question about bulk buys...

[nycjadie]

[GGSAE]

Last deal was a bust, turns out the nice old guy my friend and I went to see was a bit confused. He had crazy high prices that didn't seem to have any rhyme or reason to their value, nor did he apply his 'discounts' consistently. I passed on the superheroe books he had considering he wanted over $10 a piece for a pile of only about 10 golden age books, the rest silver age and nothing better than a VG-. He had some nice Dick Tracy 10 centers and maybe the nicest pile of Joe Palooka books I'll ever see at once, but he wanted like $100/piece for each. Easy for me to pass on a comic I had previously never heard of before, even if the price was 1/5th of what he was asking.

[nycjadie]

Interesting. I'm on hiatus for some time. On the move to Seattle, a long move. Not sure the buying will be as good as the Bay area. We shall see.

[GGSAE]

Just scoped-out (spent 90 minutes breezing through quickly) a collection of 16k comics. Didn't get to see all of them and brushed quickly through the boxes I did look at....issues of note:
X-Men (3,4,7 another 5-10 issues including 100), Ms. Marvel 1, EC original comic, 1st Harley Quinn, a bunch of old 10 cell dents, that gold key black hole issue, etc. 70% of the collection was copper/modern and a decent chunk of the old stuff was the typical low grade gold key stuff few people care about. There was some big runs of decent titles though: Massive Swamp Thing (both series), Hellblazer, Sandman (both series), TMNT, Cerebus, etc.

30% of the modern stuff wasn't even bagged/boarded....what would you guys offer? For reference the seller acquired these comics for nothing. I figure there was only about 5-10 comics that had a value over $100 each....I made an offer and he had told me of two offers he received before I arrived. I'll provide context of the collection shortly....

[nycjadie]

Just scoped-out (spent 90 minutes breezing through quickly) a collection of 16k comics. Didn't get to see all of them and brushed quickly through the boxes I did look at....issues of note:
X-Men (3,4,7 another 5-10 issues including 100), Ms. Marvel 1, EC original comic, 1st Harley Quinn, a bunch of old 10 cell dents, that gold key black hole issue, etc. 70% of the collection was copper/modern and a decent chunk of the old stuff was the typical low grade gold key stuff few people care about. There was some big runs of decent titles though: Massive Swamp Thing (both series), Hellblazer, Sandman (both series), TMNT, Cerebus, etc.

30% of the modern stuff wasn't even bagged/boarded....what would you guys offer? For reference the seller acquired these comics for nothing. I figure there was only about 5-10 comics that had a value over $100 each....I made an offer and he had told me of two offers he received before I arrived. I'll provide context of the collection shortly....

Sounds interesting, but that's a tough one. I would imagine most of it is worthless. Sometimes I figure what the top books are worth, and just offer half the value of those for the whole lot. That way the cheap stuff is essentially thrown in for a fair bulk price. Thing is, most of the collections I see of this size want $.50 a book, which I think is often too high because so many of the books are worth $.10 or nothing. There is a guy here with a similar collection of 21,000 books, and wants $12K for it. I think it's probably worth $3-4K in bulk, realistically.

I bought a collection last weekend. It was interesting for sure - all silver and bronze, with a smattering of copper. Some really nice key books in VF condition, with nearly everything in VF or better. The owner clearly took good condition of the collection. I bought it from the widow. Lots of Daredevil (1st Elektra, Bullseye). About 1000 books. I paid $2300. There is a near full run of Daredevil from the teens to 200. Ms. Marvel 1, a couple of Nova 1's, Marvel Star Wars, early Guardians of the Galaxy, some sweet, sweet books. Nearly all Marvel. Early Captain Marvel and the last 10-15 issues of Tales of Suspense. I haven't decided what I'm going to keep yet, but a lot of it has to go.

[GGSAE]

Just scoped-out (spent 90 minutes breezing through quickly) a collection of 16k comics. Didn't get to see all of them and brushed quickly through the boxes I did look at....issues of note:
X-Men (3,4,7 another 5-10 issues including 100), Ms. Marvel 1, EC original comic, 1st Harley Quinn, a bunch of old 10 cell dents, that gold key black hole issue, etc. 70% of the collection was copper/modern and a decent chunk of the old stuff was the typical low grade gold key stuff few people care about. There was some big runs of decent titles though: Massive Swamp Thing (both series), Hellblazer, Sandman (both series), TMNT, Cerebus, etc.

30% of the modern stuff wasn't even bagged/boarded....what would you guys offer? For reference the seller acquired these comics for nothing. I figure there was only about 5-10 comics that had a value over $100 each....I made an offer and he had told me of two offers he received before I arrived. I'll provide context of the collection shortly....

Sounds interesting, but that's a tough one. I would imagine most of it is worthless. Sometimes I figure what the top books are worth, and just offer half the value of those for the whole lot. That way the cheap stuff is essentially thrown in for a fair bulk price. Thing is, most of the collections I see of this size want $.50 a book, which I think is often too high because so many of the books are worth $.10 or nothing. There is a guy here with a similar collection of 21,000 books, and wants $12K for it. I think it's probably worth $3-4K in bulk, realistically.

I bought a collection last weekend. It was interesting for sure - all silver and bronze, with a smattering of copper. Some really nice key books in VF condition, with nearly everything in VF or better. The owner clearly took good condition of the collection. I bought it from the widow. Lots of Daredevil (1st Elektra, Bullseye). About 1000 books. I paid $2300. There is a near full run of Daredevil from the teens to 200. Ms. Marvel 1, a couple of Nova 1's, Marvel Star Wars, early Guardians of the Galaxy, some sweet, sweet books. Nearly all Marvel. Early Captain Marvel and the last 10-15 issues of Tales of Suspense. I haven't decided what I'm going to keep yet, but a lot of it has to go.

Wow that's amazing! See these are the collections I want, but they don't come up at all (or very, very seldom). I keep going back to that CGC lot of 55-60 comics I paid 3k, that's ideal to me. If you want to trade any of those DDs for other DDs I have extras of many of those, some in really nice shape.

I actually said I would be in the ballpark of 3-5k, and that's Canadian. I would have to get a storage locker to hold everything, and try to get 10 cents to 25 cents for the misc. marvel and dc titles of popular characters without any keys. I know the other stuff could move though (he had full runs of stuff like DC comic presents), and at 3k I know I could sell most of the better stuff to recoup my money and get something for the bulk. My girlfriend and I are saving for a cottage as well, so I guaranteed her I wouldn't lose money on a collection.

[nycjadie]

I hear you on that. I try to make my hobby a net zero game.

Honestly, I don't get collections like this either. My new area is a lot harder to find good prospects as well. This person responded to my ad. She liked my kids, and it went well. I bought another run of nearly 40 ToS last month, but it was not a bargain. I think I can make it work with slabbing a few. It was a splurge for myself for selling a bunch of other old toys and things from my childhood. You know, swap on pile of nostalgia for another.

[GGSAE]

I hear you on that. I try to make my hobby a net zero game.

Honestly, I don't get collections like this either. My new area is a lot harder to find good prospects as well. This person responded to my ad. She liked my kids, and it went well. I bought another run of nearly 40 ToS last month, but it was not a bargain. I think I can make it work with slabbing a few. It was a splurge for myself for selling a bunch of other old toys and things from my childhood. You know, swap on pile of nostalgia for another.

Not bad. Turns out that collection I mentioned above was purchased by a friend of mine for 15k (gulp!). Nowhere near what I would have paid....

[nycjadie]

[GGSAE]

Well about 11500 USD approximately .....What's more shocking is the buyer had sent me a text about this post, I told him I had went there and even that I only offered 3-5k. And he said he was the only other person in the house talking to the guy (although he received many emails). Honestly I think he could have had it for half of what he paid, or maybe even less......now he's solicited my advice in helping him sell it off, in exchange I would receive some 10 cent Batman comics he has that I want....haven't figured anything out one way or the other....

[nycjadie]

[GGSAE]

I have an ad up to buy collections, received a call yesterday morning at work for a bunch of CGC books plus a small group of 2k comics - just what I'm looking for. Tried calling back within an hour and then several times throughout the day and no response - good stuff goes quick!

[nycjadie]

Bought another collection. 13 longs. $500. Not sure what is in there yet, but it looks like Walking Dead 30-present, approximately. Figure that is worth $350 at least.

Lots of Superman....

[GGSAE]

Bought another collection. 13 longs. $500. Not sure what is in there yet, but it looks like Walking Dead 30-present, approximately. Figure that is worth $350 at least.

Lots of Superman....

Dang, you strike again! Pics!

[GGSAE]

Today I visited a lead about 40 minutes outside the city and was quickly disappointed with what he had. It was just your typical junk, nothing of any value at all, however, the seller did offer a tip that an antique store with comics...(i'm thinking great, probably over-priced Disney stuff, but at least I'll go see what antiques they have since I'm in the market for a few pieces).

After going to a few wrong antique shops this is what I found for $1.50 each...

[nycjadie]

Holy Bananas!

[TheeBaldMoose]

DAYM!!!

what an excellent find!

I have tried a few large buys, but have struck out. Nothing as cool as what you guys are showing, smaller like 3 or 4 long boxes type. No buys yet, maybe my timing is off

[GGSAE]

DAYM!!!

what an excellent find!

I have tried a few large buys, but have struck out. Nothing as cool as what you guys are showing, smaller like 3 or 4 long boxes type. No buys yet, maybe my timing is off

Takes a lot of diligence.....for every buy I get I miss out on a few good ones, and pass on several many more.

[nycjadie]

Talk about kissing toads... So many! I went to an old coin store that is selling its inventory of comic books. Dozens of boxes. I combed through them. It looks like a comic shop went out of business in 1993 and the prices havent been touched since then. The mylar at the top of the books were so old that most of them had broken through from aging. I found 1 book. It was a good one, but only 1. Cloak & Dagger mini #1 with the Bubblicious insert. $3 hah! It's probably a $50 book, maybe more, but I spent a long time looking for it!

[GGSAE]

Picked up a lot last weekend, advertised as 'hundreds of comics' for $100. It had 5 walking dead pictured, so I just jumped on it. No major finds, but an okay deal.

[GGSAE]

Picked up a lot last weekend, advertised as 'hundreds of comics' for $100. It had 5 walking dead pictured, so I just jumped on it. No major finds, but an okay deal.

Also want to point out that buying lots is one of the best educational tools for learning about comics. This lot above had a good stack of Batman comics (which I was looking to add to an existing group of bat/tec comics I'm selling) and it turns out there were some minor keys 666, 656 (didn't know had importance) and Annual 25 (one version I had, the other I didn't).

[nycjadie]

Picked up a lot last weekend, advertised as 'hundreds of comics' for $100. It had 5 walking dead pictured, so I just jumped on it. No major finds, but an okay deal.

Also want to point out that buying lots is one of the best educational tools for learning about comics. This lot above had a good stack of Batman comics (which I was looking to add to an existing group of bat/tec comics I'm selling) and it turns out there were some minor keys 666, 656 (didn't know had importance) and Annual 25 (one version I had, the other I didn't).

Agree 100%. I think that's what I like most about buying someone else's collection. You learn a lot about their interests, how they progressed over time, and about books you've never heard of nor would likely think twice about. I've found some amazing gems that way.

[ilzuccone]

this is still one of my favorite threads.

[paradise]

See, I have lots like that brought right to me

The best ever was a guy who brought in, I kid you not, Every single Spider-Man, ff, X-men, Dd and Avengers book till now. that means ff #1 and up, Amazing Fantasy 15 and up, X-men 1 and up... Various shapes, of course, some pretty bad, but CURRENT till that week. I did not pull the trigger, cause it was a GRIP LOAD of money and he wanted a lot for it, emotionally attached. I usually don't buy collections from people who love their books too much.

[jaden_sai]

I usually don't buy collections from people who love their books too much.

Very Wise