Need advice - new to collecting/submitting comics

[Dodekain]

HI,

 

I recently found my comic book boxes at my parent's house which I totally had forgotten about until they started to move. Anyways, 6 long boxes about i think 300 each box so roughly 1800 comics from the mid 80s to mid 90s.

 

I am kinda new to all this and wanted some experts help on which books I should submit for grading as none of them are. I took good care of them when I collected as a kid. Sealed in bags and boards. Also which database I should use to sort them. I read that CollectorZ was a good one.

 

Anyways thans in advance for the advice...

 

Sorry if this post is in the wrong section

[Bills Comics]

My question is why do you automatically think you need to submit any for grading ?

[Dodekain]

IDK.. well.. i would like to sell some off as demanded by my wife... Do they not need to be graded to be sold?

[deathtohemingway]

[revat]

well first of all, you should assume that the vast majority of comics you have will not be worth grading (or worth selling), unless they are functionally flawless in every facet, inside and out. Even then for the flawless ones, you need to invest $20 to maybe make a $10 profit (assuming it really is flawless). Or you could just sell it for $1-$5 or just donate them.

 

And then, very basically, you can look up COMPLETED Sales on EBAY to see how much you might hope to get from the sale of a given comic, whether raw or slabbed.

 

I'd google a list of 80's and 90's key comics, and see if you have any, and then look up the values.

 

I'd go with the list first, but honestly, the odds are that its not worth your time.

 

 

[lizards2]

My question is why do you automatically think you need to submit any for grading ?

Masochist? :shrug:

[kav]

yep

[GM8]

Look for key comics, New Mutants 98, Batman Adventures 12, Amazing Spiderman 298, 299, 300, 361 are good ones to start with. Find a list here of top copper and modern comics. Look for the most valuable ones. Then look at a grading guide, something with photos/video that will help you determine which of your most valuable are in high grade condition.

 

Look up completed items on ebay for prices. If you have at least 10 key issues with value over, say, $50 ungraded then its probably worth your time to get a CGC account and get them graded. You can really multiply your money with highly sought after key issues in high grade.

 

Not enough or not in good enough condition? Sell any key issues solo, sell the rest in runs or large lots of the same title. Spidey lots of Amazing always sell as do Batman. Web of Spiderman, Peter Parker, Detective Comics, Superman are often somewhat in demand but not as much as ASM and Batman.

 

The rest just sell in mixed lots.

 

With all your listings, take good clear photos or scans. Use auctions only for the most popular items, Buy It Now for everything else with "Best Offer" to get as many buyers as possible.

 

Or just give them all to me and I'll take them off your hands for free.

[Glassman10]

I asked a similar question recently but I had far more firepower. I asked for advice and got some great advice. I suggest that you read that whole thread. Actually, dig into every thread you can find here about collecting and selling. Read them all.

 

The advice I've gotten was to join Gpanalysis which I did. It collates sales of books and is enormously helpful sobering you up. Cost is about $11.00 per month.

 

To get books graded, you need to join CGC or go through a dealer.. I did and I am. If you have a book of any real value, it may well benefit from being pressed. Find out what that means. It does mean money. Grading is more money. Everyone wants to nick you.

 

Grading is a brutal anal retentive process. What you think is a 7.0 is not most likely. Maybe a 4.5

Buy an Overstreet 45. Splurge. It tends to be a little low.

 

Low grade books are not worth much. Grading them is not necessarily wise.selling them without CGC is hard unless they're cheap.

 

Going to ebay, identifying your books and then checking the box on confirmed sales tells the story. You will now have a grip on the market and what it's paying. If no one wants it, it really doesn't' have immediate value no matter what. Maybe wait ten years or has been suggested, sell for five cents on the dollar. At Ebay you need a track record if you can stand developing one. It's hard to sell books to a skeptic. Every one's a skeptic. Ebay also takes it's pound of flesh. You can do Craigslist. I'm not so inclined. I'm currently getting ready to work with an auction house but again, I have books that are valued from $300- maybe over $30,000 dollars and I have a lot of them. That's what being an attractive nuisance is all about. You can sell to a dealer and get perhaps 50% but only if the book has demand. Dealers aren't museums. They earn their portion.

 

If you are incredibly fortunate, you'll find someone here to be your guide. I did. I think it was pure luck and a really generous person.

 

Keep in mind defects. They just kill you on value. Creases.rips, stains are all lethal unless the book is incredibly rare. Those books do exist.

 

Currently, for me, I'm booking flights to Sarasota, staying with a friend, buying a lot of bags and backs, using a magnifying glass and I'm thought of as really lucky. I have stuff with real value despite my ineptitude but my books are 20-30 years older than what you describe I've had them closed up for almost fifty years. .After Sarasota, maybe a flight to San Diego, an appointment in New York, there's a lot of possibilities on the calendar. I'm not in any hurry at all and I view that as critical to doing alright.

 

But first, you have to have the merchandise. Few do. That's the grim reality.

 

[aerischan]

Going to ebay, identifying your books and then checking the box on confirmed sales tells the story. You will now have a grip on the market and what it's paying. If no one wants it, it really doesn't' have immediate value no matter what. Maybe wait ten years or has been suggested, sell for five cents on the dollar. At Ebay you need a track record if you can stand developing one. It's hard to sell books to a skeptic. Every one's a skeptic. Ebay also takes it's pound of flesh. You can do Craigslist. I'm not so inclined. I'm currently getting ready to work with an auction house but again, I have books that are valued from $300- maybe over $30,000 dollars and I have a lot of them. That's what being an attractive nuisance is all about. You can sell to a dealer and get perhaps 50% but only if the book has demand. Dealers aren't museums. They earn their portion.

An alternative to selling low value books, donate them to charity (e.g. Comics4Kids) and take a tax write off.

[Glassman10]

I have no idea how you establish "real Street Value" doing that. Perhaps ebay confirmed sales. I'm all ears. In conventional 3D art it's straightforward if you are a gallery and can point to equivalent value sales or what it cost you to ge that work. . That can work. If you're the artist, you can only write off actual materials- a total screw job. What I don't think you can do is to make number up that you simply like.

[aerischan]

I have no idea how you establish "real Street Value" doing that. I'm all ears. In conventional 3D art it's straightforward if you are a gallery and can point to equivalent value sales or what it cost you to ge that work. . That can work. If you're the artist, you can only write off actual materials- a total screw job. What I don't think you can do is to make number up that you simply like.

Would GPA or Overstreet not work?

[Glassman10]

Someone has to confirm the actual grade at that point.

[the blob]

I think the OP just needs to look at his books and look at completed sales ebay. Frankly, that's 90% of what I do to gauge value. Unless he had an incredibly eye/tremendous luck, given the years he is talking about, he might have stumbled into 5 - 30 books out of 300 that will be good sales individually. maybe less. the rest, as said, will probably be best sold as lots unless you enjoy doing $1-$2 auctions (or donated).

 

Once he finds those 5 - 30 decent books, if he doesn't feel comfortable with grading, I'm sure folks in the grading forum can help. And at that point it can be decided if any are CGC worthy.

 

I've bought slabs,I've sold slabs, but never sent a book in to be slabbed, so you can be a collector and seller (I've probably made about 2500 comic sales (and sold probably 5,000 - 6,000 comics) between here and ebay over the years and have somehow managed to never get a book slabbed..)

[revat]

I think the OP just needs to look at his books and look at completed sales ebay. Frankly, that's 90% of what I do to gauge value. Unless he had an incredibly eye/tremendous luck, given the years he is talking about, he might have stumbled into 5 - 30 books out of 300 that will be good sales individually. maybe less. the rest, as said, will probably be best sold as lots unless you enjoy doing $1-$2 auctions (or donated).

 

Once he finds those 5 - 30 decent books, if he doesn't feel comfortable with grading, I'm sure folks in the grading forum can help. And at that point it can be decided if any are CGC worthy.

 

I've bought slabs,I've sold slabs, but never sent a book in to be slabbed, so you can be a collector and seller (I've probably made about 2500 comic sales (and sold probably 5,000 - 6,000 comics) between here and ebay over the years and have somehow managed to never get a book slabbed..)

 

Here's an idea: Make a short video with your phone (or other video camera) of you flipping quickly through each long box. Do one box video at a time, each video probably won't be more than 2-3 minutes. Just enough time for watchers to get a look. Then people on the boards can identify which books might have value. I don't know if people will want to help or provide this service for free, or if you feel like you can trust them, but it might be worth a try. Or post it on youtube or something.

 

I don't know if it'll work, but it seems to beat looking up 1800 books.

[Dodekain]

Thanks for the advice guys...

[Bird]

I myself use mycomicshop.com as a first step. You can look up a title and quickly run through it and see if any issues have value that is disproportionate. Then after I weed out the good books I ignore the prices that mcs has for the issue and check ebay for completed sales.

[grebal]

Revat had a good idea that could save you a lot of time and money.

 

 

Also try these two sites and play around a bit with the settings:

 

Lyria link

 

Link to ebay sold, listed under Modern, ranked by sale price

[90sChild]

www.comicbookrealm.com is great for looking up prices of a whole run, you can see 100 at a time. If your books are organized by title, simple work. If not, start making piles. You also dont need GPA because knowing the value of a 9.8 graded book is not going to be useful to you. There is a significant drop off in price for every .2 grade lower.

[lizards2]

yep

 

Not you...., him.