My NYCC report in regards to GA only

[Foolkiller]

Interesting observations by many here...

 

Primarily I deal with other dealers when selling my books, both raw and slabbed.

 

For the most part, this has worked out, because I don't look at the transactions singularly but rather a relationship. I tend to sell to the same dealers for very specific motivations: They pay fairly, spend a large amount at once, and will take books in the deal that aren't as fast movers or as desirable.

 

My margins on raw books (with the exception of keys) tend to be very, very large, because I don't do much buying from other convention dealers at large conventions. At small conventions there are still a plethora of amazing deals to find, and they are out there scouring "alternative" sources to pick up books.

 

Dealers pay immediately (often in cash), a lump sum, and I do no work. There are some books which are simply "auction books" but for the most part, it's easy to establish a fair market value. Auctions are also very unpredictable, not every auction does that ASM 23 in 9.0 perform so great. I've found many dealers very fair in negotiating what they will sticker their book at and then asking for a percentage.

 

What I don't want to do is sell dealers only A level books and not move any of my less desirable material. Every dealer I do business with on a consistent basis "buys a wide range" and this in turn offsets my perception that I have to squeeze every last dollar out.

 

I like to negotiate when I feel it's necessary. In an ideal world, I think Hudson is right, you'd just put the price on that was real, and then decide to buy it or not. But the majority of collectors like the dance. When I see a book and it's priced way under retail, I don't negotiate. If it's a price I'm willing to pay, there's a range of 10-20% for premium material I may ask for a discount on, usually closer to 10%. When you pay strong, i've found that's when you get first access to premium A level material. Getting an early look at material is largely connected to who the customers are that buy strong, and don't make the deal a nightmare experience for the dealer. A lot of the great material will never hit the show floor or is traded before the show doors open. A lot of that is based on who is spending money and what kinds of relationships have developed over the years.

 

Whenever someone tells me they won't deal with a dealer it's a real head scratcher. I've certainly turned over a much higher volume of books at closer numbers to retail with zero work with dealers than I have at auction. I love auctions for unique books like NM 98 10.0 -- but a lot of my friends who are "flippers" have discovered that selling to a dealer has some big advantages, especially when you sell in bulk. It's win/win.

 

 

[Sqeggs]

Interesting observations by many here...

 

Primarily I deal with other dealers when selling my books, both raw and slabbed.

 

For the most part, this has worked out, because I don't look at the transactions singularly but rather a relationship. I tend to sell to the same dealers for very specific motivations: They pay fairly, spend a large amount at once, and will take books in the deal that aren't as fast movers or as desirable.

 

My margins on raw books (with the exception of keys) tend to be very, very large, because I don't do much buying from other convention dealers at large conventions. At small conventions there are still a plethora of amazing deals to find, and they are out there scouring "alternative" sources to pick up books.

 

Dealers pay immediately (often in cash), a lump sum, and I do no work. There are some books which are simply "auction books" but for the most part, it's easy to establish a fair market value. Auctions are also very unpredictable, not every auction does that ASM 23 in 9.0 perform so great. I've found many dealers very fair in negotiating what they will sticker their book at and then asking for a percentage.

 

What I don't want to do is sell dealers only A level books and not move any of my less desirable material. Every dealer I do business with on a consistent basis "buys a wide range" and this in turn offsets my perception that I have to squeeze every last dollar out.

 

I like to negotiate when I feel it's necessary. In an ideal world, I think Hudson is right, you'd just put the price on that was real, and then decide to buy it or not. But the majority of collectors like the dance. When I see a book and it's priced way under retail, I don't negotiate. If it's a price I'm willing to pay, there's a range of 10-20% for premium material I may ask for a discount on, usually closer to 10%. When you pay strong, i've found that's when you get first access to premium A level material. Getting an early look at material is largely connected to who the customers are that buy strong, and don't make the deal a nightmare experience for the dealer. A lot of the great material will never hit the show floor or is traded before the show doors open. A lot of that is based on who is spending money and what kinds of relationships have developed over the years.

 

Whenever someone tells me they won't deal with a dealer it's a real head scratcher. I've certainly turned over a much higher volume of books at closer numbers to retail with zero work with dealers than I have at auction. I love auctions for unique books like NM 98 10.0 -- but a lot of my friends who are "flippers" have discovered that selling to a dealer has some big advantages, especially when you sell in bulk. It's win/win.

 

 

Interesting inside baseball discussion. Thanks for posting it.

[skybolt]

My approach to collecting GA books is that if I can locate copies fairly easily in grade on Ebay, the CGC forum or at auctions, I'm willing to wait 3 to 6 months to get a decent deal. On the other hand, if the book doesn't show up for 6 months to a year, then I'm more likely to bite the bullet and pay the dealer's asking price, even if it's priced at the FMV 3 or 4 years into the future. In my experience over the past 13 years, it's usually these type of books that double or triple in value in 5 to 10 years. In hindsight, paying 140% of FMV for a hard to get, key, rare book is way more profitable in the future than getting a great deal on a run of the mill type book.

 

I also agree with a previous poster, that buying in bulk does give the dealer incentive to give you a bigger discount. Early on in my collecting days I'd e-mail Metro asking for a 10% discount on a given book, but would usually get rejected. However, if I waited 3 or 4 months to build up my want list (while saving some money in the process), and ask Metro for a 10% discount on 10 to 12 books, I'd usually get an e-mail back from Vincent stating that I can't give you a discount on 4 of the books since they're consignments, but can offer you a 12% discount on the rest with free shipping. At the end of the day I'd get my 10% discount for the entire lot.