How to get rid of lots of unwanted comics

April 19, 2008 1:21 PM

What's the best way to dispose of those parts of my comics collection I no longer want?

I have rather a large number of comics, collected over many years. Many of them I no longer care for, or were bad purchases to begin with, and I'd like to clear some shelf space. I'm wondering whether I can recoup any money from them by selling them, or if it won't be worth the trouble.

- I'm not a "collector" -- I don't keep things in plastic sleeves, I prefer to buy the trade paperback rather than the original issues, and lots of them were second-hand when I bought them.

- They're eclectic. America, UK, Europe, Japan are all well represented, as are all decades from the 60s to today. They're mainly from the independent/alternative end of the spectrum. Some are quite obscure. Quality varies, but since I want to get rid of them you can guess I don't rate them too highly. Still, you can find interesting things to say about most of them.

What are my options? (I'm in London, UK.) We're probably talking about a 100 or so comics, all formats. I kinda doubt it'd be worth the effort to advertise them individually on eBay, but I could be convinced otherwise. In bundles perhaps? Or am I better off taking it to a local 2nd-hand book/comic exchange? Anyone know what these places pay? (Obviously they have a lot of leverage over someone who've just lugged a crate of books through their door.)

posted by snarfois to sports, hobbies, & recreation (11 comments total)

Pack up a good theme or a run of issues. Post on eBay or whereever.

Another option: gift to a friend/child of friend who may get comix as a result. Sharing is a great way to both discard and spread the love.
posted by sadiehawkinstein at 1:25 PM on April 19 [1 favorite]

Bring them to a shelter or daycare or some other place which has kids and might not have the money to buy too many books.
posted by Planet F at 1:26 PM on April 19

Yeah, give them to a shelter - easy + will make people happy. I just got rid of a small stack this way and while it sounds like yours are worth more than mine were, I checked through some eBay comic listings first and it looked as if single issues and small runs just went for peanuts.
posted by clavicle at 1:31 PM on April 19

If you do sell them on eBay, email my profile with a link, I might be interested ;-)
posted by frosty_hut at 2:54 PM on April 19

Seconding bulk lots on ebay.

If it absolutely won't sell on ebay, at any price, then it's probably time to bin it.
posted by Artw at 4:17 PM on April 19

You might want to take a look at the latest edition of Overstreet. My parents used it to unload some old comics and they actually made some considerable dough, over 1k as I recall.

There's also this site, but I don't know how good or useful it is: comicspriceguide.com
posted by zarah at 5:45 PM on April 19

Your (geographical) location may offer different options/possibilities,.... BUT, I've got around $3000 in series comics (not trade paperbacks) that are all sleeved and boarded and kept in great condition. I've tried selling them on various different occasions (as one lot, or broken up by title) and the best offers I was getting were around 10cents to the dollar. Which means I've held onto them (they are worth more to me) Hopefully someday an opportune situation will come along that will make me feel good about letting go of them. (I'm not especially expecting to get rich from them, but better than 10% would be nice :|
posted by jmnugent at 6:40 PM on April 19

Make them into wallpaper.
posted by bobbyone at 6:41 PM on April 19

This thread might have some useful info.

Some are quite obscure.

Can you clarify what you mean by that, maybe with a couple of examples? I ask because our store deals with a lot of folks trying to sell comics who *think* they have something "quite obscure" but don't really have a good sense of what's out there in large numbers and what isn't.

Basically, if it's only a hundred or so, and you think some might be valuable, it's worth your time to spend an afternoon at eBay and the Comics Price Guide zarah linked to get a sense of what folks are asking, if not getting, for similar issues. Taking them to a couple of local shops (at least two) is another good way to get a sense of how the market values what you want to sell.
posted by mediareport at 6:51 PM on April 19

Comics make cool wrapping paper for presents.
posted by alexei at 8:40 PM on April 19

Thanks for all the suggestions! It'll be a while before I get off my butt about this, but I suspect it'll probably be the giveaway route... (I may have to omit some titles so as not to harm impressionable minds.)

@zarah -- thanks for the price guide suggestions, I will check those first. And I may make a couple of bundles for eBay too...

@mediareport: I suspect it's probably not the valuable type of obscure, more the "hardly anyone reads this" type. But I'll have a look at prices.
posted by snarfois at 1:58 PM on April 20