Buying a Comic Book Collection: The Dos and Don'ts I Use in Negotiations

This time will be a big, fun Marvel Bronze Age comic that come from a recent collection I've bought. But, most importantly, I talk through the techniques and guidelines I use when negotiating buying a comic book collection. There are many different ways, but this is how I typically approach buying a collection.

*** NOTABLE CONTENT IN THIS AND OTHER VIDEOS FROM NERDS ON EARTH ***
Key first appearance of The Punisher, Key first appearance of X-23, buying a comic book collection, Overstreet price guide, FMV, fair market value

*** COMIC BOOK TITLES LIKELY TO BE SEEN IN THIS AND OTHER VIDEOS FROM NERDS ON EARTH ***
Tales of Suspense, Journey into Mystery, Tales to Astonish, Strange Tales, Sub-Mariner, Thor, Sub-Mariner, Avengers, Ms Marvel, The Incredible Hulk

*** NOTABLE CHARACTERS IN THIS AND OTHER VIDEOS FROM NERDS ON EARTH ***
Iron Man, Thor, Thing, Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Fantastic Four, Spider-Woman, Silver Surfer, Black Widow, Captain America, The Thing, Man-Thing, Hulk, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Moon Knight, She-Hulk, Iceman, Doctor Strange, Agatha Harkness, Sub-Mariner, Namor, Ms Marvel, Carol Danvers

***NOTABLE CREATORS***
Stan Lee, Jim Steranko, Steve Ditko, Herb Trimpe, Chris Claremont, Marie Severin, Louis Simonson, John Byrne, Walt Simonson, Roy Thomas, Jack Kirby, Dave Cockrum, Mark Gruenwald

***PUBLISHERS***
Typically Marvel Comics

***ERAS***
Bronze Age mostly this time.

***TOPICS DISCUSSED***
Comics, Comic Books, Unboxing, Grading Comics, Vintage Comics, Collecting Comics, Comic Book Collecting, Variants, Mark Jewelers, Comic Haul, Flea Markets, Antique Shops

*** COMIC BOOK TERMINOLOGY USED ***
first appearance, 1st appearance, 1st app, key issue, first issue, 1st issue, 1st iss, 1st ish, origin, classic cover, iconic cover, newsstand edition, comics bag, spine, spine bend, spine tick, cover crease, reprint, spoiler, death issue, costume, water stain, king-size, special, 2nd print, second printing, raw single, corner box, logo, masthead, 100-Page Super-Spectacular, bag and board, press and clean, CGC, slab

***MISCELLANEOUS***

[quantus]

Might work for some collections -- but for example what if someone has a complete run of X-Men from #100 to #300 or a sweet bronze age run of Amazing Spiderman -- for purposes of this example all perfectly maintained at 9.0 or above ? I'd argue in this case that the seller should try to sell these valuable runs on it's own.

The other I don't understand with your method if you're just going to pay for the few highest keys (and then give the seller peanuts for the remainder of his/her collection) -- why doesn't the seller just cherry pick his/her collection and sell the keys separately?

[camrock]

Very informative! Appreciate the transparency aspect toward the client, no one likes to get ripped off. Keep the videos coming!

[E_GIBSON]

There are a lot of people on ebay who do overpay for comics. They must have a lot of storage space and not value their money as much as I do. It is getting harder to find decent prices on lots of comics and find deals, time invested in searching for deals cannot be recouped either.

[John-etwu]

70% FMV for big keys, 50% fmv for minor keys, filler at 0.25 cents to 0.60 cents a book depending on quality (read popularity) of the series and condition of the fillers.

[Frankofsector]

Congrats to 1000 subscribers. At last!! Good video. Hope you had some nice christmas days.

[northgardencomics]

I appreciate the thoughts and insights. I’ve never bought a collection but would like to someday. I’m still trying to learn more about buying that way before I pull the trigger. If I could get to where I could buy a collection and break even in terms of getting the books I want and having enough to sell to make back my money I’d feel like I was winning.

[comicswatching]

Just found your channel and love it! And love to see someone so organized and routine with how you process your books, can I ask what those types of shelving are called? I can’t seem to find that specific kind, I aspire to have a set up like this one day rather than stacking the boxes directly on top of one another

[robertt]

I think this a good approach, thanks for sharing. How do you value the filler?

[howiemclaughlin]

What channel is the fella that only does 17 cents a comic?

[JJNM]

What happens when every book is a key in 9.0 and above ? How do you approach that type of collection ?