The end of an era . . . estate sales! 0

[tabcom]

In the age of COVID, good old fashion live, in person, estate auctions are dead.

 

I went to an auction preview last week in rural Indiana for a box of 2.0, 2.5 comics being offered.

 

In 2019 I would have joyfully driven home after the auction with a nice collection for a bargain.

 

 

In 2022, with cootie-free bidding from you keyboard, pay up!

 

 

$6250!

 

 

It is with a great sense of relief that I am a self-described old time collector with a collection established in the pre-Covid era.

Edited February 19, 2022 by tabcom

[BitterOldMan]

Got a copy of Superman 22 (right side third down) from the late Gary Arlington of the San Francisco Comic Book Company for $5 in 1971.  Was in high school then, now a retired old coot.

 

 

[Robot Man]

Bummer, NICE group of books…

I blame it more on the currently exploding comic market more than anything else. Got a lot of non-comic book people getting in and running prices way up.

Cooties pretty much closed in person estate sales for the past two years. That, and the fact that so little of stuff like this is still out there to find.

About a year ago, I saw this sale pop up with a phone number which I quickly called. They had one of those “each” prices on them. We worked out a deal and I made a 45 minute drive to meet him in the middle of shut down.

He laid them on the hood of my car and I was blown away with the condition. There were even two more books that wern’t in his original photo. Paid him & went home very happy.

Deals like this are very few and far between anymore…

[MattTheDuck]

Where did that sale "pop up?"

[Robot Man]

Face Book. A full estate sale but appointment only. 

[woowoo]

On 2/18/2022 at 5:21 PM, BitterOldMan said:

Got a copy of Superman 22 (right side third down) from the late Gary Arlington of the San Francisco Comic Book Company for $5 in 1971.  Was in high school then, now a retired old coot.

 

 

The great woowoo says high to @BitterOldMan have not seen you at the Berkly shows 

[BitterOldMan]

On 2/19/2022 at 7:43 AM, woowoo said:

The great woowoo says high to @BitterOldMan have not seen you at the Berkly shows 

[Tri-Color Brian]

On 2/18/2022 at 8:41 PM, Robot Man said:

Bummer, NICE group of books…

I blame it more on the currently exploding comic market more than anything else. Got a lot of non-comic book people getting in and running prices way up.

Cooties pretty much closed in person estate sales for the past two years. That, and the fact that so little of stuff like this is still out there to find.

About a year ago, I saw this sale pop up with a phone number which I quickly called. They had one of those “each” prices on them. We worked out a deal and I made a 45 minute drive to meet him in the middle of shut down.

He laid them on the hood of my car and I was blown away with the condition. There were even two more books that wern’t in his original photo. Paid him & went home very happy.

Deals like this are very few and far between anymore…

Yeah, and two of those books are now MINE...thank you very much...

 

[FoggyNelson]

I did not know estate sales or a thing of he past, I think they still have them😷😷

[Courageous Cat]

can't really blame folks. People are looking for places to put their cash as a hedge against inflation 

[Robot Man]

On 2/19/2022 at 12:51 PM, FoggyNelson said:

I did not know estate sales or a thing of he past, I think they still have them😷😷

Oh, they still have them. Just no bargains or nice vintage items very often. 

[rjpb]

It seems sometimes the best way to sell stuff is in random lots, where all too often the hammer price ends up being more than one might expect for individual issues. I see this with the Sunday Heritage auctions all the time. I lucked out on a lot last year where the most valuable book was buried in the description with a bunch of drek, but I can't count the number of times a lot of a dozen GA books sells for double what I calculate the individual values to add up to. Who is buying this stuff? It can't be dealers, there is no meat left on the bone. 

[Tri-Color Brian]

On 2/19/2022 at 5:15 PM, rjpb said:

Who is buying this stuff? It can't be dealers, there is no meat left on the bone. 

Idyuts...

[tabcom]

In this new era I have consistently undervalued comics by 25%

Not anymore, I’m adding the cough-cough, choo-choo premium.

[Robot Man]

On 2/19/2022 at 4:15 PM, rjpb said:

It seems sometimes the best way to sell stuff is in random lots, where all too often the hammer price ends up being more than one might expect for individual issues. I see this with the Sunday Heritage auctions all the time. I lucked out on a lot last year where the most valuable book was buried in the description with a bunch of drek, but I can't count the number of times a lot of a dozen GA books sells for double what I calculate the individual values to add up to. Who is buying this stuff? It can't be dealers, there is no meat left on the bone. 

I have actually moved a lot of dreck through local non comic book auction houses with decent success.

I put together a few short boxes of unbagged 10 and 12 cent low grade, maybe incomplete DC, Marvel, Dells, Western and TV shows with even some Classics Sprinkled in. Just make them attractive and with that “out of a garage” find look.

They often go fairly high in auction fever situations. More often than not go to non comic book people who have heard the “big money” comic book news stories. Fun to be there and observe the action. 

 

[Randall Dowling]

FWIW, this crazy "rural estate auction prices" phenomenon has been happening for a while now.  I remember 10 years ago some rural auction in Iowa bringing crazy over market prices for very low grade Detectives, Supermans, Adventures, etc.  I think it's like gambling for some people.  Or a lottery ticket.  The same reason you'll see similar grade raw books sell for more than graded copies- there's a possibility it might be even better!  

[comicstock]

On 2/19/2022 at 9:01 PM, Robot Man said:

I have actually moved a lot of dreck through local non comic book auction houses with decent success.

I put together a few short boxes of unbagged 10 and 12 cent low grade, maybe incomplete DC, Marvel, Dells, Western and TV shows with even some Classics Sprinkled in. Just make them attractive and with that “out of a garage” find look.

They often go fairly high in auction fever situations. More often than not go to non comic book people who have heard the “big money” comic book news stories. Fun to be there and observe the action. 

 

What kind of fee does your auction house charge?  I approached one of my local auctions about selling the same kind of stuff you move and my guy said '25%'

I told him I'd write the description and if it goes well, I'll give him some more stuff.  He was firm with the 25%, plus all the fingering my books would have to go thru....

I never went back.

 

 

[Bandelier]

Trickle down effect from everybody wanting to be a YouTube star and going, in detail, about how they source books. It does make me happy for some of the mom and pop auction houses and consigners though 

[Bookery]

On 2/19/2022 at 9:35 PM, comicstock said:

What kind of fee does your auction house charge?  I approached one of my local auctions about selling the same kind of stuff you move and my guy said '25%'

I told him I'd write the description and if it goes well, I'll give him some more stuff.  He was firm with the 25%, plus all the fingering my books would have to go thru....

I never went back.

 

 

25% doesn't seem unreasonable.  Because of the commissions to both buyer and seller, you are only receiving 67% from Heritage (unless your collection is impressive enough to negotiate a better rate).  eBay may charge 15%-20% when various fees are added up, but you also have the hassle of shipping (and 1099 reporting), and the possibility someone may return your books weeks afterward for a refund.  Your auction house will also have to absorb the 2-3% fees that will be charged when payment is inevitably made with a credit card.  The auctioneer has employees, not to mention years (or decades) of building up a clientele plus all of the promotion, venue,  and advertising costs.  A mixed offering of lower-grade non-special books might bring, say, $50.  That's only $12.50 to the auctioneers, before all of the aforementioned overhead.  I'm sure if you had a single $1000 item, you might be able to negotiate a bit better rate, but for smaller lots, 25% doesn't seem unfair.

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

On 2/18/2022 at 7:41 PM, Robot Man said:

Bummer, NICE group of books…

I blame it more on the currently exploding comic market more than anything else. Got a lot of non-comic book people getting in and running prices way up.

Cooties pretty much closed in person estate sales for the past two years. That, and the fact that so little of stuff like this is still out there to find.

About a year ago, I saw this sale pop up with a phone number which I quickly called. They had one of those “each” prices on them. We worked out a deal and I made a 45 minute drive to meet him in the middle of shut down.

He laid them on the hood of my car and I was blown away with the condition. There were even two more books that wern’t in his original photo. Paid him & went home very happy.

Deals like this are very few and far between anymore…

Some great books there Bob. Too bad there weren't more Mystery in Space that's my favorite of the three titles. But at least you scored one Gorilla cover!