Comic Books

[wendygrace]

My dh has boxes and boxes of comic books. Any comic book experts around here? I need to sell these books for money and space but want to get a good price on them. Most of them are 90's and older and in good/great condition. The biggest problem is they are nicely and neatly placed in these boxes but the "sets" are split up and we are talking over 10 boxes! That's I don't know how many comics! A lot! Anyone have any thoughts or tips for me?

[shelbell]

I've done some research for the same reasons and from what I've found, the 90s ones are not usually worth very much. I found this site to be good for pricing individual ones that may be worth a little on ebay: http://www.comicspriceguide.com/ . Good luck!

[daekini]

You can go to a comic book store and see if the owner will buy them, that's the easiest way. Also, you could rent a booth at a local flea market for a few weekends to see if people will buy them.

Did you marry my ex-boyfriend?

I have wayyyyyyy too much experience with that situation!

[wendygrace]

The biggest problem is he bought them from a guy at a garage sale for $200 about four years ago when his wife forced him to sell them. I told my dh not to get them unless he promised to enjoy and resell. He promised and didn't. Grrrrr! He's barely even looked at them because he's "afraid to ruin them". Grrrrrr!!!!

shelbell, thanks for the link. I'll look there.

[shayinme]

It seems that unlaoding comic books these days is not that easy, my dh has a collection that he valued at 5K over 10 years ago. (stuff from 70's & 80's, not much 90's) Well I have been trying to sell the collection now for over a year and its gone nowhere.

I'd be happy to get $1500 for the collection at this point.

Shay

[cristeen]

Your best bet is probably to catalogue and organize what you have. Not an easy task, I know (I have probably that many boxes in the basement, too). Then you can take the list in to a comic book store and see if the owner is willing to buy any of what you have.

If you sell them as "sets" (on ebay or privately), you may get more overall. Although some individual comics may have higher values, the majority of them you probably won't even get face value for. A comic book convention or show could be a good place to sell, but you have to man the booth for the whole thing and pay for the space.

Basically, to get a decent price, it's going to take some serious effort. That's why the boxes continue to languish in the basement.

[peypeymama]

Originally Posted by cristeen

Your best bet is probably to catalogue and organize what you have. Not an easy task, I know (I have probably that many boxes in the basement, too). Then you can take the list in to a comic book store and see if the owner is willing to buy any of what you have.

If you sell them as "sets" (on ebay or privately), you may get more overall. Although some individual comics may have higher values, the majority of them you probably won't even get face value for. A comic book convention or show could be a good place to sell, but you have to man the booth for the whole thing and pay for the space.

Basically, to get a decent price, it's going to take some serious effort. That's why the boxes continue to languish in the basement.

I agree with this... my DH has an EXTENSIVE comic book collection. He has about 50 long boxes (each box holds about 300 comics). He has told me that if anything happens to him to sell them as lots for each title. He has also said that it would probably take me a year of seriously listing to sell them all.

A comic book store will only give you pennies on the book.

HTH!

[lolo'smom]

I agree to catalouge them first and re organize them by title, storyline, year, etc. My dh has about 7 or 8 boxes that are taking up my back room but are not allowed anywhere else since they have have have to stay dry and in good condition, blah blah blah lol. I don't think I have to tell you what happened when I dogeared one of his comics when i first met him ha ha ha, oh if only we would sell them. I don't know what to do after you catalouge them, but i had to chime in since it's so nice to hear from other dw's like me! When dh gets home I"ll ask him. I know we have a book on comic book pricing, but it was a gift from my mom, dh has no intentions of selling them, EVER!

okay dh says to get the latest overstreet comics guide and you can check the potential resale value there. then the ones that have some value you can get appraised for condition.

[Elyra]

I agree with the cataloging. It would be the best way gauge what you have to sell.

If you have any Spider-man books I would start listing those shortly after the new movie comes out. Keep on the look out for new movies and then offer any books that correlate. I think riding on the publicity wave would be the best way to get a decent price.

[wendygrace]

How very frustrating. Grrrrr! And when am I supposed to find time to catologue them with two preschoolers I'm homeschooling? *sigh* I'm so tempted to throw that at a garage sale and ask $200 for them. At least I'd break even but we sooooo need money right now. Dh did not get a "good enough" raise and life has just gotten more difficult for us right now. lolo'smom, does your dh want to buy them from us?

[cristeen]

Something I didn't ask before (cause I assumed, which I realize I shouldn't have)... are they bagged and boarded, or loose in the box? Loose in the box they are ultimately worth less because they are exposed to moisture and insects and dirt, etc, as well as being bendable and dog-earable. All of ours get bagged and boarded before getting put into their boxes and stored downstairs. Most collectors will not be willing to buy comics that were stored loose unless they can personally inspect the quality.

If they are bagged and boarded, maybe you can make a game out of it with your kids (can they read?), all the Spidermans go in this box, all the Hulks go in this box, etc. Even if it's an hour a week, it'll get done. Even if they can't read, if they are superhero comics, they'll usually have a picture of the hero on the cover, so if they know which hero it is, they can help sort them.

[Elyra]

Do you know any older kids that would be willing to come and help you go through the boxes? Perhaps a friend's older dc? Maybe offer a trade of a couple of the comics if that is cool with their mom for helping you go through a few boxes between 1-3 I think would be more than a fair days work. I wouldn't expect it all to get done all at once.

Have them put them in piles and you record the book title, year, and issue. Then right back into the boxes in that order. I think getting rid of them will take a little while, but maybe if you do something towards getting them out the door it would be less frusterating.

I mean if you Dh is ok with it, you could always offer them in the paper or on craig's list or something of that nature for a lot like your dh bought them for.

[lolo'smom]

Originally Posted by wendygrace

lolo'smom, does your dh want to buy them from us?

lol

buy what? I didn't hear of anyone who is selling comic books...

sorry wendygrace, but I think i'm on the same page as you are, not my dh! Can your dh catalogue them at night? or a dc coming over to help sounds good, too!

If you do find someone to buy them, ask them if they would like a stuffed 3 foot tall spider man and batman to go along with them... bil thought it would be cute to buy them for my ds, obviously they were really for my dh! they take up so much room! if only dh wouldn't notice if they were gone.

[peypeymama]

I'm soooo glad that DH is an anal neat freak. All of his comics get regularly "worked in" to the entire collection. It will take him a couple of days, but his boxes are arranges from A-Z and then by number inside each box.

Don't worry about dates. Make a pile of all of Title A, title B, etc. Then sort each title by number. Take pictures of each stack BEFORE putting them back in the box. (Stand your box up on the little end). Label and place a post-it on the first issue of the next title (only do this on the plastic sleeve ) when multiple titles share a box.

If your homeschoolers are old enough the could help... but, at my house only DH touches his comics.

[wendygrace]

You guys are too funny! My kiddos can't help. They are only 3 and four and neither read nor have a clue what a hero is. hehe. However, you did give me an idea. My dear friend has two boys, 7 and four, who do read and are a bit more "mature" than my kiddos. Perhaps she can help me out.

I don't even know if they are in plastic and boarded. I believe some are and some not but really, that's a guess. I know I've seen some with the boards...

Thanks for the ideas. I'll have to work on this. Off to call my friend...oh, wait, it is way too early. haha.

[ShaggyDaddy]

to be honest, with 90s comic books you would be better off donating them to goodwill and taking a tax deduction. Most you will never ever ever ever sell for more than 1 penny per book. I have lots of comics and they have no monitary value, purely sentimental, so fortunatly I will never be tempted to sell them, but I probably will eventually let them become part of my kids' formal education.

The problem was that in about 1989 people realized that comics and baseball cards from the 1950s and 1960s were crazy valuable... So what did they do? They bought 4 or 5 of the same comic book 4 or 5 of the same baseball card set. Everybody was going to be rich someday by saving these comic books and baseball cards... and since there was no scarcity there is no value.

Pick through them for "Amazing Spiderman" (none of the other spidermans), "Uncanny X-men" (none of the other "X" books), black and white Ninja Turtles (Eastman and Laird), Mcfarlane (Spawn, late 80s-early 90s Spiderman, a few 80s Batman). There are a few others that actually may sell for a few bucks on ebay.

Really most collections are centered on one brand (Marvel or DC) or maybe on indi comics like darkhorse... of course the big name ones are easier to sell, but the limited runs are worth more to a smaller audience.

So.... what is this collection centered on, I could tell you what to pick out and what to just donate or sell for pennies.

[wendygrace]

Thank you ShaggyDaddy. That is wonderful info. I will definetly get back to you on this! I really appreciate it!

[rainbowmoon]

:

[wendygrace]

I have a list! ShaggyDaddy, how do you want it? LOL I'll be back tomorrow but finally got dh to get around to getting me the list (apparently he had done one, even typed it out, but never did anything with it! doh!). I have to get the kids to bed!

[spiderdust]

Despite what ShaggyDaddy says, you can get more than a penny a comic for them, even if they are from the 90s, especially if you have complete sets.

Call a few comic book stores. See if they can give you some estimates (especially since you already have a list of what you have). Selling them on eBay will be more trouble than it's worth.

What they won't buy, give away on Freecycle. They'll be more likely to go to someone who will appreciate them that way.

I'd be happy to give you more advice on the matter.