The Most Common Source Dealers Use to Evaluate a Book or Collections Worth? 2 2

[Krydel4]

Forum members seem to use many methods. Some use Ebay sold references, GPA, Go Collect, Covrprice, Overstreet, etc. One dealer in my area prices and buys using Overstreet, another goes by GPA and takes off 10% if you're buying or selling Raw. Ultimately, unless we are selling off our collection ourselves, we are going to be selling to a dealer so I'm curious to what the majority of Dealers use so I can better evaluate what I have for when my collection is pried from my cold dead hands.😁 Any anecdotes or experiences welcome.

[valiantman]

On 4/26/2023 at 9:53 PM, Krydel4 said:

another goes by GPA and takes off 10% if you're buying or selling Raw

10% off GPA for raw?  Does that mean they ask for full CGC graded price for raw books (minus the cost of slabbing) based on their own grading? 

[Krydel4]

On 4/27/2023 at 6:35 AM, valiantman said:

10% off GPA for raw?  Does that mean they ask for full CGC graded price for raw books (minus the cost of slabbing) based on their own grading? 

Yes. But their grading when buying is always strict but surprisingly soft when selling.😁

[shadroch]

Experience, and knowledge.

A book might be a $10 book, but if I already have 50 copies, it is worth far less to me.

A Wolverine 1 and a SA Marvel might sell for the same amount, but if one sells quicker, I will pay more- if I need one.

Someone who sells raw books at 10percent off GPA needs to be avoided 

[marvelmaniac]

When my Son decided to sell his collection of 2000 books (mostly 80's/90's) I contacted dealers in my area to gauge interest, only one dealer was interested and came out to look at the books. We were looking for $2000.00 for the entire collection, he offered $800.00 and we politely said No, and we parted ways.

He said that other than a few books the rest were dollar bin books at best and said he could only pay 2 cents each for those books, we also disagreed on grading, I graded strictly using the Overstreet grading standards, he kept saying "well that's not how CGC does it and that's what folks are looking for, what CGC does". He also said he sells full short boxes of "drek" to other dealers at shows for $10.00 a box.

That was 2 years ago, since then I have sold about 100 + of my Son's books for about $3000.00.(I do not advertise books for sale, I respond when I see someone searching for a book(s) I have.)

My 2000 book collection has been graded, cataloged and photographed by me, FMV, using eBay sold auction prices for books in the same grade is done every 6 month's for my top books so I know what I have. My collection will be left to my kids (47 and 44) and I left them detailed instructions for handling comic books, where and how to sell comics books, where to find research info and their actual FMV so they can negotiate in good faith when the time comes, they will not be lowballed, knowledge is power.

[Stefan_W]

When I am buying a collection my starting point for value is actually My Comic Shop. This is not because their prices are super accurate, but because the web layout shows an entire run 50 books at a time. Based on what others have graded you can see what the keys are. Anything priced at $8 or under in MCS listings is a dollar bin book to me. This is simply the reality that most people hunt for keys and you have to give deals on run fillers in order to move them out and stop your house from filling up with boxes of comics that you cant sell. 

For higher value books I use a combination of MCS, EBay, and GPA since all have their limitations. If I see a raw that I figure is a VF and GPA has the value as $100 (for example) I recon it is a $50 book that I would try to sell for $30-$40 since I would have to spend time and money to have it graded, plus sometimes grades dont come out as well as planned. Again, no deal for the buyer often means no sale. 

I do pretty well at shows using this approach. I also see vendors who struggle to figure out why no one is buying their comics that are priced around GPA for raw copies. The single most important piece of advice I give out is that people always vote with their wallets. If someone is selling a lot they have it figured out, and those who are struggling usually need to re-think their approach to grading/pricing. Grading and pricing are fundamentally related so you only have to mess one of those up to hoop yourself and ultimately lose money. 

Edited April 27, 2023 by Stefan_W

[hyhhyss12]

On 4/27/2023 at 10:56 AM, marvelmaniac said:

When my Son decided to sell his collection of 2000 books (mostly 80's/90's) I contacted dealers in my area to gauge interest, only one dealer was interested and came out to look at the books. We were looking for $2000.00 for the entire collection, he offered $800.00 and we politely said No, and we parted ways.

He said that other than a few books the rest were dollar bin books at best and said he could only pay 2 cents each for those books, we also disagreed on grading, I graded strictly using the Overstreet grading standards, he kept saying "well that's not how CGC does it and that's what folks are looking for, what CGC does". He also said he sells full short boxes of "drek" to other dealers at shows for $10.00 a box.

That was 2 years ago, since then I have sold about 100 + of my Son's books for about $3000.00.(I do not advertise books for sale, I respond when I see someone searching for a book(s) I have.)

My 2000 book collection has been graded, cataloged and photographed by me, FMV, using eBay sold auction prices for books in the same grade is done every 6 month's for my top books so I know what I have. My collection will be left to my kids (47 and 44) and I left them detailed instructions for handling comic books, where and how to sell comics books, where to find research info and their actual FMV so they can negotiate in good faith when the time comes, they will not be lowballed, knowledge is power.

Something to realize which I wish people new to this hobby is that the majority of comic shops are predatory to those in need and or those who do not understand the pricing and worth of comics. For a dealer to insult someone by saying they'd only pay a few cents on each comic is really terrible. It is always worth it to sell things yourself. Even if you get someone to do a consignment for you it'll be better than selling to pretty much any shop. They'll make hundreds of percent in profit for each comic you give. Because this market is still looked at as niche you will always have people assuming the comics are worthless and give them away to these vultures for pennies.

[Bookery]

On 4/27/2023 at 3:23 PM, hyhhyss12 said:

Something to realize which I wish people new to this hobby is that the majority of comic shops are predatory to those in need and or those who do not understand the pricing and worth of comics. For a dealer to insult someone by saying they'd only pay a few cents on each comic is really terrible.(There are plenty of comics that aren't even worth that).  It is always worth it to sell things yourself. (No)  Even if you get someone to do a consignment for you it'll be better than selling to pretty much any shop. (No) They'll make hundreds of percent in profit for each comic you give. (No) Because this market is still looked at as niche you will always have people assuming the comics are worthless and give them away to these vultures for pennies. (If you do absolutely no research about who you are selling to, then yes, it can happen).

 

[jjonahjameson11]

The most common source dealers use is whichever one is most beneficial to them for either buying or selling, depending on the book(s) in question

[hyhhyss12]

On 4/27/2023 at 5:05 PM, Bookery said:

 

You're either have a shop or have no clue what you're on about. 

[Bookery]

On 4/27/2023 at 11:14 PM, hyhhyss12 said:

You're either have a shop or have no clue what you're on about. 

You have no context to any of your comments... they are just a mural of broadly-brushed bigotries.  Let's take them separately:

"Something to realize which I wish people new to this hobby is that the majority of comic shops are predatory to those in need and or those who do not understand the pricing and worth of comics".

   I don't know if it's a majority or not, but no doubt there are lots of crooks and incompetents in this business.  But there are lots of crooks and incompetents in any business... be it lawyers, doctors, mechanics, contractors, grocers, bankers, brokers, auto repair workers, whatever...  You can't do everything in life by yourself... you have to research and seek out trustworthy alternatives.

"For a dealer to insult someone by saying they'd only pay a few cents on each comic is really terrible".

   If you're paying that on key items... sure... but the standard rate on bulk comics (comics selling for no more than $1) is about 10-cents per book.  And even at $1 apiece, I'll generally only sell about 1 out of every 3 books purchased.  Not exactly getting rich on these.  Just last week I bulked out about 2500 comics to another dealer for 8-cents apiece myself... and I was happy to get it!

"It is always worth it to sell things yourself."

   Ridiculous.  How much time and effort is it worth to you?  I put in about 60 hours per week to "sell things myself".  Are you willing to do that?  You could say that about anything.  You can learn how to do your own car repairs.  You can grow your own crops.  You can pull your own infected tooth.  You can even build your own house.  Think of the money you'll save!  All it takes it time and learning and dedication.  All of modern civilization is based on the fact that we are willing to hire others to do things that we don't have the time or patience to do ourselves.  Sure... sometimes it's best to sell something yourself if you have access to a willing buyer and we're not talking about a lot of merchandise.  And sometimes it's smarter to take a discount off of "full retail" (whatever that means) to let someone else do all of the work.

"Even if you get someone to do a consignment for you it'll be better than selling to pretty much any shop."

   Huh?  Who are you consigning to?  Aren't you going to have to consign it to a shop or auction house?  Even eBay is a sort of consignment in which you will pay not insignificant fees for their service (and in the case of eBay... you still have to do all of the work yourself!).  How long are you willing to wait for that consignment item to finally sell?  How can you trust that the item really sold for what you are being told it sold for (not talking about major auction houses of course, where you can track the sale of the item).  Even if you sell through a huge player like Heritage, you are only getting about 65% of the final sale price, and you'll have to wait weeks to get your money (after waiting for the auction to be scheduled and take place, time for buyers' funds to clear, etc.).  There are several dealers on these boards alone who will pay you that much, or more,  for decent items, and you'll get paid immediately.

"They'll make hundreds of percent in profit for each comic you give".

After purchases and operating overhead, I will generally clear about 10% - 20% of retail sales per year.  And there are always rough years where you don't even make a profit (housing bust period, major repair years, etc.).

"Because this market is still looked at as niche you will always have people assuming the comics are worthless and give them away to these vultures for pennies."

   Yes, they are out there, and it frustrates me as much as you.  Every month I hear about a collection sold to some small dealer for a tenth of what I would have paid.  But you have to do at least a modicum of research on dealers the same as you would before hiring a contractor.  Every day someone is allowing a door-to-door roofer with no credentials to work on their home.  But that doesn't mean the entire roofing industry is crooked.  If you are dead-set on being taken... you will be taken.  In the end, there is no one solution for selling your collection.  Auctions can make sense, especially if you have rare items that are hard to evaluate.  Selling yourself makes sense if you have the time and enjoy it, and if the items have enough general interest (though again, I'm not sure what "selling yourself" means, other than setting up at a show or through a direct ad).  And selling to dealers makes sense if you take the trouble to find the right dealers... especially if you have a large amount of stuff, need to get paid quickly, have niche market stuff for which it takes years to establish a clientele, etc..