I have 20 years worth of comics that have got to get out of potential child #2’s future bedroom. I don’t want to sell them, but I’d rather just rip the band aid off and get it done (of course, I will still be keeping a few special long boxes!)
How do I do it? I would like to sell them by series (e.g.- “100 Issues of 80’s-90’s X-Men” etc)
A few questions:
Do I include more than 100 issues in a batch?
Does listing the individual issues help? I am willing to do it and I want to show potential customers that I am actually selling mostly A-list books (like my late 80’s X-Men)
What do I put on the title for the listing?
What price should I begin with?(I don’t plan on looking at “book value”. I am thinking of starting them all at 10-15$ and letting the market bear out.)
Is eBay the best place to sell them?
How do I describe condition? Some are great, some are meager. I don’t want to guarantee condition, but I don’t want people to think my stuff is crap.
Yes you can sell them in bunches of 100+ if they are of the same title.
List the issue numbers whenver you have a solid run (e.g. #100-157, 160-175, etc) Be sure to mention if any are variants.
The title should read something like, “Uncanny X-Men lot of 150 different comics”
Check other auctions or local comic shops and see what they’re getting and go from there.
eBay is a pretty good place, but there will be competition.
It’s better to underrate than overrate. Grab an Overstreet guide or an issue of Wizard to get guidelines for conditions. Tell it like it is and you’ll have fewer problems.
The biggest hitch is going to be shipping costs.
Good luck.
P.S. PICTURES! If it’s only a gigantic group shot of the comics laid out on the floor.
I’d break up the X-titles. Depending on what you have, you could sell them in blocks based on story arcs. The only X-title I read anymore is Wolverine, so I don’t know if they do crossovers anymore.
As for the weight limits of media mail, you can go to www.usps.com and you should find those answers.
For runs, write the issue number for every single issue somewhere in the description so that people searching for specific issues will see your auction. I second the directive to include pictures. eBay is definitely the place to go – no one selling anything thru an online auction should ever go anywhere else, as eBay has the most potential bidders and therefore you’ll get the best price.
I think it’s worthwhile to track similar auctions for a while before you list yours so you’ll know what the behavior is like and you can make sure there’s no similar auction at the same time.
Totally agree with Cliffy and the others. Track final prices on similar completed auctions for a while, so you can be an informed seller.
Time your auctions so they begin and end on Sunday evenings (between 7 and 10 PM), because that is when the most people are browsing eBay, and you’re almost proven to get better prices. You know most people wait for the final moments to place a bid anyway.
A picture never hurts, but always helps.
Underestimate the condition of your comics. Some people are hard-core condition Nazis, and they’ll leave you negative feedback with no warning over the most miniscule imperfections. NO comics are mint, and even near-mint can often be pushing it. The last thing you want on eBay is to get negative feedback, so give general condition warnings and assume everyone is more anal-retentive than you.
I’m getting ready to sell some large lots of X-Men books myself, but I wouldn’t mix Uncanny X-Men/New Mutants/X-Factor/X-Force. Better to keep them separated by title, and again, list all the inidividual issues in your lots.
I was selling a batch of Frank Miller Daredevils (had waited til the movie came out, and was planning to get a premium price on eBay), but then had a thought:
I really like the guys at my local comic shop (shameless plug for Capital City in Madison, WI). Why not let them make some profit, too? And there’s a good chance they’d be reselling my DD’s to a real fan that would (cue schmaltzy music) enjoy them as much as I did and give them a good home.
I’m sure I didn’t get as much as I would’ve online, but running a few boxes down the street is a whole lot easier (and quicker!) than doing the eBay thang.
So why not give your local reseller a shot at your 'books before you put them up for auction?