Misguided Guide ?

[drbenway25]

Hello everyone. Nice to read all the comments by experienced collectors and dealers. As I’m navigating my way learning how to sell Golden Age comics I’ve often heard statements like: “Those comics tend to sell for only a fraction of guide.” Or “those books tend to do as well or better than guide.” I’ve been impressed with how accurate the comments by forum members are as compared to the guide. I can only conclude that the Overstreet Guide is – well, somewhat misguided!

 

I try to sell on ebay and generally post comics with an opening bid at about 30 to 50% of guide value. It seems that is often too much and I don’t like those listing fees for books that aren’t sold. Another dealer told me a book I listed would do well and sure enough, it sold for about 20% over the guide 2.0 value even though I graded it at 1.5. I tried selling a Green Lama 8 which guides out at $270 with an opening bid of 130. No takers. I relisted at opening bid of $99. Again, no takers. I talked with a dealer about it and he said “Green Lama is dead”.

 

Is there a tendency in Overstreet to not decrease the value of comics that have fallen out of favor? My stock broker has no qualms about telling me which of my stocks have decreased in value. Are there some books that Overstreet lags behind as far as increasing values?

 

Any comments would be appreciated as I do want to learn which GA comics are out of line with the guide so I can give more accurate opening bids. I don’t want to under price them, as some of the books are not very popular so they don’t get many hits on the search engines. If you want to peruse the collection I’m trying to sell click on the San Diego Hanger Collection link below.

 

Thanks for reading my rant.

[Bonds25]

According to your website, the comics are NOT for sale!

 

Are they??

[bobpfef]

A large part of being a comic collector is knowing which books are over valued or under valued in the Guide. The market can be very fluid and the Guide doesn't really make radical changes in pricing, even when a book has lost some of its appeal to collectors. It does make price correction, but more often on new books.

 

As a rough guide, in regards to Golden Age stuff, what is important is key characters (i.e. someone the general public would know, Superman, Batman etc.), key covers, and key artists. Gold books have become too expensive for there to be a lot of people out there trying to fill holes in runs.

[drbenway25]

According to your website, the comics are NOT for sale!

 

Are they??

 

I've updated the website. I'll be happy to communicate with anyone interested in buying comics. I'll refund your money if unhappy with the purchase. If you read my feedback on ebay you'll see people seem to be satisfied with my grading. I did have to refund a comic once because I missed a missing page internally. It's the Action Comics 99 now up on ebay. Don't want to send money to someone who's just a few bits on a server computer? I'll be at the San Diego Comic Con and we can meet.

[drbenway25]

A large part of being a comic collector is knowing which books are over valued or under valued in the Guide. The market can be very fluid and the Guide doesn't really make radical changes in pricing, even when a book has lost some of its appeal to collectors. It does make price correction, but more often on new books.

 

As a rough guide, in regards to Golden Age stuff, what is important is key characters (i.e. someone the general public would know, Superman, Batman etc.), key covers, and key artists. Gold books have become too expensive for there to be a lot of people out there trying to fill wholes in runs.

 

Thanks for your comment. I seem to be having the hardest time with the comics that are valued at $200 and under. The expensive books are, in a sense are easier to understand. I've signed up with GPAnalysis which helps with the slabbed books. Even with them though, it's hard to pick up market trends when a particular comic has been sold only 3 or 4 times in the last couple of years.

 

You do frequently hear that people are priced out of the Golden Age market but there are comics that are available for just a few bucks. Especially the ones in my collection. I enjoy selling to new collectors or younger people who for $10 can own a 60 year old comic.

[The Black Hand ®]

I'm pretty certain that publications like Overstreet , while having usefull information are stacked towards the dealer in order to keep a high retail value for books.Also anytime a dealer tells you a 'book is dead' head for the hills! You can be just as certain that if you were trying to buy that same book from him it would become a 'Scarce and undervalued comic'.

[skybolt]

I've had the same problem selling GA stuff on Ebay. I listed a nice glossy copy (conservatively garded as FN+) of Tarzan #54 (from the 50's) on Ebay for $6.99, and it received no bids. It guided around $50 or $60. I then had to kix in a few bronze age Tarzan's for it to sell. On the other, books with good girl art covers usually sell for at least 75% guide on Ebay. I listed a VG- copy of a Jungle Comics book for $9.99 and expected to sell for 75% guide (which was $20). It sold for $75 because two bidders wanted the book.

 

While some GA books are overpriced in the guide, a lot of them underpriced. For instance, the price guide doesn't take into factor most classic war or good girl art covers. Wings #89-91, Blue Beetle #54, most Junior Comics, Sevene Seas, etc. sell way over guide. There's no way that someone can get a FN copy of Wings Comics #90 for $60. The same holds true for Schomburg war covers and so on.

 

However, the biggest problem with the OS guide is how it prices non key SA books in FN/VF condition and lower. I barely get 30% of guide for these books on Ebay.

[FlyingDonut]

The vast majority of books listed in the OS have prices that have little or no foundation in reality, both high and low. Golden Age has a limited market, and books that do not have current appeal (your Tarzans, Fawcetts and funny animals, just as an example) are simply overpriced. Same with mid- and lower-grade Silver. Take the Guide price and cut it in half, and that's a good starting point to start discounting,

[drbenway25]

I'm pretty certain that publications like Overstreet , while having usefull information are stacked towards the dealer in order to keep a high retail value for books.Also anytime a dealer tells you a 'book is dead' head for the hills! You can be just as certain that if you were trying to buy that same book from him it would become a 'Scarce and undervalued comic'.

 

I hear ya. I love the hobby and am proud of some of my collection but it does seem to be a "Let the Buyer Beware" environment. I like Aces logo under the warning - Newbies Beware

[Sal]

The vast majority of books listed in the OS have prices that have little or no foundation in reality, both high and low. Golden Age has a limited market, and books that do not have current appeal (your Tarzans, Fawcetts and funny animals, just as an example) are simply overpriced. Same with mid- and lower-grade Silver. Take the Guide price and cut it in half, and that's a good starting point to start discounting,

 

welcome back!

 

and you are speaking truth, here. i just picked up Avengers 47 in 7.5 ish condition for $13. it had been listed for half a day by the time i hit the BIN, so it's not like it got snapped up immediately

[jim1968]

The vast majority of books listed in the OS have prices that have little or no foundation in reality, both high and low. Golden Age has a limited market, and books that do not have current appeal (your Tarzans, Fawcetts and funny animals, just as an example) are simply overpriced. Same with mid- and lower-grade Silver. Take the Guide price and cut it in half, and that's a good starting point to start discounting,

Wow that is some of the most incorrect drivel I've read out here in a long time.

Golden Age has a limited market? Fawcetts are bad?

You must only buy and sell out of one venue.

I do great at antique and mall shows with low grade funny animal comics, photo covers, and silver age super hero books. Those same things I couldn't sell at a comic book show, so I take Golden Age, Ducks, FAWCETTS, Undergrounds, and art to shows like Wondercon, etc.

For the stuff I cant sell at those shows there's always auctions.

But Duck books and Golden Age Fawcetts are my best sellers.

I've only been a dealer since 1979 though so I might not know what I'm talking about.

But low grade silver age DC's can be a tough sell, except to the right person.

[skybolt]

The vast majority of books listed in the OS have prices that have little or no foundation in reality, both high and low. Golden Age has a limited market, and books that do not have current appeal (your Tarzans, Fawcetts and funny animals, just as an example) are simply overpriced. Same with mid- and lower-grade Silver. Take the Guide price and cut it in half, and that's a good starting point to start discounting,

 

welcome back!

 

and you are speaking truth, here. i just picked up Avengers 47 in 7.5 ish condition for $13. it had been listed for half a day by the time i hit the BIN, so it's not like it got snapped up immediately

 

Nice buy. Last month I sold a combination of Avengers #47 and #53 in FN- condition for around $20. I've found that combining two books in one listing usually receives higher bids. For instance, I listed a copy of ST #148 in VF condition, and a copy of Iron Man #36 in VF- condition separately for $5.99 each. Neither of the books sold. The following week, I just said the heck with it and put the two books together (even though they have nothing to do with each other). To my surprise, about 6 or 7 people bid on the auction, and they sold for $17.50. I guess combining shipping also helps. Also, by combining the books you create a unique auction, vs. the same old book being listed 20 times by 20 different people.

[FlyingDonut]

The vast majority of books listed in the OS have prices that have little or no foundation in reality, both high and low. Golden Age has a limited market, and books that do not have current appeal (your Tarzans, Fawcetts and funny animals, just as an example) are simply overpriced. Same with mid- and lower-grade Silver. Take the Guide price and cut it in half, and that's a good starting point to start discounting,

Wow that is some of the most incorrect drivel I've read out here in a long time.

Golden Age has a limited market? Fawcetts are bad?

You must only buy and sell out of one venue.

I do great at antique and mall shows with low grade funny animal comics, photo covers, and silver age super hero books. Those same things I couldn't sell at a comic book show, so I take Golden Age, Ducks, FAWCETTS, Undergrounds, and art to shows like Wondercon, etc.

For the stuff I cant sell at those shows there's always auctions.

But Duck books and Golden Age Fawcetts are my best sellers.

I've only been a dealer since 1979 though so I might not know what I'm talking about.

But low grade silver age DC's can be a tough sell, except to the right person.

 

Golden Age definitely has a limited market, especially for titles with no current series - Tarzans, Fawcetts, etc. Although I've only been dealing since 1977, so I might not know what I'm talking about,

 

You're selling low grade funny animal books at Guide? You're selling low and mid-grade Ducks at Guide? You're selling Fawcetts at Guide? You're selling low- and mid-grade Silver at Guide?

 

You can buy all of mine at 60% of Guide then. Send me your address and I'll box them right up.

[jim1968]

Yeah I sell a lot of that at guide. Especially low grade ducks, lulus, archies, super hero and horror golden age, all at book.

Fawcetts are one of the best selling of the golden age publishers out there so I don't know what you're talking about as far as that goes.

60% for books?!? There better be some key golden age number ones in there to make me go over 30%. But stuff is pretty easy to buy here in California.

Selling is just a matter of knowing your market, there's always a way to get close to guide for your books.

[FlyingDonut]

Yeah I sell a lot of that at guide. Especially low grade ducks, lulus, archies, super hero and horror golden age, all at book.

Fawcetts are one of the best selling of the golden age publishers out there so I don't know what you're talking about as far as that goes.

60% for books?!? There better be some key golden age number ones in there to make me go over 30%. But stuff is pretty easy to buy here in California.

Selling is just a matter of knowing your market, there's always a way to get close to guide for your books.

 

Well, I'll be sending you stuff to sell then! Fawcetts and Ducks sell here, but nowhere near Guide. Realizing of course, that low grade Guide is nothing, but still...

[jim1968]

No problemo I'll gladly pay up to 30% of guide for Barks Four Color Duck books, Whiz, Capt Marvel Adventures, Capt Midnight, Capt Marvel Jr., Master Comics, Mary Marvel, Marvel Family, Little Lulu 1-40, Walt Disney's Comic's and Stories 1-80, Archie 1-60, Pep 1-80, Pogo 1-10, Animal Comics 1-20, and others.

[Timely]

Sometimes it goes title by title, other times it can be issue by issue. I do not know what issue of Green Lama you have but there was a warehouse find on #7 issue making that issue sell for well under guide prices.

Personally I like Green Lama, especially the war covers on # 2, 4 and 6.

West

[FlyingDonut]

No problemo I'll gladly pay up to 30% of guide for Barks Four Color Duck books, Whiz, Capt Marvel Adventures, Capt Midnight, Capt Marvel Jr., Master Comics, Mary Marvel, Marvel Family, Little Lulu 1-40, Walt Disney's Comic's and Stories 1-80, Archie 1-60, Pep 1-80, Pogo 1-10, Animal Comics 1-20, and others.

 

Ahhhhhhhhh, well THAT's the reason. I'm thinking late 40s and early 50s books, which are EVERYWHERE. I'll pay 30% for WDCS 1 too!

[the blob]

yet I've had pretty good luck lately selling 3.0 - 7.0 type marvel bronze age for 50-100% of guide (excluding variants, which go for more). we'll see how long that lasts. some were keys or semi-keys, others were just regular issues.

 

i just sold an avengers 74 in vg/fine for $6 (plus $3 s/h). i'm happy with getting that sort of money for those sorts of books. in fact, i think the $9 total is exactly guide. sure, I don't pocket the s/h, but do I expect someone to pay 50% over guide on a mid-grade book for the privilege of shopping on ebay? No.

 

(anyway, when you factor in that most people knock a grade off a book on ebay, at least, when formulating their bid, because they don't trust grades they can't see in person, and then add in shipping costs, I think a lot more books sell for 75-100% of gudie than we think. FD may sell "Fines" for 50% of guide (or less), but part of that is $5 shipping/handling plus the "Fines" being converted into VGs by ebayers for bidding purposes. This is even more so for VFs. "I believe it when I see it" is my motto, so virtually no claimed VF is bid on as if it's a Fine. If I am 100% certain a dealer is spot on (bassGman and a few others) because they tend to undergrade, I may accept their grade)

 

i've had less luck selling the same sorts of grades in SA.

 

it may have more to do with psychology --- people don't mind paying $6 for a book that guides for $9, but are more reluctant to spend $20 on a book that guides for $30.

 

as for barks ducks --- sold two low graders recently (two early 1940s four colors) for I guess about 50-60% of guide, but I've had a bunch of stuff priced more in the 70-90% of guide range sitting in my store for a while. the hope is that someone into these will stumble along and buy them. not necessarily a pure comic collector per se. maybe a disney fan. maybe there will be a carl barks retrospective on TV or something and people will get interested.

 

oh, and the barks ducks do often sell for guide or more -- when they're HG and in slabs.

[drbenway25]

Sometimes it goes title by title, other times it can be issue by issue. I do not know what issue of Green Lama you have but there was a warehouse find on #7 issue making that issue sell for well under guide prices.

Personally I like Green Lama, especially the war covers on # 2, 4 and 6.

West

 

Here's my poor little dead Green Lama. # 8. I think it's an F or F/VF. There is an arrival date on it but otherwise a bright intact comic. Unfortunately my scanner produced a ripple effect so it's hard to appreciate that it really is a decent copy. Overstreet 6.0 = $186 8.0 = 388