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Copper's Heating/Selling Well on Ebay
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18,721 posts in this topic

9 hours ago, kimik said:
11 hours ago, fastballspecial said:

There is room for both here. I am predominantly raw seller. I sell a lot of high grade books raw. Not all of them raw, but a large amount. I am more then 
I sell a few dozen slabs a year. I am here to tell you selling raws are much easier, less risk, and less initial cost and a much cheaper customer accqusition cost.
It doesn't mean you can do both its a balance. Inventory can pile up selling slabs. You tie up a TON of money at certain times. So a balance helps. 

I say all that and honestly I couldn't do more then sell a few dozen slabs a year. The whole slab market just makes me feel slimy. I have met too many sellers that deal
in just slabs that came from other hobbies.(You know which ones.) They aren't here enjoy the hobby and most don't even read comics. If I cant have a discussion
about a book while looking thru inventory that a sure sign I am buying less from you.

I prefer at the end of the day to make some decent profit and let my buyers make more money if they want to. That way everyone is happy and I can pay for my kids
college, braces,(Which I have done) among other things. Doing this 20 years now and I am completely certain it is the best route for me. And if a buyer makes more
money from comics I sold him great for them. I don't need to bleed my buyers out that's bad business.

 

I will disagree with you in selling raw is easier. The easiest way to sell is using the auction houses, and that requires slabs for the most part. You ship either direct from CGC to the auction house, or get the books in, keep the ones you want, then ship a couple hundred or so slabs to them to do the work. All I have to do is fill in one form and send in 25 books per CGC box straight to them. 

Why do you think slabs are the slimy end of the hobby? The majority of collectors I know/sell to that are spending $1000+ on books go for slabbed copies to ensure they are not restored. I find most of the scams to come from sellers with expensive raw books that they are not disclosing restoration on, and/or badly overgrading and overpricing books. That is the slimy side of the hobby, and it has been here much longer than graded books. 

Because the initial investment is much lower. I can easily move NM books because more people want NM. Keep in mind this isnt' the majority of the hobby.
The majority of the hobby is raw and always will be. And sometimes I get lucky I pay $1 for a copy that is NM+ or better I will send it off. I very rarely pay decent money for any
books and will keep it that way. Its a proven philosophy for me. Occasionally a collection will fall into my lap that I will pay more for, but its rare. 

You make it sound obtaining high grade copies is both easy and cheap and it is not. You have to access to a ton of inventory and the time to go thru them. You have to
be great at visually looking at books and making sure you didn't miss anything. That takes time, experience and honestly some luck.  

I think slabs are the slimier part of the hobby because that's where a lot of fraud and deception is. Not a day goes by I don't see someone that has either lost money
from some scam or postal problem from a slab. (And yes this happens with raw as well.) We are talking a lot of money here its much higher risk ratio.
What's even worse is many sellers make this look so easy when it reality it is a full time job that takes many years to be successful at. 

I will agree the restoration aspect is what started slabs in the first place so it has its place. It has its place in the industry and there are sellers that do very well over time selling 
slabs. But again and I always go back to this. No one talks about their losses or their massive inventory. The difference is I didn't pay much for mine. To each their own.

 

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1 hour ago, shadroch said:

 

I don't consider any one segment of the market sleazy, but I find some sellers very sleazy.  I stopped attending the CGC dinners because one particular disbarred lawyer was treated like a king instead of a pariah. Some people can overlook stealing from the elderly as long as it brings them good books.  Ironic, isn't it. Steal from the elderly and get a pass. Micro-trim a comic and you are persona non grata.

 

Who dis?

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6 hours ago, manetteska said:
7 hours ago, shadroch said:

 

I don't consider any one segment of the market sleazy, but I find some sellers very sleazy.  I stopped attending the CGC dinners because one particular disbarred lawyer was treated like a king instead of a pariah. Some people can overlook stealing from the elderly as long as it brings them good books.  Ironic, isn't it. Steal from the elderly and get a pass. Micro-trim a comic and you are persona non grata.

 

Who, d.s?

FTFY

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7 hours ago, shadroch said:

I stopped attending the CGC dinners because one particular disbarred lawyer was treated like a king instead of a pariah. Some people can overlook stealing from the elderly as long as it brings them good books.  Ironic, isn't it. Steal from the elderly and get a pass. Micro-trim a comic and you are persona non grata.

Indeed, we all did.  Never mind that Borock left. I remember one dinner in particular that I felt the urgent need to shower after. :whistle:

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On 10/3/2020 at 1:27 AM, shadroch said:

 I found an Avenging Spiderman 9 yesterday. It looked pretty good in the bag but it's got a bit of impact damage on one corner. Am I better off sending it out for pressing and slabbing so I add $45 to it's cost  and wait six months to get it back or sell it now and use the money to buy another book to flip?  Is there a wrong choice there? 

The wrong choice is to send it out... in this case.

BUT, if you’d found that book in 9.6-9.8 condition, and have the wherewithal to not need the capital for 3-6 months, sending it out is probably the right choice.

I think that’s what @kimik is driving at... if you can accurately grade 9.8s and have the wherewithal to go the graded route, there’s a lot of books that significant money is being left on the table by selling raw.

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I don't think anyone is saying he is wrong. I certainly am not. My point is that isn't the only way to go. 

Divad has a model he has developed over the last twenty years, as does Donut, as do many people. As a rule, you don't do something for multiple decades if it isn't working out for you.

 

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5 hours ago, 500Club said:

The wrong choice is to send it out... in this case.

BUT, if you’d found that book in 9.6-9.8 condition, and have the wherewithal to not need the capital for 3-6 months, sending it out is probably the right choice.

I think that’s what @kimik is driving at... if you can accurately grade 9.8s and have the wherewithal to go the graded route, there’s a lot of books that significant money is being left on the table by selling raw.

I almost always agree with both kimik and 500club . . .  but in terms of sales models, I agree more with shadroch, If it works for YOU, why change? I've graded and sold quite a few books for high dollars (and anyone can double-check that if they wish - I usually crow about it!) :bigsmile:

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On 10/4/2020 at 3:53 PM, 500Club said:

BUT, if you’d found that book in 9.6-9.8 condition, and have the wherewithal to not need the capital for 3-6 months, sending it out is probably the right choice.

I think that’s what @kimik is driving at... if you can accurately grade 9.8s and have the wherewithal to go the graded route, there’s a lot of books that significant money is being left on the table by selling raw.

But I have about 12,000 (of 36,000) books in 9.6 - 9.8 condition, and don't need any capital - so what should I do? :grin: I'm barely going to have the time to sell them in my lifetime . . . 

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2 hours ago, divad said:
On 10/4/2020 at 4:53 PM, 500Club said:

BUT, if you’d found that book in 9.6-9.8 condition, and have the wherewithal to not need the capital for 3-6 months, sending it out is probably the right choice.

I think that’s what @kimik is driving at... if you can accurately grade 9.8s and have the wherewithal to go the graded route, there’s a lot of books that significant money is being left on the table by selling raw.

But I have about 12,000 (of 36,000) books in 9.6 - 9.8 condition, and don't need any capital - so what should I do? :grin: I'm barely going to have the time to sell them in my lifetime . . . 

Then you’ve got the enviable luxury of trading return for convenience...  (thumbsu

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