Selling Comic Collection in LA Area 2 2

[mlovest]

Folks,

I have about 1,800 high-grade, mostly NM and higher, comics I want to sell.  Nothing awesome in this grouping as I've been selling off the CGC'd and keys separately, but they are very choice, high-grade comics.  Most are Spider-Man related comics including all of the obvious titles through the early '90s.  Do any of your know someone reputable I could work with in the LA area to unload some or all of them?  I'm not looking for pennies on the dollar, but a reasonable deal.  Shipping these would obviously be expensive, but I did work with a dealer in the past where I delivered a number of boxes at a local show.

99% of the comics are in Mylars and half- or full-backs, and 99% are Marvels.

Thank you much.  Hope you all had a terrific Thanksgiving!

V/R, Mike

Edited November 28, 2023 by mlovest

[DougC]

On 11/25/2023 at 8:18 PM, mlovest said:

I'm not looking for pennies on the dollar, but a reasonable deal. 

I think the leg work would be easy enough as you could just send a formatted email with an excel attachment of the books and simply ask if there is any interest to every local shop with an email.

Unfortunately by your own admission you have "high grade" moderns that any real value has already been picked out and you do not believe pennies on the dollar would be a reasonable deal when sold in bulk. You may need to reassess what the value you place on these is.

[shadroch]

While most dealers won't pay much for most modern bulk, shop owners may be more generous if you trade for stuff they already have in stock.  A few months back, I traded two short boxes of post-Disney Marvels for a couple of  Phantom hardcovers that were gathering dust in a shop's backroom. Dealers will almost always offer more in trade than cash.

[mlovest]

Here's some of the books...  There are very few duplicates, and 99% are Marvels.

Spider-Man Core Titles

·  Amazing Fantasy (1962):  16-18

·  Amazing Spider-Man (1963):  203-208, 211, 213, 215-228, 230-237, 240-244, 246-251, 253-255, 257, 258, 260-264, 266-288, 290-297, 299, 302-314, 318-344, 346-359, 262-364, 366-374, 376-400 (reg), 401-407, 411-426, 428, 429, 431-700 (missing a few, var covers)

·  Amazing Spider-Man Annuals (1964) (1-40):  15, 17-20, 22-40

·  Adventures of Spider-Man, The (1996):  1-3

·  Deadly Foes of Spider-Man, The (1991):  1-4

·  Lethal Foes of Spider-Man, The (1993):  1-4

·  Manga Spider-Man, The (1997) (1-31):  1-4

·  Marvel Knights:  Spider-Man (Vol 1, 2006) (1-22):  1-22

·  Marvel Team-Up (1972) (1-150, An 1-7):  39-52, 54-57, 59-63, 67-94, 96-140, 142-149; Annuals 5-7

·  Official Index of Amazing Spider-Man (1985) (1-9):  2-9

·  Official Index of Marvel Team-Up (1986) (1-6):  1-6

·  Peter Parker:  Spider-Man (1998) (1-57):  All

·  Sensational Spider-Man (Vol 1, 1996) (1-33):  All

·  Sensational Spider-Man (Vol 2, 2007) (23-41):  23-41 (Cont. from Marvel Knights)

·  Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) (1-263):  4-5, 7-8, 10-21, 25, 26, 29-63, 65-86, 88, 89, 91-97, 99, 100, 102-263; Annuals 1-3, 5-14

·  Spider-Man Adventures (1996) (1-12):  1-3

·  Spider-Man and X-Factor, Shadowgames (1994):  1-3

·  Spider-Man Classics (1993) (1-16):  1

·  Spider-Man (1990) (1-98):  3-98

·  Web of Spider-Man (1985) (1-129, An 1-10):  All (except 1, 2, and 18)

[mlovest]

On 11/26/2023 at 10:27 AM, shadroch said:

While most dealers won't pay much for most modern bulk, shop owners may be more generous if you trade for stuff they already have in stock.  A few months back, I traded two short boxes of post-Disney Marvels for a couple of  Phantom hardcovers that were gathering dust in a shop's backroom. Dealers will almost always offer more in trade than cash.

Yes, but I'm getting out of collecting, so I'm not looking to trade them.  I know it's not going to be easy.  Maybe I can find someone to list them for me?

[mlovest]

On 11/26/2023 at 5:22 AM, DougC said:

I think the leg work would be easy enough as you could just send a formatted email with an excel attachment of the books and simply ask if there is any interest to every local shop with an email.

Unfortunately by your own admission you have "high grade" moderns that any real value has already been picked out and you do not believe pennies on the dollar would be a reasonable deal when sold in bulk. You may need to reassess what the value you place on these is.

That's a good idea re reaching out to the local shops.  I haven't bought true moderns in years, so I don't have an ongoing relationship with any comic shops here in LA.  Moved around a lot while I was doing my modern collecting as I was in the Air Force.

[shadroch]

On 11/26/2023 at 12:21 PM, mlovest said:

Yes, but I'm getting out of collecting, so I'm not looking to trade them.  I know it's not going to be easy.  Maybe I can find someone to list them for me?

Trading a thousand items for one, and then selling the one is easier than selling the thousand individually.

[mlovest]

On 11/26/2023 at 11:32 AM, shadroch said:

Trading a thousand items for one, and then selling the one is easier than selling the thousand individually.

That is true indeed!

[VintageComics]

On 11/26/2023 at 2:20 PM, mlovest said:

Here's some of the books...  There are very few duplicates, and 99% are Marvels.

Spider-Man Core Titles

·  Amazing Fantasy (1962):  16-18

·  Amazing Spider-Man (1963):  203-208, 211, 213, 215-228, 230-237, 240-244, 246-251, 253-255, 257, 258, 260-264, 266-288, 290-297, 299, 302-314, 318-344, 346-359, 262-364, 366-374, 376-400 (reg), 401-407, 411-426, 428, 429, 431-700 (missing a few, var covers)

·  Amazing Spider-Man Annuals (1964) (1-40):  15, 17-20, 22-40

·  Adventures of Spider-Man, The (1996):  1-3

·  Deadly Foes of Spider-Man, The (1991):  1-4

·  Lethal Foes of Spider-Man, The (1993):  1-4

·  Manga Spider-Man, The (1997) (1-31):  1-4

·  Marvel Knights:  Spider-Man (Vol 1, 2006) (1-22):  1-22

·  Marvel Team-Up (1972) (1-150, An 1-7):  39-52, 54-57, 59-63, 67-94, 96-140, 142-149; Annuals 5-7

·  Official Index of Amazing Spider-Man (1985) (1-9):  2-9

·  Official Index of Marvel Team-Up (1986) (1-6):  1-6

·  Peter Parker:  Spider-Man (1998) (1-57):  All

·  Sensational Spider-Man (Vol 1, 1996) (1-33):  All

·  Sensational Spider-Man (Vol 2, 2007) (23-41):  23-41 (Cont. from Marvel Knights)

·  Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) (1-263):  4-5, 7-8, 10-21, 25, 26, 29-63, 65-86, 88, 89, 91-97, 99, 100, 102-263; Annuals 1-3, 5-14

·  Spider-Man Adventures (1996) (1-12):  1-3

·  Spider-Man and X-Factor, Shadowgames (1994):  1-3

·  Spider-Man Classics (1993) (1-16):  1

·  Spider-Man (1990) (1-98):  3-98

·  Web of Spider-Man (1985) (1-129, An 1-10):  All (except 1, 2, and 18)

Stuff like this is going to be tough to sell to a dealer. They'll pay pennies on the dollar because there aren't any high dollar books there. 

Your best bet is to either sell them to a collector who is specifically looking for something like this or donate them to a charity, children's reading club, hospital, school or whatever and just get a tax receipt for the donation. 

Edited November 26, 2023 by VintageComics

[littledoom]

How much do you want for your collection? I know a handful of dealers in the LA area who might be interested. I'll ask them

[AJD]

@mycomicshop might have some thoughts.

[stormflora]

On 11/26/2023 at 2:32 PM, shadroch said:

Trading a thousand items for one, and then selling the one is easier than selling the thousand individually.

Wise advice. And should be much easier to pull off.

On 11/26/2023 at 2:20 PM, mlovest said:

Here's some of the books...  There are very few duplicates, and 99% are Marvels.

Spider-Man Core Titles

·  Amazing Fantasy (1962):  16-18

·  Amazing Spider-Man (1963):  203-208, 211, 213, 215-228, 230-237, 240-244, 246-251, 253-255, 257, 258, 260-264, 266-288, 290-297, 299, 302-314, 318-344, 346-359, 262-364, 366-374, 376-400 (reg), 401-407, 411-426, 428, 429, 431-700 (missing a few, var covers)

·  Amazing Spider-Man Annuals (1964) (1-40):  15, 17-20, 22-40

·  Adventures of Spider-Man, The (1996):  1-3

·  Deadly Foes of Spider-Man, The (1991):  1-4

·  Lethal Foes of Spider-Man, The (1993):  1-4

·  Manga Spider-Man, The (1997) (1-31):  1-4

·  Marvel Knights:  Spider-Man (Vol 1, 2006) (1-22):  1-22

·  Marvel Team-Up (1972) (1-150, An 1-7):  39-52, 54-57, 59-63, 67-94, 96-140, 142-149; Annuals 5-7

·  Official Index of Amazing Spider-Man (1985) (1-9):  2-9

·  Official Index of Marvel Team-Up (1986) (1-6):  1-6

·  Peter Parker:  Spider-Man (1998) (1-57):  All

·  Sensational Spider-Man (Vol 1, 1996) (1-33):  All

·  Sensational Spider-Man (Vol 2, 2007) (23-41):  23-41 (Cont. from Marvel Knights)

·  Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) (1-263):  4-5, 7-8, 10-21, 25, 26, 29-63, 65-86, 88, 89, 91-97, 99, 100, 102-263; Annuals 1-3, 5-14

·  Spider-Man Adventures (1996) (1-12):  1-3

·  Spider-Man and X-Factor, Shadowgames (1994):  1-3

·  Spider-Man Classics (1993) (1-16):  1

·  Spider-Man (1990) (1-98):  3-98

·  Web of Spider-Man (1985) (1-129, An 1-10):  All (except 1, 2, and 18)

For the criminally unaware, approximately how much is your entire collection worth at FMV?

[Readcomix]

Take a table at a good local flea market and price aggressively? 

You might get somewhat more for the percentage you sell than what a dealer will pay for the whole thing. Then, with an appreciation for what it took to achieve retail fmv across those books you moved, blow the rest out to a dealer real cheap and still be ahead of the single “sell in one shot” number. 

You’re in L.A., it’s mostly Spidey. Start out 25% below conservative retail pricing, make bulk deals for buyers who ask, and you may still come out ahead. Chances are you could wholesale the remainder to another vendor late in the afternoon and not have to finder a comics dealer for the remainder. The flea market generalist vendor crowd usually has members who like to have comics in inventory, especially if they can flat-price a recognizable character cheap (ie - $3 each, etc)

[mlovest]

On 11/26/2023 at 5:22 PM, AJD said:

@mycomicshop might have some thoughts.

Yes, they are awesome for graded books, but they aren't going to offer enough to cover postage.  I've sold some lots with them, but the charges are high and bidders are expecting really good deals.

[mlovest]

On 11/26/2023 at 6:03 PM, stormflora said:

Wise advice. And should be much easier to pull off.

For the criminally unaware, approximately how much is your entire collection worth at FMV?

I'm working up a number.  I still have to load the total collection into Comic Collector, which uses relatively conservative pricing for raw books.  Much lower than even 9.2s from the Price Guide.

Edited November 27, 2023 by mlovest

[mlovest]

I would love to find a collector or two that love Spidey!  The ASMs are such great books.  Love to find them a happy home(s).

[AJD]

On 11/27/2023 at 12:22 PM, AJD said:

@mycomicshop might have some thoughts.

On 11/27/2023 at 3:47 PM, mlovest said:

Yes, they are awesome for graded books, but they aren't going to offer enough to cover postage.  I've sold some lots with them, but the charges are high and bidders are expecting really good deals.

I recall seeing that they organise road trips from time to time to buy collections. Anyway, it was just a suggestion.

 

[lostboys]

On 11/26/2023 at 11:59 PM, mlovest said:

I would love to find a collector or two that love Spidey!  The ASMs are such great books.  Love to find them a happy home(s).

Hello friend.

 

Id be interested in Amazing 401 through 700.  You would have to ship them to Rhode Island. If interested, shoot me a private message with a price.

[VintageComics]

On 11/27/2023 at 9:10 AM, lostboys said:

On 11/26/2023 at 11:59 PM, mlovest said:

I would love to find a collector or two that love Spidey!  The ASMs are such great books.  Love to find them a happy home(s).

Hello friend.

 

Id be interested in Amazing 401 through 700.  You would have to ship them to Rhode Island. If interested, shoot me a private message with a price.

A match made in heaven! 

[mlovest]

On 11/26/2023 at 8:50 PM, mlovest said:

I'm working up a number.  I still have to load the total collection into Comic Collector, which uses relatively conservative pricing for raw books.  Much lower than even 9.2s from the Price Guide.

Collectorz (using CovrPrice) pegs it at $42,000, all input as 9.4 raw.  Most of this is obviously in the ASMs.  There are 653 separate AMS issues, plus another 20 or so annuals.  1,822 separate comics.