How would you approach selling a registry set? 1 1

[miraclemet]

Im thinking of shifting gears and selling one of my registry sets. It's about 30 books, of which 22 are highest graded or are pedigree copies. It's 50s sci-fi, but not a widely collected (there are only two collections in the registry with more than 10% of the set, and only a couple of active collections). Books from the set (Space Adventures) don't come up often, but as I said, there's also not a lot of people collecting them. A few months ago there were 3 high grade title copies on CLINK and there was spirited bidding (including me) on the three, but 30 books is a lot more than 3...

I'm looking at consigning the set to an auction house to sell them, but don't know if breaking the set up into a few auctions is a better approach versus putting all 30 books in one auction for the sake of making it a "statement" listing. 

Im sure Im not the first person wrestling with this decision. What's been others experiences? Done it one way and wished for the other? Im not hurting for the money so the timing isnt a driving factor for me... 

[Funnybooks]

offer to sell it here on the boards as a set

if you can't find a buyer, break it up and sell on Heritage

[Upgrayedd2]

I’m curious if CLINK provides a lot-style option. 

[miraclemet]

On 9/30/2022 at 9:13 AM, Upgrayedd2 said:

I’m curious if CLINK provides a lot-style option. 

I dont recall ever seeing lots listed on CLINK, definately not lots of CGCed books. 

Regardless I would be listing them as 30 individual lots (They've sold registry sets like that in the past, and theyve always listed them individually and just noted that they were part of a top registry set)

[miraclemet]

On 9/30/2022 at 9:12 AM, Funnybooks said:

offer to sell it here on the boards as a set

that means I have to figure out what they're worth! (jk)

[Upgrayedd2]

On 9/30/2022 at 10:17 AM, miraclemet said:

I dont recall ever seeing lots listed on CLINK, definately not lots of CGCed books. 

Regardless I would be listing them as 30 individual lots (They've sold registry sets like that in the past, and theyve always listed them individually and just noted that they were part of a top registry set)

I see your point. And from a buyer’s perspective you’ll have two sets of interested parties: those who want to purchase it as a set and those looking to fill a run (individual copies). I would still reach out to CLINK. Could be the beginning of a trend. Rest assured you’ll receive input on how you can/cannot generate more money via individual sales, but if you do it on your own think of the time (packaging, insuring, post office visits, collecting payments, possible returns) you’ll save if you sell it as a set. And use this as a selling point to any potential buyer because they’ll also save all of the aforementioned time. Keep us apprised. 
And to assist with valuation, post the comic number and grade here. Lots of knowledgeable members here. And lastly, prepare for potentially significant varying opinions. 
Happy Sales 😛

[Funnybooks]

On 9/30/2022 at 9:17 AM, miraclemet said:

that means I have to figure out what they're worth! (jk)

roll the dice...no reserve 

[chrisco37]

Selling as a set is interesting, but severely limits the pool of buyers both from a cost perspective and individual buyers.  
If they are top grade books, they will sell on that merit.  

[seanfingh]

On 9/30/2022 at 10:26 AM, chrisco37 said:

Selling as a set is interesting, but severely limits the pool of buyers both from a cost perspective and individual buyers.  
If they are top grade books, they will sell on that merit.  

I agree with this.  The only other thing I would add is that there is nothing wrong with listing the whole set somewhere (EBay, Comicconnect, whatever) with a dream price Buy-It-Now. That way on the off chance someone pulls the trigger, you are happy, but you are also drumming up some interest while you prepare to sell them individually.

[shadroch]

Auctioning them as a lot seems very risky and will almost certainly bring you less money.  Selling them in the same auction might look impressive but will the limited buying pool still be around for the 27th book? The 30th book?

I, personally, would break them up over six months to a year, so the potential buyers can replenish their funds.  Esoteric titles have a very shallow buyers pool and you don't want to drain it before you have to. 

Several years ago, an occasional member here decided to sell his famous double cover collection in a short time, and I think he left a lot of money on the table as oppossed to stretching it out over a year or two.

[MattTheDuck]

Not the same, of course, but CL recently had an almost-complete run of Planet Comics, many of which were in pretty high grade and they did quite well.  There didn't seem any fall-off in bidding on the later issues.  A lot of the books belonged to a Boardie and there's a discussion about it in the Planet Comics thread.

 

[miraclemet]

On 9/30/2022 at 10:39 AM, shadroch said:

Auctioning them as a lot seems very risky and will almost certainly bring you less money.  Selling them in the same auction might look impressive but will the limited buying pool still be around for the 27th book? The 30th book?

I, personally, would break them up over six months to a year, so the potential buyers can replenish their funds.  Esoteric titles have a very shallow buyers pool and you don't want to drain it before you have to. 

Several years ago, an occasional member here decided to sell his famous double cover collection in a short time, and I think he left a lot of money on the table as oppossed to stretching it out over a year or two.

that's the same thinking Im having... I think having 5-6 books in each auction for 5-6 months that include lots of the top shelf stuff (highest graded and/or pedigrees) and some of the lesser (2nd, 3rd, 5th highest) stuff might lift some of the lesser book lots (consolation prizes). 

(and just to be clear when I say "as a lot" I merely mean having 30 individual lots all in the same auction, not one lot of all 30 books, that'd be crazy!)

 

[Qalyar]

On 9/30/2022 at 10:16 AM, MattTheDuck said:

Not the same, of course, but CL recently had an almost-complete run of Planet Comics, many of which were in pretty high grade and they did quite well.  There didn't seem any fall-off in bidding on the later issues.  A lot of the books belonged to a Boardie and there's a discussion about it in the Planet Comics thread.

 

Planet is one of the premier titles in its genre, though, so I'm not sure I'd draw any assumptions from those sales to less-well-known books.

[MattTheDuck]

On 9/30/2022 at 8:46 AM, Qalyar said:

Planet is one of the premier titles in its genre, though, so I'm not sure I'd draw any assumptions from those sales to less-well-known books.

"Not the same, of course...."

Reading for comprehension: A dying art.

[chrisco37]

On 9/30/2022 at 11:20 AM, miraclemet said:

that's the same thinking Im having... I think having 5-6 books in each auction for 5-6 months that include lots of the top shelf stuff (highest graded and/or pedigrees) and some of the lesser (2nd, 3rd, 5th highest) stuff might lift some of the lesser book lots (consolation prizes). 

(and just to be clear when I say "as a lot" I merely mean having 30 individual lots all in the same auction, not one lot of all 30 books, that'd be crazy!)

 

That's an entirely different question.  I misunderstood the ask.   

In that case, I would definitely ask the Auction House to "highlight" the fact that these come from one of the top registry sets.