Apathetic? Who Cares?

I remember going to flea markets as a kid.  It seemed to me that people haggled more back then.

"That comic there is $.25" (Yes, I am old enough to remember $.25 comics)

"Will you take $.10?  It's all I have. (Little liar that I was, I had around $1.50 but still had other stands to visit)

"I don't know, how much is it worth actually? (I was known at the flea markets as "The kid with the pricing guide".  Word spread quick and far)

"I'm not sure, I haven't looked it up."  (Liar...Liar...Liar)

"I'm going to stick with $.25 on that."

"I only have $.10. (LIAR!)

"OK, kid.  I'll give it to you for $.10"

"Thank you so much!"  (I still had $1.40 and 10 more stands to go!)

"Now that you own it, what's it really worth?"

"I really don't know.  I just liked the cover." (It's a wonder anyone trusted me...Hey, I was a kid.  Tell me you didn't fib a little now and then.)

That comic is today one of the most controversial titles in many different media.  It was Uncle Tom's Cabin and that particular comic, in the condition it was in, appraised for around $700 at that point in time.  I still have it today...bagged and boarded.

The flea markets of today, however, don't haggle as much.  It seems like they don't care.  Has the medium saturated the market so bad that people take them for granted or is it still a type of antique that still holds little value for people?

On Sunday I walked up to a booth and looked in a box where dozens of old Archie Comics lay strewn all over.  Many were in decent condition, 5 were approaching VG and then there were others that were coverless.

"How much are your comics?"

"$2.00 apiece."

They weren't worth haggling over, honestly.  $2 for a possible VG and also for a coverless?  Pure apathy on the sellers part.  He barely even looked my way when I flipped through them.

I went to another stand.

"How much are your comics?"

"I have them sorted out.  That pile is $20 for all of them, but I'll take $10."

Am I the world's best silent haggler or did he just cut his price in half without a word?  I looked through the stacks.  Wow.  Old Action Comics in rough condition, a run of 20 Teen Titans comics all looking like they had been previously bagged and boarded, and then there were the other sets that had comics like Checkmate (which I like but are worth little).  I spent $35 on 60 comics valued at over $300.  It's a deal for me, but it was caused by apathy on the part of the buyer.

What happened between my childhood and now?  How did people go from haggling to cutting the price before I even ask?   It has to be apathy.  Please understand, I'm not criticizing the seller, I just struggle to understand how in a world soaked with superheroes in movies, magazines, cartoons, and whatnot, that people don't mind searching the web for a price for fine china but not a comic book.  (Please don't criticize my run-on sentences, I get excited about this kind of thing and punctuation goes out the window.)

You see, what I didn't tell you is that the same person selling old Archie Comics for $2 apiece was haggling with a woman over a lamp he had for sale.  It had a high price tag and he wasn't budging. (It could have been worth $1,000, I had no clue.  I'm apathetic towards lamps, I guess)  I guess he really wasn't haggling then, was he?  But why stick to your guns on a high priced lamp and leave old comics out in a box in the sun?  I'm convinced it's apathy.  It can't be lack of knowledge.

There are dozens of books, websites, magazines, blogs, you name it, that can give you prices on comics.  You can't walk into a book store without tripping over a pricing guide of some kind.  So, it can't be knowledge.  My bet is that he looked up the price of that lamp and that's why he was sticking to it.  To me it's like opening up a retail store and marking some things at the suggested retail price and just guessing on other items.  (That chair is $250, that desk though...I don't know...maybe $50?)

The other person, come to find out, bought comics to flip them (no pun intended) and, as long as he made a profit, he was happy.  If he can do that marking things down, all the better.  It works for me and for him.  Strange as it may seem, however, I feel bad taking advantage of people when I have a good idea of the value.  But it can't go two ways, right?  If they mark them as the price they should go for I pay more.  If they mark it well below the price it should go for, I pay less.  It's an odd conundrum.  I would never cheat a client who brought me a box of books to sell by paying them far below market value, but at the flea market I do it every weekend.  (I guess I'm two-faced AND a liar.  Mom would be disappointed.)

In both cases I offered to help by giving them an idea as to what they may sell for if I could just look them over.  I'd do it for nothing.  Neither took me up on my offer.  I guess I should just leave it at the fact that they're happy with the pricing and I should be happy too.  I'll try to behave more appropriately.

The bottom line is this:  As a seller and buyer know what your comics are worth.  Know how to price them, know when to buy, when to sell, and when to walk away.  Research is just a click away at our personal favorite www. comicbookrealm.com.  Tell them The Comic Whisperer sent you.

Did You Tell Me To Go To Shell?

It's an interesting argument that is going on nowadays.  What appraiser should be used for accurate grading and do you want your appraised comic in a Shell that, if opened, voids the appraisal?  I have heard, and read, both sides of the argument and needed to take a stand on the shell, the large appraisal companies, and what those same companies are doing to the comic industry.

First, I have to praise Metropolis Comics and Collectibles.  When I do a search on "comic appraising" or "comic appraisals",  Metropolis Comics and Collectibles is the first to come up.  That is either incredible search engine optimization (SEO) management or it's just that so many searches are made on them it puts them near the top.  My vote is that they do some incredible SEO management.  Either way, my hat is off to Metropolis Comics and Collectibles.  I'd like to go there just to tip my hat in person.

The funny thing is that the big appraisal houses aren't even on the first page of the search.  Neither is the Comic Whisperer, mind you, but we don't even have a site up yet.

Now, let's talk numbers really quick, they will be used to prove a point:

In order for CGC to do their "Modern" service they estimate turnaround time at 20 business days.  BUT their current turnaround time, according to their website, is 55 business days.

Cost?  $18 per book, with the book only being allowed to have an estimated value of $200.

For the "Modern Fast Track" service the estimated turnaround time is 10 business days.  BUT their current turnaround time, according to their website, is 25 business days.

Cost?  $28 per book, again with the maximum value of $200.

So, let me see if I get this right, their current turnaround time for the "Fast Track" is LONGER than their estimated turnaround time for the "Modern" service of 20 business days, but you are paying $10 more per book.

Don't forget the $5 "handling fee" per invoice that applies to all grading tiers.

Let's do some more math.  CGC claims to have over 100,000 comics submitted to them per year.

If we make the assumption that they don't work on weekends (which you can bet on) we can estimate that they work approximately 22 business days per month.  22 x 12 is 264 working days per year.  BUT WAIT!  Don't forget holidays.  Companies offer between 10 and 17 holidays per year.  Let's go with 10.  264-10=254 working days per year.  Check my math.

So, we take 100,000 comics divided by 254 days per year and we get...um...394 (actually 393.7) comics going through their door per business day.

Assuming an 8 hour work day you have 394 divided by 8 and we get...hmmm...49 (49.25 actually) comics being graded per hour.  Keep in mind that each comic goes through 3 different people looking at it before being graded.  So, let's say your comic gets some incredible levels of attention and you have 3 people taking a total of 1 hour to look at it.  That's 147 people looking at 1 comic per hour (49 comics per hour times 3 people doing the grading).  How do they pay for all that?  Wait, they don't...you do.

Although I could go into the other big house, it's a lot of the same, just different prices.

So, after they're done, they put your comic is a custom designed shell with all sorts of gadgets and doohickeys that keep it from being opened.  You pay for that too.  But should you do a shell at all?  Here are the two side of the argument:

TO SHELL:  If you are submitting a comic that you intend to sell there is no better way to confirm value than to have it appraised and have it in a shell with the grading right on it.  To make it even better, as long as the seal isn't broken the appraisal will always be considered accurate.  If I then look in a pricing guide I can make the grade to a price and put it up for sale.  Another advantage is preservation.  If I have a $5,000 comic and I don't want anything to happen to it, the shell is an excellent way to preserve your comic.  There is no doubt that for the person selling the comic or preserving a comic, this may be a good choice.

NOT TO SHELL:  If you're a comic collector like me, you read your comics.  You enjoy them.  It's why you bought it in the first place.  You may even go so far as to bag and board them in a quality bag with a quality board.  You then keep them in a box in a dry cool place.  I can pull out a comic from 20 years ago that I bagged and boarded and it will be in the same shape it was when I got it and without a shell.  The key part?  I can read it, put it back in, and not have to pay to get it reappraised.  I know I didn't damage it, and I know the value didn't change, so why all the fuss?  If I really want to sell them, non-shelled books take top dollar all the time on buyer boards, eBay, etc.

The choice is yours and there are advantages either way, but there is a catch that not many are aware of...so let me fill you in.

The big comic appraising houses can sway the marketplace.  In one of my previous posts I talked about my own test with the two big houses where the same comic was was graded different and the grades were 1.0 full point apart (see my previous post Comic Book Appraising...Why People Need To Think Twice About Who Does The Appraising).

So, let's use the example from that blog...the same comic came back from one appraisal house at a 7.2,  the same comic came back from the second appraisal house at a grade of 8.4.  A difference of 1.2 points.  That is over a 10% difference on the 10 point grading scale.

But how could that effect the industry?  By swaying the prices garnered by those comics and possibly devaluating them.

Let's look at Captain America #100.  According to Comic Book Realm, our favorite pricing site, that comic at an 8.4 (or VF+) is valued at $900.  But if you go by the grading of 7.2 (or F/VF) you get a value of $550.  That's a difference of $350 that's a remarkable 38% difference!  And, take my word for this, if we are talking Action Comics #1, the price difference is closer to $1,100,000.  Ouch!

So, when these comics are let go into the marketplace they can swing pricing dramatically and overvalue or undervalue comics.  Think of it this way.  If you and one other person showed up for auction, and the same comic (but two copies) went up for sale would you rather buy the 8.4 or the 7.2?  Would you rather be the seller for the 8.4 or the 7.2?

Will it make a sweeping change that will destroy the industry?  No. Is the pricing and turnaround time for 2 different ratings on the same comic out of hand?  Sure it is.  Metropolis Comics and Collectibles offers to give your comic the once over and give an estimated appraisal for FREE.  How far off would it be from the big houses, not much.

But the fault for all of this lies with the sellers and buyers.  Yes, those of you who INSIST on a shelled, big appraisal house, grading.  I was in a pawn shop recently and I asked if he carried comic books.  He said that he didn't and, if he did, he would insist on grading from CGC.  It's a shame really.

Am I saying the big houses are not worth it or they should step aside for your hometown appraisers?  No, there are needs that are met thoroughly and easily by them.  Should they be the only grades worth working with?  Not when they can be separated by 1.2 they're not.