The number one topic I am asked to give my opinion about is comic book picks. This includes back issues and new issues. The problem I have with new comic book picks, and the reason I am very hesitant to give them, is selling the comic books for a decent price can be very difficult for collectors.<\/p>\n
In a previous post I talked about “making money on the way in.” This can be done in several ways including buying at a discount, smart auction bidding, or a successful speculation on the future value of a book. But any purchase must have the selling process in mind<\/strong>. This includes the timing of the sale and the method of selling (E-bay, convention, store, website, etc.)\u00a0 If you are purely a reader you don’t need my picks, you buy what you like.\u00a0 Collectors who ask me for picks telegraph their intentions, they want to sell in the future and make a profit.<\/p>\n If you are a convention dealer or own a store you have an easy way to sell your new comic books at the “going rate.” But if you are a collector this can be a little more difficult. In order to prove this point I did some research on “hot” comics in the current issue of Wizard and Comics Buyer’s Guide. I actually picked these books completely at random. Here is what I found.<\/p>\n First pick: Thor #1<\/p>\n CBG (Apr 2008) says this book is selling for $7 versus a cover price of $2.99. It was difficult to find any price on E-bay for these books since almost all the completed auctions didn’t receive bids. I’m talking $0.99 auctions with $3.50 shipping folks! I did see a couple auctions with both covers (two books) sell for $5.50 plus $3.50 shipping. CGC 9.8 Coipel covers are going for $15.00 plus shipping<\/a>. $15.00 doesn’t make back the money, time, trouble or grading risk of submitting!<\/p>\n Next Pick<\/p>\n X-men Messiah Complex one-shot Silvestri cover. Wizard March 2008 Value – $5.00<\/p>\n The results from E-bay? One bidder did buy this for $5.00 plus shipping, but another bought it for $2.25 plus $4.00 shipping. Maybe okay for the buyer, but not okay for the seller at $2.25. You could have a copy in CGC 9.6 for under $20 shipped.\u00a0 There were several 99 cent auctions that did not sell.<\/p>\n How about another? Let’s try Halo: Uprising #1 (Wizard March 2008 Value $8)<\/p>\n I did see a copy sell for 99 cents plus $4 shipping on E-bay, but it was better for the sellers to go with a #1 and #2 bundle. The bundles were selling for around $7.77 + $3.95 shipping. I’ll call it a wash. With the proper packaging you could have made some money on these. Still, a lot of effort for a couple of bucks.<\/p>\n What is the Lesson Here?<\/strong><\/p>\n Until Next Time,<\/p>\n Buy and Sell Smart!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The number one topic I am asked to give my opinion about is comic book picks. This includes back issues and new issues. The problem I have with new comic book picks, and the reason I am very hesitant to give them, is selling the comic books for a decent price can be very difficult…<\/p>\n\n