New Collector/Investor seeking advice from the Vets 1 1

[Comic Pingu]

I'm 20yrs old and have been reading and collecting modern series since I was a kid. After listening to my friends endlessly talk stock and crypto currencies, I've decided I'd enter a side profit/flipping realm that I'd really enjoy and have an affinity for. So, I've recently begun collecting some relatively smaller keys (Avengers 8 & 57). I see a lot of big keys are blowing up right now and their FMV's are incredibly exceeding last year alone. So, my main question is, do I buy into an inflated MCU Spec market, or wait for a dip (that may never occur). I have comic knowledge but not so much market history knowledge or the volatility of it.

Disclaimer: No I do not expect to pay my way through life on the backs of books... Just for the fun of collecting the books then eventually selling for some profit. 

Thanks

Edited April 13, 2021 by Comic Pingu

[shadroch]

Everybody has an opinion on this. There have to be twenty other threads asking the same thing.  I would not trust anyone who says they know what will happen. It's the craziest market in decades and no one is sure where the money is coming from. 

[Comic Pingu]

19 minutes ago, shadroch said:

I would not trust anyone who says they know what will happen. It's the craziest market in decades and no one is sure where the money is coming from. 

I'm sorry but this image came to mind immediately upon reading that in a fast hyper confused voice  People with stimulus checks that don't need it maybe?

Edited April 12, 2021 by Comic Pingu

[Comic Pingu]

I guess let me simplify it a bit, if you had between 15k-25k in savings and no other significant financial responsibilities, would you be buying mid to high grades off the blazing market?

[Sky1]

16 minutes ago, shadroch said:

Everybody has an opinion on this. There have to be twenty other threads asking the same thing.  I would not trust anyone who says they know what will happen. It's the craziest market in decades and no one is sure where the money is coming from. 

Yeah I made a similar short lived thread with no real answers a week ago.  Frustrating time for buyers, every seller (particularly on eBay) think any and every CGC book is automatically worth at least $500 if variant is on the label.  Let's not get into newsstand or first appearances of any one.  Riri variant 2k, Miles variant 16k, America Chavez variant 3k, Spidergwen variant 9k, any key "x" issue worth 1k or way more now, like #141 worth 2k now.  Only first appearance you can get dirt cheap now (marvel wise) is Phyla Vell or Anabelle Riggs, buy them & hope Marvel is making a movie.

Anyways, real advice anyone should give you is not to use comics as a investment, if you have the cash there are much better ways to go about it.

[ExNihilo]

28 minutes ago, Comic Pingu said:

I'm sorry but this image came to mind immediately upon reading that in a fast hyper confused voice  People with stimulus checks that don't need it maybe?

This is actually a fairly accurate representation of anyone giving out comic investment advice currently.  

I'll add my .  If I'm your age and I'm investing, I'm taking the "sure thing", put money into an IRA (or a 401k if you're employed) and take the pretty much guaranteed long term gain that the market provides.  Over any 30 year window, the stock market has always gone up.  Always.  Focus on retirement funds in a tax advantaged account.

If you're hell bent on investing in comic books, factor two values into your decision making: 1) book value, 2) value of personal enjoyment gained from ownership.  If you're buying, do so with the intent to hold for a while.  Part of the cost is the book, the rest can be amortized as an emotional value gained over time.  For example, I bought IH181 recently.  I'm convinced the book is one of those "gold standard" books that will always retain some value.  The other half of it is how much of a premium am I willing to pay for the happiness it brings me by being in my possession.  It's almost like a rental fee.  If I own the book for 10 years, would I be willing to pay $300/year to say i've owned it?  Bottom line, 1) if you're going to invest in books, you better make sure it's a mega key that will hold value, 2) buy what you enjoy.

[Comic Pingu]

8 minutes ago, Sky1 said:

think any and every CGC book is automatically worth at least $500 if variant is on the label.

Ha Ain't that the truth. It makes absolutely no sense that these books should have any value. But I won't necessarily complain at the profit i'm making on them lol. 

[shadroch]

Unless dozens of people are pooling their stimulus checks, there has to be other explanations as well.

[revat]

If you love a character, that’s certainly one thing if you’re into more investment stuff, look for 1st app stuff under $10 that can pop to $50-$100 with a movie announcement.  I’m a big fan of ROI vs absolute profit.   But that’s me.  

[Comic Pingu]

4 minutes ago, ExNihilo said:

I'll add my .  If I'm your age and I'm investing, I'm taking the "sure thing", put money into an IRA (or a 401k if you're employed) and take the pretty much guaranteed long term gain that the market provides.  Over any 30 year window, the stock market has always gone up.  Always.  Focus on retirement funds in a tax advantaged account.

If you're hell bent on investing in comic books, factor two values into your decision making: 1) book value, 2) value of personal enjoyment gained from ownership.  If you're buying, do so with the intent to hold for a while.  Part of the cost is the book, the rest can be amortized as an emotional value gained over time.  For example, I bought IH181 recently.  I'm convinced the book is one of those "gold standard" books that will always retain some value.  The other half of it is how much of a premium am I willing to pay for the happiness it brings me by being in my possession.  It's almost like a rental fee.  If I own the book for 10 years, would I be willing to pay $300/year to say i've owned it?  Bottom line, 1) if you're going to invest in books, you better make sure it's a mega key that will hold value, 2) buy what you enjoy.

Oh yeah I definitely plan on 401k upon turning 21 in the fall. I would say I'm a little bent on comics since 1. They're great 2. It's the least risky when done smart 3. I might as well take advantage of my free time at 20 outside of work and school (no loans) to make some extra chedda cheese.

[Sky1]

38 minutes ago, ExNihilo said:

This is actually a fairly accurate representation of anyone giving out comic investment advice currently.  

I'll add my .  If I'm your age and I'm investing, I'm taking the "sure thing", put money into an IRA (or a 401k if you're employed) and take the pretty much guaranteed long term gain that the market provides.  Over any 30 year window, the stock market has always gone up.  Always.  Focus on retirement funds in a tax advantaged account.

If you're hell bent on investing in comic books, factor two values into your decision making: 1) book value, 2) value of personal enjoyment gained from ownership.  If you're buying, do so with the intent to hold for a while.  Part of the cost is the book, the rest can be amortized as an emotional value gained over time.  For example, I bought IH181 recently.  I'm convinced the book is one of those "gold standard" books that will always retain some value.  The other half of it is how much of a premium am I willing to pay for the happiness it brings me by being in my possession.  It's almost like a rental fee.  If I own the book for 10 years, would I be willing to pay $300/year to say i've owned it?  Bottom line, 1) if you're going to invest in books, you better make sure it's a mega key that will hold value, 2) buy what you enjoy.

I feel like this quote will have more value over the long term than investing in comics

But yea, pay good attention to number 2, that's what factors into my decision if I'm buying any books lately.  Most of the time I say forget that.  Refuse to give into the price gougers because one ***** decided he wanted to borrow from his 401k to buy a Squirrel Girl Dubstep cover variant.

I know I sound bitter but I want to say I do not fault anyone here for selling high in the marketing section.  Honestly 99% of people that sell here realize the prices can be flukes and try to give a break instead of arbitrarily selling high.

[the blob]

Good luck. I won't give advice. Every time I have cheaped out on buying a good book it has cost me money. But some of these prices are wild. I am seriously tempted to spend $600 on a BA key that was $400 in January because something similar has tripled since January? If i'm getting delusional, the cheapest mofo you will ever meet, then who knows? 

[Jordysnordy]

2 hours ago, Comic Pingu said:

I'm 20yrs old and have been reading and collecting modern series since I was a kid. After listening to my friends endlessly talk stock and crypto currencies, I've decided I'd enter an investment realm that I'd really enjoy and have an affinity for. So, I've recently begun investing in some relatively smaller keys (Avengers 8 & 57). I see a lot of big keys are blowing up right now and their FMV's are incredibly exceeding last year alone. So, my main question is, do I buy into an inflated MCU Spec market, or wait for a dip (that may never occur). I have comic knowledge but not so much market history knowledge or the volatility of it. My eye's right now are on the super hot Fantastic Four 48, preferably a 5.0, and am willing to pay the price for it, seeing as it's only been going up. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as I know not everyone want's to share their tricks of the trade. 

Thanks

If you can afford the FF 48 in 5.0 then buy it for the love of collecting. It will probably go up but if it goes down, you can afford the loss and you will still own a great book. 

[the blob]

It's funny, my 15 year old wants to learn about investing, although he has very little interest in actually working to make some money in order to invest, which is nuts because minimum wage is $15 here right now. If you can get a job, a great time to be a teen! Apparently he has gotten his fundamentals from tick tock videos on investing,

I told him I would give him 1000-2000 low end comics and he can try and make money from them. Has he taken me up on my offer? Of course not! Lazy mo-fo.

 

[the blob]

1 minute ago, Jordysnordy said:

If you can afford the FF 48 in 5.0 then buy it for the love of collecting. It will probably go up but if it goes down, you can afford the loss and you will still own a great book. 

It has gone up about 80% since January, which always worries me, but then again, what hasn't?

[Jordysnordy]

Just now, the blob said:

It has gone up about 80% since January, which always worries me, but then again, what hasn't?

I know. On PAPER all of our collections have made huge gains the last few months.

[Sky1]

13 minutes ago, the blob said:

Good luck. I won't give advice.

I guess I'll take it upon myself to give the real investment advice here.  Obviously the snobs do not want to share their secrets, but I got you...

1) Buy any Peach Mononoke variant you can find!  People are paying 1k for these and it's 100% unverified FACT that anyone with Peach in the name has staying power.  These covers are hot hot HOT now & will forever be.

2) News stand books, buy them up!  Boomers are all about these because it reminds them of a time when they can go to their grandpa's malt liquor shoppe and buy a coke and a comic for a hay penny.  We know boomers are perpetual, so these will always be in demand.  Buy that Fool Killer news stand & in 5 years watch yourself pay for college.

3) Cheap Stan Lee signature books.  Sell super high and wait for that rich soccer mom who wants to buy their kid a surprise birthday gift because he's the only character in EVERY marvel movie that mattered!

Here you have it, go get rich

[Bob Troub]

With prices at an all time high, I would be very careful about "investing" in the current hobby .....buying comics at current prices wouldn't be my first choice.....

[the blob]

3 minutes ago, Sky1 said:

I guess I'll take it upon myself to give the real investment advice here.  Obviously the snobs do not want to share their secrets, but I got you...

1) Buy any Peach Mononoke variant you can find!  People are paying 1k for these and it's 100% unverified FACT that anyone with Peach in the name has staying power.  These covers are hot hot HOT now & will forever be.

2) News stand books, buy them up!  Boomers are all about these because it reminds them of a time when they can go to their grandpa's malt liquor shoppe and buy a coke and a comic for a hay penny.  We know boomers are perpetual, so these will always be in demand.  Buy that Fool Killer news stand & in 5 years watch yourself pay for college.

3) Cheap Stan Lee signature books.  Sell super high and wait for that rich soccer mom who wants to buy their kid a surprise birthday gift because he's the only character in EVERY marvel movie that mattered!

Here you have it, go get rich

My advice... spend 30 years acting like a vacuum cleaner around cheap books and buy way too much krap, spend almost a million dollars on a house so that you can get crushed under the weight of a mortgage and home repairs, but have half a floor to house those comics... wait until a pandemic and all of a sudden stuff that wasn't worth selling is now worth big bucks! hope the hysteria lasts long enough for you to list all those issues of spawn and GI joe you need to unload....

[Sky1]

18 minutes ago, Jordysnordy said:

I know. On PAPER all of our collections have made huge gains the last few months.

I'm more upset at what I missed than happy about what I have that gone up.  Mostly because I do not intend to sell anytime soon, if at all.  But books that I wanted and was like I can get them later for $100 are now 2k.  I joke alot in this thread, but that last statement is truth