Guess the market is quite good after all 2 2

[Ryan.]

10 hours ago, Mercury Man said:

Not what I implied at all.  Can't read the story of a comic encased in plastic.  Can we at least agree on that?!   Or is that false too?  And no trades, and digital are not part of this conversation. 

Some people collect cover art, which, particularly in the Golden Age, was treated as the key selling point of a comic, above and beyond the stories inside.

Read marketplace reports from the 80s and 90s and you'll find that comic collectors have long chased comics strictly for their covers. This concept was not invented with CGC.

[the blob]

Awean, do you think more back issue comics are sold via Amazon than ebay? You can guesstimate sold listings on ebay, not sure about Amazon. So you use stock images and just try to be the lowest priced copy?

Edited January 16, 2020 by the blob

[Aweandlorder]

3 hours ago, the blob said:

Awean, do you think more back issue comics are sold via Amazon than ebay? You can guesstimate sold listings on ebay, not sure about Amazon. So you use stock images and just try to be the lowest priced copy?

Different platforms attract different buyers. ebay is king when it comes to collectibles still, so a secondary market comic book, in comic book format will still weigh heavier on eBay, but there are often some surprises with Amazon even with those. You can also totally rule out slabs from retailing successfully on amazon.

Amazon sells almost exclusively to readers, meaning that digital downloads, TPB, HC, Magazines, treasuries, prestige format comics will sell better there.

I started selling on amazon 8 years ago and it took me awhile to figure out which books sell better... But eventually you get there through diversifying your inventory.

I think that as a comic book retailer, a seller MUST sell on amazon, not just to profit more, but to also learn which books sell to readers and which sell to collectors.

So to answer your question - if you were to just take an inventory of comic books in comic book format and offer them on both platforms, youd do better on eBay. BUT, the effortless process of listing them on Amazon coupled with the added stream of income and market knowledge gained, suggests that youd better with having both.

Heres a chart of my income from the previous year:

Amazon

Dec 781.58
Nov 379.7
Oct 431.98
sept 804.25
Aug 749.62
July 1052.76
June 292.52
May 538.81
Apr 654.47
Mar 240.81
Feb 476.8
Jan 1042.12

Ebay
Dec 2700
Nov 2050
Oct 1000.00
sept 2450
Aug - 1400.00
July  1600
June  2000
May  1400
Apr  2250
Mar  1500
Feb  2000
Jan  2650

Facebook/Craigslist

700