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Prices drop at Christmas. When do they pick back up?
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Started by Westy Steve,

17 posts in this topic

Westy Steve

Westy Steve

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So, I know prices one comics seem to drop every Christmas as people decide to sell off books to buy stuff for their family and whatnot.  But when do the prices rebound?  Do the kids get cash on Christmas and want to spend it?  I figure the first wave of IRS refunds will also kick start the market.  But what about the between times?

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theCapraAegagrus

theCapraAegagrus

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Unfortunately, prices aren't dropping universally... This one 6-comic set I have been watching actually raised their asking price 17% in the last 2 weeks (not signed by Stan Lee, either).

I find that most prices on most things "rebound" after the New Year almost immediately. Not sure if this is the case regarding comic books.

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1Cool

1Cool

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There does seem to be an upswing in comic sales after Christmas with all the gift card buying but things don't really start humming until tax refund checks start coming out in spring.  Things do seem to be abnormally slow on e-bay right now but no shortage of low ball offers.

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Bird

Bird

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5 minutes ago, 1Cool said:

There does seem to be an upswing in comic sales after Christmas with all the gift card buying but things don't really start humming until tax refund checks start coming out in spring.  Things do seem to be abnormally slow on e-bay right now but no shortage of low ball offers.

(shrug) I have been killing it on ebay lately. It helps to have had 2 copies each of Supernatural Thrillers 5 &  8 I will admit. This has been my best month all year. I also have been home a lot and listing tons of stuff with 100 extra free listings.

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1Cool

1Cool

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22 minutes ago, Bird said:

(shrug) I have been killing it on ebay lately. It helps to have had 2 copies each of Supernatural Thrillers 5 &  8 I will admit. This has been my best month all year. I also have been home a lot and listing tons of stuff with 100 extra free listings.

Posting new fresh stuff all the time is definetely the way to go to bring in the new buyers and fresh money.  I took some time off to do the boards sales thread and things really slow down on E-Bay if you are not posting continuously.  The slabs seem to be doing ok but the mid shelf raw books seem to be very slow this month.  Still a fantastic year and it will probably finish up well with the new batch of Silver Age slabs which just came in.

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Bird

Bird

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23 minutes ago, 1Cool said:

Posting new fresh stuff all the time is definetely the way to go to bring in the new buyers and fresh money.  I took some time off to do the boards sales thread and things really slow down on E-Bay if you are not posting continuously.  The slabs seem to be doing ok but the mid shelf raw books seem to be very slow this month.  Still a fantastic year and it will probably finish up well with the new batch of Silver Age slabs which just came in.

I had planned on moving things from ebay to the boards as the auctions expire but with those 200 free listings I will be ramping it up a bit. I also have two new honey holes with discounted trades and hardcovers; bought three for $45 last week and sold one for $55 the other day on the bay. I will now rinse and repeat but only spend a little each time to keep it from getting crazy!

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batmiesta

batmiesta

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16 hours ago, 1Cool said:

There does seem to be an upswing in comic sales after Christmas with all the gift card buying but things don't really start humming until tax refund checks start coming out in spring.  Things do seem to be abnormally slow on e-bay right now but no shortage of low ball offers.

Is it any wonder? when you see the ridiculous prices some sellers are asking for books. 

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theCapraAegagrus

theCapraAegagrus

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3 hours ago, batmiesta said:

Is it any wonder? when you see the ridiculous prices some sellers are asking for books. 

I have to agree here... Sometimes I 'feel' like I'm "low-balling" a seller, but sometimes their asking price is absolutely ridiculous.

Is their price 2X what they expect to actually get? I never know.

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1Cool

1Cool

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2 hours ago, TwoPiece said:

I have to agree here... Sometimes I 'feel' like I'm "low-balling" a seller, but sometimes their asking price is absolutely ridiculous.

Is their price 2X what they expect to actually get? I never know.

I price my books at about 5 - 10% over GPA so there is a little room to negotiate but I get so many 30 - 40% under GPA it just gets ridiculous.  I've set the auto reject before but i kind of like to see which books are getting a ton of offers even if they are low ballers.  I also realize there is always a high price and a low price for any set of data.  Buyers all want to quote the lowest price of the month and sellers all want to quote the highest price.  There just seems to be a lot of people not only quoting the lowest they are trying to set all time new lows this fall.

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theCapraAegagrus

theCapraAegagrus

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11 minutes ago, 1Cool said:

I price my books at about 5 - 10% over GPA so there is a little room to negotiate but I get so many 30 - 40% under GPA it just gets ridiculous.  I've set the auto reject before but i kind of like to see which books are getting a ton of offers even if they are low ballers.  I also realize there is always a high price and a low price for any set of data.  Buyers all want to quote the lowest price of the month and sellers all want to quote the highest price.  There just seems to be a lot of people not only quoting the lowest they are trying to set all time new lows this fall.

I think that most sellers are more level-headed than buyers. Everyone wants a deal, even if it means that the sale is priced at a fair number.

There are crackhead sellers, though, that want $5k+ for Infinity Gauntlet #1 signed by Stan Lee when you can buy the entire 6-issue set, signed, for half of that from other stores...

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the blob

the blob

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I am making a lot of offers on books. I am getting some flexspend money back soon, so I am not as broke as usual. I am looking at recent completed sales and factoring in prices from my 2005 OPG. I figure if I can get a solid GA or SA slab for around 2005 OPG that is good (unless recent sales say it should be lower). For raws, some % of 2005 OPG. Needless to say the vast majority of my offers have been rejected and sellers probably want to punch me in the face, but a few were not! (Hey listen, I've been on the other end. You never know if someone is just trying to feel you out, so a counter can make sense. I've gotten stupid lowball offers and countered and we ultimately came to a fair number. I can't blame them for trying to get something cheap.

 

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the blob

the blob

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Criminey, I instinctively paid right away right after my offer was promptly accepted (by a reputable dealer who frequents these boards), forgetting that I probably have a 20% chance of there being a 10-15% off coupon tomorrow. AHHG!!

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