The dollars and cents of collecting-Your opinions.

[garthgantu]

Amen, Rob... I think the jury's still out... we may well see demand wane, and supply wax, for "ultra high-grade" copies of many, many books.

 

The fact that the huge upswing in prices for NM 9.4 and above has not really lifted the prices for VF-NM9.0 books suggests to me that the "party" may be too exclusive and will collapse under its own weight. I believe this is what happened in the slabbed sports card market. Of course, that market had the additional burden of what, 8 different slabbing services? But it won't take 8 CGC clones to cause the same effect (confusion, paralysis) in comic books, because there aren't nearly as many fans/collectors/speculators in comics as there are (or rather, were) in sports cards. Sports cards had the benefit of 10s of millions of average or above-average sports fans willing to shell out ridiculous prices for a "NM" copy of one of 32 Tiger Woods or Ken Griffey Jr. "rookie cards"...

 

Don't get me wrong... I hope the market for NM 9.4 and above continues to climb, and takes the rest of the market (or at least the mid-high grade market) with it. But I'm not convinced yet that this is inevitable.

 

Garthgantu

[joe_collector]

>>I hope these high rollers aren't carrying a cent of debt, because that would be stupid!

 

I hope so too, or else they're in for a world of pain.

[sfilosa]

I wouldn't expect the rise in NM prices to bring along mid-grades.

 

There is a small correlation, but if you have a Price Guide handy from the 70's, a Fine book was suppose to get around 66% of the value of a Mint book.

 

The spread will continue to widen. The real question is the premium percent NM books get (300-400% now). Will that stay the same, increase or decrease?

 

My money is on decreasing premiums.

[Rob]

I agree. I don't see the NM+ prices bringing up mid-grade prices. Think about supply and demand. We know how many mid-grade books are out there. They've been abundant for years. There's no perceived shortage of these books, so why would prices increase? The idea is now that CGC is "officially" grading books, We'll get an idea of how many truly mint books are out there. Speculators are betting that there are not many. The rest of us think there's a pretty good supply.

 

But, no, mid-grade books will stay pretty stagnant.

[sfilosa]

BUT REMEMBER THIS!!!!

 

 

Your profit is based on two things,

 

1) How much you pay for a book

 

2) How much you sell a book for

 

If you can buy mid-grades at well below market prices, then you can still make a nice profit even without a significant increase in O/S Guide Value.

 

 

[Rob]

If you can buy mid-grades at well below market prices, then you can still make a nice profit even without a significant increase in O/S Guide Value.

 

That's my philosophy. I don't plan for mid-grade books to increase in value for me to make a profit (on books I flip. My main objective is collecting). I just try to buy lower than guide.

[OldGuy]

If you can buy mid-grades at well below market prices, then you can still make a nice profit even without a significant increase in O/S Guide Value.

 

That's my philosophy. I don't plan for mid-grade books to increase in value for me to make a profit (on books I flip. My main objective is collecting). I just try to buy lower than guide.

 

I don't really buy based on the OS guide value. In most cases I find that OS value and reality are not even close. I just bid (or pay) what I think is a good price and either I get the book or I don't. I tend to stay in the F+ to VF+ range and as a result I'm almost always paying less then guide, but most of the time I don't really pay attention to guide values. Just my two cents.

[Lofwyr]

If you can buy mid-grades at well below market prices, then you can still make a nice profit even without a significant increase in O/S Guide Value.

 

Exactly, and plenty of people seem eager to blowout their mid grade VF+'s at bargain prices in pursuit of the crazy high multiple books. Even though I have several 7.5-9.0 golden/silver age books i'm not worried in the event that I have to sell. I received deep discounts on most of them and could pawn them off on ebay for a profit. Dealers seem more flexible on those books when you bargain too. The number of people willing to shell out 5-6x guide for that sacred slabbed "NM" book will wane as the money drys up. Unless they're rich like uncle scrooge it's not likely they can keep throwing wads for insane multiples indefinitely. The guys buying Hulk #181's for 19 grand most likely won't be able to sell that book for half the price a year from now. Hulk #181 is no timely, EC, or pre-code book which is actually somewhat scarce. For 19k I can buy a whole pile of gaines file EC's and feel pretty good about it afterwards.

 

 

 

 

[PovertyRow]

For 19k I can buy a whole pile of gaines file EC's and feel pretty good about it afterwards.

 

That WOULD feel pretty darned good!

[highlite23]

Again, I know I may be in the minority but I still feel quite a bit of satisfaction in spending $10.00 each on these 2 books. At that price in this condition I'll pick them up all day. I know they land maybe in the 3.0 to 3.5 stage, but there pushin 40 years, and i don't have the funds. As a "Collector" they have a spot in my collection.

 

I figured i would make the scans available so you can see what this thread was refering to. Great discussion's going on.

 

[seank]

 

The number of people willing to shell out 5-6x guide for that sacred slabbed "NM" book will wane as the money drys up. Unless they're rich like uncle scrooge it's not likely they can keep throwing wads for insane multiples indefinitely.

 

 

Uncle Scrooge wouldn't pay 5-6x guide for a slabbed NM book. He'd buy the VF at below guide and sell it later at a profit.

 

Or he'd swim through his books like a porpose, burrow through them like a gopher, and throw them in the air and let them hit him on the top of his head.

[Rob]

I don't really buy based on the OS guide value. In most cases I find that OS value and reality are not even close. I just bid (or pay) what I think is a good price and either I get the book or I don't. I tend to stay in the F+ to VF+ range and as a result I'm almost always paying less then guide, but most of the time I don't really pay attention to guide values.

 

My collecting interests, while specific on titles, aren't very issue specific. I don't have the time to memorize what I would pay for every comic that comes up on eBay that I might be interested in buying. I use the guide as just that, a "guide". A reminder of what I can expect to pay for something in an average market. I've used the example before, but I know that Batman #200 is listed at $90 in VF (may be different in the 2003 guide, I don't have it handy), but I know they sell on eBay slabbed for about $56. So if it were selling on eBay for $80, whereas it's under guide, I'm not buying it. That's one example where I don't buy based on guide.

 

If I saw a random comic I'm interested in on eBay for $200, I'm not sure if I'd buy it. I have to consult my guide. If it's listed at $200, and there's just a bidding war going on, I'm not paying 100% guide for it. However, if it lists for $400, that tells me that they probably don't sell for $200 very often, and now I'm interested.

 

My buying needs are based mainly on one thing - discount. I collect Batman and JLA. But if I saw a VF Spiderman #20 for 25% guide, I'll buy it in a second. It's not that I'm a cheapo, but I love a good treasure hunt (as well as a good eBay profit, that helps pay for the comics that I collect). A recent find of mine was a DC Archives Batman Volume 1, first printing ($39.99 cover price), still sealed, with a BIN for $15.50 shipped. Didn't really want it for $30 or more, but at $15 shipped, I now own it.