than "we can".

 

I do not have the current Overstreet but eBay auctions do not support the "ridiculous" prices asked for these books.

Apparently people are getting Greedy and that is why on eBay out of 5000 listings for JIM or ST only 5-10% are actual auctions.

I have seen numerous books on eBay with ridiculous starting bids of anywhere from $50 - $150 and Nobody bids on them at all because the starting bid is already too high.

 

IMO...

eBay "Auctions" are the true measure of what a book is worth and what the market will bear and that is why I am currently watching and tracking all auctions for these books.

 

As soon as I get some "real" examples I will post them.

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thecopperagekids

thecopperagekids

Posted
Posted
I'm assuming the folks stating that the MCS/Lonestar prices are high are referring to consignment books. The owner sets the prices from what I understand, hence some books have prices that are crazy 20x GPA. I don't know what those folks are thinking.

 

Having said that, books in MCS own inventory are generally priced pretty reasonably. In terms of their grading, do mistakes happen, sure, but overall, I've been EXTREMELY pleased with raw books received from them. I've subbed several that have come back 1-2 grades higher than their listed grade. Again, not that their "bucket" grading is perfect, but overall I've been very happy.

 

 

I have only bought 1 comic from MCS directly through their online store, which they graded as GD 2.0......it arrived and was at least a 2.5.I dry cleaned it for 15 minutes, to a solid 3.0.

 

I haven't gotten around to pressing it yet but post pressing, if I were to sub it to CGC, I am confident I'd get a 4.0.

 

That said, MCS's grading seems to be very conservative.

 

IMHO, you can't blame MCS for either "hot book pricing", which any seller does...or for their consignment books, which are waaaaay out of line with fair market value.MCS can't tell a consingnor his asking price is bate crazy ;)

 

 

 

As far as where I buy my comics....a couple local shops, the occasional craigslist post, nearby auction houses....and I have even messaged ebay sellers who live locally, asked to check out their collection and have bought from them, in person.

 

To make a profit, you have do put a lot of work in.

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Rommin

Rommin

Posted
Posted
I'm assuming the folks stating that the MCS/Lonestar prices are high are referring to consignment books. The owner sets the prices from what I understand, hence some books have prices that are crazy 20x GPA. I don't know what those folks are thinking.

 

Having said that, books in MCS own inventory are generally priced pretty reasonably. In terms of their grading, do mistakes happen, sure, but overall, I've been EXTREMELY pleased with raw books received from them. I've subbed several that have come back 1-2 grades higher than their listed grade. Again, not that their "bucket" grading is perfect, but overall I've been very happy.

 

 

I was just about to post this as well. It's the crazy consignment prices that make MCS/Lonestar look like they are pricing like loonies. That's not them. It's the book owners that are consigning through them. It's a shame really because if people don't know, they hop on there and assume that MCS is trying to be MHC or something! The books they price are pretty darn competitive. Take a look at X-Men 117 as an example.

 

 

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chrisco37

chrisco37

Posted
Posted

Bob Storms is my favorite online spot. But I'm a onesy-twosy type buyer.

 

Last run I bought (which was recent) was from MCS. I thought their price was very fair. Cheap even. 20+ books for right around $30 shipped. Agree with others that are saying the stupid prices on their site are most likely consigners.

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nocutename

nocutename

Posted
Posted
That's why I asked for some examples to look at, because it sounded like both posters who mentioned pricing were talking about common, lower grade books, not consignments.

 

I sent a PM to explain my post. It wasn't a negative against MCS. When I purchase comics, I check a variety of sources and do price checking. I mainly concentrate how has the most for shipping at the best prices since I am a bulk purchaser.

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mycomicshop

mycomicshop

Posted
Posted
That's why I asked for some examples to look at, because it sounded like both posters who mentioned pricing were talking about common, lower grade books, not consignments.

 

I sent a PM to explain my post. It wasn't a negative against MCS. When I purchase comics, I check a variety of sources and do price checking. I mainly concentrate how has the most for shipping at the best prices since I am a bulk purchaser.

 

It wasn't taken maliciously, and I appreciated the info and feedback you provided. I only replied because we do try to be very competitive on price (balanced with keeping books in stock in the first place). If anyone has concerns about our pricing on something I want to look into it and see if we're legitimately priced higher than the market, or if our pricing is driven by the market.

 

Here's one of the examples that was mentioned to me: for Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century, why are some issues $6-8 rather than $2-3?

 

http://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=702371

 

I looked at issue #19 where we have two copies for sale, a VF for $8 and a VF+ for $8.49.

 

We've sold 5 NM copies in the past few months at between $8 and $10. Mile High has that issue in stock for $32.40 in VF or $45 in NM.

 

On eBay, the only copies for sale are the ones from us and Mile High. It's not in stock at Midtown, Newkadia, Comic Collector Live, or Atomic Avenue.

 

My guess would be that there were fewer copies printed of the later issues, #19, and #20, and thus they're harder to find. People who read that title want to read/collect the whole run, but since there are fewer copies available of that issue, the limited supply pushes the price up.

 

Or maybe the print run's exactly the same, I have no idea. Either way, the pricing is working for us: we're selling multiple copies a year, our price is high enough to get additional copies offered back to us for sale (which might not be the case if we were selling it at only $2-3), and our price is 75% cheaper than the only other seller I could find online who has this book in stock, Mile High.

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1Cool

1Cool

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Posted

If want to buy a few books to fill in a run I always go to MyComicShop since their grading is great and the shipping is very reasonable. I even like the mailer they use. Other then buying the books I need on E-Bay when the prices are crazy low I pretty much always go to MCS.

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jimbo_707

jimbo_707

Posted
Posted

 

IMHO, you can't blame MCS for either "hot book pricing", which any seller does...or for their consignment books, which are waaaaay out of line with fair market value.MCS can't tell a consingnor his asking price is bate crazy ;)

 

 

Do all shops that take consignments let the consignors ask whatever they want? I'd think they could just turn down consignments that aren't reasonably priced. At the very least, they could add a "Make-an-Offer" button to the site.

 

CLink is they same in terms of many absurdly high consignment items. You can make an offer, but you have to offer at least half the asking price, and I've seen many books that look like they were priced at more than twice what they're worth, and often at four to ten times what they're worth. This is my favorite example:

http://www.comiclink.com/itemdetail.asp?back=%2Fsearch%5Fadv%2Easp%3Fall%3Dy%26TITLE%3DBambi%26TITLEOPT%3DALL%26ISSUE%3D%26Condition%3D%26ConditionTo%3D%26CensusRank%3D%26SearchPageQuality%3D%26Pedigree%3D%26PRICEF%3D%26PRICET%3D%26DESCRIPTION%3D%26DESCRIPTIONOPT%3DALL%26SearchRemarks%3D%26SearchCGC%3D%26EXCLUDE%3D%26CATEGORIES%3D%2D1%26WCATEGORIES%3D%2D1%26SORT%3DCATEG%26%5Fwhere%5Fforsale%3Dy%26%5Fwhere%5Fauctions%3Dy%26x%3D18%26y%3D16%26where%5Fforsale%3Dy&id=856839

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Elwinmonseyjr

Elwinmonseyjr

Posted
Posted

I have personally ordered from Mile High and MyComicShop/Lone Star in the past month. Both had decent prices. The main differences I saw were sometimes Mile High was drastically more expensive on particular issues for no apparent reason, and they took longer to process and ship (though both MCS and I are in Texas so that may have played a part).

 

I'd recommend MyComicShop.

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Big.Mike

Big.Mike

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I shop here and MCS.

 

They never overgrade, which is great!

 

Also, their search function is awesome.

You can search by company, comic discription,

character, or whatever you can think of.

I wish this website's search feature was

this good!!

 

 

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dupont2005

dupont2005

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Posted

First stop eBay, mostly just to check prices and rarity. I prefer actually buying what I can here though. There were a few comic sites I used to use and find decent deals on for filler material. I think a couple of the best ones may have closed or gotten rid of the huge bargain bins though. The big online retailers are always a last resort for me. Not that I have any huge complaints with service or pricing, just that sometimes better deals are found elsewhere so elsewhere is where I look first.

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