Funding your collections

[october]

I'm far from rich, but I save my pennies(sometimes literally) and pack a peanut butter sandwich for lunch every day so I have enough extra scratch for the comics I want. I also sell comics I don't want, DVD's, and other stuff to fund my comics purchases.

 

Me too. Bums aren't the only ones who pick pennies and nickels out of gutters! (I am not joking, sadly).

[divad]

I'm interested to hear how some of you fund purchases to add to your collection. Do you buy low/sell high? Do you budget a certain amount each month and never go over? Are you into speculating? Are you rich?

 

Anything you can tell me will be helpful.

 

I sell heroin to schoolchildren, er, I mean comics on eBay . . .

[divad]

I'm far from rich, but I save my pennies(sometimes literally) and pack a peanut butter sandwich for lunch every day so I have enough extra scratch for the comics I want. I also sell comics I don't want, DVD's, and other stuff to fund my comics purchases.

 

Me too. Bums aren't the only ones who pick pennies and nickels out of gutters! (I am not joking, sadly).

 

I found a quarter the other day

[october]

I'm far from rich, but I save my pennies(sometimes literally) and pack a peanut butter sandwich for lunch every day so I have enough extra scratch for the comics I want. I also sell comics I don't want, DVD's, and other stuff to fund my comics purchases.

 

Me too. Bums aren't the only ones who pick pennies and nickels out of gutters! (I am not joking, sadly).

 

I found a quarter the other day

 

Nice! Once I found a $20 bill! It kept my family in coal and gruel for a whole month!

[divad]

I'm far from rich, but I save my pennies(sometimes literally) and pack a peanut butter sandwich for lunch every day so I have enough extra scratch for the comics I want. I also sell comics I don't want, DVD's, and other stuff to fund my comics purchases.

 

Me too. Bums aren't the only ones who pick pennies and nickels out of gutters! (I am not joking, sadly).

 

I found a quarter the other day

 

Nice! Once I found a $20 bill! It kept my family in coal and gruel for a whole month!

 

Tough Daddy!

[uclapeterg]

I'm interested to hear how some of you fund purchases to add to your collection. Do you buy low/sell high? Do you budget a certain amount each month and never go over? Are you into speculating? Are you rich?

 

Anything you can tell me will be helpful.

 

I sell heroin to schoolchildren, er, I mean comics on eBay . . .

 

Surrre you do.

[shrunkenhead]

I found $550 in cash laying in the middle of the street one time in an unmarked money clip. Ever the defender of truth and justice, I turned the money into the cops, who held it for 90 days and then handed it over to me when nobody claimed it. Boo ya!

[namisgr]

I'm rich beyond my wildest dreams

 

Seriously, I'm older than most forumites, and have had the chance and the time to make a pretty good living and build a decent nest egg. I've also got my Bronze collection (1971-76 and 1981-85) bought off the rack. Since I'm unwilling to convert more than a fraction of my finances into comics, I work on a yearly buying budget. It's a strategy that has granted alot of enjoyment since I returned to collecting with a vengeance about 12 years ago, but leaves out many of the biggest Silver Age keys that would suck up most of my yearly budget. Hence, a collection that starts at ASM #2, FF #3, X-Men #2, and so on.

[divad]

I found $550 in cash laying in the middle of the street one time in an unmarked money clip. Ever the defender of truth and justice, I turned the money into the cops, who held it for 90 days and then handed it over to me when nobody claimed it. Boo ya!

 

 

You know how long I've been lookin' fer that dang money clip o'mine???

[Mr. Zipper]

Since I bought a house, got hitched and moved away from the high paying NYC job market, I'm learning that money doesn't grow on trees and I actually have to budget.

 

But, I do some consulting work on the side and sell collectibles that no longer interest me... whatever I get from these endeavors is MY fun money. I can tap into the house money for a little fun money once in a while, but that is the exception to the rule.

 

Sadly, I've found that as my tastes have become more expensive, my personal discretionary income has lessened.

 

[BassGMan]

My comic funds come from two sources at this time. Most notably from flipping profits. I don't flip right away, I usually let my books simmer in my collection for about a year or so until I want to try other things, then sell the first ones at a profit to buy more nice books at undervalued prices. Then repeat. At least that's the strategy that I try to follow. Works for me. I've also liquidated a few shares of some mutual funds to add to the pot at times.

[That Ron Dude]

Good question.

 

I earn a good buck but I am not made of money. I have a family that accounts for the vast, vast majority of my paycheck spending. I allow myself $20 per month from my paycheck for comics.

 

Here is where the rest of it comes from:

1) I have old, valuable, comic related stuff that I really have little emotional attachment to. I have been selling it on Ebay.

2) My occupation involves art but I don't make money as an artist in my day job. When I do make money as an artist, usually as a logo designer or a cartoonist, it goes to comics. Strangely enough, when I make a big whopping hunk of money as an artist, which has happened only three times in my life, it has gone towards family expenses. I just didn't have the heart to ignore family wants/needs while gratifying myself with comics.

3) I do focus groups. It is the only way I know that a heterosexual male can make a hundred bucks in an hour. That goes to comics.

4) I am selling the comics that I have accumulated over the past 40 years which I have finally admitted to myself, I don't really want. Most are not terribly valuable. My prices are way below guide and store prices. I have made about $2000 in the past year selling this accumulation. I have only scratched the surface, believe me.

 

And here is the flip side of all that:

1) My first complete run was Strange Tales, definitely not a big budget collection.

2) My collection is in the poor to good range. I like the comic books to be complete, no chunks missing, no writing on the cover. I have made exceptions. I saw Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 at Chicago last year and bought it coverless for $3.50. One photocopy cover later and I saved myself a hundred bucks.

3) Right now I am closing in on the complete run of Marvel Silver Age. I am missing mostly first issues, early Spider-man and early X-Men comics. They are all expensive. Still, I do one day expect to complete my collection.

 

I hope this has been of some help or at least interesting.

[the blob]

I used to be single and make a nice living (low six figures). I did not go out to bars too much (and it was often on an expense account anyway) and usually avoided strip clubs. I was somewhat cheap with my dates (until I met my now wife). I bought my Manhattan apartment when things were cheap, so I was only paying about $700 a month for housing (after taxes) -- very low by Manhattan standards. I amassed a decent chunk of my collection then.

 

Now I make squat and am married. Needless to say, most of my comic purchases are out of the 50 cent and dollar bin. I still have some money from the "good old days", but I need to be more careful with it. So I can drop $500 at a show if I feel like it (whereas it used to be $1000-$2000), so long as I only go a couple of times a year.

[shrunkenhead]

I found $550 in cash laying in the middle of the street one time in an unmarked money clip. Ever the defender of truth and justice, I turned the money into the cops, who held it for 90 days and then handed it over to me when nobody claimed it. Boo ya!

 

 

You know how long I've been lookin' fer that dang money clip o'mine???

 

[shrunkenhead]

As a follow-up to the "are you rich?" part of the question, I think it's fair to say that the majority of the comic-collecting world (and the majority of forumites) are not in the wealthier tax brackets. Sure, we have a few very heavy hitters here on these boards (Mark Zaid, Jon Berk, Ian Levine, etc), which is awesome as we get to view scans of drop-dead gorgeous books on a semi-regular basis (check some of the GA threads if you really want to have yourself a good cry).

 

But for the most part, comic collecting is not the hobby of the filthy rich. I'm not sure why that is, but there you have it. I guess that comics, with a few exceptions, still aren't worth enough bread for most of those types (as shocking as that might be to the rest of us). If a book sells for 20 grand, it's headline news in our community. But that kind of cash is pocket change in the fine art world.

 

I see valuable, vintage comics having their appeal primarily to the middle class. You know, folks who aren't rich but can afford to have a little treasure, and one thousand bucks can still buy you a damned nice book. Unfortunately, it won't even buy you Picasso's toilet paper.

[whomerjay]

I stopped trying to collect SA and focus on certain GA genres/titles. I try to buy either low grade with decent eye appeal because they're cheap, or high grade slabbed that I would have no trouble flipping if I had to. I occasionally sell from a large surplus of 80's books I have, but it's usually not worth the effort.

 

So I guess the key is be focused and as several have mentioned, be patient until a real good deal presents itself. It's easy to blow a ton of money if you let your standards drop the slightest bit.

[PovertyRow]

Basically I stopped buying on ebay, have very limited LCS resources here, and spent the bulk of my money on three cons this year: Wondercon, Oakland and San Diego. So I just set aside money for these cons and usually have a 2K - 3K budget for each.

[tth2]

Nice! Once I found a $20 bill! It kept my family in coal and gruel for a whole month!

"Please sir, can I have some more?"

 

You take the bar yet?

[Larryw7]

Basically I stopped buying on ebay, have very limited LCS resources here, and spent the bulk of my money on three cons this year: Wondercon, Oakland and San Diego. So I just set aside money for these cons and usually have a 2K - 3K budget for each.

 

I wish I could really be disciplined and do the same thing. I'd love to go to one of the big cons next year with a wad of cash, but I see so many other books that I want in the meantime...

[topofthetotem]

Myself , i scan for bargains to re-sell... one mans trash is anothers treasure and i`m just the middleman.If you have the knowledge and know how to be a part time dealer you can self fund your 'personal " collection .

 

And most of all, make sure you're an American.

 

If you're buying and selling from Canada/Europe, better make sure you're dealing in high dollar books, otherwise the shipping will kill you. I almost fainted at the new rates.

 

one thing you can do is buy multiple items from the same seller that combines shipping that saves money. Just cuz I got 30000.00 sitting in the bank does not mean that I ain't the living incarnation of Scrooge Mcduck

that 30000.00 is for one day when a down and out collector needs cash for a life saving operation and will part with his "nm" copy of Action #1 unrestored of course