Off Topic: Selling Comic Books / Funding this stuff

[Rodney]

This is a quick note to let folks know that I am in the process of organizing my comic book collection with a plan is sell them and use the funds to further my goals in animation and illustration.

 

I'm posting this here primarily because some who read this notice may be comic book fans themselves and have an interest in specific titles or issues.

I am trying to liquidate these books to pay bills so there is a limit on how much I can discount popular books as those are the ones I need to sell at market value in order to make this thing work. However, I'd rather sell these at a cheaper price to someone who will appreciate them than to fund the speculators who have no real interest in reading and enjoying them. If I can't make money selling them I might as well keep them and use them for reference.

 

I'm investigating several places to sell these comics and will likely use a combination of direct sales, auctions and local venues.

I'm hoping to cut out the middle men (grade certifications and auction houses) as much as possible to allow me to pass on that savings to the buyer.

 

This relates to Animation:Master in that funds from sales of comic books will help me maintain focus on working with Animation:Master as I endeavor to go forward.

 

The titles and genres are fairly broad but the focus is on Marvel.

With the popularity of Marvel movies these days the chance of me regretting selling those related to Netflix and the ongoing MCU is considerable but acceptable.

 

I imagine the most interesting comic in the collection is (potentially) Journey into Mystery #83 which recently sold for over $222K... but my copy is definitely not in that near mint condition.

Many titles are independent self published efforts... the fun stuff... because eventually self publishing comics was the focus of my interest.

Those tend to be of less interest to the masses but may find interest with true fans of the comics.

 

My personal needs are pretty basic and my primary interest is in generating enough income (however little and slowly) to focus on full time drawing and animation.

As such any comics purchased will further that cause.

 

I expect to organize a patreon page where work can be commissioned and product purchased but it's not ideal for selling comics.

 

 

Even if you aren't interested in comics... the subject of funding our interests is near and dear to all of our hearts.

I'm always looking for better ways to use Animation:Master in my endeavors and this is one way to get the job done.

 

Thanks, and see you in the Funny Papers!

 

 

P.S. My copies of Mark Largent's comics are not for sale. You can probably buy one from him directly though.

The same is true for Gerry Mooney's 'Bugbots' comics.

[Rodney]

In reading my above post I hope I didn't give the impression that I expect to make much money by selling comics.

I will guess that I'll lucky to average $1 per comic book.

 

I really don't envy the folks in the biz of selling comics because I can't see how they can really enjoy the process when they need to maintain a focus on sales.

 

In other news... I visited a shop at the local mall today where they have a store called Vintage Stock.

I was pleasantly surprised to see such a thing in a mall especially as comics have largely disappeared from public view into comic books stores where you have to intentionally seek them out.

I was also pleasantly surprised that back issues of comic books didn't appear priced to drive potential readers away.

And I even bought a few books that would have cost me more to buy at cover price off the shelf when first published.

 

Comics aren't the major draw in the store but they had a good deal of space and as long as the movies remain popular they should bring the occasional customer inside.

It almost made me optimistic and hopeful for comics in general.

 

There weren't a lot of 'vintage' comics in my estimation but then again it'd be hard to keep the prices low if those had been there.

A glass case over in the corner contained a number of $30 - $40 vintage comics.

 

Instead of selling comics I bought a few... mostly ones I already have.

[Roger]

I wish you luck, Rodney. That must be a hard thing to do. You taking time off work?

[largento]

Unfortunately, except for some key books, I don't think there's a great market for selling books like there once was. The initial increase in value for comics had more to do with Baby Boomers suddenly having cash in the 80s/90s and being nostalgic for books they had when they were kids that their moms had thrown away.

 

I did work one convention next to a dealer and he said that there is a group of books that they look for. I don't recall the term he used, but basically they were display-worthy. The ones that they would use to draw people to their booths. Those they would pay decent prices for, but everything else was just filler.

 

I wouldn't think that selling your collection to a comic book store would be a good idea. I tried selling some of my more valuable issues when I first came out to Dallas and it's an experience that still makes me want to puke. I would later have flashbacks of it every time I watched "Pawn Stars." Yeah, this book is worth $75, but I gotta' hold onto it until somebody willing to pay that much comes in, so I'll give you $2. It was a nightmare.

 

My guess has always been that it would be more profitable to try to sell the books individually (or in sets) online, but I've had no experience doing that. It certainly would be time-consuming. If it was the early 90s during the speculator boom, you could sell them for big bucks, but that boat sank.

 

I'd try to bypass the middle-man and sell straight to the collector. Maybe advertise on craigslist or look for a comic book collecting forum or facebook group.

[Rodney]

You taking time off work?

You could say that I am now self employed but I haven't done anything to make that official.

I hear it is usually wiser to do that before moving on from the previous job.

 

 

I wouldn't think that selling your collection to a comic book store would be a good idea.

Definitely not. That has long been my experience even back in the speculator days where it was better to trade than to sell to a comic book dealer. I don't begrudge them for it... they are in the business of staying in business. The problem with that general model is that once you sell your valuable books the only stuff left is the inventory nobody wants even at $1 a book... okay... maybe a trickle of sales there but at that point the model shifts and to maximize profit they'd be better off selling in bulk (Hey kid, you wanna buy these 10 boxes of comics for $1000?). The key (from a business perspective) then tends toward buying from your own (potential) customers at cheap prices (your $2 purchase for a $75 book) at the expense of alienating that customer.

 

As you well know, a large part of the back issue biz took a hit when publishers started reprinting the comics as trade editions and I've got to say that those complete collections were available when I was first getting into comics that'd be what I purchased. While I did love the comic book format it was the stories and artwork that I was after and if I could have gotten those as complete books rather than in monthly installments I would have gone for that. BUT the trades miss out on an important part of what made comics great... cheap entertainment. If you have to pay $20 for a 'comic' then you start to consider where else you can spend that money.

 

I have been watching some of the facebook groups.

The primary movers of content would appear to be store owners.

 

it would be more profitable to try to sell the books individually (or in sets) online...

It certainly would be time-consuming.

 

Time isn't a big problem these days although cash flow is going to be soon.

 

In thinking about patreon I have been wondering if I could set that up to where supporters accrued points which they could use at any time to grab comic books, illustrations etc. off of a virtual shelf. They wouldn't have to use them... they could just support and watch those credits accrue. The idea being that additional value is gained for being a long term supporter. In this way the products and services can change depending on the interests of the people invested in your success. An added benefit would be that others could join in* and I could use that as a means to support them. The basic idea would be that for every $1 of support a credit is issued and that credit is negotiable based on what goods and services are needed and available. The 'work' then is to make those goods and services available.

 

It does me no good to succeed at the expense of others.

They need to be able to succeed too.

 

 

*more on that later if I ever move in that direction.

[Rodney]

When considering sales of comic books the Heritage auction is an interesting thing to watch:

 

LINK

 

The Journey into Mystery #83 (of low quality/condition) at the link is currently bid at $2,200 with 2 days to go.

Overstreet values a slightly better grade at $3,200.

 

Technically speaking perhaps the most interesting part (and to me the valuable part) of grading comics is the data collected and presented related to the product.

If I'm reading it correctly, according to the CGC census as of 1/18/2018 there are 88 issues in circulation in 3.5 grade with 654 higher (digging a bit further... roughly 1586 known copies).

This comic apparently is #6 on the top 50 Silver Age Comics list.

 

It's important to note that a considerable amount of money is spent just in the process of getting a comic book through an auction.

Getting a book graded and 'slabbed' isn't cheap... in fact it's expensive.

Restoration... generally not worth pursing. with reports that people are buying lower grade unrestored comics more because they are more readily available and cheaper.

And then there is the buyers premium to consider that goes to the auctioneer.

 

In other words, much of the price of a 'collectible' comic has little to do with the comic book itself.

[Rodney]

I thought I'd post a quick follow up for completeness sake concerning the Heritage auction and the Journey into Mystery #83...

 

When last I checked it was bid at $2.8K with less than a day to go.

It looks like the final bid was $4063.

That includes the buyer's premium that was probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $500.

 

I have been reluctant to make the move yet on selling but I should probably sell one or two to test the system and see if it's worth pursing.

 

I'll be completely transparent here.

If I could get to the point where I was making $2K a month (in comic related endeavors*) I'd consider the effort successful.

Others can suggest whether they think that is high... low or something else altogether.

At this exact moment I think I'd be happy to be able to say I made one dollar.

Ya got ta start somewhere.

 

 

*This would very likely include drawing related commissions.