Buyers: What is your plan for the current insanity? 3 3

[wombat]

Concentrate on getting some stuff for sale (I have never sold a single book) and move in to more of a "trade mode". Sell a book to fund a purchase. Things being relatively equal it should be a wash, but I get to pick up new stuff. 

[B2D327]

5 minutes ago, Drummy said:

I think there's room for people to sell and downgrade (i.e., sell an 8.0 and buy another 6.0 to replace it, using the extra cash to buy a different book), but the question remains whether you're going to do as well financially down the road given the massive price increases and overall volatility. I will not pretend to have any idea.

D

Good point. I’ve considered this with certain books that I’m happy to own in a certain range of conditions. So long as a book is complete and not too “ratty”, I don’t mind owning one just to have a copy in my collection.

[wombat]

I am probably greatly helped with the fact I am totally fine with low grade books for my bigger purchases. While they have increased in price as well, certainly not as much as higher grade books. 

[WolverineX]

2 hours ago, Off Panel said:

I'm of two minds when looking at the staggering run-up in prices over the past few months. On the one hand, I own some top keys (Bronze Age, anyway) and I'm thrilled to see them climbing to brain-bending heights right now. On the other hand, I have a lot more books to purchase before I'm done and the doubling and trebling of prices across the board seems like nothing less than mass insanity.

I have built up a war chest that would make me feel flush in any other year, and normally I would be working on buying a big book right about now. However, after thinking about it over the past month. I'm putting myself on the sidelines. Even though I could still afford some of these big books at the going rate, I frankly don't want to do anything to "normalize" these prices. So, I'm going to climb out of the pool and do my small part to reduce the Demand side of the equation by at least one.

Could I end up regretting it? Sure. If that Hulk 180 I was looking at goes from $10,000 in 2020 to $30,000 in 2121 to $60,000 in 2022, then I will have missed the boat. However, at that point, this will likely be a hobby I can no longer afford anyway, at least not the way I have enjoyed it in the past.

So, what about the rest of you? Are you swimming with the sharks or eating popcorn on the sidelines?

 

I think its time to buy some NFTS

[Ken Aldred]

I’ve been out for several years now, so the current escalation simply reinforces that distancing.  Well beyond any degree of affordability for me.  Still, the good thing is that it allows me to focus more on actually reading comics in a relaxed manner rather than obsessing about chasing the unobtainable.  I’m getting a lot more out of my reading now than at any other time over the last 40 years, and digitally, at bargain rather than nasally haemorrhagic prices.

I’m still getting what I want out of the medium, even if I’m not a cash cow anymore.

[Off Panel]

37 minutes ago, B2D327 said:

I’ve chilled out quite a bit with the exception of a few golden age deals or under the radar keys; seems like people forget about certain books when their attention is grabbed by a Disney+ appearance. There are still steals and deals out there. Just takes a little more work to find them

This. There are an awful lot of books that I am very interested in that most people just aren't thinking about right now. I think I'll probably try to pick up about one a month to keep myself entertained without siphoning much of my budget for the year. If sanity returns, I'd still like to be able to make a big move.

[followtheleader]

Tired of it.  May buy vintage rookie cards or muscle cars instead. Heard those are cheap.

Patrick

[KEY ISSUES Comics]

2 hours ago, blazingbob said:

I'm opening a Comic For View service for Big Ticket keys.  Much like owning shares you can buy "views" and look lovingly on the books you can no longer afford.  $9.99/month,  unlimited viewing.

I once thought of doing something similar at cons. Instead of pay for view, it was going to be a photo op with the book.

[Math Teacher]

Last week, I had considered selling my ASM #1 CGC 3.0 and my IH #181 CGC 8.5 to buy a nicer copy of ASM #1. I also considered selling my FF #1 CGC 2.5 and my IH #181 CGC 8.5 to buy a nicer copy of FF #1.

Last Sales, according to GPA: ASM #1 CGC 3.0 ($8,250 - March 2021), FF #1 CGC 2.5 ($9,701 - January 2021), and IH #181 CGC 8.5 ($12,500 - April 2021). I am sure that the FF #1 price would have increased by April.

So, if I sold my ASM #1 and IH #181, I would receive, at best, $20,750. With this, I could possibly afford an ASM #1 in CGC 5.0 - 5.5.
If I sold my FF #1 and IH #181, I would receive, at best, $22,201. With this, I could possibly afford an FF #1  in CGC 4.0 - 4.5.

Or I could sell all three books and hope for prices to go down. Since I don't have any confidence that prices will go down anytime soon, I don't think I am going to go down that road. Also, I want to make sure that I have an ASM #1 and an FF #1 in my collection.

I honestly don't have any real strong connection to IH #181. Yes, I do like Wolverine, but not as much as I like Spider-Man or the Fantastic Four. But I can't ignore the fact that the price for my grade of IH #181 has tripled in price since I bought it in late 2019. And most of that tripling has occurred in the last three months.

As you can see, I'm on the horns of an enema (I mean, a dilemma).

Edited April 4, 2021 by Math Teacher

[Off Panel]

11 minutes ago, KEY ISSUES Comics said:

I once thought of doing something similar at cons. Instead of pay for view, it was going to be a photo op with the book.

Hmmm... Would I rather have my picture taken with William Shatner or an Amazing Fantasy 15?

You know, you may be on to something here.

[dupont2005]

Haven’t bought anything but new releases in a year or more 

[blazingbob]

Frankly I'm looking to buy a fishing boat.  If I'm going to own a boat anchor at least I will be able to take it out and do some fishing on it.  Anybody looking to do a 25-27 Footer trade for comics?  

[PopKulture]

I see a variety of wise and realistic approaches outlined so far. 

I have a price aversion to anything over a $100, so as you might guess, I've been priced out of the SA Marvel semi-key loop for years now. I won't stop buying comics just because a few crypto-zombies or sports-card heavyweights have parked their car on my lawn, however. I'll just migrate over to under-appreciated categories. I love oddball 40's and 50's books like Dell, Atlas, Novelty - even those junky westerns and funny animals - and I get a kick out of random 12c cover price Charlton and Harveys still, so there's always going to be books to be had.

Comics are way too cool and collecting is way too dear of a hobby to me to be pushed out entirely.  

[KEY ISSUES Comics]

5 minutes ago, Off Panel said:

Hmmm... Would I rather have my picture taken with William Shatner or an Amazing Fantasy 15?

You know, you may be on to something here.

I was actually quite serious. Sooo many people have come up to me at my booth asking to have their photo taken with books much less prestigious and valuable than say, an AF 15.

[Azkaban]

16 minutes ago, Off Panel said:

Hmmm... Would I rather have my picture taken with William Shatner or an Amazing Fantasy 15?

You know, you may be on to something here.

[alexgross.com]

35 minutes ago, blazingbob said:

Frankly I'm looking to buy a fishing boat.  If I'm going to own a boat anchor at least I will be able to take it out and do some fishing on it.  Anybody looking to do a 25-27 Footer trade for comics?  

i believe you. i wish i had a boat to trade.  but i would love to hear your assessment of the current market. it sounds like many of us boardies are getting priced out of the keys and semi keys. yet business is thriving for all sellers, which is wonderful in a year that looked so bad for business at first. are you getting a new crop of buyers, or is it still many of us same folks grabbing your latest key pickups bob? how big is the drop gonna be when it comes, in your esteemed opinion?

Edited April 4, 2021 by alexgross.com

[pickycollector]

1 hour ago, wombat said:

Concentrate on getting some stuff for sale (I have never sold a single book) and move in to more of a "trade mode". Sell a book to fund a purchase. Things being relatively equal it should be a wash, but I get to pick up new stuff. 

That is what i do.

I sold books a few years ago that today worth twice or triple (or even more) the price I sold them for. For these books, I tell myself "damn, if I had kept them I would have sold them for much more today  "

But then I take a look at the books I bought then with the proceeds of those sales and I feel better as those books have also increased a lot in value 

[The Lions Den]

The thrill of the hunt remains strong...  

[Math Teacher]

1 hour ago, Drummy said:

This is a good question.  I'm in the middle of the madness, as I have 14 of the major Marvel SA keys and am looking for 8 others.

OK. I am going to try to figure these out. I restricted myself to the SA. If I hadn't, I would add IH #181, GSXM #1, ASM #300, XM #94, XM #101, ASM #361, ToD #10, ASM #129, Conan #1, among others.

01) FF #1
02) IH #1
03) AF #15
04) ASM #1
05) TtA #27
06) XM #1
06) ToS #39
07) JiM #83
08) ST #110
09) Avengers #1
10) DD #1
11) FF #5
12) FF #48
13) ASM #14
14) Sgt. Fury #1
15) TtA #44
16) ASM #3
17) ASM #50
18) JiM #85
19) Avengers #4
20) FF #4
21) FF #52
22) IM #55
23) TtA #13
24) ToS #52
25) ASM Annual #1

I know this is more than 22, but how close was I?

[lotofsilver]

I've been trying to gobble up as many mid-level keys that were on my want list as I can using proceeds from Something is Killing the Children and Department of Truth books that I pigged out on this past summer and fall. I'm comfortable taking profits on those books and buying others that I want to keep for my collection long term, even during the run up.