Seeking advice on selling effectively in this market 1 1

[Corvonie]

Hi,

I am in a situation where I have to sell some books acquired near the top of the market in this current market.

In the past few months, I’ve noticed that - on Heritage, for example - high grade silver books (say 9.2 and above) can still demand a premium.

So, my current plan is to identify books from my collection that I think are in that range, get them graded, and list those for sale.

Before I invest the time and money, I wanted to know if anyone in the forum has contrary advice, specifically something like “that may be true on heritage but only there” or “only above 9.4 and only white pages.”

Thanks in advance for the help!

[zzutak]

On 11/3/2023 at 4:54 AM, Corvonie said:

I’ve noticed that - on Heritage, for example - high grade silver books (say 9.2 and above) can still demand a premium.  I wanted to know if anyone in the forum has contrary advice.

Who are we to tell you that you haven't seen what you claim to have seen?    That being said, collectibles frequently/typically bring higher prices during competitive auctions than they do when sold as fixed-price BIN's.  Don't make the mistake of thinking your books have some inherent, invariant value.  They do not. 

You'll be swimming upstream against a very strong current, so be prepared to shed some tears.  Good luck. 

[KCOComics]

A few thoughts. 

GA and high grade SA seem to be holding up better. 

The high grade SA for non key issues I think really have to stand out. Like there are only 6 other books in grade or better,  so people will really stretch to get one of those select few. 

Don't sell on ebay.  They seem to be lagging the other auction houses.  

Heritage tends to command the most money,  but understand the fees. Unless you are bringing them big $$ consignments,  I'm not sure they'll negotiate their fees down. 

I haven't tracked it,  but people have said comiclink hasn't delivered great prices for GA. 

 

If you have specific examples of books you're looking to move, that might be helpful. I'll also throw out a disclaimer about trusting the advice of anonymous strangers on the internet. 

[jimjum12]

On 11/3/2023 at 7:54 AM, Corvonie said:

Hi,

I am in a situation where I have to sell some books acquired near the top of the market in this current market.

In the past few months, I’ve noticed that - on Heritage, for example - high grade silver books (say 9.2 and above) can still demand a premium.

So, my current plan is to identify books from my collection that I think are in that range, get them graded, and list those for sale.

Before I invest the time and money, I wanted to know if anyone in the forum has contrary advice, specifically something like “that may be true on heritage but only there” or “only above 9.4 and only white pages.”

Thanks in advance for the help!

If you have a lot of books that are already slabbed, then you may benefit from a subscription to www.gpanalysis.com so you don't proceed completely blind. Some books may be trending down while others are up. This info can help you schedule sales or auctions. GOD BLESS ... 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[comicginger1789]

I will start with a question..have you been collecting for 10+ years and feel familiar/comfortable with grading?

If yes, and you think your books will achieve the desired grades (and hit the expected sales to make grading worthwhile) then go for it. Keep in mind you will have $50-60 tied up per book after grading/shipping/cleaning/pressing is considered. Also consider the following scenario. A 9.2 copy of a book sells on Heritage for $500. There are also two other 9.2 sales on ebay of $400, 410 and one sale elsewhere for $395. I would think it would be unrealistic to hope that Heritage would duplicate the result with my book....I would assume it fall closer to the other sales. Also take into account the fact that there are fees and such associated with using a company like Heritage

If you answer no to the question asked, then I think some time is needed to get valuable feedback on grades. The "Hey Buddy Can You Spare A Grade" thread on the forums here is a great wakeup call, especially when your eyes see a 9.0 (and this a book worth grading to sell) and everyone else points out that it is a 7.5 (which would cause you to lose money). I am not saying people here are all experts but very rarely when I have posted a book in the past and gotten feedback has the consensus been way off. I had the same aspirations of a book getting a 9.0 and posted it here and everyone told me 8.0-8.5 at best and sure enough when I graded the book, it got 8.0. So was not really worth grading in the end. The opinions from others who have no attachment to the books makes a difference and you will become familiar with which members are strong graders when you look through that forum.