Recommendations for Starting a CGC Comic Book eBay only store

[DawgPhan]

Find user ckb...he does the very thing you want to do.

 

Also unless you have a ton of Very High grade books this might not be for you. I would suggest that you do a little research on ebay and see what sells...then put together a nice selection of books from your collection and send them into cgc with a pre-screen @ 9.6 since you dont have much silver age that is going to be about the point where slabbing pays off...anything lower than 9.6 on moderns will not even return the slabbing cost. After you send in your pre-screen go get a job..any job because it is going to take a while to get your books back. Once you get your books back list them on ebay...repeat...

[johny myman-migration]

So with all of this in mind, what are your thoughts, recommendations, encouragement or whatever? You know somewhat of my current situation and history. You've probably seen many threads like this one, but your input is very valuable to me. I feel the comic industry has a hidden code of helping each other because we all effect each other. I'm hoping with your help I can attain the success level that some of you have reached.

 

Well, I'll answer briefly since he asked nicely.

 

The bad

1) You're about five years too late to start a CGC only eBay store. While there was significant opportunity to make a lot of money early on, I believe this time for a new entrant has passed.

2) Starting a CGC-only store now is also a mistake because you will have a significant amount of your capital tied up for a long time without the ability to turn it. That is not to say that CGC books shouldn't be PART of your store, but should definitely NOT be your only inventory.

3) Further, if you've been out of the game for a while, your grading is going to be WAY off, and you're going to miss stuff. The money for CGC books only starts at the 9.4 level - again, if you miss on books you're going to be throwing your money in a hole.

 

The good

1) All that being said, people can (and do) make a living selling comics on eBay. It is not easy and takes a lot of work, but you can do just fine. Flipping books is quick and relatively easy, but you need to know what you're doing.

2) You say you have experience consigning stuff, so you know how to do that. Start that again. Go to your local comic shop and talk to them - they probably have long boxes of books that will not sell in a store but would sell on line (westerns, romance, things like that). See if you can work a deal with them where they give you 25% of what you sell.

3) Look in every place you can think for comics - flea markets, craigslist, the paper, everywhere. Buy wholesale - sell for retail. Everybody repeat after me: Buy for $1, sell for $5. Repeat ten thousand times.

 

PM me if you want further advice.

 

Great response thats what makes me like this board

[the blob]

so he wants to sell just cgc books on ebay?

 

ok, sounds like he wants to do what plenty of other people do with varying degrees of success. most people do it to make a little money on the side or pay for the comics they really want. i guess colossus comics may make a living at it, but he has a very specialized scheme (and I don't mean that negatively) going on.

 

if he thinks he can slab his long boxes full of early 90s dreck and make oodles of loot i think he will be wiping out his life savings and possibly become homeless. there might have been an opportunity for that 5 years ago, but those days are gone.

 

so the exploding zeppelins and sinking ships are appropriate.

 

let's face it, even slabbing post-1976 books is expensive and the upside is somewhat limited. sure, there's money to be made if you do it right and really know what you're doing, but there's money to be lost when that really nice looking x-Men 137 that you were sure was a 9.6 comes back an 8.5. heck, maybe even if it comes back a 9.2.

 

doesn't sound like this guy has much of a margin for error with low savings and a family.

 

nothing wrong with selling comics on ebay for fun and profit, just be careful how many times you spend $15 to get a book slabbed and be darn sure it's a winner! and even some 9.8s don't get you back your slabbing money. and to actually make a living selling comics on ebay, you have to lay out money buying half decent inventory. it's one thing to bring in an extra $75 a week to help pay for groceries, it's another thing to actually make $1000-$1500 in PROFIT a week selling comics, which is presumably the bottom of what he needs to keep up with his former job. you either have to have some nice books or sell a lot of stuff.

[Sal]

So with all of this in mind, what are your thoughts, recommendations, encouragement or whatever? You know somewhat of my current situation and history. You've probably seen many threads like this one, but your input is very valuable to me. I feel the comic industry has a hidden code of helping each other because we all effect each other. I'm hoping with your help I can attain the success level that some of you have reached.

Buy for $1, sell for $5. Repeat ten thousand times.

 

also known as "The Donut Method."

 

it's gonna be a hard row to hoe at first. you will have to get lucky with that first submission, and even then, you're spending money to make money.

 

in terms of general ebay rules;

don't profiteer on shipping. one rate fits all usually works. $8 to ship a CGC book is a great price, although i think most people are at $10 now.

big pictures, even for CGC books. Buy the book, not the label.

offer full refunds. make a point to say this. often

keep your descriptions concise and to the point.

always include insurance for items over $100, whether the buyer wants it or not.

always ship with delivery verification. scammers love the 'i never got it, so i'm not paying for it,' and ebay could not care less about your side of the deal.

offer your books on the marketplace here. think of the marketplace as ebay Gold level. no scammers, only the occasional insufficiently_thoughtful_person to deal with.

 

note that none of this is my personal experience. i just listen to what other people here say

[Comic Rush-migration]

Whoa...thanks for the post everyone. I even like the pictures from all the haters which I found amusing. Most of the grading comments good and bad I've already assesed. Also, in no way is my current modern inventory acceptable. But it's a start right? However, I realize the real profit is in the Silver Age and earlier comics with high grade. Buying collections for a reasonable price through many online and offline resources has been something I've been doing recently.

 

I'm still going to pursue a day job, but I like the hunt and gathering feeling of finding a beautiful comic. The profit will hopefully come in 3 years just like any business. It's mainly the re-enjoyment of the hobby and making others happy.

 

I've used the search feature, but it's terrible because it brings up too many posts. I'm still learning though.

 

Thank you for the bad posts because it just gives me more motivation and bad karma for you.

 

Thank you for the good and helpful posts no matter what.

 

Anything else? How about the business partnership possible delimma? How about agent buyers to build my inventory?

[Comic Rush-migration]

Oh yeah, where the heck are those threads on starting a business? I'm doing a general search but I get useless topics. Maybe I'm searching too general or not in the right place.

[the blob]

that thread was about starting a retail store, which entails about 98% more hassle than what you're envisioning (I think).

 

with that said, buying worthwhile material on the cheap is sometimes easier said than done. you likely aren't likely going to have many (any) primo collections of good stuff walk in your door carried by owners who have no clue what their stuff is worth. sure, it happens, but not too much, particularly now in the age of the internet when most of the u.s. population can look stuff up on ebay or get real delusions on priceguide.com or nostomania.com.

 

nowadays it seems like many owners will think their stuff is worth way more than it is, or way more than you can pay and still make some profit. clueless little old ladies cleaning out the attic of their children's comics are a thing of the past. more likely, if you have good stuff coming in, it's owned by baby boomers who bought an overstreet and think all their stuff is NM and that you ought to pay them 90% of guide for it.

[shrunkenhead]

Whoa...thanks for the post everyone. I even like the pictures from all the haters which I found amusing. Most of the grading comments good and bad I've already assesed. Also, in no way is my current modern inventory acceptable. But it's a start right? However, I realize the real profit is in the Silver Age and earlier comics with high grade. Buying collections for a reasonable price through many online and offline resources has been something I've been doing recently.

 

I'm still going to pursue a day job, but I like the hunt and gathering feeling of finding a beautiful comic. The profit will hopefully come in 3 years just like any business. It's mainly the re-enjoyment of the hobby and making others happy.

 

I've used the search feature, but it's terrible because it brings up too many posts. I'm still learning though.

 

Thank you for the bad posts because it just gives me more motivation and bad karma for you.

 

Thank you for the good and helpful posts no matter what.

 

Anything else? How about the business partnership possible delimma? How about agent buyers to build my inventory?

 

With all due respect, this sounds like a bad idea.

 

Please don't think of me as a "hater," as my advice is meant to keep you out of debt, as opposed to having you get in way over your head.

 

First of all, and no disprespect meant, but it sounds to me like you don't know much at all about vintage comics. And if you don't, you WILL NOT make money. You need to study up, and you need to study up large.

 

And I mean, learning about "Top Cow?" This is scary thinking, to my mind. You really don't know what you're getting yourself into. You need to know about it all if you're going to run a business, every nuance, from the 30s on down.

 

Now some folks might say, "he doesn't need to know all that," and I would gently remind those people how many comic outifts have tanked in the past five years.

 

Not that you can't learn, but you shouldn't be thinking about a business just yet (and probably not for a few years). I realize that you have family and financial stresses, and that's why I'm taking the time to write all this.

 

Do you know your classic covers? What books from the 40s and 50s routinely sell for 4x guide? Which books routinely sell for less than half guide? Do you own the Gerber photojournals?

 

There is a lot of information out there that you simply cannot gain from the Overstreet price guide. If you lunge forward with both feet flying, you're going to get hosed royally.

 

If you're serious about all this, then you probably need to spend about two to three YEARS just watching market trends, spending a couple hours a day on ebay, hitting the cons, etc., etc. Learn, learn, learn.

 

And why, may I ask, CGC comics? Why not just sell raw? You'll move your cheaper stuff faster (and it kinda sounds like all you have is cheap stuff, again no offense), and you'd have less overhead. But again, don't try to do this for a couple years, after you've seriously boned up. There are a lot of guys out there who have cut their teeth on this stuff for years, and if you don't know what time it is, fuggedaboutit.

 

And having the money to buy good material is not the answer, either. Just ask Jay Parrino.

 

Let's put it this way. I probably know more about comics than you do, and what I do know scares me too much to try my handat it myself. I stay a hobbyist, simply because I know what some of those grim realities are.

[joe_collector]

Some may not rely on it for extra income, but I'd like to meet any board member that has NEVER sold one of his books. Really, that's impressive.

 

Okay, I think I've sold 3-4 of the thousands of comics I've bought over the last few years. I think that's about as good as you can get.

[Psylocke Smythe-migration]

I would venture to bet 95% of the people here "flip" books(whether it's in a week or a few years). Some may not rely on it for extra income, but I'd like to meet any board member that has NEVER sold one of his books. Really, that's impressive.

 

I can honestly state that I have never sold nor have I traded with anyone one a comic out of my collection. I collect them basicly for three reasons, I enjoy reading them, I enjoy the hunt in trying to find and complete runs (even if they are inexpensive comics), and lastly for possible investment value way later down the road.

 

Right now my collection is slighty over 6800 comics. With about 389 different titles (giver or take a few titles that are different volume #'s of other titles).

 

Psy

[shrunkenhead]

 

Right now my collection is slighty over 6800 comics. With about 389 different titles (giver or take a few titles that are different volume #'s of other titles).

 

Psy

 

Moderns? Silver, gold?

[joe_collector]

Whoa...thanks for the post everyone. I even like the pictures from all the haters which I found amusing.

 

[Comic Rush-migration]

 

With all due respect, this sounds like a bad idea.

 

Please don't think of me as a "hater," as my advice is meant to keep you out of debt, as opposed to having you get in way over your head.

 

First of all, and no disprespect meant, but it sounds to me like you don't know much at all about vintage comics. And if you don't, you WILL NOT make money. You need to study up, and you need to study up large.

 

And I mean, learning about "Top Cow?" This is scary thinking, to my mind. You really don't know what you're getting yourself into. You need to know about it all if you're going to run a business, every nuance, from the 30s on down.

 

Now some folks might say, "he doesn't need to know all that," and I would gently remind those people how many comic outifts have tanked in the past five years.

 

Not that you can't learn, but you shouldn't be thinking about a business just yet (and probably not for a few years). I realize that you have family and financial stresses, and that's why I'm taking the time to write all this.

 

Do you know your classic covers? What books from the 40s and 50s routinely sell for 4x guide? Which books routinely sell for less than half guide? Do you own the Gerber photojournals?

 

There is a lot of information out there that you simply cannot gain from the Overstreet price guide. If you lunge forward with both feet flying, you're going to get hosed royally.

 

If you're serious about all this, then you probably need to spend about two to three YEARS just watching market trends, spending a couple hours a day on ebay, hitting the cons, etc., etc. Learn, learn, learn.

 

And why, may I ask, CGC comics? Why not just sell raw? You'll move your cheaper stuff faster (and it kinda sounds like all you have is cheap stuff, again no offense), and you'd have less overhead. But again, don't try to do this for a couple years, after you've seriously boned up. There are a lot of guys out there who have cut their teeth on this stuff for years, and if you don't know what time it is, fuggedaboutit.

 

And having the money to buy good material is not the answer, either. Just ask Jay Parrino.

 

Let's put it this way. I probably know more about comics than you do, and what I do know scares me too much to try my handat it myself. I stay a hobbyist, simply because I know what some of those grim realities are.

 

No offense taken at all. This is actually really good advice. I was just joking about Top Cow and Alias, but the older comics I have lots of catching up to do. Everything is a learning process and this thread (especially your post) helps in that type of awareness. Things will start off slowly. Success and failures are part of the learning process. I've experienced it with sports cards and I've promise myself to overcome those obstacles now that I'm older.

[Psylocke Smythe-migration]

 

Right now my collection is slighty over 6800 comics. With about 389 different titles (giver or take a few titles that are different volume #'s of other titles).

 

Psy

 

Moderns? Silver, gold?

 

Right now that current break down is: 10 Atomic, 121 Silver, 413 Bronze, 2272 Copper and 2609 Modern. The other 1400 or so comics that I own, I did not enter the issue date while I was entering the comics into my old DOS Compu-Comic database that I use.

 

But scanning the issues without dates I would say I have another 15 to 20 Silver, another 200 to 250 Bronze and the rest are Copper.

 

I would have more, but I did not start collection comics until I was around 20 back in 1989. I did have some of the Robotech and Elric comics before this, but I really did not start to get somewhat serious until about 1989. I also stopped buying them for a few years in the 1990's due to a now ex-wife and have not really bought any the last 4 years, due to wanting to use the money that I was spending on comics to pay off a medical bill (no medical insurance at the time) and pay down some of my credit card debt.

 

I figure that if I had not stopped, I would have close to 10,000 comics and about 500+ silver age and close to 2000 bronze, since most of the major runs, of what I collect, go back right now go from when I stopped in 2001 to around 1977.

 

Psy

[Comic Rush-migration]

Joe did you just make this picture. Pretty impressive of you to go through all the effort.

 

Whoa...thanks for the post everyone. I even like the pictures from all the haters which I found amusing.

 

[Comic Rush-migration]

Yes I saw that thread. I didn't want to hijack it so I created a seperate thread. Besides I owned and operated sports card collectibles store in the past and with comics in mind this probably wouldn't be a good pursuit based upon my situation.

 

that thread was about starting a retail store, which entails about 98% more hassle than what you're envisioning (I think).

 

with that said, buying worthwhile material on the cheap is sometimes easier said than done. you likely aren't likely going to have many (any) primo collections of good stuff walk in your door carried by owners who have no clue what their stuff is worth. sure, it happens, but not too much, particularly now in the age of the internet when most of the u.s. population can look stuff up on ebay or get real delusions on priceguide.com or nostomania.com.

 

nowadays it seems like many owners will think their stuff is worth way more than it is, or way more than you can pay and still make some profit. clueless little old ladies cleaning out the attic of their children's comics are a thing of the past. more likely, if you have good stuff coming in, it's owned by baby boomers who bought an overstreet and think all their stuff is NM and that you ought to pay them 90% of guide for it.

[Jeffreykli]

One topic that no one has brought up yet...how good are you at spotting and understanding restoration? If you're going for the sweet spot of High Grade Silver Age or older, you absolutely have to know what restoration looks like, and how to price accordingly.

 

Also, learn about page quality (PQ) and quality of production (QP). Each of these factors can lead to wide discrepancies in collectability and price.

 

My advice would be to start selling stuff raw, and then start listing some CGC books as you get them back.

 

Basically, I started my eBay store about a month and a half to two months ago, to try to move some extra comics. I occassionally set up at local comic book conventions, so figured it was worth the $15 a month plus eBay fees to list all of my "con stock" online. So far, it's worked well, but there's additional pressure to keep listing new items.

[CKB]

My situation was as a niche player though. Pretty much Valiants only. I had a huge stash of what I needed to start with, and was able to acquire more cheaply over a two year period before I started. And I would have done it whether they sold or not. They happened to sell very well. And probably still would if I could find more to slab...

 

...and there's the main problem. It's hard to find slabbable books. Unless you have a store or ads all over the known universe, you need to get lucky. And you don't get lucky often enough. You pretty much have to do it in person, cause the chances of getting 9.8s even on modern books on ebay is not what is used to be. Forget it on silver.

 

The Donut method, working hard to find the books you need, is only feasable if you were doing it full time.

 

Didn't mean to [embarrasing lack of self control] anyone off with the Titanic. You certainly could do it as a hobby, but talking about getting friends and investors involved - sounds like a trip to civil court in the future. I'm not a hater, I was just piling on with the other haters.

 

Find user ckb...he does the very thing you want to do.

 

Also unless you have a ton of Very High grade books this might not be for you. I would suggest that you do a little research on ebay and see what sells...then put together a nice selection of books from your collection and send them into cgc with a pre-screen @ 9.6 since you dont have much silver age that is going to be about the point where slabbing pays off...anything lower than 9.6 on moderns will not even return the slabbing cost. After you send in your pre-screen go get a job..any job because it is going to take a while to get your books back. Once you get your books back list them on ebay...repeat...

[Sal]

I've used the search feature, but it's terrible because it brings up too many posts. I'm still learning though.

 

toldja.

 

have you spent time perusing the information on these boards? it's probably the single best resource for comic-based information - from a collector stanpoint - on the Internet.

 

every week, I read probably twenty or thirty threads in the Gold and Silver section, and every day I realise how little I actually know about the hobby. it's so far beyond what i knew going in, and that's after collecting for twenty-five years, admittedly in a smallish genre.

 

if you really want to do this, and I'm not suggesting you don't, I think it might behoove you to find what niche out there isn't being served, and go after that. be the best in the market at that one thing.

 

slabs ain't it. that's been taken, multiple times. but that doesn't mean there arent opportunities out there for a hard working guy with a bit of luck on his side

[whomerjay]

So with all of this in mind, what are your thoughts, recommendations, encouragement or whatever? You know somewhat of my current situation and history. You've probably seen many threads like this one, but your input is very valuable to me. I feel the comic industry has a hidden code of helping each other because we all effect each other. I'm hoping with your help I can attain the success level that some of you have reached.

 

Well, I'll answer briefly since he asked nicely.

 

The bad

1) You're about five years too late to start a CGC only eBay store. While there was significant opportunity to make a lot of money early on, I believe this time for a new entrant has passed.

2) Starting a CGC-only store now is also a mistake because you will have a significant amount of your capital tied up for a long time without the ability to turn it. That is not to say that CGC books shouldn't be PART of your store, but should definitely NOT be your only inventory.

3) Further, if you've been out of the game for a while, your grading is going to be WAY off, and you're going to miss stuff. The money for CGC books only starts at the 9.4 level - again, if you miss on books you're going to be throwing your money in a hole.

 

The good

1) All that being said, people can (and do) make a living selling comics on eBay. It is not easy and takes a lot of work, but you can do just fine. Flipping books is quick and relatively easy, but you need to know what you're doing.

2) You say you have experience consigning stuff, so you know how to do that. Start that again. Go to your local comic shop and talk to them - they probably have long boxes of books that will not sell in a store but would sell on line (westerns, romance, things like that). See if you can work a deal with them where they give you 25% of what you sell.

3) Look in every place you can think for comics - flea markets, craigslist, the paper, everywhere. Buy wholesale - sell for retail. Everybody repeat after me: Buy for $1, sell for $5. Repeat ten thousand times.

 

PM me if you want further advice.

Flip I would agree with all FD said with the big message being use more sweat than $s to try to build you business, that way if it fails you've lost time but have little or no debt. Figuring out how to best do consignments like point #2 IMO is the greatest low risk idea.

 

I personally think anyone other than someone who is a true expert in every aspect of comics, plus knows business, is crazy to make selling comics their primary job. I think I have a nice inventory and knowledge (and also previously owned card and comics shops) but don't think I could come close to making an hourly net profit that would beat your average 9-5 job. Don't have the pipeline for books, don't know the market good enough (tougher than you think), and just think costs of business are too high to overcome.