Funding your collections

[CW]

I find a very interesting method for affording my books.

 

DON'T SPEND A DOLLAR ON ANYTHING THAT ISN'T NECESSARY FOR BASIC HUMAN SURVIVAL.

 

Once you accept this all the surplus goes into Comics.

[nik]

Do you buy low/sell high?

 

Sometimes, depends on lady luck

Do you budget a certain amount each month and never go over?

 

Nope

Are you rich?

 

Nope, but was pretty well of BW(before wifey) and BC(before children)

[Norrin_Radd]

A) Do you buy low/sell high?

B) Do you budget a certain amount each month and never go over?

C) Are you into speculating?

 

All of the above.

 

Generally, I've been selling comics that are less important to me to buy comics that are. I own some for a while and decide I want something else more. Over time, the comics/art that matter the most to me stay in my collection, all the rest get sold.

[topofthetotem]

remember above all it's ok not to own every book ever published and if you are not a grade freak you can get alot of nice 9.0-9.2 for next to nothing when compared to a 9.4-9.8's or buy raw then slab or buy slab and resubmit if that is your desire to make money right away

[goldust40]

I find a very interesting method for affording my books.

 

DON'T SPEND A DOLLAR ON ANYTHING THAT ISN'T NECESSARY FOR BASIC HUMAN SURVIVAL.

 

Unless it's a Tec 31.

[FlyingDonut]

I sell a lot of books on eBay to feed my collecting jones. There's not a lot of things I really want to buy out there, but what I do want is expensive, so I just shop around.

[Fan4Fan]

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

 

 

[joe_collector]

one thing you can do is buy multiple items from the same seller that combines shipping that saves money.

 

No, I meant the SELLING part kills you when you're non-US.

 

It's easy to "buy bulk and sell single issues" on EBay, but the shipping charges for the buyer are killer compared to US Media Mail or even Priority. It just doesn't work, and you won't make anywhere near a US seller with low or even mid-cost books.

 

That's why to make the non-US sales work, you have to be selling high-end books to make the S&H feasible.

[topofthetotem]

you gotta find good sellers, fair sellers, honest sellers you know what they say you gotta kiss alot of frogs to find your prince(if your into that that is not that there is anything wrong with that ) ) any way here is a deal I got off ebay seller kirksenterprises 9 cgc books for a total shipping cost of 14.00 u.s. now that is a good deal

[topofthetotem]

No, I meant the SELLING part kills you when you're non-US.

 

if you can find the deal you can still make money if you wanted to sell I got a raw 9.2 copy of All Star Comics #58 for $23.00 + 5.00 shipping off a seller a couple of years back I sent it to florida and it came back a 9.6 I think at the time the census had only 2 copies 9.6 none higher none I could easly get $125-150.00 for that book evenn wioth the cost of slabbing I still come out aheadif I could bring myself sell it

[joe_collector]

Nevermind.

 

I too have sold comics at a profit, but move on up here for a few years and see which scenario is easier, US or Canadian.

 

CGC books sent Priority tracked mail in the US is what $5-$6? The same from Canada to the US is about $10 USD Expedited or $16-$17 USD XpressPost. For a few raw comics it's a few bucks for Media Mail, but around $6 USD for basic Small Packet from here to there. And as the weight goes up, our shipping costs skyrocket.

 

The exchange rate also doesn't help, as we Canucks can buy far more, but selling makes the "US dollar equivalent" in shipping extremely high and sales returns very low. I can't even imagine trying to sell to the US from Europe.

 

The only viable way to do it is to deal in relatively high value comics that justify the extreme expense, like Greggy does.

[the blob]

or sell mainly to other canadians. seriously, it sure seems like, per capita, canadians are more avid comic collectors than americans. and canadians seem to like to bid on stuff from other canadians, when possible.

[topofthetotem]

or sell mainly to other canadians. seriously, it sure seems like, per capita, canadians are more avid comic collectors than americans. and canadians seem to like to bid on stuff from other canadians, when possible.

that statment is true why let some jagoff from the u.s gouge me with shipping when one of my fellow canadian jagoffs can do it just as well

[eddly]

. . .and canadians seem to like to bid on stuff from other canadians, when possible.

 

thats crazy talk! next you know it americans will bid on stuff from other americans! stop the madness!

[skybolt]

When I started collecting back issues a few years ago, I had some money burning a hole in my pocket since my engagement broke off and I didn't want to buy a house anymore. After that money was gone, I started using a certain percentage of my pay check to buy additional books. When that wasn't enough, I started to sell my mid grade stuff on Ebay and Comiclink to gain additional funds. Now, I've decided to take about a 6 month break form purchasing any books while I decide on what genre to collect next, while saving up some funds. Comic book collecting stops being fun when you completely go over your set budget. It'll make you want to stop way too soon. When I do come back, I'll take things nice and slow.

[the blob]

as for canadian on canadian bidding, often when i see a price fetched that seems pretty high i check it out and it's two canadians. i look at histories and often see the preference in bidding. sometimes i guess they're willing to pay a premium for less hassle/cost with shipping. makes sense.

[pjthib]

Live in a home where the monthly payment is less than 15% of your gross and never let your wife talk you into moving.

[OldGuy]

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 have a couple of early X-Men you may be interested in. They are great books, but qualified, making them worth much less. PM me if you're interested.