$5,000 to invest... what in?! 1 1

[Buzzetta]

Not comics.  Not now. 

There are other things I would be focused on.

Edited May 22, 2020 by Buzzetta

[ThothAmon]

The “smart” comic buyer isn’t looking for a particular book, they are looking for a good deal. How do you get “smart”?  Read the boards and troll eBay. Incidentally, whether now is a good or bad time to buy comics is irrelevant so long as you steadily buy and sell over decades. Just ask Chuck. 

[Memorex]

14 hours ago, Myowncollector said:

You should think hard before investing in comics. 1. You are in bonds, safe, low risk and low reward but doesn't take any work. Comic investing takes time and work. Need to be a creative thinker. 2. If you have to ask or type in books to invest in you are in trouble. Imo most advice is awful. Surprisingly there are a few people on here that give some good tips. But are you going to be able to tell the good from the bad? I even give great tips, but would never give away my A+++ recommendations and doubt others will either. I say hulk 181 xmen 1 giant size ff1 48 5 avg 1 are not good investments. I am a minority on that so are you going to take my advice or others? So even if you can figure out on your own what to buy and sell, you need to be able to determine what advice to take. Hulk 181 drop has nothing to do with covid, would of dropped more if not for stimulus check. And $300 is nothing on a 4 grand book. 

My advice sell anything that has been in a movie since 2012 or rumored for top dollar. Black night avg 4 cap 100 117 sit and wait with your stockpile of $ to when comics drop or stocks in airlines, cruises, amusement parks, anything that depends on concerts. Whatever opportunity arises first. There pretty much isn't any risk for a comic investor. Just very few of them. Mostly people who want to be or think they are comic investors. Start small then work your way up. Learn from little mistakes, not huge ones. You will either learn to tell good advice from bad and then not need any advice or you will fail and quit. Maybe somewhere in between which is good enough. 

Thanks for your sincere advice. I not in a rush at all, I'm just catching up for being abroad for so long. Last year I didn't even know CGC existed! . . .  LoL!  Then I went to USA and took 16 of my best comics to Quick Press and Grade, but they're taking so loooooonnnnnggggggg!!!!     I didn't read the small print: "83 working days to Quick Press". My best 16: Avg. 3,16,17,18,19,20,25,28,47,48,57,87  Capt America 100, 117   Marvel Feature #1 & Hero For Hire #1

But this is a great hobby and I'm willing to get back into it, step by step. While I was in Los Angeles I bought ASM #300 (CGC 8.5) and NEW MUTANTS #98 (RAW) but CGC returned it 9.2 so I'm happy

Here I'm just learning little by little, and whatever I come up to, I'll go back to USA next year for shopping. 

Hopefuly The pandemic will be over by then, but right now I'm living in Perú and here it's a hell hole! I'm stranded at home and learning more each day about comic book collecting!

Enough said!

[shadroch]

On 5/21/2020 at 12:37 PM, Memorex said:

Thank you very much for the heads up, but I'm a retired 60 yo guy who wish to re-do his childhood past time. I know I can invest somewhere else and I do actually. I have like US $ 272,000 invested in bonds, but right now I'm loosing 10% and before that I was lucky in Stock market but never want to go back there (too risky). Right now I'm happy only with SA Comics! 

EDIT:  I'm sorry if it sounded as bragging, this is not my intention. Need I add thas only part of it is my money, the rest belongs to my wife, 2 stepsons and brother in-law. 

 

I hope that's not in Columbian Pesos.

[Myowncollector]

Anybody can make $ with a hobby. Wives don't mind the huge spending when they see the rewards from it. Just have to learn. I was watching youtube videos the other night. What people were buying and recommending was scary. If you want to be a collector that is fine. But if you want to be a seller the asm 300 nm 98 aren't going anywhere. Even as a collector the grade to get is a 9.6 that is the sweet spot for both those books. Asm 300 8.5 is what $400 some. Can get 9.6 for $600 So I would upgrade for $200 if I was collector. Investor I don't want the book. You said he should of bought the hulk 181 for $3,600 it's now $4,000 but even if it they sold at $4,300 they most likely lost $ unless they found a cash buyer. When they bought they may have paid taxes, customs, shipping. When they sold 10 to 13 percent selling fees, shipping, maybe insurance. Broke even or lost $. If they took $3,600 and bought miles they made $10,000 profit if they sold at $100 a copy, if they waited until now they would of made $15,000 You can enjoy knowing that you have the first wolverine or spiderman or you can make 6 figures a year selling comic books. Nothing wrong with either. Can do a mix a both. I don't have a silver or bronze key but had plenty of miles. If I somehow found a hulk 181 at a flea market tomorrow it would be up for sale later that night. I love wolverine but fine with my reprint. 

[Myowncollector]

9 hours ago, serling1978 said:

Probably the obvious best thing to do is buy huge runs of a bunch of series and then over time as movies and other hype machines raise the value of books you're already covered because you've got that issue as part of your run 

I say that jokingly (wasn't real advice) , but as someone who is a completionist from a collecting standpoint and not because of value it is a nice lil surprise to see a bunch of value collectors getting all riled up by the next hot book and knowing I already have it because it was part of my run, not because of a movie rumor 

I think that is good advice. I like full runs for collecting. And sometimes something pops that I never thought would be good spec and at least have a couple issues of it. After it fades off pick it back up cheap to make the run complete again.

[Mercury Man]

10 hours ago, serling1978 said:

but as someone who is a completionist from a collecting standpoint and not because of value it is a nice lil surprise to see a bunch of value collectors getting all riled up by the next hot book and knowing I already have it because it was part of my run, not because of a movie rumor

This is a great model.  

“I have never known anyone who could consistently time the market. And in fact I’ve never known anyone who knows anyone, who was able to consistently time the market.” 

--Warren Buffet

[shadroch]

Common baseball cards don't appreciate.  Common coins don't appreciate. Common cars don't appreciate. 

Thirty year old  common baseball cards are less than a dime apiece.  Your average hundred year old  coin is worth whatever its silver content  is. Very few autos go up in value.

Common runs of comics will suffer the same fate.  When I got into comics, most Marvels had a hundred issues or less  so completing a run was feasible.  Now someone wanting a complete Spiderman has thousands of books to collect. Buying a run in the hope one or two books get hot because of a movie is not collecting. It's speculating and if you are going to speculate, buying runs is a poor way of doing it.

[William-James88]

9 minutes ago, shadroch said:

Common baseball cards don't appreciate.  Common coins don't appreciate. Common cars don't appreciate. 

Thirty year old  common baseball cards are less than a dime apiece.  Your average hundred year old  coin is worth whatever its silver content  is. Very few autos go up in value.

Common runs of comics will suffer the same fate.  When I got into comics, most Marvels had a hundred issues or less  so completing a run was feasible.  Now someone wanting a complete Spiderman has thousands of books to collect. Buying a run in the hope one or two books get hot because of a movie is not collecting. It's speculating and if you are going to speculate, buying runs is a poor way of doing it.

Yes, as said in other threads, there is becoming more and more a divide between keys and non keys. To the point where even a character's second appearance is going down in value. It's first appearance/hot cover or bust right now. 

[Memorex]

On 5/21/2020 at 8:36 PM, Wolverinex said:

Oh yeah, those two are HUGE copper keys... incredibly difficult to find...  I can't even find Albedo 2 on ebay anymore.... there were  2 copies last year around this time

I don't have the money right now and CGC 9.6 would be out of my range, but FYI

[Memorex]

22 hours ago, shadroch said:

I hope that's not in Columbian Pesos.

No, it's in dollars. But it went down 10% due to Covid-19 and will keep doing so if they don't come out with a vacine! This pool of money belongs to 5 people close to me and we're all stuck in it until things get back to normal again (hopefuly soon).

[William-James88]

Just curious, but why does it go for so much? I know it's a key, but I didn't think that Usagi would be such a coveted character. 

[William-James88]

17 minutes ago, Memorex said:

No, it's in dollars. But it went down 10% due to Covid-19 and will keep doing so if they don't come out with a vacine! This pool of money belongs to 5 people close to me and we're all stuck in it until things get back to normal again (hopefuly soon).

If you are not comfortable with a 10% drop, I would stear clear of comics. You lose 10% or more off the bat on costs alone when choosing to sell.

[World Devourer]

25 minutes ago, Memorex said:

No, it's in dollars. But it went down 10% due to Covid-19 and will keep doing so if they don't come out with a vacine! This pool of money belongs to 5 people close to me and we're all stuck in it until things get back to normal again (hopefuly soon).

Very well. I will spare your disease-ridden planet if you will become my Herald. I hunger.

[Memorex]

16 hours ago, William-James88 said:

Just curious, but why does it go for so much? I know it's a key, but I didn't think that Usagi would be such a coveted character. 

It's like FF #48 beats FF #49 in every grade, except 9.8 because there's only 1

[silversurfer275]

Ultimate fallout 4 9.8 comic is already going up like crazy 

[Skunkboy]

One thing you might want to do is identify where your tastes and any potential financial gain intersect.  For example, If Wolverine is your favorite character, you love the looks of that classic cover, AND you are drawn to the potential upside from an investment standpoint, it’s probably worth considering.

It’s also worth noting that with the $5k that you’re looking to spend, you’re really not that exposed financially (relative to your net worth).  If the absolute worst-case scenario occurs and your IH 181 plummets to 0$ (and how likely is that?), you’re only out $5k and have some killer wall art 

[Georgie123]

Invest in avengers 4 high grade first app of silver age captain America. Selling a lot less than ff 4 first silver age appearance of my fav subby

[Doctor Dositheus]

37 minutes ago, Georgie123 said:

Invest in avengers 4 high grade first app of silver age captain America. Selling a lot less than ff 4 first silver age appearance of my fav subby

How about Avengers 9 for a possible Wonder Man movie?

[Chaos_in_Canada]

ASM 300  2-9.8s or 7 - 9.6s