Can you out-deal a dealer?

[Thomas]

I've personally gotten some really great deals on Byrne pages from Jim Warden at www.whatashock.com and some pages I've previously seen still listed on his site for one price are now on ebay for higher from another dealer. Obviously this other dealer felt they were underpriced on Jim's site so bought them to flip and he's getting bids so he appears to be correct.

 

Anyways the point of my post is that several times when I bought stuff from Jim Warden I thought I got really great deals and negotiated everytime. One time I offered a price that I thought he would say no to and we'd negotiate from there but to my surprise he accepted my offer which made me very happy.

 

He's been the best dealer I've dealt with to date for friendliness, email replies, payment, packing, shipping, everything was great and I'd not hesitate to buy more from him in the future.

[Mighty Hal]

I've had some great responses to my question and I've got a good feel for the board and its members. Thanks to all.

 

One reason I posted was, I'd been contacted in the last month by two OA dealers that were uncertain of their own new offerings. One didn't seem to realize he had a pro's first professional cover in hand and the other asked me if I knew who the artist was on a piece of comic art. Amazingly enough, I did.

 

Because these Masters of OA didn't have all of the answers, I figured somebody here had probably made a real deal even when dealing with the pros. I think that's happened, too, from some of the responses. The Quesada cover, the Finch pieces, the Byrne pages...they all seem like steals.

 

And, Thomas, thanks for offering the www.whatashock.com address. Somehow, I'd never found it. If I wasn't up to my eyeballs in OA debt at present, I'd be contacting Jim Warden right now.

[ComicsAndCode]

Nope. Not yet. Actually, I lost on a purchase. I did an experiment over the summer....

 

I decided to buy a piece of artwork from Comic Con. But at the time of purchase, I intended to keep in my personal collection. I picked up a Byrne Hulk #314 page from Albert Moy (this has been mentioned on the board before) for $925. I visited a few other comic art dealers on the floor discussing the Hulk OA, and almost all of them said if I had bought it from Moy, then I pretty bought it at FMV. So then I thought to test this out by offering to the board and selling on eBay.

 

The best offer I got on the board was a little under $600 and many comments were made that the piece is nice, but not Byrne's best and would not go for more than $500 on eBay.

I listed on eBay and got $675 for it. I lost some money, but a small loss for me.

 

So if you end up buying OA from Albert Moy, you are likely paying 25-30% more than what it is worth at the time. I imagine this to be the case for many OA dealers. Unlike comic books, guidelines on how to assess the value of comic art are limited.

 

 

Ebay is often not FMV. The selling period is limited as it is not an online store wherein the piece can stay for sale for months until a buyer decides to buy it - it is a situation wherein the piece will sell (or not meet reserve) within a pre-determined time frame regardless of whether or not it is sold at FMV.

 

 

Also, the ability to buy from a dealer and sell at FMV also depends on the piece and the artist's popularity at the time. I'm sure I could pick out 10-20 pieces online right now (and not high dollar pieces - pieces in the $500 and less range) that could be bought and sold within a couple of weeks (on eBay even) for a 50-100% profit. I would not in any way say that buying from Moy (or any other dealer for that matter) is like paying 25-30% more than FMV just from your one experience.

 

Interest point, I never really though about the limited selling period when listing on eBay compared to purchasing directly from dealer who can have the piece available for months / years on end.