Ever Think of Selling Your Entire Collection for One Big Book? 5 5

[jimbo_7071]

On 3/15/2022 at 12:47 PM, D2 said:

I may be in a minority here, but I will not spend $50,000 on a comic book. I won't spend $25,000 on a comic book. I don't want to, for a lot of reasons. I'd be stressed and nervous as ever if the temperature in my house fluctuated too much, potentially compromising the delicate condition of the special pages locked inside of plastic. The market is volatile, and knowing my luck, I'd spend 25k on a book, only for the market to decrease and I could have purchased the same book in a much higher grade, resulting in me actually regarding my book in spite, rather than in love. Or maybe, I'd just, fall out of love, altogether for that book, and now I have a $25,000 item in my house, that I'm going to try and sell, and poke around, and list for sale, dealing with low ballers, and inevitable transaction fees for selling it on, this platform or that... The stresses of selling it, sending it out, paying for a million dollars in insurance... hoping the recipient isn't a liar or a thief, plotting to screw me out of my book I sold everything to obtain.

I agree with your reasoning. I wouldn't necessarily sell a book if it hit $25K in value, but I wouldn't spend that much on a book. I've only gone over $10K once, and that was for a personal grail. Most of my "grails" could have been had for under $10K in VF a couple of years ago. With this Covid-flation, though, some would likely be over. Ones that actually hit $25K will be scratched off my list, for the reasons you mentioned. I don't need any particular book that badly.

Edited March 15, 2022 by jimbo_7071

[D2]

On 3/15/2022 at 5:30 PM, PopKulture said:

I know I know I think that DOFP is his only “timeless” triumph. But from 94 to 128, it’s a rough scene. I also expressed how I don’t like mostly 80s comics, but a few of my favourites also happen to be written in the 80s.. 

On 3/15/2022 at 6:24 PM, jimbo_7071 said:

I agree with your reasoning. I wouldn't necessarily sell a book if it hit $25K in value, but I wouldn't spend that much on a book. I've only gone over $10K once, and that was for a personal grail. Most of my "grails" could have been had for under $10K in VF a couple of years ago. With this Covid-flation, though, some would likely be over. Ones that actually hit $25K will be scratched off my list, for the reasons you mentioned. I don't need any particular book that badly.

That’s funny you should mention 10k. There are 2 books that I would spend 10k for, but with Covid prices, I hesitate now. I’m genuinely trying to find that balance of price where, if I spend it and the market goes down, I won’t be too upset. At the moment, that sits at… $2,500?

[jimbo_7071]

On 3/15/2022 at 8:19 PM, D2 said:

I know I know I think that DOFP is his only “timeless” triumph. But from 94 to 128, it’s a rough scene. I also expressed how I don’t like mostly 80s comics, but a few of my favourites also happen to be written in the 80s.. 

That’s funny you should mention 10k. There are 2 books that I would spend 10k for, but with Covid prices, I hesitate now. I’m genuinely trying to find that balance of price where, if I spend it and the market goes down, I won’t be too upset. At the moment, that sits at… $2,500?

It depends what the book is. If a mainstream book has been selling for around $2,500 in a certain grade fairly steadily, with gradual increases in price as opposed to spikes from movie tie-ins or bidding wars, then you may not lose too much even if there's a downturn—maybe 30% (not counting selling fees).

But if you're talking about something that not too many people collect, or something that cost $2,500 only because it was hot or because a couple of guys got into a bidding war, then you could lose a lot more than that. I have seen even high-grade GA superhero books lose more than 50% of their value (when that "value" was the price paid in a bidding war).

Unless, a book is destroyed or stolen, though, then you're not going to lose everything. I generally figure I'm risking about 50% of what I pay for any given book. If I buy a $10,000 book, then it might drop to $5,000, but it isn't going to drop to $0.

 

[D2]

On 3/15/2022 at 9:14 PM, jimbo_7071 said:

It depends what the book is. If a mainstream book has been selling for around $2,500 in a certain grade fairly steadily, with gradual increases in price as opposed to spikes from movie tie-ins or bidding wars, then you may not lose too much even if there's a downturn—maybe 30% (not counting selling fees).

But if you're talking about something that not too many people collect, or something that cost $2,500 only because it was hot or because a couple of guys got into a bidding war, then you could lose a lot more than that. I have seen even high-grade GA superhero books lose more than 50% of their value (when that "value" was the price paid in a bidding war).

Unless, a book is destroyed or stolen, though, then you're not going to lose everything. I generally figure I'm risking about 50% of what I pay for any given book. If I buy a $10,000 book, then it might drop to $5,000, but it isn't going to drop to $0.

 

That’s a good perspective. I will really reread this as I’m going through and creating a spreadsheet. I think I’m going to get a GPAnalysis account, just for a month, and pull up the records. I think they reach as far back as 3 years, so 2019, before too much of this wackiness. And I’ll watch out for a lot of what you’re outlining. 

I have made silly purchases in the past, based on what I believed was important to buy based on other people. Having purged my mind of that silliness, I’ve redesigned my thinking on what I enjoy reading. That’s it. Back to basics. 
 

This was sound advice though. Appreciate it.