Why are almost all Golden and Silver Age comics going for over book price??

[Porter1977]

I'm hoping someone can help me understand this a little better. I've been collecting comics for over 20yrs but been side tracked the last couple years. So its kind of like waking up after a 2yr nap. . Anyways, it seems like anywhere I look Golden age and Silver age comics are going for a lot more then Overstreet price guide. Now I know Overstreet price guide is not all knowing but its always been a decent base for me to work off. I'll give a couple examples. On Ebay, a Batman 181 CGC graded at 4.0 is averaging out at about $300. Overstreet price for a 4.0 is $92. I called a comic book store not to far from me looking for a Batman 200 and he quoted one for about double what the vg price is in Overstreet. I'm selling a large part of my collection. One of the X-men #1, I got back from CGC was graded 1.0. So I figured I'd try it on Ebay. Seeing the crazy prices I figured I'd put it a little below those prices and see what happens. Someone bought it off of me for $1000. Overstreet price for a 2.0 is only $1100. I'm just wondering if I'm missing something. Thanks for any info!!!

[FineCollector]

Keys are a seperate beast compared to the rest of the books in that era. Look harder.

[aardvark88]

Dealers may have to pay up to 90% of Overstreet to restock keys or semi-keys, thus they must mark them up over Guide value. Also, the Overstreet you refer to has prices that are 9 months old by the time Overstreet is printed and distributed throughout the world.

[valiantman]

The cost of CGC grading is part of the price of buying a CGC graded book.

The CGC guarantee of no restoration is part of the price of buying a CGC graded book.

 

Overstreet is for raw books, with the potential for undisclosed restoration.

[grebal]

I returned after a longer "nap", nearly 8 years.

 

A few most popular titles, and particularly key issue #s, are at market price much higher than Overstreet, which is still reliable for over 90% of books.

 

From what I've seen in past several weeks, prices are way higher than Overstreet mostly in more important copies of Batman, Amaz. Spider-man, maybe X-Men or a couple of other titles, and lot of other 'keys' of other titles including first appearances of villains (not just the heroes any more).

 

And based solely on Overstreet prices I've also seen keys in lower grades (as affordable entry-level books) do better than expected.

 

[but sometimes not - e.g. recently won at ebay NR auction a nice presenting copy of first Doctor Doom in FF5 in CGC 3.5 at just under 1000, about same price reflected in my 2-yr-old Overstreet.]

[That Ron Dude]

I am no expert, but I know what you mean.

 

When there is an actual auction the prices tend to me much lower than the BIN prices.

 

And the auctions are few.

 

I would say that the business plan of most people selling on Ebay is to troll for suckers. The ads on eBay don't cost anything unless the items sells so there is no incentive, like make back the money you spent on the ad, to sell something. But when the comics do sell, which is rare, the profits are considerable.

 

That's how it seems to me.

[lou_fine]

 

Overstreet is for raw books, with the potential for undisclosed restoration.

 

This is what virtually everybody says about the Overstreet guide, but I would disagree with this statement.

 

My personal thinking is that Overstreet prices are based upon the format (i.e. raw or graded) which that particular book is most commonly sold at. Yes, most of the MA books such as Image, Valiant, and what have you are based on raw prices because that is how 99% of those books are sold.

 

Yet, if you look at the GA books,especially the keys, the graded prices plays a significant influence on the guide price because nobody in their right mind would sell a Detective 38 or an Action 13 in raw condition. They would always or 99% of the time be graded, and hence the guide prices would reflect this. For example, I have yet to hear of a raw Action 1 selling for $2.5 million dollars, yet that's where it is guiding for at top of guide.

 

So, Overstreet prices are based upon both raw and graded prices depending upon how the book is most commonly sold.

[lou_fine]

Keys are a seperate beast compared to the rest of the books in that era. Look harder.

 

+1

 

Yes, it looks like all of the books which he has listed are either keys or quasi keys of one form or another.

 

If he takes a look at some of the non-key mid run mid-grade books, I think he would come to a completely different conclusion.

[dupont2005]

Not sure I've ever seen everything priced accurately in that guide ever since eBay existed.

[Porter1977]

It's just crazy to me. I'm seeing people almost paying double for key issues (even in low grades). Three or four years ago, I'd only see people paying over guide for high grades or rare key issues. It's interesting to get different peoples opinions because for me I always used overstreet for both raw and slabbed comics. I would always add value for the cost for someone to have it graded. But I can see how people would pay more for that peace of mind. I'd always thoroughly check the comic for restoration but I'm only human and could miss it. Where the chance of CGC missing it is a lot slimmer then me missing it. Thanks everyone for your input!!!! Anyone have a guess on the value of a Detective Comics 66 CGC universal 7.0 with white pages? Thanks

[ciorac]

Books, even commons, are going for over GPA at auction these days

[grebal]

It's just crazy to me. ... Anyone have a guess on the value of a Detective Comics 66 CGC universal 7.0 with white pages? Thanks

 

Based on an online guide I've found to be spotty (generally quite close but sometimes way off) the Tec 66 in 7.0 is around $2800.

 

Best advice is find someone who will give you the GPA data or screenshot for actual past sales.

[Primetime]

It's just crazy to me. ... Anyone have a guess on the value of a Detective Comics 66 CGC universal 7.0 with white pages? Thanks

 

Based on an online guide I've found to be spotty (generally quite close but sometimes way off) the Tec 66 in 7.0 is around $2800.

 

Best advice is find someone who will give you the GPA data or screenshot for actual past sales.

 

two 7.0s sold in 2012 per GPA at $2747 (rusty staples) and $3750.

 

A 7.5 sold for $7300 in 2014.

[the blob]

I'm so thrilled I solid books like my cgc JLA 1 for a little under guide back when that was the market....

[Topnotchman]

I would say the majority of Silver and Gold books are still selling for under guide. Westerns, funny animal, Dells, Romance, Charltons, low and mid grade Silver commons.

 

Select first appearances and key issues from the Silver Age are selling for over guide, A run Gold titles and classic covers sell very well.

 

However in grand scheme of Vintage comics these books are the extreme minority compared to the volume of books out there that need to be discounted from guide to find a buyer.

 

This board may be skewed towards high end CGC quality comic books.

[Cat-Man_America]

Good thread. Well, my take on this as a wearer of three hats (collector, investor and occasional dealer) is that this is clearly a supply and demand issue with a lot of uncertainty woven into it. With new collectors expanding into SA & GA and old collectors returning to the market with renewed interest there are bunch of moving variables to confront. What would be useful, and will never exist with anything more than estimated accuracy, is a reliable census.

 

First, we need to discuss the OSG and get that out of the way. It's value as a reference tool is important albeit limited to that of being a consistent and conservative advisor. OSG contributes to market stability. It's good for an overall analysis of market health, as an advertising tool for dealers and as a place to check baseline values that don't take into account current market trends (hot titles) and specifics such as pedigree values.

 

OSG is a good source for basic information, much like an almanac for the comic collecting hobby. From it you can glean basic facts on comic history, grading, where things have been, where they're thought to be headed and perhaps get some ideas for planting your investment seed money for a rainy day if so inclined. I don't think OSG has devised any cures for planter's warts or bidding cycles on the full moon, ...maybe next year.

 

GPA is where a lot of dealers turn for current market trends. Unfortunately, GPA misses a lot of person to person sales and dealer sales that aren't submitted for consideration. They also miss CLink auction sales because Josh apparently considers the data a negotiable commodity (proprietory). Furthermore, currently GPA only covers CGC sales of participating major auction houses (HA & CC), making it's long term value a diminishing return. FWIW, my prediction is that another comic sales analysis provider (such as GoCollect) will eventually supersede GPA by providing more useful data.

 

In my estimation, the whole matter of concealing data under the guise of it being proprietory Is a dangerous impedance to the growth of the hobby. While I can understand the value placed on sales data, extortive pricing for it's use is counterproductive to those withholding it.

 

I know this is taking the long way around answering the question posed by this thread, but there is no one answer as to why comics keep climbing in price in contrast to book (OSG) estimates.

 

The one thing I can say is that establishing values is an odd, precarious balance of traditional assurance through OSG and fluctuating sales data that requires constant reevaluation to insure stability.

[SuperBird]

I haven't looked at OSPG for a price in probably 10 years. It's not been great at keeping track of up to date prices for as long as I can remember...

 

GPA and eBay are much better indicators of price IMHO.

[Cat-Man_America]

I haven't looked at OSPG for a price in probably 10 years. It's not been great at keeping track of up to date prices for as long as I can remember...

 

GPA and eBay are much better indicators of price IMHO.

 

I wouldn't argue with this except in the abstract. The OSG is useful for other things besides establishing true values. GPA is useful for checking current CGC sales data on some auctions. EBay is useful for checking which things seem to be selling best at the moment and what kind of advertising is effective on successful listings.

[blazingbob]

The true test of a seller is when there are no current sales on Ebay or GPA.

 

Now what? Guess?

 

Hmmm, start with the guide. Call in some favors and hope you don't leave $$$ on the table.

 

I can tell how dependent a seller is on GPA when they get something like the example above.

 

[the blob]

I haven't looked at OSPG for a price in probably 10 years. It's not been great at keeping track of up to date prices for as long as I can remember...

 

GPA and eBay are much better indicators of price IMHO.

 

I wouldn't argue with this except in the abstract. The OSG is useful for other thing besides establishing true values. GPA is useful for checking current CGC sales data on some auctions. EBay is useful for checking which things seem to be selling best at the moment and what kind of advertising is effective on successful listings.

 

I haven't gotten a new one in a few years. It is useful in a listing to point to what it is in guide, to confirm artists, sometimes appearances, etc. But if there is sufficient data on ebay, I tend to look at ebay. But if there are only 1 or 2 sales in the last 60 or whatever days, I blend, and also look at what mycs might be selling it for (not the consignment sales, their own product), and maybe a few ebay listings that have not sold.