"These'll pay for my kid's college..." 5 5

[shadroch]

On 12/21/2021 at 3:07 PM, Ablation Steve said:

I wonder, could I get you to concede that a person could make $20 on a $100 comic after all fees and costs are taken into account?

So we've gone from $70 a book profit to $20.   Now take in the original cost of the book, the bags, the boards, the boxes, insurance and lost opportunity. $20 profit over thirty years. No an easy way to making a living.

[sckao]

I don't think that was the intent of the original post. I think the intent was that this was essentially "found money" and could be used to fund something of value... like a child's education.

 

[sckao]

..And I estimate I have over 1000 copies of X-Men #1. 

[Ablation Steve]

On 12/21/2021 at 3:54 PM, shadroch said:

So we've gone from $70 a book profit to $20.   Now take in the original cost of the book, the bags, the boards, the boxes, insurance and lost opportunity. $20 profit over thirty years. No an easy way to making a living.

Not at all. I proposed a laughably low number that anyone who is being reasonable would agree could be attained, to establish a "floor" for further discussion.;

And as I've pointed out multiple times, this has nothing to do with making a living. This is about dispelling the myth that someone can't make good money on comics that are often ridiculed, and that those who claimed they'd be able to send their kids to college on them were, while not correct, accidently onto something.

[thesink]

On 12/21/2021 at 4:34 PM, Ablation Steve said:

If you're a Groening fan as your avatar suggests, you'll probably recognize the quote "Two things can be real."

I can have fun. I can make money. I can choose to not assign my time a dollar value and consider everything I make to be profit brought about by having fun.

Three things that are real.

You’ve kind of pivoted on the “investment” portion of this thread and relied on the fun portion. I don’t disagree that you have had fun and that makes it worthwhile, I disagree that it was a “good” or even profitable investment. The X-men 1 example loses a lot of ground when you can go buy raw copies for less than $30.

[JazzMan]

90s dreck...."These'll pay for my kid's community college."

[sckao]

On 12/21/2021 at 3:06 PM, thesink said:

You’ve kind of pivoted on the “investment” portion of this thread and relied on the fun portion. I don’t disagree that you have had fun and that makes it worthwhile, I disagree that it was a “good” or even profitable investment. The X-men 1 example loses a lot of ground when you can go buy raw copies for less than $30.

Note that most CGC 9.8s that GPA for less than $250 usually can be found on eBay RAW for less than $30. So I'm not sure how this applies...

See Darkhawk 1, Dazzler 1, Alpha Flight 1, etc. All GPA for well over $200... All can be purchased raw on eBay for less than $30.

 

(Actually, Dazzler is only over $150... but someone is overpaying on Ebay...)

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by sckao
Added Alpha Flight 1 which surprises me actually

[shadroch]

On 12/21/2021 at 4:04 PM, Ablation Steve said:

Not at all. I proposed a laughably low number that anyone who is being reasonable would agree could be attained, to establish a "floor" for further discussion.;

And as I've pointed out multiple times, this has nothing to do with making a living. This is about dispelling the myth that someone can't make good money on comics that are often ridiculed, and that those who claimed they'd be able to send their kids to college on them were, while not correct, accidently onto something.

What is the point of attempting to dispell one myth by advancing another? Unless one had a crystal ball, the only way someone had hundreds of copies of these books is if they were buying hundreds of copies of every book.  If that was the case, you now have warehousing for thirty years, evidently in ideal conditions as each book survived in pristine condition.  

[Axelrod]

On 12/21/2021 at 6:13 PM, sckao said:

Note that most CGC 9.8s that GPA for less than $250 usually can be found on eBay RAW for less than $30. So I'm not sure how this applies...

See Darkhawk 1, Dazzler 1, Alpha Flight 1, etc. All GPA for well over $200... All can be purchased raw on eBay for less than $30.

 

(Actually, Dazzler is only over $150... but someone is overpaying on Ebay...)

 

Incidentally, where do I buy the "raw" 9.8s for $30.00 on ebay?  From suckers who don't know what they have?  You make this sound almost as easy as taking candy from a baby, but can you really be certain that something is going to be a 9.8 just from ebay pics?  Otherwise it seems like a huge gamble, yes?  

And, even if the seller is advertising a raw copy as such, then those sellers are not charging $30.00 for it either, when graded 9.8s sell for $200.  I imagine they are sending in those raws themselves or charging a lot more.

[Ablation Steve]

On 12/21/2021 at 4:06 PM, thesink said:

You’ve kind of pivoted on the “investment” portion of this thread and relied on the fun portion. I don’t disagree that you have had fun and that makes it worthwhile, I disagree that it was a “good” or even profitable investment. The X-men 1 example loses a lot of ground when you can go buy raw copies for less than $30.

Consider me dim today, I don't follow your argument at all. I don't see how you can say the investment isn't profitable, even if I would (after everything, including original sale price) only make $.01 a book. That's profit, no matter if I work a thousand hours to sell one comic book. Would such a silly situation be a "good" investment? No, but it would be profitable.

If I must, let's take that laughably absurd number of netting $20 after everything (including the original purchase price). If it takes me 15 minutes to pack up a book, get it back, post pictures, sell it, and ship it...there, I'm making $80 hour. Good money.

[sckao]

On 12/21/2021 at 3:29 PM, Axelrod said:

Incidentally, where do I buy the "raw" 9.8s for $30.00 on ebay?  From suckers who don't know what they have?  You make this sound almost as easy as taking candy from a baby, but can you really be certain that something is going to be a 9.8 just from ebay pics?  Otherwise it seems like a huge gamble, yes?  

And, even if the seller is advertising a raw copy as such, then those sellers are not charging $30.00 for it either, when graded 9.8s sell for $200.  I imagine they are sending in those raws themselves or charging a lot more.

That wasn't the argument of the original post. 

By the way... You probably wouldn't find them easily on eBay... but you COULD find them here on the boards for sale occasionally. 

Edited December 21, 2021 by sckao

[JollyComics]

On 12/21/2021 at 12:41 PM, ThothAmon said:

Two kids in college and sales of long ago comic book speculation has definitely softened the blow. Delays at CGC aren’t helpful. 

Few non-CGC companies decided to suspend the submissions for one to three months until everything are caught up.  They keep their integrity and professionalism.  They are wise but I thought CGC would have same thing but they keeps them coming in and release too fews.  Yes, they are not helpful and I don't know about how many turnovers of the employees during backlogging countless days. They get more sloppy and costly error.

Why did they increase the prices?  CGC wants to be in 500 Fortune companies but they are not getting any better that already affected us.

[KPR Comics]

Thread gets the award for most goalposts moved.

[thesink]

On 12/21/2021 at 5:31 PM, Ablation Steve said:

Consider me dim today, I don't follow your argument at all. I don't see how you can say the investment isn't profitable, even if I would (after everything, including original sale price) only make $.01 a book. That's profit, no matter if I work a thousand hours to sell one comic book. Would such a silly situation be a "good" investment? No, but it would be profitable.

If I must, let's take that laughably absurd number of netting $20 after everything (including the original purchase price). If it takes me 15 minutes to pack up a book, get it back, post pictures, sell it, and ship it...there, I'm making $80 hour. Good money.

Again, you used the term investment and that was the main point of your initial post. When you present value the cash spent on the comics themselves and the bags, boards, boxes… over 30 years, then add shipping cgc’ing and the inclusion of books that don’t make a 9.8 (especially if you won’t sell those at a loss) I’d get concerned that with only 50 attempts you’d make any money at  all (I don’t feel like doing the math on how many 9.8s it would take to cover the non-9.8’s). 

[lou_fine]

On 12/21/2021 at 2:07 PM, Ablation Steve said:

I wonder, could I get you to concede that a person could make $20 on a $100 comic after all fees and costs are taken into account?

You most certainly can and I would agree with you 110% that you can certainly make $20 or possibly even more on one of these books if you luck out and the grade comes in at the necessary CGC 9.8 condition level.  

The only problem is what happens when it comes to the copies that don't make the grade and are actually in CGC 9.4 or lower grades.  

I believe it's also easier to make money on a true vintage collectible comic book where the book has underlying value in all grades across the entire condition spectrum, as opposed to trying to make money on relatively "common as dirt" early 90's drek related books where the only value is in certified uber HG copies and anything below that is veirtually worthless. 

To each their own.............but as I have said here before in the past:  In today's hyper red hot marketplace, it's a whole lot easier to sell one $10,000 book, as opposed to trying to sell a thousand $10 books.  

Edited December 22, 2021 by lou_fine

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 12/21/2021 at 7:54 PM, lou_fine said:

 

To each their own.............but as I have said here before in the past:  In today's hyper red hot marketplace, it's a whole lot easier to sell one $10,000 book, as opposed to trying to sell a thousand $10 books.  

Easier. Yes. But it’s only in today’s hyper red hot marketplace that you can now trade your $1 BIN fodder for $10-$100.   Do that 1000 times in your spare time.

That’s a win from where I’m sitting. 

[William-James88]

On 12/21/2021 at 1:32 PM, Wolverinex said:

For a private school, how much are we looking at these days anyway for 4 years? $250,000 or $300,000?

 

Not maybe single books could hit those numbers... 

I thought the standard was $100000 a year

[WolverineX]

On 12/21/2021 at 8:11 PM, William-James88 said:

I thought the standard was $100000 a year

I guess I am out of the loop

[William-James88]

On 12/21/2021 at 8:12 PM, Wolverinex said:

I guess I am out of the loop

It turns out we were both right (but in the context of you having the money for college after selling a book, you were more on the money)

• The average traditional private university student spends a total of $53,949 per academic year, $37,200 of it on tuition and fees.
• Considering student loan interest and loss of income, the ultimate cost of a bachelor’s degree may exceed $400,000.

 

Edited December 22, 2021 by William-James88

[Hamlet]

On 12/21/2021 at 5:13 PM, shadroch said:

What is the point of attempting to dispell one myth by advancing another? Unless one had a crystal ball, the only way someone had hundreds of copies of these books is if they were buying hundreds of copies of every book.  If that was the case, you now have warehousing for thirty years, evidently in ideal conditions as each book survived in pristine condition.  

X-men 1 was probably one of the most speculated on books in the history of comics. It would probably be my guess for the number one spot personally. The fact that anyone can sell it for anything above a dollar shocks me, TBH.  Doesn’t it hold the record for its total print run?

Lots and lots of people had hundreds of copies of those books.  I’m pretty sure lots and lots of people still have hundreds of copies of those books.  I’ve found whole long boxes of them in dollar bins at least as recently as 5-10 years ago.

I don’t think it makes sense to think someone needed a crystal ball to be speculating on a book that almost everyone was speculating on at the time.