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Post your Garage Sale/Flea Market/Antique Mall Finds Here
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15,807 posts in this topic

Craigslist used to be great, but things like Facebook marketplace and other apps have taken over for the most part. Especially in the last year or two.

I still sometimes get hits, I've had one this year so far. It's not completely dead. I still seem to get a deal once every 3-4 months.

As for garage sales, I may go out maybe once a year.

 

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CL has been pretty dead here for a couple of years as far as comic specific listings, but it's still the best place to spot ads for promising garage sales. Usually I'll take a look at all of the garage/yard/estate sale listings, and if they have pics that contain anything in the ballpark of the stuff I'm looking for, I'll give them a try. Lots of misses, but a few hits, for sure; at least enough to keep me getting up early on Saturday mornings to give em a look! CL seems to still be the place for these general sale ads, as opposed to the local paper or FB.

 As for specific listings for comics and toys, they've mostly moved to FB. FB marketplace was a great hunting ground for a while, but market being what it is now, deals are few and far between, and there are a lot more sharks on FB looking for that same stuff. The good times are over, in that regard.

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A few tips that have helped me over the years.

1. Advertising. It might cost you a little but if you are diligent, it pays off. You need to go all in for the long haul. I get people calling me from ads placed years ago.

2. Reputation and consignment. I've gotten referrals from friends, family and repeat customers. If they are skeptical then I work on consignment and help sell for them. Sometimes I feel like a comic book broker. 

3. Maybe the most important. Work with your local dealers, and help them stay in business. Often they do not have the expertise or bankroll to work out bigger deals. Rather than simply take advantage of your local dealer, I'll often keep them aware of the latest exploding prices. In return we will sometimes work deals together for larger buys. This cooperation is key to a healthy relationship where both of you continue to win. 

 

Edited by Rip
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3 hours ago, Robot Man said:

I gave that up long ago. Nothing turns up anymore at random garage sales. I just burn gas, waste my time and come home with stuff I don’t need just to come home with something.

25 years ago, when I was managing a store, one of my many jobs was to troll the local garage sales on the weekend as part of our acquisitions efforts. This was in an affluent suburban area, so while many weekends were strikeouts, there were enough hits that it was worth my time and trouble. Especially in the early fall, when there was always the annual crop of "kid went to college, parent garage sale'd off his comic collection".

If I was still running a storefront, I don't know that I'd spend the time to do that now. Probably still the fall runs there, though.

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11 hours ago, Qalyar said:

25 years ago, when I was managing a store, one of my many jobs was to troll the local garage sales on the weekend as part of our acquisitions efforts. This was in an affluent suburban area, so while many weekends were strikeouts, there were enough hits that it was worth my time and trouble. Especially in the early fall, when there was always the annual crop of "kid went to college, parent garage sale'd off his comic collection".

If I was still running a storefront, I don't know that I'd spend the time to do that now. Probably still the fall runs there, though.

Way back in the “old days” it wasn’t real hard to find cool stuff at garage sales. But a lot of time has passed. Many of those old houses have been cleaned out and sold to a new generation. Unusual to find pre 1970 comics and toys anymore. 

I have no interest in stuff from the ‘80’s to the present. I’m sure there is still a fair amount of that stuff for you younger folks. 

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11 hours ago, Dr. Dank said:

I troll these forums, you trawl garage sales

Indeed. I'm going to blame autocorrect and late-night phone posting there. Which I suppose means my phone was trolling my trawling.

18 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

Way back in the “old days” it wasn’t real hard to find cool stuff at garage sales. But a lot of time has passed. Many of those old houses have been cleaned out and sold to a new generation. Unusual to find pre 1970 comics and toys anymore. 

I have no interest in stuff from the ‘80’s to the present. I’m sure there is still a fair amount of that stuff for you younger folks. 

I think there's probably still some SA/BA out there in garage sale lots. But even then, most of what we picked up was < 10 years old. That did mean dodging the huge boxes of Valiant stuff that was everywhere (look, no one ever expected any of that to sell again...), but there was plenty of quick turnaround material. There's still a good chance to pull wins that way today (UF4 comes to mind), but there are probably fewer of that sort of collection in general, and a higher percentage of stuff with zero turnaround interest.

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On 5/3/2021 at 11:13 AM, Robot Man said:

Way back in the “old days” it wasn’t real hard to find cool stuff at garage sales. But a lot of time has passed. Many of those old houses have been cleaned out and sold to a new generation. Unusual to find pre 1970 comics and toys anymore. 

I have no interest in stuff from the ‘80’s to the present. I’m sure there is still a fair amount of that stuff for you younger folks. 

You may have no interest, but right now there may be a lot more money in recent (post 1980)  stuff than buying piles of Dells from the 50s-70s. 

Edited by the blob
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1 hour ago, Robot Man said:

I guess I just don’t want to buy dollar books and sell them for $5-10. And hope I can dump them before they fall out of favor. 

Yeah bought some Dell’s over the years but I’m talking about buying dollar books like these. 

B8CCBB4D-9DEE-4C8A-9252-70BBA6E6C498.jpeg

30AF8965-9101-43DB-8464-293E03A481B4.jpeg

885881F1-907A-41AC-94B6-E574982EB4E4.jpeg

 

tenor-9.gif

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1 hour ago, yecul said:

Picked up a couple Funky Enterprises posters. These are the felt posters that should react to a black light (haven't tested). From '96 and '97. Definitely prefer the Surfer one! Fairly well worn but fortunately mostly at the border.

 

20210506_155416.jpg

Last time I saw that Surfer poster I was in a goth shop in the 2000s!

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On 5/6/2021 at 3:56 PM, yecul said:

Picked up a couple Funky Enterprises posters. These are the felt posters that should react to a black light (haven't tested). From '96 and '97. Definitely prefer the Surfer one! Fairly well worn but fortunately mostly at the border.

 

20210506_155416.jpg

Is that Art Adams on the X-Men? (Ramos?, hard to see features) Seems like Grindberg on the Surfer.

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1 hour ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

None of these are NM or even VF but at $2.25 a piece it was hard to say no.... :(

Why do i do it? Lol rat chew some of them, but they're paid for readers :banana:

Went to a store that I frequent for comics, the owner said come check this out. Brought me to the back and said that box has comics and so does that one, and then proceeded to let me be to look through. Sometimes earning a rep with a dealer too, is to pick up small items so they can come to you first, :takeit:

 

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Good score on the books! And I totally agree. It's good to get a few things every now and then when you're not interested just to keep the wheels greased.

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4 hours ago, STORMSHADOW_80 said:

Good score on the books! And I totally agree. It's good to get a few things every now and then when you're not interested just to keep the wheels greased.

I was thankful to the owner, I told him he had some good reads, rat chew aside the price was fair and the customer service impeccable!  

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On 5/6/2021 at 10:53 AM, Robot Man said:

I guess I just don’t want to buy dollar books and sell them for $5-10. And hope I can dump them before they fall out of favor. 

Yeah bought some Dell’s over the years but I’m talking about buying dollar books like these. 

B8CCBB4D-9DEE-4C8A-9252-70BBA6E6C498.jpeg

30AF8965-9101-43DB-8464-293E03A481B4.jpeg

885881F1-907A-41AC-94B6-E574982EB4E4.jpeg

That's great and all. Not easy to find. I've bumped into those sorts of books like twice. Anywayz, ignore the "new" post 1980 stuff, more treasure for the rest of us.

Edited by the blob
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