Selling comic books, Advice Wanted,

[Sewsojm]

I have over 700 old marvel comic books, mostly silver age (Spider-Man, Daredevil, Captain America, etc.) that I would like to sell. I know I could list them on ebay but I've never sold anything there and I find it a bit scary, anyone have experience selling comic books or know of a good way?

[NightWatcher]

1. I'll buy any Punisher that you have.

I'll even pay more than street value.

Ebay is ok, but set the reserve for the low end value of the comics.

[Sewsojm]

3. Sorry,

Sorry I don't have any Punisher books, my brother and I collected them in the 60's when we were kids, titles I have are,

Amazing Spider-Man
Incredible Hulk
Fantastic Four
Strange Tales
Tales of Suspense
Iron Man
Silver Surfer
Avengers
Uncanny X-Men
Daredevil
Captain America
Marvel Collectors Classics
Marvel Tales
Tales to Astonish
Marvel Super Heroes
Journey into Mystery
Captain Marvel
Not Brand Echh
Fantasy Masterpieces

[AllegroRondo]

7. What X-Men numbers do you have?

Silver Surfer and Fantastic Four may be the ones to do this summer - with the new movie out it will make prices go up.

[SteppingRazor]

4. I don't think Punisher existed in Silver Age

:shrug:

[AllegroRondo]

6. he started in the mid-80's

definitely not silver age.

[SteppingRazor]

9. As a series, yeah. I think his first appearance was way earlier though...

but, I'm hardly an expert.

[AllegroRondo]

10. You are correct - I had to look it up.

first appearance - Amazing Spider-Man #129 (February, 1974)

still too late for Silver Age, though.

[SteppingRazor]

11. Wow. This is perhaps the geekiest subthread I've ever participated in.

:freak:


:P

[Efilroft Sul]

38. As far as I can remember about the Punisher's first appearance...

I have a Spider-Man book from the '70s that involves a fight between Spidey and the Tarantula, and I think the Staten Island aerial cable car is the setting. Been a few years since I read it, but that's the first I can recall Mr. Castle showing up.

[Giant Robot]

2. Well

On ebay I look at it like this:

If you list them all together, you will most likely get rid of them all in one fell swoop. So there will be no stragglers that don't sell, or junk you don't want, if this is the reason you want to sell them.

If you break them up and sell them by title, you most likely will make more money, but you most likely will have some junk in there that no one will want and you will be stuck with it.

It kind of depends on why you are selling them I guess. Usually pics help to sell things, so that people can see the merchandise. Those are just some general tips to help, I hope.

[Sewsojm]

12. thanks,

thanks for the tips, I want to sell them because I need the money. I have scans (front & back covers) of all the books, I did send my scans to a couple of people (found on the internet) two years ago, one said $12,000.00 and the other said possibly $20,000.00. I guess I could just list a couple on ebay to start with and see how it goes.

[AllegroRondo]

5. I've sold a lot of comics on e-bay

including an X-Men #1 that paid for my wedding and honeymoon.

If you have any 'key' books, like #1's or anything of particularly high value, get them professionally graded. There are a couple of appraisers that work with e-bay, you have to send them your book, pay a fee, and they give you a certificate of grade. For some books, it can get you an extra couple hundred or even thousand dollars.

List key books separately. Look around at other auctions of the same books to get an idea of what they are going for. List with a low starting bid, but a high reserve price. Set the reserve at the minimum you are willing to sell for.

For non-key books, you'll be able to move them quickly if you put them all together in runs, but you wont get as much for them. If you have the time and want more money, list them separately.

Get a photobucket account and always put pics of your books with the auction. I would just lay mine on a scanner, you get a very sharp image that way.

Charge enough for shipping to cover good packing and insurance. Make sure you state this in the auction.

If you can take paypal, do it. A huge chunk of e-bay is done through pay-pal now. NEVER take personal checks. Cashiers checks and money orders are safe.

[Sewsojm]

14. Great Info,

Thanks for the great info AllegroRondo, I do have X-Men #1 but unfortunately like several of my oldest books its not in great condition, my brother also liked to apply scotch tape to the splines (not all of them) which has dryed up and falled off but has left a stain. We bought these to read because we loved them, I really have no idea of their true value and I don't consider myself qualified to judge the condition of them.

[AllegroRondo]

16. even in poor condition, an X-men #1 is worth several hundred

but thats too bad about the scotch tape.

You can get an idea of value by either checking out other auctions, or go to the library and check out the Overstreet Comic Price Guide. Overstreet is a good one becasue they list prices for lower grades, not just mint.

A book with tape damage would probably fall in the fair to good range, as long as all the pages were there and there was little to no tearing of the cover.

[Sewsojm]

23. thanks again,

Most all of my books are complete without tears, unfortunately the oldest ones are the ones in poor to fair condition, here's a link to some random scans if you want to take a look, I'd love to get your honest opinion about them.

thanks again for your help,

http://s180.photobucket.com/albums/x289/sewsojm/

[AllegroRondo]

30. You have some nice stuff there!

For the most part, they arent in that bad of shape considering the age. Covers are complete with some wear around the edges, no tears, and pretty good color retention. The tape browing on the spines will hurt, though. You do have some gems that could get decent money.

Have you considered selling them on commission through a comic book store? Some will do this for hard to find and valuable comics, where they put the book on sale for you and take a % of the total price. They can also help identify which ones are worth the effort of getting professionally graded and sold.

Anyway, a partial list of what I think are your best books:

Spider Man #3 and #4 - Good to Very Good (#4 definitly in better shape). Some wear on edges, tape damage, but complete covers with no tears and great color.

Iron Man #1 - looks to be in Very Good shape - no tape, minor wear on the edges, and one chip on the right side.
Iron Man #2 - even better. Could even grade as Fine or Very Fine. Only minor wear on the edges, great color, cant even see wear around the staples.

X-Men #19 (first Mimic) and #28 (first Banshee), also in Very Good to Fine shape, possibly better.
X-Men #4 - Good to VG, but its a low number and hard to find.

X-Men #1 - ouch. Lots of wear, tape damage, wrinkling, and chipping. On the plus side, the cover is complete and color is good. Fair to low Good. But this is a hard to find book in demand, and could still get a couple hundred dollars.

Silver Surfer #1 - Very Fine, possibly higher. This one is in great shape. You can expect the prices of SS comics to go up this summer due to the new FF movie. Could easily sell for $200 or more.

[NewJeffCT]

21. I've seen a lot of comics just sit there on eBay, too

and not sell at all. I think as I said below, if you have specific comics that at least a few people want, you can get a good price. But, I see a lot never get bids on there, unless things have changed in the past couple of years.

Of course, special collector's comics are an exception (Like an X-Men #1)

I have a friend who has had modest success selling comics on eBay through the years - but, his collection is far more "robust" than mine... he has a lot of very old Fantastic Fours in NM condition. I'm not sure if he ever got around to selling the first one with Galactus in it or not. (He's also sold a lot of Beatles stuff, as he was president of one of their fan club chapters back in the 60s and got some exclusive items for being the president of the chapter)

[SteppingRazor]

8. Silver Age are still a pretty good commodity. Might even try a comic store...

but be wary. Pick up a comic-book buyer's guide to get the price. Silver Age are some of the last comics that are actually worth anything — the bottom fell out of the latter-day comic market about a decade ago. Your best bet for maximum value is to sell series sets — that way, you unload the less valuable stuff along with the more valuable while still limiting the losses you'd take by selling in complete bulk.

[unpossibles]

13. I too have a lot that I have considered selling over the years

but am hesitant to go the eBay route. A friend of mine had bad experiences with it, often in the form of people complaining that the books were not in the advertised condition, although he made every attempt to stick to established guidelines and took photos of any defects.

I don't see a problem with it, but it made he hesitate to do so. Now I think I'll just hold onto them because they are about the only thing I have from my childhood.

[RetroLounge]

15. Wow.

I'm not a comic geek, but I do have a few cases of older comics that came with my bookstore. I just tossed the boxes in storage and never looked thru them. Maybe I should? :shrug:

RL

[AllegroRondo]

17. I would love to hear what you have

please treat them carefully!

[RetroLounge]

19. They were in individual bags already, so I know they will be okay.

I'll dig them out one day soon.

RL

[GirlinContempt]

20. You might want to.,

And call me when you do.

[RetroLounge]

22. Comic Geek?

Maybe we can sell enough to pay your way to Wisconsin...

:shrug:

RL

[NewJeffCT]

33. Which comics are you looking for?

I've got a bunch from the 60s through the early 90s...

[GirlinContempt]

39. Not looking for any

:)

[NewJeffCT]

18. ebay sucks as a way to sell comics

I have several thousand comics that I have (early 60s dating from Amazing Spider-Man 29 - Never Step on a Scorpion - through early 90s) and have often looked into selling. I've researched eBay and thought it generally sucks unless you find 2 people that really want *that* specific comic.

If you find some place good to sell them, let me know, too.

[Sewsojm]

24. I'll let you know

I'll be sure to let you know if I do.

[DFW]

25. Heritage in Dallas is THE place,

but they only handle high-end better stuff, from what I understand.
Apparently they are the ones to ask first--supposed to be the best comics
auctioneers in the country.

[Orsino]

26. Unless they're bagged in mint condition...

...be prepared for some whining, no matter how carefully you describe the merchandise. A large percentage of all the fighting on the eBay forums is over comics.

[Sewsojm]

27. They are bagged,

I replaced the bags a couple of years ago but no their not mint by any means, if you want to see some scans I just finished putting around 75 on photobucket, you can view them here,

http://s180.photobucket.com/albums/x289/sewsojm/

thanks again.

[AllegroRondo]

31. professional grading is a must for key books

to avoid arguments like that.

[philosophie_en_rose]

28. Pick one that you don't care that much about, sell it as a test.

I don't know which comics you have, but I suggest looking at the auctions and determining which ones/ kinds sell best. Pick one of your collection that is similar (but which isn't your favorite) and try selling it as a test.

[GenDem]

29. My daughter's coach is a collector

Can I share your photobucket with him? There may be something he may want to buy from you.

[Sewsojm]

32. Yes,

Anyone who wants can look at them, I'd love to get his opinion of them.

[LaurenG]

34. My husband had an ebay store where he sold many of his

(he also bought tons of them through ebay) It's really easy once you get an account set up.

Just don't mail out any comic books until you get payment. There really isn't anything to it.

[InvisibleTouch]

35. I would very much recommend Ebay.

Keep in mind that the prices have really dropped on comics in the last few years, but you should still get a better price on Ebay, which has a worldwide market of collectors who can potentially get into bidding wars, than you'd get trying to sell them to a comics store which buys for resale. To get an idea of the prices, do an Ebay search for some of your titles and see what they're selling for. Spider-Man should be hot right now due to the new movie, so timing is important. Anything especially rare and valuable, I'd sell individually; stuff that's less valuable that you just want to get rid of, I'd put into lots. Good pics and excellent descriptions are important, especially with comic book collectors - some of the pickiest people in the world! It's a good idea to add some kind of a disclaimer, along the lines of "I've done my best to describe this item as accurately as possible. Unless there has been a glaring error, I can offer no refunds." That lets the buyer know the terms right up front, and can save you some whining and hassle later.

That raises another issue, though, because you'll have a hard time selling a rare and valuable collectible as a brand-new Ebayer with a 0 feedback rating. Get at least a few positive feedbacks first, whether by buying a few things and paying immediately (good feedback from the seller), or by listing some of your less valuable stuff first, and getting good feedback from the buyers. Once you have a bit of a record built up, bidders are more likely to trust you and bid on a valuable item. (Another option is to find someone who sells on commission, who has a high feedback built up already. They will probably be able to get you a better price and you'll still come out ahead, despite paying them their commission.)

Definitely set yourself up with a PayPal account. Buyers these days want to pay immediately, and sellers want to be paid immediately, even though PayPal will take a bit of a percentage. Still, you will come out ahead, because sellers who don't accept PayPal (very rare these days) tend to get lower bids than those who do.

I make my living on Ebay and have sold lots of collectibles in my time, including comics, so feel free to PM me if you have specific questions. I do also sell on commission (with 1700+ feedback, 99.8% positive), so again, if I can help, let me know.

[Sewsojm]

36. Thanks ,

Thank for all the great info everyone, I do have ebay & paypal accounts but I've only made 6 purchases (same seller) on ebay so far and I did pay immediately with paypal.

[DFW]

37. I don't know beans about comics, but, coming from Dallas

It's impossible to not see headlines when some Batman comic book owned
by Nicholas Cage nets $140,000 at an auction (just the one!), and he was
gushing about Heritage, the Dallas firm that handled his collection.

They do all kinds of collectibles, but their comics department is supposed
to be tops. I saw this also on an online collectible site called (I think) "Scoop"

They also sold Stan Lee's collection of Spider-Man memorabilia.
The other posters are right, by the way, all the stuff that was
getting big prices was graded by some third-party service (I have no clue
who or how to find them).

They also had a music auction where they sold the Rickenbacker 12 string
that McGuinn used to record Mr. Tambourine man. If I had a spare $300,000
I would have bought that one myself. I was just a bit short that week.

(Just a bit, you understand.........)