What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

I wanted to get a general idea, between comics and toys, of what stores will pay for stuff (I know there'll be a big difference between older/newer). Has anyone here ever sold to a comic store, and if so, what did they give you? Or do you know someone in the business that makes purchases?

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

This question is pretty impossible to answer without specific details of what you're trying to sell, but they will never pay you anywhere close to market value. This is because they are a business, and anything they buy from you has be resold at a profit. If what you have is generally worthless, they might not even want it, as they would have trouble reselling it.

You will make more money if you go thru it, research what everything is worth, and sell it yourself somewhere like ebay, but depending on what you have and what it's really worth, that might not be worth your time commitment. If you're going to try to sell modern comics in bulk to a comic store though, generally you're going to get pennies on the dollar vs. cover price. Even selling them individually at fair market prices though, most books aren't worth cover price.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

What is your definition of an "old" comic? Most people don't really have any idea, but the only "old" comics that really have any value are comics from before the 1980s. Anything from 1980 to present day is, with very few exceptions, only worth a dollar or two. The comic shop may gave you 25 cents for each of them. 50 cents if you're lucky.

If you do actually have any valuable Golden or Silver Age comics, then you are better off selling them yourself on ebay or whatever rather than selling them to a comic shop. You will make significantly more money selling it yourself rather than going through a middle man.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

IF they buy it, they seem to pay around half of what's in the typical price-guide. A little more if it's an actual rare book.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

I've never sold to my local shop.

I tried once, but the dude asked me how much money I was going to give him to take them. I gave him a confused look and he said "Well, I'd like to cover the cost of the gas I'll use driving these to the dump."

:lol:

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

For a long box of usual stuff (ie 80s/90s) IF they will take it they usually offer you between $15-$30 a long box.

For stuff that's actually worth something, if it's in good shape, expect to get about 40-50% of the "book value" (or what it recently sold for on Ebay)

Toys? Common stuff like regular action figures from the last 20-25 years, maybe $1-$5 each, tops.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

Okay, my real purpose for asking is I'm thinking of getting into the convention circuit. But it seems like anyone you talk to always wants to sell stuff to a comic store because they think they can get more money there. I thought I knew better than that, but I figured I'd solicit for input to see if the "50% of book value" was still the norm, since the way they make it sound is the comic store is their only hope for getting money despite me trying to get them to sell the stuff to me. ;) Plus I don't want to rip anyone off or make it seem like I'm going low on my offer per se, so I'm asking for my knowledge as well I guess.

The only times I've sold to a comic store were when I got something obscenely cheap and turned around to offer it to them for store credit.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

The world is awash in mint copies of comic books made after 1980. Aside from a handful of very important issues, some would tell you to take whatever you can get for them. Anything older is another matter, the best route in that case is probably eBay. Most stores will pay out 25-50% of the going market value, depending how reputable the dealer is.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

I have never been to a comic convention, but don't you have to buy a booth? If so and depending on what you are selling, you could very well spend more money than you actually make.

I would still say the best bet for selling comics is ebay or something similar.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

Half is being generous. Most buys from comics to sports cards is in the 25% range.
I used to laugh when I would be in a card shop and see like a McGwire OLY rookie card come in, get bought for $25 then get a sticker of $150
It's honestly not worth selling to shops unless you're desperate. Selling directly to collectors, you'll get a better pay day.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

Anyone who believes that is a certified moron. If they buy something, they're buying it to filp it, not so they can put it in a glass case and say "Look what I have!". The person who says the latter is the collector, not the retailer. The retailer is the middle man. It's like selling something to a pawn shop.

You might get a better deal if you know what something is really worth, but you'd have to negotiate that, and you're still not going to get close to what they're going to turn around and sell it for. The only reason to do that though is if you really need the money quickly. If you walk into a comic shop not knowing what something is worth, you're basically asking to get ripped off.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

Well, like I mentioned earlier, it could theoretically be possible for the comic shop to be the better deal over the convention.

I don't have any idea what renting a booth at a convention would cost you, but if you don't sell enough to make up that cost, then you have lost money.

Also you have to figure the opportunity cost of taking time off your job to go work a convention. Going the comic shop route won't require time off your job.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

Versus costs of running a booth at the convention sure. I was mainly referring to his statement of people who think their only hope of getting decent money for something is by selling it at a comic book store, which couldn't be further from the truth.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

You'd be better served trying to sell stuff through eBay or Craigslist. A comic book store will typically only buy stuff they think they can sell. If they think they can sell it, you can expect maybe half of what they're going to sell it for retail. Maybe a little more if it's something hot that they know they can quickly flip, like early issues of the Walking Dead for example.

I really like my LCBS, but a few years ago I took a few boxes of stuff to them. I had full runs of Quasar from the late 80s early 90s, Silver Surfer and a few other titles from the time period. I had actually gotten these books as part of a larger collection I'd bought. I took them to the comic books store fully expecting to only get maybe a few bucks. More than anything I wanted to get rid of the books because I didn't have space for them. Not only did they not make me an offer on the books, they wouldn't even take them for free! Seriously.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

You do, but there are plenty of local ones that only charge like $30 a table, and that seems very reasonable.

That's crazy! If I'm in a business and someone is offering me free merchandise, I would never turn it down. But thanks for sharing that story, that's part of what I'm looking for in this thread too- people's experiences selling to a comic shop or the like!

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

That doesn't seem bad, but are there any other costs as well? What about opportunity costs from taking time off your job to work at the convention? (Assuming you aren't salary or taking a paid vacation or anything else where your employer would keep paying you for those hours at the convention.) If for example, you make $15 an hour at your job and you take 10 hours off to work at the convention, then your actual cost is that $150 (excluding taxes) plus the $30 booth.


A business should never take merchandise just because it is free. Inventory space is not unlimited. If you have merchandise that you don't think is going to sell, then it is just eating up your inventory space, and that costs you. So if the comic shop didn't think they could resell those comics, then that is why they turned it down.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

Most small local comic conventions are just on the weekends.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

Most comic shops don't really deal in back issues unless you're looking at a particularly desirable issue. Silver Age books and older, first appearance of Wolverine in Hulk #181, early issues of Walking Dead, sure they might buy them, but you'll be lucky to get half of price guide value. If you have longboxes full of recent comics, then, unless they're one of the rare places that buys bulk back issues, you're out of luck. And, if you're selling in bulk, you can count on making about ten cents per book, tops.

There are some key issues from the past 35 years, but 99.9% of all comics published since 1980 are worthless. Your mint runs of Team Youngblood, Shadow of the Bat and the 1990 Ghost Rider? Not worth the paper they're printed on.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

That's true, and I hadn't thought of that, but he could have a job where he works weekends. Not everyone works 9-5 M-F.


Which is a shame because the Alan Grant/Norm Breyfogle era of Batman is my all-time favorite comic era. It's worth more to me than Action Comics (1938) #1.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

A lot depends on the store, do they sell a lot of comics, or mostly trades, action figures, etc.? If comics then what kind? Only new, only new and golden and silver age? Or everything? If a store sells from the period that you have then do they sell singles, or only runs? If you have an entire run, or a significant run like Simonson Thor then it may be easier to sell than just random issues. There are stores in my area that do bag together the complete Sandman say, and a store like that is more open to buying from you then one that doesn't sell single issues much at all.

So I'd recommend asking, but keeping in mind that stores each have their own business model and sometimes what you have to sell just doesn't fit, especially with digital, collections, etc. I actually know of stores that really wouldn't even want early Walking Dead issues, because it just wouldn't fit with what they're doing.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

Selling to a store is fine if you are looking to unload a lot of stuff. If you don't have the time/interest in selling things piece by piece on Ebay/Craigslist it's great. They'll also take stuff that won't move otherwise, like bulk 80/90s stuff that's tough to unload if they are the kind of shop that has 50 cent boxes.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

Most stores I see now keep token back issue stock. A couple have bigger inventory but many don't want slow-moving inventory in their limited space.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

A few years age I looked into unloading my old comic book collection. (I use to collect comics back in the late-1970's and early-1980's).

After doing some research, I came to the realization that most of the stuff I had wasn't worth much more than 50 cents or $1 a pop. (ie. Dump bin fodder for stuff that was not in "pristine mint" condition). With the exception of some of the Uncanny X-Men issues before #150, I got the impression that most post-#150 issues of the Uncanny X-Men at best only really tracked inflation (of the cover price) for mint condition copies. In general for less-than-mint condition stuff, it essentially became 50 cents dump bin fodder.


In the end, I just gave away my old collection to some younger relatives who were into superhero stuff. (Even the more valuable late-1970's issues of the Uncanny X-men). No point in wasting time and effort in selling off my old collection.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

Best bet is ebay:

1) Itemize your items. Search on ebay, check sold listings. It'll give you sold listings with prices.

2) You'll sell it for more than at local comic book shops.

Con:

1) You have to ship but if you end all the auctions at once, you'll save time.

I'd still go with ebay even with their 10-12% fees. You'll still come out ahead by a mile.

Re: What do comic stores generally pay/have you ever sold to one?
 

If you have complete full runs it will definitely sell on eBay.