Advice/thoughts on large collection 1 1

[Bird]

I just cannot believe there are 1000 books in there worth slabbing since OP says major keys are gone. The money still comes out of your pocket in the end and anything on the line for being slabbed might do better in a lot to help pull up the drek. But there are many ways to skin a cat as they say. But it is quite a looong road from initial post suggesting 200 slab-worthy books to 800-1200 and the poster looks like he has done the work and knows what he has for the most part.

I just endorse doing the keys yourself; you can even get an advance on the bulk from the auction house and use that to slab should you go that route.

[William-James88]

5 hours ago, swtrilogy said:

Hi all.  Been a trip so far talking to collectors/dealers about the collection.  I have had great conversations and many have offered their thoughts about the collection.

I do have one question for everyone.  What are your thoughts about consigning to an auction house like Hakes?  Pros/Cons?  I had a preliminary discussion with them and they mentioned that there could be 800-1,200 books that they may want to slab (of course this cost would be born by me as far final auction costs) and 10% flat fee.  As far as the remaining bulk, it would be broken into lots and sold and others single issues.

Trying to determine what, if any, downside to this besides potentially waiting months or longer for any returns.

 

Easy, the downside is you make less money or even no money. A slabbed comic will sell for more than a raw copy, not enough to make it worth it for you oftentimes, but a dealer wont care since they have that flat 10% regardless, on top of the extra cut they got from having you slab a comic (they get a dealer rate/cut for every slabbed book they send to CGC).

Here is the scenario:

You have a comic that could sell for $80 raw (any of the early black suit spidey issues are a good example) but that could sell for $100 slabbed (a 20% premium makes sense).  Obviously for someone charging you 10% flat they would rather you get it graded since that will bring them $10 instead of $8. 

Now check this, getting it graded will cost you $30-$40 all together. Lets go for the cheaper option (best case scenario).

You sell for $100, they substract their fee, and they substract how much it cost for grading, so you end up with $60.

If you didn't grade it, they would only substract 8$ so you would get $72 for the same comic.

And as I said, not only did they get more from it being graded with their 10% fee, but they also took a cut from your fee to submit to CGC. 

So they have every reason to recomend you slab a bunch of comics, they can't lose. But you can. And this was all best case scenario, if they charge more to slab your comic or if you get less back from the auction it could happen that you come out negative (at least for a few auctions).

Thanks for sharing what those people told you because I am assuming they tell others and those people just follow since they will think like you, that there is no downside. Now I get why there are so many worthless comics being slabbed :

 

You just have to choose if you want to maximise the seller's return, or your own? 

Edited August 4, 2020 by William-James88

[Bird]

I have offered to buy, although perhaps not all. 

That said if you decide to go the auction route, why not send 10 longs to Hakes (I wouldn't but they seem to be your #1 right now), Heritage, Clink, mcs and CC each and see who you are happiest with, then give them the rest. Or narrow it down even. You can get some good terms if you ask.

[swtrilogy]

Tank you all once again for the great advice.  At this point, I really need to review/analyze these different approaches so that I don't short change myself.  I am not looking to make a killing but I also don't want to incur a ton of extra costs.  I still need to discuss the collection with some other potential buyers so will need to do a pro/con with all offers, etc. and determine path forward.

Very much appreciated!  

[Pat Thomas]

FYI, mycomicshop.com buys entire collections, too. They have several different options depending on what the collection consists of and how much time you want to spend on it. You can call and talk directly to the owner, Buddy Saunders, and he will tell you whether they are interested in buying the entire collection or not. If they aren't, he will probably give you advice. You can read all the testimonials from sellers on their website. There are thousands of them.

[William-James88]

On 8/4/2020 at 5:26 PM, swtrilogy said:

 I am not looking to make a killing but I also don't want to incur a ton of extra costs. 

Then you should avoid slabbing as much as possible.

So, any update? Your case has been making me quite curious and I really do hope it works out the best way possible for you.

[Glassman10]

On 8/4/2020 at 4:05 PM, swtrilogy said:

Per discussion with Hakes, same thing.....once the book sells, they deduct the slabbing fee.

you ever wonder if there's a difference in the price quoted by each group?

[swtrilogy]

On 8/11/2020 at 11:15 AM, William-James88 said:

Then you should avoid slabbing as much as possible.

So, any update? Your case has been making me quite curious and I really do hope it works out the best way possible for you.

Hi all.  Been working household projects....I have met two people so far and the meetings/discussions were great.  I have a couple of other leads to pursue/finalize this week/early next week.  Although I have not accepted any of the offers yet, I continue to think through all my options including grading maybe top 25 or 50.

I will provide update when plans are final.