Talk about anything you want, so long as it's about comics!
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Theoldcollector Posts: 213
8/27/2021
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leigh28 wrote:
And yet people are buying them. If no one was greedy we'd still be paying cover price for things
The value of a book worth more than cover price is not from greed that is just what the market says it's actual worth is. Greed is someone ripping off their fan base and asking well over current market prices knowing that some of their fans will fall for it and think they are getting a good deal. Greed is when LCS are pulling books on the day of their release and telling their customers they sold out only to turn around and sell the books a week later for high prices. There is a difference between greed and the value of books going up.
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Defiant1 Posts: 720
8/28/2021
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Theoldcollector wrote:
leigh28 wrote:
And yet people are buying them. If no one was greedy we'd still be paying cover price for things
The value of a book worth more than cover price is not from greed that is just what the market says it's actual worth is. Greed is someone ripping off their fan base and asking well over current market prices knowing that some of their fans will fall for it and think they are getting a good deal. Greed is when LCS are pulling books on the day of their release and telling their customers they sold out only to turn around and sell the books a week later for high prices. There is a difference between greed and the value of books going up.
If I'm running a business and trying to stock desirable comics that customers want, I will buy what I can for the price I can. If I have to buy comics at market value, I have to mark it up in price to make a profit and sustain my business.
This is not greed. It is running a business.
Does it make you pay more? Yes.
Does eBay make retailers pay more to restock? Yes.
What do you think a comic business is supposed to do?
Try to sell unpopular garbage that collectors don't care about?
Fruitlessly hope that someone will want to sell a hot comic to them for 50% of what they can get on eBay?
This is how business works.
You buy product to sell at the cheapest price you can.
You stock products people actually want.
You mark it up standard percentages so that you pay business expenses and make a profit.
Profit is not greed. It's what sustains the economy and keeps people gainfully employed.
In the 90's I saw a store sell out of the "Death of Superman" issue. Customers who had not pre-ordered the comic were demanding they get a copy or they'd do business elsewhere.
The store owner was buying back the comics they had just sold to customers and paying them cover price or more. The customers who didn't care as much about it were getting their money back or even a small profit so the store could restock and meet the demand of their customers. The store would mark the issues double the price they had paid to buy them back. A $3 comic became a $6 comic instantly. Customers were still demanding the comic and threatening to shop elsewhere. The cycle repeated and by the end of the evening, the store was charging about $18.
Keep in mind that if a store has to buy back a comic for cover price, they made no profit at all on the initial sale. They lost money. They have to mark it up or they are just giving comics away.
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canesmacker Posts: 50
9/1/2021
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I routinely and almost exclusively buy all of my books through auctions. And yes, what people will pay has definitely increased over the last 12-18 months. FMV is what the buyer is willing to pay. This speculation and craziness will crash eventually - no different than the stock market. Current valuations can't hold forever. Eventually proces will drop and that's when the savvy collector/buyer will swoop in and gobble up the bargains. The GA books hold their value very well and overall have not been affected much in the last 12-18 months - although they have gotten slightly more expensive. Nothing compared to the SA & BA books that are ridiculously rising in speculative valuations. Keys are going through the roof regardless. Above are my observations from the auction side of the house.
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Oxbladder Posts: 487
9/21/2021
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Defiant1 wrote:
Theoldcollector wrote:
leigh28 wrote:
And yet people are buying them. If no one was greedy we'd still be paying cover price for things
The value of a book worth more than cover price is not from greed that is just what the market says it's actual worth is. Greed is someone ripping off their fan base and asking well over current market prices knowing that some of their fans will fall for it and think they are getting a good deal. Greed is when LCS are pulling books on the day of their release and telling their customers they sold out only to turn around and sell the books a week later for high prices. There is a difference between greed and the value of books going up.
If I'm running a business and trying to stock desirable comics that customers want, I will buy what I can for the price I can. If I have to buy comics at market value, I have to mark it up in price to make a profit and sustain my business.
This is not greed. It is running a business.
Does it make you pay more? Yes.
Does eBay make retailers pay more to restock? Yes.
What do you think a comic business is supposed to do?
Try to sell unpopular garbage that collectors don't care about?
Fruitlessly hope that someone will want to sell a hot comic to them for 50% of what they can get on eBay?
This is how business works.
You buy product to sell at the cheapest price you can.
You stock products people actually want.
You mark it up standard percentages so that you pay business expenses and make a profit.
Profit is not greed. It's what sustains the economy and keeps people gainfully employed.
In the 90's I saw a store sell out of the "Death of Superman" issue. Customers who had not pre-ordered the comic were demanding they get a copy or they'd do business elsewhere.
The store owner was buying back the comics they had just sold to customers and paying them cover price or more. The customers who didn't care as much about it were getting their money back or even a small profit so the store could restock and meet the demand of their customers. The store would mark the issues double the price they had paid to buy them back. A $3 comic became a $6 comic instantly. Customers were still demanding the comic and threatening to shop elsewhere. The cycle repeated and by the end of the evening, the store was charging about $18.
Keep in mind that if a store has to buy back a comic for cover price, they made no profit at all on the initial sale. They lost money. They have to mark it up or they are just giving comics away.
Amen. Dealers get a lot of flack yet most of it is just not right. Are there some unscrupulous dealers but there are LOTS of customers that are just plain rude. In my neck of the woods my LCS gets a lot of BS from all sorts of "collectors" that are using apps like Key Collector to guide their purchases but will give my LCS for either upping prices to just under market value (he gets serious flack for selling at market value even though he does charge premiums until the common issues go to back issue or the low ratio (1:10, 1:20, etc), selling out of books, not grouping key issues into one section, and a whole host of other things. All of these guys are usually trying to speculate and never order the books in advance. He even gets flack for either not ordering, not ordering enough, or selling out of books these people don't order themselves. When you step outside Marvel and DC stores often have to take all the risk on what to stock because these guys won't assume any risk.
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