comicwiz Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 (edited) 12 minutes ago, rogue14 said: A novice or naive question, how to you determine the value of your comics/collection? Is this value based on gpa or a similar company? In other words, how does one determine the value of their collection? I’ve been told on many occasions that a book or collection is only worth what someone is willing to pay. This said, for insurance purpose how do you gauge this? For the most part, it's comparables research. The rest of it is making sure you have undisputable evidence of ownership, and proof of the item being in the stated condition. Because collectibles (at least when we look at the "blue chip" nature of GA/SA/BA keys) increase over time, replacement cost coverage is the only type of coverage which is capable of compensating the insured for the full value of their item at the moment in time the loss occurs. Insurers may not understand the subjective nature of incremental grade differences meaning sometimes thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars, and may use comparables which aren't contextually appropriate for the item that was lost or destroyed. I've stated this before, any insurer who just asks for a value of what you have, and doesn't question or request any proof of the stated value or ownership is bound to give you issues in the event of a loss scenario. If someone has a significant amount of value tied up in the collection, make sure you do what I said in the second sentence. Edited September 17, 2019 by comicwiz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkdrawer Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 On 9/13/2019 at 6:26 PM, intlnews said: I've been building my collection for a few years now and have collected some pretty rare comics. I submitted a bunch of them to an appraisal service, and they came back worth pretty close to 1m. Where do you guys store your comics? Do you insure? Do you have separate insurance, or is it on your homeowners? Secrecy is the best security. Krismusic and vheflin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intlnews Posted September 17, 2019 Author Share Posted September 17, 2019 26 minutes ago, Junkdrawer said: Secrecy is the best security. Just me and my dog bowser knows. I guess the insurance company too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intlnews Posted September 17, 2019 Author Share Posted September 17, 2019 39 minutes ago, marvelmaniac said: Overstreet Price Guide, eBay Past Sales, etc. I used comps from eBay, Heritage and GoCollect for FMVs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vheflin Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 1 hour ago, intlnews said: fireproof safes FYI if they actually are in a safe and you aren't aware, safes and probably also safe deposit boxes seem to have storage issues... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intlnews Posted September 17, 2019 Author Share Posted September 17, 2019 41 minutes ago, vheflin said: FYI if they actually are in a safe and you aren't aware, safes and probably also safe deposit boxes seem to have storage issues... They are already encapsulated, so they should be fine. I asked a CGC rep at NYC Comic Con, he thought nothing of it. Off the record; of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Cool Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 1st off - congrats on the huge windfall! I don't know how old you are but if you are over 65 I'd make sure your will is up to date and it may be time to start taking the tax hit rather then leave it up to your family to sell and figure it all out. I'd recommend contacting a tax pro and then ComicLink or ConnicConnect based on what they say. Maybe you could sell off $50K in books each year and keep your tax hit down some. Good luck with your choices and it's a problem I would love to have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Pontoon Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 (edited) Would these be the same comics mentioned here? Or here? Edited September 17, 2019 by Dick Pontoon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intlnews Posted September 17, 2019 Author Share Posted September 17, 2019 32 minutes ago, 1Cool said: 1st off - congrats on the huge windfall! I don't know how old you are but if you are over 65 I'd make sure your will is up to date and it may be time to start taking the tax hit rather then leave it up to your family to sell and figure it all out. I'd recommend contacting a tax pro and then ComicLink or ConnicConnect based on what they say. Maybe you could sell off $50K in books each year and keep your tax hit down some. Good luck with your choices and it's a problem I would love to have. Still have a few decades to hit 65, but certainly a consideration some day. I didn't buy them for investments, just comics that I've always enjoyed and wanted to own. I am still shocked at the values. I was going to put them in my office to display, but my insurance company said nope. Sucks they have to be kept away from view. Sigh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intlnews Posted September 17, 2019 Author Share Posted September 17, 2019 8 minutes ago, Pontoon said: Would these be the same comics mentioned here? Or here? Nope. The 500+ comic lot I've just not really gone through as much. I've kept them bagged and boarded in long boxes in my comic room. I just decided to take pics of them last week. I'm going to either sell them off in singles or in bunches. I have a few people interested in some keys from My Comic Shop and other online places. We'll see what happens. I generally do not sell off my slabbed comics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vheflin Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 donate it all to berkbridge foundation! 100% of the proceeds goes to charity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naphtha Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 1 hour ago, vheflin said: donate it all to berkbridge foundation! 100% of the proceeds goes to charity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakman29 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 (edited) 1 million is hardly a number that is tough to reach. To me , my books are priceless. I'm sure with you guys I could throw you an AF 15, Showcase 4, or a few others to make up your 1 mil mark. Edited September 18, 2019 by oakman29 Come on over, my two German Shepards will love you . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theCapraAegagrus Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 18 hours ago, intlnews said: Just me and my dog bowser knows. I guess the insurance company too. That's my cat's nickname. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldrover Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 On 9/13/2019 at 6:26 PM, intlnews said: I've been building my collection for a few years now and have collected some pretty rare comics. I submitted a bunch of them to an appraisal service, and they came back worth pretty close to 1m. Where do you guys store your comics? Do you insure? Do you have separate insurance, or is it on your homeowners? Mine wasn't worth what yours is, but it was in the six figure range. Here's what I did: 1. Homeowners won't cover you. I used CollectInsure. Reasonable rates, and you only have to itemize books worth over $25,000. I had but one of those... presumably you have more. 2. However, CollectInsure does require you to have an alarm system within your house, or have your most valuable comics stored in a safe that meets their requirements. If you've got that, great! If not... you can do what I did... at @Bomber-Bob 's suggestion.... 3. Put your most valuable books in a safe deposit box at your bank (or a bank that offers this service). That covered enough of the value of my comics that CollectInsure would underwrite without an alarm system or a safe. Congrats on your collection! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Cool Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Crazy world where people in their mid 40s have collections worth a million dollars and people are not losing their minds. Sometimes i forget how big key books have exploded over the last 5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogue14 Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 On 9/17/2019 at 12:58 PM, marvelmaniac said: Overstreet Price Guide, eBay Past Sales, etc. Got it. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Dowling Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 On 9/17/2019 at 1:28 PM, intlnews said: They are already encapsulated, so they should be fine. I asked a CGC rep at NYC Comic Con, he thought nothing of it. Off the record; of course. Whoever told you that encapsulation would protect from the rusting staple issue found in certain “fire proof” safes was wrong. Keep your comics out of those things. Similarly, the slabs are not meant for archival storage nor do they protect from heat or water submersion. One might get lucky but why take the risk? porcupine48, Larryw7 and Naphtha 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intlnews Posted September 19, 2019 Author Share Posted September 19, 2019 21 hours ago, Randall Dowling said: Whoever told you that encapsulation would protect from the rusting staple issue found in certain “fire proof” safes was wrong. Keep your comics out of those things. Similarly, the slabs are not meant for archival storage nor do they protect from heat or water submersion. One might get lucky but why take the risk? Not sure why a CGC rep would say that to me. Where would place a comics worth around 1m when the insurance company requires this? Open to options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizards2 Posted September 20, 2019 Share Posted September 20, 2019 On 9/13/2019 at 3:26 PM, intlnews said: I've been building my collection for a few years now and have collected some pretty rare comics. I submitted a bunch of them to an appraisal service, and they came back worth pretty close to 1m. Where do you guys store your comics? Do you insure? Do you have separate insurance, or is it on your homeowners? I store them in the crawl hole. I insure with Doberman Pinschers and several AR-15s locked into tri-pods in ambush mode. And Claymores. The appraisal guy is buried in the pizz hole. Same thing with the homeowners guy. jackwadds, anyway. 1m is piker carp. Maybe a chihuahua and a pizza stick for you. I certainly wouldn't lose sleep over chump change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
