Hey, sorry for the delay, I had lost the little chip that the show records on 😐
This week Chris and Walt talk about comic shops starving their local collecting communities in favour of getting more for their stuff online. A quick profit but potentially a very bad move long term.
Please let us know what you think of the show down below in the comments field.
And please share your thoughts on today’s discussion.
Hmmm, several thoughts. I will say as a Gold- Bronze collector I have had a 99.9% success on eBay, so THAT I am happy about! I haven’t bought the kind of books I have wanted from a shop in about 15 years or more ( with a couple exceptions) simply because they have not had the kind of books I have wanted… probably for the reasons you sight. I understand the rationale on holding books or throwing them on auction…comic stores are in real straights do to multiple factors… however… there are a few online dealers, not a huge amount, but a few online dealers who for sometime seem to be pushing the prices up themselves. When you can see what a book has sold for in a condition, see what a bunch of the competitors are setting prices on books, then to me its pretty gutsy to see them offer a book at Buy it Now that exceeds the norm by 75-300 %! They are out there and you may already know who. Interestingly I have flagged a couple of these inflated books to see if they sold and to my surprise I have had offers on said books at as much as 40% their asking price. So, I try and be careful of who I buy from and if I have a good experience then that is a dealer I look at again! I do agree with Chris… this new market is starting to price collectors out of the market and I know my comic purchases are way, way down this year do to both price and competition.
Always go the pair when buying from Tit’s. One is never enough!
I do true and do the Collector ID when talking to people in the community, I’ll drop in the run or the artist or why I like that issue…anything to ensure they understand that I’m a collector and not a speculator.
Thinking about changing my Insta handle to:
ILoveTerryAustinInks
or
ImAllAboutTheByrne
Thanks for another great laugh lads, appreciate it!!!
My LCS in Newcastle, England used to do silver / bronze / copper age wall comics, but these were pushed out years ago in favour of more space toys and figures. Ebay is therefore the only option for my collecting habits. Sad really. And now non essential retail is open in the UK (how could anyone call comics non-essential ??) I would love to see some old stuff coming back so you could hold it in your hands before buying.
Great weekly listen your show guys, always interesting.
So it sounds like I was a late hold out, having good stuff on the back wall as recently as 18 months ago. Very few places left I’m afraid.
Tit’s have their famous two for one special Spider, plenty to go around.
Mark, thanks for adding to the conversation, how is eBay for buying from North America? Lots of sellers probably won’t ship to you guys.
The news that Ray Dalio has flipped on BTC is making the rounds this morning, so if you’ve been holding for a while, know that you’re way ahead of these guys. And despite the shakeout attempts from this past weekend, diamond handers wont give it up to these billionaire late comers. What does this have to do with comics? Well, more interesting is that he also says not to hold cash, which underscores what I’ve been saying as well. So if you’re sitting on a pile of investment grade comics… according to these billionaires, hedge fund managers and the general financial community… you’re on the right side of personal finance. However, that’s only half the equation… Buying is easy, selling is the hard part, so If you’ve never sold a book before, I recommend learning how to do it well. Happy investing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Ypuu61KFU
Hi Walter,
Yeah, living in the UK, I tend to buy solely from UK sellers. You’re right, either US sellers won’t ship to us, or when they do, there is huge expense – it can be a total headache and just not worth the hassle! Mind I have a collecting friend who has no such worry and can only feed his addiction for Star Wars comics via the US network of sellers.
Visited Golden Age Collectibles in Vancouver in June 2019, and that was a great experience, loads of silver age and more modern comics given pride of place on the wall in a store, was in comic heaven !
keep up the great work anyway, you guys have a regular listener across the pond !