What is the best way to sell comic books from the 1970s? My husband has a whole bunch he wants to sell and I don't want to just give them away if some may have value. Thank you.
By Mary Ross from Tucson, AZ
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Our son asked us to sell his Superman comic book collection. He had over 1,000 comic books and they were all sold on the eBay website.
You won't get top buck for them, but you can get rid of them.
With over 1,000 comic books to sell, they were sold in large lots, and not individually.
The best way to sell comic books is on eBay. Things to keep in mind.
1. Some issues are more valuable than others, and it's not always the early issues. For example, the first appearance of a popular character is very valuable. So you want to get a price guide. Get this years Overstreet Comic Book price guide from the library. So if your husband has a Uncanny X-men 120 thru 200... Look at those issues in the price guide. Identify issues that are worth more. You may want to sell some key issues separately.
2. Search eBay. You can search for a comic by it's number and see what it sold for on eBay. For example, type in "Uncanny X-men 166". Be sure to look at completed auctions as well as current ones.
3. If comics are not likely to sell for more than $10 individually, then group then in at least 10 issues lots, the same title, in order. So X-men 140 true 150 in one lot.
4. Learn about grading. The grade is the condition that the comic is in. Comics are graded on a well established and relatively simple guidelines. Learn how to grade, you will need to post this in the auction. You don't need to be an expert to grade and sell comics, just be sure to state in your auctions that you are not an expert grader.
5. Be ready to ship comics. You will need good boxes or packaging material. You can use recycled cardboard for this, but make sure that when you ship comics that they remain dry and cannot be bent during shipping.
If you don't want to sell your comics individually or in small lots, you can sell collections by title or the whole lot at once. Make sure to get the price guide from the library so you can get a value on your collection. Keep in mind, that most buyers will be dealers and will try to buy your collection for less than guide. A good sale price, IMO, would be 50% of guide for a collection, assuming you have some popular titles.
The popular and potentially valuable titles from the 70s are super hero titles. Fantastic Four, Batman, X-men, Superman, etc...
Start with research! Comic books are fun to sell!
Agree with the other posters about putting them on eBay; check around there first to see if there are others that have sold there that are like yours so you get a realistic feel for what you'd like to get for them.
You may want to bundle up some as lots and list the others individually if your research shows their value is higher.
As someone else also noted, you won't likely get top dollar--good rule of thumb is that most used items on eBay generally sell for about 33% of the retail.
But, on eBay--you just never know. Something you think should command a lot of $$$ bids to next to nothing--and the things you think are valueless can bid high.
If you're putting them on as an auction, rather than a Buy It Now, never list the opening bid for less than you're willing to accept for it.
Would also advise AGAINST taking them to a comics dealer, as they'll lowball you and give you maybe 25% ( or less) of what they're worth so they make a good markup at resale.
Also remember when selling on eBay that there are listing and closing fees, on a scale dependent upon selling price. They really are not much, but look into what they are before going ahead with it.
If paying fees is something you don't want to do--there's always Craigslist. It's fee-free but you have to deal with face-to-face, people in your home ( or a neutral public place) and really need to do your research first because you'll have to figure a firm asking price.
Source: have sold on eBay for five years+ ( and occasionally on Craigslist)
Go to BONNETTS.com-They are local, but will price you over the phone or internet. It's a great family business that has been in one spot for three generations!
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