Why is overstreet unrealistic?

[benz]

Some members already are and some were just added a few months ago.

 

*waves*

 

your collection could have a curator pedigree

[benz]

Wizard rocks! it's always correct! very rarely do I pay under Wizard.....if I was a *spoon*...wait I don't buy modern? Why am I typing this? Darn, can I say Damn? my alcohol/blood level is at a perfect level. I can spell correctly and feel good at the same time...must maintain...must maintain....must not buy more comics....must not go on ebay....buy too much....mmmmmm

 

I dont agree that Wizard is better than overstreet...for golden/silver/bronze age books I go to overstreet as a GUIDE...Wizard, i just like the articles in Wizard specially the top 10 comics for the month...anyone want to post what those are now? I never use the wizard price guide...nor CBG's guide for that matter...ebay.com and gpanalysis.com for me

 

[valiantman]

Has anyone mentioned the AUDIENCE for Overstreet?

 

The audience is BOTH the "big time" dealers and "small time" collectors of comic books.

 

Overstreet is "attempting" to address the needs of both of these groups

and everyone in between with their guide, however,

this is probably an impossible goal in the current format.

 

Think about the Kelley Blue Book... there are TWO prices (at least) for every vehicle.

One price for "if you're buying from a dealer",

and ANOTHER price for "if you're personally selling or trading it in".

 

Why would there be two different prices for the exact same vehicle?

Because the audience of the Kelley Blue Book is really two different types of users,

and the REALITY of the market is that there are two price ranges that actually occur in transactions.

 

Overstreet has one set of prices for a given comic book, but one price does not fit all.

 

The VAST majority of books in the Overstreet guide are under $5.

We focus on the "high dollar" AND "high grade" keys a lot,

but comic books are 99.44% non-key and/or non-highgrade..

 

If Overstreet is reflecting the appropriate price to OBTAIN a single comic in today's market,

then it could be said that you should ALWAYS consider the shipping cost as well.

It's true that it's not "part of the comic", but it is definitely part of the "cost to obtain" that comic.

 

If you wanted to purchase a supposedly $0.50 comic, and you had no local source for this book,

how much would you expect to pay to get the book into your hands?

(If you buy it online, you'll pay shipping, and even cheap shipping is probably $1-$2.)

 

So... is it really that ridiculous if a $0.50 comic ($2.95 cover price) is listed for $3?

 

If you don't have a local shop... and if you wanted to purchase that SINGLE issue,

you'd be paying about $3 regardless of whether people elsewhere are paying $0.50.

 

Obviously, "bulk purchases" would lower the cost of individual issues,

but Overstreet isn't a guide for "bulk purchasing"...

it's a guide for individual issues.

 

Overstreet also isn't a guide for

"people who have access to large comic shops with vast back issue bins right down the street",

it's a guide for the average collector, with an average distance to an average comic shop,

or else they're the average collector buying things by mail (Ebay, catalogs, dealer websites, etc.).

 

It's also a guide for the average seller, whether they have a store or not, who is hoping

to sell their books for a fair market price.

 

It can't perfectly serve two different types of user... but that's why it's only a guide.

[seank]

My understanding is that Overstreet has a policy of not pricing a comic below cover price. This, IMHO, is it's biggest flaw. Dollar bin books should be notated as such. Doing otherwise is a disservice to unsophisticated collectors (e.g. noobs).

 

Were I editing Overstreet, the two changes I would make would be:

 

1. Add a "nominal" notation to prices to reflect dollar bin status; and

 

2. Add the reference letters on the corners of the odd-numbered pages to the even-numbered pages also so lefties like me can use them better.

[the blob]

Overstreet is "full retail", not ebay retail. Not convention retail. How often do you pay full retail for anything? For me, not that often, other than some groceries. I've never paid full retail for clothing. I've always bought my appliances on sale. Jewelry for my wife is probably just about and that's because using my "connections" in the diamond district is often more trouble than it's worth.

 

As for GPA...well, OPG is not a slab guide (yet), although I suppose they try to factor slabs in somehow, so, if you want to price out slabs, GPA makes sense.

 

Sure, a few things in overstreet are way underpriced, just like there will be the occasional item that you just can't find anywhere at "retail" (tickets to some hot concert, some designer handbag/shoe you have to get on a waitlist for that's worth more than you paid for it once you get it, etc.)

 

As for moderns being overpriced...there's language in the OPG, somewhere, or they used to have it, that they list at cover price, but, in reality, the guide says most of it is worth much less. 25 cents is an exageration. I haven't seen a 25 cent box in a while. 50 cents, yes, but last time I was at a show and was about to pull a bunch of moderns (circa 1998-2001) I was interested in, much to my dismay and shock they were $1 each!!!!

[valiantman]

Overstreet is "full retail", not ebay retail.

 

What's the difference?

 

If you're looking to buy a back issue, and you don't have a comic shop nearby,

or if you do have a comic shop nearby and they don't have the back issue...

what do you do?

 

The average collector can't drive a couple miles and buy anything in the Overstreet.

"Full retail" means whatever it costs to obtain the book.

 

If it's a back issue, then cover prices are meaningless...

whether they're too high or too low.

 

It's going to cost at least a couple bucks to OBTAIN any comic book...

even if it's only a common nearly-worthless issue.

 

What I'm saying is that Overstreet should drop their comment about "never below cover price",

and add a new comment about "including costs to obtain the individual issue (shipping, handling, etc.)"

 

The end result is that a $2.95 cover price book listed for $3 is STILL listed for $3

because it's really a $0.50 book that costs an extra $2+ to have it shipped to you.

[joe_collector]

This is obviously coming from the Dealers, and if you look at some older OS's (where they did mark down worthless comics), many dealers complained how "there was no way they were going to bag & board, grade, and price a comic below a set $ minimum".

 

Naturally, soon after that, OS also raised prices and essentially had a "set minimum" for any comic book in existence, or in the case of newer, higher-priced books, used cover price.

 

Amazing how that happened.

[EastEnd]

At the comic shops I go to in NY, moderns of the principal titles are priced at Overstreet... not $.50 or $1.00. Presumably a fair amount of them sell or they wouldn't be priced at Overstreet. Just because you can find moderns in $1.00 bins at certain conventions doesn't mean that that's the norm. And I agree that you need to factor in the costs of getting to the convention, paying admission, etc..

[adams]

OS needs to continue to promote the hobby by never saying or listing

anything that might poo-poo someone's collecting taste.

One man's Garbage is another's Gold ....is their motto !

 

The idea is to prop up their owner's business/bread and butter

and at the same time give "value" to anything and everything

that is published.

 

Without doing so, everything would collapse like a House of Cards

[finecomics]

My 2 cents.....

 

The "average" collector has no idea what a 30/35 cent variant is. Not to mention the obvious disparate prices paid for these things.

 

The "average" collector has no idea GPA exists

 

The "average" collector has nothing else to go on except OS and/or eBay.

 

Newer titles are hardly ever represented correctly in OS. People make fun of Wizard all the time, but buyers are programmed to purchase Wizard recommendations. What dealer is going to turn down free money?

 

Obviously people are paying closer to OS guide prices for moderns or large stores wouldn't be in business. Most stores pay $1.40-$1.50 per $2.99 cover price book. Who the heck can afford to sell that for a quarter?

 

A store around here (atlanta area) needs at least 60-70 subscribers just to tread water. Retail space isn't that cheap either compared to other parts of the south. I would think $1200/$1500 for a 1000 square ft store. Why would they clutter that space with junky 80s & 90s books for 50 cents each? How many books would each subscriber buy?

[CKB]

This is a great thread, and there is some great stuff. But there are two words that have been overlooked:

 

MILE HIGH

 

 

 

 

 

 

My big problem with Overstreet isn't that it can't keep up with the latest trend or explosion, but that it is so so wrong on established markets like Golden Age. I know no one wants to see the value listed in Overstreet to go down, but the guide should reflect the reality of actual sales averaged over some period. Even if that reality sucks.

 

Right now it is a tool that in many places can only be used for relative value between books, and for identifying important issues.

 

All IMO.

[UKavenger]

My take on it is that Overstreet is just what it says on the tin and the real guide is only determined by what someone is prepared to pay on the day for a comic.

 

There are lots of factors, luck being a big one, in that you may easily get something well under guide because of various factors just as much as you may find yourself drawn into something well over.

 

I have an idea of a maximum price in my head and then will not go over that under any circumsatnces, if I fail then I live to fight another day, if succesful I am happy.

 

I use OS as a base and put my own criteria into the mix.

 

You also have to remember are you collecting for investment or for the love of it and the pleasure of owning the comics.

 

There are sure to be some surprises in the future on some more modern books that have been poo pooed now and come back to haunt you at a latter date when they become highly desirable. It's that uncertainty which makes modern books exciting.

[adams]

so..the "average collector" just stumbles across the landscape of the hobby

never doing his due diligence or looking further than the "Continued Next Issue" box ?

 

Doesn't say much for the "average collector" does it...?

 

Guess the "average collector" wears too small T-shirts, has BO and no social skills.

 

How sad, indeed, that it has come to this.

 

In regards to OS knowing the GA marketplace..

they will never lower their prices because their

dealer/supporters/advertisers would take a bath

on their inventory's value.

 

That will just not happen as long as everyone is holding hands

and singing Kumbayah !

[the blob]

Overstreet is "full retail", not ebay retail.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

What's the difference?

****************************************************************

 

Well, for one, I will always be willing to pay more for a "live" purchase that i can inspect, rather than a fuzzy image. Second, I don't need to pay shipping live and worry about bad packaging further injuring things. Third, less threat of being ripped off live.

 

So, ebay SHOULD almost always be cheaper than an in person purchase.

 

And the same goes for plenty of non-comic things that sell for less than retail price on ebay. Comics aren't the only things selling at a "discount"

 

Did you ever watch The Price Is Right? those prices were full "suggested retail". Didn't they mostly seem nuts? Well, and here we have OPG....

[the blob]

"The end result is that a $2.95 cover price book listed for $3 is STILL listed for $3

because it's really a $0.50 book that costs an extra $2+ to have it shipped to you."

 

Definitely true for buying an individual issue on ebay. Nothing is going to cost less than $2 total on ebay and it will usually be $3-$4. Mind you, many moderns will not sell as indivudal issues for this reason, but I'm always surprised when I have a mid-grade Ba book in my store for $2.50 that guides for $3/$/350 and someone buys it and is willing to pay $3 s/h for a total of $2 over guide. But I think the poster was talking about store and convention discount boxes.

[dzminn]

The OPG to me has always been more of a reference document. The 1st few I bought (about 20+ years ago) served as a wonderful resource to information involving publisher, time frames, artists etc.

 

The ability for an annual guide to accurately reflect prices at any given moment in time is impossible. Even a monthly guide is difficult, what with the wild price fluctuations that often occur on EBay. I think the wealth of information available on-line is a better resource than the OPG for pricing data.

 

I haven’t bought the guide on an annual basis for quite some time.

[JLA_ALL_THE_WAY]

I have always had a problem with comic guides being completely off when it comes it prices. Why does Overstreet have moderns at $3 - $5 when we all know they may be worth $.25 if lucky. Is it more work to type in $.25 or $1 rather than $4? And could they maybe be a little closer than 50% off market value? Come on - I don't expect perfect but 50% inflation is a bit much. I just expect a little more reality from a book that is not free.

 

Quick word of advice:

 

If you're thinking about venturing into the sportscard market...don't.

 

You think Overstreet is bad? Pick up a Beckett! Try to sell most of the listed cards for...10% of guide. Can't be done.

 

I stopped checking out actual sales on supposedly rare inserts and such on ebay; made me physically ill. I'll just hide mine in the garage where they'll remain entombed until my wife can bury them with me.

 

Rick

[joe_collector]

I stopped checking out actual sales on supposedly rare inserts and such on ebay; made me physically ill.

 

I know what you mean, and I'm not talking 90's trash, but prime 70's material. Prices are so depressed, it does make you physically ill.

 

And just think, we comic collectors have all that to look forward to.

[joe_collector]

The ability for an annual guide to accurately reflect prices at any given moment in time is impossible.

 

But OS doesn't even try - it's just a 5-15% jump to current prices, each and every year - which is why comics like price variants are so incredibly low-priced: they're a more recent find and 10% of $5 ain't gonna take you too far.

[adams]

Now that Overstreet lives in Hillbilly Heaven, Mississippi, how much

help will he get on a daily basis working on the Price Guide ?

 

Remember what happened when CBM went to Cochran in Nowheresville, Missouri ?

 

It is easier just to take the Lazy Man's way out and

add 5-10% every year to value..a true no brainer !

 

There are built in sales of the PG...but seasoned collectors

know that the true value of the PG goes DOWN every year...