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What's the value of the Overstreet Price Guide to collectors?

Started by alecholland,

30 posts in this topic

alecholland

alecholland

Posted
Posted

Especially as it relates to the listed values of comic books in VF or lower grades for SA, BA, CA, and some (the more common) GA books.

 

I buy it and I enjoy reading the market reports and other information about trends and actual prices paid for certain key issues. I also like the cover gallery section and images throughout the guide of books I may not have seen before. I've been inspired by images in it to collect books outside the realm of collecting I originally planned.

 

But what is the point of telling me as a collector that my copy of Amazing Spider-Man 90 in Fine condition is worth $30 if I could never actually get $30 for it. I put $30 in my spreadsheet, but in the back of my head I know if that I put that puppy on Ebay, or tried to sell it on the boards, or set up a booth at a show, or even owned a comic shop, I would not get $30 for that comic - ever.

 

Is the function of the price guide to act kind of like a Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price? Is it really just more of starting point so that a seller can say, "I'm selling this book for 40% off OS guide prices." But if most people are selling the book at 40% off guide then isn't my Fine condition ASM 90 really only worth $18?

 

It works, I buy up books all day at 40% & 50% off guide. It's a great marketing tool. But I guess I'm just wondering what the value of that is to me as a collector?

 

Don't get me wrong, I like the OS price guide and use it all the time. This also isn't something that is limited to comic collecting either, it is every area of collecting where price guides are involved.

 

Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts?

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alecholland

alecholland

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It is a "guide" and nothing more...

 

Even so, shouldn't the prices listed be a little closer to actual realized prices? Otherwise, it's just mostly a book full of numbers. They could have my ASM 90 in Fine condition listed as being worth $30,000 and then when I sell it, because I know I could never get $30,000 for it, I'll say, "99.94% off OS guide prices!!" and get $18.

 

I understand that that isn't true of high grade comics, keys, and the rarer GA books, which is why I was limiting it to VF or lower grades on mostly SA and newer.

 

I can't sleep. I'm probably just rambling.

 

 

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Duffman_Comics

Duffman_Comics

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Posted

I have been buying the Guide since No 4.

 

Never missed an issue. Regarded it as the "Bible".

 

Then realised this year that I wasn't buying it for the so-called "data" of sales and associated prices. I was buying it for the Market Reports.

 

I get far more information on these Boards than is contained in said Market Reports. Additionally, I can actually interact with the poster of market news.

 

For mine it has lost relevance.

 

Although I'll still use it for insurance purposes :devil:

 

My 12c

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The Question?

The Question?

Posted
Posted

 

 

in circa 2008, the Overstreet CPG is now nothing more than a tradition for most collectors. It's real time relevance, and importance, has come and gone, but the habit of buying it for decades, has now assimilated into my very collecting fabrique.

 

 

that's how I see it at least...

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Blind Owl

Blind Owl

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All the above comments ring true!!!

 

I use the Overstreet Guide also knowing that some of the books are "higher" than OS or "lower" than OS and others are about right!!!!

 

Sure the pricing can be revamped, but as long as I know when a book should be higher or lower that's what matters to me. So I basically use it with this in mind.

 

Having said that, the main reason I like the OS Guide is that it is an excellent reference tool.

 

I can't tell you how many times I've looked in the guide to find out info about a book I know almost nothing about. I've been in this field a long time (early 60's) and always find something new that I didn't know almost every single year.

 

Summary: Overstreet Guide is still the top reference book in the hobby. especially for books printed after the Gerber Guides!!!! 'Nuff Said!!!!

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Varfleet

Varfleet

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Posted

Having gotten back into collecting last year, the OSPG was invaluable in giving me a range of what I could expect to pay for books I was looking for. Again, having started back collecting, I wasn't worried so much about grade as I was being able to fill up certain runs, and only after did I fulfill many of my goals did I start looking for better grades. But the differing values for the differing grades again allowed me to gauge what a sale was possibly worth against what I was willing to pay and to me, that was invaluable.

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skybolt

skybolt

Posted
Posted

I still buy the OS guide for the heck of it. It basically entertains me for a couple of days while I read the market reports, and update my spreadsheets for the fictitious price changes. In all honesty, I get way more information reading posts by knowledgeable forum members here on these boards!

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trmoore54

trmoore54

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I would generally agree with most of the sentiment here...it has drifted a bit into the nostalgic for our love of the Guide, but I still find it a handy reference and helpful in both buying and selling. As has been expressed, it does establish a market reference guide "value" which is just that, a reference point. Whereas much comic book buying and selling is now done over the internet, as a buyer we must expect some range in the grade being put forth...any given FN/6.0 being offered can well be a FN/VF or a VG+...that's a range of 2-1/2 grades or points...that's part of it, looking to pay a percentage of guide as you won't know if you agree with the grade until the book gets out of the bag and in hand...

 

Also, there's a psychology (always has been) on the buyer "looking to get a good deal" and feeling after the purchase, wow, I got that at half-guide...as in all markets, this stimulates/perpetrates buying and selling and furthers both the market and the hobby...For example, I just won ASM Annual #1 advertised by Heritage as G+ or 2.5...guide has this book at $86 in G/2.0, so figure about a hundred bucks for G+ (of course, in the back of your mind you might well think it a G/2.0)...so the guide helps me establish my maximum bid, in this case, $51 or half-guide and I won the book for 50 bucks...obviously one has to include the fees in the price but this is a known amount that gets factored into the bid...

 

Whether it is just habit and of lesser importance today, I always list the OS value reference in my selling items...perhaps it is reassuring to the new collector and/or someone who doesn't have the guide...but I usually include the GPA as well...in some cases, the value reference may be beneficial in establishing a reserve selling price for the book (although I don't like reserves as a seller or buyer and rarely use them) whereas you want to get at least X% of the guide value otherwise you don't want to sell the book...

 

It's just one piece of information, and as most of us are aware, armed with as much information as possible will be to our benefit in both buying and selling...I view the Boards as basically a modern outgrowth of the Guide...enabled by the new technology, we can share this information 24/7...this has become much more informational and I would say accurate, but I don't think I'll ever ditch my Guide... 2c

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Flaming_Telepath

Flaming_Telepath

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In many respects, the Guide has outgrown its usefulness. However, I wouldn't dismiss the prices listed so readily, especially on raw and the mid-grade stuff. Truth is, for retail bricks-and-mortar outlets, the $30 for a Fine ASM #90 is, if the book is accurately graded and well-presented in the store, a decent indicator of what can be achieved. Similarly, dealer web-sites with the large inventory and shopping basket affairs will also probably pick up similar sales.

 

Even at shows, if the book sells on the first day, rather than on 'make me an offer, any offer' Sunday, $30 or close to is achievable.

 

There simply isn't an alternative for raw prices, nor for common mid-grade Bronze and Silver. Prices on eBay are absolutely irrelevant and cannot be used to undermine Guide values. Yeah, a Fine copy of ASM #90 sold for $16 last week, but we all know that all bidders took it be a VG copy and set their bids appropriately. And you know what? It probably was a VG copy and so Overstreet doesn't look so far from the truth.

 

And as for the sales realised here on the boards being representative of the general market...they're not...they're not even close. What we have here is probably the most concentrated pool of knowledge and awareness anywhere in the comic community at any time. We have a constant stream of quality books from all eras and genres. On many occasions, we simply have too many books being offered for the size of the audience (have a look through some of the VCC results).

 

All of this exerts downward pressure on prices realised. To make a sale here, you have to have something special, or something cheap. Not so in the general market. Go look at prices at Metro, Mile High, Harley Yee, etc. etc.

 

They're not overpriced...they're simply selling to a different market. (thumbs u

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TupennyConan

TupennyConan

Posted
Posted
In many respects, the Guide has outgrown its usefulness. However, I wouldn't dismiss the prices listed so readily, especially on raw and the mid-grade stuff. Truth is, for retail bricks-and-mortar outlets, the $30 for a Fine ASM #90 is, if the book is accurately graded and well-presented in the store, a decent indicator of what can be achieved. Similarly, dealer web-sites with the large inventory and shopping basket affairs will also probably pick up similar sales.

 

Even at shows, if the book sells on the first day, rather than on 'make me an offer, any offer' Sunday, $30 or close to is achievable.

 

There simply isn't an alternative for raw prices, nor for common mid-grade Bronze and Silver. Prices on eBay are absolutely irrelevant and cannot be used to undermine Guide values. Yeah, a Fine copy of ASM #90 sold for $16 last week, but we all know that all bidders took it be a VG copy and set their bids appropriately. And you know what? It probably was a VG copy and so Overstreet doesn't look so far from the truth.

 

And as for the sales realised here on the boards being representative of the general market...they're not...they're not even close. What we have here is probably the most concentrated pool of knowledge and awareness anywhere in the comic community at any time. We have a constant stream of quality books from all eras and genres. On many occasions, we simply have too many books being offered for the size of the audience (have a look through some of the VCC results).

 

All of this exerts downward pressure on prices realised. To make a sale here, you have to have something special, or something cheap. Not so in the general market. Go look at prices at Metro, Mile High, Harley Yee, etc. etc.

 

They're not overpriced...they're simply selling to a different market. (thumbs u

 

Not only is this well written, logical, persuasive, and supported by reasonably accurate examples & hypotheticals, but it also comes with the best gallery of pics in the signature that we will see today & perhaps any other day, without the mods dropping the hammer.

 

If I buy the OSPG paperback rather than hardcover, it will soon fall apart, sending pages into the wind like an Eisner street scene.

 

I like to see all the OSPG adviser pics in the back. They're charming in the same way a HS yearbook's pics can charm. I think I will travel the world one year, not stopping until I've secured the inscriptions of each one of them under their respective pic.

 

To Tupenny, with Love....William Insignares :wishluck:

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Poe

Poe

Posted
Posted

Quote - Prices on eBay are absolutely irrelevant and cannot be used to undermine Guide values

 

Um.... no. How someone comes to the conclusion that the single biggest comic marketplace on planet earth is "irrelevant" is beyond me.

 

If I had to select one and only one location for someone to go to in order to get the most accurate, real world prices they could expect to get for their books eBay would be it.

 

The one thing I never see acknowledged by people in regards to the prices achieved there is that books actually sell for more than what people credit. Shipping, tracking, insurance, sales tax and other costs drive up the actual out of pocket price for buyers. Just because sellers aren't capturing/keeping those additional dollars doesn't mean comics aren't selling for more than people realize.

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Flaming_Telepath

Flaming_Telepath

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If I had to select one and only one location for someone to go to in order to get the most accurate, real world prices they could expect to get for their books eBay would be it.

 

With regard to raw books, which is what I stated I was talking about, eBay prices are irrelevant because you do not get what you pay for, and because the vast majority of people know this, they pay accordingly.

 

Everyone has a formula when bidding on raw on eBay, and everybody's formula involves taking a chunk off the grade. Some take it down one whole grade, others take a grade and a half...some even go the whole hog and take a couple of grades off the stated condition.

 

So on a 'Fine' book, they will maybe bid the VG- value (stangely using Overstreet as a 'Guide') and if they receive a VG- book (which they are very likely to), they're happy.

 

Having paid a VG- price for a VG- book.

 

Oh, and no matter where you buy, other than face to face, all of those 'hidden extras' come into play.

 

Is it still beyond you? (shrug)

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MrBedrock

MrBedrock

Posted
Posted
:o We agree :o

Very well put, Nick!

 

Actually, it's Doctor Watson...I've hijacked FT's account.

 

I'm going over to the NOD threads to start agreeing with you there, too. :insane:

 

 

help2.jpg

Either Doc has tied up FT, or FT has tied up Doc... hm

Sounds like another win-win situation!

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Poe

Poe

Posted
Posted

FT, you clearly didn't understand the point I was making about the additional fees.

 

I see nothing but a sea of posts from sellers on all kinds of comic boards complaining about the price they achieved on their auctions and how far off of "guide" value it was.

 

They only look at it from their frame of view taking out listing fees, final value fees, paypal fees and any other expense and are actually looking at their profit, not the actual total selling price of the book. Even sans fees if you look at just the ending price I'm sure it seems to them the comics sell for ridiculously low amounts when compared to the values listed in the Overpriced Street Guide.

 

People need to step back and say to themselves - Hey, when I total up the ending price, the shipping and insurance and everything else this comic achieved a total price of X. I still maintain people are underestimating the actual prices realized by raw comics on eBay because they don't account for the total amount actually forked out for the books.

 

But since you consider eBay to be irrelevant might I ask you what you consider to be the most accurate reflection of real world prices for raw books available to the collecting community?

 

 

 

 

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