Do collections ever get sold by 'lot' 2 2

[kinankids]

From 1989-1991 my husband (now deceased) worked in a comic store and collected...everything went immediately into bags with boards and has been boxed since then. I have just recently pulled everything out and put a sheet together in excel but nothing is graded. To my untrained eye, it all looks near mint but I base a lot of that on knowing how he collected them and never even opened the covers. 

Using comicspriceguide.com the total value is approximately $6000 (I assumed they were all 9.4's, although there are a few that are very old but not in good condition). Is it worth trying to sell them on ebay in lots based on character? There are almost 400 of them so it doesn't seem realistic to list them one by one and there are quite a few that are only worth $2-$5. 

Honestly I'm just overwhelmed with trying to figure it all out and will take any advice offered. I'm downsizing and can't justify storing them anymore. 

Oh and there is also this original of the Punisher that Erik Larsen drew when he came into the store one day (the store was obviously called Comic Stop). Any advice on this?

 

[BA773]

Hi honnestly i think you have to find someone for grading your books, because if you are not sure about your judgement and if you sell some expensive books which are in a lower condition than described you could have problem and nobody wish you that. 

[BA773]

And an other facts is that the greatest part of the books evaluated to 3 or 5$ dollars arent worth it and the most of buyer wont give you more than 1$for it. Focus on the key issues.

[Cman429]

You should find a comic shop in your area. They’re always buying full collections and that would be much easier than selling it off piece by piece on eBay. If your feeling daunted now, listing 100 lots on eBay, taking enough pics to make fussy geeks happy, then packing and shipping out dozens and dozens of books while eBay (and then Joe Biden) take $45% of your profit is going to be even worse.

As for the Larsen, original art by a “name” artist like that is always in demand. In fact, I’m sure your DMs are blown up by boardies here trying to buy it off you right now LOL Last time I met Erik he was charging $700 for a full figure like that so price accordingly. If you don’t want to sell it here I can recommend about 10 art groups on FB where it’ll be snapped up quick. 

Good luck!

[zzutak]

On 7/22/2023 at 10:29 PM, kinankids said:

it doesn't seem realistic to list them one by one and there are quite a few that are only worth $2-$5.

Absolutely correct!  The USPS shipping fee, by itself ($5~6 or more), will exceed the value of a single book.  The best ways to move ultra low value comics are either to: (1) sell the entire lot to a comic retailer (with a brick-and-mortar storefront) or a local convention dealer; or (2) subdivide your collection into 40-book (or so) lots that can be shipped in a USPS Medium Flat Rate box for about $14 (if the label is purchased through eBaay).  Most buyers will not balk at a $0.33/book shipping fee.

Since you've already catalogued the collection in Excel, there's absolutely nothing to lose by soliciting bids from a few retailers/resellers.  But be realistic: the fair market value of most of your 1989-91 books may only be 10~15% of their respective guide values.  Also, if you allow the collection to be cherry-picked, whatever remains will be virtually unsellable (which doesn't mean that it can't be donated to a local Children's Hospital or similar organization).

Condolences on the loss of your life partner.  Good luck! 

[ExNihilo]

On 7/22/2023 at 10:29 PM, kinankids said:

From 1989-1991 my husband (now deceased) worked in a comic store and collected...everything went immediately into bags with boards and has been boxed since then. I have just recently pulled everything out and put a sheet together in excel but nothing is graded. To my untrained eye, it all looks near mint but I base a lot of that on knowing how he collected them and never even opened the covers. 

Using comicspriceguide.com the total value is approximately $6000 (I assumed they were all 9.4's, although there are a few that are very old but not in good condition). Is it worth trying to sell them on ebay in lots based on character? There are almost 400 of them so it doesn't seem realistic to list them one by one and there are quite a few that are only worth $2-$5. 

Honestly I'm just overwhelmed with trying to figure it all out and will take any advice offered. I'm downsizing and can't justify storing them anymore. 

Oh and there is also this original of the Punisher that Erik Larsen drew when he came into the store one day (the store was obviously called Comic Stop). Any advice on this?

 

There are three methods of selling off a collection:

1) sell individually (this results in the greatest return but is also the most time consuming, potentially taking years to unload everything)

2) sell the entire collection to a single buyer/store (this results in the lowest return but is the quickest method of washing your hands of books/responsibility)

3) some combination of the two where you identify the keys and sell those individually while selling the rest as one lot (best of both worlds)

Personally, if there are runs (a continuous or near continuous run of issues for a particular title) I would lump those together and attempt to sell them as one.  You never know what buyers are looking to fill holes in their collection and might be tempted to buy a bunch of books from one person instead of scouring stores to buy a book here and there.

[kinankids]

On 7/23/2023 at 9:57 AM, M_M said:

So this is 400 comics from 1989-1991, is that correct?

Yes. Everything from the incredibly obscure....Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters to all of the really common Marvel & DC, including two copies of Spiderman 300. I didn't even know they turned Aliens into a comic and here I have three copies of issue 1, two of issue 2, two of issue 3, and one of issue 4. No rhyme or reason as to why he bought the amounts he did over 30 years ago when he was a teen.

So I guess the answer is to go through and possibly send the Spiderman 300's for grading, sell anything potentially worth more than $200 on ebay with no grading and a ton of photos, to sell anything in runs as a lot, and to take the rest in to a comic shop to see if they want them. 

Cowabunga, to quote these 25 issues of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 

[Semicentennial]

I wouldn't trust comicpriceguide to get accurate pricing on your books. There are probably a few decent books in those boxes.   The three copies of Aliens#1 could be worth a few hundred dollars each in high grade. 

[DougC]

On 7/23/2023 at 9:21 PM, kinankids said:

Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters

I love this series.. and always pick up the copies from the $1 bins, along with fish police, Tek war, Ex-Mutants, Malibu & Antartic books, which probably isn't what you want to hear.

If you have everything already organized in a spread sheet you can take your time to look over the books and see what is valuable and what isn't. You have the right idea so far so just to reiterate:

1. Select remove any book over $200 for grading; then consign the books to auction
2. Group everything else into runs, character themes, or just lots and sell for what every you can get.

Alternatively since you do have an excel spread sheet, contact comiclink or mycomicshop for consigning and have them select out anything of value to submit for grading and auction. Then sell everything else for pennies just to get rid of it. Once you get enough posts you can use the CGC selling forum, there are some of us who love drek and will likely buy it (and it will be an easier transaction).

You might leave money on the table but the effort to squeeze that out isn't generally worth the time investment.

[kinankids]

On 7/23/2023 at 8:57 PM, DougC said:

I love this series.. and always pick up the copies from the $1 bins, along with fish police, Tek war, Ex-Mutants, Malibu & Antartic books, which probably isn't what you want to hear.

 

Then you would probably also enjoy these other obscurities....Cerebrus the Aardvark, Chameleon Commandos, Boris the Bear and Ralph Snart Adventures. LOL

One other question about minimal handling: If I am photographing them do I leave them in the plastic or should I take them out? Since they have boards, the only way to show the backs would be to remove them, but I am worried about fingerprints etc. From what I have read, these are probably mostly between 9.2 and 9.6 but I wouldn't be surprised if there were some 9.8's.. As I said, he worked in a comic store and everything went from when it arrived to bagged and boarded, stored upright in boxes in a bedroom walk-in closet, and not touched for 30 years. 

[kinankids]

On 7/23/2023 at 8:22 PM, Semicentennial said:

I wouldn't trust comicpriceguide to get accurate pricing on your books. There are probably a few decent books in those boxes.   The three copies of Aliens#1 could be worth a few hundred dollars each in high grade. 

I started with comicpriceguide just to weed out the ones that are low value (probably 3/4 of them are less than $10). Then my plan was to look at overstreet & ebay to get a better idea of the ones that have a higher value. There is also Punisher #1, 2 x Wolverine #1, 2 x Predator #1 etc. 

What would you recommend for accurate pricing? Getting them graded professionally?

[DougC]

On 7/23/2023 at 11:33 PM, kinankids said:

Then you would probably also enjoy these other obscurities....Cerebrus the Aardvark, Chameleon Commandos, Boris the Bear and Ralph Snart Adventures. LOL

One other question about minimal handling: If I am photographing them do I leave them in the plastic or should I take them out? Since they have boards, the only way to show the backs would be to remove them, but I am worried about fingerprints etc. From what I have read, these are probably mostly between 9.2 and 9.6 but I wouldn't be surprised if there were some 9.8's.. As I said, he worked in a comic store and everything went from when it arrived to bagged and boarded, stored upright in boxes in a bedroom walk-in closet, and not touched for 30 years. 

I am sure you are well aware but a Cerebus #1 is worth a couple grand in stepped on condition after being left out in the rain. Since these books are from the 90's I assume it is from the High Society run but if not please get that graded and don't let anyone tell you it is drek that they will graciously take off our hands.

Once you are to the point of selling off the lots you are not going to grade, let everyone (but me first) know!

Edited July 24, 2023 by DougC
i'm not going to secretly PM, i'll just ask.

[theCapraAegagrus]

I have purchased "lots", which were around 60 issues max, typically all of the same title.

[Semicentennial]

On 7/23/2023 at 9:51 PM, kinankids said:

I started with comicpriceguide just to weed out the ones that are low value (probably 3/4 of them are less than $10). Then my plan was to look at overstreet & ebay to get a better idea of the ones that have a higher value. There is also Punisher #1, 2 x Wolverine #1, 2 x Predator #1 etc. 

What would you recommend for accurate pricing? Getting them graded professionally?

I would say to check ebay sold or completed auctions, or mycomicshop.com.   The books you've mentioned above are definitely keys so good job at separating them from the others.  I would get any book,  in its current condition that has a raw value of over $100, graded.   

[marvelmaniac]

My condolences for your husband passing.

If you can post a list of what books you have, folks would be able to tell you what you have, if any are worth getting graded or selling individually, if it is determined there are some keys in the collection you can post pics in the https://boards.cgccomics.com/forum/42-hey-buddy-can-you-spare-a-grade/ section to get an idea on grade and value.

Be careful with local comic shops, my Son decided to sell his books, 2000 books, mostly 80's/90's, I contacted numerous shops in my area (through Facebook), gave them a list of what I had, only 2 replied, one stated there was nothing in there they were interested in, the other came out to his house and looked over the books, he offered $800.00 total, saying that most of these books were dollar bin books and he could only pay 2 cents each for them, we declined.

Over the last two + years I have sold approximately 200 of these books for $3000.00.

[KCOComics]

On 7/24/2023 at 1:50 PM, marvelmaniac said:

My condolences for your husband passing.

If you can post a list of what books you have, folks would be able to tell you what you have, if any are worth getting graded or selling individually, if it is determined there are some keys in the collection you can post pics in the https://boards.cgccomics.com/forum/42-hey-buddy-can-you-spare-a-grade/ section to get an idea on grade and value.

Be careful with local comic shops, my Son decided to sell his books, 2000 books, mostly 80's/90's, I contacted numerous shops in my area (through Facebook), gave them a list of what I had, only 2 replied, one stated there was nothing in there they were interested in, the other came out to his house and looked over the books, he offered $800.00 total, saying that most of these books were dollar bin books and he could only pay 2 cents each for them, we declined.

Over the last two + years I have sold approximately 200 of these books for $3000.00.

This is a good lesson though. If you go to the shops, you get pennies on the dollar, but it's over and done. If you sell it yourself and put in the work, you can make significantly more, but it's a lot of time and investment. 

 

I've found the happy medium for me is to keep and sell anything over about $20 and take the rest to the shops for pennies on the dollar.  

OP - If you can post a list, we can help you pick it the keys (though it sounds like you've already gathered some directional data). 

I'm sincerely sorry for your loss.

[revat]

Here's the thing:

It takes tons of time and effort to find out if it worth the time and effort to grade and price them, either individually, in a big lot, or smaller lots.  And you might find out that at best you can get $100 for 800 comics.  And most 80's - 90's comics aren't worth a ton (though some obviously are).

You might spend 100 hours to find out you need to spend 100 more hours to maximize profit by selling individually.

I have an alternate suggestion, if you feel safe doing so:

Post an ad on craigslist (or something local like facebook), have people come take a look (or maybe just take pictures or a video or something), and just solicit offers, telling people that make offers that you're simply going to choose the highest of the cash offers after two months.  Probably won't maximize value, but also not too much effort.  

Sorting, making lists, learning to grade, learning to price, cataloging, packaging for mailing, taking pictures, dealing with online selling, fees, reporting, taxes, returns, is a huge time commitment. I do understand the desire to maximize profits, but how much is your time and hassle worth?  Especially with an unclear projection of profits and timing.

 

OR if you have a child or niece/nephew of appropriate age maybe have them sell online on consignment.  They can learn about comics and sales and business and organization and make some money, and earn some agreed upon commission fee, and you save time.

 

If your book value is $6K, I'd happily take $2K from an LCS or craiglist buyer (and even let them talk me down to $1,500 cash).

 

Sell the punisher drawing separately.

[kinankids]

On 7/25/2023 at 5:33 AM, KCOComics said:

This is a good lesson though. If you go to the shops, you get pennies on the dollar, but it's over and done. If you sell it yourself and put in the work, you can make significantly more, but it's a lot of time and investment. 

 

I've found the happy medium for me is to keep and sell anything over about $20 and take the rest to the shops for pennies on the dollar.  

OP - If you can post a list, we can help you pick it the keys (though it sounds like you've already gathered some directional data). 

I'm sincerely sorry for your loss.

Here's a link to my Google doc with them all. I'm not skilled enough to grade yet, but if I haven't specifically mentioned the condition (and I used vague words like 'good, very good') then everything else is what I would call 'excellent' which means unread, straight to bag and board 30+ years ago and stored indoors. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WMPnCG9lSzGCIpRnb4YkovJAxTyZxOCV/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104816174692393209841&rtpof=true&sd=true

I'm going to nose around the 'spare a grade' board to start getting some ideas about the older ones. 

 

[DougC]

On 7/27/2023 at 12:53 AM, kinankids said:

Here's a link to my Google doc with them all. I'm not skilled enough to grade yet, but if I haven't specifically mentioned the condition (and I used vague words like 'good, very good') then everything else is what I would call 'excellent' which means unread, straight to bag and board 30+ years ago and stored indoors. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WMPnCG9lSzGCIpRnb4YkovJAxTyZxOCV/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104816174692393209841&rtpof=true&sd=true

I'm going to nose around the 'spare a grade' board to start getting some ideas about the older ones. 

 

Just taking a quick look and there are defiantly some books that should be graded prior to selling (or putting into lots) if they are going to get a 9.8.

Thinking about this situation and your husband working at the comic shop and getting these, are they all newsstands? (the 89-91 books).

[thehumantorch]

On 7/26/2023 at 11:53 PM, kinankids said:

Here's a link to my Google doc with them all. I'm not skilled enough to grade yet, but if I haven't specifically mentioned the condition (and I used vague words like 'good, very good') then everything else is what I would call 'excellent' which means unread, straight to bag and board 30+ years ago and stored indoors. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WMPnCG9lSzGCIpRnb4YkovJAxTyZxOCV/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104816174692393209841&rtpof=true&sd=true

I'm going to nose around the 'spare a grade' board to start getting some ideas about the older ones. 

 

Welcome to the boards.  Thanks for the list, it does help. 

 A pretty typical collection from this era.  Mostly books with little value and the occasional win.  If you were to pull the best 20-30 books and list the rest on craig's list or a local auction site for $30 or $40 a long box.  Get rid of the stuff that's not desirable and focus on what does have value.

The early Amazing Spider-mans and the Hulk 110 have a bit of value, even in low grade as does any old superhero book -12 cent cover price- published by Marvel or DC.  Amazing Spider-mans between issue 100 and issue 200 have a bit of value if in decent shape.  The TMNT have a bit of value because the characters are iconic.  Wolverine #1.  Spider-man 1 1990, Aliens.  Xmen 116 and 118 and perhaps a few more out of that group.  The real value in your collection is the Mcfarlene Amazing Spider-mans from 298 up, especially #300.  The New Mutants 87 is also fairly valuable.  I'm sure I missed a few as I just scanned the list.

If you could put up pics in the grading forum of ASM 298, 299, 300, 316 and New Mutants 87

Edited July 27, 2023 by thehumantorch
added 'a long box' after $30 to $40