• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

How are you coping?
4 4

103 posts in this topic

So a while back (perhaps years ago) you had that key comic that you sold off, happy in the knowledge you were pocketing a few dollars that you could put towards something else that caught your fancy.

Now once in a while you're reminded what a mistake that was.  You see that the price of your former comic has gone to the moon.

How badly does it annoy you?  And if it doesn't, tell me your secret.

Edited by Westy Steve
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For some reason the only book that is irritating me is She-Hulk 1.  I sold off 2 CGC 9.8s for $400 each and 9 CGC 9.6s for $200 each a couple years ago.  I still made a killing based on what I bought them for but now I see 9.8s going for over a grand and I just can't believe that plentiful book is that much considering we have not even seen a trailer yet.  I'd love to have back the X-Men 4 CGC 6.0 I sold last year but those She-Hulk 1s stick in my craw for some reason.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You win some.  You lose some.  Sure I get annoyed - I recently purchased a couple of ASMs for about $2k.  10 years back I could have bought them both for $500 and I recall I sold them for not much more.  Do some keys that I sold off seem further out of reach?  Yup.  But I also look at my collection and I'm glad I didn't dump more stuff than I did.  I've come to realize that I am a collector, not a seller. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, KirbyJack said:

I sometimes miss the comics, but I don’t think about the money. I usually sell to buy, so if I got my new shiny target, then I’m content.
...not that we don’t need money, of course!

This is how I feel. 

I sold an Avengers 57 that I miss. Nice midgrade, classic cover. Lots to love. But the $$ went towards other great books, so what the heck. 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only one that slightly annoys me is the Hulk 181 7.0 that I sold about a year ago. That book has skyrocketed and I would've made much more on it had I held onto it until, say, now. But I've had several books that I've made way more on that more than makes up for the ones like Hulk 181 that I let go. You win some, you lose some, though. The beauty of this hobby is you can always find the comic books (mostly) to buy again, might just have to pay a little bit more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

I sold my 181 for a thousand pounds about 5 years ago. I could be annoyed that I could now get four times that figure but then when do you sell? If I'd held on until now, and sold it for four thousand would I be annoyed in 5 years time if it then went up to ten? If we worry too much about missing out on future top dollar we'll never sell anything. And sometimes you have to sell.

The only ones that bug me are the ones you've had for ever which increase in value by a miniscule amount or not at all. Every fibre of your comic knowledge and experience tells you they will never escalate. So you sell. And they escalate. Often, beyond all reason. Those ones can be annoying. 

That's a really good point and is exactly why it's easy (for me) to not get so wound up about it. It's a fools errand if I hold onto the book and just keep hoping that I hit that sweet spot to get maximum profit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only way to avoid this, is to never sell anything. Of course you may die with a fortune in comics, perhaps sacrificing on other things you might have done with the money, and your heirs likely won't care if then is the best time to sell or not, it's all gravy to them. 

Life is full of missed opportunities and having sold and bought all sorts of things from real estate to stocks at the "wrong" time. If we are fortunate there will be smart investments to help even things out somewhat, but there is little to be gained from dwelling on the mistimed choices. 

Still we are human, and regret is natural. It only really chafes me when I sold a book after owning it 15 years and realizing a 50% return, only to see it quadruple in value in the next 3 years.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only one I regretted was my Batman Adventures #12.  I was just starting out with selling off my collection and that was the first one.  This was before I knew about cleaning/pressing, and I wasn’t having books graded yet.  I studied my butt off on how to grade a raw comic using the latest OPG at the time (2017).  I typed up a description, graded it as a 9.4...and that started my 2/3 year stint selling comics on feebay.

I made about $400 on the book and the customer told me he’d let me know how it graded at CGC.  Wouldn’t you know it, 9.4 was the grade!!!  I was surprised I had nailed it.  It hadn’t been pressed either.  That’s when I realized if I’d done more research, I may have been able to get a potentially higher grade comic with cleaning/pressing.  But I chalked it up to a learning experience and moved on.  I only had one copy because I collected comics to read them...I didn’t fall for the early 90s excessive comic buying.

First time I’ve shared that story, other than with my wife, so I thought it was perfectly relevant here. 👍👍👍

Edited by Galen130
typo...I blame my iPad
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's a few of my regrets:

Hulk 181 - I bought two raw from Mile High (I know!). Thankfully they were undergraded, yet over priced and they graded 8.0.  I sold one shortly after and made some pocket change.  Sold the second one 5 years ago for 1,700.  I thought that was a good return over 3x original investment.  Last one sold for 7K.  Ugh.  I held it for about 10 years and got 3x and then in 5 years it goes for an additional 4x.  :pullhair:

ASM 1 - I bought a 6.5 from Metro back in 2008 for 6,500.  Sold it in 2016 for 8,750.  Not bad on a high dollar book - but to be honest I was disappointed at the final hammer.  Last 6.5 sold for 23K in Nov so the current market price is probably around 25K or more.  That one hurts.

DD 1 - I had 3 of these at one time.  I've always said this was the most affordable key that was on the market.  I never held them for long so they didn't have much of an attachment to me but now the DD 1 market is HOT.

Then again, there's the ones I've kept that continue to rise.

Bottom line, like Frank used to say...

Regrets, I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
4 4