Newbie to the boards - How best to sell my collection

[rosindabow]

I have a collection of mostly Marvel but some others - dating primarily from the late 70s/early 80s. I am the original owner of most of my collection so comics were read once (or twice if I loved it) then boarded and bagged. There is some earlier stuff and DC and other publishers thrown in, some from the late 60s. I wanted to try to sell the entire collection but from what I have been reading here and elsewhere, it doesn't look like I would get anywhere remotely near what I think it should be worth. I entered the collection into CGC (nothing has been officially grade) but I tried to be pretty fair in my own assessments. CGC has my collections at over $18,000.00. I would love to realistically get half that amount. So - all that being said - what would the best way be to go about selling it? I cannot spend a large amount of time selling singles - there are over 4000 comics - I would rather at the least, try to sell titles or complete runs. By the way, a few were not read even once, just bagged and boarded immediately after purchase.

One other thing, how does one pack up comics to be shipped? Are there special materials and acceptable methods to pack? Do you use snail mail or one of the carriers?

I know that this is a lot to ask - any help and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[RawShark]

if you're trying to sell as a complete lot, I would suggest you check out milehighcomics.com or mycomicshop.com

good luck

[Hepcat]

What do you mean by "entered" your comics into CGC?

The underlying problem with what you're attempting is that you're trying to wholesale your books as a lot but you're expecting some semblance of retail pricing. If you want to sell your books in lots, you're unlikely to find any interested collectors because quite simply they'll only need certain comics. Therefore you basically have to sell to dealers. They're very unlikely to give you half of what they might get at retail. Dealers operate with much higher markups, or they quickly end up not operating at all. I understand long boxes of run-of-the-mill comics from the eighties wholesale between dealers at $15 per box. If you want prices more reflective of what you might find in the Overstreet Price Guide, then you yourself will have to painstakingly market/retail your books individually over time at shows and through the internet. But retail doesn't involve quick sales. They're generally very slow. That's the blunt reality of the situation.

#professor#

[rosindabow]

Wow - just the bags and boards cost more than $15 in a long box ... There has got to be a better way ... and comics from the late 70s seem to price out so well - I cannot believe that there is no market out there for them. I guess I can just hold onto them and try in another 5 or 10 years.

Meanwhile, in case I do decide to try to sell, do you have any information on packing and shipping comics? Are there specific boxes or shipping envelopes that people generally use to ship once they've sold some books?

Thanks again.

[rosindabow]

Oh - and I just noticed your question "asking about what did I mean about entering in all my comics at CGC." Comics Price Guide has a service that allows you to enter in all your comics online to create an excel spreadsheet of all that you own.

[nocutename]

I don't know if those prices on CPG are realistic. You can call mycomicshop and talk to them about doing a bulk purchase. You can poke around their buying site to get a feel for the prices they pay - http://www.mycomicshop.com/webuycomics/record

Have you tried listing your stuff locally like Craigslist or the newspaper? I don't see you getting anywhere near $18,000. for them but again I don't know exactly what you have in your collection. Personally, if you want to get the highest prices, you need to group them by series and sell them that way. If you have a nice consecutive run of Spiderman or X-men, it should do OK. Look at how runs like those do on ebay. Plug in the title with the word lot and go to advance search, select COMPLETED LISTINGS. This will give you an idea of how they are selling right now. The completed auctions with buyers will have the prices in green. The ones in red are unsold for various reasons. You should give too much weight on unsold auctions or ones with extremely high prices.

If it was me, I would use the local resources first and see if it goes anywhere. Then, I would hold off until late next month and start selling around the Christmas holiday on ebay. People are in the spending spirit and they may do better at that time.

This forum did a thread on how to pack for shipping - http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=3377506&fpart=1

Hope that helps.

[Hepcat]

Wow - just the bags and boards cost more than $15 in a long box ... There has got to be a better way ... and comics from the late 70s seem to price out so well - I cannot believe that there is no market out there for them.

There is a market, but you have to put in the time and effort just like a dealer would! You want a decent price fast and easy. Well it doesn't work that way.


I guess I can just hold onto them and try in another 5 or 10 years.

Won't help. Comics from the eighties were hoarded by the tens of thousands. But if you can wait another couple of hundred years or so for natural attrition factors such as floods and tornadoes to do their job, you might be skated on side.


Meanwhile, in case I do decide to try to sell, do you have any information on packing and shipping comics? Are there specific boxes or shipping envelopes that people generally use to ship once they've sold some books?

Can't help you there. I'm just a collector.

:cool:

[rosindabow]

Thanks so very much for your help - got a lot to do.