Did anyone Fiddle on Sunday while Ebay burned?

[Guest]

I sure hope the guys over at Heritage took note of the winning prices on pre 1970 Marvels on Ebay this weekend before they schedule auctions of another 10 million dollars worth of merchandise in their next series of upcoming auctions. Anyone here notice, or get hit with "debris" as the "bricks" tumbled down.

[greaterfool]

hey meth: give us the figures and facts on the "crash".

[CGCMINT]

what the heck are you talking about?

 

John

 

[clobberintime]

I think I caught a couple of the bricks - a 9.4 Spidey 77 for about $150 and better yet a Journey 83 8.0 for under $3000! I could not believe that price - that book should be in the $4000 to $4500 range. I also saw a Spidey 14 9.0 that met reserve at $2000 but not sure what it closed at. I was interested in a couple of the Wetsern Penn books but they still went for good prices. Also saw Sully got a 9.0 Str Tales 114 at $500 ( have seen it sell before at $800+) and Cap 109 9.6 at $250! There were some deals to be had this weekend for sure.

[Guest]

Hey "greaterfool"...I love your In-N-Out Burger avatar. Mouth...watering...must get Double Double...Animal Style...oh wait, I'm in New Jersey now

[greaterfool]

hey tinkerer: thanks - sorry you have moved out of in n out territory, but you'll probably live longer living near them is definitely like living near the casino (or the comic book store).

[sullypython]

I agree -

 

I couldn't believe I got the ST 114 CGC 9.0 for $499. I have been involved in the bidding for the last three high grade copies of that book (I lost a 9.2 for $950) and won a 9.0 for $710. I think the third one ended at over $800. I think the reason for the low ending price was that the seller used a high opening bid as opposed to a low opening bid and a reserve. People are more likely to pass on those auctions, even though the opening bid was below market.

 

Amazingly enough on the Cap 109 CGC 9.6, the $255 I paid for it was $25 more than the same seller listed it for last week. The buyer never contacted him so he relisted it at a higher price due to how fast the BIN was hit.

[supapimp]

sully,

 

nice score on the STT 114, i've always loved that book . now if only i can find a STT 107 in CGC 9.0.

 

supa

[sullypython]

I actually got a CGC 9.0 copy from Mark Wilson at the PGCMint for decent price (under $450 I think). It was listed at $550 but I made a big purchase and he gave me around 20% off. I have seen them go for over $650 in the last 6 months.

[clobberintime]

I actually have a 9.2 #107 .... but it is mine, all mine!!!!!(Diabolical laughter).

[supapimp]

oh yeah! i'll just snipe your auctions from now on. BWWHHHAAAAAAAA

[clobberintime]

Oh yeah? Well I am a sniper too - so you will never know exactly what to bid on - so i guess you will just have to bid on all of 'em! I just checked that spidey 14 9.0 from last night and it went for $2025! That is the lowest price on that book since before the new gude came out and well below Overstreet even! There has also been a big "contraction" in ebay listings over the last week - it is down by 20 pages! I believe the all time high was about 80 pages of cgc books and now it is about 57. That may be a good thing though - lighter supply may help prop up prices as there has been a flood of cgc books lately.

[aardvark88]

Wait until after cgc processes their San Diego con backlog over the next 2 wks. Then the deluge will start on eBay.

[Guest]

"What the heck am I Talking about"

 

CGCMint, I'm talking about the phenomenon that everyone that's posted above is talking about in relation to my thread opener. Record LOW prices, not just on RAW books, but on CGC PRIME material that looks to be accurately graded..not "sliders". Where were you this weekend when CGC 9.0 to 9.4 Spidermans were going at 50% off, sale prices?

Hulks and DDs being driven by HYPE at the moment, SPIDERMAN issues are the barometer, the heirarichal gravitational center of the Silver age market. And how goes the Silver age market, goes the rest of the marketplace eventually. Being a microcosm, or macrocosm of the hobby, however you wish to personally interpret Ebay, the way Ebay goes, so does the hobby as well.

Anyone that knows anything about Sportscards knows that historically, certain players cards can rise and fall pricewise based on player performance and hype, but the true measure, the true barometer of the hobby could be measured by the MANTLE cards and how the demand and pricing went on these pieces. SAME with Spiderman, that's the title, that's the character that sets the Silver age standard.

With what I'm holding, no one wants it to be a false premonition more than me, but to ignore what was VERY evidently a disticnt pattern, the past 3 weeks on Ebay, and where the road led on Sunday...dozens of highly desireable books with NO BIDS AT THE OPENER that would have been GOBBLED 10 times over if that price were a Buy It Now about 2 months ago...would be like sticking your head in the sand.

 

A tip: Don't disagree and discount just for the sake of it. Look first. Then you can ignore the events if you don't mind appearing out of touch with reality.

[supapimp]

clobberin,

 

nah, i don't think it's a contraction thing, it's a time to use reserve prices, but eBay made sure to screw you on the listing fees with anything with a reserve over $250.

 

supa

[Guest]

"There were some deals to be had for sure this weekend"

 

As the fan closes, there will be even better deals as the weekends progress, Clobberin. What exactly did the two in one HeritageAuctions teach us, and what monumental effects did an auction of that magnitude have on the industry:

 

1)it showed us that these Marvels (NONE of which Gerber even ascribed more than a '4' to, with MOST being '2s' on the 1-10 rarity scale) are NOT so scarce, even in high grade.

2)The same way that the Manning Auctions put CGC on the map, giving the hobby the incentive, the impetus to BUY, Slab, BUY, Slab, at record, somewhat insane prices at that time, thereby initiating the opening of the "fan" or rise and fall cycle, the Heritage auctions, the Cage part AND Heritage part, signaled to many who interpreted it as a signal to SELL. For a long time, there wasn't much on Ebay in the way of real quality, unless of course the reserves were astronomical. Sort of a "If they're stupid enough to pay it, I'm stupid enough to take it" mentality. All of a sudden, the books of quality ARE appearing again on Ebay, and the formerly unreasonable are now quite sensible. By magic? NO....by copying what they saw in the Heritage offerings. A melding, putting the melds on the table before the OTHER guy turns over his last card and takes the pot. There will be ever increasing quality books on Ebay now, with more and more "Bargains".

Believe me, I wish it weren't true. Everytime I look at the boxes on my shelves, my inventory list from my safety deposit ledger boxes, and the CGC slabs lining my wall shelving, I wish I had started melding at least 75% of what's there, 6 months ago, because my head isn't stuck in the sand. And neither are the heads of the sellers who let books go for such bargains this weekend. It will turn out, in the coming weeks and months, that the prices they realized last weekend, weren't such "giveaways" after all. It's early yet.

[clobberintime]

What the heck is going on in that picture? Being in the Harley capital of the universe, i am used to seeing lots of tatoos - is that guy covered in tats or is that some kind of funky shirt and what is going on with the person beside him? And i definitely would not be putting up any big time books on ebay without a reserve. I think old Meth may be right - the hottest book on the planet for the last 8 months- Spidey 14 9.0- selling for about $900 below guide is a definite sign of a cool down. I do not think it is a melt down though- and i think it will be a great time to be a buyer before the next upswing which I bet will be this spring about the time convention season and big movie openings start- just like last year and the year before.

[Rickdogg]

I've noticed a decline in ebay sales as well. I always set reasonable reserves to preserve the BIN option as long as possible for the buyers that "just cant wait." Last week was the first time in a long long time that I have ever had to re-list cgc books. Oh well, hehe.

[clobberintime]

Why so pessimistic all of a sudden? I think the recent slump is just coincidental to the big auction last week. This slump happens every year. I remember last year buying a 9.4 Hulk 102 and FF 48 9.2 for about $1000 combined. I have every confidence and belief that it is just part of the regular cycle of things and now and for the next few months will be a great time to buy gold and silver. By the way - I just received some books I won a while ago from Heritage and one is a 7.0 Batman #7 with slight p -cover cleaned and it is an incredible looking book. I think I paid under $500 for it! I don't buy a lot of gold - mainly buy covers and that is a great book. The bullseye is very bright and the whites look like new! But if it is a big fall- off I intend to get every great book i ever dreamed of and I am sure there are several collectors thinking the same. I have some books I have bought specifically for investment and if things are on a long downward trend, I will just hold the books as will others with those kind of books I bet.

[Guest]

Not pessimistic at all. Markets are subject to correction. All markets. Some regain the same levels they attained, like the stock market...er' wait a minute..never mind that. Other markets don't come NEAR the levels and activity once attained, like the SILVER (the element itself) market ( like comics, the demand and hype being created due to the efforts of one extremely well-heeled Buyer ). That's not pessimism, that's history, and that's one of the reasons why we STUDY history in school as part of a MANDATORY curriculum.