Yet another pricing debate

[comicartfan]

Ok, I recieved an email from a dealer regarding a buy on my TOD # 1 9.4 white pages....he said that he would do $300.00 since the last one on Ebay ended at that and that is the apparent price.

 

Now, while I declinded the offer, I was more annoyed by his statement. So, I am putting this out to collectors here for a much needed debate.

 

If dealers, collectors, auctions houses etc...ALWAYS say that Ebay is not the price gauge, yet only when it comes to buying...yet readily jump all over Ebay examples when it comes to selling. True, everyone wants to buy low, sell high. But what I can't stomach is the inconsistency. If the guide is "only a guide" and Ebay isn't a realible source for prices, then where do the prices come from ?

 

You can go thru the Ebay records and find that books go for all different amounts all different times of the year. Summer is slow, Fall is busy, Christmas is slow, Spring is busy.....etc... So, if this guy tells me that the last one sold for $300, then what about the one before that sold for $ 425.00 ??! - One sale doesn't make it in stone !

 

I feel that Bronze books have gone down or stayed stable, that is true. Yet, there must be some kind of set rules.....no ?? ....yes ?? -

 

So, I would love input/discussions on this since the new guide is out next month. And for the record, WHAT IS A TOD # 1 9.4 white pages worth ??

 

 

[FlyingDonut]

$300.00

 

Until you get torqued off, list your book and and it sells for $275.00.

 

Then it will be worth that. I hate to be a jerk about it, but the price on your book is going to drop in 9.4 as the silly money moves to 9.6 and higher. There's not that big of a demand for TOD 1, and getting 2.25X 9.4 guide might be about right for it now.

[blowout]

To achieve a real market value for a book you need to take an average of sales over a number of years. The highest price paid and the lowest mean nothing, as you said yourself, prices fluctuate for a number of reasons.

This is why Overstreet, for example, doesn't list prices for Modern books for a few years until they have had a chance to arrive at a median market level.

 

To work out a fair price for the TOD, reasearch prices paid over the last couple of years and take an average.

[Mushroom]

The price of the book is what the 'market will bear'. You yourself have already bought up seasonal issues around pricing, then of course there is historic sales and you have to factor in whether there is a market driver (such as a movie) that would artificially drive up the cost for a period of time. If the dealer is willing to pay $300- then he must already have a buyer to flip it to for a profit.

 

In listing a book on ebay you are in effect taking your chances ('well do you feel lucky punk.....'). Only you can debate whether a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

[dam60]

Philosophically I would argue that a book is worth only what someone is willing to pay for it. People have different metrics to value things (eg Overstreet, past sales on and off ebay, etc) but at the end of a day your book is only worth what you can get for it.

 

If you think that the new OS guide is going to raise the price on the book and that the 9.4 will still carry the same 2.25x or more multiple, I would wait. I think some fresh money will be out and about after the guide gets published. If you think about it, this has really been a banner year for comic books:

 

1: Spider-Man the movie, the best in the box office and the DVD market for '02 (can I count that for this OS?)

2: Cage auctions got some great publicity

3: DD movie and all the trailers for X2, Hulk . . .

 

DAM