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Easiest Way to Value a Collection?
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18 posts in this topic

As the title says.  My guess is one of those subscription services?  And manually entering titles.  And maybe it lets you specify what grade your particular book is.  And then it spits out an overall "value?"

Something easier/better than that?  Does that even exist exactly?    

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Well, this is for myself, but what I'm interested in is what it could be "worth" if I were to attempt to sell it.  I have 1800+ "raw" books from the early-mid. 80s.  And I know what you can sell something for depends a lot on where you sell and how patient you want to be, but I assume there's a baseline value for every book.  

I mean, I know I can look up each book individually and research what they are listed for on mycomicshop, and/or what they are selling for on ebay, etc. but I was hoping for something easier than that, if it exists.  

Thanks!

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It depends on your means of selling them.  Do you want someone to come haul them away?  Are you going to advertise a yard sale?  Do you want to get a table at a con?  Do you want to sell on eBay?  Do you want to start an online store, or sell on Facebook?  Prices realized will be different in all of those scenarios.

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43 minutes ago, Axelrod said:

Well, this is for myself, but what I'm interested in is what it could be "worth" if I were to attempt to sell it.  I have 1800+ "raw" books from the early-mid. 80s.  And I know what you can sell something for depends a lot on where you sell and how patient you want to be, but I assume there's a baseline value for every book.  

I mean, I know I can look up each book individually and research what they are listed for on mycomicshop, and/or what they are selling for on ebay, etc. but I was hoping for something easier than that, if it exists.  

Thanks!

There is nothing "easier" that I'm aware of.

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If these are "raw" books then unfortunately there is no simple way to get FMV other than doing the legwork manually.

First you need to grade each book, once graded, use eBay "sold auction" prices for that book being sure the book listed is in the same/or close condition as yours, those prices are what folks are actually paying for that particular book in that condition, that = FMV.

You do have to be careful, you have to use auctions with at least 5 bidders being sure there was not a bidding war driving up the price.

Using the selling prices from online comic shops or your LCS are not accurate, those prices are what they are selling them for, not actual FMV, using Overstreet is not a real option either since it is outdated by the time it is published, although Overstreet does contain other valuable info.

Back in 2015 I graded, cataloged and photographed all 2000 of my books and about another 300 or so of my Son's books, it took month's to complete working on it every evening, I estimated FMV for the entire collection for insurance purposes.

Every 6 month's I go to eBay and check sold listings for my Top 100 books and have been checking/recording these prices since 2015, I cannot imagine having to check FMV for 2000 books...

https://www.gemstonepub.com/en/the-overstreet-comic-book-price-guide-1-facsimile-edition

https://www.gemstonepub.com/en/the-overstreet-guide-to-grading-comics-2016-edition

https://comics.ha.com/tutorial/comics-grading.s?show=comicdefinitions

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I am in the process (slow moving too as I just peck away at it when I have time) of using the CLZ Comics app to catalogue and value my collection. I believe the values on here are based off CGC sales and since my collection is 98% raw, I know that whatever it gives me for "value" is likely closer to 50-60% of what it tells me.

As for valuing other people's collections for buying, I base it off the keys. What are the keys valued at? That gives me a starting point. For example, in a collection of 500 comics, if there are 10 keys worth $1000 combined, I start my offer in that vicinity and work my way up depending on how well I think the rest of the $1-10 stuff in the collection can sell. I also factor in condition. I will pay more for nicer stuff. Low grade 70s and 80s and 90's stuff? That can be tough to sell so I usually go lower. Gold Key and Charlton books in low grade shape? I usually walk away from.  

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covrprice.com

Sign up for the free version and get their newsletter, too.

They're fairly new and their database is still in it's infancy, but stuff is added every day. They do track actual sales from Ebay and other dealers and do the research for you. It will just take time and more sales of all comics before it's completely trustworthy as a single source.

 

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4 hours ago, comicginger1789 said:

I am in the process (slow moving too as I just peck away at it when I have time) of using the CLZ Comics app to catalogue and value my collection. I believe the values on here are based off CGC sales and since my collection is 98% raw, I know that whatever it gives me for "value" is likely closer to 50-60% of what it tells me.

As for valuing other people's collections for buying, I base it off the keys. What are the keys valued at? That gives me a starting point. For example, in a collection of 500 comics, if there are 10 keys worth $1000 combined, I start my offer in that vicinity and work my way up depending on how well I think the rest of the $1-10 stuff in the collection can sell. I also factor in condition. I will pay more for nicer stuff. Low grade 70s and 80s and 90's stuff? That can be tough to sell so I usually go lower. Gold Key and Charlton books in low grade shape? I usually walk away from.  

Yup.  It's rather discouraging to see a book that - for a minute - seems like it's worth something, and then realize that that is only for a CGC graded copy and the raw copy I have is basically considered "bulk."  Everywhere I read it says "comics from around 1980 and on - with certain exceptions, of course - are usually not very valuable...."  When did I start collecting?  1980.

2 hours ago, Pat Thomas said:

covrprice.com

Sign up for the free version and get their newsletter, too.

They're fairly new and their database is still in it's infancy, but stuff is added every day. They do track actual sales from Ebay and other dealers and do the research for you. It will just take time and more sales of all comics before it's completely trustworthy as a single source.

 

That's actually seems pretty close to what I was imagining.  Thanks!

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9 hours ago, comicginger1789 said:

Gold Key and Charlton books in low grade shape? I usually walk away from.  

But I was hoping you'd buy my low grade Doctor Solar comics, now who will I sell them off to?

As or Charlton, there's good money in there on the Ditko properties.

Edited by William-James88
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5 hours ago, William-James88 said:

But I was hoping you'd buy my low grade Doctor Solar comics, now who will I sell them off to?

As or Charlton, there's good money in there on the Ditko properties.

Haha hard pass on that

And yes I do pick up Ditko, Sutton and Kim covers of Charlton books :)

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Easiest way is to find a comic book expert you trust, have them look through your collection and give you a price.

If it’s small enough you can bring it to a comic book shop and have them appraise it, maybe pay someone for it

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On 1/25/2021 at 11:20 PM, William-James88 said:

But I was hoping you'd buy my low grade Doctor Solar comics, now who will I sell them off to?

As or Charlton, there's good money in there on the Ditko properties.

 

14 hours ago, William-James88 said:

What about my multiple runs of Elfquest? Come on, you know you want them.

Well there is always this guy. (thumbsu20120606__20120607_C1_FE07STPEOPLEp1.jpg.dd70a787c338fdc325bd73dcdb86d692.jpg

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