Do comics ever go down in price?

[BleekerBob]

I'm new to collecting and I was wondering if prices ever go down or is it just up? Have prices ever gone down in the guide?

[Jgel]

I don't think prices go down in the guide to often, but check out any 90's book in the .10 bin for true value.

[FlyingDonut]

Prices often go down.

[Jgel]

What I meant was do price go below cover in the guides???

[FlyingDonut]

No, Overstreet has a policy of not listing books below cover price in the Guide. That has nothing to do with reality, however.

[ninanina]

Page 57 of the current guide...

 

...many 80's and 90's books that list at cover price may only be worth a percentage of that price....

 

So, just 'cause it's listed at cover doesn't mean it's worth that to a collector.

[metropoliscomics]

Prices do go down. In the 1998 Guide many mid and low grade SA books went down. The reason this happened was due to the constant increases Overstreet gave books when the Monthly Guide was coming out in the early 90s. Many customers left the market during this period due to escalating prices on reader copies. In 1998 the prices came down, recently I am seeing some prices reaching their 1998 Guide prices, but many have not. I think this was a good thing as it brought collectors back into the market.

[tth2]

I'm new to collecting and I was wondering if prices ever go down or is it just up? Have prices ever gone down in the guide?

 

There are lots of specific titles and issues, particularly "hot" modern issues, that have gone up and down with the tides of speculation. Check out a price guide from when Valiants were at their peak, and then compare to today's guide prices.

 

However, in general, Overstreet don't like to reduce prices en masse, although it has happened, like with the softening of the SA market in the mid- to late-90s. You've joined too late to enjoy the period of the boards when there was a "Crash is coming" thread every week, it seemed. Actually, the absence of any really vocal naysayers probably means a correction really is coming now!

[FFB]

I'm new to collecting and I was wondering if prices ever go down or is it just up? Have prices ever gone down in the guide?

 

Sales prices on expensive books fluctuate from day to day. Let's take for example a particular high grade, high demand silver age Marvel that has quite a few copies in the census and shows up a lot on ebay, like an Amazing Spider-Man #14 in CGC 9.0. Average sales price over the last 12 months is $2,278.33. Average sales price over the last 90 days is $2,425. Since December 2003, six copies have sold at public auction. On December 1, 2003, a copy sold for $2,680.55. Three days later, another copy sold for $2,000. Two months later (Feb. 2004), another copy sold for $2,300. In November 2004, a copy sold for $2,110. Then just last month, a copy sold for $2,425.

 

There could have been variations between each copy, such as page quality, centering and registration, writing/date stamps, and other things that a particular bidder does or does not like, all or none of which could have affected the final sales price. The seller's feedback, item description, shipping terms, and the quality of the photo/scan used in the auction could, and probably did, play a part in each sale.

 

Jason Ewert, for example, gets higher prices on his CGC graded books because his auctions are presented very professionally and tons of people have him saved as a Favorite Seller on ebay. Joe Schmoe from Podunk, Arkansas, who lists his book with a tiny scan and describes it in broken, hick English, does not inspire confidence in a bidder and so the big dollars do not always come out to play.

 

It is important to remember when looking at GPAnalysis prices or ebay final auction results that there is often a lot more going on than just the book. The "value" of the book in the marketplace may be remaining stable or even increasing due to demand, yet a particular copy could sell for less than that value for any number of reasons. Just because one or two copies sell for less than "value" does not mean that the value of the book has gone down. By the same token, just because two raging bid-a-holics drive the price on a CGC 9.8 copy of a Bronze Age Spider-Man issue into the stratosphere does not mean that all 9.8 copies are suddenly worth a jillion dollars.

[BleekerBob]

That's very helpful thanks.

[Hobgoblin]

So, just 'cause it's listed at cover doesn't mean it's worth that to a collector.

 

Don't get me started

[Sal]

somebody missed rob's thread about the punisher from like a week ago...

[VintageComics]

a lot of hi grade and mid hi grade books went down last year.....look at FF's and ASM's up 8.0 grades...if memory serves correctly many dropped between OS #33 and #34....and i don't consider a 6.0 or an 8.0 book too shabby!

[sfilosa]

Regarding prices going up,

 

CGC had a HUGE effect on PRICES, as it in theory, separate the contenders from the pretenders.

 

The Premiums given to the Highest Grades (i.e. 9.4's and higher) increased dramatically.

 

NM (9.4) books sell for over double what a NM- (9.2) usually sell for and in a lot of cases as with newer books, ONLY the Highest Grade has any real collectible value.

 

The question is: Has the HUGE UPSHIFT in PRICE on High Grade books, ALREADY PRICED in the next DECADE of PRICE INCREASE?

 

There are many books / titles that it's possible that the answer is YES.

 

In general, the KEY ISSUES, seem to still have price increases left in them as they ALWAYS have DEMAND. What has seem to have happened is that the NON-KEY ISSUES, got a HUGE BOOST because of the LABEL, but over time that increased demand has waned.

[FFB]

a lot of hi grade and mid hi grade books went down last year.....look at FF's and ASM's up 8.0 grades...if memory serves correctly many dropped between OS #33 and #34....and i don't consider a 6.0 or an 8.0 book too shabby!

 

Many of the 8.0 VF grade values lowered between the two guides, but everything higher and lower grade than 8.0 pretty much went up. I think that the lowering of prices at the 8.0 level had more to do with the changing of the multiplier that Overstreet used with they switched their top grade from 9.4 to 9.2. Looking at the early FFs, every book increased in value in every grade except in 8.0, where almost every book dropped a little in the stated value. The only ones that did not drop in value in 8.0 were the keys like FF#5 that had a sharp upswing in the 9.2 price.

[asmfan]

prices definitely go down, in the market and in the price guide. I stopped collecting comics for about 12 years (1992-2004). When I came back into the market last summer, I noticed a few things.

 

- values for "vintage" books, i.e. early silver-age, golden age, went up almost universally. some much more than others (Spideys).

 

- values for many bronze-age books went up dramatically, especially for key issues (Marvel Spotlight 5, Hulk 181)

 

- values for MOST "hot" comics that were modern, or even brand new, when I had been collecting, went down almost universally. Almost all modern Punisher books, McFarlane's modern Spider-Man title, New Mutants, LongShot, and many, many, many others are now ICE COLD.

 

now all I collect is vintage Silver-Age, mostly in 6.0 or better. I recently sold all of my books that were printed after 1965 (with a few exceptions). I think that prices on early silver-age will DEFINITELY go up and down, but there is a floor to the value, and over time they will likely perform better as investments than newer books. They are SOOO cool to take out and enjoy, too, which is always a plus...

 

here's my logic - as more of my generation (I'm 27) grows up, I think the values on books like this (from this point on I'm talking about pre-1965 books) will keep going up and up as our earnings power grows. when we were kids, we could never afford books like this. now we're in the workforce and make enough money to buy these "legendary" books which we used to drool over.

as we make more money, we're going to buy better and better comics. consequently we'll keep pushing up the prices since there is a fixed supply of books and we will always want to collect better and better copies...

 

oh wait, but I forgot, comics are hot right now. and in a few years, when the movies stop coming out, or they are each on the fifth stale sequel, everything will cool down. people who paid ridiculous prices for comics will freak out and wonder what they were thinking. Prices will crash...... WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.

 

know why? because as soon as prices drop, the collectors are going to buy even nicer comics, and for less! my interest in comics is not movie driven. personally, comics bring me back to when I was a kid. I love the art, the stories, the characters. I love hunting for the right books, the excitement of making a big purchase. that's not going to change! I believe (for better or worse) that most other serious collectors feel the same. when people get on these boards and ask, "when is the crash going to happen?", I just smile. the value of my collection that sat for 12 years untouched almost doubled during that time...

 

ok, a few more points before I stop my ramble. and this part is directed to you, BleekerBob, because you seem to be new to collecting. what factors should you consider before you buy a book? some people, who think of themselves as "purists", will say that you should buy any book you like and not think about its resale value or investment potential. these people are not wrong, but that is not how I collect books. and maybe that holds true for less expensive books. BUT, I caution that if you are thinking of spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on comics, think about what you are doing. buy something that is either 1) very high grade, or 2) "vintage", 3) or both (if you can afford it, I for one cannot do that yet)

 

anyways, before I ramble too much, that's my opinion on the matter.

[FlyingDonut]

This should be interesting.

[Norrin_Radd]

This should be interesting.

 

Amazingly, I think I agree with his rant more than I disagree with it.

 

I DO think there is a floor of value for SA keys because there is constant demand. I know I demand them, just can't exactly afford them , but I'm working on that.

 

And I DO agree that hunting down and enjoying your collection is what matters most, but you also have to make smart purchases and consider how much you put into collecting versus investing for retirement.

[precodekeith]

 

 

[delekkerste]

This should be interesting.

 

I think this article I wrote for Lyria Comic Exchange pretty much sums up my thoughts. Please forgive the sometimes overly critical tone:

 

http://www.lyriacomicexchange.com/stories.asp?stories_id=52

 

I would add that I think all of the points in the article are still valid and that all parabolic rises are eventually corrected - but, markets can remain irrational longer than one can remain solvent. And, that it's easy to say that one would buy more at lower levels, but that those lower levels the next time around could very well be accompanied by changes in other variables (e.g., increased job insecurity, higher interest rates, falling home prices, etc.) that should be considered.