Do people listing on Comiclink even care about GPA? 0

[The Troll King]

I see books listed on there that aren't even the highest graded copies and yet the asking price is more than double of the highest graded copy on GPA!

 

Why is that?

 

I mean, honestly, do you guys that list on Comiclink even care about GPA.

 

Not to mention, the books that I look for aren't necessarily that expensive anyway. ESPECIALLY raw!

 

Most of the books I'm looking for could be picked up in NM for under $25 yet I see CGC graded ones with a GPA of about $60 in 9.6 and people are wanting over $250 on Comiclink whereas the GPA for 9.8's is around $125

[drice6900]

Are you assuming everyone uses GPA?

[Monstro]

they must not need to sell

[The Troll King]

Are you assuming everyone uses GPA?

 

No, but I know a lot of people who frequently sell slabbed books at least KNOW about GPA

 

[Silver Surfer]

Comiclink seems to get above GPA prices for a lot of their books. They have a great selection and must have a tremendous client base because your always up against stiff competition for books that are high on people want lists.

[JJBEE2001]

I've only bought 1 book off Comiclink and it was probably overpriced. I kept making offers that got declined (up to $15 less than the asking price), but the book isn't an easy find & I was willing to pay for it, so I can't complain.

 

But I do agree that with consignment books, the owners tend to overprice. Maybe they're trying to recoup the commission that the dealer charges???

[DeeDee-migration]

Some of their prices are really outrageous, thats why some of those books have been there for months. I guess if you're patient, it pays to wait for the rare person who wants x comic badly enough to pay multiples of guide.

 

There are, however, really good bargains on CL, much cheaper than eBay BINs.

[sckao]

I've only bought 1 book off Comiclink and it was probably overpriced. I kept making offers that got declined (up to $15 less than the asking price), but the book isn't an easy find & I was willing to pay for it, so I can't complain.

 

But I do agree that with consignment books, the owners tend to overprice. Maybe they're trying to recoup the commission that the dealer charges???

 

Yes, you should realize that they've probably factored the cost of the commission into the price. They've probably also added a BIN price as opposed to an offer price.

 

Cost of shipping is also added in when you buy... but the seller also has to ship it to the service (so shipping is part of the sale price when you're a seller... It's an added expense when you're a buyer.)

 

Just my observations from my own listings/purchases...

[Dad&Son-migration]

The other part to factor is the "raw" grading. At least 75% of the time the books are not the same grade that CGC standards are, yet they want more then the price of the grade they've selected for the book. If you try to make an offer they usual don't budge a lot. As DeeDee mentioned the key to bargain hunting is "patience". It's a tough virtue to have in a "want it now" society. I'm probably the worst at having patience when it comes to something I want. I totally agree with you Buffyfan. These people asking outrageous prices damn well know what GPA is, they aren't throwing these things up there without a clue but the other side of the equation is the fact they are asking that because they don't need the money and don't care about a quick sale. Unfortunately, we as the collectors dictate the prices paid and far too many of us apparently drive this high priced market. I know I've been guilty of setting new GPA records on many books but I'm putting a stop to that practice. "Thrill of the hunt" will be a slow and frustrating road.

[sterlingcomics]

GPA/OSPG is a tool...not a right to receive said products at a guaranteed price. ComicLink is where most of the high prices are realized...and those prices aren't reflected in GPA (double edged sword--I for one am glad that not 100% of sales make it into GPA)...or you would be in a heap of trouble from a buying perspective. Oops...price is too high...let's not use GPA...

[sterlingcomics]

Comiclink seems to get above GPA prices for a lot of their books. They have a great selection and must have a tremendous client base because your always up against stiff competition for books that are high on people want lists.

 

 

And, to DeeDee's comment, there are good deals there too!

[sterlingcomics]

Maybe they're trying to recoup the commission that the dealer charges???

 

In most cases yes...in other cases...simply flipping for dollars.

[sterlingcomics]

Are you assuming everyone uses GPA?

 

No, but I know a lot of people who frequently sell slabbed books at least KNOW about GPA

 

 

If I were GPA, I would put a free trial coupon into every box that left Sarasota.

[Korvac Saga]

The CL client base must feel a far greater degree of safety and assurance in dealing with CL as opposed to buying books on Ebay where fraud abounds. Safety and assurance carries a premium and that gets factored into the price. Is it worth double or more what you would expect to pay on Ebay? I certainly don't think so, though I've overpaid on a book or two from them. There also seems a curious pricing phenomenom that goes on where if a book sells for say $1000 the very next copy offered will immediately see a 20 to 30% boost in asking price. And these boosts do not reflect GPA, they only seem to reflect greed. They have a great selection and I look everyday but buy less these days.

[The Troll King]

Well, I'm not in the market for $1000+ books right now and it just seems like a waste of time to try and sell books for several hundred when they should go for under $100

 

Sterling, I understand what you're saying and I knew someone would eventually say that GPA/Overstreet are tools but honestly the person who pays 200-300% of guide on a reasonably common book is the tool!

[innocuous]

One aspect of ComicLink that I take advantage of all the time is that the minimum acceptable is usually close to half of the ask. If I want a book, but not real bad, then I offer what the minimum acceptable bid is. The worst that can happen is a decline. In which, if I want the book, I can up my bid again.

[DeeDee-migration]

Comiclink seems to get above GPA prices for a lot of their books. They have a great selection and must have a tremendous client base because your always up against stiff competition for books that are high on people want lists.

 

 

And, to DeeDee's comment, there are good deals there too!

 

I know. Thats what I said.

[gpanalysis]

GPA/OSPG is a tool...not a right to receive said products at a guaranteed price. ComicLink is where most of the high prices are realized...and those prices aren't reflected in GPA (double edged sword--I for one am glad that not 100% of sales make it into GPA)...or you would be in a heap of trouble from a buying perspective. Oops...price is too high...let's not use GPA...

 

Hi Sterling, for the record I don't think we've ever pushed our service as a guide on what people should or must pay for CGC books, nor what the upper limit should be - I'm not saying you are suggesting this is the case - what you're most likely saying is that some collectors who use our service may like to quote prices and hold these up as gospel.

 

Frankly I haven't come across anyone who would use GPA in this way - instead, and this is how I was using GPA before it was ever made public, they look at GPA as a historical snap shot of prices paid, and in the more recent sales (and more often traded books) pretty much an indicator of price movement. (BTW, my comments here have no bearing on ComicLink or any other buying/selling venue, nor do I (or my staff) pass judgement on where collectors should buy or sell their books.)

 

There are many factors that will influence one collector's price entry over another's. And there are as many factors as to why some collectors/dealers start a book's asking price at above or below GPA. Many of those reasons are hotly debated: page quality, QP, short-term/long-term influences, emotional factors, etc. At the end of the day though, I would be hard-pressed to understand why some people would pay well over a median price-point on a regularly traded, and often easily available book. And this is the main reason why GPA came about - to assist in determining a FMV for books and hopefully set some idea of a price boundary.

 

For example, let's look at Incredible Hulk #181 in CGC 9.6. A regularly traded book, often comes up at least once per month and sometimes 2-3 times. Looking at the last 12 months, this book has traded as low as $3350 and as high as $4800 - a pretty decent spread. White Pages and good QP abound at both price extremes, but let's for argument sake suggest that the $4500+ sales were due to white pagers with great overall eye-appeal. Another comes up for auction with an asking price of $6000+. Could you see an argument as a dealer that this is a fair price? What about as a collector, would you consider that buy price as reasonable in the wake of historical data at hand?

 

As a collector I always knew that selling was a necessary part of the collecting mix. For so many reasons, at some point in time, both short term and long term, you might need to sell a book. No one likes to cop a 20%+ loss. It is here where GPA helps most, and it's what I hear time and time again from our subscribers. They use GPA to determine a FMV spread, take the current market into consideration, and their own personal position, and then make a final, calculated, individual decision on what they are prepared to spend. Likewise, many dealers who are members use it in much the same way when buying and selling.

 

[ronm3-migration]

GPA/OSPG is a tool...not a right to receive said products at a guaranteed price. ComicLink is where most of the high prices are realized...and those prices aren't reflected in GPA (double edged sword--I for one am glad that not 100% of sales make it into GPA)...or you would be in a heap of trouble from a buying perspective. Oops...price is too high...let's not use GPA...

 

Hi Sterling, for the record I don't think we've ever pushed our service as a guide on what people should or must pay for CGC books, nor what the upper limit should be - I'm not saying you are suggesting this is the case - what you're most likely saying is that some collectors who use our service may like to quote prices and hold these up as gospel.

 

Frankly I haven't come across anyone who would use GPA in this way - instead, and this is how I was using GPA before it was ever made public, they look at GPA as a historical snap shot of prices paid, and in the more recent sales (and more often traded books) pretty much an indicator of price movement. (BTW, my comments here have no bearing on ComicLink or any other buying/selling venue, nor do I (or my staff) pass judgement on where collectors should buy or sell their books.)

 

There are many factors that will influence one collector's price entry over another's. And there are as many factors as to why some collectors/dealers start a book's asking price at above or below GPA. Many of those reasons are hotly debated: page quality, QP, short-term/long-term influences, emotional factors, etc. At the end of the day though, I would be hard-pressed to understand why some people would pay well over a median price-point on a regularly traded, and often easily available book. And this is the main reason why GPA came about - to assist in determining a FMV for books and hopefully set some idea of a price boundary.

 

For example, let's look at Incredible Hulk #181 in CGC 9.6. A regularly traded book, often comes up at least once per month and sometimes 2-3 times. Looking at the last 12 months, this book has traded as low as $3350 and as high as $4800 - a pretty decent spread. White Pages and good QP abound at both price extremes, but let's for argument sake suggest that the $4500+ sales were due to white pagers with great overall eye-appeal. Another comes up for auction with an asking price of $6000+. Could you see an argument as a dealer that this is a fair price? What about as a collector, would you consider that buy price as reasonable in the wake of historical data at hand?

 

As a collector I always knew that selling was a necessary part of the collecting mix. For so many reasons, at some point in time, both short term and long term, you might need to sell a book. No one likes to cop a 20%+ loss. It is here where GPA helps most, and it's what I hear time and time again from our subscribers. They use GPA to determine a FMV spread, take the current market into consideration, and their own personal position, and then make a final, calculated, individual decision on what they are prepared to spend. Likewise, many dealers who are members use it in much the same way when buying and selling.

 

 

Are you going to include page quality at some point? That would be a tremendous help and will also expalin the price fluctuations as well as centering.

[gpanalysis]

Are you going to include page quality at some point? That would be a tremendous help and will also expalin the price fluctuations as well as centering.

 

At this stage the plan is to include the serial number where available. With the relase of GPA for Coins, we will be redevloping GPA for Comics, with the addition of serial numbers on the list.