The Comic Book Value and Selling Guide is now complete.  This instant download book walks the beginner through novice step-by-step through how to determine the current, accurate value of comic books.  The second section is dedicated to where and how to sell comic books without getting ripped off.

The book is aimed at:

• Saving Time – it cuts through the fluff and tells the reader exactly what they need to know about description, grading and potential restoration.  It also takes them to the exact sources to get the value of a comic book without wasting time searching all over the web.
• Save Money – the book highlights many of the scams that people in the comic book world try to pull off, what is a fair value for their comics, along with the pros and cons of each place to sell their books.  It also includes tips and tricks for selling through various mediums – from local stores, Craigslist, E-bay and more!

Again, this is aimed at the beginner to novice collector.  Advanced (long time) collectors should know this stuff (I hope!).

You can read about the book along with some reader testimonials here. 

If you want to find comic book values and the online price guide now, please visit our new page here:

Free Comic Book Values and Online Price Guide – Click Here

In the previous comic book value post I talked about using the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide as a source.  I also discussed the problems with “the guide.” Today I want to give you few free resources to help find the true value of your comic books.

UPDATE: Comic Book Secrets now has a quick Free Comic Book Values Page for your use. It walks you through finding comic book values and prices and helps you decide the best method for your situation. You can visit the free resource here: Free Comic Book Values

Since these resources are free, you know the old saying: ” you get what you pay for.”  Don’t use just one of these sources as the means to come up with the value.  If at all possible check out a few.

First off is comicpriceguide.com.  This site has a semi-active forum, the ability to actually track your collection and several other features.  You can use it to get some ballpark figures for your comics.  The search can take a little time do to their tool and you do have to become a member to search, but it’s free.

Next we have nostomania.com. Again, it is free but you have to signup.  It’s been a mixed bag for me, but you can use it in your value search.

Finally we have E-bay.   I always use E-bay when I start my value search because it is free, easy to use, and contains so many up-to-the-minute sales prices.  Anyone can go to E-bay and start searching for current auctions and get an idea of some prices. But to really get useful information you must do the free signup and it will let you search completed auctions.  You must do this important step to get the most accurate information.

Here are a couple of little tricks for using E-bay.  When you do an initial search for your comic books on the site, look for the “completed listings” box on the left of the page and then click on Show Items.  Once you do this you will get a listing, if any, of the closed auctions.

The second little trick I use is to click on some of the actual auctions, especially if the price looks high, and then check the feedback.  If the buyer, seller, or both have left positive feedback it is a good indication the sale went through and I can count on the value.  If not I discount it and look for more reasonable numbers to arrive at my value.  This helps weed out the scam auctions and bidders.

Finally, you can use the Google search tool to search for current retail values of your comic books. You’ll find the tool just below this text. The best way to use the search is to type in the title and issue number of your comic book, plus the term “value”, “price”, or “for sale”. An example would be “X-men 1 value”,”x-men 1 price” or “x-men 1 for sale”. Remember, this will give retail prices, if you are looking to sell your comic books a dealer will typically give you between 10% and 100% of the price depending on the desirability of the comic book.

Custom Search

Keep these sites in mind when you are searching for current sales prices on your comic books.  They are good options to get the value and save money.

Once you have the comic book title, issue number and grade you are ready to find the price or value. But where should you look? Most people start with the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. It’s a good place to start, but there are a few major issues with it.

Let’s start with the positive aspects of “the guide”.

The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide is amazingly complete, and it should be since it is the longest running guide in the industry. It is a storehouse of information and truly a must have resource. There may be some issues with the actual price data, but for character, author, artist, first appearance, and more items than I can list, it is the place to go. They don’t call it the “bible” of the comic book hobby for nothing.

Unfortunately, for comic book values, there are some issues. For the most part, it will get you in the ballpark of the value, but for several reasons it can seriously lag the market. Because of this lag, I recommend a few other resources to supplement the guide. Since it is a print guide, the time it takes to publish combined with the dynamic nature of the market can put it behind the pricing trends.  Add to this the fact that a lot of the data is dealer driven, and you can see a conflict of interest.

Also, a lot of books are overpriced in the guide versus what that are actually selling for every day on E-bay and other sites. You rarely see a book go down in price in the guide, but I can honestly say I see comics retreat all the time in the marketplace.

The Overstreet Guide is great for finding comics that stand out from the crowd and common issues with less value. Because of the information it contains, you can quickly assess which of your books have a chance at making some decent money versus those that are destined for the quarter or dollar box.

I recommend you use the guide as a starting point in your value research. Find out what books you have that are key issues or may be valuable, get a ballpark idea of value from the guide, and then check the real time values in a couple of resources I will mention in the next comic book value post.