Expert: Brian G. Philbin - 11/12/2009

Question
hi Brian please bear with me as i am computer illiterate i am 55 yrs young and have saved my comic collection [in my parents basement for over 40 yrs-boxed % bagged] could you give me some advice on what some issues might be worth  and the best way to sell individual issues eg. all star westerns #10 %11 jonah hex #14  lone ranger #1 %giant lone ranger - gold key
skywalds -bravadoes #1 butch cassidy #1 sundance kid#1  bat 181 plus bob hope #108 109 [last issues -self rated 9.6 ]also a number of tv shows number 1 issues eg. daniel boone-rat patrol -garrisons gorillas -wagon train -big valley  secret agent-  many super heroes all [self  rated] graded above 8.5  should i hang on to them -sell them now [if so where]  or wait till after the movies come out      i have researched comics in my spare time and  get mixed reactions and different results from all web sites  could you please point me in the right direction

Answer
Hi, Ian - thanks for your question!  Sorry for the delay, I apparently didn't save my vacation information last time I updated my profile.

Firstly, we all recognize that value is subjective.  Finding the correct audience for your wares, therefore, is paramount.

The "Bible" of pricing is Gemstone's Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide and the next most reliable resource for most information is Comics Buyer's Guide (CBG).  Be aware that you can pick up a copy of Gemstone's Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide in any bookstore (or at least look through it to find information on these books and their values). You may also find an older version of the Overstreet Guide at your local library.  Currently, you can also find a useful price guide in CBG, which has recently switched to magazine format and is very entertaining beyond it's guide.  They don't list every comic every month, so you have to cycle through a number of issues prior to having a complete guide.

There is also an online price guide (though, as with most comics enthusiasts, I prefer Overstreet or Comics Buyer's Guide) at:

http://www.comicspriceguide.com/

There are many ways of finding general comics values - the online site above has the advantage of being online, free and a quick general ballpark for many of the older items listed in determining Market Value.  

Overstreet and Comic Buyer's Guide have greater networks and larger samples for mathematically determining their estimates and are generally more reliable

However, a price guide is, quite simply, a guess at what the current market will bear nationwide at a retail establishment.

You can actually find out what the non-retail value from collector-to-collector is by monitoring eBay.com for a few months and finding a similar item in order to get an idea of what value it might hold to other collectors.

"Market Value", of course, is a price that would not necessarily be expected to be attained in, say, a typical eBay auction.  Prices there are lower because the item in question is being sold without any ability on the buyer's part to pre-screen the item prior to purchase.

Remember that grading can be subjective, which is why third-party graders have come into the marketplace.  One way of improving your skills is to try your hand with E-Bigs, an online grading tool that can provide some visual guidelines to grading your books at:

http://www.e-bigs.net/freetool.php

Be aware that using this tool does not guarantee that you will be able to grade your books without any argument from another collector, but it will certainly provide you with a third-party reasoning for your grade, which you can then refer to when discussing the reasons for your grade.

If you were to decide to have a third party grade your comics (i.e., CGC), they will most likely obtain a considerably higher price in any auction than they would otherwise if the resulting grade is 9.2 or above.

That all said, timing is - indeed - everything and I would be ill-equipped to try to give you advice on that particular front.  

I think that the best way to go forward with these books would be to contact Heritage Auctions (comics.ha.com).  They are extremely reputable and do almost everything for you prior to putting them up for auction.  There is a fee involved, but they will have a better idea of the best time to put them up for auction.

I hope that this has been helpful - let me know if you have any further questions!

Pax, harmonia,

Brian G. Philbin