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

[Gonzimodo]

On 5/14/2024 at 11:04 AM, 1Cool said:

If someone pulls out a physical list I'd say their average age is in the 65 range and if they have their list in digital format they usually are 50 ish.  I don't think I've seen a person under 40 have a list of filler books in quite awhile.

This checks out.

I just switched from physical to digital about a year ago, and I'll be 53 next week.  

[the blob]

On 5/9/2024 at 8:35 AM, Stefan_W said:

Huh, yeah what I thought was a 7 could be a 1. My mistake. 

So it definitely could be distribution related, but the point that some people dont like the big numbers at the top of the cover and may not have bid because of that still stands. 

Yeah, if this is your big purchase of the year and you want that ASM 1 I could see avoiding this one even though those defects are allowable in grade. Fact is there are good looking 5.0s out there, you don't need one with ugly writing if you are laying out the price of a decent used car.

[RockMyAmadeus]

On 5/14/2024 at 1:50 PM, Gonzimodo said:

This checks out.

I just switched from physical to digital about a year ago, and I'll be 53 next week.  

[Robot Man]

On 5/14/2024 at 8:04 AM, 1Cool said:

If someone pulls out a physical list I'd say their average age is in the 65 range and if they have their list in digital format they usually are 50 ish.  I don't think I've seen a person under 40 have a list of filler books in quite awhile.

I collect some GA runs. I have a small want list. Books like Schomburg Nedor WWII for example. They can get expensive and I want to make sure I don’t pay up for dupes. To be honest, I already have quite a few and a lot have a similar look.

It is a small piece of paper I keep in my wallet. It is printed from a digital file. I find it convenient. As much as I live in the present, often things from the past just work better.

Carburators, vinyl records and tube amps just haven’t been improved enough from me to abandon them completely.

And, yeah, I’m a geezer and have no problem with it. 

[MAR1979]

On 5/8/2024 at 4:51 PM, Q.N.S. said:

Anyway, by and large, we're still exploring the bottom.. and I believe it will stay like this or slightly worse until the election at least.

or right now is still shallow with the Mariana Trench getting closer?

[universal soldier]

On 5/14/2024 at 11:04 AM, 1Cool said:

If someone pulls out a physical list I'd say their average age is in the 65 range and if they have their list in digital format they usually are 50 ish.  I don't think I've seen a person under 40 have a list of filler books in quite awhile.

I'm a mix of both but my master list is a notebook. I'm on V3 and been crossing things out as I go along (wish I had savedd the old notebooks). I do use CLZ for tracking and pricing info at cons or a local shop but always have the notebook with me. I guess I fit in the demo being 58 

[MAR1979]

Makes sense as most who are not at least approaching 50 primarily care only about 1st this or 1st that, and not interested in bronze or copper run issues

 

Edited May 15 by MAR1979

[Savoyard23]

On 5/14/2024 at 4:50 PM, Gonzimodo said:

This checks out.

I just switched from physical to digital about a year ago, and I'll be 53 next week.  

I'll be 52 in a couple of weeks, and I use a handwritten list in pencil.

I guess I'd better get with the times.

(I've actually written my own Android app to maintain my want list, it's asymptotically approaching a beta version - slowly.)

[Old Fashion PB and J]

On 5/8/2024 at 4:26 PM, Martian Manhunter said:

You got that right. Trends come and go, and liking Marvel was exactly that, a trend. Personally, I never liked any of the Marvel movies at all. For the past 14 years, all Marvel fans did was troll and destroy anything DC on the internet, just to force Marvel comic values to shoot up. I honestly have no respect for Marvel, or their fans. In fact, when I was a kid, I liked both DC and Marvel, but grew out of liking Marvel. I just felt like it was for little kids, and just bland and boring.

 I just like comics, good stories entertain me. For whatever reason you speak as if you are some elitist and look down on others because they collect what they enjoy.. You should probably look into just talking to people and not judging them over the most trivial krap.

[F For Fake]

On 5/14/2024 at 7:17 PM, Robot Man said:

I collect some GA runs. I have a small want list. Books like Schomburg Nedor WWII for example. They can get expensive and I want to make sure I don’t pay up for dupes. To be honest, I already have quite a few and a lot have a similar look.

It is a small piece of paper I keep in my wallet. It is printed from a digital file. I find it convenient. As much as I live in the present, often things from the past just work better.

Carburators, vinyl records and tube amps just haven’t been improved enough from me to abandon them completely.

And, yeah, I’m a geezer and have no problem with it. 

 

On 5/14/2024 at 10:23 PM, universal soldier said:

I'm a mix of both but my master list is a notebook. I'm on V3 and been crossing things out as I go along (wish I had savedd the old notebooks). I do use CLZ for tracking and pricing info at cons or a local shop but always have the notebook with me. I guess I fit in the demo being 58 

I used to keep a typed up list folded up in my wallet, but my wallet was getting comically big. I was called George Costanza a lot. That's hurtful.

Anyway, nowadays I keep a Google Sheets file in my Google drive, so I can pull that up in the Sheets app in my phone, and I have also copied that list into the Notes app, in case I'm in a place where I can't get a good connection to connect to the Google drive. So I guess I'm a hybrid, still carrying around a list, though I've modified the way said list is transported. I'm 47.

[october]

I have a handwritten list in my wallet that contains missing Groo issues and Garbage Pail Kids upgrades. I'm 43. Embarrassing. 

[Robot Man]

On 5/15/2024 at 5:15 AM, F For Fake said:

 

I used to keep a typed up list folded up in my wallet, but my wallet was getting comically big. I was called George Costanza a lot. That's hurtful.

Anyway, nowadays I keep a Google Sheets file in my Google drive, so I can pull that up in the Sheets app in my phone, and I have also copied that list into the Notes app, in case I'm in a place where I can't get a good connection to connect to the Google drive. So I guess I'm a hybrid, still carrying around a list, though I've modified the way said list is transported. I'm 47.

I carry one double sided sheet. I put it in my shirt pocket. I can pull it out and check quickly. I don’t have to pull out my phone, open an app, scroll through it or worry about a connection.

I also wear a watch. Just look quickly at my wrist. Don’t have to pull out my phone and turn it on.

I am also full computer literate. I use complicated programs like InDesign and Photoshop fluently every day.

I like to marry the past with the present when it works to my favor.

And I love those guys that walk up to my booth with a notebook want list. It usually means I will make more money and get rid of a lot of run books…

[Q.N.S.]

On 5/14/2024 at 7:45 PM, MAR1979 said:

or right now is still shallow with the Mariana Trench getting closer?

I've been collecting since the mid-70s and I've seen more Mariana Trenches than islands. But the trench is not really a bottom, it's a plateau. 

We are still on a post-Covid boom plateau. Holding the plateau, or even exploring a little lower is fine.

What I think is most problematic is the fake videos (many unverifiable) which skew pricing higher or lower just to get views and establish a social media presence, like guys who post about their 50 cent or 1 dollar flea market grabs and such, for books that have been running 5-20 dollars for decades. DECADES. Most of them are lying. I could make a video today, rip out 40 books from my collection, film myself walking around a mill building with antique shops or a run-down LCS and say I paid $1 for $10-30 dollar books, and it would immediately get 10x more views than being honest. Especially if you know how to push the video so that the algo feeds it to audiences. 

Another problem is the abandonment of Overstreet Guide, by the younger and newer fans. Comic books are not stocks or crypto in the sense that their prices are not constantly updated. Dealers who contribute to Overstreet made it the go-to since the hobby found its investment foothold because they are the only reliable guide. That is the real market not the aberrations high or low that are fed into the online aggregators that represent less than 10% of the actual market. I don't mean you pay Overstreet prices, or demand them. The rule for LCS was to pay 40% of list, often less for undesirable stock if you don't need it, but that was before prices went nuts, now, it's lower, because of all the modern garbage that is glutting us. 

Unfortunately, Overstreet itself was impacted by the skewing going on because of the Covid boom, because it really happened. As I said, we're in the post-Covid bust which will take at least the rest of this year, and likely would be another year more. It's ok. What's not ok is the flippers and pumpers whom we don't even want in the hobby at all. Let them move on, the pain is worth it. Them unloading and dumb dealers selling on WhatNot auctions where you can't even SEE the BOOK for more than a second and have 3 seconds to decide, you either take advantage of that, or ignore it. They are going to run out of inventory soon. I use a 20-year old Overstreet and Lone Star/MCS for price discovery, and I'm fine. 

 

[ThothAmon]

On 5/15/2024 at 11:27 AM, Q.N.S. said:

the abandonment of Overstreet

That ship sailed last millennium for me except of course to help value a collection. The videos you should just ignore as otherwise you’ll go cuckoo. 

[Robot Man]

Overstreet is just what it says it is, a “Guide”. Prices in it are low or actually high. A lot of stuff is actually worth a lot less. A yearly printed guide is impossible to keep up with an ever changing market. I use one a couple years old as a starting point. There is, however nothing better to quickly garner information other than prices.

To a smart comic buyer, it is just one tool. Internet sales, GPA, auction sites and of course right here on the boards are more accurate in real time. A smart comic buyer uses ALL of these resources to assign values.

I am old enough to remember before there was an internet and even an Overstreet Guide. The true Wild West. Sometimes, when buying books, I just use my gut and what stuff is just worth to me. My gut is rarely wrong.

[1Cool]

On 5/15/2024 at 12:37 PM, Robot Man said:

Overstreet is just what it says it is, a “Guide”. Prices in it are low or actually high. A lot of stuff is actually worth a lot less. A yearly printed guide is impossible to keep up with an ever changing market. I use one a couple years old as a starting point. There is, however nothing better to quickly garner information other than prices.

To a smart comic buyer, it is just one tool. Internet sales, GPA, auction sites and of course right here on the boards are more accurate in real time. A smart comic buyer uses ALL of these resources to assign values.

I am old enough to remember before there was an internet and even an Overstreet Guide. The true Wild West. Sometimes, when buying books, I just use my gut and what stuff is just worth to me. My gut is rarely wrong.

Any guide you have to knock 40 - 60% off most books to get a sale isn't much of a guide.  I stopped buying it about 8 years ago and I there has not been one instance where I wished I had a current copy.  

Edited May 15 by 1Cool

[Q.N.S.]

On 5/15/2024 at 1:32 PM, 1Cool said:

Any guide you have to knock 40 - 60% off most books to get a sale isn't much of a guide.  I stopped buying it about 8 years ago and I there has not been one instance where I wished I had a current copy.  

But the reasons are because of Covid boom. Before this, you the retailer only would knock off 10-30%. There are cases where nothing is marked off, or at least there used to be in HTF's and rare and as market conditions demand. So, I don't blame Overstreet. Noise is just noise. Comics are not supposed to go up and down so much in the course of one year. If they do, we have insufficient methods of tracking them. Cars don't sell for Kelly Blue Book, or even new ones for list price. It used to be that LCS would sell 50-80% price consistently of guide which means they buy for 25-40% of guide unless they know there will be a buyer, it can go higher in those cases. 

Overstreet's prices will settle off and I'd be more interested in a 2024 or 2025 volume than in a 2020-2023 volume. Just because an auction was timed poorly or timed perfectly or hit a book when it was on movie/tv show highs doesn't mean the book is really worth that. It only means someone was willing to pay that much or accept that low in exchange, but it's not the actual value. So much of the comic market is still not data-logged online. This is why I trust the vast network of dealers who contribute to Overstreet. I believe not backing Overstreet's mandate to stay premier and legitimate is a major mistake. 

[F For Fake]

On 5/15/2024 at 1:32 PM, 1Cool said:

Any guide you have to knock 40 - 60% off most books to get a sale isn't much of a guide.  I stopped buying it about 8 years ago and I there has not been one instance where I wished I had a current copy.  

 

On 5/15/2024 at 3:17 PM, Q.N.S. said:

But the reasons are because of Covid boom. Before this, you the retailer only would knock off 10-30%. There are cases where nothing is marked off, or at least there used to be in HTF's and rare and as market conditions demand. So, I don't blame Overstreet. Noise is just noise. Comics are not supposed to go up and down so much in the course of one year. If they do, we have insufficient methods of tracking them. Cars don't sell for Kelly Blue Book, or even new ones for list price. It used to be that LCS would sell 50-80% price consistently of guide which means they buy for 25-40% of guide unless they know there will be a buyer, it can go higher in those cases. 

Overstreet's prices will settle off and I'd be more interested in a 2024 or 2025 volume than in a 2020-2023 volume. Just because an auction was timed poorly or timed perfectly or hit a book when it was on movie/tv show highs doesn't mean the book is really worth that. It only means someone was willing to pay that much or accept that low in exchange, but it's not the actual value. So much of the comic market is still not data-logged online. This is why I trust the vast network of dealers who contribute to Overstreet. I believe not backing Overstreet's mandate to stay premier and legitimate is a major mistake. 

Is it still true that Overstreet won't value a book at anything below cover price? I haven't bought one for years, but that was always the biggest issue for me. Prospective sellers would actually bother to look at a guide, and see that their drek books were worth $2-3 each or whatever; then I'd have to tell them that not only is the book not worth that full cover price, but it is, in fact, worthless. So many comics are literally not worth the paper they're printed on. Starting the value as a baseline of "It's worth at least cover price" has always been wrongheaded.  If they no longer do things that way, I retract my grumpiness.

My experience for many years was that they were always way under value on hot new things (such is the nature of an annual publication), but wildly overpriced on stuff like mid/low grade Silver Age DC's. The guide may say it's worth a certain percentage of the NM price, but the reality is most of those books I couldn't give away at $3-$5 a pop. 

 

[1Cool]

On 5/15/2024 at 3:52 PM, F For Fake said:

 

Is it still true that Overstreet won't value a book at anything below cover price? I haven't bought one for years, but that was always the biggest issue for me. Prospective sellers would actually bother to look at a guide, and see that their drek books were worth $2-3 each or whatever; then I'd have to tell them that not only is the book not worth that full cover price, but it is, in fact, worthless. So many comics are literally not worth the paper they're printed on. Starting the value as a baseline of "It's worth at least cover price" has always been wrongheaded.  If they no longer do things that way, I retract my grumpiness.

My experience for many years was that they were always way under value on hot new things (such is the nature of an annual publication), but wildly overpriced on stuff like mid/low grade Silver Age DC's. The guide may say it's worth a certain percentage of the NM price, but the reality is most of those books I couldn't give away at $3-$5 a pop. 

 

Last I heard they still do this.  If the guide is not accurate for drek, mid-grade books, hot books or most any other book then where is the value of the guide?

[Q.N.S.]

On 5/15/2024 at 3:52 PM, F For Fake said:

 

Is it still true that Overstreet won't value a book at anything below cover price? I haven't bought one for years, but that was always the biggest issue for me. Prospective sellers would actually bother to look at a guide, and see that their drek books were worth $2-3 each or whatever; then I'd have to tell them that not only is the book not worth that full cover price, but it is, in fact, worthless. So many comics are literally not worth the paper they're printed on. Starting the value as a baseline of "It's worth at least cover price" has always been wrongheaded.  If they no longer do things that way, I retract my grumpiness.

My experience for many years was that they were always way under value on hot new things (such is the nature of an annual publication), but wildly overpriced on stuff like mid/low grade Silver Age DC's. The guide may say it's worth a certain percentage of the NM price, but the reality is most of those books I couldn't give away at $3-$5 a pop. 

 

the book is a GUIDE. It does not present prices chisled in stone. When it lists a book at its cover price, that is meant to be interpreted as "this book has not appreciated in value". when the book has not appreciated in value, it means you get what you can for it. they can't list some books at $2 and others at $1, or 50 cents, all they should do is identify which volumes have not appreciated.