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How do collectors on here work out the best average price comparison
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22 posts in this topic

Hi,

N00B here - First post, so please be gentle!

Apologies if this question has been asked before (and has been answered) but I’m looking to purchase my 1st slab, and would like to know how collectors arrive at the best average price comparison, so they know they haven’t over paid?

The slab in question is on a dealer’s website. It is a CGC 7.0, priced at $975 

I went onto comics.gocollect.com and found there had been 17 sales in 2020 of this slab in this grade (nearly all of the sales were on eBay), so I added up every price and then divided by 17, and got an average of $828.41. 

Is this the only computation to find out if a title is over priced? If so, is it proper etiquette to inform the dealer that you have used comics.gocollect.com to learn that the average is $828.41 (and not his price at $975), or would it just be the case that the seller would say, “that’s the price, take it or leave it!”

The difference between the two amounts is $146.59. That’s quite a lot. With a price difference of that size, would dealers be willing to haggle, or perhaps pay for overseas shipping (I live in the UK) to offset the amount?

As I’m sure you can appreciate, I want to start on the right foot, and continue the correct way to buying slabs in the future, so any information and help on the above would be much appreciated.

Many thanks and a Happy 2021 to all of you.

Andy
 

 

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we as a community have no idea what the seller would do thus any answer we give is just conjecture

there is too much unknown .... which way is the book trending (up/down)?, how many others are available in that grade on the market at this time?, how long as the seller had the book up for sale and how motivated are they to move it immediately or are they fine holding out for a price they have in mind based on their financial needs or what they paid for it?, etc, etc, etc

seems like you at least have some good intel/data that you have initially gathered, so why don't you just message the seller with the info that you have gathered and see how they respond .... worse they can do is say no

Edited by StillOnly25Cents
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Thank you to everyone who replied.

Some great answers and your thoughts have been duly noted.

Apologies for not stating what book it was.

The book in question was Tomb of Dracula # 10 (Blade’s 1st appearance).

Not sure if the dealer has it at $975 in anticipation that the book will go up in price if the talk of a Blade re-boot actually happens, or whether the dealer truly believes a CGC 7.0 should be around that figure of $975.

I guess I could ask the seller how long he’s had the book up for sale, but that might be rude to do so, and he could just say “last week”, and I still wouldn’t be any the wiser.

Guess I will do a little more investigation work (checking eBay sold prices, seeing what other 7.0 grades are out there and at what prices), before I contact the seller.

Once again, thanks for all your replies.

Andy

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21 minutes ago, MARVELous Fan said:

Not sure if the dealer has it at $975 in anticipation that the book will go up in price if the talk of a Blade re-boot actually happens, or whether the dealer truly believes a CGC 7.0 should be around that figure of $975.

I guess I could ask the seller how long he’s had the book up for sale, but that might be rude to do so, and he could just say “last week”, and I still wouldn’t be any the wiser.

That's all irrelevant. The dealer's price is his price. Full stop. Sellers have a myriad of reasons why they price the way they do and it's pointless to speculate as to their reasoning. 

What you could do is ask if he would entertain an offer on the book. 

Edited by Jeffro.
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I was going to say, there do not appear to be any copies of this book on sale for the price go.collect says it has been averaging.  I think the only way you might get that price is by winning an auction.  Anyone selling straight up is pricing it significantly higher.  

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also I see $875 as the FMV listed on gocollect for a 7.0 with it trending up (clearly this is a P5 MCU spec book)

last ebay sales I see are as follows

$821 + 17.50 shipping 12/1 OW/W pgs  27 bids

$1,100 + 20 shipping 11/22  OW/W pgs BIN

$860 + 13.50 shipping 10/11 W pgs 27 bids

 

active ebay listings 

$1,270 + 15 shipping BIN or best offer price listed 9/11

 

seems to me the dealer's listing is in the ballpark for what this book should be

Edited by StillOnly25Cents
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The other consideration is that prices for in-demand keys have jumped almost across the board over the last six months. This means that looking at an average price for all 2020 sales is not an accurate way to go. I would look at sold prices on EBay for the past three months to get a more accurate idea of value. 

 

 

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On 1/1/2021 at 11:22 AM, MARVELous Fan said:

Hi,

N00B here - First post, so please be gentle!

Apologies if this question has been asked before (and has been answered) but I’m looking to purchase my 1st slab, and would like to know how collectors arrive at the best average price comparison, so they know they haven’t over paid?

The slab in question is on a dealer’s website. It is a CGC 7.0, priced at $975 

I went onto comics.gocollect.com and found there had been 17 sales in 2020 of this slab in this grade (nearly all of the sales were on eBay), so I added up every price and then divided by 17, and got an average of $828.41. 

Is this the only computation to find out if a title is over priced? If so, is it proper etiquette to inform the dealer that you have used comics.gocollect.com to learn that the average is $828.41 (and not his price at $975), or would it just be the case that the seller would say, “that’s the price, take it or leave it!”

The difference between the two amounts is $146.59. That’s quite a lot. With a price difference of that size, would dealers be willing to haggle, or perhaps pay for overseas shipping (I live in the UK) to offset the amount?

As I’m sure you can appreciate, I want to start on the right foot, and continue the correct way to buying slabs in the future, so any information and help on the above would be much appreciated.

Many thanks and a Happy 2021 to all of you.

Andy
 

 

Figure this average, and you have your answer. On Oct. 27, 2020, a PSA grade Marvel Masterpieces Comic card (cert #48004685) sold for $137.50. On Jan. 2, 2020. this same card, (cert # 48004685) sold for, hold your breath..... $1500.00.

This is in E-Bay's sold listings. Figure THAT average. 

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46 minutes ago, Spawnfreak said:

Figure this average, and you have your answer. On Oct. 27, 2020, a PSA grade Marvel Masterpieces Comic card (cert #48004685) sold for $137.50. On Jan. 2, 2020. this same card, (cert # 48004685) sold for, hold your breath..... $1500.00.

This is in E-Bay's sold listings. Figure THAT average. 

And, AGAIN it's up for sale, at the same $1500.00! What the %^&* is going on?

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On 1/1/2021 at 11:22 AM, MARVELous Fan said:

Hi,

N00B here - First post, so please be gentle!

Apologies if this question has been asked before (and has been answered) but I’m looking to purchase my 1st slab, and would like to know how collectors arrive at the best average price comparison, so they know they haven’t over paid?

The slab in question is on a dealer’s website. It is a CGC 7.0, priced at $975 

I went onto comics.gocollect.com and found there had been 17 sales in 2020 of this slab in this grade (nearly all of the sales were on eBay), so I added up every price and then divided by 17, and got an average of $828.41. 

Is this the only computation to find out if a title is over priced? If so, is it proper etiquette to inform the dealer that you have used comics.gocollect.com to learn that the average is $828.41 (and not his price at $975), or would it just be the case that the seller would say, “that’s the price, take it or leave it!”

The difference between the two amounts is $146.59. That’s quite a lot. With a price difference of that size, would dealers be willing to haggle, or perhaps pay for overseas shipping (I live in the UK) to offset the amount?

As I’m sure you can appreciate, I want to start on the right foot, and continue the correct way to buying slabs in the future, so any information and help on the above would be much appreciated.

Many thanks and a Happy 2021 to all of you.

Andy
 

 

If you look at the book in question, sure it hopes to average the last 20 sales or so BUT over what time period? If those 20 sales are within the last month, then averaging them is fine. If those 20 sales are spread over 3, 4,5 or more months, well that is trickier. Suppose at the start of the year the book was selling consistently for $500. But within the last month, sales have been much higher, closer to $800. Your average will still be lower but the most current trend for the book is that is sells for more. You might want to pay the "average" price but that is not a true value indicator at this point, especially with a book like TOD #10, one that is seeing flux due to movie news. 

 

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5 hours ago, Spawnfreak said:

Figure this average, and you have your answer. On Oct. 27, 2020, a PSA grade Marvel Masterpieces Comic card (cert #48004685) sold for $137.50. On Jan. 2, 2020. this same card, (cert # 48004685) sold for, hold your breath..... $1500.00.

This is in E-Bay's sold listings. Figure THAT average. 

A great example! Average price would say $818.75 is what I should pay for that card. Based on 2 sales, averaging is a poor strategy.

The problem arises because of outliers. You can see sales of a book that are as follows....$400, $425, $435, $415, $395, $420. Seems pretty consistent, but then you see that one "sale" of $700! All too often, uninformed sellers see that and try to price their books, not realizing that that "sale" never happened, was a shill sale or has some other sketchy reason for being there. In stats, we tend to ignore outliers and not let them contribute to our averages. Sadly, most people in comics don't and see that $700 price only. This is partially why so much of what is listed on ebay is overpriced. 

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I avoid giving dealers advice about prices as it can sometimes be taken as condescending and dealers generally know what fair market value is. I just make my offer and hope we can reach a compromise that we are both happy with. TOD 10 also has some heat so, as others have said, averaging 2020 prices is not the best way to price the book. Best of luck!

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