How do you know if a comic book is worth anything?

Question

I have some old comic books in different conditions. I took them to a store once and the store said they weren't worth anything, but I saw one sell on eBay for $40. Some of mine are nearly new, some used, some just old. If a store doesn't think a book is valuable, then how can it sell for so much at an auction to someone who hasn't seen it in person?

Answer 1

Yes, you should get a price guide like Overstreet or Wizard. However, there's some more things to consider.

About comic shops... comic shops will have a "buy" list of things they are currently looking for. Usually, these are books that have come out recently, hit big, and there is a high demand for them. Unless an older book is pretty 1)valuable and 2) in demand chances are they won't take anything. The demand part is important. If no one is looking for a title, the store knows they can't resell it.

Here is an important facet of it that most people don't know about- even if you walk into a comic shop with a high value book, it still doesn't guarantee the shop will take it (or any other buyer if no one is looking for it). It can be high value, but if no one is looking for it, it will sit on the store shelves and the amount the shop paid for it has been a "loss" if they can't resell it. I've seen too many people come into a store with a decently expensive book and can't understand "well, it's valuable, why won't you buy it?" Value doesn't equal demand. Practically speaking... you can't just go off of a guide price... if you can't find anyone anywhere willing to give you that price, then you aren't going to get it, period. You have to decide in that situation for yourself what you are willing to let the book go for if you can't get full price for it.

Here is how comic shops make their money on books you take in. They are only going to offer you about 20-25% of what the book is guiding at pricewise in most situations. Then, they turn around and sell the book AT the full guide price. That's where their profit comes from. So that's the 2nd part of seller disappointment... if the store actually wants that book, they are only going to give you a fraction of what the guide is at. Sellers not in the know expect the full price, and they thought they would get full price. Only if you sell the book yourself to another individual (ebay, etc) are you going to be able to set your own price and get all of what you ask for (if the book sells of course).

That's the great thing about ebay... if you think you could get more money, throw it out on ebay. Of course, you want to make sure the cost of listing, etc. is still worth putting it up.You are still subject to the laws of demand like above. If there's not a lot of demand, you might not get the guide price anyway. If there is no demand, you have to think about if it's worth relisting or not.

The reason ebay is good is that there are people out there that are collecting to fill in gaps in their collections, fondly remember a title that might not be in demand, etc... so a issue that's not valuable or not in demand at comic shops can still potentially sell. Of course if you do have an issue that is in demand and has some dollar value to it, if people are trying to outbid each other, that's more competition=more money for you.

Overall, get a price guide and look up your books. If it looks like some of them might have a decent dollar amount depending on condition, then you need to get those books graded. If you know a collector, that's the easiest way. If you don't, you might try and take the books to a comic shop. If they are cool there, the staff can offer you their grading opinion for free. Some stores won't do that... they will charge you to grade the books. Match the books' grade to the price guide and see what you have to work with. Then what you can do is search ebay for those books, find listings for people trying to sell those books and in what conditions, monitor the auctions and see 1)if they sell and 2) what price are they selling at (and see how many people are bidding on them). If you think you can sell them and get what you consider a good price for the effort, go for ebay.

If it turns out that you have books that aren't really worthwhile, most used book store chains will take comics, but they will be in bulk and you might only get a few cents per book, but at least it's something and the comics aren't taking up space.

Answer 2

it really matter how much one's value of comics are, since in most stores the only way something is worth money is how good they sell but one ebay it's how much collecters want it. i dont kno how to sell it to other people that didnt see it but you can try ebay.

Answer 3

You are going to have to put allot of work into studying this subject. You had better love it, or let it go. That IS the difference between this kind of collectible being worthless or not. Truth; you could have a total pile of crap, a few 5-20 dollar finds or a gem or two in the thousands.
But you will spend thousands of dollars in time to find out. Be prepared to be stuck with a pile of crap.

Answer 4

you don't ned to spend 1000s finding out, what a pile of ca@p. The overstree guide will tell you if there worth anything. I think they are about $32 online.

Answer 5

What kind of comic book or books do you have?