Did u change from Collector to Flipper? 5 5

[chrisco37]

On 11/2/2021 at 2:38 AM, The Heckler said:

 I often ask myself what I would do if I won a million dollars, and the answer is always the same. Two chicks man. And bigger books.

  You're the real superhero!  

[littledoom]

On 11/9/2021 at 7:04 AM, Randall Dowling said:

My brother did the exact same thing with Hulk 181.  

Still bitter about it.

Hulk 181’s been a big book for decades but I understand the sentiment 

[Randall Dowling]

On 11/9/2021 at 11:02 AM, littledoom said:

Hulk 181’s been a big book for decades but I understand the sentiment 

In the late 70s, it was a $4 book and then it shot up to around $30 before doing a slow but steady climb to where it is.  It's really more the exception that proves the rule but it's worth remembering that occasionally, some keep on going up.  

Edited November 9, 2021 by Randall Dowling

[littledoom]

On 11/9/2021 at 9:56 AM, Randall Dowling said:

In the late 70s, it was a $4 book and then it shot up to around $30 before doing a slow but steady climb to where it is.  It's really more the exception that proves the rule but it's worth remembering that occasionally, some keep on going up.  

Ah ok. It’s cool to have experienced  that perspective 

[jsilverjanet]

On 11/9/2021 at 11:56 AM, Randall Dowling said:

In the late 70s, it was a $4 book and then it shot up to around $30 before doing a slow but steady climb to where it is.  It's really more the exception that proves the rule but it's worth remembering that occasionally, some keep on going up.  

i still remember my comic shop having it when i was younger and it was priced at $120. Which seemed impossible amount of money for me to spend at the time. I paid $20 each for asm121 and 122 which was breaking the bank for me at the time.

[Ares]

I started as a Collector but with children getting more expensive I have morphed. 

I collect GL books. All else is flipper Territory

[Hamlet]

Do I count as a flipper if I buy books to flip but never actually get around to selling them?

 

[NewWorldOrder]

On 11/1/2021 at 5:48 PM, Joe Peck said:

So, I started 2 weeks ago wanting to add to my collection, but now I’m finding excitement in the idea of buying cheap and selling dear.  Has anyone else fallen prey to the siren song of profit in lieu of simply collecting?  Can you be both?

I think it's weird if anyone doesn't flip books at some level.  Actually unless you never sell any books you have ever bought then 99% of everyone in the hobby is a flipper whether they intended to or not.

Example.  In college I sold many of my comic books to fund college expenses.

-text books

-beers

-Freshman year- $ to take out stupid freshman girls 

-Sophomore year- $ to take out stupid freshman girls 

-Junior year- $ to take out stupid freshman g/f

-Senior year- $ to take out stupid freshman girls after dumping the sophomore ex/gf

So I made a decent amount from the advent of CGC and eBay, back then I wasn't thinking about profit but any money I could generate from selling my comic book collection.  So even though I wasn't trying to flip books I still made a profit anyway.  So at 18 I was flipping books.  See my point?

Either-way flipping books even at a casual level allows anyone to bring down the overall cost of the comic they want to keep.

Who wants to pay retail for their personal books? 

[MetalPSI]

On 11/8/2021 at 10:41 PM, ramrodcar said:

for all of you "switchers", I'm curious how you've isolated your personal collection inventory vs. your selling inventory, as well as tracking cost of goods sold/cash basis accounting/accrual accounting, etc....... How are you guys accounting for buying up say 100 books  @ $100 total, keeping 5 for yourself, and slowly selling off the remaining 95 books?

I haven't

I'm guessing I'm 1000% in the hole and will continue to be so the whole time I'm collecting 

[thehumantorch]

On 11/8/2021 at 10:41 PM, ramrodcar said:

for all of you "switchers", I'm curious how you've isolated your personal collection inventory vs. your selling inventory, as well as tracking cost of goods sold/cash basis accounting/accrual accounting, etc....... How are you guys accounting for buying up say 100 books  @ $100 total, keeping 5 for yourself, and slowly selling off the remaining 95 books?

If it's a book I love, first appearance that I value or a cover I love I keep it.  That's a very personal decision and would be different for each person.

Accounting?    When I buy an important book I save a image of the book and edit the name of the file to include what I paid and the grade.  When I buy a collection or 100 books I buy it at a price that makes sense and has a profit margin.  Sometimes there's books in a purchased collection that goes into my own collection and that's great.  If I'm buying collections properly I know I'll be ahead somewhere down the road.  I know it's working because I've been self funding my hobby for years buying and selling and my collection is growing and my show inventory is growing and my basement is full of long boxes from collection purchases and there is value there.

But it's not easy.  You have to know what you're doing and it's hard work and there are hundreds of guys who would kill their own mother to buy a Dazzler #1 cheap. 

[MetalPSI]

On 11/9/2021 at 1:17 PM, thehumantorch said:

If it's a book I love, first appearance that I value or a cover I love I keep it.  That's a very personal decision and would be different for each person.

Accounting?    When I buy an important book I save a image of the book and edit the name of the file to include what I paid and the grade.  When I buy a collection or 100 books I buy it at a price that makes sense and has a profit margin.  Sometimes there's books in a purchased collection that goes into my own collection and that's great.  If I'm buying collections properly I know I'll be ahead somewhere down the road.  I know it's working because I've been self funding my hobby for years buying and selling and my collection is growing and my show inventory is growing and my basement is full of long boxes from collection purchases and there is value there.

But it's not easy.  You have to know what you're doing and it's hard work and there are hundreds of guys who would kill their own mother to buy a Dazzler #1 cheap. 

By cheap, you mean free?

[thehumantorch]

On 11/9/2021 at 6:25 PM, Dr. Dank said:

By cheap, you mean free?

That would work.

[KCOComics]

I wouldn't call myself a flipper at all...  

In the last 5 - 7 years I started selling books to fund bigger purchases. Before that, I very rarely sold, though I did do a handful of trades. 

It's gotten so expensive to buy key books, that I use other books to offset those costs. 

 

[Poekaymon]

[jsilverjanet]

On 11/9/2021 at 1:56 PM, NewWorldOrder said:

-Freshman year- $ to take out stupid freshman girls 

-Sophomore year- $ to take out stupid freshman girls 

-Junior year- $ to take out stupid freshman g/f

-Senior year- $ to take out stupid freshman girls after dumping the sophomore ex/gf

[Ares]

If you ever bought a back issue from anything other than a retailer you participated in flipping process.

Welcome to the club

[pickycollector]

Who has never flipped throw the first stone

[BlowUpTheMoon]

On 11/9/2021 at 2:18 PM, Ares said:

I started as a Collector but with children getting more expensive I have morphed.

STOP BUYING CHILDREN!

[Lazyboy]

On 11/10/2021 at 8:24 AM, Ares said:

If you ever bought a back issue from anything other than a retailer you participated in flipping process.

Welcome to the club

The simple act of selling is not flipping.

[KCOComics]

On 11/10/2021 at 8:31 PM, Lazyboy said:

The simple act of selling is not flipping.

I tend to agree with this. 

In my mind, flipping is buying books with the intention to sell fairly quickly for a profit.  

Collecting books, holding them for years and then deciding to sell them in order to purchase something else isn't flipping in my mind. That's just collecting.