are sales slowing down on the boards? 9 9

[PKJ]

Be careful which sellers you stumble in on, I was scrolling one day and saw the set up and wound up watching about 15 minutes of household goods being sold before I realized this may not be the auction for me.  It must have been the stuffed UGA in the back that stopped me.

Edited February 18, 2021 by PKJ

[Robot Man]

As a collector my interest is GA. Most of the posts I see for sale are the usual SA/BA "keys". Books I've progressed past for the most part. The GA stuff I mostly see are the very pretty high end (and big priced) stuff. Not a whole lot for the more "meager" collectors like me. Sure, awsome to see pretty slabbed books for thousands of dollars, but not a whole lot of more affordable books to hold in your hand and enjoy.

If I want to spend say $2500 on something I really don't need, there are other places I'd rather put the money. A few months ago, I dropped $2,300 on a very nice 1959 Gretsch Country Gentleman electric guitar. Have always wanted one. I pick it up and play it for hours several times a week. I have a couple other vintage guitars, none I've ever paid more than $2,500 for. A great investment that gives me way more pleasure than a comic book in a slab that spends most of it's life locked up.

I spent a few thousand dollars buying parts for my 1949 Indian motorcycle. I spent a lot of last year out in the garage restoring it and finally finished it. A very satisfying experience that would pay off in spades if I wanted to sell it.

I retired about 2 years ago a little early. I did so because I saved my money, invested wisely and became debt free.I was planning on a lot of travel but then covid came along. I plan to travel to places I've always wanted to see and maybe take my family with me. Life experiences at this point are far more important. Selling off comics to fund my interests has paid off well.

I do love buying comics and waiting for those packages. That will never stop. There are a few sellers here on the boards who offer very cool affordable stuff and I look forward to their sales threads.

[jimjum12]

3 hours ago, Robot Man said:

I spent a few thousand dollars buying parts for my 1949 Indian motorcycle. I spent a lot of last year out in the garage restoring it and finally finished it. A very satisfying experience that would pay off in spades if I wanted to sell it.

This would be really interesting to me if you have a photo  ... I'm sure a work of art ....

GOD BLESS....

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[Spyder!]

5 hours ago, Robot Man said:

To be honest, my best sales for good books have been on eBay. The market for keys, classic covers and GA is exploding. I simply just can’t keep up to price this stuff. I have gotton prices on some books that made my jaw drop. I hate using eBay but prices there have just gone crazy. 

It works way against me as a collector/buyer. I put in what I think is a super aggressive bid and I’m left in the dust. 

Might just have to be happy with all the cool books I’ve been able to snag over all the years I’ve been collecting. 

 

5 hours ago, circumstances said:

so you're seeing it to.

as i said earlier in the thread, ebay has been going bonkers lately.

It’s not just eBay, it’s GA everywhere. I’ve seen some results at other auction houses in the last few months that have been so far beyond my expectations. And these are books in my very small area of focus where I have a pretty good handle on the prices usually.

[Robot Man]

10 hours ago, jimjum12 said:

This would be really interesting to me if you have a photo  ... I'm sure a work of art ....

GOD BLESS....

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

@jimjum12 PM sent...

[circumstances]

11 hours ago, Spyder! said:

 

It’s not just eBay, it’s GA everywhere. I’ve seen some results at other auction houses in the last few months that have been so far beyond my expectations. And these are books in my very small area of focus where I have a pretty good handle on the prices usually.

interesting.

i'm not generally aware of auction house results.

at the beginning of the pandemic, i was scoffing stuff off ebay left and right.

for the past month or two, everything has been going too high for any scoffage.

[waaaghboss]

18 hours ago, Robot Man said:

As a collector my interest is GA. Most of the posts I see for sale are the usual SA/BA "keys". Books I've progressed past for the most part. The GA stuff I mostly see are the very pretty high end (and big priced) stuff. Not a whole lot for the more "meager" collectors like me. Sure, awsome to see pretty slabbed books for thousands of dollars, but not a whole lot of more affordable books to hold in your hand and enjoy.

If I want to spend say $2500 on something I really don't need, there are other places I'd rather put the money. A few months ago, I dropped $2,300 on a very nice 1959 Gretsch Country Gentleman electric guitar. Have always wanted one. I pick it up and play it for hours several times a week. I have a couple other vintage guitars, none I've ever paid more than $2,500 for. A great investment that gives me way more pleasure than a comic book in a slab that spends most of it's life locked up.

I spent a few thousand dollars buying parts for my 1949 Indian motorcycle. I spent a lot of last year out in the garage restoring it and finally finished it. A very satisfying experience that would pay off in spades if I wanted to sell it.

I retired about 2 years ago a little early. I did so because I saved my money, invested wisely and became debt free.I was planning on a lot of travel but then covid came along. I plan to travel to places I've always wanted to see and maybe take my family with me. Life experiences at this point are far more important. Selling off comics to fund my interests has paid off well.

I do love buying comics and waiting for those packages. That will never stop. There are a few sellers here on the boards who offer very cool affordable stuff and I look forward to their sales threads.

I feel the same.   The price on even the cheap stuff i was going after like jungle comics deems to have tripled.  And don't get me started on whats been happening with old magic cards.

[Courageous Cat]

30 minutes ago, waaaghboss said:

I feel the same.   The price on even the cheap stuff i was going after like jungle comics deems to have tripled.  And don't get me started on whats been happening with old magic cards.

I too have been in awe of the prices of jungle comics lately. Guess it's because so many collectors have overlooked them for decades and have remained well within reach....until now, especially bondage covers 

 

maybe funny animal are next 

Edited February 18, 2021 by Courageous Cat

[fifties]

I've pretty much given up on buying PCH on either eBay or Heritage; regardless of how high my bid is, someone else always seems to be hungrier.  And the few that I do bag cause me to pay what would have been for a VG+, to get a FA-G copy.

I switched to crime books awhile back, as that's what I've become accustomed to reading, and TG they aren't into the stratosphere yet, other than Fox books, but they too have been climbing.

[badback83]

On 2/15/2021 at 9:56 AM, Polonsky said:

I too have jumped to IG recently. I can be followed at @polonskycc . While all issues mentioned apply to some degree, the main reason I sell there more is the activity there. There is SO much and it is very active. There is a very strong and growing community. I do love selling on the boards, but I have been having a great time on IG. For example: my last thread offered here was about 100k in very rare and desirable GA books. I got some attention and some offers, but no sales. I started IG a few days later, and within my first 12 hours there sold almost everything from that last thread. The action is unreal, and if you have not checked it out, you need to. There are some  amazing people and collections there, and I have found many fellow boardies as well. I am still relatively new to IG, but would be happy to answer any questions people have about how to use it. It is a lot at first. I do still have love for the boards, and hope to see great threads in the future, but there is a reason for a lack of them as I see other dealers have jumped as well. 

I quite enjoy your offerings on IG.  Always something that makes my jaw drop open like I’m hunting for flies.

[PKJ]

And also not GA but to add perspective a boardie has listed a different DD1 each of the last 3 days on IG. Last one listed here on the 10th and had to have a mod get involved due to price "discussions"

[Robot Man]

5 hours ago, waaaghboss said:

I feel the same.   The price on even the cheap stuff i was going after like jungle comics deems to have tripled.  And don't get me started on whats been happening with old magic cards.

I'm a little surprised. I know the great covers would catch up sooner or later. Have the average issues gone up a lot as well? There are 150 issues and have always seemed pretty common.

I've been trying to finish off my EC collection. I have had the high demand ones for years. But, the horror and crime issues in the 4.0-6.0 grade range have doubled or even trippled in the past year or so. Even, though, I would consider them down right common. Great if you are selling but rough if you are buying. So glad to be such a geezer that I bought them cheap back in the day.

[Robot Man]

5 hours ago, Courageous Cat said:

I too have been in awe of the prices of jungle comics lately. Guess it's because so many collectors have overlooked them for decades and have remained well within reach....until now, especially bondage covers 

 

maybe funny animal are next 

I have felt that for years. Back when I could go to cons, I always dug through the "Humor" boxes...

[tabcom]

This thread has nudged tabcom to become instatabcom on IG.

The learning curve was less then an hour before I started posting.

[Polonsky]

On 2/18/2021 at 5:36 PM, DocHoppus182 said:

I quite enjoy your offerings on IG.  Always something that makes my jaw drop open like I’m hunting for flies.

Thank you so much! Are you badback there?

[badback83]

57 minutes ago, Polonsky said:

Thank you so much! Are you badback there?

Badback83, that’s me!

[Tri-Color Brian]

I haven't bought much on the boards lately because I'm still waiting for the falling prices that Mitch warned us about last year.  So far I haven't seen them...

[PKJ]

I noticed a few mentioned there usually is not much selection of GA. I watched two live auctions this weekend hosted by Elite comics that were very intense, One was with  @Superworld who we have all bought from on here in the past. Ted's auction had over 200 people in it and if you did not have lightning internet you were coming in second a lot, I was one of those and wound up just being an observer. It was to the point where as soon as Ted showed the book and gave the grade and price it was sold. And he had some very nice GA, like All-New Comics #1, GA DC etc.

And to everyone's point, bronze and silver fly in those auctions, as well as modern although I am not in touch with market prices in that genre. Frank's comics was on yesterday and sold two Silver Surfer 1's for way above any recorded GPA sale along with a ton of others, also had @ 200 viewers on.

[jimjum12]

On 2/21/2021 at 10:32 AM, PKJ said:

I noticed a few mentioned there usually is not much selection of GA. I watched two live auctions this weekend hosted by Elite comics that were very intense, One was with  @Superworld who we have all bought from on here in the past. Ted's auction had over 200 people in it and if you did not have lightning internet you were coming in second a lot, I was one of those and wound up just being an observer. It was to the point where as soon as Ted showed the book and gave the grade and price it was sold. And he had some very nice GA, like All-New Comics #1, GA DC etc.

And to everyone's point, bronze and silver fly in those auctions, as well as modern although I am not in touch with market prices in that genre. Frank's comics was on yesterday and sold two Silver Surfer 1's for way above any recorded GPA sale along with a ton of others, also had @ 200 viewers on.

... with eBay taking a 21% chunk out of my last sale there, I only post books there occasionally .... I'm lucky to get a 20% break when buying better material for resale, so eBay is often just a wash ... a last resort for cash flow. I think what is happening is that the market is evolving into a more "one on one" dynamic that is facilitated by social media. This is cutting out many of the middle men from the old school traditional markets. Luckily, we have some strong  LCS activity here, so there are still the surprise collections from time to time... but these are usually from heirs who don't want the drama of selling online. I certainly see no shortage of quality at auction, and the final hammer is often good for the seller. GOD BLESS....

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[Robot Man]

On 2/21/2021 at 7:32 AM, PKJ said:

I noticed a few mentioned there usually is not much selection of GA. I watched two live auctions this weekend hosted by Elite comics that were very intense, One was with  @Superworld who we have all bought from on here in the past. Ted's auction had over 200 people in it and if you did not have lightning internet you were coming in second a lot, I was one of those and wound up just being an observer. It was to the point where as soon as Ted showed the book and gave the grade and price it was sold. And he had some very nice GA, like All-New Comics #1, GA DC etc.

And to everyone's point, bronze and silver fly in those auctions, as well as modern although I am not in touch with market prices in that genre. Frank's comics was on yesterday and sold two Silver Surfer 1's for way above any recorded GPA sale along with a ton of others, also had @ 200 viewers on.

I also noticed that happening with Dale’s Christmas sale on the boards. I barely got to see the picture and there were 5 “takes”. I just gave up. 

Both Dale and Ted are top notch dealers. Incredibly cool guys and great to deal with. But, neither gives great books away cheap. 

With no shows, it is real tough to get new inventory. They have to pay up for quality stuff as despite the economy, I don’t hear of a lot of folks dumping their collections. 

Ebay, is off the hook. Anything decent even from non comic book sellers is going for nosebleed prices. 

I’ve really narrowed down my focus and in many cases spent a whole lot less on comics and spread it out to other interests. 

Anybody hear from Harley? Up until this year, he didn’t do eBay and had no website just shows.