Valuing ungraded comics14098
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RonMob private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Noob here that recently dusted off 30+ year old comics that I stored as a kid and am pleasantly surprised by their potential values currently and when certified. Thinking about getting my feet wet in collecting again for investment purposes. A forum member tuned me into gocollect.com and it is very useful but what are great online resources for ungraded comics (preferably free sites because I am only dabbling in collecting at this time). Also, what are the go to resources that you use to find out what is coming out currently that has potential collector value? And finally, now that news stands are virtually non-existent and comic stores are few and far between, where do you buy comics? Appreciate the help even though my questions are probably idiotic to experienced collectors ;-) |
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CatCovers private msg quote post Address this user | |
| One easy and free online resource for valuing ungraded comics is looking at the sold listings on ebay. You can also check the mycomicshop.com site and look at the values they place on various books. As for what's coming out currently ... mostly nothing. The simple truth is maybe one Modern book out of 500 will ever be sought after. Most of that is just a crapshoot. If you're in this strictly for investment, don't buy new comics. If you don't have a comic shop anywhere nearby (and presuming you're talking about new comics), there are plenty of places online where you can set up a pull list and they'll ship you books on a regular basis. Welcome to the forum and welcome back to the hobby! |
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Darkseid_of_town private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by CatCoversSuperb advice..especially the highlighted part |
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 If the viagra is working you should be well over a 9.8.
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xkonk private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I would echo eBay listings, with the emphasis on the 'sold' part. People can ask whatever they want for a comic but that doesn't mean people are paying it. I also use gocollect and I look at what something is selling for on mycomicshop.com (although, again, that's what the store or a consignor is asking to be paid, not necessarily what people are paying). If there isn't a comic store near you, there are ones that will mail a subscription to you. Mycomicshop and midtowncomics are big ones, but my local store offers it as well. Maybe there's one nearish you that you can call or set something up through their website. |
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QuaBrot private msg quote post Address this user | |
Best way to value comics is to just sell them all to me for a couple bucks 🤣 🤪As others have said, use eBay SOLD prices, gocollect or GPA (subtract about $20-40 to account for grading/slabbing fees), and be very cautious about grades. Noob mistake is to overlook defects on key or expensive books - wishful grading - and over estimate the value or grade it will really get if you send to be graded. Buy what you like. If you got lucky with some of your books from 30 years ago, great! But don't expect to duplicate that. Just have fun and enjoy what you read. |
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Oxbladder private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Lots of people use the Key Collector app for "investing". It will post new and old books in various categories as well as the reasoning why a book may be worth investing in. Now investing is an interesting subject and while I agree that very few books will ever appreciate in large increments, I completely disagree that this just holds for modern books. I would say that 99% of all that has come out and will ever come out will be slow at appreciating in value. Of course there are "blue chip" books but keep in mind that the more you spend the more a book is going to have to increase for you to realize a decent investment value. You could by a blue chip book like Action Comics #1 but you may have to sit on it for a period of time to get what you may consider a reasonable return. Of course that time period may be shorter than Action 500 but not necessarily because one cannot always predict market changes influenced by such directed purchasing from application such as Key Collector. Promoting only investing in old books doesn't really consider that not everyone can afford to invest in only older books. With application like Key Collector and site like GoCollect you can make some pretty good modern purchases and cash in quick and use those funds to purchase older books. There are loads of people doing this and I know lots of people in my area who have managed to greatly increase their purchasing power by "investing" in hot new books and flipping them and using the funds to buy older books for their collection. So, in closing, consider that if you bought 500 brand new books off the shelf today one or two might appreciate quickly the rest you will probably have to sit on the rest for the better part of 30 years for them to double in price. However, despite that you could potentially make more off of those than the two other books. Ultimately that is not much different than other investments (and there are a whole host of factors that could blow up any comic investing too, such as publishers getting out of printing hard copies of new books. What few understand is that without the new the old doesn't have much chance of remaining a strong investment.) |
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 I showed my wife and she was so happy for me she started to cry.
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Batman66 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @RonMob welcome to the forum, lots of great fellow collectors here. The only idiotic question is the one not asked. The replies above are spot on. Congrats on your new found equity. | ||
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Darkseid_of_town private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by OxbladderWell...yes and no . I think there is a line you mentally draw between investing...buying and holding a book long term, as compared to simple "flipping". Anyone can spot a new book coming through the shoot, gamble on ten copies and perhaps make a bit off the top to help ease the prices of older books with more established track records...but generally the key there is speed, and being agressive. Buy heavy, buy cheap and sell fast.... The entire hobby has altered the way comics are stored and sold vastly over the years. When I was a kid, you bought comics, kept them in an old potato box under the bed and when mom got filled with wrath the entire dog eared, coupon cut, crayon colored mess went into the trash, never to be seen again. Conversely today when you walk into a comic store and buy comics, they are carefully bagged and boarded at purchase and people are taught to save them and buy the supplies necessary to prolong their existence in higher grade. The results are clear to see and quite obvious...while books like Batman Adventures and Ultimate fallout 4 have gained massively in price, they are also by no means rare or particularly hard to find. Their value is derived from hype and perception rather than true scarcity. Alternatively collecting gold and silver books most of my life I have not really seen any book with that designation that failed to gain appreciably and rapidly over the years. The scarcity of such books allows for alot of mistakes when purchasing...even if you overpay a bit today a few years will wash away that problem Used to shop an old hole in the wall store in Wichita Kansas back in the late eighties...owned by an elderly man named Ivan who made most of his income from visiting conventions and selling radio serial recordings. His bins in his store were loaded with older silver and late golden age books, often priced below a few dollars. I would buy them by the sackfuls from him, and despite many being in lower grade, over time they all demanded a nice premium. The key is to hang on to an investment and distinguish between that and some flipping for a quick buck. |
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Oxbladder private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Personally I see flipping and long-term holding just as different risk levels of investing. while gold and silver have the scarcity factor on their side that alone doesn't drive demand. Gold and silver have rising values pushing them further out of reach for the average collector. this drives the prices up as people seek the keys and others of the Bronze Age and so on. you always have the high risk speculating as well, which is driven by a host of factors that can always be toppled down until the next wonky speculation structure is built. I completely agree that long term (low risk) with a mix in of flipping is an effective strategy. As is buying what interests you and not just based on how much it can make you. I am not focused on values personally and I have always preferred modern books for a myriad of reasons.I have been shocked at how many of purchases for a bit less than cover have skyrocketed in value and held there. The reverberations of speculation now are way different from any era there was a time not too long ago were speculation travelled slower or only often involved one era. Now trends can start before books are even released and through the various eras as characters from various eras are represented other media. Look upon this with distain if you must but hey money is a big driver and it is nice that one can potentially do well with both end of the investing scale? |
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 Masculinity takes a holiday.
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EbayMafia private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by RonMob @RonMob Keep coming back! It works if you work it! Seriously though, be patient and stick around on the forum. You'll get little pieces of information here and there and in 3-4 months the pieces start fitting together and you will know more than you expected to know. You will also discover segments of the industry that you never even knew you would be interested in. One thing to put on your radar screen since the forum kind of mirrors the industry as a whole...watch how quickly discussion moves from one hot book to the next as new information comes out regarding TV and Film. |
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BrianGreensnips private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @RonMob Welcome aboard. There is a lot of solid advice given here so far. Educate yourself as much as you can before jumping in too quickly. I spec on books a little bit but for the most part, I buy what I like and I sell what I won't miss. | ||
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