US dollar, euros and comics...

[Sir Ped of Ro]

to everyone

 

either you be a buyer or a seller, does the significant difference between the 2 mentioned currencies have an impact on your buying/collecting/and or selling activities?

 

regards

[goldust40]

Sterling's strength against the dollar has made it easier to buy, but harder to sell (to U.S. collectors mainly).

 

And the U.K. hasn't joined the Euro. Yet.

[arexcrooke]

Sterling's strength against the dollar has made it easier to buy, but harder to sell (to U.S. collectors mainly).

 

And the U.K. hasn't joined the Euro. Yet.

It affects me every time I go to Andy's site as I have to go and figure out what the exchange rate and the actual (my cost) of a potential book im looking at might be.

Nice slabbed Thors in 9.4 Andy

[goldust40]

Sterling's strength against the dollar has made it easier to buy, but harder to sell (to U.S. collectors mainly).

 

And the U.K. hasn't joined the Euro. Yet.

It affects me every time I go to Andy's site as I have to go and figure out what the exchange rate and the actual (my cost) of a potential book im looking at might be.

Nice slabbed Thors in 9.4 Andy

 

I know, I know. Can't recall where I picked 'em up.

[Stronguy]

As they Euro started making gains against the dollar I noticed a huge increase in European buyers. Same for the English with the pound.

[arexcrooke]

Sterling's strength against the dollar has made it easier to buy, but harder to sell (to U.S. collectors mainly).

 

And the U.K. hasn't joined the Euro. Yet.

It affects me every time I go to Andy's site as I have to go and figure out what the exchange rate and the actual (my cost) of a potential book im looking at might be.

Nice slabbed Thors in 9.4 Andy

 

I know, I know. Can't recall where I picked 'em up.

I wouldnt mind eventually getting them back too

[robyx-migration]

Just need to raise a few points:

 

1. A few years ago everyone in Europe with the slightest economical sense or education knew that the USD would drop. Obviously the high-end buyers would know more then the others.

 

2. Id doesn’t matter much if UK have Euro or not, because they are part of the European Union.

 

Stronguy; nor am I a typical financial person or an expert but by guess would be that your observations are a coincidence.

 

Point being; you need to have collectors blood to collect and the persons using more then nothing knew how weak the USD was/would be.

 

r

[Raphael]

for some reason UK buyers give me problems about the shipping prices from Canada

[evilsly]

it's because canada posts airmail rates are much higher than the US posts, and most uk buyers can't tell the difference.

 

personally I never have a problem with high shipping costs, if thats what it costs. It's blatant profiteering (hello ebay) that annoys me.

[unmovedmover]

As they Euro started making gains against the dollar I noticed a huge increase in European buyers. Same for the English with the pound.

 

about 4-5 years ago I was REAL big into selling CCG cards and I noticed one day that about 80% of my buyers were coming from Europe AND I was making more money than I had when I was selling mainly to the US.

[deathlok]

I never knew Sterling was that strong, must all those horror books he collects.

[Monkeyman]

I used to have to pay $1.60 Canadian for one US$, now it is about $1.10. I still spend the same amount of C$s, but it translates into a lot more comic books. Unfortunately, I haven't benefited much from the rise in the market over the last few years because I have lost almost 50% on currency. It is a double edged sword, but definitely promotes buying for me.

[Stronguy]

Stronguy; nor am I a typical financial person or an expert but by guess would be that your observations are a coincidence.

 

Not a coincidence to more than a few buyers. Several of the frequent overseas buyers told me they were buying higher end, more expensive comics because they were much cheaper than they had been in previous years.

[Sir Ped of Ro]

Stronguy; nor am I a typical financial person or an expert but by guess would be that your observations are a coincidence.

 

Not a coincidence to more than a few buyers. Several of the frequent overseas buyers told me they were buying higher end, more expensive comics because they were much cheaper than they had been in previous years.

 

i also have that "impression"...the same seems to apply to small high end value lots.

 

regards

[robyx-migration]

(Some editing

 

To me it’s the same talks as when property shoots up to crazy double-prices in 2-3 years. The only persons that have made money on this are people in their 50’s who get houses left of dead parents. All others are loosing, because you live in a 2 room @ 100k, sell it for 200k, earn 100k, but then you have to pay 400k for a house (that used to 200k) and you end up loosing overall. (You are down 200k instead of a 100 (even if you “earned” 100k on the apartment).

 

And to think that people buy books now because the USD is cheap can not be right. Because to do that, you will think that the USD will get stronger, and no one believes in that; not even comic-collectors 

 

My guess is that collectors in Europe (in particular France/Belgium/Germany/Denmark/Norway/Sweden) have learned more about CGC & US Comics. In these countries you will see that the price of a VG/FN compared to a NM- will be about double price……

 

r

[delekkerste]

I'd seriously like to know how much of the overall annual comic collecting pie is accounted for by foreign buyers who live in countries that have experienced significant currency strengthening vs. the U.S. dollar (remember, a lot of countries have currencies pegged officially or unofficially to the dollar and haven't benefited from the dollar's weakness in the past few years). Everyone has anecdotal stories, and I don't doubt that the weak dollar is spurring more buying by foreign collectors, but it sounds like there is more hype than reality to me - nothing like the Japanese snapping up all those prized buildings, artwork, etc. in the 1980s, for example.

[the blob]

And to think that people buy books now because the USD is cheap can not be right. Because to do that, you will think that the USD will get stronger, and no one believes in that; not even comic-collectors 

 

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Me: If they're buying for their personal collections without intending to sell any time soon, then the strategy of buying now while the U.S. dollar is acting like the Mexican Peso or Turkish Lira makes sense. Just like it would have made sense to buy an apartment in Buenos Aires 3 or 4 years ago given that prices had dropped about 75% vs. the dollar due to the crash of their currency, I wish I had, I'd have a place to stick my mother right now!

 

This is pretty simple. It's going on elsewhere in the economy. Manhattan apartment prices have continued to rise despite RE dipping nationally. It isn't just because Wall Street handed out huge bonuses last December, a lot of it is because Europeans, mainly, see Manhattan real estate as a "deal" right now with the conversion rates. It is much less expensive than London and I suspect a lot of other European capitals. There was a whole article on the newly rich Irish rushing in and buying apartments in Manhattan because it is apparently every Irishman's dream to own a piece of Manhattan. European tourists come to the U.S. and are loading up on whatever they can take home, it's practically half price for them compared to 5-7 years ago.

 

Were it not for trade protections and what not, this would help the U.S. a lot more in terms of imports to Europe, although I believe it has helped some.

 

As for China, not as much of an impact because the Chinese government makes their currency weak in order to make imports expensive. Dunno where Japan is in the mix right now.

 

Yes, i know, comics aren't real estate or shoes or jeans, but you get the idea.

 

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I'd seriously like to know how much of the overall annual comic collecting pie is accounted for by foreign buyers who live in countries that have experienced significant currency strengthening vs. the U.S. dollar (remember, a lot of countries have currencies pegged officially or unofficially to the dollar and haven't benefited from the dollar's weakness in the past few years).

 

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Probably not a huge piece, but the European countries on the Euro (all of Western Europe, practically), the U.K. and Canada have all seen their currencies rise vs. the dollar in a dramatic fashion. On a per capita basis it sure seems like Canadians collect comics in numbers on par or more than the U.S., so it's kindah like having an extra California in there. U.K. less so, but still plenty of collectors. Western Europe, I don't know, although the Scandinavians are supposedly crazy about Donald Duck... I'd think that, based on strereotypes the Germans wouldn't have time for this childish stuff, they're busy engineering something and the French have such contempt for America that they want nothing to do with our silly comics.

 

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As for me, I don't think I have enough high end stuff for sale for it to have impacted me. Not to mention, I started selling comics more heavily as the dollar was dropping, so I have little prior experience.

[the blob]

Anyone who doesn't believe this, please visit London this summer. You will more fully appreciate how the value of the dollar has dipped. This is from someone who spent the first 35 years of his life living in Manhattan, so I'm kindah used to things being a bit expensive.

[lou_fine]

I used to have to pay $1.60 Canadian for one US$, now it is about $1.10. I still spend the same amount of C$s, but it translates into a lot more comic books. Unfortunately, I haven't benefited much from the rise in the market over the last few years because I have lost almost 50% on currency. It is a double edged sword, but definitely promotes buying for me.

 

Monkeyman;

 

Exactly right as this drop in the U.S. greenback is most definitely a double-edged sword.

 

Everytime this topic comes up, 99% of the posters talk only about the great buying opportunity which they now have. Really surprised that virtually nobody ever talks about the huge financial pounding their collection just took.

[tth2]

And to think that people buy books now because the USD is cheap can not be right. Because to do that, you will think that the USD will get stronger, and no one believes in that; not even comic-collectors 

Hi Rob, glad to see you posting again! I agree with you that the buyer has to be a collector first and foremost, because comics would be a terrible way to play exchange movements. There are much easier assets to do that.

 

Having said that, I don't think a foreign buyer has to believe the USD will get stronger in order to be spending more. If good quality stuff is coming up, and he was paying "X" Pounds, Euros or Aussie dollars (let's not forget there's been massive appreciation in that currency too) a few years ago and now can buy the same book for 30-50% less in terms of Pounds, Euros, etc., he's going to buy it, and maybe bid a little more aggressively for it because he's still getting it cheaper compared to his mental benchmarks.

 

My guess is that collectors in Europe (in particular France/Belgium/Germany/Denmark/Norway/Sweden) have learned more about CGC & US Comics. In these countries you will see that the price of a VG/FN compared to a NM- will be about double price……

You're absolutely right, I think this has been a big factor too.