ATTENDED A LOCAL AUCTION AND I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT 3 3

[jools&jim]

Is there an alternate universe out there somewhere in which ANY of the following adds up to good news for the long-term health of the "vintage" back issue market...? 

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The speculation bidding is increasing every year...

 

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There are a lot of newbies entering the market who smell the blood in the water and don't know much about what they are doing...

 

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They posted poor pictures online. Looked like stock from a comic book store closure. Prices were way high...

 

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Someone tried to "flip it" at Heritage in May (less than three months). Result - LOST 20 grand...

 

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I have watched the same person buy 20 NM98 or another guy buy 30 ASM361, just outbidding everyone each time...

 

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Collectibles of any kind listed in those mom and pop auctions on AuctionZip.com can go for crazy amounts of money as many think they are getting the deal of the century and that they can make money by turning around and flipping their pickups at mega-venues like ComicConnect and Heritage...

 

Edited June 22, 2018 by jools&jim

[wombat]

I'm really hoping for a crash so I can buy some cheap books.  

[zeezee]

The bread crumbs are lining up, where it will lead time will tell.

[rjpb]

I see this all the time with Heritage's random assortment lots of low grade GA books. A bunch of stuff that individually wouldn't sell for any more than guide on ebay ends up going for well over their guide estimate for the lot, and there is only a full picture of one comic to go by. I'm not sure who is buying these, as they don't seem like the kind of lots where a collector would keep everything. 

[jools&jim]

1 hour ago, wombat said:

I'm really hoping for a crash so I can buy some cheap books.  

I don't think the end result of these trends (if that's really what they are) is as much a "crash" as it is sharks all the way down: a perpetual rat race of circuitous one-upsmanship as hustlers breed new hustlers who breed even more new hustlers, until it's the same sharks selling the same books to each other, and to new sharks...where everybody is on the make, where everybody is happily chasing their own tails, and where nobody is even remotely worried about being the last one holding the bag because, of course, there's another one born every minute...

[wikked]

I was bidding on a few of those lots online, until they got way out of hand.

Those online sales also have a 20% internet premium tacked on afterwards yet!

[KryptoMayor]

1 hour ago, rjpb said:

I see this all the time with Heritage's random assortment lots of low grade GA books. A bunch of stuff that individually wouldn't sell for any more than guide on ebay ends up going for well over their guide estimate for the lot, and there is only a full picture of one comic to go by. I'm not sure who is buying these, as they don't seem like the kind of lots where a collector would keep everything. 

I think this is why people post books on eBay and social media site with poor pictures and, “I’m not a professional grader so you decide.” They are banking on the gamblers to get more money for their books. 

[NoMan]

4 hours ago, Robot Man said:

Comics are on fire right now. From GA to Modern. Superhero to funny animal. Everything sells if priced right. The movies have something to do with it as do news stories about books like the Action #1 that sold for over 2M last week. It is one of the few collectible categories that is VERY strong. There are a lot of newbies entering the market who smell the blood in the water and don't know much about what they are doing. 

The small local auction houses and estate auctions used to be a great place to score good books for a great price. That ship has pretty much sailed now. 

I sell at a monthly local antique flea market every month. I used to bring a few boxes of comics but got very few buyers or even lookers so I stopped. A couple of months ago, I tried it again and sold a ton of them. Last week, I brought a full table of boxes of GA-BA books. Mostly lower grade but a nice selection of genres. I also brought a box of nicer stuff just in case and kept it in the truck. I was hit right away hard. So much so that I had little time to put out my regular antique and collectible items. I sold books from a couple of bucks up to $250. One of the best days I've had in a long time. Comics made up about 3/4ths of my total sales. 

I have recently thought about de-bagging a bunch of lower grade or lessor title older books and putting them in one of these local auctions that specialize in antiques and collectibles. From the way it seems, I might be able to get rid of some stinkers and actually get some change for them...

You’re in SoCal right? What flea market do you sell at?

[NoMan]

4 hours ago, DanCooper said:

EXACTLY!

This past February, Phil sold a Showcase 4 CGC 6.5 at his auction.

Someone tried to "flip it" at Heritage in May (less than three months)

Result - LOST 20 grand (see details I wrote about in the Showcase 4 thread in the Silver Age forum)

Thanks for info. Heading over to Showcase 4 thread now. Man it sounds crazy from here. 

[Knightsofold]

It also seems that ungraded books can go for higher amounts because people are pressing them before grading and flipping.

[NoMan]

2 hours ago, jools&jim said:

I don't think the end result of these trends (if that's really what they are) is as much a "crash" as it is sharks all the way down: a perpetual rat race of circuitous one-upsmanship as hustlers breed new hustlers who breed even more new hustlers, until it's the same sharks selling the same books to each other, and to new sharks...where everybody is on the make, where everybody is happily chasing their own tails, and where nobody is even remotely worried about being the last one holding the bag because, of course, there's another one born every minute...

I’ve phased into getting reading copies of great story arks and I’m loving it. 

I gotta a couple of CGC and raw keys here and there and that’s about it. 

[NoMan]

4 hours ago, DanCooper said:

EXACTLY!

This past February, Phil sold a Showcase 4 CGC 6.5 at his auction.

Someone tried to "flip it" at Heritage in May (less than three months)

Result - LOST 20 grand (see details I wrote about in the Showcase 4 thread in the Silver Age forum)

I’m not seeing your posts in Showcase 4 thread but I am kinda the Slow kid in this here class. 

[aszumilo]

@NoMan

Here is the post:

 

[NoMan]

20 minutes ago, aszumilo said:

@NoMan

Here is the post:

 

Ok! Cool! Thank you. 

[grayzr]

6 hours ago, jzeze said:

You are right sir. They are great auction house, always happy with results. You pointed out the raw spidey lot. When I examined it , my estimate was half of the value, the winning bidder was via online, so I am assuming he/she did not inspect it. Which brings me to my point, how can someone drop that much money without knowing the approximate condition and without detail photos to really examine.

In the last few years the economy as a whole has been doing great, investors making a killing, stocks going threw the roof, comic hoarders of books like NM 98, ASM 300, Hulk 181 and FF 48 are laughing to the bank.  

Until recently many millionaires just popped out of thin air via crypto currency's like bitcoin.

People are throwing around more money then they know what to do with right now.

So if that lot was over valued some guy/girl out there obliviously didn't feel the same way and dished out the big bucks either out of ignorance or not giving a

[F For Fake]

My experience with local auctions, at least over the last year or so, is that people have lost their minds. Or, more accurately, they have no idea what they're doing. The sports card guys are back, the speculators are back. They see a comic that is 20 years or more older, and assume it's a goldmine. Although I'm talking about much, much smaller potatoes here, just this past weekend, for instance, a pile of drek that in past years would have sold for 25-50 cents a book, maybe $20 for the whole lot, was getting choiced out and selling for $20+ per book. And I mean, like, real garbage. People have no idea. They're just buying any "old" comic they see because they assume it's valuable, and they are going to get burned. And when that happens often enough, the crash comes.

[1Cool]

I do see this on E-Bay from time to time.  Guy post a couple pictures of a short box filled with bronze books - maybe 10 popped up and they are decent books.  Bidding goes crazy for the box with people hoping there is a IH 181 hidden in there but usually the seller knows exactly what they are doing and the buyer gets creamed when they go to sell each book.  Fool and his money and all.

[zeezee]

2 hours ago, 1Cool said:

I do see this on E-Bay from time to time.  Guy post a couple pictures of a short box filled with bronze books - maybe 10 popped up and they are decent books.  Bidding goes crazy for the box with people hoping there is a IH 181 hidden in there but usually the seller knows exactly what they are doing and the buyer gets creamed when they go to sell each book.  Fool and his money and all.

Well similar situation in this auction, one lot was an FF run, it included issue 48. It was a 5.0-6.0, but when I looked through the pages the marvel stamp was cut out. That lot sold for an outstanding amount, it was an online bidder that won it, so there you go.

[jools&jim]

1 hour ago, jzeze said:

Well similar situation in this auction, one lot was an FF run, it included issue 48. It was a 5.0-6.0, but when I looked through the pages the marvel stamp was cut out. That lot sold for an outstanding amount, it was an online bidder that won it, so there you go.

Must have been a coupon clipped, or maybe a decorative panel in the lettercol...the value stamp program didn't start until 1974.

[Robot Man]

16 hours ago, nrad1968 said:

I watched an online (but local) auction once too in So Cal, and the lots went for WAY more than I expected.  I recall a old spidey lot that was nice but went for more than double what I would have paid.  I have seen this more on Ebay too...in the past there were a lot of great lots but now it seems the big random lots are harder to come by and sellers have things more planned out, and lots of decent/good stuff always go for more an I expect.  I used to think buying in quantity was cheaper but that is not the case today because large lots of say silver age seem to go for more than the individual cost....sure the buyer saves in shipping and time in hunting down all those issues...but in the past I think there were better bargains.  I think theer are just WAY more online sellers and collectors now, and unlike in the past, with the internet virtually every collector is to some extent a seller.   

It is real easy to sell a lot of swill on ebay. Slip in a couple of low grade keys, not in front but spread out within some others in the group, a spotty description and watch the fun fly. A guy I know, did a few and the prices he got blew me away. People lose their good sense and pay way more than they should. If it looks like such a great deal, it usually isn't...