Video:How to Sell Comic Books
with Gerald HoganSell your comic book collection at it's highest value by knowing exactly what it is worth. Check out these tips for pricing and organizing your comic book collection to make the selling process worth your time.
Transcript:How to Sell Comic Books
So you’re ready to sell a comic book collection. I’m Gerald Hogan of Trilogy Comics in Virginia here for About.com to give you some tips of how to do so.
Comic Books are Valued by Their Condition
As the owner of a comic shop for over 30 years, I see and sell both new and old comics every day of the year. I look at and buy collections of older comics almost every single day. Not every collection is the same, they all have their good points and bad points.The first thing you need to look at when looking at your collection is, the condition is everything. It doesn’t matter if the book is 5 years old or 50 years old, a comic could be in good condition or mint condition of any age.
For example, these two books are from the same time period in the 1960s. This particular comic is only in good condition valued at twenty to twenty five dollars versus this comic is in very fine condition and valued at over three hundred dollars but they only came out a few months apart. This comic in particular would be considered very find condition, it’s really nice for the age, it’s got nice sharp corners, there are no creases, no tears, no writing on the comic. Absolutely beautiful comic for something that came out in 1964.This comic would be considered good condition. It came out about just a few months after the other one I held up. In comparison it’s only a 30 to 40 dollar comic even though it’s a good first appearance of a character. So it’s valued 10% of what another comic in the same time period is at better grade.
Know Publication Date to Sell Comic Books
The next thing to consider is when getting ready to sell your comic is how old are they. Comics from the 80’s up to present day mostly have little or no value with few exceptions. Comics in the 70’s, 60’s, 50’s on back have a much larger value and easier to actually sell those. Especially early 60’s and early 40’s comics.
Just for an example, your best friend when figuring out what your comic is worth is the Overstreet Price Guide. It releases every summer for the last 42 years. It list almost every comic in every condition but as I said before, condition is everything. The first thing you should look at in this guide is the four pages on grading and seeing what the condition of your comics are. If you are wrong on grading, your prices will be wrong also.
Know the Subject Matter of the Comic Books
Next you need to keep in mind the subject matter of your comics. Hero comics are the backbone of the comic book business; Superman, Spiderman, X-Men, Batman make up at least 90% of back issue sales. Other books like humor comics and western comics, while they have value aren’t going to bring anything like the money super hero books will bring.
Organize Your Comic Books
Finally, one of the key points on having your books ready to sell is organization. You want them in some type of order so anybody you show them to or if you are going to put them in online auction or take them to a store, is not looking at a jumble of comics. The better the organization, the more likely they are going to be willing to look at all the books.So when you’re ready to sell your collection, keep all of this information in mind and you can check us out on the web at About.com.