[Batman]

So, I have a little bit of a dilemma. I've been going through my comic books with the intention of finding a few issues that might be worth a little something and taking them down to the comic book shop and getting a little extra cash to help us through the lean times.

I was thinking that I might be able to find four or five hundred dollars worth, and maybe get a couple hundred from the dealer, so he can have his mark-up. Missing out on a couple hundred dollars by selling to a dealer seemed worthwhile versus selling to collectors to try to get the full value and having to deal with the hassle of posting auctions and mailing them and waiting for the money to arrive, etc.

Well, after I went through my collection and skimmed off the cream of issues worth over $10, I have about $1500 worth of comics. I feel a lot less sanguine about sharing half of that with a dealer just to avoid hassle and delay. But on the other hand, none of my comics are graded and I don't have the money to lay out to get them graded before I sell them.

So what do you all think? Should I just take them to the dealer and take the hit and get it over with? Or try to sell them online ungraded? People should be able to judge the condition of the book based on the picture, right? Or sell a few ungraded and use part of the proceeds to grade the rest?

[OpTard]

people who collect graded books are fags.

put em on ebay. you'll get bids from reasonable human beings who are just looking for some good comics.

[Beer Baron]

I'd put them up for sale on ebay if I were you. You'll at least get more money from some random people than the local comic store jerk. Even though you pulled $1500 worth, when it comes to stuff of this nature, I always follow the adage that my dad used to tell me. "It's only worth as much as someone else will buy it." Screw the comic dude(not that way, though he may be interested if you offer him a 1 liter Mr. Pibb and a jumbo bag of Funyuns. But that's neither here, nor there.) and put them up on ebay. Worst case scenario is that they aren't sold. And if you don't want them being sold for cheap set the least ammount that you want it sold at. Ebay is the way of the future.

[Lucky]

I can't stand ebay because I can't deal with the hassle. But I don't know what the deal on those ebay brokers is. One of them opened up recently down the block from me and I have a lot of old baseball cards and trains worth a LOT of money just taking damage in my mother's basement. So I've been debating checking that out. But truthfully I'll probably just head to a dealer and deal with him screwing me because I'm lazy.

So yeah, based on your laziness I'd check out a broker if you don't want to do the work and see if his cut is less than the dealer's.

[Beer Baron]

The broker does what Keener's character did in the 40 year old virgin. Basically they sell your stuff for you on ebay. They have "power ratings" that buyers jerk off over, and then they take a percentage of your item if it sells. It really doesn't take that long to set up a paypal account to be verified so you can accept other people's money. True, it does take time, especially if you take into account of taking the pictures of your item, writing a description of it, etc. But I'd rather do that than hand it off to the local dude at the collectible store. Besides, your customer base expands into the billions on ebay/other auction sites from people around the world. I've sold things to people in the states and in europe before. Sometimes it's a hassle to get everything to the post office.

[Lucky]

Yeah, I think packing and shipping would drive me more insane than taking pictures, setting up the account, and posting the auctions.

[Beer Baron]

Take it from me, it is a pain in the ass sometimes. I actually have sat on items that were won for a few extra days until I shipped them out to the winners. Though, I will say if you do plan to post them on ebay, only accept Money Orders or Checks. I know Paypal is all the rage, but they're douches that take their percentages. Plus it costs a certain amount to funnel that into your checking account. Money Orders are pretty much fraud proof, as they are guaran-damn-teed by the Postal Service to be always paid. Checks are tougher, only because you may get the occasional bad check. But the way to deal with that is to try and cash before you send the item. If you sell porn, paypal cannot be used. I know this cause I sold a bunch of my buddy's dvds that he left at my apartment for waaaay too long. I gave him a chance to pick them up, but I made a couple of hundred off them. Booyah!

[Batman]

Thanks for the perspectives guys.

I think what I'll do is set reserves for them about half again as much as I think I can get from the store guy. Then whatever ones don't sell, I can still take in to the store. So the extra I'm asking for in the reserve accounts for any extra hassle and time.

And hell, I'm unemployed. What have I got more of than time?

[Batman]

Hey, I just started up a CCL store to sell off my stuff. Check it out: Bronze Age Bargains

(Say, Pun, do you get any kind of Ponzi-scheme kickback since you first recommended CCL to me months ago?)