Talk about anything you want, so long as it's about comics!
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iear Posts: 3
5/25/2018
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Hi all - I'm thinking of beginning to sell off my collection of Marvel Comics. The shipping costs seem like they could cut into any potential profits. Any suggestions as to the most cost effective and safest way to ship? What about single books versus shipping a number at a time? Insurance? And lastly, I am scanning each every front and back cover - will that be enough? I'm going to grade them using my best guess ... I don't think I have titles that warrant paying for the grading. How do I assure that there is no challenge on the buyer's end? Most of my comics were read once and then bagged and boarded since they were purchased - and I am the original and only owner. I believe they are all at or close to 9.2/9.4 - does that seem reasonable?
Thanks!
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Oxbladder Posts: 487
5/29/2018
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iear wrote:
Hi all - I'm thinking of beginning to sell off my collection of Marvel Comics. The shipping costs seem like they could cut into any potential profits. Any suggestions as to the most cost effective and safest way to ship? What about single books versus shipping a number at a time? Insurance? And lastly, I am scanning each every front and back cover - will that be enough? I'm going to grade them using my best guess ... I don't think I have titles that warrant paying for the grading. How do I assure that there is no challenge on the buyer's end? Most of my comics were read once and then bagged and boarded since they were purchased - and I am the original and only owner. I believe they are all at or close to 9.2/9.4 - does that seem reasonable?
Thanks!
Shipping can definitely cut into costs that's why not all book are worth selling separately. You should go through what you have to sell and see if it is listed on eBay and whatnot and what realized prices are and anything that is below shipping you may wish to sell in a bulk lot. however, bulk lots will bring in less per book than selling singly.
A front and back high def scan is really all you will need along with any description of hidden defects (defects inside the book or not readily apparent in a scan/image. It help to give the page quality too (white, off-white, etc. is the paper supple or starting to get brittle, is the book giving off a acidic or musty odor). You don't have to be terribly exact with your grading because almost no one would agree with you anyway. I would suggest being conservative with the grade. I have found that if you are conservative, descriptive, and provide good scans you can realize the asking price or more. Or you can give a range.
The best way to not be challenged is to be descriptive as possible and not miss defects. You cannot please everyone but if you are as honest as possible you don't have to. Also, if you encourage people to ask questions then any reservations they have and don't follow through on is on them not on you.
You should also consider how quickly you want to get rid of your books. The more you have the longer it is going to take and the more time it will take to to sell them the less you will make. My time is money and the more time I spend on something the less profit I can make. This is one of the reasons I don't sell a lot of stuff. Keys and lesser keys can sell quick and get you all excited and the profit you can make make you blind to the fact that the regular everyday issues are still in your coffers and you are spending more time trying to get rid of them. I see lots of non-retailers selling stuff and talking about how much profit they made but they, more often than not, do not take into account the time they have spent, the stuff they are left with and the time it is going to take to sell the rest of it. Sometimes it really is worth dealing with a store owner for selling off your stuff. Yes you are going to get well below the market value for it but when you consider what time you have put in and what more you may have to put in you realize that what profits you have made are not really profits at all. (unless you are always buying and selling stuff)
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iear Posts: 3
6/5/2018
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Thanks for such a detailed response. I'm still looking for an actual shipping method ... including how and what to use to pack and which company or service to utilize. I'm pretty sure that all my comics are near-mint but I know that most people can disagree. How do I guarantee that I don;t get into a back and forth on the grading? I can always have it returned but how do I know that the potential buyer hasn't torn it or messed it up in some fashion? Is USPS the best and most reasonable service? Is there a specific box I can buy to ship a single issue? To ship 10 issues?
On paper, my collection is worth good money but the more I think about it, the less excited I am in trying to make this happen. I have issues that the Comics Price guide says are wroth good money but then I have long stretches of titles that are worth $3 each. Like I said, most of these have been read only once by me and then boarded and bagged.
Thanks again for the response ...
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Oxbladder Posts: 487
6/5/2018
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I would think USPS is likely the most reasonable shipping option, however, depending on the value of the book, insurance limits and tracking it may not always be the best option.
There is no guarantee you won't get into a back and forth about the grading but if you try to be as accurate/descriptive as possible there will be no debate. Remember though that you have to be really anal when grading. Even very small defects need to be accounted for.
As for packaging. I would think that the Priority boxes that I have seen coming out of the US would work quite well for shipping up to 10 issues. When packing you have to make sure you pack them in such a way that they cannot suffer any damage. When shipping singles or a couple of books you have to sandwhich them between durable cardboard. The more issue you pack in the sandwich you will have to wrap them up in bubble wrap. Then you have to make sure that they are stable in the package they are placed in and that if the package is dropped or crunched the books will not be impacted.
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expander Posts: 241
6/6/2018
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I got this:
Step A: Bag and board if possible (if not at least a plastic bag to protect from tape)
Step B: Place between two firm pieces of cardboard
Step C: Insert into bubble mailer of choice and (optional but highly recommended write "do not bend" on it somewhere)
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expander Posts: 241
6/6/2018
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hope that helps!
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