I Have Finished Reducing My Collection 6 6

[ThothAmon]

On 12/13/2021 at 10:09 PM, Math Teacher said:

I found it hard to pack up and ship five orders within three days.

This took 2 hours Monday morning. About 24 total books and mags. At that rate I’ll be selling until 2321. 
 

[amatta]

On 12/13/2021 at 4:03 PM, Math Teacher said:

Beginning in May of 2020, I decided to reduce the scope of my collection.

Prior to May, 2020, my collection consisted of:

ASM #1 - #700.5, along with annuals
Fantastic Four #1 - #611, along with annuals
Daredevil #0 - #548, along with annuals
Spectacular Spider-Man #0 - #263, along with annuals
Web of Spider-Man #1 - #129, along with annuals
Flash v2 #0 - #247
Star Trek #1 - #18 (Marvel)
Star Trek v1 #1 - #56 (DC)
Star Trek v2 #1 - #80
Close to 200 TPBs, Showcases, Essentials, Archives, Masterworks, Omnibuses, etc.
Atom #1 - #45
Hawkman #1 - #27
Metal Men #1 - #56
Numerous slabs that didn't fit into a particular series, such as SC #55.

I finally said to myself, "Self, you know darn well that you are NEVER going to read any of these issues. Have you looked at the pile of books that are currently in your 'To Read' pile?"

So, I sold the last piece of my collection yesterday, and now, my collection consists of:

ASM #1 - #400, with Annuals #1 - #5
FF #1 - #300, with Annuals #1 - #6
Daredevil #1 - #200, with Annuals #1 and #4
Atom #1 - #45 (still missing a few issues)
Hawkman #1 - #27 (still missing a few issues)
Metal Men #1 - #56
Numerous slabs that didn't fit into a particular series, such as SC #55.

I can now get my entire collection of comics and Stephen King hardcovers into a single bookcase that I had built back in the early 1980s. I still have my slabs in boxes, as they won't fit on my shelves. No more TBPs, Marvel Essentials, DC Showcases, DC Archives, Marvel Masterworks, Marvel or DC Omnibuses.

And you know what? I don't miss ANY of it. I was able to remove a desk, a large bookcase, and a small bookcase. My room looks so open now.

I did not give the proceeds to the Sisters of the Poor. I used them to purchase books like Avengers #1 - #16 and X-Men #1 - #16, along with books like Journey into Mystery #112, along with many others.

If you find yourself in my previous situation, I would recommend purging your collection using books that you know you will NEVER read again. It gave me a great deal of satisfaction to get all of that clutter out of my room.

Of course, your mileage may vary!

inspiring as always

I'm also (slowly but surely) culling down the herd while trying to build an ASM 1-100 run + mostly keys type of collection...

[Math Teacher]

On 12/14/2021 at 7:53 AM, ThothAmon said:

This took 2 hours Monday morning. About 24 total books and mags. At that rate I’ll be selling until 2321. 
 

It does take a long time to package books for shipping, especially if you pack them the way you want to receive them. One of the best purchases I made before I started on my endeavor was a small digital scale. It allowed me to print shipping labels at home instead of taking the boxes to the Post Office. Not only was it more convenient, it is cheaper too. I still drop the books off at the Post Office or at a Post Office substation (one is in the grocery store where we shop), because I want to have a receipt for shipping.

Fortunately, with all the packages I sent, I didn't have one heavily damaged. I also didn't have any packages get lost, even though some packages were not delivered in a timely manner. After all the horror stories about USPS that I have read, I consider myself very fortunate.

[KirbyJack]

There are still advantages to selling to a local shop, too. I have found that when I sell a large quantity of comics, I assess their value in much the same way that my good LCSs do. We are usually very close on price. I consider the savings of time and hassle to be quite a benefit.

[Galen130]

On 12/14/2021 at 9:41 AM, KirbyJack said:

There are still advantages to selling to a local shop, too. I have found that when I sell a large quantity of comics, I assess their value in much the same way that my good LCSs do. We are usually very close on price. I consider the savings of time and hassle to be quite a benefit.

I tried this once at the only LCS in my area.  This was after the old man who used to own it sold the inventory and store to some young punk.  This kid undercuts everyone who comes in.  I’m surprised the place is still operating.  He tried that with me and I told him to pound sand.  

Edited December 14, 2021 by Galen130

[KirbyJack]

My local guys have been around for decades, and I know how they do business. I’m lucky in that regard.

[Math Teacher]

Here's another piece of advice if you're looking to sell parts of your collection.

Instead of titling a listing like, "Amazing Spider-Man #311 - #320," it is better to title like, "Amazing Spider-Man #311,312,313,314,315,316,317,318,319,320." My lots sold more quickly when I started using the second method of titling. This was on Ebay, so it might not applicable to all places you can sell back issues.

[Math Teacher]

On 12/13/2021 at 3:19 PM, piper said:

Share a before and after pic?

As you can see, there is still some (well, more than some) clutter, but I making progress weekend by weekend.

Top Shelf: Amazing Spider-Man #1 - #400 with Annuals.
Shelf below the top shelf: Fantastic Four #1 - #300 and Daredevil #1 - #200, both with Annuals.
Second shelf below the top shelf: The few Golden Age issues I have, Atom #1 - #45 (Missing #25, 26, 37,42, 43), Brave and the Bold #1 - #24 (all reader copies), Hawkman #1 - #27 plus Mystery in Space #87 (Missing Hawkman #21, 25 and Mystery in Space #88 - #90, and Metal Men #1 - #56 plus Showcase #37 - #40.

Before anyone mentions it, I know that the Stephen King novels are not in alphabetical or chronological order. That's one of the many things I still have to do. I also need to get rid of 100+ CDs.

[RickSp]

On 12/18/2021 at 8:43 PM, Math Teacher said:

As you can see, there is still some (well, more than some) clutter, but I making progress weekend by weekend.

Top Shelf: Amazing Spider-Man #1 - #400 with Annuals.
Shelf below the top shelf: Fantastic Four #1 - #300 and Daredevil #1 - #200, both with Annuals.
Second shelf below the top shelf: The few Golden Age issues I have, Atom #1 - #45 (Missing #25, 26, 37,42, 43), Brave and the Bold #1 - #24 (all reader copies), Hawkman #1 - #27 plus Mystery in Space #87 (Missing Hawkman #21, 25 and Mystery in Space #88 - #90, and Metal Men #1 - #56 plus Showcase #37 - #40.

Before anyone mentions it, I know that the Stephen King novels are not in alphabetical or chronological order. That's one of the many things I still have to do. I also need to get rid of 100+ CDs.

All accessible to browse and enjoy at any time! I’ve never seen collections stored that way but I think I love it…

[Math Teacher]

On 12/18/2021 at 2:58 PM, RickSp said:

All accessible to browse and enjoy at any time! I’ve never seen collections stored that way but I think I love it…

FYI - My method of storage is patent pending. 

[djzombi]

I probably have 20K+ books that I'm just now starting to consider prepping for eventual sale.  The first step was getting a CGC membership a couple of years ago and getting some of the larger keys professionally appraised by them.  Step 2 will be this year finally getting around to dumping my duplicates, while still picking through the collection for keys to send to CGC.  I have my comics sorted by publisher (Marvel, then DC, then indies alphabetically by publisher), and in my pulling I'm up to just Batman, which is probably almost halfway through my entire collection.  So I've basically pulled all the Marvel stuff I want to get graded eventually, though I do go back when certain books heat up (See: Scott Lang, Kate Bishop, Warlock/"Him") or I think of something I may have missed the first time around.  After the dupes are gone, I'll probably start selling the "lesser" titles in my main collection, or stuff that I don't hold as much emotional attachment to.  After that will be the meat of the collection, which I'm hoping to start selling in maybe 7 or 8 years, pay off the house, and maybe retire early (I'll probably be in my late 50s by then).  

Unless the entire bottom drops out of the comic market and then I have to work until I'm 80.