I have the opportunity to catalogue a client’s 12,000 size book collection. How much should I charge. 6 6

[KCOComics]

On 11/1/2022 at 11:07 PM, THE_BEYONDER said:

It’s 12,000 books being graded and catalogued.  It’s not like he’s being asked to help move a couch 

But you can't reasonably charge $50 an hour....or $10k for 12k comic books. 

$300 seems unreasonable to me. $1k for going through what's likely 11,950 low value comics, is more than I would charge. 

It is a big job. Maybe it depends on how much you like the person. 

[speedcake]

50/hour sounds kind of nuts. What kind of collection is it? Modern? Gold, or Silver, or Bronze? 90s drek?  Is this a several hundred thousand dollar collection or a $5000 collection?  This is going to be a ton of work, so I get why you'd want to charge a high hourly, but as has already been mentioned I think this really depends entirely on what kind of books we are talking about.  If its a big time collection, loaded with keys or other high value books, then the investment could be worth it for the owner to have it professionally catalogued.  Are you a professional or have professional experience? You say they are a client, what do you do? I guess we are to assume you do something with comics but I guess nothing that's involved a project of this scope or you'd not be asking.

Also, 2 minutes per book isn't realistic if you are grading thoroughly and creating a database entry for each book. You can do each book in that time with a cursory inspection, but removing from bag and placing back in bag plus counting pages alone will use most of your time if you are doing it carefully. Maybe for moderns/low value books.  If you are looking at bigger books on average you are going to need more time per book, IMO.

12,000 comics is an BUTTLOAD. Have you ever seen 12,000 comic books in one place before? 

 

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 11/1/2022 at 11:36 PM, KCOComics said:

But you can't reasonably charge $50 an hour....or $10k for 12k comic books. 

If I had 12,000 books & wanted someone else to accurately grade/inventory them, I would gladly pay $1/book for that service 

 

[fmaz]

Assuming these are in long boxes you’re talking about approximately 60 boxes, right?
Here’s what I think is both the most fair to the owner AND as a value for your time:

You should treat this as if you were a repair shop of some sort. Charge a $500 flat fee for two hours of your time. In that time you will give him a quick evaluation of the collection. You should be able to flip through the boxes, looking for major keys, getting a general sense of condition, etc… enough that, you will THEN be able to tell him what kind of grading/cataloging is worth his while. 

Doing this will potentially save him a large sum of money. You could also agree that if it is a collection worthy of you grading it at $1 per book, you will apply the $500 to his bill.  (But only if he ends up going with that highest end option, not something lower)

 

[1Cool]

$30 an hour as long as they are in no hurry and they supply all the items I may need like bags and boards.  If they are old valuable books (doubtful if they have 48 long boxes) then the prices would go up quite a bit especially if I have to grade them and check pages and basic restoration check.

[Krismusic]

Nice best of luck.. not a pro or anything but as a customer I would expect to spend maybe a few hundred to have someone quickly go through and pull out comics that are worth stuff… but like everyone else has been saying it depends on the value of the books if it’s lots of 90s/modern stuff might not be worth going through each one to catalogue… 

so one else mentioned to charge 500$ to spend a few hours to give a estimate and get a sense of value to time… I think a few hours at 50$ an hour to get a estimate is a good idea or great way to approach it… 

[shadroch]

Anyone who thinks you can go thru sixty boxes and get a feel of the collection in two hours is nuts.

Where is this being done?  I assume you will be traveling to the collection, rather than the collection being delivered to your home.  since it isn't at your place, that eliminates you doing a little here and there, and now means some travel time to get to the work. 

This is a huge project and shouldn't be entered into half assed. What happens if you quit half way thru or if the owner isn't happy with your work and tells you not to come back.

Edited November 2, 2022 by shadroch

[Dr. Balls]

I don't think you'll get $50/hour to do that, only because the owner will probably realize he'll never get the return on his investment. Not saying it isn't worth $50 an hour, after all - that is your time away from your life that you're spending on his collection.

My approach would be to ask him what he's looking to spend and have your counter ready. I'd figure that $20/hour would probably be realistic, as you are not doing anything advanced or creative, it's just data entry without the use of specialist equipment, overhead, etc. And you're doing it tax-free (presumably). If he's going to send you a W-9 at the end of the year, you may want to tack more on. (I don't know if this is a guy or a business owner or a business)

Edited November 2, 2022 by Dr. Balls

[Dr. Balls]

On 11/2/2022 at 8:27 AM, shadroch said:

Anyone who thinks you can go thru sixty boxes and get a feel of the collection in two hours is nuts.

No kidding. I went through my LCS's new comic stock this past weekend, which was 12 long boxes and that took me two hours. And I was flipping through it to just buy. I wasn't looking at checklists or anything like that. Just a breeze-through.

[thunsicker]

On 11/1/2022 at 11:39 PM, THE_BEYONDER said:

On 11/1/2022 at 10:36 PM, KCOComics said:

But you can't reasonably charge $50 an hour....or $10k for 12k comic books. 

If I had 12,000 books & wanted someone else to accurately grade/inventory them, I would gladly pay $1/book for that service 

Yeah, my main take away from this thread is my employer is paying me way too much.

[chrisco37]

Are the books already sorted by title?  Or are you going to have to go thru 14-30 boxes just to get all the ASMs or Batman’s together?  When I sold my collection a few years back, I had to catalogue everything as well.  And it took quite a bit of time just to sort everything before I even got to the grade/catalogue portion of it.  And I only had 15 total long boxes (about 3k+ Books).

[THE_BEYONDER]

Another thing to keep in mind is that it’s a little more difficult to grade someone else’s books than your own.  I found it very awkward at first, especially when dealing with hard to grade defects.  With my own books, I can just hammer the grade and take the hit.   Can’t do that with a clients books.  Also keep in mind that these are the grades the owner is going to post the books at for sale.  Consistency is key, and you have to walk the fine between being a strict grader & giving the books their proper due.  The seller wants the buyers to be happy, but also doesn’t want to leave too much meat on the bone.   It’s an interesting dynamic that I wasn’t really conscious of going in.

 

Good luck 

[fmaz]

On 11/2/2022 at 10:27 AM, shadroch said:

Anyone who thinks you can go thru sixty boxes and get a feel of the collection in two hours is nuts.

Where is this being done?  I assume you will be traveling to the collection, rather than the collection being delivered to your home.  since it isn't at your place, that eliminates you doing a little here and there, and now means some travel time to get to the work. 

This is a huge project and shouldn't be entered into half assed. What happens if you quit half way thru or if the owner isn't happy with your work and tells you not to come back.

Well, then I’m nuts.

I’ve taken a look at some large collections and you know in two minutes if it’s all spoon.  I’m not saying he’s going to give the owner a detailed evaluation, but in two hours he can do a quick glance and know if it’s chock-full of major keys or long runs of silver age books, or just boxes upon boxes of copper age nonsense, etc. 

My point EXACTLY the same as yours - this isn’t to be entered into half- assed. So rather than do it on the cheap, or to spend thousands of dollars cataloging books that are worthless, pay a bit of money for someone to just give a quick high-level look and say ‘yeah there’s some value here, it’s worthy of investing some time in cataloging this” or not.

At $1 per book for evaluation (which is a reasonable rate) this owner would be $12k deep into this … you’d think he’d rather spend $500 to get an estimate up front so someone could say they saw real value in this so it would be worthy of going forward.

But maybe that’s just me. Apparently, I’m nuts. 😄

 

[shadroch]

You must have X-Ray eyes.  It's a gift. Use it wisely.

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 11/2/2022 at 10:37 AM, Dr. Balls said:

My approach would be to ask him what he's looking to spend and have your counter ready. I'd figure that $20/hour would probably be realistic, as you are not doing anything advanced or creative, it's just data entry without the use of specialist equipment, overhead, etc.

What you’re doing that’s advanced is GRADING the books.   That’s where the value is.  I guarantee you surrender before you reach 12,000 books at $20/hr

[shadroch]

On 11/2/2022 at 8:31 AM, THE_BEYONDER said:

What you’re doing that’s advanced is GRADING the books.   That’s where the value is.  I guarantee you surrender before you reach 12,000 books at $20/hr

Especially if you are doing it at his place.  Are you charging for travel time? Gas?

If you want to do it in the comfort of your living room, you now have to transport 120 boxes of comics, and make room for sixty.    Fun work, eh?

[Dr. Balls]

On 11/2/2022 at 9:31 AM, THE_BEYONDER said:

I guarantee you surrender before you reach 12,000 books at $20/hr

Right? Man, untaping, pulling, inspecting, retaping (god forbid new bag and boarding) - and it's not even your collection? Personally, $50/hour is what I would want for the time commitment, but I don't think the client will pay that.

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 11/2/2022 at 11:45 AM, Dr. Balls said:

Right? Man, untaping, pulling, inspecting, retaping (god forbid new bag and boarding) - and it's not even your collection? Personally, $50/hour is what I would want for the time commitment, but I don't think the client will pay that.

It’s not fun grading someone else’s books, and 12,000 of them is a full time job 

 

[THE_BEYONDER]

The first step as already mentioned is to go have a look at the collection and see what you’re getting into.

[BuscemasAvengers]

On 11/2/2022 at 11:45 AM, Dr. Balls said:

Right? Man, untaping, pulling, inspecting, retaping (god forbid new bag and boarding) - and it's not even your collection? Personally, $50/hour is what I would want for the time commitment, but I don't think the client will pay that.

Agreed. I think you have to present it to the owner as 'tiered' (ya, I know what that sounds like). But the amount of time required to assess with integrity a collection of this size is demanding. First tier could be a quick, 2-3 hr look at basic condition and presence of keys. Second tier might be (as was suggested earlier in this thread) an effort which assesses and catalogues a few titles, so that the owner sees the time needed to do a good job.