We'll Travel Anywhere To See Any Collection! Yeah Right.

[Bonds25]

Yea, it say's they'll travel anywhere to buy the collection, not to look at it to find out it's worth $1,000.

[FlyingDonut]

The Flying Donut Trading Company will travel ANYWHERE to see a large collection. Provided the following provisions and quid pro quos are made:

 

1) Its got to be nice there. I'm not going to say, Minneapolis in January. Brrrr.

2) A place with hot chicks in bikinis is a plus. Not a deal breaker, but a collection located in, oh, I don't know, South Beach would get more preference from one in Cleveland.

3) Books that I can only sell by the pound are right out. I'm not traveling to see Greggy's sticky Star Comics.

4) There must be old sticks of butter in plain view.

5) If none of these provisions apply but the collection is being sold by a little old lady - I'm there!

[PovertyRow]

Yea, it say's they'll travel anywhere to buy the collection, not to look at it to find out it's worth $1,000.

 

Don;t take this the wrong way, but you got a bit of the lawyer in you!

[ninanina]

I can accept the fact that some dealers won't fly in to see a collection even though they say they will in an ad. It's written there so you'll call them. They simply want to be the ones to make the decision as to whether or not to come out. I feel that it's possible to specify silver or golden age only, but could that confuse a seller if it's a surviving family member? My wife who can grade pretty decent has no clue as to the different ages of comics.

 

I read that you have a problem with dealers. I like dealers 'cause I can unload unwanted books fast. I usually trade for stuff I want because there's always stuff I want. E-bay is a great way to sell books, but it is extremely time consuming and I just don't have the time. If you do, it's definitely the best way to go. The downside is that you usually don't get that much more for them 'cause of the general "over-grading" prevelent on e-bay. Most of the buyers don't expect the comic to live up to it's grading so they don't bid as much. Now, if you're an established seller or if it's CGC'd, that's different entirely.

 

So, consider that maybe, just maybe all those VF's you have could be F/VF's or even Fines. 'Cause if you think their VF's and advertise them that way on e-bay, the people bidding on them will think their Fines and Very Fines. They will bid accordingly. Unless you can give them superspectacular scans. That always works. I am thinking that if you compare what e-bay will give you to what a dealer might, the question you need to ask, is the difference worth it. I mean, it really is a lot of work. Not a bad thing though if you treat it as a hobby and do it in your spare time.

 

I don't think you could do too badly selling these to members here. I know my experiences have been positive. I would be interested in some if they were to be made available.

[joe_collector]

If the books are older than 1980, Marvel and not beat-up, and you own a scanner and PC, you'd have to be a grade-A insufficiently_thoughtful_person to sell them to a dealer.

 

Only a dealer would disagree.

 

Selling 1990+ Modern, unsellable [!@#%^&^] to dealers for trade is a different story. That is tough to blow off.

[ninanina]

Ok, hope this is an eye opener.

 

Joe, took the time to see what comics like arcticbears are selling for right now.

Adventures Into Fear 20 .99 cents

Adventures Into Fear 29 2.25 (VF)

 

Amazing Adventures (9 lot in the '20's) $2.50. Kinda looked liked Fines - Very Fines.

 

Daredevil 90 3.50 (VF) and oddly enough

Daredevil 90 6.00 (F)

 

Fantastic Four 121 3.50 (F/VF) and oddly enough

Fantastic Four 121 10.09 (F)

 

Astonishing Tales 22 (VF) $1.00

9 lot 25 - 36 (NM range) $24.95

 

Captain America 152,153,155,156, (VF- to VF) ,154 (G-) $9.00.

 

Now, I am assuming for the most part the NM Astonishing Tales are actual VF's and guided them accordingly. Total guide for this run - $209.00. They sold for a whopping $63.78.

 

So, if the dealer offered 25% guide for these, considering the work involved in selling them, I really feel you'd come out ahead. $209.00 X 25% = $52.25.

 

I honestly picked the books at random. I also noted that the only book that sold over guide was the FF 121 in fine and the only one that sold for actual guide was the DD 90 in Fine, although the VF went for only $3.50. -

 

Comments fellows: Whadda' ya' think?

[joe_collector]

So you're actually saying that a dealer would give you Guide Percentage based on the actual grade? I think that's where you're losing me, as fairly graded, 25-30% Guide values are not bad....

 

Of course, when you sell, everything is a VG.

[joe_collector]

And another point you neglect to mention is the prevalence of key issues in his collection. Given the insane prices on Hulk 181, ASM 121, 122 and 129, etc. (selling for well over Guide, even raw), do you really think sending those to a dealer would net you a higher return?

 

Anything worth selling is worth selling yourself on EBay, and the rest of the junk is usually dead-weight fodder anyway.

[ninanina]

You're right with the keys. But, you will really need to make 'em shine on e-bay to get a decent dollar. Especially the Hulk 181. However, I am sure that a dealer would give you a much bigger percentage for the Hulk than 25 or 30%. But even so, that still may not be enough.

 

I had a couple that I did trade for stuff I wanted. The dealer gave me close to 100% guide for them in trade. Naturally, I kept the best of the three. I think I picked up about $800.00 in back issue values for the two comics. One was a Fine+, and the other a VF-. It was a good deal for the dealer, cause I wanted stuff that wasn't moving very well, and he was able to flip the two hulks pretty quick. (Obviously) So we were both happy.

[delekkerste]

I think it's a misleading statement to say "Will travel anywhere to buy your collection". Would it kill them to put a qualifier SOMEWHERE in the ad specifying what types of collections they will travel anywhere to see?

 

I think we need all need to step back for a moment and realize that this is an advertisement. The dealer needed a short, catchy phrase to get his point across that he will travel to see collections. There's no need to throw in lines of disclaimer detailing what types of collections he will travel anywhere to see. The dealer is assuming that the reader is not a insufficiently_thoughtful_person and will exercise some common sense and good business judgment in this matter - if there is any question whether a collection is worth a dealer's time to go see, the owner should expect to ask the dealer and not be shocked if the dealer chooses not to spend a considerable amount of time and money to go see the collection.

 

This thread is so ridiculous that I thought it was an April Fool's Day joke. It is, isn't it? We can't seriously be arguing the semantics of a dealer's Overstreet Price Guide advertisement?

 

Gene

[ninanina]

Rediculous perhaps to a seasoned collector, but we're not all seasoned collectors. It's just one of those things that someone needed to know about and felt like commenting on, nothing wrong with that.

 

And I know you didn't mean for it to sound like that.

[delekkerste]

And I know you didn't mean for it to sound like that.

 

Actually, I did. I re-read the original post and I'm convinced this is a joke...new poster, April 1st, ridiculous subject matter...this has to be a joke! Seasoned collector, newbie, or non-collector altogether...it doesn't matter. We're not 6 years old anymore and should know better than to take every word 100% literally. False advertising? Who here thinks this is false advertising? What court in the U.S. or Canada wouldn't throw out such a case in two seconds flat?

 

And look at the title of this thread - "We'll Travel Anywhere To See Any Collection! Yeah Right." I looked at the Metropolis ad in Overstreet - it says "We Travel Anywhere to Buy Your Collection." It says "your collection", not "any collection". Now, since we're all smart enough to use a computer and read a comic book, I think we are all capable of inferring that when they say "your collection", they don't literally mean they will go see "any collection".

 

I don't think it is unreasonable to wonder whether a dealer would travel to see a nice Bronze collection, but to cry false advertising when the dealer declines the invitation is simply irrational.

 

I'm convinced that this is one of the regular Board members' idea of an April Fools Day joke and that person is laughing his head off that any of us is taking this thread seriously.

 

Gene

[greggy]

I'm convinced that this is one of the regular Board members' idea of an April Fools Day joke and that person is laughing his head off that any of us is taking this thread seriously.

 

Doubt it because the person's previous posts were reasonable! Come on, he has only 25 of them!

[delekkerste]

Doubt it because the person's previous posts were reasonable!

 

Well, in that case, my faith in humanity has just been taken down another notch.

 

Gene

[arcticbear-migration]

At this point maybe that's the easiest way to end this pointless discussion. In truth I guess there's some things that people will never seem the same way. Besides I just got a private offer for my Hulk 181 for $7,000. How can I be upset over trivia after that.

[ninanina]

$7000.00 for your hulk?

 

Now that I can believe is a joke.

(nice try)

 

 

[arcticbear-migration]

Well we couldn't let April Fools Day go by without at least one Hulk 181 hoax could we. What do you expect for a poster with only 28 posts?

[Darthdiesel]

The most a dealer would give you for the pile, as a dealer (lighthouse, help me here), is probably about $2200, and even that might be a stretch.

 

Actually in the last year and a half, I've amassed a comparable Bronze collection (Marvel at least) of eBay and from the Tyson buys and my local shop and if I could get this one (if in NM) for $2K, I'd be all over it! That's a great price!

[Darthdiesel]

We will travel anywhere to buy your books!" ... "We will travel anywhere to buy your collection."

 

Artic - the way I read this is that it is conditional. If they were going to buy your books or a collection, then they will travel anywhere? so if they were not goning to buy it, they WON'T travel.

 

It gives me an IDEA. I'll put an ad saying I'll travel anywhere to LOOK at your collection...provided that you pay my travel costs and put me up somewhere nice for the night...and feed me too. I can't look at a collection if I'm hungry. And no mold. I'm allergic....

[arcticbear-migration]

"The most a dealer would give you for the pile, as a dealer (lighthouse, help me here), is probably about $2200, and even that might be a stretch.

 

Actually in the last year and a half, I've amassed a comparable Bronze collection (Marvel at least) of eBay and from the Tyson buys and my local shop and if I could get this one (if in NM) for $2K, I'd be all over it! That's a great price! "

 

Well I was going to let this drop since it seems most don't seem to agree with the comment I made and have tried to make this into some kind of personal attack over prices which was never part of the original intent.

 

But I have to address this comment. I'm certain you would love to get a collection like this for $2000 in near mint condition. Afterall, the Overstreet for it in NM is almost 20 grand. Why is it that someone would think that this statement is even credible? Why would someone part with a collection like that in NM if they could simply have a couple of the key issues CGC rated and placed on ebay. I checked last night and found several cgc rated nm key issues going for many times that amount(one or two without the reserve even being met yet.)

 

Honestly I've had several people inquire about this collection or elements of it. Most have been very reasonable and even helpful. But there are a couple that have kept this "only if in NM" thing going.

 

Now let me say this, I really don't know what grade most of these is. I suspect they will go very fine and up. There are some that could go nm. So why would I consider selling the whole thing for pennies when I can send a half dozen or so more popular issues to CGC for rating and then make a substancial amount more 2 grand?

 

Let me say this, there have been a goodly number of people here that have given very sound and honest advice and opinions on this, especially in PM. But I have to tell you, today, I really don't have any better idea as to grade on these or their real value than I did when I started. The opinions have been very diverse and the grading opinions are all over the spectrum.

 

But I have in this thread heard a chorus from what appears to be the dealers point of view which I'm finding more and more suspect. I have talked to some local dealers and get the impression there is a lot of anomicity towards CGC rating and the fact that today that certain comics rated by CGC seems to provide an inflated value that some established comic dealers that they perceive are hurting their businesses. That really seems to be echo'd here to some extent. So far I've heard a whole lot of comments on what this particular collection is "worth" not based on compatent evaluation but on some subjective "whatever I feel like" attitude. One poster stated that if the entire collection was "Dead On Mint" it would only be worth about $6000 retail. This makes me wonder where someone learned math as if you calculated the entire collection via the Overstreet it's almost 20k and that's without the inflated CGC/ebay pricing.(and I have no delusion that it's worth that, I'm just using the posters own statement here which is completely wrong.) Honestly, even if the rest of the collection were nothing, imagine my glee if my Hulk 181, Xmen GS1 and Xmen 94 were dead on mint.

 

On the other hand I've several people that I believe to be serious collectors that have offered good will advise on how to maximize what I'd get if I do decide to sell them. And the best advice so far that I've received is not to concentrate on the collection as a whole, because the vast amount will not bring much from either a collector or ebay, but to instead concentrate on the more valuable ones, and have the key issues rated. This seems to be the most logical, and frankly I suspect would make much more than this dubious $2000 bargin bin concept that's being extolled in this thread.

 

I realize dealers have to make a buck and that in a time where people have a virtual comic store at bargin prices online in ebay makes things tougher.

 

So, I'm jumping ship on this thread because it's getting way out of hand and completely off the original issue I had a problem with (and I admit, it seems I'm alone on that one so I'll shut up about it). To those of you that have offered sound and valuable advice, thank you. To all you dealers out there, I wish you luck in finding a continuing inventory that you can pick up at bargin prices.