HuddyBee Posted March 15, 2021 Share Posted March 15, 2021 I enjoy instagram from a selling standpoint. I don't sell a lot, but generally I'll toss books up on Instagram before sending them off to eBay. It's nice selling through Instagram as there's usually a more personal connection, and you get to meet more people. Also due to their being no fees I can generally price my books a lot lower, and it feels good to give others a bit of a deal. On an unrelated note, trading via Instagram has also been a great tool to help grow the collection. Mr. Bombastic and Dreamtoreal1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamtoreal1 Posted March 15, 2021 Share Posted March 15, 2021 9 hours ago, Mr. Bombastic said: I started an IG page to display my collection as a side-project during Covid. My collecting used to be a private affair, but I have come to love the IG community. I've also purchased several books from IG sellers and have not yet been disappointed as the legitimate ones are actively establishing themselves as good alternatives to online auctions. Only caveat is that I want to buy more comics, not just to own, but to feed my IG page (@hardscrabble_comic_collection) and that's getting expensive. Check out my page if you like Silver/Bronze/and some Copper & Modern Marvel slabs. great books! just followed you Mr. Bombastic 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Bombastic Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 Thank you, @Dreamtoreal1. Your posts always make me giddy and a little jealous all at once. Dreamtoreal1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Cool Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 On 3/15/2021 at 9:14 AM, october said: And exactly like gambling, the math is not on your side. The more raffles you play, the more you will revert to the mean. You will eventually end up with some comics that, when coupled with the losses from other raffles, you badly overpaid for. Nobody gambles to make money (or at least 99% of us don't). It is a big thrill to throw $20 in on a $1,000 book and watch the video to see if you are a winner. As long as the person running the auction is only bumping up the price by 10% - 15% and runs the auction fairly then I can think of worse ways to get a thrill. The house always wins in the long run but people still flock to casinos (even one's that do not serve free alcohol). CKinTO 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the blob Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 On 3/15/2021 at 9:14 AM, october said: And exactly like gambling, the math is not on your side. The more raffles you play, the more you will revert to the mean. You will eventually end up with some comics that, when coupled with the losses from other raffles, you badly overpaid for. So you don't think I can sell 100 $5 raffles for a $150 book? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the blob Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 I have an instagram, but barely use it. somehow i have like 15 followers. i do use insta to look at some artists' work. Better format than facebook. By the time I get insta adept the platform will be obsolete. So you get people to follow you and know about you by putting your insta tag everywhere? greggy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reptilekingdie Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 I’ve bought a lot off of Instagram and have been happy. I have not sold on Instagram yet but I am considering selling due to the fact that eBay is evil and I am giving up on eBay. Instagram does not charge fees and most of the sellers I’ve been buying from them I’ve dealt with before on eBay and other venues.Most sellers on Instagram have been reputable and have not overstated the grades for me at least. Mr. Bombastic 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotKey Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 I have my Instagram up now, @hotkeycomics and I've been promoting a spec I found that I'm revealing this Friday. I think I found a real gem that is going to skyrocket soon. Follow my IG if you want to see it Friday! (I'll post it here in a relevant thread as well) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalPSI Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 My wife sells knitting on IG I can get her to knit some superhero socks, any takers? sd2416 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
entalmighty1 Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 On 3/16/2021 at 9:30 AM, 1Cool said: Nobody gambles to make money (or at least 99% of us don't). It is a big thrill to throw $20 in on a $1,000 book and watch the video to see if you are a winner. As long as the person running the auction is only bumping up the price by 10% - 15% and runs the auction fairly then I can think of worse ways to get a thrill. The house always wins in the long run but people still flock to casinos (even one's that do not serve free alcohol). Because they think they've found an edge, or are somehow better at the games than everybody else, or are naturally lucky, or a million other reason why statistics and mathematics don't apply to them. Like I said, brain damage. You throw $20 bucks at a 1k book 5 times, that's $100. Do it 20 times and you could have just bought the book from the start. That's Andy's point, eventually the math catches up and you spent more on raffles than you would have just buying the thing outright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWOslave Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 can any of you guys recommend how to start out selling on IG? Ive built a decent rep on ebay but want to try selling slabs and raw comics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dupont2005 Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 I wonder if I should make a new IG for selling. My current one is private and only for friends and family so I wouldn’t do well selling on there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erndog Posted March 31, 2021 Author Share Posted March 31, 2021 7 hours ago, entalmighty1 said: Because they think they've found an edge, or are somehow better at the games than everybody else, or are naturally lucky, or a million other reason why statistics and mathematics don't apply to them. Like I said, brain damage. You throw $20 bucks at a 1k book 5 times, that's $100. Do it 20 times and you could have just bought the book from the start. That's Andy's point, eventually the math catches up and you spent more on raffles than you would have just buying the thing outright. And honestly, when I made my post, I was referring more to the sellers! How they keep track of 4 mini raffles, 6 sub raffles, 3 micro raffles, 87 PayPal payments, spread out over 4 weeks, from 56 different IG users, over 9 IG posts on their wall, is BEYOND ME. And then having someone bail... Like... just put a price and sell the book. Its better for everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet Lou 14 Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 Question for the Instagram experts: Is there an established strategy or practice for creating an effective "want to buy" post on Instagram? Let's say I have a specific book I'm looking for, and a price I'm willing to pay -- what's the best way to get it out there? Or what if I wanted to post a longer want list? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMoreLauren Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 14 hours ago, Sweet Lou 14 said: Question for the Instagram experts: Is there an established strategy or practice for creating an effective "want to buy" post on Instagram? Let's say I have a specific book I'm looking for, and a price I'm willing to pay -- what's the best way to get it out there? Or what if I wanted to post a longer want list? As with anything else on social media, your image is important. Create a graphic (like on Canva) with all the important details. In your description you can go a little deeper, but really and truly pay attention to the hashtags you're using. Look through other comic sellers on IG and copy whatever hashtags would do the best for you. Also utilize IG stories. A lot of people I know that flip on IG do well with stories. MatterEaterLad, Larryw7 and Sweet Lou 14 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the blob Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 Has to be better than facebook, totally not suited for this kind of selling Larryw7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatterEaterLad Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 There's a ton of action on the IG claim sales these days, so much so that Comic Connect now does one on FB every Sunday, which honestly, is not as good as the better IG dealers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the blob Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 do the insta people actually provide a picture of the comic you can examine rather than a group shot of 100 books from 80 feet away with the description "I think there are all 9.8s, please examine the picture, grading is subjective, no returns allowed, shipping will be $14 for media mail" like most FB sellers? Off Panel and piper 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicmeta Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Never even thought about getting an instagram account until reading all this here. I'll have to look into it more so for buying then selling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatterEaterLad Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 (edited) 33 minutes ago, the blob said: do the insta people actually provide a picture of the comic you can examine rather than a group shot of 100 books from 80 feet away with the description "I think there are all 9.8s, please examine the picture, grading is subjective, no returns allowed, shipping will be $14 for media mail" like most FB sellers? Like with anything, the dealer's reputation matters. With Bob Storms I'd buy the books sight unseen but with Worldwide I really have to examine the scans. I lurked on claim sales forever and messaged back and forth with a few before I pulled the trigger. The cool thing is that it's live and you can ask questions, have them bring the book to the camera, etc. I've bought from online live auctions, like Mound City, and received overgraded books, missing coupons, missing pages, and such -- so that risk is everywhere. I just bought a graded X94 from @Dreamtoreal1 and it shipped right away, tracking sent, well packed, and the comic is a keeper. Edited May 10, 2021 by MatterEaterLad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...