How Do I Trade Comics at NYCC with Vendors? 3 3

[fifties]

The way most PPL determine the value of collectibles, including comic books, is on eBay.  Search the title and issue, then click on the "closed sales" link in the left pane.  

Selling your books before purchasing others with the proceeds is indeed the best method.  If you sell here on the board, there is no fee to you.  If you sell on The Bay, there is a much wider audience, but I think the total fee runs around 14%.  So you could sell a book here at 86% vs on eBay, and net about the same.

The rules here require you to post a return policy, or they will yank your listing.  As stated above, familiarize yourself with their requirements.

Regardless of where you sell online, PayPal Goods and Services is the the best way to handle payment.  Second would be a mailed Postal Money Order or bank cashiers check.  You would make sure they clear before sending the merchandise.  I almost sold an old typewriter on some venue on the internet, I don't remember which one, and the "buyer" sent a cashiers check, and tried to rush me to let him pick it up, which wasn't happening.  I took the check to the bank, and they showed me that it was a phony.  I also almost sold an electronic device on FB Marketplace, with the "buyer" trying to convince me that they had used Zelle to send payment.  Uh uh, not hardly.  No payment ever occurred from them to my bank account.  I've never really had a problem selling to comic collectors though.

Edit; one last thing; you had posted 

Quote

FF 52 CBCS 3.0

Do not show the label of a competing grading company here.  You can crop the picture of the book, or mask over the label.

Edited August 24, 2022 by fifties

[batman_fan]

My experience with dealers is they are trying to turn a profit on the inventory they acquire and there is nothing wrong with that.  How much they will look at making depends on their cost structure.  Some will offer more, some will offer less.  Best to shop the collection around and see who will give you the best deal.  Another approach would be to ask about consigning with a dealer but that could be a slower process.

[circumstances]

On 8/23/2022 at 9:45 AM, AJD said:

If you are going to try to trade with dealers/vendors, be prepared to get less value from your books than you would if you sold them. My advice would be to sell them here on the boards for FMV or a little less, where the pain and fees are minimised. A dealer might go as low as 50% value.

Cash is king.

If you go this route and sell your books first, you might be able to negotiate some cash deals on  the ECs you find at the Con.

Some dealers are more likely to wheel and deal than others.

[Cat-Man_America]

On 8/22/2022 at 8:40 PM, yoda12288 said:

Hey all,

This may be self-explanatory, but I was wondering if any of you can give me any info about the best way to go about trading comics at NYCC, preferably with vendors. I've never brought books to the con with intention of trading them. I have some keys that I'd like to trade for some EC Comics, preferably raw. I've got a Silver Surfer 1 VG, Werewolf by Night 32 CGC 4.5, Green Lantern 9 VG, FF 52 CBCS 3.0, Jungle Action 6 CGC 8.5, Hulk 181 CBCS 9.0, and a few others. It seems better to try and just trade with people rather than sell online, pay fees and shipping, etc.

If any of you know a good starting place or any good vendors of EC (Tales From the Crypt, Haunt of Fear, Vault of Horror) please let me know! Otherwise I'll just show up and try to make some deals  

Thanks in advance!

 

Most seasoned dealers will treat you well or at least tenderize you before the roast. At the bigger conventions (SDCC, NYCC, etc.) dealers have serious overhead to cover before showing any profit, so all deals made will be on their dime and trading or getting top dollar are fantasies.  

Trying to sell on the boards (following the guidelines) will provide better opportunities and you can definitely get fair deals, but there's a caveat: it helps to have built up a reputation of trust over time on a board like this.  Collectors are often hesitant to deal on-line with anyone they don't know fairly well.

There is a third way, yoda.  Find a smaller regional show designed around fans where both dealers and comic fans can afford to set-up and take your books there to trade or sell.  Sometimes you'll get lucky.

This advice may or may not help, but it's worth mulling over.

[Artboy99]

It will also depend on what EC's you are trying to trade for, as mentioned previously there are extremely desirable ones and others that don't sell as often. While you have several great books to offer many dealers will likely already have them, whereas you might be trying to obtain the only Crime Suspenstories 22 the dealer has.

[Robot Man]

ECs are VERY popular and in demand again. Not that they were ever unpopular but the reprints stagnated them a bit for a while. They sell very well and quickly lead by the horror and crime ones. Crypt seems to lead the pack. Since Covid, prices seem to have doubled or tripled even in low grade. I don’t discount them at all and can’t keep them. Forget about replacing them once they are sold. I see this trend continuing. 

I completed my new trend run in early Jan. I paid dearly for the last two and they wern’t key issues.

Semi key Marvels, although very desirable, are very easy to aquire.

I don’t, as a rule, see as many of them at shows anymore. Expect to take a pretty big hit in a trade. Better off selling your books and offering cash for ECs. Just don’t expect any deals. 

[Bronty]

On 8/24/2022 at 11:45 AM, Robot Man said:

ECs are VERY popular and in demand again. Not that they were ever unpopular but the reprints stagnated them a bit for a while. They sell very well and quickly lead by the horror and crime ones. Crypt seems to lead the pack. Since Covid, prices seem to have doubled or tripled even in low grade. I don’t discount them at all and can’t keep them. Forget about replacing them once they are sold. I see this trend continuing. 

I completed my new trend run in early Jan. I paid dearly for the last two and they wern’t key issues.

Semi key Marvels, although very desirable, are very easy to aquire.

I don’t, as a rule, see as many of them at shows anymore. Expect to take a pretty big hit in a trade. Better off selling your books and offering cash for ECs. Just don’t expect any deals. 

I see so much more interest in them now.   They were pretty dead as a doornail for a long time.   Even the reprints are hot now.

[sfcityduck]

On 8/23/2022 at 6:45 AM, AJD said:

If you are going to try to trade with dealers/vendors, be prepared to get less value from your books than you would if you sold them. My advice would be to sell them here on the boards for FMV or a little less, where the pain and fees are minimised. A dealer might go as low as 50% value.

 Some things never change:

 

Edited August 24, 2022 by sfcityduck

[Robot Man]

On 8/24/2022 at 4:45 PM, sfcityduck said:

 Some things never change:

 

That works fine for me. I’d trade Miss Taylor 2 Mutt & Jeff’s  for a Marvel Mystery…

[yoda12288]

On 8/24/2022 at 12:59 PM, Bronty said:

I see so much more interest in them now.   They were pretty dead as a doornail for a long time.   Even the reprints are hot now.

Wow, I didn't know that they have gotten so popular again. That's cool but bad for anyone trying to collect them now!  

Precode horror books really are some of the best books out there. The reprints are 30 years old so they are officially vintage now 

I love the reprints too bc i'm broke so it's fun collecting them. Russ Cochran really did a great service !

[Bookery]

On 8/23/2022 at 9:44 PM, tth2 said:

Things to Keep in Mind When Dealing with Dealers:

1.  How can you tell if they're lying?  Their lips are moving or fingers are typing.

2.  Imagine the scummiest thing that you can think of a person doing to you, and then double it.

Now you're ready!

Imagine there's no dealers

It's easy if you try

No one to rip us off

Or profit when we buy

Imagine all collectors

Trading 'mongst themselves… Aha-ah…

 

Imagine there's no sellers

No way to buy our stuff

No one at shows or eBay

Just trades on Craig's List is enough

Imagine all collectors

With nothing to exchange…

 

You may think of all those grannies

Disposing of hubby's big estate

Think she'll trade them on the 'net to you?

To the public landfill is their fate!

 

Imagine no possessions

Your OCD obsession's done

We won't be trying to fill your want lists

Frederick Wertham's finally won

 

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

When you can't find naught but Youngblood

Collecting's gonna be such fun!

 

[Bookery]

On 8/24/2022 at 7:45 PM, sfcityduck said:

 Some things never change:

 

 

"And for you future investors out there... remember when going through that stack on the left... make sure to only select the best condition copies..."

[tth2]

On 8/25/2022 at 11:09 PM, Bookery said:

Imagine there's no dealers

It's easy if you try

No one to rip us off

Or profit when we buy

Imagine all collectors

Trading 'mongst themselves… Aha-ah…

 

Imagine there's no sellers

No way to buy our stuff

No one at shows or eBay

Just trades on Craig's List is enough

Imagine all collectors

With nothing to exchange…

 

You may think of all those grannies

Disposing of hubby's big estate

Think she'll trade them on the 'net to you?

To the public landfill is their fate!

 

Imagine no possessions

Your OCD obsession's done

We won't be trying to fill your want lists

Frederick Wertham's finally won

 

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one  

When you can't find naught but Youngblood

Collecting's gonna be such fun!

 

    

Oh, I know that dealers are essential to our eco-system.

But then again, so are bacteria.

[Bookery]

On 8/25/2022 at 7:44 PM, tth2 said:

    

Oh, I know that dealers are essential to our eco-system.

But then again, so are bacteria.

True.  But remember.... there's both good and bad bacteria.  It's just the bad gets all of the press.

[Robot Man]

On 8/25/2022 at 8:55 AM, Bookery said:

"And for you future investors out there... remember when going through that stack on the left... make sure to only select the best condition copies..."

Or the best titles. Look at that nice little stack in his arm with the Detective on top. In those days, a comic was a comic. Keys and great titles were worth no more than funny animals. 

[Krydel4]

Most dealers in my area Buy at 75% of Overstreet and Sell at 125% GPA.

[jimbo_7071]

On 8/23/2022 at 9:47 PM, thehumantorch said:

There are good dealers.  Not all lie and not all will make rip-off offers.

No, they'll just trim a book, color touch the spine with magic markers, fail to mention the clipped coupons or the missing centerfold, and then mark the incomplete apparent VG– book as NM and sell it for double guide to parents who have been saving all year to be able to afford one really nice book as a Christmas present for their comic-collecting son or daughter.

When the high-grade San Francisco pedigree collection first surfaced, a couple of dealers bought all of the Timelys, including the Captain America Comics #1, for $1 each. They took advantage of the fact that the sellers (who had inherited the collection) didn't know anything about comic books. That is typical.

Edited August 28, 2022 by jimbo_7071

[Bookery]

On 8/26/2022 at 8:57 PM, Krydel4 said:

Most dealers in my area Buy at 75% of Overstreet and Sell at 125% GPA.

Do you have their addresses?  I've got a van load of westerns, classics, Disneys, Archies, movie tie-ins, low-grade '60s DC heroes, Joe Palooka, Dell humor, Richard Tracy, Lassie, Buster Brown, Treasure Chest, and thousands of others in my $5 boxes that I'll happily part with for 75% Overstreet!

[Bookery]

On 8/28/2022 at 8:55 AM, jimbo_7071 said:

No, they'll just trim a book, color touch the spine with magic markers, fail to mention the clipped coupons or the missing centerfold, and then mark the incomplete apparent VG– book as NM and sell it for double guide to parents who have been saving all year to be able to afford one really nice book as a Christmas present for their comic-collecting son or daughter.

When the high-grade San Francisco pedigree collection first surfaced, a couple of dealers bought all of the Timelys, including the Captain America Comics #1, for $1 each. They took advantage of the fact that the sellers (who had inherited the collection) didn't know anything about comic books. That is typical.

That collection surfaced nearly 50 years ago!  Maybe $1 was cheap... but what did non-key Timelys go for back then?  $5?  $10?  I suspect most of the "dealers" from that era aren't even around anymore.

[Robot Man]

On 8/28/2022 at 6:20 AM, Bookery said:

That collection surfaced nearly 50 years ago!  Maybe $1 was cheap... but what did non-key Timelys go for back then?  $5?  $10?  I suspect most of the "dealers" from that era aren't even around anymore.

I can’t remember a time when pretty much any Timely was non key or worth under at least $25. (A lot of money at the time). Cap #1 was an expensive book even in the first Overstreet. If the story is indeed true, they stole them!