Frustration in hunting and market observation 2 2

[alexanderjk]

I was in Golden Apple in February and was pleased with the SA Daredevil selection, at least. Decent selection of mid-grade issues #30 and up in the long boxes (prices ranged from $4 to $10 per issue), and the proprietor was kind enough to grab a stack of about 100 SA issues from the back. Unpriced, but he used the guide to give me a fair deal on the few I wanted. Picked up a high grade GA Classics Illustrated, too. 

TnT in Tustin, my local go-to, has enough back-issue stock to keep me picking through their long boxes every now and then. Picked up an Iron Man 182 and a Red Sonja 1 for $4 apiece during a recent visit. A few slabs on display, but very few keys, and their DD selection begins around issue 125. Giant selection of new issues.

Edited May 25, 2022 by alexanderjk

[Jesse-Lee]

So, I went on my small trip adventure today to local stores I hadn't visited before - here's the recap:

 

[James42]

On 5/24/2022 at 2:17 AM, doomwhistle said:

First off, let me be clear. This isn't an angry post. Just an observation from my last 6 months of book hunting on foot. And I am frustrated.

Is anyone else finding it increasingly hard to find any Silver, Copper or Modern day keys in their local comic book hunting? I live in Los Angeles and frequent close to 8 different comic book stores from Pasadena CA to South Bay CA. Nothing...and I mean nothing is in stock. Pre MCU hype and Disney+ PR, you could find many keys behind the counter. Heck, some were even in the bins. I remember picking up New Mutants #98 raw and even an ASM #300 in the same shop for under a couple hundred bucks in 2019. Now...nothing.

 

And when you do find something, prices are out of control. On top of this, surprisingly, the shop owners bemoan this current situation. They appear angry that they have no back stock and now make their coin on the numerous variants that are released weekly. Some even damn KeyCollector or other aggregate sites that drive hype for certain books and ignore others. Tourists come in, FOMO into everything and leave nothing behind. I even heard a few owners state the "no one is selling right now. People are speculating on what they have and thus not selling. Keycollector and GoCollect ruined it all."  Now, I am uncertain if this is entirely true given many things can influence collectible economics. But perhaps there is some kernel of truth in their rants.

Is anyone else experiencing this? How are people getting their books? Swap meets? Garage sales?

This is the case with collecting in any industry at the moment. 

Weirdly enough, UK comic stores and UK ebay sellers are some of the gold mines I've found over the past year.

I understand no one wants to pay for postage but I've found prices to be so much cheaper than a lot of US sellers that it makes sense.

I've found tons of US sellers and stores don't ship internationally which makes me think people from the US might not be looking outside of their back yard.

The MCU makes more money from international markets which will drive international comic sales.

Get out there and select 'worldwide' on ebay and see what happens.

[500Club]

On 5/25/2022 at 3:02 AM, James42 said:

The MCU makes more money from international markets which will drive international comic sales.

I am convinced that international collectors are drawing off more books from the market.  Prices on Heritage bulk lots in the Sunday auctions have really run up in the last three years.

[fastballspecial]

On 5/25/2022 at 6:34 AM, 500Club said:

I am convinced that international collectors are drawing off more books from the market.  Prices on Heritage bulk lots in the Sunday auctions have really run up in the last three years.

While I do agree international sales on at least ebay are very periodic. This past 6 months I have seen more, but its nothing like it was a few years ago when I was selling multiple books overseas every month.

 

[followtheleader]

On 5/25/2022 at 7:34 AM, 500Club said:

I am convinced that international collectors are drawing off more books from the market.  Prices on Heritage bulk lots in the Sunday auctions have really run up in the last three years.

International collectors are definitely pulling more collectibles out of the US Market. 

They are a HUGE part of the FB Live activity.    

Patrick 

[littledoom]

On 5/23/2022 at 1:07 PM, doomwhistle said:

What site would you all recommend to keep up with the incoming conventions?

CGC Events section

[littledoom]

On 5/23/2022 at 11:19 AM, HouseofComics.Com said:

Isn't Comic Cellar down there packed with old books and modern keys? Con dealer GoDaddyO's Comics shares a shop with his daughter and I think his stuff is available, at least sometimes. Knowing how big the area is, perhaps these are out of your range.

Cellar has improved their back issues section big time. High retail pricing on vintage keys as usual. GoDaddyO's Secret Hideout in Fullerton is always available in the back section of the shop!

[James42]

On 5/25/2022 at 9:34 PM, 500Club said:

I am convinced that international collectors are drawing off more books from the market.  Prices on Heritage bulk lots in the Sunday auctions have really run up in the last three years.

They most certainly are. There are sizeable collecting communities in the UK and Australia. I've seen the Australian market pick up significantly since MCU movies became the norm. I've seen lots of Italian, French, Mexican and German sellers as well. 

I'm in Australia, so if I'm using gocollect's free service and seeing where all of the copies of a book are on ebay (all over the world), there will be plenty of sellers who don't ship internationally.

I just send them a message saying "hey, would you consider posting to Australia if I pay all costs?". Sometimes they will change their postage and you get what you want for a really good price (even with postage costs).

If you're in the US, I would contact international sellers who aren't shipping international. I sometimes find books that are stupidly cheap (like 50-80% down on what you would pay in the US), strictly because they want to offload them quickly in a local market. As soon as you educate some sellers on how easy it is to ship internationally either directly or through the global shipping program, you can get some serious deals done.

I would also look at overseas LCS's as well. They're super helpful and want to reduce postage costs as much as possible. Weirdly enough, UK LCS's provide very cheap postage.

If you're a seller, I would definitely be allowing international postage if you're on ebay. You'd be surprised how much money international collectors want to spend.

Edited May 26, 2022 by James42

[Jesse-Lee]

On 5/25/2022 at 8:21 PM, James42 said:

They most certainly are. There are sizeable collecting communities in the UK and Australia. I've seen the Australian market pick up significantly since MCU movies became the norm. I've seen lots of Italian, French, Mexican and German sellers as well. 

I'm in Australia, so if I'm using gocollect's free service and seeing where all of the copies of a book are on ebay (all over the world), there will be plenty of sellers who don't ship internationally.

I just send them a message saying "hey, would you consider posting to Australia if I pay all costs?". Sometimes they will change their postage and you get what you want for a really good price (even with postage costs).

If you're in the US, I would contact international sellers who aren't shipping international. I sometimes find books that are stupidly cheap (like 50-80% down on what you would pay in the US), strictly because they want to offload them quickly in a local market. As soon as you educate some sellers on how easy it is to ship internationally either directly or through the global shipping program, you can get some serious deals done.

I would also look at overseas LCS's as well. They're super helpful and want to reduce postage costs as much as possible. Weirdly enough, UK LCS's provide very cheap postage.

If you're a seller, I would definitely be allowing international postage if you're on ebay. You'd be surprised how much money international collectors want to spend.

Just wanted to say thanks for the tip - found some nice gems recently from a couple of UK LCS's as well as some international sellers.

I also hit on a couple of great lots recently from US sellers on eBay - once again, a ton of hunting and a ton of research, but I think I have some nice stuff on the way. A lot of it is scheduled to come in this week in the mail, I'll share once I get everything in. One thing is that I'm happy I finally will have all 7 issues of the first run of Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - I know it's only 7 issues, but I was determined to finish it in decent grades on the cheap and it looks like I got it done, thanks to a mix of UK and US sellers!

[kimik]

On 5/25/2022 at 2:31 PM, followtheleader said:

International collectors are definitely pulling more collectibles out of the US Market. 

They are a HUGE part of the FB Live activity.    

Patrick 

Ah, so they are the ones overpaying on FB Live........

[kimik]

On 5/25/2022 at 5:34 AM, 500Club said:

Prices on Heritage bulk lots in the Sunday auctions have really run up in the last three years.

Agreed, but I wonder how much of that increase is due to dealers vs. international collectors. I would imagine it is getting harder for LCSs and dealers to obtain stock due to increased competition from part time sellers and/or owners selling their collections on their own. 

Edited June 6, 2022 by kimik

[FlyingDonut]

I just drove from Las Vegas back to Virginia, stopping at comic shops on the way. Books are everywhere. Look harder.

[followtheleader]

On 6/6/2022 at 1:23 AM, kimik said:

Ah, so they are the ones overpaying on FB Live........

Overpaying on FB Live is rampant.   It's easy to do in the auction format.   

I do partake, but am doing so less and less anymore.  

Claims sales are made to bypass condition.  Not enough time to question it, so you have to risk the purchase.  9 times out of 10 (unless it's a great seller), it's not worth the risk. 

Patrick

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

On 5/23/2022 at 2:15 PM, Jesse-Lee said:

The good news is there are still deals to be found on eBay, believe it or not. The bad news is that it takes a lot of "work" to find the really amazing deals. If you don't love the hunt of looking through literally  thousands of posts, finding hidden gems and overlooked auctions/BINs, and occasionally taking a gamble on condition/shipping methods/suspect packing, then it's not going to be worth it. I personally love throwing on a movie late at night when the family has gone to bed, and just scrolling through eBay for a couple of hours looking for those diamonds in the rough. They're definitely fewer and far between than they used to be, but they are out there.

FTFY.

When I do manage to keep up with my pre saved searches on ebay(some are very general other are specific as well as common misspelled key words) there are anywhere from 20-50 results per day from very specific, and general searches example: ( Superman:  sorted by newest listed and expanded to Worldwide) can have thousands per day or more) 

Still like you I definitely have found and pulled many wonderful books from the bay. 

[divad]

On 6/6/2022 at 8:31 AM, FlyingDonut said:

I just drove from Las Vegas back to Virginia, stopping at comic shops on the way. Books are everywhere. Look harder.

Road trip!!! 

[kimik]

On 6/6/2022 at 8:12 PM, followtheleader said:

Overpaying on FB Live is rampant.   It's easy to do in the auction format.   

I do partake, but am doing so less and less anymore.  

Claims sales are made to bypass condition.  Not enough time to question it, so you have to risk the purchase.  9 times out of 10 (unless it's a great seller), it's not worth the risk. 

Patrick

It is crazy. I have watched a couple that a LCS owner friend does weekly. People are paying $10-$20 for VG to FN drek he lands in collections that would be $2 bin fodder at shows. And, they still pay up at the end unlike eBay.

[followtheleader]

On 6/7/2022 at 11:09 AM, kimik said:

It is crazy. I have watched a couple that a LCS owner friend does weekly. People are paying $10-$20 for VG to FN drek he lands in collections that would be $2 bin fodder at shows. And, they still pay up at the end unlike eBay.

100% agreed. 

It got a bit like that here during the craydays (TM pending).  But nowhere near the same level. 

Patrick

[SpidersComics]

On 6/8/2022 at 1:09 AM, kimik said:

It is crazy. I have watched a couple that a LCS owner friend does weekly. People are paying $10-$20 for VG to FN drek he lands in collections that would be $2 bin fodder at shows. And, they still pay up at the end unlike eBay.

Sounds like WhatNot, oh the drek that gets sold on there - huge percentage of the market are uneducated and don't seem to either understand grades or care. They literally pay 9.0 prices for 6.0 books. I see people regularly pay 20% above retail on WhatNot for the exact book that the seller has listed on their internet site. It's all very strange.

I also agree on the international market comments; I'm down in Australia and the stock of high quality books is (and always has been) fairly thin, if you want your high grades then we're bringing them in. I'm not thinking it's a huge percentage, but yes, there is definitely good books leaving the US to be circulated in overseas markets

[kimik]

On 6/13/2022 at 3:09 AM, SpidersComics said:

Sounds like WhatNot, oh the drek that gets sold on there - huge percentage of the market are uneducated and don't seem to either understand grades or care. They literally pay 9.0 prices for 6.0 books. I see people regularly pay 20% above retail on WhatNot for the exact book that the seller has listed on their internet site. It's all very strange.

I also agree on the international market comments; I'm down in Australia and the stock of high quality books is (and always has been) fairly thin, if you want your high grades then we're bringing them in. I'm not thinking it's a huge percentage, but yes, there is definitely good books leaving the US to be circulated in overseas markets

My brother is down in Australia. I should see if he is willing to sell books for me there. Is there a premium on prices?