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The rise of Instagram sellers
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239 posts in this topic

1 hour ago, Pirate said:

It's the same insufficiently_thoughtful_persons who participate in sportscard breaks.  There are gamblers who can't help themselves.  A fool with their money

Yeah, the whole raffle thing still kinda boggles my mind.

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26 minutes ago, DocHoppus182 said:

Yeah, the whole raffle thing still kinda boggles my mind.

I agree it is a form of gambling which is illegal but i find it's right up there with betting on March Madness - not really hurting anyone.  What about the process is mind boggling?

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On 6/4/2018 at 3:01 PM, 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.

Also illegal.  It sure how it’s lasted so long, there are lots of “secret” groups on FB doing this 

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Okay so I'm a little insta-dumb, if someone could help me . . .

Is there a way to search for comics for sale in your area or country? Living in Canada (Alberta) means that shipping can be really high sometimes even just for a couple comics. For example on ebay, I usually limit my searches to within Canada as the shipping is usually just killer.

Also, I'd like to look into selling comics on instagram. Is there a particular seller that you guys think does it the best that I could follow and watch what he does? Thanks!

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25 minutes ago, PunisherPunisherPunisher said:

Does anyone have a heads up on who the good sellers are on Instagram, the books I've seen there look fantastic.

Who ever has the 15-20 ASM 300s at near mint is a lucky bugger.

 

35 minutes ago, Shawnismaximus said:

Okay so I'm a little insta-dumb, if someone could help me . . .

Is there a way to search for comics for sale in your area or country? Living in Canada (Alberta) means that shipping can be really high sometimes even just for a couple comics. For example on ebay, I usually limit my searches to within Canada as the shipping is usually just killer.

Also, I'd like to look into selling comics on instagram. Is there a particular seller that you guys think does it the best that I could follow and watch what he does? Thanks!

Follow someone like @shortboxed who is reputable. Then see who he follows. That should be a clue as to who is a good seller. Don't be afraid to DM a dealer or collector you follow and ask, that's the purpose of social media. 

Often, dealers will post their location (such as Canada) in their profile so it can easily be seen. 

There are reputable dealers, but I still find better deals on eBay or I had already known dealers from previous transactions and now I'm just following them on IG to keep connected. 

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Thank you for the shout outs @FN-2199 and @AustinReece_GRRC! It's very much appreciated! 

Regarding raffles, my solution is simple - I unfollow any and all raffle accounts. Every single one. If someone posts even one raffle they get an unfollow. My Instagram feed stays clean and I don't get inundated with stupid things like raffles to get into raffles. Really, that's a thing - people enter raffles to win a spot into a raffle (shrug)

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19 hours ago, 1Cool said:

I agree it is a form of gambling which is illegal but i find it's right up there with betting on March Madness - not really hurting anyone.  What about the process is mind boggling?

I guess what I meant by the term "mind boggling" is that isn't it illegal?  I probably didn't use the correct terminology.  Not to mention I'd be worried if things were rigged somehow.  I suppose that can happen with anything though.  Obviously, I'm sure that most of the people running raffles are on the up and up, but still. 

I also agree with what @shortboxed said.  I can't stand when I have to sift through a bunch of raffle and mini-raffle to get into the main raffle posts on my feed.  All I want to do is look at other people's comic book collections and cat videos.  

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Nothing but positive experiences so far from buying through Instagram.  It's a win-win as the sellers don't have to pay eBay fees and usually those savings are passed down to the buyers.  It also seems like there are some really good genuine collectors willing to try to help each other out.

As for the raffles, generally they are a waste of money unless you get extremely lucky but even then, the sellers too often make out with selling a book higher than retail with the amount of raffle tickets they receive.  Not a big fan of that practice especially when people are shelling out hundreds of dollars for a single raffle slot.

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19 hours ago, AustinReece_GRRC said:

I think I may be able to chime in here. Here are some guys that are "dealers" and others that just post a lot of books for sale.

@dom_uh_nator_comics, @shortboxed (Hi Gene!), @collectors_comics @dreamtoreal1 (Hey Pablo!), @Komickevin, @nerdy_girl_comics

And here are some guys that just have some sick books and are great accounts to follow if you like comic books:

@streyflexin, @murkadellik, @blackcatcollection

And I can't make a post like this without a shameless plug for our own page: @Reecesrarecomics. We try to use IG as a means to show people what we have, what we just got in, etc. We also try and do live videos at the cons and other stuff that isn't as conducive to a traditional website.

-Austin

 

Not for nothing, but most of the people in these lists are on the boards fairly regularly too.  Instagram is great, and I dig looking through my feed every day to see what new stuff people are getting, but these forums are still the place to be.  The amount of amassed knowledge of this hobby concentrated here is pretty staggering if you're willing to look around.

And you have to be willing to tolerate @lizards2. :sumo: 

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22 minutes ago, entalmighty1 said:

Not for nothing, but most of the people in these lists are on the boards fairly regularly too.  Instagram is great, and I dig looking through my feed every day to see what new stuff people are getting, but these forums are still the place to be.  The amount of amassed knowledge of this hobby concentrated here is pretty staggering if you're willing to look around.

And you have to be willing to tolerate @lizards2. :sumo: 

:whee: I'm really happy not really knowing what Instagram is..., :whee:

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32 minutes ago, thunsicker said:

I remember when selling on the boards meant the same thing...:shy:

The Instagram format of having a pre-existing account and only having to open an app to search comics quickly with pictures is much more convenient than browsing the forum through the smart phones web browser.  A much more efficient method of shopping for comics on the go.

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I've been searching more and more, using some of the hashtags mentioned in this thread, and man, there are some REALLY good books out there. 

I've found the prices to be better than ebay prices as well.

So great pics, easy navigation, quick searches, good prices and no fees.

I can see this really flourishing. 

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:preach:

Let me start by saying. I may be a geezer but I am completely computer literate. I use Adobe Creative Suite, Photoshop and Illustrator every day for work.

I have very little interest if any, for social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook. Just a bit private and frankly have no time for it.

I did open an Instagram account a few months ago to view some content posted by a fellow "junker". I have scrolled through it a bit but not spent a lot of time there. After reading this thread, I thought I'd delve into it a bit deeper and see what I was missing. As suspected, a bottomless, endless pit of comics. Very cool mind you, but just no end to it. I searched out some of the people mentioned here and saw some killer stuff. Some observations and questions though:

I see a picture of a book. Sometimes it's just a post, some times it has a price, some times it says "DM" me for price? How does selling work here? 

If I were to post a book just to show it, will I get hit all over to sell it? Or, do I have to post it with a price to sell it?

Is there a way to delete photos if I don't want them there any more? 

Is it just chance and a lot of searching to find books for sale or is there a place or procedure for it like here?

Not, sure I want to jump right in there right away. There doesn't seem to be the "community" there that there is here. I like the way this place is set up. Lots of dialog and I have made a lot of friends here that I don't think I would make over there, Besides, in addition to these boards, ebay, shows, I spend way too much time and money on this hobby already.

Convince me...

 

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Social media is a huge waste of time to me.

You spend hours browsing with very little way of focusing on what you are really looking for.

With the chat forums you get titles. With eBay you have search functionality.

Wading through pages and pages of pure junk isn't worth the effort most of the time to me.

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15 hours ago, VintageComics said:

Social media is a huge waste of time to me.

You spend hours browsing with very little way of focusing on what you are really looking for. 

With the chat forums you get titles. With eBay you have search functionality.

Wading through pages and pages of pure junk isn't worth the effort most of the time to me. 

I actually find it WAY more cumbersome to scroll through the boards.  Someone posts "KEYS FOR SALE" and you open the thread, you have to scroll and scroll scroll and see maybe 5-6 books on a single page.  Lots of popcorn icons, some stupid comments, some "GLWTS", a laundry list of rules, and big pictures that take u 3 finger scrolls to pass by. 

I open a users IG, immediately I see 16 thumbnail pics.  No text.  I can view like 100 pics on 10 seconds.  If I want a closer look at something specific I click it.

I actually think the boards feature way more junk than the IG users I'm now following.

 

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