Are prices still climbing or have they eased up a bit??? 41 41

[LordRahl]

On 6/3/2024 at 8:49 AM, 1Cool said:

Are you buying back books now that book prices have gone back to where you were comfortable at?  I hope you are especially if you enjoyed them but I hear more and more that people have just moved on and don't intend to buy back most of the collection they sold during the spike in prices.

I am, yes. Don't get me wrong. I was bidding on books during the pandemic. I just wasn't winning. Now I am, and I like it.

[pickycollector]

On 6/3/2024 at 8:55 PM, LordRahl said:

I am, yes. Don't get me wrong. I was bidding on books during the pandemic. I just wasn't winning. Now I am, and I like it.

+1

Also, worth to note that I bought books at high prices during the pandemic but also sold books at high prices as well so I could consider these transactions as trades.

Today, I am selling books at lower prices but am also buying books at lower prices as well so I could consider these transactions as trades as well.

Bottomline, over the last five years, when I calculate the net amount of sales vs purchases, the result is close to nothing but would be equivalent in trading books I was no longer interested in for comics I wanted for my collection. Sounds good to me.

[LordRahl]

On 6/3/2024 at 6:05 PM, pickycollector said:

+1

Also, worth to note that I bought books at high prices during the pandemic but also sold books at high prices as well so I could consider these transactions as trades.

Today, I am selling books at lower prices but am also buying books at lower prices as well so I could consider these transactions as trades as well.

Bottomline, over the last five years, when I calculate the net amount of sales vs purchases, the result is close to nothing but would be equivalent in trading books I was no longer interested in for comics I wanted for my collection. Sounds good to me.

Pretty much the exact same boat I'm in. The only thing that's currently a thorn in my side is there are several books I've been wanting for several years now that stubbornly refuse to go down for no apparently good reason.

[alexgross.com]

On 5/28/2024 at 8:28 PM, Stefan_W said:

If I was the owner of the 9.2 copy I would be extremely annoyed by these results that were only 40 second apart.

 

white pages matter to a lot of people, and books with wp are worth more than lesser page qualities. ( that is, unless you are trying to sell your books to most dealers, as i can attest from personal experience. )

[Hepcat]

On 6/3/2024 at 11:17 AM, 1Cool said:

So no "collectors" bought in a 4 year period?  Highly doubtful. 

I neither said nor implied any such thing. Yes, I did effectively suggest that collectors aren't bothered by any "softening" of prices because quite simply they'd like to buy cheaper. But it's certainly not collectors doing the belly aching in this thread. 

On 6/3/2024 at 11:29 AM, 1Cool said:

If collecting comics that you love is your only reason for being on the boards then I don't see a reason to hang out in the "hot book of the week" or contribute in the "is the market correcting" threads since it shouldn't matter to you.   

Hang out in the "hot book of the week" or "is the market correcting" threads? Hardly. Even the most rudimentary Search would reveal that I hang out in the Silver and Gold forums. It's just that this thread is hard to ignore when it keeps cropping up at the top of the page in the General forum whenever I want to look in on my "Celebrating Redheads" thread. 

But you're correct. Like the vast majority of collectors, I don't price out the "value" of my collection every year or two. In fact the last time I "priced out" any comic that I own is when I bought and paid for it which could have been as much as 45+ years ago. So market fluctuations don't much matter to me. But this incessant bellyaching (360+ pages!) about "falling" prices does. It's an irritant. And since this is a discussion forum, I do reserve the right to comment on what's being posted.  

On 6/3/2024 at 11:29 AM, 1Cool said:

Nobody is asking for a pity party.... 

That's good because those who bought comics in the last three years hoping to quickly sell at a profit upon the premise that comic prices have to go up even further (Why?) after sixty years of staggering gains are sure not going to get any pity from me.

On 6/3/2024 at 11:05 AM, 1Cool said:

One person's best day ever is probably somebody else's worse depending on which side of the fence you are on.

That's absolutely correct. But despite that you specifically used the word "sad" to describe a drop in comic prices when it's more a case of "Yeah, so? Big deal. Sellers may not like that but buyers do."

Edited June 4 by Hepcat

[Hepcat]

On 6/3/2024 at 11:22 AM, ADAMANTIUM said:

The logic makes no sense anyway, if I buy something for $500 that I can 5 years later buy for $5 that doesn't make me a "non-collector", that makes me frugal when I have bills to pay and to survive.

 

Excuse me but collectors are continually adding to their collections or else they wouldn't actually be collectors. It therefore makes perfect sense for them to be happy to be able to acquire items more cheaply.

On 6/3/2024 at 11:34 AM, ADAMANTIUM said:

I'd be happy for a floor of stability and beyond that I don't think that "anyone saying that everything needs to go up a thousand dollars a month to flip" instead that the freefall would stop  

Freefall?! Prices dropping 10%-20% after increasing fiftyfold hardly constitutes a "freefall". How much higher are prices today than even a dozen years ago?

[thehumantorch]

On 6/2/2024 at 11:04 PM, Hepcat said:

And the main reason that a select few are "worth" astronomical prices relative to all the rest is because of insane demand. That though should make comic "investors" nervous, very nervous. You see unlike supply, demand is fickle and subject to the vagaries of fashion. 

Now I know why I love my comics and other collectibles. It's a combination of nostalgia and my own personal aesthetics which are to a certain extent a product of my life experiences. Since these two factors are largely a function of my age, they're shared to a large degree by whoever else was born in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom at roughly the same time. But I won't last forever. And when I'm gone the nostalgia aspect of my demand will disappear and there's no guaranty many other people will continue to share my aesthetic preferences. So what will happen to the demand for the comics and other collectibles that I love so much? A sobering thought indeed for those younger than me.

 

 sounds like the optimal play is to die and sell off my books before anyone else.

[The Less Blob]

On 5/31/2024 at 2:15 PM, Q.N.S. said:

The S&P yield is about 1.5% annually. But, it's a valid point for those who just hold and reinvest dividends. 

Not sure how realistic it is to compare returns on them, much less predict the next 6 years. 

I'm pretty firm in the assessment that comic books are a sound inclusion in an asset portfolio. 

I don't even file taxes, let alone book them when I sell comic books. 

10% commissions. If you are buying and selling blue chip books, like the ones you are quoting, then the paper trail is eventually going to get pretty hard to ignore

[The Less Blob]

So in the last week or so the market has pretty much completely bounced back based on what has been posted here? 

[Tec-Tac-Toe]

I imagine like other board members, I did not purchase other than cheap modern "crop" during the "pandemic high"; I like the covers of the crop; because there were no books I wanted at those relatively high prices. In fact, I did not purchase other than crop until this year.

During 2024 I have purchased solely Detective Comics, issues 400 to 500, for what I consider fair prices. I have stayed away from, for example, Detective Comics 457 in CGC 9.8 because I will not pay the prices those copies have been selling for, especially since I own a great many raw copies I purchased off the newsstand and an old CGC label 9.6 that I purchased many years ago from former board member DrWatson, that is outstanding. It may garner a 9.8, I have not looked at it in many years, but I don't practice CPR, if it even needs a press.

 

   

[1Cool]

On 6/4/2024 at 1:22 AM, the blob said:

So in the last week or so the market has pretty much completely bounced back based on what has been posted here? 

Didn't you hear?  It's cool to be happy about 95% of the market continuing to drop since real "collectors" now get a better deal on books!  If you would have bought your books 45 year ago you wouldn't be worried about prices at all!

 

[october]

On 6/3/2024 at 10:37 PM, Hepcat said:

 

Freefall?! Prices dropping 10%-20% after increasing fiftyfold hardly constitutes a "freefall". How much higher are prices today than even a dozen years ago?

Freefall is accurate on many issues when compared to their highs in 2021/2021. Tons of notable comics are down 50-75% or more in that time-frame, effectively resetting prices back to 2019 or earlier.

Not every collector has been doing this for 50 years and not everyone who entered the hobby in the last 5 is a dirty flipper. I may not personally care that half a decade of gains are gone, but I can look past the end of my own nose and have sympathy for people who got caught in the crossfire. Wild fluctuations in prices isn't good for the long term health of the hobby....if you care about that sort of thing.

[ThothAmon]

On 6/4/2024 at 8:42 AM, october said:

Freefall is accurate on many issues when compared to their highs in 2021/2021. Tons of notable comics are down 50-75% or more in that time-frame, effectively resetting prices back to 2019 or earlier.

Not every collector has been doing this for 50 years and not everyone who entered the hobby in the last 5 is a dirty flipper. I may not personally care that half a decade of gains are gone, but I can look past the end of my own nose and have sympathy for people who got caught in the crossfire. Wild fluctuations in prices isn't good for the long term health of the hobby....if you care about that sort of thing.

Boom and bust has been around in the comics world since divorce was invented. Luckily when you have collected for as long as me the winners have made up for my myriad of bad decisions (sinking all my net worth into the New Universe being the first of many). 
 

[Stefan_W]

On 6/4/2024 at 9:32 AM, ThothAmon said:

Boom and bust has been around in the comics world since divorce was invented. Luckily when you have collected for as long as me the winners have made up for my myriad of bad decisions (sinking all my net worth into the New Universe being the first of many). 
 

I remember the crash in the 1990s well. There was a local auction that had a bunch of leftover recent books that did not sell from a comic store that shut down. It filled a few pallets that sold for 50 or 70 bucks each, dont remember the exact number. Those were rough years for stores, but great for collectors who just wanted to fill out their runs and beef up their collections. 

[The humble Watcher lurking]

On 6/2/2024 at 10:53 PM, DC# said:

Here is a sample of the June Comic Link Featured Auction - Session 1 and first half of Session 2.   If I get around to rest of Session 2 I will add it here later.    Definitely a mix of really strong results (some actual crazy results) and some surprising soft sales.     Last vs 90 and Last vs 12 is starting to look a lot better across a lot of books.   

 

One comic book that stood out for me that went for a low price was The Walking Dead #1 CGC 9.8 for $1900. I can`t remember the last time Walking Dead #1 CGC 9.8 went for under $2000? 

[Robot Man]

On 6/4/2024 at 7:12 AM, The humble Watcher lurking said:

One comic book that stood out for me that went for a low price was The Walking Dead #1 CGC 9.8 for $1900. I can`t remember the last time Walking Dead #1 CGC 9.8 went for under $2000? 

And to think I put it back on the rack the day it came out and walked away…

[Tec-Tac-Toe]

On 6/4/2024 at 9:32 AM, ThothAmon said:

Boom and bust has been around in the comics world since divorce was invented. Luckily when you have collected for as long as me the winners have made up for my myriad of bad decisions (sinking all my net worth into the New Universe being the first of many). 
 

You mean my many copies are worthless?

[DC#]

I had the wrong GPA data for TOS 57 9.0 - was showing a crazy increase.    Makes more sense now.

 

[Q.N.S.]

I welcome the speculation, the flipping, the pumping, the slabbing, the data collection, the content creators, the niche identity aspect, all of it. 

Our hobby needs to attract the younger generations. We're transitioning into a smaller current entertainment appeal but a larger antique recognition. 

The antique segment is welcoming us. This is what I expect to keep comics valuable 20+ years from now.

This transition phase is a very good time to accumulate larger collections. What can you really buy for $10 or less in the real world? 

Comic books when done right are a savvy market to be in. More will come, not less.

Edited June 4 by Q.N.S.

[1Cool]

On 6/4/2024 at 11:20 AM, Tec-Tac-Toe said:

You mean my many copies are worthless?

I did see a couple really nice copies in the $5 boxes at my last comic con but I passed on them so not sure if they are worth $5 to anybody or not.  I always thought it was an interesting read unlike some of the other New Universe books.