Reality For The Average Comic Book Collector

I enjoy going online and looking at collecting comic book videos on You Tube.

I’m referring to just a handful of collectors/speculators who tout the ‘Top 10’ and sending their books off to CGC (Certified Guaranty Company).

That’s all fine and dandy but I’ve found a few problems with their approach to collecting comic books as it pertains to most comic book readers/collectors.

First and foremost is the cost.  

Back issue ‘key’ sales have gone through the roof!  I don’t know about you but I can’t afford to plop down hundreds or thousands of dollars for comic books.

Comic book speculation is a very iffy proposition.

For example.  Let's say I purchase a ‘hot’ comic book for $200.  I then send it to CGC and get it graded.  It comes back as 9.8 with a ‘value’ of $1,000.

Where does CGC come off determining comic books’ grades?  Who exactly grades comic books?  Is it dealers?  If so, isn’t that a conflict of interest?  

OK, so I’ve made $800-right?  Not necessarily.  First off I have to take into account that I have to pay for postage both to and from CGC.  Then I have to pay the cost of grading the comic book.

I’ll be generous and say the total cost is $100.  Taking that into consideration my ‘profit’ is now $700-right?

Not so fast.  Say I want to sell the comic book.  I can do it on E-bay, Amazon or some other social network site.  I get bids, none of which reach the $1,000 my book is supposedly worth.

For the sake of time, let’s say the final bid comes in at $900.  I decide to sell.  I now have to package the book up and ship it out.  My time is worth money.

The buyer receives the book, questions its grade, but eventually I get my $900.

Remember after my costs the book was only worth $700 if the book sold for the actual $1,000-which it didn’t.  It sold for $100 less than amount.  So technically my book is only worth $600.

That does not include my time and the effort I took to sell it.  That’s a lot of work for one book and most books do not sell what their supposed CGC value is.

If I took the book to a show I wouldn’t get as much as I wanted nor if I sold it to an individual-that’s almost a certainty.

Let’s be honest most comic books printed in the last 20 or 30 years will lose their value. You’re seeing it already.

Collecting comic books and maintaining their ‘value’ involves travel expenses, supply costs, shipping expenses and much more.

Have you seen the cost of comic book boxes, sleeves and backing boards lately?! Outrageous.

Most, if not all, of the ‘collectors’ who showoff their acquisitions are dealers of one sort or another.  They make their living off of selling comic books.

They offer people a fraction of what books are worth-jack up the prices and basically play the game.

If I were a comic book dealer masquerading as collector I would push the value of my books and promote certain titles I have a huge inventory of as hot.

Remember there’s a sucker born every minute and these so-called collectors try to take advantage of them.

I’ve seen ‘collectors’ brag about buying a collection for pennies on the dollar and then turn around and boast about their acquisition and the high-end and expensive titles they got out of the purchase.

I have absolutely no respect for dealers that buy up collections for a song and then turn around and charge collectors a fortune for the same titles they paid a pittance for.

I witnessed one dealer who paid less than a thousand dollars for a collection of graded books and profited ten times that amount.

To put it simply-I do not trust most online collector/dealers no matter how nice they try to come across.

I’ve discovered if I challenge their assertions by replying to their videos I have yet to see any of my comments make it to their comments sections.  Nobody gets all positive feedback.

Go on-try to find any negative comments-you won’t-it’s bad for business.

Let the buyer and seller beware.  Unless you’re in the business of buying low, selling high and dealing dishonestly stick to just collecting.

If you do decide to sell your collection, it’s best to stick with other collectors.

Know the value of your books, do your homework and go into any transaction with your eyes wide open.  An informed consumer is a smart consumer.

Proverbs 21:3 (NKJV) ‘To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.”