New York Comic Show Pics

[joe_collector]

Exactly. Wait until the market turns from a sellers market to a buyers market. The burden will shift.

 

It won't take long now, The only people investing in comics now are retards and they don't have much cash anyway.

[Bugaboo-migration]

The only people investing in comics now are retards and they don't have much cash anyway.

Cash strapped person_having_a_hard_time_understanding_my_point link

 

[joe_collector]

He's a Magic Child!!!

 

Just wait til the tards burn through their bank acounts, and then what?

[Tomega]

TO ALL

Please define "reality" What should I price books at so you will spend lots of money or start buying runs in different grades? Can somebody please tell me that because quite frankly comments about dealers pricing stuff too high just isn't cutting it anymore. And my frustration on this is because it starts a whole new rambling of complaints of which never results in the bottom line - You spending more $$$$.

 

Here are the chain of events that I see comin

 

If the price is too low, there must be something wrong with it.

 

If it's not CGC graded, there must be something wrong with it.

 

It's probably overgraded, why would he give me such a great deal.

 

It's probably restored, why would he give me such a great deal.

 

I'd never sell the book this cheap, he must have ripped off some buyer to get it - Moral ramification threads to follow.

 

I can find it on ebay cheaper, besides everybody knows that grading on ebay is better than yours anyway.

 

Why won't he knock 25 - 50% off the price, other dealers I know do this. Yeah and most dealers that knock 50% off have the book price 50% higher than the grade, next result you pay the price he would have originally marked it at.

 

TO ALL

 

 

I would definitely agree with the cough cough's, I am finding a LOT of dealers are getting incredibly lazy (let's just grade the cover NM) and forget the rest shall we? But what does drive me crazy is one other forum comment - "All the dealers brought the same stuff". Really? Is my stock really the same? Have you looked? I know I've said this before but I cannot stock the 100 hottest books in NM for under guide. I wish I could. I'm expected to have a large selection and carry a big inventory but people do some work. And unfortunately Ebay causes a lot of these conversations

 

 

Bob -

I do not think any of posts were directed at you specifically but you hit some points. There are a few dealers at the shows that just price things out of reality, specifically on CGC'd books. I have bought raw books from you several times not so much for the right price but because you had what I was looking for ( you know me , I am always looking for X-men only in very high grade and picked up one from Ted when you walked over at the last Madison Square show.) To name a few , Motor City's and Yee's prices are so far out of line on some issues it is ridiculous - raw or cgc'd . Case in point - last time Yee had a X-men 26 CGC 9.2 for about twice what you have it listed for on your web site and nearly what you have a 9.4 for. I picked up the same issue cgc'd 9.4 for $325 on eBay from a reputable dealer and quite a few other similar cgc'd issues for about the same or lower price. So let me ask, and no criticizing intended - how does any dealer expect to move CGC inventory if the same item can be purchased for the half the price through eBay and Heritage? Between Showcase on eBay and Heritage, I purchased over 20 books - they must be making some money. I realize that dealers may have a time and work invested, but shouldn't some of the prices be more reflective of market. Obviously, eBay is not the end all to market indicators but it is a good baseline and part of the reality you were questioning. Keep in mind, I am referring to CGC'd material.

 

Your prices on raw books is in line and accurately graded, I have no problem paying over guide for the high grade raw stuff, but some other dealers have gone insane. In the past two years to three years, I have picked up about 15 or so raw books from you - all about guide to 1.5 guide and all high grade. I picked up a raw 9.4 X-men 63 for about twice guide from Ted , about what it should be. Those prices are what they should be ( I do not ever consider anything lower grade so I cannot give you an educated opinion on it.) There are quite a few dealers that seem to be charging CGC prices on raw material. 2, 3, 5 times guide - it is crazy. What is the point of doing that, why not just get it graded? I sometimes wonder if some dealers jack up their prices for shows because it just does not make sense. Those same dealers have very high prices at the show only to sell it on eBay for what is the perceived market value. Yee just sold a X-men 68 in 9.6 for $202, I do not think I've ever seen him list any silver 9.6 at anything even close. I think this hurts the shows and , obviously, hurts your business.

 

But what does drive me crazy is one other forum comment - "All the dealers brought the same stuff".

 

Every show I go seems to get weaker and weaker from my perspective, I really only concentrate on 3 dealers now - Ted, you, and Gary. There is really not much else to see. But that is because I am not looking. For what I am looking for , the inventories do not change much . Not that I commented on the static stock situation, I think buyers may have this view this because they are concentrating on fewer and fewer issues as prices go up and collections sizes increase. So I think it is more of the buyers who have tunnel vision ( like myself) rather then dealers having the same inventory. I am sure every show you have plenty of new items ( as with other dealers), we are just not looking.

 

Well that is my thoughts on it. This is not intended to be critical of you, my only complaint about you is it has been too long since you updated your rants and raves page. Perhaps this thread would be a a good topic for next time.

 

Tom

 

 

 

 

[FlyingDonut]

Exactly. Wait until the market turns from a sellers market to a buyers market. The burden will shift.

 

It won't take long now, The only people investing in comics now are retards and they don't have much cash anyway.

 

If this is true, why am I moving more books than ever before?

[joe_collector]

If this is true, why am I moving more books than ever before?

 

Because you're mostly selling to collectors.

 

If you start listing "NM+++ Guaranteed CGC 9.6 or higher Amazing Spider-man #4 - 6X Guide to Start!!" auctions, then I'll change my opinion.

[FlyingDonut]

If this is true, why am I moving more books than ever before?

 

Because you're mostly selling to collectors.

 

If you start listing "NM+++ Guaranteed CGC 9.6 or higher Amazing Spider-man #4 - 6X Guide to Start!!" auctions, then I'll change my opinion.

 

Its coming.

[ubiquiti]

If this is true, why am I moving more books than ever before?

But what % of your sales is going to forum members?

if it is minimal, then this is not super relevant, but still somewhat:

You now have a community/resource(these boards) who know of and respects your grading ability and integrity and are willing to pay a possibily higher price for books, or if nothing else that just have exposure to your auctions/sales that might not ever have - at least not with the confidence they have now.

It won't take long now, The only people investing in comics now are retards and they don't have much cash anyway.

Calling people who "invest" in comics retards is short-sighted and silly.

It depends on how long or short term the investment is. I guarantee if I had $5K to play with, I could turn it into $8-9K within 6 months, and not have to work too hard with comics. That is a waaaaay better short term investment than just about anything else out there.

Now if I bought $5K of books thinking short-term investment(6 months - buying what is "hot")), and decided to keep them for 5 years, I doubt I would make any money at all, in fact I would probably lose money.

There is not much argument comics are probably not a very good long term investment, but for someone as intelligent as you claim you are, that was not a very smart comment.

 

[delekkerste]

It depends on how long or short term the investment is. I guarantee if I had $5K to play with, I could turn it into $8-9K within 6 months, and not have to work too hard with comics.

 

Whoa, think about what you're saying there...if you could turn $5K into $8K every 6 months, you'd no longer be known as "ubiquiti", you would instead be known as "The Greatest Investor Who Ever Lived"! I've studied behavioral finance, and one of the biggest mistakes investors make is having overconfidence in your own abilities. To achieve returns anywhere in the same zip code as those you have described above, you would have to systematically beat the people on the other sides of your trades, which may include guys like BronzeBruce13, greggy, blazingbob, etc. These guys are no dummies and probably think themselves that they can systematically beat guys like you (which is also probably false - the reality is that it's tough to consistently outperform everybody else all the time).

 

Unfortunately, we do not live in Garrison Keilor's Lake Wobegon...we can't all systematically outperform the average, let alone blow it out of the water every 6 months!

 

Gene

[ubiquiti]

I understand what you are saying. But I wouldn't be competing against anyone here, pe se, as they would likely not be buying from me. And I doubt I would be competing against them much given my geographical location as far as buying product goes. Sun City is only 15 miles from my house and there are literally thousands of grannies looking to get rid of Sonny's funny books. I'm talking more about Donut's buy for 25 cents, sell for $5 theory.

 

[Bronty]

Yeah.. but using Gene's logic that would be getting paid for labour right? To oversimplify, I'm sure Gene would define "investing" as more of a passive activity, making money from your money as opposed to from your labor. Gene will correct me if he disagrees with my take on his argument.

[Foolkiller]

I was just rereading this...

 

This is actually an interesting story about the DD 7... because I've found at these smaller shows, you're more apt to find the great "deal". When I lived in Jersey, i used to go to the Wayne show, which had a small room, but you can get some of the best deals you'll ever find at that show. It didn't always have a killing in the line of silver, but some of the books I bought there were outstanding in terms of quality and price.

 

JP actually just wrote a market report in the most recent CBM, and I have to say, even though his take on the market and his somewhat inflated opinion about the shows he runs are a little off, he should be applauded for keeping those shows going with pretty decent interest over the years. Plus, JP is a pretty nice guy.

[blazingbob]

Making money is only when the book is "sold". In many cases I am not having a problem finding the books, it selling it. $5000 doesn't buy too many collections, in many cases you are stuck with books that don't sell (there's your profit). The trick is to find and turn over inventory which unfortunately is not the easiest thing to do in this business. Of course I could turn $5000 into $8000, it would be real easy if I did nothing but buy and sell the top 100 books, unfortunately somebody also is telling me I have to buy the other 900 that may or may take 5 years to sell. Compound that since 1992 and you have my inventory.

 

bob

[g-man]

bob,

what was your take on the NY show? What was being asked for and sold in your opinion?

g

[drbanner]

bob,

what was your take on the NY show? What was being asked for and sold in your opinion?

g

 

Do tell Bob!

 

And undoubtedly, a few short weeks later gman will procure said books...everyone be on the lookout for a marketplace post from G shortly!!

[g-man]

well i am sure SA ASM books, #129, FFs, etc etc....but usually each show has some books that tend to gain momentum and are asked about more and more......hey doesn't hurt to ask.

[Foolkiller]

Bob:

I'm not suggesting this because I want you to lower prices, so let me just put this as a caveat, and I know that you have to maintain a certain reputation regarding high grade material and what you do and do not carry...

 

But if you're carrying around so much inventory you don't really want, why not blow it out on your website or on ebay at 50% off? If it's all low grade or stuff you don't really want or need, take all that stuff and just sell it off. Now, I'm not really thinking this through right now or looking at the numbers, but if you did sell at lower prices I imagine you'd make some money quicker, but I guess less than you could over time. Plus, you could get rid of excess inventory you have no desire for, since you've probably already had many books, as you say, since 1992 or so. Over the years, I'm sure you've thought this already, but I guess I'm wondering what the down side is to my theory? I'm sure there is one, cause I guess you would have done it already...

[blazingbob]

George, you are an amazing man.

 

Why don't I just give the 100 hottest books so everybody can run to the shows and buy them instead of me. Why not just ask me to send you the $$$ and save you the work.

 

 

 

[jonnydouble]

And Bob....can you tell me where I could purchase these books at the lowest price??

[blazingbob]

Sure, no problem. Here is my best sources to buy the best books at the cheapest prices where you will be guaranteed to make money. I do this out of the goodness of my heart because I know it will come back to me 3X's over.

 

So to show how generous I am how about telling me your sources first?

 

Don't you trust me?