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The rise of Instagram sellers
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239 posts in this topic

So I finally broke down and got Instagram not long ago (namely because I recently had my second child and to share pics with friends) and I noticed there is a PLETHORA of comic sellers/dealers on there.  Quite a few of them with really nice books as well.  Sharp photos, etc. 

What do people think of this?  Of course I know there are likely some bad apples and poor graders but that is no different than ebay.

What say you all?  Do you use it to buy/sell?  Would you?  Seems like Insta could be a really good platform for comic dealings (though I know there is no way to moderate it... yet).

 

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I'd think most of the good books are also up for sale on E-Bay and possibly also up on Amazon.  Instagram sellers seem to be multitaskers and it's just another venue to move books.

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Instagram has been a platform useful for selling books for quite some time. The most popular generate activity via hashtags. I've used a few of them to check things out. It's starting to get overrun by people who don't have much selling experience due to popularity, so it's still a wait and see. A lot of dealers are on there because it's a great way to move stuff.

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6 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

I wasn't aware of that. I just recently just signed up for it. Mostly just scroll down the endless list of photos. The boards are self governed and ebay has feedback. How do you know who you are dealing with on Instagram or Facebook? 

I'm not sure yet.  Some have linked their ebay profile name to their account.  That may help.

But like I said, check out the ample sellers.  Lots of people with lots of nice books.  No fees.  Can post several photos.  Hashtags to help searches.  Looks like a very promising platform but still unsure of the validity and trustworthiness of most sellers. 

Edited by Erndog
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Just now, Erndog said:

I'm not sure yet.  Some have linked their ebay profile name to their account.  That may help.

But like I said, check out the ample sellers.  Lots of people with lots of nice books.  No fees.  Can post several photos.  Hashtags to help searches.  Looks like a very promising platform but still unsure of the validity and safety of most sellers. 

I guess there is always PayPal protection. I doubt I would transact there though...

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The last couple of years I've bought more off of Instagram than ebay. Like the boards it is self governed when a bad apple surfaces.

The advice I can give is have fun, share your collection, engage with other collectors, and look for sellers that have a good history of selling books.

Edited by STORMSHADOW_80
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2 minutes ago, STORMSHADOW_80 said:

The last couple of years I've bought more off of Instagram than ebay. Like the boards it is self governed when a bad apple surfaces. 

The advice I can give is have fun, share your collection, engage with other collectors, and look for sellers that have a good history of selling books.

So when you are buying, do you just DM the person?

How do they update the book has sold, etc? 

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Just now, Erndog said:

So when you are buying, do you just DM the person?

How do they update the book has sold, etc? 

Usually when buying you'll write claim in the comments and then send a DM to the seller. Some people will do a complete paypal invoice. Others just ask for you to pay friends and family.

Once the book is sold sellers will either remove the post or edit the listing as SOLD.

While not mandatory it's nice when you recieve a book to post it mentioning the buyer. That's kind of the feedback system

I've sold books on instagram as well. Usually I go 10 - 20% lower than the ebay cost.

 

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6 minutes ago, entalmighty1 said:

It's not as "Wild West" as you think it is really.  Most of the people I've gotten to know through IG have been extremely friendly, passionate collectors just like most everybody here. 

Just stay away from those ridiculous raffles.  That's the one thing I can't wrap my head around.  These guys are raffling off books, charging for spots in the raffle.  The only problem is, they're collecting 150-200% FMV for each book they raffle, sometimes more.  Sure, some collector is getting a decent deal, but the person running the raffle is making out like a bandit.  I have no idea why anyone indulges that practice.

Sounds like buying a lottery ticket. How much do they charge? I guess my biggest concern with that would be how do you know it isn't fixed? Seems like that would be easy to do. 

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1 minute ago, Not A Clone said:

Sounds like buying a lottery ticket. How much do they charge? I guess my biggest concern with that would be how do you know it isn't fixed? Seems like that would be easy to do. 

It's essentially like buying a lottery ticket.  The posts I've seen have somebody selling a $1,000 book (for the sake of argument), and they'll advertise 20 spots at $100 each.  No idea how to rule out fixing the win.  I have no plans on joining the raffles, so it's not a particular concern of mine.

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18 minutes ago, entalmighty1 said:

It's essentially like buying a lottery ticket.  The posts I've seen have somebody selling a $1,000 book (for the sake of argument), and they'll advertise 20 spots at $100 each.  No idea how to rule out fixing the win.  I have no plans on joining the raffles, so it's not a particular concern of mine.

I was in the RAD, RAZZ or whatever they call it now and it was legit (from what I saw).  That group was mostly run thru Facebook but "sellers" could post a book up for 10-20% over GPA and the ones closer to GPA sold out quickest.  You could post up a $500 book for 60 $10 spots and then you ran the raffle.  They had it set up so you had to follow a procedure (using random.org) which made it very difficult or not worth the hassle at least to fix the raffle.  I got out because it was just way too addictive and I ended up putting all the money I earned from doing raffles back into the system since I didn't win any of the bigger books I went after.

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I haven't used IG, but have used Facebook Private Groups. Same idea, but there are admins that help protect the community by kicking out any deadbeat (sellers or buyers). Also a system of "kudos" when books are delivered properly, well packed, etc. Popular sellers develop a rep pretty quickly. Given that, most people buy with Paypal FnF.

Re: Raffles (or Waffles), I agree with you that it can get crazy and sometimes doesn't make sense. I'm part of a few private Raffle groups on FB, and here's their policy:

- You have to use 90-day GPA to price it, and can add a 20% bump for yourself
- That bump is technically supposed to be then used to support other people's waffles (the group's admins try to generally enforce, to try and keep people from just selling books at 20% above GPA)
- For higher priced books, where the "bump" gives you a couple hundred dollars, most people give deals (eg. $10 spots, but buy 3 for $25, or 5 for $40)
- To ensure it isn't fixed, there's a procedure that's developed where essentially you use giveaways.random.org to run a randomized giveaway, and record your computer and what you're doing. There's a set procedure (involving posting when you're starting, showing the time on IG/FB, then showing a window on World Clock, etc.) and a bunch of other steps that make it reasonably hard to fake.

Even with that, I generally stay away from the vast majority of those waffles. Some of the groups have evolved to the point where sellers are trying to raffle off non-key books (why not, you're able to sell these books essentially at 20% above GPA) that most people wouldn't want... But for keys, every now and then it can be worth a shot, but no doubt this is essentially gambling.

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2 hours ago, comicwiz said:

Instagram has been a platform useful for selling books for quite some time. The most popular generate activity via hashtags. I've used a few of them to check things out. It's starting to get overrun by people who don't have much selling experience due to popularity, so it's still a wait and see. A lot of dealers are on there because it's a great way to move stuff.

What are the best hash tags to search for good sellers?

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30 minutes ago, paul747 said:

What are the best hash tags to search for good sellers?

look for these hashtags. I use them all the time #goldenagecomics #igcomicfamily #comicsforsale #comics4sale #horrorcomics #forsale #igcommunity  #silveragecomics etc

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