Are prices still climbing or have they eased up a bit??? 43 43

[davidking623]

On 1/13/2024 at 7:27 AM, Bookery said:

Thanks.  I love shop talk and it's unfortunate there are only a few shop owners on these boards, and they aren't typically inclined to discuss the details of their professions, which I understand.  I've been at this for over 40  years, and don't have anything to be close-to-the-vest about anymore.  I'm happy to discuss the ins and outs, anecdotes good and bad, etc.  It would be nice to have a separate thread for this, but it wouldn't be very useful just to have me post (there are as many approaches to shop-keeping as there are shops, and wildly different experiences).  Anyway... even here the thread is getting a bit derailed, so back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Yowza!  That issue dropped by how much!!??

 

Dayton looks to have a population of around 136,000 . Is there quite a bit outside of that area also ?

[atomised]

On 1/14/2024 at 10:57 AM, mjoeyoung said:

X-Men #98, 9.8 White Pages for $10,20.

Why do I always get the feeling that that Heritage has to have the largest percentage of ill-informed comic buyers?  If feels like every auction has some kind of just plain insane bidding.  It wasn't that long ago that a 6.5 ASM #1 GRR sold for regular ASM #1 price, but It looks like somebody wised up because the sale doesn't appear in their history.  People with more money than sense.  $10,200 is a 16.5X premium over the last 9.6 sale of $616.  It is also twice as much the previous high sale of $5K.  In what world does this sale make sense?

I would really appreciate it if these people would go back to buying NFTs.

As someone that regularly consigns to HA, money is money and I don't care who the buyer is

[Ryan.]

On 1/14/2024 at 1:57 PM, mjoeyoung said:

X-Men #98, 9.8 White Pages for $10,20.

Why do I always get the feeling that that Heritage has to have the largest percentage of ill-informed comic buyers?  If feels like every auction has some kind of just plain insane bidding.  It wasn't that long ago that a 6.5 ASM #1 GRR sold for regular ASM #1 price, but It looks like somebody wised up because the sale doesn't appear in their history.  People with more money than sense.  $10,200 is a 16.5X premium over the last 9.6 sale of $616.  It is also twice as much the previous high sale of $5K.  In what world does this sale make sense?

I would really appreciate it if these people would go back to buying NFTs.

Or it's money laundering. 

[Ryan.]

On 1/14/2024 at 5:09 PM, badback83 said:

@Kramerica @jimjum12 @KCOComics @GrasshopperFF 

I just went to @Bookery this past Friday.  Its been my favorite shop to go to for a long time.  We should all get together, eat and buy some books!

Passing the staples after eating books sounds unpleasant. 

[mrwoogieman]

On 1/14/2024 at 6:56 PM, Ryan. said:

On 1/14/2024 at 5:09 PM, badback83 said:

@Kramerica @jimjum12 @KCOComics @GrasshopperFF 

I just went to @Bookery this past Friday.  Its been my favorite shop to go to for a long time.  We should all get together, eat and buy some books!

Passing the staples after eating books sounds unpleasant. 

You would think the proprietors would prefer that the books be bought before being eaten as well.

 

[badback83]

On 1/14/2024 at 5:15 PM, jimjum12 said:

I wish I could, my friend. It will be a year before I can drive, if at all. Ohio is supposed to be a Pizza hotspot, rivalling even some of the Northeast legendary shops. GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

Well, when you can drive, your pizza is on me!

[Bookery]

On 1/14/2024 at 5:24 PM, davidking623 said:

Dayton looks to have a population of around 136,000 . Is there quite a bit outside of that area also ?

Yes.  Lots and lots of suburbs.  That number is for just Dayton proper.  What they call the "greater Dayton area" has a population over 800,000.  There are also quite a few universities in the region... University of Dayton, Wright State, Wittenberg, Wilberforce, Antioch, Clark State.  Add in the Columbus and Cincinnati areas (within an hour's drive) and the population is several million.

[Robot Man]

On 1/13/2024 at 8:16 AM, Bookery said:

I don't want to give the wrong impression.  In the "old days" I'd get most of the SA mega-keys in about once each every year.  I once had 3 Showcase #4s in the shop at one time (not a big deal for someone like Bedrock, but not bad for here in the Mid-West), and another time 2 Batman #1s.  But these have become pretty far-between in recent years.  Usually it's an existing customer who has up-graded and sells off his lesser copy.  Now the shop has a good mix at any given time of SA-up in the under-$1,000 range, and an eclectic mix of scattered golden-age that changes over the months.  I still buy the big books (after 40 years, I have more buying power than ever, so it's not an issue in buying them when they are offered), but these usually sell to existing want-lists, or the several big-$ local collectors that scoop them up as I detailed earlier.  I  have a lot  of dealers who come here, and they can often buy quality books here in the Mid-West and sell them for considerably more when they set up at San Diego or Chicago.  The "Big Books" are fun to get in, but there's not that much comparative profit in them (another dirty little dealer secret).  Unless you specialize in them (eg Metropolis, Bedrock, others) you get better mark-up on books under $1000, and certainly have a wider range of potential buyers.

The days of collections or even a few old books walking in the front door of a comic shop are pretty much over. As are the days of nice flea market, estate sale and garage sale finds. There are virtually no stores in the large metropolitan areas of places like NY, CA ect with much if any GA or SA books.

Dealers who deal in this material have now been forced to pay as much as 90% of FMV to obtain them. Nice books especially GA usually sell immediately though. In this market, the demand far outweighs the supply.

I used to find a lot of nice vintage books in out of the way places. But those days are long gone. Once I sell something, I am very unlikely to replace it. The profit margin is so low, it really isn’t worth it anymore even with a quick sale. And, and you have to figure in the fact that most buyers are also looking to make a profit…

[Stefan_W]

 

On 1/13/2024 at 11:16 AM, Bookery said:

 The "Big Books" are fun to get in, but there's not that much comparative profit in them (another dirty little dealer secret).  Unless you specialize in them (eg Metropolis, Bedrock, others) you get better mark-up on books under $1000, and certainly have a wider range of potential buyers.

 

On 1/15/2024 at 11:36 AM, Robot Man said:

Dealers who deal in this material have now been forced to pay as much as 90% of FMV to obtain them.

I am not a store owner but I do buy collections and sell off the pieces to fund this hobby. People often dont believe me when I say that my biggest profits come from bronze and modern age books. Big books are good as showcase items, and they sell fast while drawing attention of buyers. If people know you have them in once in a while they check in regularly which makes everything you have a bit easier to sell. But the margins on GA and SA grails and keys usually suck (big dollars out, wait a bit, big dollars plus a little bit back in). You can often pick up newer books pretty cheap and make back double, triple, or quadruple what you paid for the when buying as a collection. 

 

[jimjum12]

On 1/15/2024 at 7:06 AM, Bookery said:

Yes.  Lots and lots of suburbs.  That number is for just Dayton proper.  What they call the "greater Dayton area" has a population over 800,000.  There are also quite a few universities in the region... University of Dayton, Wright State, Wittenberg, Wilberforce, Antioch, Clark State.  Add in the Columbus and Cincinnati areas (within an hour's drive) and the population is several million.

I was googling this very type of info recently and discovered that Tokyo is @ 37,000,000. GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[mjoeyoung]

On 1/14/2024 at 1:27 PM, DC# said:

Funny you bring this one up - they had another Aliens #1 in this auction and the listing even touted the “incredible sale” of that $7.5k copy.   
 

Swagglehaus has new YT video talking about a drastic overpay on a TEC issue this auction as well 

Here is the TEC 47 7.0 that went for $19k.  Most recent sale was a 6.5 Promise Collection in 2021 that was $2400.    Even 7.0 sales have never cracked $2k.

I think that is the idea.  They don't mention the six sales following that that sold for much less than $7.5K.  Somebody who only buys on Heritage and doesn't due any due diligence thinks that FMV for that book is $7.5K.

On 1/14/2024 at 12:31 PM, THE_BEYONDER said:

How many x-men 98s in 9.8 on the census?  

46, but I'm not really sure why that matters in this case.  The question is why somebody decided to pay the MOST IN GPA HISTORY for this book now?  This is a $1500 to $3000 dollar book.  It has a recorded sale on the previous day for $3250.  A Stan Lee / Chris Claremont signed 9.8 WP only went for $5K in 2021.

[mjoeyoung]

On 1/14/2024 at 1:27 PM, DC# said:

Swagglehaus has new YT video talking about a drastic overpay on a TEC issue this auction as well 

Here is the TEC 47 7.0 that went for $19k.  Most recent sale was a 6.5 Promise Collection in 2021 that was $2400.    Even 7.0 sales have never cracked $2k.  

I just don't know how people could look at these types of sales and not even be a little suspicious.  Even the ASM #1 9.8 curator book, which WAS a 9.6.  How and why did this book get an upgrade?  With a book this important shouldn't the community be informed if the book was pressed or cleaned in some way?  Or if it was just reevaluated with new criteria?  Instead, CGC scrubs all the old data as if it NEVER EXISTED as a 9.6.  I don't believe there was a mention during the auction that it was previously graded lower. They only evidence we have is the previous sale on Heritage.

[Ryan.]

On 1/15/2024 at 12:53 PM, mjoeyoung said:

I just don't know how people could look at these types of sales and not even be a little suspicious.  Even the ASM #1 9.8 curator book, which WAS a 9.6.  How and why did this book get an upgrade?  With a book this important shouldn't the community be informed if the book was pressed or cleaned in some way?  Or if it was just reevaluated with new criteria?  Instead, CGC scrubs all the old data as if it NEVER EXISTED as a 9.6.  I don't believe there was a mention during the auction that it was previously graded lower. They only evidence we have is the previous sale on Heritage.

It was also generously gifted, I mean graded, a 9.8...

[whomerjay]

On 1/15/2024 at 11:36 AM, Robot Man said:

The days of collections or even a few old books walking in the front door of a comic shop are pretty much over.

I agree that it is increasingly harder to buy collections cheaply, due to the stiff competition and multiple venues of sale. However, I'd be curious to hear from owners of brick and mortar stores of various sizes how frequently they are offered collections, and for what % of resale. I don't know but it seems that having a store still gives you the best opportunity to buy books at a cost that is not too close to FMV.  

[Robot Man]

On 1/15/2024 at 10:21 AM, whomerjay said:

I agree that it is increasingly harder to buy collections cheaply, due to the stiff competition and multiple venues of sale. However, I'd be curious to hear from owners of brick and mortar stores of various sizes how frequently they are offered collections, and for what % of resale. I don't know but it seems that having a store still gives you the best opportunity to buy books at a cost that is not too close to FMV.  

I don’t think that many are out there anymore. OO collections especially. My local stores rarely have anything walk in anymore. The days of finding pop’s books stashed away are long gone. 

And then there is the perception that stores pay pennies on the dollar. There are a few exceptions though. Competition is very tough. It pays to be honest with people. I know a lot of estate sale owners and flea market folks that often give me first crack because I am fair with them.

I doubt many owners of shops would be very forthcoming with their “trade secrets”…

[jimjum12]

On 1/16/2024 at 11:50 AM, Robot Man said:

The days of finding pop’s books stashed away are long gone. 

If so, they'd be heavily mlidewed and foxed basement books, or brown toasted attic books. GOD BLESS ... 

-jimbo( a friend of jesus)

[rlextherobot]

On 1/15/2024 at 8:45 AM, Stefan_W said:

 

 

I am not a store owner but I do buy collections and sell off the pieces to fund this hobby. People often dont believe me when I say that my biggest profits come from bronze and modern age books. Big books are good as showcase items, and they sell fast while drawing attention of buyers. If people know you have them in once in a while they check in regularly which makes everything you have a bit easier to sell. But the margins on GA and SA grails and keys usually suck (big dollars out, wait a bit, big dollars plus a little bit back in). You can often pick up newer books pretty cheap and make back double, triple, or quadruple what you paid for the when buying as a collection. 

 

I'm a very low-key casual seller at local shows and a bit on eBay, and the biggest sales drivers I have are cheap books - at the average show I make 75% of the cash from selling 50 cent, $1, and $3 comics, with the rest made up by collector books and random trades/hardcovers etc. Since my cheap bins are mostly made up with stuff I bought for less than 10 cents a piece as part of the collection, its a pretty decent profit margin, although I spend a considerable amount of time organizing, rebagging etc. 

[jimjum12]

On 1/16/2024 at 1:09 PM, rlextherobot said:

I'm a very low-key casual seller at local shows and a bit on eBay, and the biggest sales drivers I have are cheap books - at the average show I make 75% of the cash from selling 50 cent, $1, and $3 comics, with the rest made up by collector books and random trades/hardcovers etc. Since my cheap bins are mostly made up with stuff I bought for less than 10 cents a piece as part of the collection, its a pretty decent profit margin, although I spend a considerable amount of time organizing, rebagging etc. 

Doing shows full time isn't the "dying and going to heaven" that many think it is. It's WORK. My observations from a mail order perspective is like yours, that the collector market, i.e. the run builders and readers, is still healthy, particularly the $5 -$50 crew. GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[Chip Cataldo]

On 1/16/2024 at 11:50 AM, Robot Man said:

I don’t think that many are out there anymore. OO collections especially. My local stores rarely have anything walk in anymore. The days of finding pop’s books stashed away are long gone. 

I've picked up several this past year. They're out there if your search is wide enough and you're hustling.

[1Cool]

On 1/16/2024 at 4:25 PM, Chip Cataldo said:

I've picked up several this past year. They're out there if your search is wide enough and you're hustling.

 

Edited January 16 by 1Cool