Selling comics

[Savage]

Okay, I've been buying comics for years but when it comes to selling em I'm a complete noob. I wanted to clear some space so I figured I'd sell the crappy ones I regret buying (X-men: Evolution, Marvel Mangaverse, etc). Altogether 61 comics. I check milehighcomics.com and see this things going for like 4 or 5 bucks each at near mint so I figured I could make a pretty penny off of these. Especially considering they're all near mint since I read them once and put em right back in the bag.

I head over to midtown comics today (after coming all the way from brooklyn with this heavy ass bag and having to squeeze through two protests in the middle of holiday shopping season for some reason) only to have this guy tell me he can only give me a quarter for each one and they'd probably sell em for two bucks each.

Needless to say, I took my books and got the hell outta there because certainly they are worth more than two bucks and DEFINATELY more than a quarter. He said I probably won't get anyone to pay full price for them and that they have the best deals. I am totally confused as to how this selling comics deal works because why would I sell a coming for anything LESS than what it is worth? Is there any way at all to sell these comics for their full prices?

 

[The Leaguer]

You don't have room for 61 comics?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Not everyone's willing to clear the bodies out of their basement for that extra room.

 

[Kool-Aid]

People rarely sell them for what they're worth. Not even alot of comic shops, because they give you discounts...well mine do anyway. See what they're going for on ebay, that'll give you a good idea what you could sell them for.

 

[Savage]

You don't have room for 61 comics?

Gotta make room for the good stuff somehow. I keep my comics in drawers in a dresser (Live in an apartment. Don't have anywhere to put boxes of comics).

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I live in an apartment and there's plenty of room for thousands of comics. Is your apartment really small or something?

 

[Savage]

People rarely sell them for what they're worth. Not even alot of comic shops, because they give you discounts...well mine do anyway. See what they're going for on ebay, that'll give you a good idea what you could sell them for.

Yeah, I was thinking of just selling em on ebay. Just pissed me off that you can get frickin X-men: Ronin at milehigh for 6 bucks and this guy says "I'll give you 25 cents".

 

[Savage]

I live in an apartment and there's plenty of room for thousands of comics. Is your apartment really small or something?

I still live with my parents (19) so my apartment is limited to my room, so yeah, I'd say it's small. If I had em in boxes, I'd be stepping over the things.

 

[Kool-Aid]

Yeah, I was thinking of just selling em on ebay. Just pissed me off that you can get frickin X-men: Ronin at milehigh for 6 bucks and this guy says "I'll give you 25 cents".

Yeah, Milehigh always jacks up their prices though. They remind me of a few comic shops around me. Everyone calls the owner of it the Vampire cause of it. He thinks just cause hes been selling comics longer then everyone else he can do that.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

That's why you wait for one of the thousand sales MileHigh always has going on.

 

[Iceman]

Okay, I've been buying comics for years but when it comes to selling em I'm a complete noob. I wanted to clear some space so I figured I'd sell the crappy ones I regret buying (X-men: Evolution, Marvel Mangaverse, etc). Altogether 61 comics. I check milehighcomics.com and see this things going for like 4 or 5 bucks each at near mint so I figured I could make a pretty penny off of these. Especially considering they're all near mint since I read them once and put em right back in the bag.

I head over to midtown comics today (after coming all the way from brooklyn with this heavy ass bag and having to squeeze through two protests in the middle of holiday shopping season for some reason) only to have this guy tell me he can only give me a quarter for each one and they'd probably sell em for two bucks each.

Needless to say, I took my books and got the hell outta there because certainly they are worth more than two bucks and DEFINATELY more than a quarter. He said I probably won't get anyone to pay full price for them and that they have the best deals. I am totally confused as to how this selling comics deal works because why would I sell a coming for anything LESS than what it is worth? Is there any way at all to sell these comics for their full prices?

You'll probably get your best price on ebay. Comic shops will never pay too much as they're buying for resale and profit and need to make a living. Unfortunately truly **** comics seem to be almost worthless when it comes to selling as noone else wants them either .

 

[Elijya]

those numbers are lies, you will NOT see $4-5 apeice for books like Marvel Mangaverse. That's just what Milehigh price gauges for them. Check ebay to see realistic prices. Basicly, what milehigh, and overstreet, and wizard, and anything else list as the value of a comic is reflective of what a COMICBOOK STORE might put as the price tag on that comic (look around and you'll see Milehigh and Wizard set prices usually a dollar higher than any other source, and many other stores, a fact most people who deal with alot of comics are well aware of. It's not that they're liars, comic valuing isn't a precise science, they just skew higher, like the way Borders may charge more for a DVD than Wal-Mart for example). But a comicbook store has the benefit of leaving that comic out for what might be YEARS before a customer walks in and wants that specific one, and is willing to pay that price. You don't have that benefit, you want them sold now. So you'll have to take what you're offered if you really want them gone.

A Comicbook store is a business and needs to make profit, and preferably sooner. A store could have a comic in it's back issue bins for years with a price tag of, say, $3, and no one ever comes in for it. So, eventually, if they're smart enough (which they better be if they're running a comicbook store which is a very tough bsuiness ot run) eventually they'll take the $3 price tag off the book, and put it into the discount bin. Maybe they'll ask $1, 50 cents, or maybe even a quarter or a dime. Because it's better to get the 25 cents for the book than wait five years or more for the $3.

When you sell your comics to a comicbook store, they're giving away money. They're going to turn around and sell your books, of course, but how long will it be before someone buys the comics you sold them and they get their money back? With relatively undesirable books, YEARS. If I bring in a stack of comics that a book says is worth $50 total, there's no way in hell they'll give me $50, or even $25. Probably $10. Because those books will take a long time to sell, and even if he puts a pricetage on the books totaling $50, it may be months before someone buys those books so he can make his $10 back. This is the way businesses work: you've got to balance what you can reasonably spend on the product your selling with how quickly you'll get that money back from a sale, and start making a profit.

And there's also the problem of what if he already has copies of those books for sale in his store? multiple copies. He could have ten copies of a book in his back room waiting for someone to pick it out and bring it to the counter. Why would he buy ANOTHER copy of it, for anywhere near full value, when the copies he already has haven't sold?

The values in ANY comic value guide are theoretical. Values fluctuate constantly with supply and demand. Oftentimes the values are overstated for the sake of making profit. And again, a comicstore is a business that needs to stay in business, and can't waste moeny, and you're a comic fan in need of quick cash. So all of that equals you being offered a quarter per issue, sorry.

Most guides are hesitant to acknowledge that any series is undesirable and belongs in the discount bin, and you won't see ANYTHING listed in any guide for under $2 (except maybe Batman the 10 Cent Adventures, or Countdown to Infinite Crisis which origianlly sold for only a dollar last year and is in heavy supply, or something like that). And yet, every comic store has a discount bin, don't they? and if you go from store to store and look through them, you'll see the same titles in all of them, because every comic store knows these aren't heavily desirable and it's better to just get the discounted price than have it in the store not selling.

Only comics which have proved their worth and are valued at hundreds and hundreds of dollars, at least, will routinely sell for their list prices.

 

[supermarvelman]

My comic store takes old back issues that havent sold forever and sell them in Arcs like TPB (as long as they have all the issues of that arc), but they sell them for a little less than a TPB. It works very well for them, that way people like me who like having single issues, get them all but for the price of less than a TPB. I think thats a really good idea.

It doesnt help you Savage, but oh well. What about selling them at a convention?

 

[Elijya]

you're not allowed to sell anything at a convention unless you purchase table space, which can be hundreds of dollars. You'll be kicked out if you do. And plus you have to work the whole weekend, and even then everything might not sell

 

[Savage]

Aaah nuts. I guess it wouldn't hurt to keep em around and let their value build up then...Sell em when I'm 50 or something. No way am I selling em for a quarter each and kicking myself in the ass 30 years later. I even thought about cashing in Origin #1 but after this, screw that.

 

[supermarvelman]

Oh I didn't know that, I never sold any, I just thought maybe you could. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[supermarvelman]

Aaah nuts. I guess it wouldn't hurt to keep em around and let their value build up then...Sell em when I'm 50 or something. No way am I selling em for a quarter each and kicking myself in the ass 30 years later. I even thought about cashing in Origin #1 but after this, screw that.

Yea maybe by then your comic store will give you 50cents per issue.t:

 

[Savage]

Hey, who knows. Maybe the Ultimate line will eventually come to an end and I could make big bucks off of that. The early Ultimate issues alone should be worth a pretty penny.

Trades don't help though since the stories are right there at the ready.

 

[Elijya]

Trades tend to hold their value, and unpopular comics will just stay at the bottom, they WON'T be worth a great deal in 50 years

your best bet for better money is ebay, maybe craigslist, but in truth, many comics that won't ever see an increase in value are best used by just giving them to some kids