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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2020 13:01:24 GMT -5
The surest way to avoid potential headaches with buyers (i.e. the credit card situation shaxper mentioned) is to consign the most expensive items to be sold through a third party who would handle all the customer relations. Something like ComicsLink that someone mentioned, or consigning it to Lonestar for their monthly or bi-annual Prime Auctions. This seems like excellent advice. Unfortunately, I know absolutely nothing about ComicsLink or Lonestar's Prime Auctions. I'd love more info on the process, timeline, fees, and risks involved. CGC is shipping me a shipping kit for my first batch of submissions. I expect to have them back by the end of July. 7 books total, and based on ebay auctions, it looks like they should sell for over $10,000 combined. Thus, I really want to do this right. Here's the link for the info page for selling/consigning to Lonestar/mycomicshop... selling on LonestarHee's a link to their July Prime auction so you can see what type of items are on sale...it starts next week, you cn also come back after the auction and see what prices were realized... July Prime AuctionIf you click on an individual item, there will be a tab you can click on called sales data, that shows you previous sales of that issue, when it was auctioned/sold, what grade it was, and how much it sold for, toy give some perspective/content to set expectations. Their next Prime Auction after July is October. They have weekly auctions in between, but most of the high end stuff is reserved for the Prime Auctions, but there are usually a lot of valuable books in each auction. I've sold to Lonestar with no issues, but I have never consigned with them. I don't know anything specific about Comics Link as I have never dealt with them. The contact person at Lonestar for auctions is: Consignment Director Este Bagato 817-701-0702 and their is an email address for him on the site. -M |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 2, 2020 21:46:33 GMT -5
Consider having your higher-value books professionally graded. This eliminates arguments over grade and can enhance the value of your books. I use CGC and CBCS and have had pleasant experiences with both. Consider selling on ComicLink, which is targeted exclusively at comic book collectors. They are a full-service broker and handle all interactions with the buyer. Once a sale price has been agreed upon, you ship the book to ComicLink and you're done. They charge a flat 10% of the sale price. I've sold several books there with complete satisfaction. So a cursory look at Comiclink shows a very limited range of books for sale. Two of the higher value books I'll be selling are Albedo #2 and Vampirella #1. Neither are on comiclink, so does that mean they will be in greater demand, or does that mean if my books don't fit a very narrow superhero-centric idea of what is hot, I won't get much bidding? |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2020 23:04:38 GMT -5
Consider having your higher-value books professionally graded. This eliminates arguments over grade and can enhance the value of your books. I use CGC and CBCS and have had pleasant experiences with both. Consider selling on ComicLink, which is targeted exclusively at comic book collectors. They are a full-service broker and handle all interactions with the buyer. Once a sale price has been agreed upon, you ship the book to ComicLink and you're done. They charge a flat 10% of the sale price. I've sold several books there with complete satisfaction. So a cursory look at Comiclink shows a very limited range of books for sale. Two of the higher value books I'll be selling are Albedo #2 and Vampirella #1. Neither are on comiclink, so does that mean they will be in greater demand, or does that mean if my books don't fit a very narrow superhero-centric idea of what is hot, I won't get much bidding? I don't know as all I know of ComicLink is when their ads are the wallpaper on Bleeding Cool highlighting the books they have up for sale. SO they certainly get a lot of exposure. How much activity it yields on the actual sales though, I don't know. Bleeding Cool also does little blurbs on some of the books for sale there, as I believe ComicsLink is a paying sponsor of the site and Rich and company tend to give those sponsor a lot of publicity. -M |
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Post by Phil Maurice on Jul 3, 2020 6:08:11 GMT -5
So a cursory look at Comiclink shows a very limited range of books for sale. Two of the higher value books I'll be selling are Albedo #2 and Vampirella #1. Neither are on comiclink, so does that mean they will be in greater demand, or does that mean if my books don't fit a very narrow superhero-centric idea of what is hot, I won't get much bidding? Vampirella #1 is indeed listed on the Comic Book Exchange at ComicLink: VampirellaAlbedo #2 can be found here: Albedo |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 3, 2020 8:17:04 GMT -5
So a cursory look at Comiclink shows a very limited range of books for sale. Two of the higher value books I'll be selling are Albedo #2 and Vampirella #1. Neither are on comiclink, so does that mean they will be in greater demand, or does that mean if my books don't fit a very narrow superhero-centric idea of what is hot, I won't get much bidding? Vampirella #1 is indeed listed on the Comic Book Exchange at ComicLink: VampirellaAlbedo #2 can be found here: AlbedoThank you! Not sure why they didn't show up when I searched for them. Okay, final question -- auction vs. sale. Any thoughts? |
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Post by Phil Maurice on Jul 3, 2020 8:32:07 GMT -5
Thank you! Not sure why they didn't show up when I searched for them. Okay, final question -- auction vs. sale. Any thoughts? I've been invited but have not yet participated in the Featured Auctions. You can read about the auctions on the website and determine whether they may suit your needs. The Exchange is where I buy and sell because it's quick and easy. I hope you took note in the links I sent you that all offered copies had been sold. Both of those books are in high demand, and I expect you'll do very well.  |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 3, 2020 8:46:37 GMT -5
Thank you! Not sure why they didn't show up when I searched for them. Okay, final question -- auction vs. sale. Any thoughts? I've been invited but have not yet participated in the Featured Auctions. You can read about the auctions on the website and determine whether they may suit your needs. The Exchange is where I buy and sell because it's quick and easy. I hope you took note in the links I sent you that all offered copies had been sold. Both of those books are in high demand, and I expect you'll do very well. Thanks so much for all of this, Jim! And you even got me using CGC... |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 13, 2020 11:22:15 GMT -5
A few updates: 1. Got my first round of ebay auctions up and running. Some high value stuff that was worth the time to list, but not valuable enough to warrant having them professionally graded. I had no idea it was free to list on ebay these days, which makes the close to 20% closing fees I'll pay to ebay and paypal a little more tolerable. 2. Spent nearly $650 getting seven high value items CGC graded. Just sent them off this morning. I do believe the grading will pay for itself, but fronting that kind of cash up front certainly wasn't easy. Only $500 of it was on the actual grading. The rest is shipping it with insurance there and back. I sent: - Albedo #2 (probably VF) - Albedo #3 (probably VF) - Fantastic Four #5 (probably GD) - Detective Comics #359 (probably VG) - Avengers #4 (probably F) - Iron Man #1 (probably F) - Vampirella #1 (probably F) 3. I hope to have the CGCed items up for sale next month. I haven't spent enough time looking into ComicLink yet, but if it checks out, that's where I'll list the high grade stuff. Otherwise, I'll deal with ebay. How much trouble can a buyer make over a professionally graded item that is shipped with a tracking #, I wonder? Thanks for all your help and encouragement, folks! |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2020 15:16:46 GMT -5
I hope you realize the prices you hope to get man. I am watching the Lonestar Prime auction that ends today (with a few things tomorrow) and I am amazed at some of the prices-there's a CGC 3.5 copy of All Star Comics #8 with the top bid currently at $20,411 with just under 4 hours to go, and the last hour is when the prices often jump, so I am curious what that one winds up at. People are certainly spending on comics despite everything else going on, so I hope that bodes well for you.
-M
edit to add: The All Star ended up going for $25,655 so increased over $5k in the last 4 hours. We'll see if the CBCS 4.0 AF #15 can beat it, it's at 15K with 22 hours to go.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 13, 2020 15:45:18 GMT -5
I hope you realize the prices you hope to get man. I am watching the Lonestar Prime auction that ends today (with a few things tomorrow) and I am amazed at some of the prices This is exactly why I'm selling now, and why I dropped a terrifying $650 on professional grading. Based upon completed auctions I've looked up, I think I'll end up with around $8,000 after fees. Boy could I use it! |
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Post by beccabear67 on Jul 13, 2020 19:25:31 GMT -5
Er, are Albedos really in the same category as Avengers #4 and Iron Man #1?  |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 13, 2020 19:32:31 GMT -5
Er, are Albedos really in the same category as Avengers #4 and Iron Man #1? Worth far far more. Very few of them in existence. First appearances of Usagi Yojimbo. |
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Post by beccabear67 on Jul 13, 2020 19:39:07 GMT -5
I just checked, I only bought #6 onward, and #0 is a later second printing... I think I could've gotten #3 and/or 4 back then. Steve Gallacci was at a convention in Vancouver (and I bought some Weirdos from Peter Bagge and an old Fiction House Wings instead). I do have the first three Critters though. I dunno, I hear about something like the early B&W Bone having value but I still keep them. Maybe if Megaton #1 and those other early Erik Larsen comics turn up.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 13, 2020 23:09:59 GMT -5
I just checked, I only bought #6 onward, and #0 is a later second printing... I think I could've gotten #3 and/or 4 back then. #3 was selling for about $7 until only very recently. #4 has always been far harder to find, but I suppose Steve Gallacci would have some. So were you an Erma Felna fan? |
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Post by beccabear67 on Jul 13, 2020 23:34:40 GMT -5
#3 was selling for about $7 until only very recently. #4 has always been far harder to find, but I suppose Steve Gallacci would have some. So were you an Erma Felna fan? I definitely remember looking at #3 at his table (having looked up the cover now) and briefly talking to him at the art display where he had a mer-animal type piece framed that I liked. I'd seen his work at a big SF Norwescon and in it's con book. I really should've bought #3, but maybe he'd sold out and was down to the one copy I looked at or something? This would've been summer 1985. Later the first copy I bought off the store shelf was #6 (I must've gotten #5 as a back issue later), but I also got Command Review which had all the earliest Erma Felna comics, so I thought it was cool. I also bought back issue things by Vaughn Bode, George Metzger (Fog City) and new B&Ws like Dog Boy, Morty the Dog, Omaha, Cutey Bunny from the beginning, and Cerebus (starting around #32). The only reason I have a lot of the B&Ws still is probably nobody else ever wanted them and my Mom didn't find them to throw them away. I have to admit that seeing Usagi didn't really make an impression on me in 1985... it was 'just' a back-up feature as far as I could tell.  |
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