Anyone ever try Antique shops?

[dhennen]

There's an consignment antique shop that opened up in my neighborhood about 6 months ago. I've stopped in a few times and they generally have a nice setup of high end antique furniture, etc. But they do have about 6 showcases with little stuff like jewelry and other "Vintage" stuff

I talked to the proprietor about consigning some Silver Age books and we agreed on a 20% commision with the possibility of an additional 10% off if a buyer was looking for a break (I was a little leary about that extra 10%)

So I dropped off a Spidey #2, Daredevil #1 (yup, the Marvel first issue), Flash #108 (from 1959) and Hawkman #1 Graded and priced at 2007 Overstreet Guide they came in a little over $1500. I'll leave them there for 90 days (most of the summer) and if they all sell I'll net around $1000

The cases are locked and my only concern is someone mishandling them.

Any opinions on whether this was a good experiment, waste of time...?

Thanks for any comment,
Dave H

[Capitalrecoveryman]

Just curious. Who bears the risk of loss in that type of arrangement if the books walk away?

[disneyteddies]

IMO, I would say if anyone wants to see them out of the case they should contact you and you could arrange to show them by handling them yourself. And yes, how well do you know this person in case they disappear or he gets "robbed"...what about any damage from the store "roof leaking, fire etc." I guess you already talked to them about this stuff...anyways, good luck with your sales.

[dhennen]

I've got a receipt for the books with their value listed and detailed scans of all the books front and back. The shop says they are insured. I didn't ask to see proof, maybe I should have... If something happens and they disappeared or were destroyed I'd expect to get the listed value minus their commision $

Dave H

[jaeldubyoo]

Why an antique shop? Why not a comic shop? Seems to me you would get a lot more serious comic collectors looking in a comic shop than an antique shop. I’ll admit to going to antique shops occasionally, but how many collectors actually step foot in such a shop instead of a comic shop to buy comics?

Is there that much difference in the commission? I recall approaching a comic shop about consigning some comics and the commission rate was 30%. While you might net more at the antique shop, the likelihood of finding a buyer is much less. I suppose if you weren’t in a hurry to sell the comics, you could let them sit there for a while with the off chance of selling them for the price you want.

I will say this. When I go into an antique shop looking for comics, I’ll expect to pay much less than guide for a comic. My expectations are that the antique dealer knows little about comics and will either price the comics wildly high or unbelievably low. Guess which comics I’m going to buy. Anything priced around guide or above, I don’t consider unless it’s something I absolutely must have. And even then I will dicker, figuring I’m dealing with an antique dealer who might be willing to let it go for less.

I hope your experiment works out. Let us know how it turns out. Good luck!

[SILLYSHIP--pirate eye--]

Why not just sell them on eBay? A DD #1 sells for a lot. Incidentally, some people here know this, I'm currently very close to completing a DD run and I would be interested in that #1, especially if we could trade for some of it.

[dhennen]

There are only three comic shops in my area. The nearest is an "Old school" Dank and dinghy store. The other two, I'm pretty good friends with the owners and I'm sure they'd extend me a similar commision % to sell the books.

I currently setup a table at the Boston area shows, I've had the DD #1 on display and plenty of folks have looked at it but no takers. I chose the antique store because I'd really like to open my own store and I think bringing some higher end product into a new venue may (I hope) generate some interest from folks who don't visit the local comics shops. I'm no expert on antiques but I've talked with enough antique dealers to know my area East Bay RI and Newport RI area attracts a good # of antique enthusiasts that travel up and down the East Coast searching and if they can spend $5000+ on an antique dining room table...

Why not Ebay, I've done plenty of transaction on ebay and I have an ebay store with mostly Silver and Bronze Age books, not a huge # but a nice selection of mid grade books. Follow the link in my sig to take a look! I had the DD #1 up in my Ebay store for a while, same thing lots of hits but no one pulled the trigger. Ebay will probably always be a part of my selling strategy but it's not where I want to sell hard to find books at half guide just to move them

Dave H

[SILLYSHIP--pirate eye--]

So how much are you looking to get for it and how much? Can you post that DD #1 here? I just want to make sure we're not talking about a book that you are trying to get too much for.

[dhennen]

Here you go, I'm curious what you think the current value is? I grade it mechanically at VG/F, the biggest flaws are the delivery date stamp dead center on the cover, off-white pages, cover and centerfold attached at both staples and a small spot of white out at the bottom staple near the bad guys head. I had it priced at $450 which is about the VG- guide price due to the white out spot

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/dhennen/dd1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/dhennen/dd1bk.jpg

[SILLYSHIP--pirate eye--]

According to everything I've read a delivery stamp that is not overly obtrusive does not degrade the value much if at all. I would say your delivery stamp doesn't degrade the book, however, the whiteout
could possibly give it a purple label. I don't know, maybe some of the other folks can clear that up.

From what I see there are about 16+ visible flaws, with the most prominent being 4 blunted corners, the spine creases on the front, The white out, a color beaking crease on the back bottom left cover, dirty back cover, chips missing on bottom of front cover, color pull, tattered edge at top of back cover, the blunted bottom spine which probably goes through the book blah blah blah. I'd say it is about a 3.5 maybe a 4.0.

On eBay I've seen these #1 sales in the past.
$280 PGX 4.0
$332 an advertised 3.0

This one looks close to your, but they put up lousy photos so who knows.
http://cgi.ebay.com/DAREDEVIL-1-Looks-good-NR_W0QQitemZ320244708385QQihZ011QQcategoryZ32731QQ ssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

These are all close to your book but a little lower grade.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Daredevil-1-1964-VG_W0QQitemZ140226045125QQihZ004QQcategoryZ32730QQ ssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/Daredevil-1-Good-Plus_W0QQitemZ110247736721QQihZ001QQcategoryZ32726 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

And this is a 5.0, you'll see that this book is much cleaner.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200218493401&indexURL=0&photoDisplayType=2#ebayphotohosting

All in all if I were bidding on this book I would go about $265 tops. It's a common book in under 4.0 guide, there's always some on eBay and I've seen them go cheap. Also, the white out brings up the question if that is where the am restro ends.

[SILLYSHIP--pirate eye--]

Am I wrong? Anybody?

[SILLYSHIP--pirate eye--]

Did I offend? Sorry if I did.