Re: Could you sell your collection?
 

How much of this has to do with the direct market?

Re: Could you sell your collection?
 

I think the direct market was a response to what was already going on rather than a cause.

I think it started in the late 70s with Star Wars. Is that the point people began buying stuff and not opening them to use?
When people would buy a box of cereal to save as a collector's item and not eat it?
When retail posters, signs and displays would be saved by someone who works there instead of going in the dumpster?

Since practically 100% of everything was now being preserved in mint condition, rather than surviving by chance, there was no longer any challenge to collecting. In response, the industries artificially recreated the challenge to generate interest with limited editions, variants and chase cards.

Re: Could you sell your collection?
 

I used to have 30-35 long-boxes full of comics. A couple years back we downsized very unexpectedly for the 2nd time in a year. I realized that I wasn't going to have room for all the comics in our new place and made the decision to shed about half of them. At best, I got $20 per box. The bulk of what I let go were lame Image books and 90s Marvel stuff that an uncle I reintroduced to comics subscribed to and handed down to me. The stuff that really mattered to me, I kept.

Had I not cut down on the long-boxes I'me guessing some or all of them would have been destroyed in the fire that happened 2 months after we moved to the new place. So I guess that's a bright side to look on.

Re: Could you sell your collection?
 

This would certainly explain why so much "pristine mint" condition stuff after the 1970s, doesn't fetch a pretty penny these days. Basic supply and demand.

Re: Could you sell your collection?
 

I started getting back into comics at a time when nobody gave a shit about value (but had always been getting Archie in the meantime).

Luckily that time was when The Walking Dead was getting started, so I have sold a couple of those. :lol:

Re: Could you sell your collection?
 

I think this ^ may very well be the turning point.

I googled up an old 2012 interview with Chuck Rozanski (of Mile High Comics fame), where he mentioned something similar. (I assume Chuck speaks from first hand experience and authority on this particular issue).

https://www.denverpost.com/2012/06/0...and-comic-con/

Re: Could you sell your collection?
 

^ Wow. That’s sorta creepy Chuck.

Re: Could you sell your collection?
 

I could easily see Star Wars igniting the collector's mentality in most geeky hobbies. Before Star Wars, collections in almost any field were seen as the domain of eccentric rich people. The Star Wars' fan boom fueled the rise of middle-class adults collecting all sorts of things.

Re: Could you sell your collection?
 

Are you thinking of Ben Novack Jr. ?

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/...-55829737.html

https://www.businessinsider.com/murd...uction-2011-11

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/...-62846327.html

Re: Could you sell your collection?
 

The only reason I recognize the name is that I caught the Rob Lowe movie based on that guy's life.

Re: Could you sell your collection?
 

Most of the comics I've gotten rid of are relatively recent floppies, released within the last 10/15/20 years. I have tried to sell them, and they are borderline-worthless, in most cases. Anyone telling you that you will be able to get good money from most floppies from the '90's are 200X's is either a liar, or a fool.

I've typically donated these to get rid of them, since I don't want them around.

Absolutely, 100% correct. There are numerous issues & problems involved in selling something through the mail:

1) The hassle & time involved in packaging these, insuring them (if you want to go that route), and sending these out in the mail. And, you can't put a price on the time you'll have to spend on this.

2) The possibility that the item(s) will either get lost in the mail, and/or mis-delivered. Also, the possibility that you will send the items to someone dishonest - who will lie & say they didn't receive the items (and you won't have any way to prove otherwise).

The amount of $ that I would get on these items wouldn't cover the money I paid for them - even if I sold them to someone in person. And, it definitely wouldn't come close to covering the time, hassle, shipping costs, etc. that would factor into selling them through the mail.

Screw it.

Re: Could you sell your collection?
 

You've never heard of tracking/ delivery confirmation?

Re: Could you sell your collection?
 

That doesn’t help with a truly dishonest buyer. They only have to claim an empty box or different item was inside and ebay will almost always back the buyer over the seller.

Re: Could you sell your collection?
 

I guess I'm lucky, I've been selling on ebay for over 20 years and have never had a buyer try to scam me (watch, now that I have said that it will probably happen next week :lol: ).

I purged most of my comic collection years ago, and if I had to get rid of what I have left I could do it no problem (only about ten percent of it has any actual value though). My vintage toy collection would be trickier. If I had to I could do it, but I do have some rare items that would be very difficult to replace if I sold my collection and then tried to rebuild it again.