Market projections...sell now or wait it out? 3 3

[UncleAnwar]

So I've been a collector since the mid 90s and have finally come to the decision to move on and sell my books after all these years.  Not an easy decision, but I've realized that going to cons and the thrill of the hunt was a big part of it for me.  Now that I've crossed off most of the stuff I wanted, they've just been sitting in storage for years.

I've been strictly a marvel collector and have tried to be a completionist.  I've got big runs of many major titles, amazing spiderman 1-400, x-men 1-300, fantastic four 1-300, daredevil 1-200, and several other runs. The grades vary a lot, but most of the collection is raw with a handful of the big books cgc graded (x-men 1 cgc 3.5, ff 1 cgc 2.5, dd 1 cgc 4.5, st110 cgc 3.0, hulk 181 cgc 6.5.

My general question is, with the state of the current market would it be best to sell now or wait a bit (3, 5, 10 yrs?).  I'm in no real rush to move them quickly, so I'm fine waiting if it will net me more money.  I'm also learning that I'll definitely have to break them up in chunks to get the most bang for my buck.

But looking at GPA, outside of covid and the mcu boom, it really feels like prices are still correcting back to normal.  From GPA trends i've seen over the last 20 years, it feels like the market will still go down some over the next few years, but really who knows.  Just looking for general opinions of best time to sell and if you guys think the market is due for a rise any time in the near future, or if now is the time to sell before it drops even further?

 

 

[Changer]

On 2/26/2024 at 6:56 AM, UncleAnwar said:

So I've been a collector since the mid 90s and have finally come to the decision to move on and sell my books after all these years.  Not an easy decision, but I've realized that going to cons and the thrill of the hunt was a big part of it for me.  Now that I've crossed off most of the stuff I wanted, they've just been sitting in storage for years.

I've been strictly a marvel collector and have tried to be a completionist.  I've got big runs of many major titles, amazing spiderman 1-400, x-men 1-300, fantastic four 1-300, daredevil 1-200, and several other runs. The grades vary a lot, but most of the collection is raw with a handful of the big books cgc graded (x-men 1 cgc 3.5, ff 1 cgc 2.5, dd 1 cgc 4.5, st110 cgc 3.0, hulk 181 cgc 6.5.

My general question is, with the state of the current market would it be best to sell now or wait a bit (3, 5, 10 yrs?).  I'm in no real rush to move them quickly, so I'm fine waiting if it will net me more money.  I'm also learning that I'll definitely have to break them up in chunks to get the most bang for my buck.

But looking at GPA, outside of covid and the mcu boom, it really feels like prices are still correcting back to normal.  From GPA trends i've seen over the last 20 years, it feels like the market will still go down some over the next few years, but really who knows.  Just looking for general opinions of best time to sell and if you guys think the market is due for a rise any time in the near future, or if now is the time to sell before it drops even further?

 

 

wrong forum

[buttock]

On 2/26/2024 at 8:27 AM, Changer said:

wrong forum

Sir, this is a Wendy's. 

[Robot Man]

[RobHW]

On 2/26/2024 at 9:56 AM, UncleAnwar said:

So I've been a collector since the mid 90s and have finally come to the decision to move on and sell my books after all these years.  Not an easy decision, but I've realized that going to cons and the thrill of the hunt was a big part of it for me.  Now that I've crossed off most of the stuff I wanted, they've just been sitting in storage for years.

I've been strictly a marvel collector and have tried to be a completionist.  I've got big runs of many major titles, amazing spiderman 1-400, x-men 1-300, fantastic four 1-300, daredevil 1-200, and several other runs. The grades vary a lot, but most of the collection is raw with a handful of the big books cgc graded (x-men 1 cgc 3.5, ff 1 cgc 2.5, dd 1 cgc 4.5, st110 cgc 3.0, hulk 181 cgc 6.5.

My general question is, with the state of the current market would it be best to sell now or wait a bit (3, 5, 10 yrs?).  I'm in no real rush to move them quickly, so I'm fine waiting if it will net me more money.  I'm also learning that I'll definitely have to break them up in chunks to get the most bang for my buck.

But looking at GPA, outside of covid and the mcu boom, it really feels like prices are still correcting back to normal.  From GPA trends i've seen over the last 20 years, it feels like the market will still go down some over the next few years, but really who knows.  Just looking for general opinions of best time to sell and if you guys think the market is due for a rise any time in the near future, or if now is the time to sell before it drops even further?

 

 

take.  oh wait.  wrong forum.

[jimjum12]

On 2/26/2024 at 9:56 AM, UncleAnwar said:

So I've been a collector since the mid 90s and have finally come to the decision to move on and sell my books after all these years.  Not an easy decision, but I've realized that going to cons and the thrill of the hunt was a big part of it for me.  Now that I've crossed off most of the stuff I wanted, they've just been sitting in storage for years.

I've been strictly a marvel collector and have tried to be a completionist.  I've got big runs of many major titles, amazing spiderman 1-400, x-men 1-300, fantastic four 1-300, daredevil 1-200, and several other runs. The grades vary a lot, but most of the collection is raw with a handful of the big books cgc graded (x-men 1 cgc 3.5, ff 1 cgc 2.5, dd 1 cgc 4.5, st110 cgc 3.0, hulk 181 cgc 6.5.

My general question is, with the state of the current market would it be best to sell now or wait a bit (3, 5, 10 yrs?).  I'm in no real rush to move them quickly, so I'm fine waiting if it will net me more money.  I'm also learning that I'll definitely have to break them up in chunks to get the most bang for my buck.

But looking at GPA, outside of covid and the mcu boom, it really feels like prices are still correcting back to normal.  From GPA trends i've seen over the last 20 years, it feels like the market will still go down some over the next few years, but really who knows.  Just looking for general opinions of best time to sell and if you guys think the market is due for a rise any time in the near future, or if now is the time to sell before it drops even further?

 

 

Auction everything off, except a few of your very favorites, and then roll the proceeds into undeveloped real estate on the outskirts of town, or into stock in the defense or health care industry, and then... fuggetaboutit. GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[Black_Adam]

On 2/26/2024 at 6:56 AM, UncleAnwar said:

 

My general question is, with the state of the current market would it be best to sell now or wait a bit (3, 5, 10 yrs?).  I'm in no real rush to move them quickly, so I'm fine waiting if it will net me more money.  I'm also learning that I'll definitely have to break them up in chunks to get the most bang for my buck.

 

 

 

I guarantee waiting 10 years will get you the most bang for your buck. The 2034 market is going to be hot, hot, HOT!   

[aardvark88]

Depends on how old u are? Sell when u approach age 60 or get married/divorced. Flip in 3 years b4 the geezers that collect paper comics all retire and flood the market with even more paper collectibles. Youth grew up in the 'paperless office' environment or online everything with cell phones, social media and int'l online gaming so have little interest in vintage paper.

[HighStakesComics]

Captain Carrots 🥕 + ?=Profits

[CGC Mike]

Moving this to comics general.

[bc]

-bc

[serling1978]

Seems unlikely another event like the MCU hype/fomo cycle will happen again to have such a dramatic impact on values. For that reason I imagine prices will continue to correct and maybe even go down over the upcoming years. Sure marvel will come out with more movies and shows, but the excitement and hype won't be the same. More likely burnout will set in (if it hasn't already)

[Mike Murdock]

It seems like it would be prudent to start selling now if you are sure you are moving on from collecting.  Sure, prices could go up again but who knows for sure.  Also, if something happens to you, do you want your spouse, kids or family left to figure it out?  Get the money into something more liquid/transferable.

Edited February 26 by Mike Murdock

[RobHW]

Comic book collecting is dead.  Dead, I said.  Today is a buyers market.  It may never be a seller's market again.  The comic book collector is an old dude.  There will be an increasing number just like you, dumping their collections because they can't take it with them.  Younger people have no fond childhood attachment to comics, no desire to put good money into a dead asset, and would rather have the cash then hold onto what was important to departed generations.

There are no new collectors.  Your buyers will be fellow old dudes; long-time collectors who already have much of what they always wanted.  Unmotivated buyers.

We are slowly swirling right down the drain.

[toro]

Start a Whatnot stream and make bags of money. 

 

 

 

 

[UncleAnwar]

On 2/26/2024 at 12:46 PM, RobHW said:

Comic book collecting is dead.  Dead, I said.  Today is a buyers market.  It may never be a seller's market again.  The comic book collector is an old dude.  There will be an increasing number just like you, dumping their collections because they can't take it with them.  Younger people have no fond childhood attachment to comics, no desire to put good money into a dead asset, and would rather have the cash then hold onto what was important to departed generations.

There are no new collectors.  Your buyers will be fellow old dudes; long-time collectors who already have much of what they always wanted.  Unmotivated buyers.

We are slowly swirling right down the drain.

Not what I wanted to hear, but I'm afraid you're dead-on.

When I go to cons these days, sure there are younger generations there (I'm 46 btw) but they're usually there for dressing up, or Funko or toys or other merchandise. Some are there for comics sure, but most likely newer stuff.

When I get to the long boxes of back issues it's always dudes around my age and older. Oof.

Probably time to start listing asap

 

[zosocane]

On 2/26/2024 at 3:33 PM, UncleAnwar said:

Not what I wanted to hear, but I'm afraid you're dead-on.

When I go to cons these days, sure there are younger generations there (I'm 46 btw) but they're usually there for dressing up, or Funko or toys or other merchandise. Some are there for comics sure, but most likely newer stuff.

When I get to the long boxes of back issues it's always dudes around my age and older. Oof.

Probably time to start listing asap

 

I've been hearing that comic book collecting is dead, and that the hobby will go the way of stamp collecting, for DECADES.  No, it won't.  Comic books are too cool.  With James Gunn (proven track record) running the DCU unit of WB, a lot of excitement in DC films is on the horizon.  And then Marvel Studios -- in the middle of a course correction after realizing their frolic-and-detour of 2021 to 2023 cost them literally hundreds of millions of dollars in lost box office revenue and eroded viewer (and comic book collector) goodwill -- will bring out new A-listers from the Fantastic Four and X-Men universes.  That will generate even more excitement on the Marvel side.

To the OP, if you don't need the money today, but want to liquidate, consider selling your collection in increments spread out over a five- or 10-year period.  It's impossible to time any market, but this way you can hedge some risk while also realizing potential reward with market upswings for Marvel books that, i honestly believe, will come in 2025/2026.  Since your portfolio is concentrated in Marvels, you're better off waiting a bit rather than unloading it all now in a soft Marvel market today.

Edited February 27 by zosocane

[NewWorldOrder]

On 2/26/2024 at 12:33 PM, UncleAnwar said:

Not what I wanted to hear, but I'm afraid you're dead-on.

When I go to cons these days, sure there are younger generations there (I'm 46 btw) but they're usually there for dressing up, or Funko or toys or other merchandise. Some are there for comics sure, but most likely newer stuff.

When I get to the long boxes of back issues it's always dudes around my age and older. Oof.

Probably time to start listing asap

 

You will never go broke taking a profit.

People most of the time should be buying and selling every day possible. 

#1 Reason for that:  Every day you live could be your last and is guaranteed to be one day closer to your death.

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 2/26/2024 at 8:45 PM, NewWorldOrder said:

#1 Reason for that:  Every day you live could be your last and is guaranteed to be one day closer to your death.

Very uplifting 

[Stefan_W]

On 2/26/2024 at 8:46 PM, THE_BEYONDER said:

Very uplifting 

He isn't wrong.

When I make comic decisions that are longer term I often think along the lines of "if I get hit by a bus tomorrow, what will help my family the most in the long term after I am gone?" My wife is not a comic person and would be likely to take pennies on the dollar for someone to haul most of my collection away. To counter that, I have a lot of slabs that will do well at auction and asked a friend to help her send them in if something happens. We are not immortal and the unexpected is a part of life.