robin2099

Legit question here. I was wondering, could you ever part with your collection? For some reasons everything but my collection is easy to sell and part with. Partly because its mainly worthless(the only money comic I own is Batman Adventures 12) but also partly because its hard not to still enjoy picking out a floppy and reading it again.

Trevor

No.

Sonny Corinthos

I tried last summer but there were no offers that would even buy us dinner one night. I went to all of the Comic Book Shops in the area and no one was interested. They all claimed there was no market for old comic books.

In their defense, the people I talked to said they were having trouble selling the ones they have in stock. My collection spans from the late 70's to the early 90's. From everything they told me, there is already a glut of books from that era already, that's why there is little value from the ones I own.

After hitting all the shops trying to sell them, I just took them all back home. I'm not going to give them away for pennies on the dollar, so I will just keep them. They might not mean much to the average joe, but they are part of my life, from my early childhood to my mid 20's.

Perkinsun Dzees

Nonsense. There is still strong interest in old comic books, but most collectors don't go to comic book shops to look for back issues anymore. They go on Ebay.

If your comics are in decent condition, you would probably get a lot more selling them on Ebay than you would from any local comic shop. The only downside is that you would have to pack them all up and ship them to the buyer.

Trevor

The ‘only’ downside? How about problem buyers? And the actual return once you factor in postage, ebay fees, PayPal fees, and your time?

Perkinsun Dzees

Problem buyers for comics primarily tend to pop up when the sellers either don't package their items properly to avoid damage during shipping (and you can see plenty of videos on Youtube about buyers complaining about this) or when the condition of the comics don't live up to their description on the auction.

The postage, ebay fees, etc is stuff you calculate into the prices you're willing to charge for your items. You can set the cost for shipping at any amount you want, though if you (over)charge too much you will probably drive potential buyers away. The time you spend selling on Ebay will likely be less than that of driving around to various comic shops looking for a buyer who will give you pennies on the dollar.

Sonic

I have a box full of every single 1st issue Image comic released. Including all the limited series.

I don't know how much it's all worth but I could see myself parting with it in the future.

Value box: $10

stingermck

This is not a shot on you, but lately people are acting like ebay takes 175% fees

If you have good stuff, you will make money. If you have shitty stuff, well then.

To answer OP. I could. It's just stuff. My collection has been big, small, amazing and shitty through out my life. Comes and goes.

mrhan

No. The kids can do whatever they want with them when I'm gone. Besides, it's not really getting any bigger. I only buy a handful of BA/SA books every year.

Bob_Bobbson

Could I as in, could I part with them? Yes.
Could I as in, would I be able to find anyone who would take them? No.

Trevor

The fees are a minor part of it, the biggest factor to me is the time. I’ve bought thousands of books on ebay, and at the prices I paid I can’t imagine the sellers made more than $20 an hour. I’ve sold on ebay. And even with mass posting, printing and shipping from home, the time sink is greater than most people think.

Obi-Wanma

Yeah, you wanna buy it?

Nick Danger

My collection just takes up space. I think the only titles I've looked at in fifteen years were Sandman, The Invisibles, Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol, and that's about all.

Maybe now would be a good time to unload Lucifer. Did the TV series give it a boost in popularity?

The Valeyard

Eh. Not so much. I'm surprised early issues of Preacher didn't take off either.

Hokeyboy

Parted with 95% of my collection years ago. I kept a few valuable and/or sentimental comics, but the rest were just taking up space. Easiest and best thing I ever did.

morriscroy

I gradually gave away my collection over the years, mostly to younger relatives and various local friends.
.
This is including The Uncanny X-Men issues from 94 to around 150. (Though they were not in mint condition and were not fetching much on the collectors market in non-mint condition).

morriscroy

Nowadays it seems anything that isn't in "pristine mint" condition, is automatically shunted off into the shit category.

For that matter, tons of "pristine mint" condition stuff published after the 1970s or so, also seems to be automatically in the shit category too. Especially stuff that was originally sold in the direct market (ie. sold directly to comic book shops frequently without any upc codes).

As to what can still fetch a pretty penny that is not in "pristine mint" condition, I have no idea.

movieguru

Yes time is definetly the biggest factor. The fees you account for in prices you sell your items for. If you're selling only a few random lower valued items, you'll likely spend more time than it's worth having to pack up one or two items and make a trip to the post office to drop them off.

I always have between 600-700 unique items on Ebay and at least 3000+ total items on there. On an average day i'll have at least 10 items going to the post office. I will generally spend between an hour and an hour and a half a day going on Ebay and will profit $40-$75 for that time. The trip to the post office takes about 30-40 minutes round trip. That's fixed time weather I sell 1 or 100 items so the more I sell the more money I make during that time. I've got packaging time down to 3-4 minutes per item. I really need to add more items to my store but it's a passive activity for me right now.

PhantomStranger

Nearly complete runs of high-grade comics still do very well on eBay, even less popular titles. Go on eBay and check how people have packaged their collection into lots for easy sale.

What doesn't sell are random issues of 1980s and newer books. Most of this stuff is being collected now in omnibuses and other formats. Many dump their individual issues when they get the omnibus or hardcover.

stingermck

Just curious, but if you are selling that much stuff, why dont you print labels at home, and have the PO pick them up? It so much easier, I havent been to the post office for eBay stuff in years.

brayzie

No.
I have two long boxes and quite a variety, in my opinion.
Flaming Carrot, Death Rattle, Caliber Presents, McFarlane/Michelinie Spider-man, early TMNT, Alan Moore Awesome! Comics, Twisted Tales, Rocketeer, etc.
Once in a blue moon I'll pick out an issue, and I remember when and where I was when I first read it.
The ads and the letter columns add to the time-machine-like nature.

Sonny Corinthos

I'm sure you are right but between work and family, I don't have the time for EBay. They are properly stored so maybe they will be worth something to my kids when they are grown up and more time has passed.

movieguru

I do print labels at home. Having the post office pick the packages up at home would require me to wait at home for them to come, which could be a four hour window of time. I can't just leave abunch of expensive packages on my doorstep or by the mail box as chances are they would get stolen at some point.

I also want them to be scanned in immediately which the don't do for pick up. I can get them to scan them in for tracking at the post office even if they don't like doing it.

rw2516

At some point there is a dividing line where all collectors markets shifted from 10% surviving in mint condition to 90+% surviving in mint condition. The culture changed from consuming to preserving.

PhantomStranger

The collector mentality had already taken over the comic book industry by the late 1980s.