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Post by Red Oak Kid on Mar 25, 2016 19:15:18 GMT -5
I will agree with some of the antique mall statements in that they tend to price things way above what they are worth. I think they just look at it, see it is from the 70's and assume someone will back $5-10 for an old comic in rough condition. However, you do also find this as a benefit, especially when they take this approach with a book that is collectible or does have value. As a rule, I enter antique malls looking for a laugh...because it seems like there is the most oddball stuff present. For example, a recent stop I made had me find the following: - A stuffed dog's head lamp (the head wasn't real...I hope...but was furry) - A 3-D picture of an angry deer jumping through the photo frame at the viewer - Life size camel statue - Mannequins (old ones, with missing limbs...always creepy) - A misspelled wedding sign with two arrows... One said "Ceramony" and the other said "Coctail Hour" spelled as I typed them. If I do find comics, I approach with low expectations so that if I do find something, I am happy. Best finds for me so far was a $2 copy of Maus, a $2 copy of a somewhat rare Kitchen Sink Press comic and a $2 copy of Daredevil #292. Nothing fancy folks I remember dept. store mannequins. They usually had chipped fingers. But they fascinated me. |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Mar 25, 2016 19:32:03 GMT -5
I have been collecting comic books for nearly 30 years, starting with Archie digests at the grocery checkout lanes, to super hero comics at specialty stores, to bulk deals and bargain bins at conventions, to eBay. The more experienced I became at collecting, the better deals I found, with conventions and fire sales being the best deals around. I find buying off eBay to be risky as everyone says their books are near-mint and it is difficult to make out defects in paper from photos. I never liked that the UPCs on books purchased from grocery stores and retail book stores usually are the CC version, instead of the direct edition. Also, the books at grocery stores and book stores tend to get worn from being frequently mishandled by customers. However, in my experience, the worst place to find deals on comic books are at antiques stores/malls. I have been to many such places and while comics are plentiful, they are almost always in poor condition and grossly overpriced. Books one might find at convention quarter bin can go for several dollars at antique store, dog-eared, torn, and stained. So I was wondering if anyone has an idea as to why antique stores tend to have worn and overpriced comic books. I have never found a good deal on comics at an antique store, but perhaps some of you have. Your thoughts? I found Captain Marvel Junior # 91 for a buck. (Missing a back cover, but still.) 1950s Fawcett for a dollar! Recently I found a coverless issue of Kirby's Boys Ranch for two, which I was crazy excited about. Right now I'm really looking for cheap comics (poor condition) from the '50s, and I have good luck with antique stores. They're generally willing to listen to counter-offers, especially if you seem to know more about comics than they do. And they don't always keep up with whatever the Hot New Speculator Comic of the month is. I picked up a buncha Ms. Marvel #1s for 2.50 a pop recently and sold them for 20, cash, to my LCS owner. Honestly, about 50% of my best ever scores are from antique shops. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2016 20:53:21 GMT -5
I stopped in a junk shop and started flipping through the comic boxes, all typical dollar stuff, nothing I'm interested in. Then in the back there was a ton of Silverwolf Comics, which aren't particularly valuable, but I collect them. He had many I don't have. So I picked a few out and brought them up. He wanted $40 each. I walked out.
But the weird thing is he had a HUGE collection of vintage tools that seemed like excellent buys.
Another time I saw a Craigslist ad from a junk shop that acquired a collection so I went to check it out. Bronze and Copper age, lots of Conan and a handful of mags. Cool stuff. I chose a large stack and asked what they wanted. They said $5 each. I walked out. But then I went home and sent an email to the person who placed the ad, just friendly advice, it's not selling for that. I told him what I thought they were worth and wished him luck. He emailed me back and said the cashier was just kind of winging it, didn't know about comics, ect. He invited me back to buy them at the prices I suggested. I went back and spent $80 in his store, and left a giant table of comics behind that had a far better chance of actually selling at a buck or two each.
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Post by senatortombstone on Mar 26, 2016 1:43:23 GMT -5
I stopped in a junk shop and started flipping through the comic boxes, all typical dollar stuff, nothing I'm interested in. Then in the back there was a ton of Silverwolf Comics, which aren't particularly valuable, but I collect them. He had many I don't have. So I picked a few out and brought them up. He wanted $40 each. I walked out. But the weird thing is he had a HUGE collection of vintage tools that seemed like excellent buys. Another time I saw a Craigslist ad from a junk shop that acquired a collection so I went to check it out. Bronze and Copper age, lots of Conan and a handful of mags. Cool stuff. I chose a large stack and asked what they wanted. They said $5 each. I walked out. But then I went home and sent an email to the person who placed the ad, just friendly advice, it's not selling for that. I told him what I thought they were worth and wished him luck. He emailed me back and said the cashier was just kind of winging it, didn't know about comics, ect. He invited me back to buy them at the prices I suggested. I went back and spent $80 in his store, and left a giant table of comics behind that had a far better chance of actually selling at a buck or two each. Thanks for the awesome testimonials. Given how obdurate and persnickety some sellers can be, I was would be hesitant to offer advice, for fear that all it would result in is me being to manually stimulate myself. It is great, though, that one seller took your suggestion to heart. I love those old Marvel and Warren magazines, especially when I find titles that I did not even know existed. At one convention, last year, I discovered Marvels short-lived magazine "Untold Tales of Science Fiction." A greasy dealer at the convention, who did not put price tags on his items, want NM guide prices for worn, torn, and water stained magazines. SSoC is probably Marvel's best known BW magazine and it is always a pleasure to find a bin full of those issues - especially from the end of the run, as those are less common. I think I will continue to check out antique stores, just in case I find something good. It is bound to happen eventually. I might start another topic on my love-hate relationship with Half Price Books. |
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Post by batlaw on Mar 26, 2016 2:09:37 GMT -5
Very familiar with antique stores. Here in Utah we have an abundance and I periodically enjoy browsing them because I appreciate the past and old stuff etc. and every so often you'll find some fun old geek stuff like toys and comics. It always amazes me though that at least here, no one in the "antique" business knows a damn thing about anything. They're really more scavengers/junk dealers than anything else. When it comes to comics they're especially laughably ignorant. I've only ever experienced two types, 1- They whip out some price guide and expect the highest listed price they see. Regardless of anything such as condition (which is often horrible) or anything else. They're insulted and indignant if / when you try to negotiate or educate.
2- they look at the date on the book and if it's over 5-10 years old they're convinced it's essentially priceless. Again, regardless of any details and they insist on a simply ridiculous price and are insulted and indignant if you try to negotiate or educate.
I haven't bothered in some time now because of this, but it actually can be good for an entertaining laugh.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Mar 26, 2016 10:14:11 GMT -5
I might start another topic on my love-hate relationship with Half Price Books. I have done really, really well at half-price books. Like antique stores you strike out >75% of the time, but sometimes you will find stuff the staff had no idea what to do with and priced really cheap. (Sadly, unlike antique stores, I've never been able to bargain.) |
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Post by The Captain on Mar 26, 2016 11:57:16 GMT -5
I might start another topic on my love-hate relationship with Half Price Books. I have done really, really well at half-price books. Like antique stores you strike out >75% of the time, but sometimes you will find stuff the staff had no idea what to do with and priced really cheap. (Sadly, unlike antique stores, I've never been able to bargain.) I've had tons of success at Half-Price Books finding great deals on comic books. One time, the one by my old office was selling issues of New Mutants for $1 per bundle of five books, so I picked up 60% of the run for less than $12, and another time I got a F+ copy of Avengers #87 (origin of Black Panther) for $9.00 during one of their sales (the book in that condition has sold recently on eBay for amounts between $35 and $50). I find great $1 stock there all the time (including a number of Flash issues two separate times this week alone), as well as $.50 books (although those drive me nuts because they put the price tag right on the cover and I have to take the time to carefully remove them to avoid ripping the paper). |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Mar 26, 2016 20:47:51 GMT -5
Right, exactly. Any place with 50 cent bins is alright with me. It's not hard to get 4 bits worth of entertainment from a funnybook.
My local-est Half Price Books does a decreasing schema* for older back issues. I was looking at some Sugar and Spike and Dell Peanuts comics and they were originally priced at 30 bucks or something crazy, but had been steadily marked down into the 7-9 dollar range. (Which was what I was willing to pay.)
* Is that the right word?
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Post by senatortombstone on Mar 27, 2016 4:24:20 GMT -5
I have done really, really well at half-price books. Like antique stores you strike out >75% of the time, but sometimes you will find stuff the staff had no idea what to do with and priced really cheap. (Sadly, unlike antique stores, I've never been able to bargain.) I've had tons of success at Half-Price Books finding great deals on comic books. One time, the one by my old office was selling issues of New Mutants for $1 per bundle of five books, so I picked up 60% of the run for less than $12, and another time I got a F+ copy of Avengers #87 (origin of Black Panther) for $9.00 during one of their sales (the book in that condition has sold recently on eBay for amounts between $35 and $50). I find great $1 stock there all the time (including a number of Flash issues two separate times this week alone), as well as $.50 books (although those drive me nuts because they put the price tag right on the cover and I have to take the time to carefully remove them to avoid ripping the paper). I love to hate and I hate to love HPB. Sometimes I find great bargains and sometimes I see prices that make me think the employees get a cut of sales. Every now and then HPB gets a stock of some graphic novel that was overprinted and sells it at a steep discount. Recent examples are The First Kingdom Volume #1 HC for only $6.99 and The Complete Zorro for $6.99. Back issues are a hit or miss, depending on the store employees' knowledge of comic books. About 5-6 years ago I stumbled two copies of Uncanny X-men #266 for a dollar each. About 2-3 years ago I found two copies of SSoC#1, marked down from $60.00 to $1.00. Those finds are becoming increasingly rare, though. I also shop there for video games, but often times eBay has better deals. There was a complete copy of Chrono Trigger selling for $350.00 at my local HPB. Someone bought it, with a discount coupon, I presume; however, I can only imagine how little they offered the person who brought it in. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Mar 27, 2016 9:39:59 GMT -5
They don't have half price books near me, but I've had decent success finding cool stuff there (both books and comics) when I've traveled.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2016 12:19:02 GMT -5
I always hear stories about how awesome Half Price Books is, but none near me either. I have a feeling even if they did have one there wouldn't be any comics. Not a single thrift store has comics out here. Or bicycles. Or antique luggage. No hard case stuff, just the nylon sacks luggage has been made of for the past couple decades.
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Pat T
Full Member
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Post by Pat T on Apr 6, 2016 22:10:44 GMT -5
We have 2nd & Charles here, which I think is similar to Half Price Books. They have mostly $1 books out where anybody
can look through them, a display case with overpriced valuable ones, and then some behind the checkout counter that
might be valuable, or they think they are. I usually find plenty of $1 books for my collection that are nothing special,
but books I need. But I've found a few books that never should have been there for $1 within the last year. These were
all in VF or better condition, too: Uncanny X-Men 109 & 137, Amazing Spider-Man Vol 2 #36, and Alpha Flight Vol 2 #17.
None of those are super expensive books, but any of them sell for a lot more than that. Most of the time I don't find
anything special, but it's happened enough that I don't hesitate asking anywhere that might have comics if they do.
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