APDallas Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 I am sorry but I am very curious how comic prices for back issues are determined. Can anyone shed light as to what and who determines the value of comics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keys_Collector Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 The comic community and anyone who is buying comics determines the value of any comic. It all comes down to what people will pay which is usually translated by GPA/Gocollect value, eBay sold listings and the Overstreet price guide. Deadpoolica 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theCapraAegagrus Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 Free market economics; i.e. supply and demand. Deadpoolica and Glassman10 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glassman10 Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 1 hour ago, theCapraAegagrus said: Free market economics; i.e. supply and demand. multiplied times a factor that measured Stan Lee's instep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadpoolica Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 2 hours ago, Keys_Collector said: The comic community and anyone who is buying comics determines the value of any comic. It all comes down to what people will pay which is usually translated by GPA/Gocollect value, eBay sold listings and the Overstreet price guide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comicginger1789 Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 Everyone else has pretty much nailed the answer to the question. A big thing is condition. You can have an old book that is 50-60 years old and according to a value guide or website, can be worth $200. However, if it is torn, worn and beat, it does not matter what it could be. What it is is a $5 comic at best in the shape it is in. So in addition to knowing which books can be more valuable than others, to truly educate one's self in comics, you also have to understand condition. It comes with years of collecting but generally, one can find answers about condition on boards like these if they want other more experienced advice. It is why I ocassionally post here because even I sometimes wonder is this book more 4.0 or 5.0?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spreads Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 2 hours ago, APDallas said: I am sorry but I am very curious how comic prices for back issues are determined. Can anyone shed light as to what and who determines the value of comics. What your comics are worth have a direct correlation to the dealer's integrity. The greasier the dealer, the less value they have! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APDallas Posted June 9, 2020 Author Share Posted June 9, 2020 Thank you for the replies. I appreciate it. What I am curious about is there a base rate? Who buys these comics that determine price? I know supply and demand is important but I cannot imagine that is the only thing. Can hype or just shady business manipulate prices? I guess it really comes down what you are willing to pay for something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theCapraAegagrus Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 8 minutes ago, APDallas said: Thank you for the replies. I appreciate it. What I am curious about is there a base rate? Who buys these comics that determine price? I know supply and demand is important but I cannot imagine that is the only thing. Can hype or just shady business manipulate prices? I guess it really comes down what you are willing to pay for something. Not really. Some people will try to conflate "rarity" as a determining factor for modern variants, etc. If no one wants a 1:1000 ugly variants; It's not going to sell above cover price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William-James88 Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 58 minutes ago, APDallas said: I guess it really comes down what you are willing to pay for something. It does, hence why everyone said supply and demand. But you asked about back issues and the thing with back issues is they all have a history of sales. So for 99.99999% of books, you know how much it sold for in the recent past and have an idea of what it is worth. If you are selling to a dealer, the dealer will of course take that same value and then apply their margin to it (like if it's a key book, they may buy it at 60% of that value but if it's not they could buy it at .05% of the value) at their digression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffro. Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 20 hours ago, spreads said: 23 hours ago, APDallas said: I am sorry but I am very curious how comic prices for back issues are determined. Can anyone shed light as to what and who determines the value of comics. What your comics are worth have a direct correlation to the dealer's integrity. The greasier the dealer, the less value they have! They do? Are you aware of the concept of "Cool Books"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazyboy Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 5 hours ago, APDallas said: I know supply and demand is important but I cannot imagine that is the only thing. It is. 5 hours ago, APDallas said: Can hype or just shady business manipulate prices? Hype influences demand. Perception of supply is frequently manipulated (hello, Newsstand pumpers!). Perception of demand can also be manipulated through things like fake sales. Changes in supply and/or demand will cause changes in price. Deadpoolica 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spreads Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 3 hours ago, Jeffro. said: They do? Are you aware of the concept of "Cool Books"? No, enlighten me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffro. Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 1 hour ago, spreads said: 4 hours ago, Jeffro. said: They do? Are you aware of the concept of "Cool Books"? No, enlighten me. Some people will deal with almost anyone as long as they have a comic they need or comic they need to sell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glassman10 Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 I agree about supply and demand, up to a point. AF15 offers up a very strange response to that. Supply? There's a ton of copies of that book although very few in the 8.0 range and up but in those lower ranges, the book gets odd in retaining a lot of financial value with copies close to junk status being remarkably pricey compared to any other older comic in those conditions. There's something irrational about it as if suddenly supply at every level was going to dry up tomorrow. Individual pages selling by themselves is just not something you can do comparables about with any other comic I can think of. I can't see why they would magical increase in value unless they were rare, and they aren't. Can anyone out there help me out with this notion in terms of other comic values that do the same thing or as I surmise, we just have this weird outlier as a thing people want or think they want. I mean, the artwork really is terrible short of the cover and the story isn't quite as good a Godzilla or Mothra when it comes to radiation. . ( my opinion of course. Don't throw things at me) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Readcomix Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 1 hour ago, Mojoho said: Sounds more like sour grapes cause you want to buy a copy but can't afford one He sold his copy a year or so ago for IIRC somewhere in the $50K range. It was a great story. Keys_Collector 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glassman10 Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Mojoho said: Sounds more like sour grapes cause you want to buy a copy but can't afford one Actually, I sold my 5.0 at a record price about three years back after holding it 50 years. It was always terrible artwork but the cover was great. With as many copies as there are in the wild and the census, it remains a real oddity. People just want it. It's not a matter of scarcity. Would you buy a page out of a batman comic from 1957 for dollars like AF 15 call pull? Edited June 9, 2020 by Glassman10 Keys_Collector 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Readcomix Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 5 minutes ago, Glassman10 said: Actually, I sold my 5.0 at a record price about three years back after holding it 50 years. It was always terrible artwork but the cover was great. With as many copies as there are in the wild and the census, it remains a real oddity. People just want it. It's not a matter of scarcity. Would you buy a page out of a batman comic from 1957 for dollars like AF 15 call pull? It's not that odd; you said it yourself -- people just want it. There's other examples of plentiful books that command strong prices despite not being rare; heck it's the case with most of the valuable silver and bronze keys. AF15 is just the extreme example, but Hulk 181 is pretty extreme too. We in the comics hobby often discuss supply and demand in comics like its a perfect yin-yang balance but it's not, as supply is relative to demand. While they are not still printing AF 15's, yes if the character's popularity goes the way of Tarzan sure then there will be plenty to go around without any additional copies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glassman10 Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 (edited) 7 minutes ago, Readcomix said: It's not that odd; you said it yourself -- people just want it. There's other examples of plentiful books that command strong prices despite not being rare; heck it's the case with most of the valuable silver and bronze keys. AF15 is just the extreme example, but Hulk 181 is pretty extreme too. We in the comics hobby often discuss supply and demand in comics like its a perfect yin-yang balance but it's not, as supply is relative to demand. While they are not still printing AF 15's, yes if the character's popularity goes the way of Tarzan sure then there will be plenty to go around without any additional copies. I don't disagree. It seems every decade has its strange outlier. Hulk 181 was not hard to buy on the newsstands though. Not quite so true of AF15 and while I don't know the census for the hulk, I'd wager it's a lot higher than the AF15 in high grade. Further it pales compared to what AF 15 brings, even in really awful condition. I bought them because I loved them and I sold them when it seemed time. I just kept the Thor and JIM. I'm sort of dumb that way. I got all of it at newsstand prices. Bob Storms can really sell comic books. Edited June 9, 2020 by Glassman10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Readcomix Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 1 minute ago, Glassman10 said: I don't disagree. It seems every decade has its strange outlier. Hulk 181 was not hard to buy on the newsstands though. Not quite so true of AF15 and while I don't know the census for the hulk, I'd wager it's a lot higher than the AF15 in high grade. Further it pales compared to what AF 15 brings, even in really awful condition. I bought them because I loved them and I sold them when it seemed time. I just kept the Thor and JIM. I'm sort of dumb that way. I got all of it at newsstand prices. Exactly, it's even more plentiful as a Bronze Age book, but like AF it's low-grade copies bring strong money relative to its high-grade copies. I think that is what makes them similar outliers -- in both cases, beater copies don't entirely fall off a cliff, price-wise. And I don't see what's dumb about enjoying the books you enjoy or deciding to cash out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
