Guess the market is quite good after all 2 2

[Aweandlorder]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamrowe1/2020/01/12/heritage-auctions-comic-book-department-sales-hit-a-record-79-million-last-year/#3ab5cb03f705

[1Cool]

Keys are on fire!

[Aweandlorder]

I’ve had a great year. Not Halperin great, but great nonetheless 

[Callaway29]

Interesting. Thanks for the read. @valiantman and I were just discussing market health last week.

[1Cool]

7 minutes ago, Aweandlorder said:

I’ve had a great year. Not Halperin great, but great nonetheless 

Great news.  What do you contribute to your success year?  Finding a plethora of keys - modern books - great year for finding dirt cheap books on e-bay for a quick flip?

I just checked and my sales were down 40% in 2019 compared to 2018.  2018 was my best year by far so that is a tough bar to shoot for but I was kind of shocked by the 40% drop off.  Bigger keys have been tougher to come by and people seem to be a LOT cheaper when it comes to buying books on e-bay and the Canadian buyers have pretty well dried up due to shipping cost and drop in their dollar which I contribute to the large decline.  2020 has started out well and hopefully it will be a bumper year.

[alexgross.com]

i cant read the article because i wont turn off my ad blocker. care to summarize it? sounds like heritage is raking it in? 

[valiantman]

31 minutes ago, www.alexgross.com said:

i cant read the article because i wont turn off my ad blocker. care to summarize it? sounds like heritage is raking it in? 

Heritage in 2019: $79.3M in comic and comic art sales (a new record)

Heritage in 2018: $58.4M in comic and comic art sales (a new record, broken in 2019)

Heritage says the bidder base is expanding beyond their more optimistic expectations (that is, new buyers in the market). 

[Aweandlorder]

15 minutes ago, 1Cool said:

Great news.  What do you contribute to your success year?  Finding a plethora of keys - modern books - great year for finding dirt cheap books on e-bay for a quick flip?

I just checked and my sales were down 40% in 2019 compared to 2018.  2018 was my best year by far so that is a tough bar to shoot for but I was kind of shocked by the 40% drop off.  Bigger keys have been tougher to come by and people seem to be a LOT cheaper when it comes to buying books on e-bay and the Canadian buyers have pretty well dried up due to shipping cost and drop in their dollar which I contribute to the large decline.  2020 has started out well and hopefully it will be a bumper year.

My sales were up 10-15% from ‘18 so not really THAT much better but if there’s anything I did different last year it was going heavier on listing lower ticket items starting with $5 books than previous years. It worked extremely well on slower periods I found, as people spent more money on those books as opposed to big books

[Aweandlorder]

1 hour ago, valiantman said:

Heritage in 2019: $79.3M in comic and comic art sales (a new record)

Heritage in 2018: $58.4M in comic and comic art sales (a new record, broken in 2019)

Heritage says the bidder base is expanding beyond their more optimistic expectations (that is, new buyers in the market). 

Also Halperin suggesting on social media that out of the total number, comic sales account to 55% of the money as opposed to the rest being art

[toro]

The thing that totally amazes me are the small Facebook live auctions.  They will put up books that sell for multiples of the same book on ebay.  Sometimes one guy will have purchased a book on ebay for $45, he then starts the auction at $100 and it will sell for around $150. 

[1Cool]

15 minutes ago, toro said:

The thing that totally amazes me are the small Facebook live auctions.  They will put up books that sell for multiples of the same book on ebay.  Sometimes one guy will have purchased a book on ebay for $45, he then starts the auction at $100 and it will sell for around $150. 

Any chance these are all bogus and people are selling to friends in hopes of getting a sucker?  I just can't imagine how the buyers I deal with on a day to day basis would be sucker enough to pay double what they could just buy it on E-Bay for.

[Aweandlorder]

18 minutes ago, toro said:

The thing that totally amazes me are the small Facebook live auctions.  They will put up books that sell for multiples of the same book on ebay.  Sometimes one guy will have purchased a book on ebay for $45, he then starts the auction at $100 and it will sell for around $150. 

Retail arbitrage has been going on for years with comic books (as well as other categories), but the fact that it’s retailing positively on fb is interesting 

[Cruzin' Thru Comics]

Yea keys are great but as a shop owner I’d rather see more run collectors. I do have some younger run collectors but most are older. Most of the younger crowd (under 35) seem to only want key issues. Problem with that is finding buyers for the rest of the books. 

[KEY ISSUES Comics]

20 minutes ago, Cruzin' Thru Comics said:

Yea keys are great but as a shop owner I’d rather see more run collectors. I do have some younger run collectors but most are older. Most of the younger crowd (under 35) seem to only want key issues. Problem with that is finding buyers for the rest of the books. 

I feel your pain, which is why I've decided to liquidate most of my inventory. No sense in stocking long runs if they don't sell fast enough... Most younger buyers also hold onto their books for much shorter periods, even keys. Buying and collecting habits have changed enormously.

[Cruzin' Thru Comics]

8 minutes ago, KEY ISSUES Comics said:

I feel your pain, which is why I've decided to liquidate most of my inventory. No sense in stocking long runs if they don't sell fast enough... Most younger buyers also hold onto their books for much shorter periods, even keys. Buying and collecting habits have changed enormously.

That’s right. I do have some loyal younger customers that collect complete runs. It’s good to see that in the younger crowd. I also carry tons of $1 books. They sell very well. 

[1Cool]

56 minutes ago, KEY ISSUES Comics said:

I feel your pain, which is why I've decided to liquidate most of my inventory. No sense in stocking long runs if they don't sell fast enough... Most younger buyers also hold onto their books for much shorter periods, even keys. Buying and collecting habits have changed enormously.

But if store owners are having to liquidate run books then they really can't buy anything except keys (unless they are paying pennies on the dollar).  I'm running into more and more flippers trying to sell me their run books or guys who have a nice collection but want top dollar for everything and not just the keys.  For example - I helped a local guy sell off his bronze age collection a few years ago.  I consigned some and bought him out when he got down to 10 long boxes or so.  He called me right before the holidays and said he had unearthed another 8 long boxes of "mags and odds and ends in his basement".  I ran over there lightning quick but it turned out the left overs where mostly late 80s books with some little demand magazines.  He was really disappointed when I made him a lower offer then he was hoping for (compared to the last purchase I made with him).  I had to explain the current market and how cheap non keys are going for right now.  He ended up declining and is just going to put them back in the basement.  I see this interaction be indicative of the current non key / hot modern market.

Edited January 13, 2020 by 1Cool

[RCheli]

The Heritage market is completely different than your standard one-day con market and your LCS market. It's not a bad thing that Heritage did well last year, but to me it's not much different than comparing the DJIA to the general economy. Just because one is doing incredibly well, doesn't mean that the other is matching it.

[Robot Man]

1 hour ago, Aweandlorder said:

My sales were up 10-15% from ‘18 so not really THAT much better but if there’s anything I did different last year it was going heavier on listing lower ticket items starting with $5 books than previous years. It worked extremely well on slower periods I found, as people spent more money on those books as opposed to big books

I do very well with lower grade and lower price GA/SA books. There are still plenty of run collectors buying if stuff is priced right. I often sell large piles of books to these folks. It really adds up at the end of the day and lots of stuff gone. Smart people box dig. Often, the best deals are there.

I’m not so liberal with keys and better books. Good books sell themselves. They are also VERY hard to replace.

I’ve had a pretty good year selling comics. The other stuff I deal in (old toys, advertising, sports ect) also sell decent but has to be the right stuff. Got to keep a sharp eye on the market. 

 

[Mr. Spider-Woman]

1 hour ago, Cruzin' Thru Comics said:

Yea keys are great but as a shop owner I’d rather see more run collectors. I do have some younger run collectors but most are older. Most of the younger crowd (under 35) seem to only want key issues. Problem with that is finding buyers for the rest of the books. 

I'm under 35 (barely) and I'd love to go after keys but I don't have the money. What I've done this year is clear out a ton of Fantastic Four, Namor, and Dazzler comics from local stores as I work on completing various runs.

16 minutes ago, RCheli said:

The Heritage market is completely different than your standard one-day con market and your LCS market. It's not a bad thing that Heritage did well last year, but to me it's not much different than comparing the DJIA to the general economy. Just because one is doing incredibly well, doesn't mean that the other is matching it.

That was my reaction as well after skimming the article. It's great that Heritage is doing well. Is the broader vintage comics and original art market doing well, too? Not to mention the even broader comic book market?

[Robot Man]

1 hour ago, toro said:

The thing that totally amazes me are the small Facebook live auctions.  They will put up books that sell for multiples of the same book on ebay.  Sometimes one guy will have purchased a book on ebay for $45, he then starts the auction at $100 and it will sell for around $150. 

I have found that consigning stuff to the smaller local auctions work well for me. Mix a few decent books into a box full of lower grade 10 & 12 cent lessor titles really brings out the “speculators” who have heard all the comic book hype. These lots almost always go for way more than taking them to shows.