Determining FMV | CBCS Comics

I subscribe to a number of websites that claim to be authorities in determining Fair Market Values for comics: GoCollect, CovrPrice and ZapKapow. I find it frustrating that occasionally two out of three will have similar values for a given book and rarely all three will be in the same ball park. More often than not they will be wildly divergent. I find it usefull to throw Heritage Auctions into the mix.

I really have to question the legitimacy of a site's determination of a FMV when you look at the sales used to calculate the FMV and all of the sales are less than the FMV. I find that GoCollect does this often. Case in point, I looked up Captain Marvel #32 CGC 8.0. GoCollect's sales data shows the highest price paid was in 2019 at $67.95 the most recent sale was $43.00 in 2021. How they figure FMV is $90 is beyond me.. it's a made-up value.

In fact, except for the FMV at 7.0, all of the sales data for grades from 6.5 to 9.0 are well below the assigned FMV. And 9.0's FMV is listed as the same FMV as 9.2.

I'm paying for useless information. Frustrating is putting it mildly.

Collector 1.38K	1.38K ticktocktyler private msg quote post Address this user	plus 1 plus 1 plus 1 2
	It IS a little frustrating. Seems like EBay and so forth determine what FMV is. There is a signed HOS 92 in CGC 9.0 on Ebay. Asking $13k. Is it worth that? I dunno. Faded green Wrightson sig in a yellow holder. Maybe to someone. I contacted the seller and asked his bottom line. He responded (at the time) around $7k. Well, maybe a LITTLE closer to FMV. The book has always been hard to pin down price-wise. Would I pay $7k? Dunno. If I didn't have one already, maybe. Desire becomes a strong motivator. If I were to attempt to sell any of my "heavy hitter" books, I bet all kinds of people would come forward and be experts in FMV. I mean, I have a Bat 232 CGC 9.6 ow/w. A 9.8 ask price on EBay is $22,000. Does that mean a .2 point LESS makes mine a $17k book? What's the real difference between 9.6 and 9.8? I can ASK $17k. Likely won't get it. If someone said "Yeah I'll take it for $15k", then it's gone. Get a 9.0 and roll the rest into other books. Be a fool not to. BUT. What IF I had $22k to play with? Would I yoink the 9.8? Very possibly. The thing with EBay is the "Watchers" thing. To me, that means people want to see if it actually sells for the asking price which is usually bloated, IMO. But they do sell. I think FMV depends largely on the buyers desire for the thing but doesn't necessarily reflect a books actual value. What's FMV for a Bat#1? Whatever the eff a seller says it is.
	3 years ago	Post 5 • IP flag post

Doodoo doodoo! Mind blowing stuff, right? 2K	2K Caffeine_Kid private msg quote post Address this user	plus 1 plus 1 plus 1 0
	I subscribe to a number of websites that claim to be authorities in determining Fair Market Values for comics: GoCollect, CovrPrice and ZapKapow. I find it frustrating that occasionally two out of three will have similar values for a given book and rarely all three will be in the same ball park. More often than not they will be wildly divergent. I find it usefull to throw Heritage Auctions into the mix. I really have to question the legitimacy of a site's determination of a FMV when you look at the sales used to calculate the FMV and all of the sales are less than the FMV. I find that GoCollect does this often. Case in point, I looked up Captain Marvel #32 CGC 8.0. GoCollect's sales data shows the highest price paid was in 2019 at $67.95 the most recent sale was $43.00 in 2021. How they figure FMV is $90 is beyond me.. it's a made-up value. In fact, except for the FMV at 7.0, all of the sales data for grades from 6.5 to 9.0 are well below the assigned FMV. And 9.0's FMV is listed as the same FMV as 9.2. I'm paying for useless information. Frustrating is putting it mildly.
	3 years ago	Post 1 • IP flag post

Maybe they just like me better. Nah, that's not it. 709	709 BPaxson002 private msg quote post Address this user	plus 1 plus 1 plus 1 14
	I hate to tell you, but FMV is always a made up number. It has been that way since Overstreet was first published. The actual value of any given book is determined by the buyer and seller at the time of purchase. Anything else is opinion. The only data worth a damn from those listed above (as well as the others) is past sales over time. That's it. Any future opinions on what a book might be worth have a 50/50 percent of being right or wrong.
	3 years ago	Post 2 • IP flag post

Collector 2.49K	2.49K cesidio private msg quote post Address this user	plus 1 plus 1 plus 1 10
	Anything is only worth what someone is willing to pay. Fmv is nonsense.
	3 years ago	Post 3 • IP flag post

I have a problem with fattening women up. 40.27K	40.27K Bronte private msg quote post Address this user	plus 1 plus 1 plus 1 7
	Personally I use GPA, they tell you what it sold for and to me i make a judgment call on what I want to pay. There should be no real question as to how accurate it is given the book had to be already been sold. (Granted discrepancies exist, but in my opinion less likely than other sites)
	3 years ago	Post 4 • IP flag post

I don't believe this....and I know you don't care that I don't believe this. 80.14K	80.14K GAC private msg quote post Address this user	plus 1 plus 1 plus 1 5
	Quote: Originally Posted by Bronte Personally I use GPA, they tell you what it sold for and to me i make a judgment call on what I want to pay. There should be no real question as to how accurate it is given the book had to be already been sold. (Granted discrepancies exist, but in my opinion less likely than other sites) @Caffeine_Kid This is the best answer.
	3 years ago	Post 6 • IP flag post

Where's his Bat-package? 24.74K	24.74K Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user	plus 1 plus 1 plus 1 5
	@Caffeine_Kid One thing to keep in mind for all the various websites is what they're claiming to provide values for. GoCollect is for slabbed comics only, ZapKapow is for raw comics only (which is why their FMVs are so low), and Covrprice has both, but uses an average for the raw value rather than a graduated value based on the estimated grade of the book. GPA is also for slabbed comics only, like GoCollect, but just CGC-graded books and no one else's. Because all the sites use different data to reach their conclusions, they'll all have different FMVs. The best are GPA, GoCollect, and CovrPrice because all three will let you look at the values and dates of the sales they base the FMVs on, and that's what's useful. ZapKapow is basically a cheap way to keep track of your collection because there's no monthly/annual fee.
	3 years ago	Post 7 • IP flag post

Collector 4.84K	4.84K dpiercy private msg quote post Address this user	plus 1 plus 1 plus 1 1
	As @Bronte said, GPA is best. Sold listings on ebay is great, too.
	3 years ago	Post 8 • IP flag post

" . " 17.41K	17.41K Davethebrave private msg quote post Address this user	plus 1 plus 1 plus 1 2
	It obviously isn’t asking price but transacted prices. Just sample a few sources. For rarer books infrequently transacted it is going to be near impossible to pin down. I am looking for some books with <10 on census and there is no referencable FMV. For highly transacted, common books like IH181 or ASM129 it is incredibly easy to pin down a range. For the ones in between, you may have to see transactions at grades above and below and see a) how many and b) how fresh. Then guesstimate.
	3 years ago	Post 9 • IP flag post

Where's his Bat-package? 24.74K	24.74K Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user	plus 1 plus 1 plus 1 3
	No one likes getting screwed over, whether it's buying or selling. It's good to have some ideas on how to keep that from happening.
	3 years ago	Post 11 • IP flag post

Determining FMV17487