Sell or wait in today's down market? 1 1

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 12/11/2022 at 11:00 AM, Tec-Tac-Toe said:

I'll note that in my experience bubbles come, bubbles go. Will the comic bubble, I'll write Bronze Age, burst at some point? In my view it has, at least to some extent, and inflated again. Will it continue doing that ad infinitum? Unfortunately, I have no idea.

[fastballspecial]

On 12/6/2022 at 8:35 PM, the blob said:

 If you are a flipper know your Comic Book salad days (daze) of 2020-early 2022 of raking in easy fast cash across the board are not coming back for at least a decade or more.

----

ok, yeah, we may not see 2020-21 again, but stuff was getting pretty interesting before covid too, I can see whatever fun was going in in 2018-2019 coming back. It was a long bull market and got even crazier in 2020-21. Frankly, aside from any bubble, I have to wonder if the tax reporting threshold dropping so far just had people leave. Aside from health, family issues, and my work exploding, I just didn't want to deal with that hassle on my taxes, so I stopped selling (and stopped buying). It has probably been discussed here (I've been out of the loop for a while). Uncle Joe could score some popularity points bringing it up to $6000 or $9000.

I am having a selling great month right now and my buying experiences have been fantastic. I am looking forward to year of people slashing prices dramatically and picking up collections for next to nothing and parting them out. Diversification is always the key.

 

[Bird]

On 12/6/2022 at 2:40 PM, MAR1979 said:

If selling Comics is your business then you need to continue to sell!

I pulled all my ebay stuff 2 months ago or so with the anticipation of being an auction house on live auctioneers. Now that I am finalizing the process and watching tutorials it does occur to me that now may not be the best time to start, but this right here is what the bottom line is. So I am going to have my first auction in late January (taking small consignments btw! and making my lots up day to day right now) and where the market is won't stop that, although it will influence what goes in.

 

[fastballspecial]

The only people I really feel for are the long time collectors that kept waiting to sell their collections.
Ive been trying to get them to sell their books for the last 5 years now they have waited too long.

 

[Tec-Tac-Toe]

On 12/11/2022 at 11:07 AM, THE_BEYONDER said:

There is always one, until there is not.   However, with Lauren Holly, we'll have to ask Jim.

[MAR1979]

On 12/11/2022 at 11:09 AM, Bird said:

I pulled all my ebay stuff 2 months ago or so with the anticipation of being an auction house on live auctioneers. Now that I am finalizing the process and watching tutorials it does occur to me that now may not be the best time to start, but this right here is what the bottom line is. So I am going to have my first auction in late January (taking small consignments btw! and making my lots up day to day right now) and where the market is won't stop that, although it will influence what goes in.

 

Cash flow is key and king!  Business 101

[Hulksdaddy1]

On 10/29/2022 at 9:43 AM, g-man said:

still some exceptions out there (i.e. Hulk 181 in 9.8 that just sold for  $ and the known keys) plus a few others like the B&B 28 in 5.5 that realized a nice price on the link. Also a few other DC keys. But I agree seems to be a bit of a slow down w the holidays/inflation/rates, etc....and then there is the big heritage auctions coming up (looking forward to the B&B 28 in 8.5) 

What did the B&B 28 in 5.5 fetch?

[squidmo2000]

all my books are capital gains,I'm a scared to sell anything........

[1Cool]

On 12/11/2022 at 11:11 AM, fastballspecial said:

The only people I really feel for are the long time collectors that kept waiting to sell their collections.
Ive been trying to get them to sell their books for the last 5 years now they have waited too long.

 

I love it when collectors say that they are happy prices are dropping and they hope sellers lose their shirts but then they are shocked by how low the offers are for their collections or books they want to sell.  Unless you are only buying and plan on being buried with your books, then crashing prices are not good for anyone.

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 12/12/2022 at 8:25 AM, 1Cool said:

I love it when collectors say that they are happy prices are dropping and they hope sellers lose their shirts but then they are shocked by how low the offers are for their collections or books they want to sell.  Unless you are only buying and plan on being buried with your books, then crashing prices are not good for anyone.

It’s an odd thing indeed.    Rather than wish for lower prices, one should be thankful prices are high so they can sell the books they don’t really need to pay for books they actually want.   You’re not really getting a deal on a HULK 180 if the 181 you already own is crashing as well. 

[g-man]

1. $8400 for ASM #39 cgc 9.4 w the juice seems very healthy in last night's heritage auction. Don't they usually go for $4-5K? I don't know....maybe the crackheads were bidding last night. 

Edited December 12, 2022 by g-man

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 12/12/2022 at 9:45 AM, g-man said:

1. $8400 for ASM #39 cgc 9.4 w the juice seems very healthy in last night's heritage auction. Don't they usually go for $4-5K? I don't know....maybe the crackheads were bidding last night. 

Dot or no dot? 

 

[Tec-Tac-Toe]

On 12/12/2022 at 11:16 AM, THE_BEYONDER said:

Dot or no dot? 

 

I used a Bic pen to place dots on my raw copies. Is that good or bad?

[Lothran]

On 12/12/2022 at 8:25 AM, 1Cool said:

I love it when collectors say that they are happy prices are dropping and they hope sellers lose their shirts but then they are shocked by how low the offers are for their collections or books they want to sell.  Unless you are only buying and plan on being buried with your books, then crashing prices are not good for anyone.

I disagree. Falling prices are great for those that plan on reselling when the market flips.

I have been slowly grabbing deals on popular keys that I can resell later. I have no issue hodling for a year+ for a nice return. I plan on DCA buying all the way down.

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 12/12/2022 at 11:36 AM, Tec-Tac-Toe said:

I used a Bic pen to place dots on my raw copies. Is that good or bad?

The jury is still out 

[Stefan_W]

On 12/12/2022 at 8:25 AM, 1Cool said:

I love it when collectors say that they are happy prices are dropping and they hope sellers lose their shirts but then they are shocked by how low the offers are for their collections or books they want to sell.  Unless you are only buying and plan on being buried with your books, then crashing prices are not good for anyone.

I dunno. I found the toughest market for selling comics was when it was at its peak and the prices were sky high. People can only afford to go to a certain point, so unless you were ok with sending them to an auction house there were crickets chirping when trying to move most books. The start of the downswing was even worse because people were just looking for steals and were ok with waiting for the desperation to set in on the part of sellers. The best market for selling has reasonably priced key books that people can afford, and features a gradual increase in overall values over time so people can feel secure in their investments. 

[Tec-Tac-Toe]

On 12/12/2022 at 11:44 AM, THE_BEYONDER said:

The jury is still out 

Thank goodness! I was getting nervous that perhaps I made a mistake. i still have hope.

[Hamlet]

On 12/12/2022 at 8:25 AM, THE_BEYONDER said:

It’s an odd thing indeed.    Rather than wish for lower prices, one should be thankful prices are high so they can sell the books they don’t really need to pay for books they actually want.   You’re not really getting a deal on a HULK 180 if the 181 you already own is crashing as well. 

I think there are a huge number of collectors that rarely sell books. 
 

 

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 12/12/2022 at 12:18 PM, Hamlet said:

I think there are a huge number of collectors that rarely sell books. 
 

 

For those with ‘black hole’ collections, obviously dropping prices is a good thing.   But that “huge” number of collectors is dwarfed by those who buy and sell. 

[1Cool]

On 12/12/2022 at 11:47 AM, Stefan_W said:

I dunno. I found the toughest market for selling comics was when it was at its peak and the prices were sky high. People can only afford to go to a certain point, so unless you were ok with sending them to an auction house there were crickets chirping when trying to move most books. The start of the downswing was even worse because people were just looking for steals and were ok with waiting for the desperation to set in on the part of sellers. The best market for selling has reasonably priced key books that people can afford, and features a gradual increase in overall values over time so people can feel secure in their investments. 

If you are trying to sell hot key books then I agree the last couple years must have had it's pitfalls since prices for some books hit crazy prices that became out of reach of most people.  The last few years have been great for common book sellers just because prices went up across the board and instant hot books popped up so often that it was like shooting fish in a barrel in terms of making money.  Knowledge became power in that case since grabbing the $2 book from the longboxes that just became $50 is all about timing and the quick flip ability.  I unfortunately think those days are dead or dying.  I don't think we will ever see another frenzy like we saw over the last couple years.  

Edited December 12, 2022 by 1Cool