Wondering if anyone still gets good finds at HPB 1 1

[serling1978]

Just wondering if there are still any "good" half price books locations out there. I started collecting as a teen in the early 90s and took about 20 years off before starting again 8 years ago at age 33. I got back into collecting by finding some cheap bronze and silver books at HPB and it took off from there. At the time there were 3 HPB locations I would hit up multiple times a week and I could find a steady stream of Bronze age goodness for 25 cents, 50 cents, and $1 each and sometimes silver age for $1. Over the course of a couple years they seemed to change their mindset and started putting even $5 value books in the "collectors area" often for more than the actual value. Now 8 years later I don't go to HPB at all anymore and get all my books at shows or online. Are there any HPB locations out there in the US left that still offer Bronze at least for $1? I don't need the filler anymore but I was just reminiscing so I'm curious about other's experiences

[Karl Liebl]

I went to one out of curiosity last week for the first time.  They had about 30 boxes filled with modern drek.  No silver, bronze or even copper age books.  The display was completely disorganized, books were being mangled etc.  Some of the boxes were at floor level under a table and had other boxes behind them.  They did have tabs, I looked at the F tab and 0 FF books in it.  I would say its a fair bet that someone at the store collects comics and picks them clean as soon as they come in.  Basically there was no love for the books or really any interest in selling any as far as I could tell.  It was bad I tell you, BAD!

[badback83]

There are 4 locations relatively close to me.  6 or 7 years ago I could go and find decent silver and bronze pretty cheap.  Now, anything that has a 50 cent cover price or earlier is priced triple guide and the copies are usually pretty beat.  2 of the stores have a short box of what they call “collectible comics” behind the counter.  This is the stuff they think is worth more and don’t put it on the sales floor.  Usually a bust when I visit.

[jsilverjanet]

I found some things this week after a long time of not finding anything.

most of their books are overpriced. I'd buy a lot more if the books were $1 but many now price them at $2-$3

 

[serling1978]

2 hours ago, DocHoppus182 said:

There are 4 locations relatively close to me.  6 or 7 years ago I could go and find decent silver and bronze pretty cheap.  Now, anything that has a 50 cent cover price or earlier is priced triple guide and the copies are usually pretty beat.  2 of the stores have a short box of what they call “collectible comics” behind the counter.  This is the stuff they think is worth more and don’t put it on the sales floor.  Usually a bust when I visit.

That's what I was seeing too back when I stopped going. The "collectible comics" box that had stuff insanely priced. It was good while the good times lasted though. Got a lot of filler for a bunch of the big runs I still have like ASM, Captain Marvel, X-Men, Avengers, etc

[F For Fake]

On 2/2/2019 at 12:39 PM, jsilverjanet said:

I found some things this week after a long time of not finding anything.

most of their books are overpriced. I'd buy a lot more if the books were $1 but many now price them at $2-$3

 

My stores did the $2-$3 thing for a year or so, but it must not have been working, because recently they've moved back to everything being a dollar, except the "good books".

HPB is a shoot, it just depends on what people bring in. Yes, they have a tendency to dramatically overprice mid-grade bronze and copper stuff (i.e. "old" books, according to the younger folks working there), but there are still plenty of valuable moderns that get put out in the $1 bin, more than enough to make it worth the hunt. In the past few months I've pulled 3 NM copies of Wolverine Origins 10, two NM copies of Lady Killer 1, etc. Moderns just don't seem to be on their "valuable" radar, so there are steals to be had. At least there are enough to make it worth it to me to keep going back every couple of weeks.

[BabaLament]

I've had excellent luck with HPB. I try to go every two months or so, give the bins time to churn. They keep a lot of stuff in the back, to re-stock the bins after they've been picked through; never hurts to ask if you could go through the stuff that's ready to hit the bins but hasn't been loaded yet.

[nocutename]

Here's my latest experience with HPB online. I don't have a storefront near me.  I order a trade online for around 6 bucks.  It is an OOP trade and I think score as I want to read it but not for $30 + bucks that some ebay sellers have it listed for.  I  arrives in truly poor condition with a huge greasy fingerprint stain on the back page that soaked through a few pages.  Gross, gross, gross!  Now, I have ordered the rest of the series from these third party used book sellers.  Vol 2 and 3 are in great used condition that I got for a few bucks only plus shipping.  This is not a very popular series from DC comics N52 line either.  

Anyway, HPB is very hit or miss when purchasing online and I do try to avoid them when selecting a seller from either Amazon or ebay.  Trust me, these type of sellers become a last resort for me but sometimes I just want to read something that OOP.

[jcjames]

Nope. Not a thing in a few years I'd say. 

They sticker ON the book a lot of times, stuff their bins with mostly damaged drek and I have not found anything decent in a long time. 

Last big find I got from them was YTLM 1-20 (the #1 came out as 9.8 after a joeypress). 

Found a decent 1st Hellcat afterwards and a nice ASM252 but that was a couple years ago. 

Just not finding even half-decent stuff there anymore. 

 

[Bomber-Bob]

HPB has been useless for me for a while now. First off, the secret is out and the flippers are in there constantly. Unless my timing is lucky, they are picked clean. Also, the employees obviously get first shot and either buy or hold the good stuff for themselves.  I agree that they have snuck up the prices and only the drek is truly half price. 

[Brewcrewfan77]

There's two in my area and are so so.  I've found some decent stuff a few nice runs of 80s Aquaman, some AH covers, a VF Spider-Woman #1 for $6.  Best find was the rare second print of Zombie Tramp #1 for $1.00.  Worth checking out once or twice a month.  Then there's the time they had a GL #76 in a G/G+ for $3000.00.  So prices are all over the board.

[F For Fake]

6 minutes ago, Brewcrewfan77 said:

There's two in my area and are so so.  I've found some decent stuff a few nice runs of 80s Aquaman, some AH covers, a VF Spider-Woman #1 for $6.  Best find was the rare second print of Zombie Tramp #1 for $1.00.  Worth checking out once or twice a month.  Then there's the time they had a GL #76 in a G/G+ for $3000.00.  So prices are all over the board.

Yeah, the majority of the buyers at these stores aren't comic savvy. If they find a book that they think is "old", in their minds, that tends to equal "valuable". So they'll take some crazy asking price from eBay or Amazon and slap it on there. I've never found any of their "good" books that were worth picking up. But I've found countless gems in the $1 bin.

It's interesting how it seems we all have different experiences. My shops keep the bins pretty well organized, never put stickers directly on the books, etc. I guess it call comes down to the management of individual shops.

[ADAMANTIUM]

5 minutes ago, F For Fake said:

Yeah, the majority of the buyers at these stores aren't comic savvy. If they find a book that they think is "old", in their minds, that tends to equal "valuable". So they'll take some crazy asking price from eBay or Amazon and slap it on there. I've never found any of their "good" books that were worth picking up. But I've found countless gems in the $1 bin.

It's interesting how it seems we all have different experiences. My shops keep the bins pretty well organized, never put stickers directly on the books, etc. I guess it call comes down to the management of individual shops.

This for sure  

I've never had too big of finds in the half off section, partly because I'm a noob and the extent of my knowledge is limited to back issues. I have found stuff and ignorantly put it back: Runaways #1 NM+, Nabisco Wolvie low grade, 30 cent price variant of Conan...... and some to a lesser extent, 1st cameo, 2nd and 3rd full appearance of Legion  

Mostly I find the bins behind glass that you can flip through not priced to aggressive, I'm always posting in the Garage/Antique thread with prices of what I find. I often get the "deals" and not the "steals"......

like the other day there was a Zombie Magneto statue with box priced at $50, with my 10% off coupon, I could have got it for a little less than sticker price even with sales tax...

See what I mean, "deal" not "steal". I don't find myself too greedy, but I am always excited for one day I will have that big find  

[jcjames]

And then BAM! Just like that, half priced books delivers. Picked these two up on lunch break today. 

 

[F For Fake]

I think the moral of HPB is that it all depends on what people bring them. Both of our HPB's are in relatively "well-to-do" parts of town, where I guess the inhabitants don't mind selling their comics to a store for maybe 5 cents a pop. For me, selling to HPB is essentially the last step before I just take stuff to the dump. But as long as other folks are willing to sell them their stuff, I'll keep going back.