When I had my collection, everything from the 1960s and older where in heavy mylar sleeves-no backing boards required. 1970s books were in mylites. 1980s books-some bagged and some not. 95% of all 1990s and newer books were unbagged. The vast majority of these newer books will only ever sell for 25 cents each, and the vast majority will also never rise in price. To invest another 25 cents or more for a bag and board for these books will simply be throwing good money into a bad investment. Just read them and take careful care of them.

Hey, if they automatically come bagged, great. But I'd purchase comics new from Midtown in person off the rack and no bag was included. Only back issues were bagged. I did get their 20% off discount and no tax or shipping charges of course

I've got tens of thousands of comics, and have never bought bags or boards for any of them. If I happened to buy them that way, then fine.

Someone's going to figure something better than bags and tape. I hate dealing with that stupid tape.

Because, from my perspective, the two most important factors when selling are infrastructure and timing. If you already have an established conduit for selling, whether through a dealer, a convention table, or ebay, it's far easier and less expensive to sell. As a collector and not a seller, infrastructure is not on my side. Trying to sell a handful of things on ebay is far more difficult than batch selling a dozen items each week (both in terms of cost and in dealing with buyers trying to kill your feedback), setting up at a convention table just for a one-time unload is going to be time intensive and impractical, and trying to sell to a dealer when you're not in the business isn't likely going to go your way either.

Then there's timing. I don't intend to sell my books when they're hot. In fact, I don't plan to sell them at all, but when they ultimately get sold, it will be of necessity and not because it's the right time.

The back issue market is doing extremely well in general right now. I see that. But as someone who doesn't regularly wheel and deal, getting a good return on my books is a very different challenge than it is for someone who buys and sells regularly, has established channels for doing so, and will likely sell their collection gradually, when it's the right time to sell Book A and not Book B.

That isn't me. Everyone who bought comics in the 80s and 90s seemed to think they were making an investment in the future. When you consider the cost of bagging and boarding, and the time and money it will ultimately take to sell a large collection, the average collector just isn't going to come out ahead. Had I taken the money I put into my comics and invested it in the stock market, I could expect, on average, a 3 to 4 percent return on that investment each year, compounded. No way my comic collection is ever going to yield that kind of return. Maybe my ultra premium key issues, but not the bulk of the collection.

And I'm okay with this. It takes the pressure off, really.

If I were selling my collection I could squeeze the last cent out of it. It's work but if you need the money it's worth it.

If a family member were selling the collection I imagine they'd just get ripped off from some Craigslist snake or a comic shop owner.

I bag everything, with mylar or mylites for the valuable stuff, depending on how valuable.

Boards are only for the valuable stuff as well, as they take up too much space and add too much weight to the drawers in my cabinets.

I think I have about 2000, but I don't keep an accurate count or inventory.