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

[The Less Blob]

On 6/11/2024 at 4:32 PM, jimjum12 said:

I'm not trying to be argumentative per se, but do you have evidence that it did not happen?  ... yes, I seriously think that happened.  GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

I suppose anything could have happened and if you were 60 in 2020 and just got laid off you gotta do what you gotta do, but borrowing from your IRA to fund your online comic business sounds crazy even if it was probably profitable for a while there. Seems to me there were a lot more 30-40somethigs who viewed this as diversifying their portfolio at the time. I'm just wondering if this describes some boardies here? You were already doing whatever you were doing well before Covid I presume.

[jimjum12]

On 6/11/2024 at 4:38 PM, the blob said:

doing well before Covid I presume

... According to what I was told by 2 different employees at the Social Security Administration that I spoke with ... the number of people claiming early SS increased. I'm not privy to actual data, other than hearsay or anecdotal in nature. I do know of a few who did. Typically, they worked 35 good years, the SS was comparable to what they were making anyway, and at mid 60's realized that their remaining time was closing in, so why not? At least the few I know... and if I, alone, know a few? Sometimes a bad decision can actually even be a good decision, in regards, to their immediate quality of life. All it would take would be a couple dozen new bloods, with a sudden 250K per influx in a collectibles market to inflate things, eh? GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

... a dear friend of mine, who was an Accountant at a fortune 500 company did exactly that, BEFORE Covid. To him, the math showed that he would receive more total$$ as long as he didn't live to 85, and other factors were in his favor. So off into the sunset he went. 

Edited June 11 by jimjum12

[The Less Blob]

On 6/11/2024 at 5:01 PM, jimjum12 said:

... According to what I was told by 2 different employees at the Social Security Administration that I spoke with ... the number of people claiming early SS increased. I'm not privy to actual data, other than hearsay or anecdotal in nature. I do know of a few who did. Typically, they worked 35 good years, the SS was comparable to what they were making anyway, and at mid 60's realized that their remaining time was closing in, so why not? At least the few I know... and if I, alone, know a few? Sometimes a bad decision can actually even be a good decision, in regards, to their immediate quality of life. All it would take would be a couple dozen new bloods, with a sudden 250K per influx in a collectibles market to inflate things, eh? GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

... a dear friend of mine, who was an Accountant at a fortune 500 company did exactly that, BEFORE Covid. To him, the math showed that he would receive more total$$ as long as he didn't live to 85, and other factors were in his favor. So off into the sunset he went. 

Not disputing more people took it at 62, 63, etc. in 2020/21, I would have too, I just thought you were retired/side hustling before then. I'm just wondering about the 60somethings starting their comic side hustles then and dipping into retirement funds to build flipping inventory. I'm sure it happened.

 

[jimjum12]

On 6/11/2024 at 5:13 PM, the blob said:

I'm sure it happened.

It almost HAD to, brother. The spike is kind of difficult to explain, especially if the numbers are studied without an insistence on "meaning". GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

 

[Mike Murdock]

A lot of people claim Social security at 62.  COVID probably bumped it up a bit but a significant number want it ASAP and would have claimed it at 62 regardless.

[The Less Blob]

On 6/11/2024 at 5:30 PM, Mike Murdock said:

A lot of people claim Social security at 62.  COVID probably bumped it up a bit but a significant number want it ASAP and would have claimed it at 62 regardless.

Unless you feel confident that you'll live to 100 or really LOVE you current job and make so much it would penalize you, then there's a lot of incentive to. With that said we're going to have a lot of people who did not save trying to scrape by on those reduced benefits because the job market is bad if you're laid off after 55 or so.

[The Less Blob]

On 6/11/2024 at 5:29 PM, jimjum12 said:

It almost HAD to, brother. The spike is kind of difficult to explain, especially if the numbers are studied without an insistence on "meaning". GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

 

Please let us when the market has picked up enough again that I can become an AARP part-time dealer. I am getting really sick of this full time employment stuff, it is going to kill me soon.

[jimjum12]

On 6/11/2024 at 6:07 PM, the blob said:

Please let us when the market has picked up enough again that I can become an AARP part-time dealer. I am getting really sick of this full time employment stuff, it is going to kill me soon.

All kidding aside, if your kids are flown the nest, and your mortgage is close to paid, You probably already can. The only real obstacle, is staying current with your clientele. You already know that, my coy friend. YMMV in larger metropolitan areas. GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[Mike Murdock]

On 6/11/2024 at 3:05 PM, the blob said:

Unless you feel confident that you'll live to 100 or really LOVE you current job and make so much it would penalize you, then there's a lot of incentive to. With that said we're going to have a lot of people who did not save trying to scrape by on those reduced benefits because the job market is bad if you're laid off after 55 or so.

I am the higher earner and so, have to factor in both of our life expectancies.  I will likely claim at 67 and her at 62.  I'm retiring next month, yay!  Also, I am one of those 60 somethings selling some of my comics.

Edited June 11 by Mike Murdock

[MAY1979]

On 5/16/2024 at 3:01 PM, Q.N.S. said:

they are getting with the times and will catch up. and ebay is just a bunch of whack-a-moles. 

https://www.overstreetaccess.com/

Now if they had had that in 2003 or 2004 they might have remained relevant another 10 years?

 

Edited June 11 by MAR1979

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

On 6/11/2024 at 6:24 PM, Mike Murdock said:

I am the higher earner and so, have to factor in both of our life expectancies.  I will likely claim at 67 and her at 62.  I'm retiring next month, yay!  Also, I am one of those 60 somethings selling some of my comics.

+1

[Telegan]

I expected to walk into irrational prices and instead got an AARP convention. 

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

On 6/11/2024 at 9:07 PM, Telegan said:

I expected to walk into irrational prices and instead got an AARP convention. 

I hope for the sake of you guys someone replaces us. OTOH, as the thread title says, maybe prices will ease up a bit

[Telegan]

On 6/11/2024 at 10:04 PM, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

I hope for the sake of you guys someone replaces us. OTOH, as the thread title says, maybe prices will ease up a bit

lol.  I was only kidding.  I'm almost to the point of getting 55+ discounts, so I'm not far behind.  Age comes up on you fast!

[1Cool]

On 6/11/2024 at 4:22 PM, the blob said:

They exploded then, yes, sure, but things were pretty good for 5-8 years before then too. January 2020 was good times too. 2020-21 things were on fire in virtually every genre though with semi-keys appearing everywhere overnight even more than before.

That's a good point but in terms of the speculation part of the hobby we have a long way to go to get to the hayday of 2013 - 2019 let alone 2020 / 2021.  A few books still get hot due to a show announcement but the price increase is typically much smaller and the time-table has been compressed that it's really tough to be in that initial run up of prices.  The market has for now set it's sights on older Golden Age type books and we will have to see how long that fad stays around.

[1Cool]

I did have a discussion with a dealer last week after Motor City Con.  They were lamenting the current market right now since the last couple years have not been pretty in terms of losses with books they picked up in 2020 / 2021 and now they are of course having to pay much less for collections or books but sellers are locked into the prices realized in 2020 / 2021 in terms of what they expect for books.  So the collections up for sale (unless it's the rare older book collection) just keep getting marketed to different dealers without a sale getting done.  Interesting dilemma for dealers and sellers alike.

[Tec-Tac-Toe]

Or not.

[TupennyConan]

On 6/12/2024 at 8:44 AM, 1Cool said:

I did have a discussion with a dealer last week after Motor City Con.  They were lamenting the current market right now since the last couple years have not been pretty in terms of losses with books they picked up in 2020 / 2021 and now they are of course having to pay much less for collections or books but sellers are locked into the prices realized in 2020 / 2021 in terms of what they expect for books.  So the collections up for sale (unless it's the rare older book collection) just keep getting marketed to different dealers without a sale getting done.  Interesting dilemma for dealers and sellers alike.

At Megacon this year the Reece brothers shrugged it off with remarks reduced to something like this: when prices went parabolic, we marked up our inventory more than once. After the crash, we marked it down & continue to mark it down. Our buying budgets tracked the same rise&fall. Dollar cost average. What can we show you?

I looked at their Hulk 1.

[Stefan_W]

On 6/12/2024 at 8:44 AM, 1Cool said:

I did have a discussion with a dealer last week after Motor City Con.  They were lamenting the current market right now since the last couple years have not been pretty in terms of losses with books they picked up in 2020 / 2021 and now they are of course having to pay much less for collections or books but sellers are locked into the prices realized in 2020 / 2021 in terms of what they expect for books.  So the collections up for sale (unless it's the rare older book collection) just keep getting marketed to different dealers without a sale getting done.  Interesting dilemma for dealers and sellers alike.

My experience with buying collections is as follows - take it for what it is worth. During the pandemic people were at home a lot more than usual, and many people cleaned out and going through their stuff. As a result, for a year or so there were more collections available for sale than usual. In 2021 and the first part of 2022 I bought more than twice as many collections as I normally do.

The cost of a glut of collections hitting the market all at once is there were fewer available once things settled down a bit. Sure, some people ask more than is reasonable for their comics, but that has always been the case. The difference now is demand is higher than supply and the competition for collections that are available has grown. Those that are smart enough to shop their collections around to multiple vendors are getting more now than they would have gotten pre-pandemic simply because of the competition for a reduced supply of collections. 

For perspective, pre-pandemic I used to get 3-5 people per week contacting me to try to sell their books. I turned down the vast majority of those do to overall crappiness or what was being offered, but it was always steady. When everyone was at home this rose to 7-10 people contacting me per week. Now, I get a couple of people per month contacting me. 

[1Cool]

On 6/12/2024 at 10:38 AM, Stefan_W said:

My experience with buying collections is as follows - take it for what it is worth. During the pandemic people were at home a lot more than usual, and many people cleaned out and going through their stuff. As a result, for a year or so there were more collections available for sale than usual. In 2021 and the first part of 2022 I bought more than twice as many collections as I normally do.

The cost of a glut of collections hitting the market all at once is there were fewer available once things settled down a bit. Sure, some people ask more than is reasonable for their comics, but that has always been the case. The difference now is demand is higher than supply and the competition for collections that are available has grown. Those that are smart enough to shop their collections around to multiple vendors are getting more now than they would have gotten pre-pandemic simply because of the competition for a reduced supply of collections. 

For perspective, pre-pandemic I used to get 3-5 people per week contacting me to try to sell their books. I turned down the vast majority of those do to overall crappiness or what was being offered, but it was always steady. When everyone was at home this rose to 7-10 people contacting me per week. Now, I get a couple of people per month contacting me. 

This is the info I am hearing also.  Things went crazy for a couple years but now things are about half or more of what they were pre-COVID in terms of collections being offered at a reasonable price.  The books are out there but the prices expected have just not fallen to the levels dealers can buy and still make a profit.  I'm sure something will eventually give.