Lot of cheap slabs, better to use CLINK or eBay? 2 2

[RedGiant]

If slabs have some decent value, I don't mind all the labor that goes into selling them - here or at an auction house. 

Valuing my time (and sanity) as my slab collection continues to grow I'm curious what others have done.  If you had a couple hundred cheap slabs you wanted to sell - say $50-$200 retail each would you pack them all up and send to ComicLink for them to list for 10% or would you do it yourself and list on eBay for them to take 10%?  On the surface, CLINK seems like a much better deal for the seller - no labor - same money (in theory).  The problem is there is no sales data, so I can't tell if cheapies pull in as much on CLINK as eBay.  I'm sure the market is smaller, but would a book that goes for $100 on eBay also go for $100 on CLINK?  I'm talking mainly bronze/copper superhero stuff.

Has anyone already experimented with such a project?  If so, results?  I'm sure answer is 'it depends' - but I'm thinking in aggregate here.  Let's say overall you are confident the lot would pull in $20k on eBay, I'm sure some individual books will go for more on CLINK, others less, but in aggregate, do you feel you would end up near the same place ($20k)?

Edited August 14, 2018 by RedGiant

[Mayor006]

I've done this with ComicLink very recently.  I took 51 books ranging in grades that I thought had some potential for making money all the way down to the ones I just can't stand to have taking up anymore space in my collection.  I knew exactly how much I had in them and what I felt they were worth overall.  What you need to ask yourself is will you be ok with the prices you get if they don't meet your expectations just because it saves you a ton of personal time.  Me personally I was perfectly fine with it.  I cleared out two CGC boxes of books out of my stuff, made back almost exactly what I had in them (seriously, like $4 profit), and used the money to pay for acquisitions at Heroes.  Remeber though, these were mostly books that didn't make the grade or lost favor in the collection. Only a couple of "hot" books.

I would also say you've already answered your own question.  "It depends".  Each book is different, how hot is it, how many people are actually looking for it, how many people are watching a football game instead of my auction ending, it just keeps going.  If you have you have a couple of hundred slabs why not throw 50 on the bay, and 50 on CLink and compare your results.  Then whatever worked best, do that with the remaining 100.  If you had two of every book in the exact same condition that would be an awesome comparison, but not likely I know.  

Edited August 14, 2018 by Mayor006

[1Cool]

1 hour ago, RedGiant said:

If slabs have some decent value, I don't mind all the labor that goes into selling them - here or at an auction house. 

Valuing my time (and sanity) as my slab collection continues to grow I'm curious what others have done.  If you had a couple hundred cheap slabs you wanted to sell - say $50-$200 retail each would you pack them all up and send to ComicLink for them to list for 10% or would you do it yourself and list on eBay for them to take 10%?  On the surface, CLINK seems like a much better deal for the seller - no labor - same money (in theory).  The problem is there is no sales data, so I can't tell if cheapies pull in as much on CLINK as eBay.  I'm sure the market is smaller, but would a book that goes for $100 on eBay also go for $100 on CLINK?  I'm talking mainly bronze/copper superhero stuff.

Has anyone already experimented with such a project?  If so, results?  I'm sure answer is 'it depends' - but I'm thinking in aggregate here.  Let's say overall you are confident the lot would pull in $20k on eBay, I'm sure some individual books will go for more on CLINK, others less, but in aggregate, do you feel you would end up near the same place ($20k)?

Unless the books are the highest graded copies or very, very hot and hard to find books you will almost always do better selling on E-Bay.  Almost all books take a 15 - 25% shave when it comes to GPA on ComicLink but you never know and some books do set new highs but these books are usually 9.8s with only a couple copies on census.  You really have to gauge the time you have to ship out books, take offers, and scan and post up books.  ComicLink is a good option if you have very little time and want to clear out some space.  Personally I always end up disappointed when i put up books for sale on ComicLink.  Good luck.

[mysterio]

Or, make the scans and offer them up here in the sales forums first. Whatever doesn’t sell can then go to eBay or Clink. 

[DjMartini]

54 minutes ago, mysterio said:

Or, make the scans and offer them up here in the sales forums first. Whatever doesn’t sell can then go to eBay or Clink. 

I definitely agree that you might want to start with posting them here on the forums first. "One person's trash is another person's treasure.." or so it goes. You never know if someone is looking to complete a collection and really wants your book/slab. You might get the price you want or close to it as you might get some good offers. Secondly, I would go with eBay and then Clink. Good luck! 

[paperheart]

Ebay

[RedGiant]

Thanks for all the thoughts and in line with what I was expecting - was just hopeful  everyone was going to say clink - would have saved me a ton of time and energy. 

Edited August 14, 2018 by RedGiant

[DavidTheDavid]

I would do CLink if I didn’t want to fool with them. Nice to offload all that labor.

[mycomicshop]

You could consign with us and do fixed price sale instead of auction. Low commission without the price risk of auction sale.

You send one shipment to us and then set prices on your books. We scan them and list them on both MCS and eBay. Commission is 10% on sales up to $300, 8% sales $300-3000, and 6% $3000+, minimum of $5 per book. 

[RedGiant]

50 minutes ago, mycomicshop said:

You could consign with us and do fixed price sale instead of auction. Low commission without the price risk of auction sale.

You send one shipment to us and then set prices on your books. We scan them and list them on both MCS and eBay. Commission is 10% on sales up to $300, 8% sales $300-3000, and 6% $3000+, minimum of $5 per book. 

This sounds like a great option too. Buy from MCS all the time, but never sold there. Maybe I should give it a shot. 

[FN-2199]

I don't have a lot of experience selling on C-Link because I'm mainly into moderns. When I did sell (bronze ASM), my best copies went for more than what I had listed them for on eBay 2+ years. Some of my lower grade didn't go above $50 but I still had to pay a $5 minimum commission per book. I was glad to have sold the stale inventory and not worry about returns or shipping incidents. 

For C-Link keep in mind:

- Make sure the book is worth more than $50 at auction because of the $5 minimum commission

- Make sure you keep the records of the sale for taxes; PayPal will report to the IRS and send you a 1099K for 200 transactions and over $20k of sales, C-Link leaves this up to the seller to report. 

[jokiing]

What about the other end of the spectrum? Best / favorite places to list high end keys?

[spidermanbeyond]

I was curious myself about CLink for non-key books but you cannot beat Ebay for views/eyeballs.  I have gotten great prices for common books that I thought would only sell at 9.8 grade.  The key is to be patient with a reasonable buy it price.  It may months to even a year to get your price.  Auctions will yield poor results unless the book is highly desirable.  Remember, there is another 3% charge with Paypal so Ebay is closer to 13%.  On the plus side, you make a few dollars for your shipping and handling.  MyComicShop and CLink sound like a great way to go if you don't what the hassle or work of listing, etc.

Edited August 15, 2018 by spidermanbeyond

[jokiing]

Interesting to hear that BIN is a better way to go with "common" books. Makes sense that auctions can be tricky if the right buyer(s) don't happen to see the posting and someone grabs it at a bargain price.

I have a few key books that I want to list but finding the best arena is a little tricky.... sometimes ebay will have promotions such as 25% off final value fee....

[comicartfan]

On 8/14/2018 at 8:23 PM, mycomicshop said:

You could consign with us and do fixed price sale instead of auction. Low commission without the price risk of auction sale.

You send one shipment to us and then set prices on your books. We scan them and list them on both MCS and eBay. Commission is 10% on sales up to $300, 8% sales $300-3000, and 6% $3000+, minimum of $5 per book. 

 

I was going recommend MCS for this very thing. I use them for my lower grade or high grade low value (less than $200 usually) slabs and it's got lots of benefits. They allow you to place them in a number of options, either one of their many auctions or for sale. 

I like the fact that there is no eBay fees, shipping and scanning all the books. I just ship them and MCS sends me check(s) when the book(s) sell. 

While I like Comic Link for Silver and Bronze stuff, they get horrible results for modern and most copper age books. Unless it's a big key, of course....(Dark Knight Returns 1, ASM 238, 300....etc......)

Edited August 16, 2018 by comicartfan