How do I sell old comics as a batch?

December 7, 2004 8:14 AM

I'm trying to clear up some of my clutter by selling a couple of boxes of comics. There's no Action Comics #1 in the bunch, but several 1st issues and runs from the 70's and 80's, in mostly good condition. I'm currently cataloging them, but does anyone have suggestions of methods and/or a good place to sell them as a batch for cash or credit (so I can get bound reprints or graphic novels)?
Thanks in advance.
posted by jpburns to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (13 answers total)

I don't think anyone will give you much in the way of cash for the comics - there simply isn't a lot of resale value in them. While you might have some luck with eBay, I wouldn't expect much.

Why don't you give them to a local library instead? Comics are very expensive now. Kids aren't able to read them as they once were.
posted by aladfar at 8:30 AM on December 7, 2004

If you just want to sell them right now and don't care about the cash that you get, talk to a local comic book shop owner and see what they'll give you for a lot. Don't expect it to be very much though (probably around 20% - if they're nice, of guide value).

However, if you want to maximize your return, I'd sell them on ebay. Since I have no idea what you have, I can't tell you what you'll get for what you have but since you want to sell them as a batch, list it on ebay with a detailed description of what you have, a few nice sized scans of "typical books" in the collection (or scans of any keys), and an average grade for the books in your collection (such as NM, Fine, Good, etc). If you don't know a lot about grading comics, then just put up a bunch of large, clear scans of a bunch of books in the collection.

Now, there are books from the 70's and 80's that are worth money so I would get a copy of the Overstreet Price Guide to make sure that you don't have, say an X-Men #94 in NM lying around. Any high dollar book should be sold seperately to maximize monetary return.


I don't think anyone will give you much in the way of cash for the comics - there simply isn't a lot of resale value in them. While you might have some luck with eBay, I wouldn't expect much.

This isn't entirely true. But since we don't know what you have, we can't tell you if you have anything worth money. A lot of bronze and copper age books (from the 70-80's) aren't worth much but some are (IE multiple thousands of dollars). It would be better to either post a list here or check out the overstreet to determine what you really have.
posted by Stynxno at 8:37 AM on December 7, 2004

also, a comic book shop would give you a hell of a lot more in credit than in cash.
posted by Stynxno at 8:42 AM on December 7, 2004

You should at least split it up by comic. What's the chance that someone who wants a run you do have also wants the other runs you have?
posted by smackfu at 8:46 AM on December 7, 2004

mycomicshop.com has several options, including mailing them all to their warehouse. You'll probably get the least amount of money this way, but at least you can get rid of them all at once.

Otherwise, try what others have said. Take them up to your local shop and see what they'll buy/give credit for. Most likely, they won't buy everything, and just buy what they need.
posted by misterioso at 9:56 AM on December 7, 2004

I found myself in a similar situation recently. I sat down, made a quick catalog of my comics, and discussed it with local comic book stores. Most of them were completely uninterested; a couple wanted to cherry-pick a few gems from the collection, but that was it. I have been unable to sell the collection as a whole, or even a large chunk of it. A listing on craigslist went nowhere.

I perused ebay and decided that the cost and trouble of putting together a good listing would probably be greater than the amount of money I'd be able to make, judging from the returns on finished auctions.
posted by adamrice at 10:02 AM on December 7, 2004

For every one comic that's "worth" something, there are 100 that aren't worth cover price. Look in the yellow pages for comic books and start shopping them around. After 2 or 3 offers you'll have an idea of what you've got. I wouldn't spend any more time than that. 70s & 80s comics are pretty common as that's when the idea of collecting became the mindset instead of disposable entertainment, which is what they should be.

DO NOT shop them over the phone. As a former comic shop employee, there was nothing I hated more...."I have these comics, how much would you pay for them? They're in mint condition." Invariably, they'd all be reprints in crap condition. I know a guy in San Francisco that pays $.25/lb. (less if they're in bags and boards.) All the comics you see on sale in a store? There's a warehouse or basement with AT LEAST twice as many comics collecting dust in storage.

My advice - give them to a children's home or hospital. You got your enjoyment out of them years ago. Spread it around.
posted by DonnieSticks at 10:24 AM on December 7, 2004

...talk to a local comic book shop owner and see what they'll give you for a lot. Don't expect it to be very much though (probably around 20% - if they're nice, of guide value).

However, if you want to maximize your return, I'd sell them on ebay.
posted by Stynxno at 8:37 AM PST on December 7

I'll second that. I used to know a long-term comic shop owner, and he told me he pays next to nothing when he buys out collections "by the box." I think usually when you sell comics by the box or by the collection, you're also making it obvious that you want to sell fairly quickly and with no hassles, causing people to offer you less money.

also, a comic book shop would give you a hell of a lot more in credit than in cash.
posted by Stynxno at 8:42 AM PST on December 7

You should at least split it up by comic. What's the chance that someone who wants a run you do have also wants the other runs you have?
posted by smackfu at 8:46 AM PST on December 7

Good tips too.

Also, in the '80s, comic "speculating" became popular for a while, with people sitting on caches of comics, waiting for them to become more valuable. From what I've read, this did much more to hurt the collector's prices of comics than help it.

Anyway, you might have some reasonably valuable stuff in there, so don't assume otherwise.

ComicsFilter! I ♥.
posted by Shane at 10:38 AM on December 7, 2004

By the way, I occasionally shop on eBay for one or two comics to fill blanks in complete runs I collected in the '70s or '80s (usually runs of artists or authors, not necessarilly books). I've paid $5-$10 for a single comic whose book value was nowhere near that, just 'cuz, ya know, it was the one I needed. I've also blown $20 on a run of comics just to get the one ish I needed.

I've only done this a few times, but the point is that there's always someone doing the same thing.

So eBay is often a damn good option.

Or give them to charity/library/etc ... or to me ;-)
posted by Shane at 10:43 AM on December 7, 2004

I'm in the same boat. I have eight boxes (80's & 90's era) I'm trying to get rid of. I've considered eBay, but A) it is rather cumbersome to use. 2) I have never sold anything there before... so I have no rating... which will translate into few people wanting to buy from me. And d) from all the bad I've heard about eBay (accounts getting hijacked, etc.) I am reticent.

Maybe I'll do the donation thing - library, hospital... or to Shane.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 12:48 PM on December 7, 2004

you know, if you guys with comics just posted a list of what you had to metafilter, i bet some people might jump on it.

also, if you want to donate, comics4kids.org
posted by Stynxno at 4:06 PM on December 7, 2004

I'm a little late, but I'll weigh in anyway.

The comic book industry is really suffering through a downturn, so you're going to have a hard time selling your books. Back issues make up a very tiny percentage of the typical comic book store's sales these days, so store owners just aren't buying them. Back when I started collecting in the early 1980s (the era you seem to be describing), a typical store's back issue sales made up about half their revenue or more. These days they're typically 10% or less. Store owners don't see the need to restock when they are sitting on piles of unsold back issues already.

The exception would be older books than you describe; my local shop typically won't even offer any cash for a book published after 1970 or so, unless it's something like X-men 94, or rare underground comix, or hard to find independents. You may have better luck trading for store credit to spend on graphic novels, but the back issue market is so soft that I'd bet most of your back issues would trade for less than a graphic novel reprinting them.

There are some gems from the era you describe, though... You can get a pretty good idea of the real world value of your comics by picking out a handful and doing a search through the completed auctions on eBay. You'll be shocked that most are worthless, though.

To sell them at maximum cash price, eBay is the best option, but most work-intensive. I have a few boxes of comics in the basement that I'd like to sell, but it's a ton of work. I mean, most back issues aren't even worth the time it takes to make a list these days. If you are motivated, go through your books and divide them into groups that would fit together in some way (issues of the same title, issues with the same artist, issues with the same character, unusual theme covers, etc.). Divide further until you get lots of one to two dozen books, perhaps three or four dozen, tops, just so they're easily and inexpensively shipped via Media Mail, and list them. It's easier to get $100 by selling comics in 10 $10 chunks than it is in 1 $100 chunk.

Probably the easiest way to turn them into cash would be to sell them at a yard sale or a flea market. If you're lucky, someone will come along and offer to take them all for a fixed price (probably 10-25 cents a book). Back in the day, you might be able to set up a table at a local comic book convention, but do they even have those these days?

It's funny, having come up in the era where collectors started to become mindful of value of back issues and of careful preservation of condition, I now buy comics and read them in the bathtub and throw them on the floor.
posted by MegoSteve at 5:30 PM on December 7, 2004

MetaComicsTradeFilter might just be an übercool idea.

You know, it's funny, even if you read comics regularly but not excessively, there's a slow procession, a subtle process in which you first realize you, um, really have quite a few boxes ... then before you know it you have a closet full of stacked cardboard comics-bins and you just know you have to weed though them until the massive clutter is something approaching managable. How do collections become so big so (seemingly) fast?
posted by Shane at 7:25 PM on December 7, 2004