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Do you keep two collections?

Started by fantastic_four,

23 posts in this topic

fantastic_four

fantastic_four

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I've been wanting to start selling books for a few months now, but I can't wrap my mind around the concept!!! I'm a Marvel completionist, and I keep blowing my comics budget on stuff that I really don't want to sell or trade. And there's still a lot of stuff I want!!! To get over my selling hump, I'm thinking I should bite the bullet, set aside a certain amount of money and/or comics from my collection into a pool, and only use assets from that pool to buy books with the intent to sell them. I'm currently planning to keep the value of the pool fixed, with any profits or losses going out of the pool and into my personal comics budget.

 

Do any of you guys who both collect and sell do this, or do you have no distinction between what you own and what you sell? And if you have no distinction--how can you bear to part with your books?!!? smile.gif

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blowout

blowout

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I haven't sold very many books either. I must admit it is very difficult to part with them. I find it especially hard to sell upgrades, I always seem to hang onto the lower grade copies. crazy.gif

I have a long standing bunch of stuff set aside to sell, mostly books that I am no longer interested in or have stopped collecting. Whether I will ever get around to parting with them is a whole different story. makepoint.gif

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drbanner

drbanner

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Don't know how it happened...but one day I opened my closet and suddenly found myself w/6 or 7 long boxes of books for sale! 893whatthe.gif My "for sale" collection started off as strictly duplicates, then with the advent of ebay and the ease at which books became liquid, I found myself buying books with the direct intent to sell (aka flipping), and the next thing you know I'm buying collections. My personal collection has been the primary benefactor of my for-sale collection, and there is a distinct set of books in each.

 

The concept of keeping the "for sale" pool at a fixed value is counterproductive if your intent is to sell to fund your obsession. You need to reinvest some of the profit in inventory if you want to grow the amount you earn...so you can buy more books for your own collection! 893applaud-thumb.gif

 

Finally, I think if you have a diversified collection (gold, silver, bronze, multiple genres and publishers), it's easier to let some of it go than if you have one, focused, type of book you collect. Every once in a while I'll go through the boxes and pull out some good stuff to sell and buy something a little different...just to keep it fresh. grin.gif

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drbanner

drbanner

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I find it especially hard to sell upgrades, I always seem to hang onto the lower grade copies.

 

While I know many collectors are hoarders and have multiple copies of books, I find this concept totally illogical!!! I'd rather sell the lower grade, buy something I don't have, and end up with two different books, but obviously not everyone feels the same. What's up with that!?!? confused-smiley-013.gif

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greggy

greggy

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I find it especially hard to sell upgrades, I always seem to hang onto the lower grade copies.

 

While I know many collectors are hoarders and have multiple copies of books, I find this concept totally illogical!!! I'd rather sell the lower grade, buy something I don't have, and end up with two different books, but obviously not everyone feels the same. What's up with that!?!? confused-smiley-013.gif

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blowout

blowout

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I find this concept totally illogical!!! I'd rather sell the lower grade, buy something I don't have, and end up with two different books, but obviously not everyone feels the same

 

It IS illogical, I can't explain it either. insane.gifgrin.gif

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greggy

greggy

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I find this concept totally illogical!!! I'd rather sell the lower grade, buy something I don't have, and end up with two different books, but obviously not everyone feels the same

 

It IS illogical, I can't explain it either. insane.gifgrin.gif

Just sell your gems like I have and don't back! Buy better gems! insane.gif
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greggy

greggy

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I've got duplicates in my collection that I do need to sell. Most have been in my collection for over 20 years and I will sell them one day, I surely will....

 

one day....but not today! smirk.gif

I have way too many duplicates. Have to dump most of them raw on the forums eventually! Hate selling raw books on eBay! 893frustrated.gif
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fantastic_four

fantastic_four

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Just sell your gems like I have and don't back! Buy better gems! insane.gif

 

In your case, you seem to have gotten sick of Marvel and gone over to the Dark side of Collecting (DC), leaving you with all the Marvels you bought a while back to sell. Once all your Marvels are gone, will you continue to sell?

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greggy

greggy

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Just sell your gems like I have and don't back! Buy better gems! insane.gif

 

In your case, you seem to have gotten sick of Marvel and gone over to the Dark side of Collecting (DC), leaving you with all the Marvels you bought a while back to sell. Once all your Marvels are gone, will you continue to sell?

Yep...got sick and tired of them long time ago. Plus, they bring better $$. I'll sell whatever multiples I have of my DCs plus any runs/titles that don't interest me. No biggie because I have tons of multples. Most of them probably won't get CGC'd before they are sold but they will get sold.

 

P.S. I'll show you what DCs that I am willing to sell in a few weeks when my friggin' economy submission finally comes back! tongue.gif

 

Also, I do buy "quality" Marvels raw to grade and flip! insane.gif

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greggy

greggy

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Marvel whore!
Another brilliant response from Todd. Man, I thought that your stupidty was quarantined in the Water Cooler! insane.gif
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fantastic_four

fantastic_four

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My "for sale" collection started off as strictly duplicates, then with the advent of ebay and the ease at which books became liquid, I found myself buying books with the direct intent to sell (aka flipping), and the next thing you know I'm buying collections. My personal collection has been the primary benefactor of my for-sale collection, and there is a distinct set of books in each.

 

So how do you find the self control to buy books with the direct intent to sell as opposed to buying books you want for your own collection? Do you already have everything you want? 893whatthe.gif

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deathlok

deathlok

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FF, I am wrestling with the same problem. Although I think I will start out small, selling off my dups and lower grades. I don't think I could part with my Hg stuff. I just have to stop spending money on stuff I don't collect. Just today I bought a early Superman book. Arghhh!!

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BronzeBruce13

BronzeBruce13

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I find it especially hard to sell upgrades, I always seem to hang onto the lower grade copies.

 

While I know many collectors are hoarders and have multiple copies of books, I find this concept totally illogical!!! I'd rather sell the lower grade, buy something I don't have, and end up with two different books, but obviously not everyone feels the same. What's up with that!?!? confused-smiley-013.gif

 

With the exception of a truly HTF key I want to hold a spare of, or one I feel is not "ripe" enough to move yet... I almost immediatly offer my undercopy (or same grade, I like less copy) once upgrading. In some case, I'll send out "pre-sale feelers" to see who might be interested before I receive the upgrade, but I always wait until it arrives so I can scrutinize the 2 together. If its an improvement... seeya' under or "like less" copy, thanks for the memories! If not, I curse at my luck and sell the new one and throw out my line again.

 

893frustrated.gif

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BronzeBruce13

BronzeBruce13

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JR.. I do maintain 2 inventories. My "for sale" CGC boxes contain my undercopies, speculative buys (from eBay, bulk dealer/collector buys, etc)... and books that I feel don't make sense to hold for various reasons. My "personal collection" is generally off limits, but occasionally I'll sell an item out of it for an excellent offer if I feel the odds are in my favor to replace it.

 

Is holding all your duplicates "retentive" too... because I can let mine go

 

27_laughing.gif

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fantastic_four

fantastic_four

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Is holding all your duplicates "retentive" too... because I can let mine go

 

From what I've noticed, intentionally holding duplicates is done out of laziness, out of hope that the dupe will rise in value during the time held, or out of a desire to keep high grade stuff out of the hands of the competition!!!

 

That last reason I've begun to suspect over the last few months when I hear these stories where there are two copies of a given issue in 9.6 or 9.8 and one person owns them both. I guess they could just be holding both to wait for the value to rise...but if not, I wish a pox on those greedy over-competitive bastards!! shocked.giftongue.gif27_laughing.gif

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