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Best way to sell a large runs, complete sets??
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33 posts in this topic

Curious what is the best way to sell a large run, full sets of books?  Examples, a full run of higher grade Ultimate Spider Man which consists of approximately 140 books.  Harbinger full run, Solar (Valiant), full run, etc.  Down you break them into smaller groupings or sell as a full run?  Also, any tips on keeping the cost of shipping down?

Thanks.

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If you can fit them, put them in priority medium USPS boxes.

If they are old enough, i think you can ship them via media mail (you should fact check me).

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I'd personally rather sell it as a whole run.  You would probably make more selling individual issues, but you could be left with straggler issues for a long time.  The peace of mind of just being rid of the lot and clearing up the space is more worthwhile to me.  But that's just me.

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The priority flat rate boxes (medium or large) might be your best bet to keep prices down. You can take the chance and send them media, plenty of people do. But if some postal worker gets a wild hair up their butt and decided to check it could cost you. 

If your runs are exceedingly large, I think the only real option is shipping them in short/long boxes. It's fairly expensive, but doable and not too over the top.

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4 minutes ago, xvipah said:

You can take the chance and send them media, plenty of people do. But if some postal worker gets a wild hair up their butt and decided to check it could cost you. 

 

Ya, many years ago I would ship via media mail but I got the "postal worker gets a wild hair up their butt" and that was enough for me.  

Can you pack pack books well enough to ship in short/long boxes??  I tend to over pack the books for shipping.  (shrug)

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MCS has a guide to it. I've never done it, but others here have and swear by it:
https://www.mycomicshop.com/webuycomics/howtoshiplongboxes

3 minutes ago, shootin-str81 said:

Ya, many years ago I would ship via media mail but I got the "postal worker gets a wild hair up their butt" and that was enough for me.  

Can you pack pack books well enough to ship in short/long boxes??  I tend to over pack the books for shipping.  (shrug)

 

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40 minutes ago, ExNihilo said:

I'd personally rather sell it as a whole run.  You would probably make more selling individual issues, but you could be left with straggler issues for a long time.  

 

Agreed.  I wouldn't try to sell them individual but was wondering about breaking them into groups of 10 or 20.....hopefully catch a few more desirable books into each group.  I know I have purchased books that way and probably over paid a little because I wanted to complete the run and had others that bid against me.  Just didn't know if others have had success doing that.  Your right, I do not want to get stuck with some middle issues that no one wants!! :bigsmile: 

Edited by shootin-str81
not gooder spelting.
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16 minutes ago, shootin-str81 said:

Agreed.  I wouldn't try to sell them individual but was wondering about breaking them into groups of 10 or 20.....hopefully catch a few more desirable books into each group.  I know I have purchased books that way and probably over paid a little because I wanted to complete the run and had others that bid against me.  Just didn't know if others have had success doing that.  Your right, I do not want to get stuck with some middle issues that no one wants!! :flamed: 

You're not alone, I've also bought mini "runs" of 10 or 15 consecutive books in a title to complete my runs. 

So there is a market for short runs (well, at least two of us, anyway).

Currently I need FF 219-231 to complete my FF run 1-end of Byrne issues. Been searching FFs on 'bay and find lots of mini-stretches with a few here and a few there (no luck yet but that's irrelevant).

A long while ago seller "Showcase New England" used to be very successful on ebay breaking out runs into bite sizes (e.g. AA 1-10, 11-17, 18-39) back before the fee structure changed economics of that approach.

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I'd think the problem with selling them in runs is  how many people are looking for a full run of a book, especially in high grade.

When selling any item, put yourself in the mind of the potential buyer.

How many people are looking to buy a complete high grade run of the book?  How many of those have the money for a full run?

It's easier to list them and easier on you as a seller but you are narrowing the pool of potential buyers tremendously.

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If you want to sell them quickly and don't necessarily need to get top dollar: Break them runs into lots of 10 (or even 20 max if the run is more than 200 books) and list on eBay, take lots of pics and detail any flaws. Go with auction format with low starting bid (I always go with 99 cents). The fees are high but eBay has the largest comic buying audience in the world and your comics will all sell. I always use Priority Mail for packages less than 10 lbs, it's not the cheapest but boxes are free and it's much faster.  

If you want to get top dollar and don't need them to sell quickly: List as a complete run on Craigslist, Instagram, Facebook with lots of pics and detailed description. Or, use eBay but instead of an auction utilize the 30-day Fixed Price format with Best Offer option. You'll get the price you want, eventually. Ship via USPS Media Mail (I've been selling comics on eBay for 20+ years and always use Media Mail for bulk orders, I've had exactly 1 package returned as not qualifying for Media Mail out of hundreds and hundreds).

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On 4/9/2021 at 2:18 PM, thehumantorch said:

I'd try to sell as a complete run first.  I think you'd be surprised at how much interest you would get if you listed them on facebook or instagram or local pickup craig's list or kijiji

I am currently not on Facebook. I know how to buy and sell comics on IG. How is that done on Facebook?

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If anyone figures this out, please let me know. I have three long runs that I would like to sell: Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #1 - #263 plus Annuals, Flash Volume Two (1987) #1 - #247, and Web of Spider-Man #1 - #129 plus Annuals and Super Special.

I would be glad to try selling them in a long box, but here's my issue. All my issues are bagged or boarded. I usually take 15 books, tape them between two pieces of cardboard, and then wrap them in bubble wrap. Believe me, based on my method, there is no way 263 or 247 issues are going to fit in a long box.

I may have to go the 10-15 issues at a time route. Maybe I should try it on one of my runs to see if I get good results. @Inhuman Fiend, that you for the suggestion.

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1 minute ago, thehumantorch said:

I've never done it but I know it's a option.  Facebook does have a marketplace full of comics for sale.

How do you access this marketplace? If it is worthwhile, I may have to join Facebook. GAH - I will now be using two social media sites. If I bring up that I'm going to join Twitter, someone please shoot me.

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Marketplace is an icon at the top, looks like a little store. I think FB has a rudimentary kudos/stars system in place like Ebay does, but nothing full fledged. I don't think there's much protection from scams, etc.. I never sell or buy anything on there that I can't pick up or deliver in person (at a neutral location unless it's something massive).

 

fb_top.thumb.png.74284a33f2b4fdc859ed06b0de5f7a53.png

 

1 hour ago, Math Teacher said:

How do you access this marketplace? If it is worthwhile, I may have to join Facebook. GAH - I will now be using two social media sites. If I bring up that I'm going to join Twitter, someone please shoot me.

 

Edited by xvipah
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I have also thought about selling these books on Ebay with local pickup only. However, since I live in the Council Bluffs/Omaha area, I don't know if I would get any kind of response. Omaha is the 44th largest city in the United States. It doesn't hold a candle to New York, Chicago, LA, or Houston.

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On 4/11/2021 at 8:57 AM, Inhuman Fiend said:

If you want to sell them quickly and don't necessarily need to get top dollar: Break them runs into lots of 10 (or even 20 max if the run is more than 200 books) and list on eBay, take lots of pics and detail any flaws. Go with auction format with low starting bid (I always go with 99 cents). The fees are high but eBay has the largest comic buying audience in the world and your comics will all sell. I always use Priority Mail for packages less than 10 lbs, it's not the cheapest but boxes are free and it's much faster.  

So, when you list a lot of 10 - 20 comics from a run, do you list them in numerical order? Or do you mix up the issues?

I've been looking at the Full Runs & Sets sub-category on Ebay. It sometime seems that a lot of random issues from a title do better than issues listed in numerical order.

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