Frustration in hunting and market observation 2 2

[zosocane]

On 6/6/2022 at 10:12 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 astonishing how quickly, during the Pandemic, Instagram live BIN sales flouished.  Some IG sellers are knowledgeable, reputable sellers where you can buy with confidence on the advertised grade (Superworld and Silver Age Comics come to mind), but many others don't know how to grade or intentionally grade vaguely ("this is a nice mid-grade book, somewhere, I'd say, in the 5.5 to 7.0 range") -- not that it matters because buyers continue to throw money on the book (particularly $50 to $350 books) without a showing, ever, of the back cover or any look at the interior.

[Ballymore3]

@doomwhistle -  I feel your pain.  I relocated from Sylmar to Riverside and I was feeling the scarcity of rare books in the LA stores too. I was dependent on some of the IG vendors I would see at San Diego Con or Ontario Con. However, I have had some luck finding a few gems and even a few Mark Jewelers issues in a few places - A Tribe Called Comics in Claremont, Four Color Comics in Rancho Cucamonga and a few other random stores in the Inland Empire still have a good selection of back issues. There is a good store way the hell out in Victorville with a nice back selection, too.  Geekdom, I believe it is called.

I recall this issue of Spawn which had this homage cover to a Spiderman issue.  McFarlane listed the names of all of these comic stores and distributors throughout the country on the cover.  One of the stores lists, Pop UP Comics or something, was a store in Florida.   I went out there for work for a week and gave it a look.  It was actually a nursery/children's library kind of store, but the guy had about 8 long boxes under a Clifford and Paddington display.  All issues were N/M Jim Lee Xmen, Larsen Spiderman/Punishers and a bunch of random 90s books.   Pretty good find.  Some of the older dudes, particularly down South, are still not going to be bothered with internet and facebook postings.   So....although the gas prices truly suck out on the West Coast, there are some finds to be found in the stores a bit farther out or in states down South....

[ThatNerdyCanuck]

On 6/13/2022 at 9:20 AM, zosocane said:

It is astonishing how quickly, during the Pandemic, Instagram live BIN sales flouished.  Some IG sellers are knowledgeable, reputable sellers where you can buy with confidence on the advertised grade (Superworld and Silver Age Comics come to mind), but many others don't know how to grade or intentionally grade vaguely ("this is a nice mid-grade book, somewhere, I'd say, in the 5.5 to 7.0 range") -- not that it matters because buyers continue to throw money on the book (particularly $50 to $350 books) without a showing, ever, of the back cover or any look at the interior.

I like watching the instagram live sales just to see what people are asking for books, and what insufficiently_thoughtful_persons are paying for them. I don't know if people just get caught up in the hype, if sellers have shills "buying books" to attract others to do it, or whatever the case, but I have seen books sell for way more than you could buy it from doing 1 minute of research on eBay. 

[Beastfeast]

On 6/13/2022 at 6:10 PM, ThatNerdyCanuck said:

I like watching the instagram live sales just to see what people are asking for books, and what insufficiently_thoughtful_persons are paying for them. I don't know if people just get caught up in the hype, if sellers have shills "buying books" to attract others to do it, or whatever the case, but I have seen books sell for way more than you could buy it from doing 1 minute of research on eBay. 

It's a pretty vicious cycle because some ding dong sees these books selling for amounts they have no business selling for and that's what informs their offers when buying collections.  I've had people in their early 20s paying WAYYY too much and, selfishly, that makes me miss out on a lot.  It's great for the sellers, though.  

[D2]

Market will rebound and correct itself. 
 

New collectors/buyers/speculators that purchased books will inevitably sell, either because they’ve had the books now for a year or two and would like to cash out, or, they will be forced to, due to an economy crash, needing cash. 
 

Whatever the reasoning on the severe uptick, I do not believe that it was because of honest, long term, collecting mentality, interest. 
 

Be patient. 

[kimik]

On 6/13/2022 at 9:16 PM, D2 said:

Market will rebound and correct itself. 
 

New collectors/buyers/speculators that purchased books will inevitably sell, either because they’ve had the books now for a year or two and would like to cash out, or, they will be forced to, due to an economy crash, needing cash. 
 

Whatever the reasoning on the severe uptick, I do not believe that it was because of honest, long term, collecting mentality, interest. 
 

Be patient. 

That is why the smart move is to chase the established keys and not the hot flavour of the week/month variant or modern movie/tv tie-in book. Since 2000 it seems like every 5 years or so we have a price spike on the big books, followed by the rest for a couple of years, and then a consolidation period. The spec plays tend to spike and then crash over a short period. Buy quality during the consolidation period and sell on the run ups.

Edited June 14, 2022 by kimik

[SpidersComics]

On 6/14/2022 at 1:25 AM, kimik said:

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? 

yes there is a premium on high grade books however the market is smaller...so it can be hit and miss, I'm obviously not an expert as I'm always surprised at what books of mine sell and what gets ignored...surprisingly enough I have mid grade X-Men 95-100 that no one is interested in, too much money for the folks who want to just read, not high enough for the connoisseurs 🤷‍♂️

I buy books from a few Canucks, you're a bunch of good eggs up there mate!

[littledoom]

On 6/13/2022 at 11:28 AM, Ballymore3 said:

A Tribe Called Comics in Claremont

I thought they didn’t have back issues. I haven’t been in years 

[jsilverjanet]

someone who used to buy in volume here in Chicago told me he would export it to a buyer out in Asia. He said he was doing very well with that prior to the pandemic. I don't know if he is still doing that.

[World Devourer]

On 5/24/2022 at 10:29 AM, GeeksAreMyPeeps said:

It makes sense in a hot market that you're not going to find keys at a decent price. If you do find keys, the price which might seem expensive now may seem like a bargain in a few years.

The most pertinent post here.

At present all the hot variants etc in the highest grade have been put away like nuts for the inevitable winter.

The gems are now only for those that can afford them. Those that can't have to make do with the lower grades.

No amount of complaining will change this.

 

 

[Ballymore3]

On 6/14/2022 at 8:01 AM, littledoom said:

I thought they didn’t have back issues. I haven’t been in years 

I meant 'A Shop Called Quest'. More Funco pops and graphic novels than anything, but they had a few long boxes of back issues.  Random assortment of late-2000s stuff and dollar bin selections.

[fastballspecial]

On 6/13/2022 at 11:20 AM, zosocane said:

It is astonishing how quickly, during the Pandemic, Instagram live BIN sales flouished.  Some IG sellers are knowledgeable, reputable sellers where you can buy with confidence on the advertised grade (Superworld and Silver Age Comics come to mind), but many others don't know how to grade or intentionally grade vaguely ("this is a nice mid-grade book, somewhere, I'd say, in the 5.5 to 7.0 range") -- not that it matters because buyers continue to throw money on the book (particularly $50 to $350 books) without a showing, ever, of the back cover or any look at the interior.

Easy money does that. This will slow down now.

 

[fastballspecial]

On 6/13/2022 at 10:16 PM, D2 said:

Market will rebound and correct itself. 
 

New collectors/buyers/speculators that purchased books will inevitably sell, either because they’ve had the books now for a year or two and would like to cash out, or, they will be forced to, due to an economy crash, needing cash. 
 

Whatever the reasoning on the severe uptick, I do not believe that it was because of honest, long term, collecting mentality, interest. 
 

Be patient. 

True, but the real questions is how many will be left in the market. That will determine what the market looks like going forward. Will card collectors stay around? Will all the big money continue to pump into Sold keys? Will ebay recover or did they deal a death blow to themselves with their idiotic changes as well as upstarts taking some of their business? 

We are in the Summer right now which is traditionally slow. The winter will give a better complete picture. Right now I am already seeing some dumping, but not fire sales yet which I love. 

 

Edited June 17, 2022 by fastballspecial

[D2]

On 6/17/2022 at 2:23 PM, fastballspecial said:

True, but the real questions is how many will be left in the market. That will determine what the market 
looks like going forward. 

We are in the Summer right now which is traditionally slow. The winter will give a better complete picture. 
Right now I am already seeing some dumping, but not fire sales yet which I love. 

 

Good question. I just made a post about this similarity on another thread. 
 

I totally agree with you. 
 

I don’t understand the comic community at all. 
 

I believe there are a disproportionate amount of people who buy books on speculation. I believe that there are very few people that buy books because they saw a movie or the tv show. 
I think comic readers will always be buying books. A good portion of those people buy books to speculate on, and a good portion of people got into the market simply to make money. 
 

I think the market will depend on how many people are speculators and how much money they will lose. If all McFarlane fans have 4 9.8 copies of ASM 316, how many more copies do you need? I highly doubt the 12 year old kid that saw Venom or Venom 2 is out there looking for a copy.