Sad but true stories of your comic book collecting

[USArmyParatrooper]

well lets be honest the vast majority of comics are very low items.

Yes, but the vast majority of very cheap comics aren't being sold the internet. Online auctions like Ebay have revolutionized the buying and selling of expensive collectibles. A great deal of the buying and selling is done online now. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if four figure comics have more online activity than person to person.

[dr chimp]

Yes, but the vast majority of very cheap comics aren't being sold the internet. Online auctions like Ebay have revolutionized the buying and selling of expensive collectibles. A great deal of the buying and selling is done online now. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if four figure comics have more online activity than person to person.

of course. but the vast majority of ebay auctions are still runs and single issues selling for very small sums. the number of high end auctions at any one time is miniscule compared to overall number of comics being sold.

[USArmyParatrooper]

of course. but the vast majority of ebay auctions are still runs and single issues selling for very small sums. the number of high end auctions at any one time is miniscule compared to overall number of comics being sold.

There are tens of thousands of comics selling for hundreds of dollars and up at any given time on Ebay alone. You can't just make a blanket statement that comics are "low value items."

[dr chimp]

There are tens of thousands of comics selling for hundreds of dollars and up at any given time on Ebay alone. You can't just make a blanket statement that comics are "low value items."

i am sure cromagnon man knows that! but those big ticket items probably represent > 5% of total number of comics for sale and the point he was making is that when sniping on low value runs you can still win with highest bid but the increments you won with wasnt big enough to count. He's just trying to explain to Jez that her snipe probably actually worked but did not register because it was under the increment needed. Of course that can happen with high ticket items too but for high ticket items you are always going to try and bid as strong as you can afford. with low ticket items you are always going to try and sneak the issues for as little as possible. when you do that you can actually "win" but still lose. thats the point he was making

*cue cromagnonman saying actually dr chimp i was saying that.....*

[USArmyParatrooper]

i am sure cromagnon man knows that! but those big ticket items probably represent > 5% of total number of comics for sale and the point he was making is that when sniping on low value runs you can still win with highest bid but the increments you won with wasnt big enough to count. He's just trying to explain to Jez that her snipe probably actually worked but did not register because it was under the increment needed. Of course that can happen with high ticket items too but for high ticket items you are always going to try and bid as strong as you can afford. with low ticket items you are always going to try and sneak the issues for as little as possible. when you do that you can actually "win" but still lose. thats the point he was making

*cue cromagnonman saying actually dr chimp i was saying that.....*

I already know the point he was making. Incidentally the increments go up dramatically for more expensive comics, so I'm not sure why you'd have less of a chance not to meet the min bid requirement.

[CromagnonMan]

disclaimer: most comics sold on ebay are low value

satisfied now USAP?

[USArmyParatrooper]

disclaimer: most comics sold on ebay are low value

satisfied now USAP?

Yes. Very, thank you.

[dr chimp]

I already know the point he was making. Incidentally the increments go up dramatically for more expensive comics, so I'm not sure why you'd have less of a chance not to meet the min bid requirement.

so if you know the point he was making then you'd understand that "low value items like comics" was referring to small ticket items....as opposed to "high value items like comics"

[pinkfloydsound17]

I have yet to have a real sad story in my collecting career....

But...and this is somewhat sad/upsetting/frustrating.....I always seem to have people unwilling to ship to Canada. It is sad because I have missed out on a number of books I wanted. It is also sad when people quote me something like $16-$20 shipping for one comic, when I can usually get several from anywhere between $5-8. So for those of you who sell, show some love for the northern neighbours eh!?

[USArmyParatrooper]

so if you know the point he was making then you'd understand that "low value items like comics" was referring to small ticket items....as opposed to "high value items like comics"

I can't disagree with a side statement?

[dr chimp]

I can't disagree with a side statement?

if you read his advice again (which i think is very good advice to avoid sad ebay comic book stories) you'll see he isnt saying comics are low value - merely that bidding on low value with a snipe is less successful than for using a snipe for high value comics

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

I have yet to have a real sad story in my collecting career....

But...and this is somewhat sad/upsetting/frustrating.....I always seem to have people unwilling to ship to Canada. It is sad because I have missed out on a number of books I wanted. It is also sad when people quote me something like $16-$20 shipping for one comic, when I can usually get several from anywhere between $5-8. So for those of you who sell, show some love for the northern neighbours eh!?

Same here. I don't have much I can complain about. But yes, being Canadian, it's tough to get the good deals (although I guess we're luckier than some people overseas).

The closest sob story I can come up with is that about ten years ago I was held up at gun-point while walking home. I only had twenty dollars and I counted myself lucky that the two punks didn't kill me. But not long after that someone broke into my apartment (and I wondered if it was the same two punks). They must have gone in and out very quick, because they didn't grab much. Just some money I had sitting out for laundry and a bunch of my CDs. Still those were some of my favourite CDs--almost all my Beatles, Paul McCartney, Cecilia Bartolli CDs. And to this day, I've only replaced about half of those CDs because it's so bitter to buy something I already had before. They didn't grab any of my comics or anything of real value. So I guess I was lucky, but I moved out of my place soon after that.

[rasx]

Losing my Masters of the Universe#1(Marvel) it was the second comic I ever bought.

[CromagnonMan]

if you read his advice again (which i think is very good advice to avoid sad ebay comic book stories) you'll see he isnt saying comics are low value - merely that bidding on low value with a snipe is less successful than for using a snipe for high value comics

exactly, dr chimp!

its kind of a difficult concept to explain through the medium of casual comic forums, but im glad you caught my drift

[Grapeweasel]

There are tens of thousands of comics selling for hundreds of dollars and up at any given time on Ebay alone. You can't just make a blanket statement that comics are "low value items."

There are tens of thousands of comics priced at hundreds of dollars on eBay.

Only a fraction of them are selling at that price.