Comic price guides?

[TheThan]

So I’m considering selling my box o’ comics that’s been sitting around in my closet collecting dust. I’ve decided to let it go as one large lot. However I want to get a fair price for them so I figure I’d go through the effort of pricing them first and then selling them at a mark down. The problem is that I really don’t know where to go to price them. Back in the day when I was collecting, wizard magazine was what I had always used. But now I’m looking at doing it online since that saves me the hassle of tracking down a price guide and flipping through it.

So I was wondering what are some recommended sites for pricing comics?

Preferably, I’d want one that has images of the comic covers on them so I have a visual confirmation I’m looking at the right comic, but I’ll take what I can get.

In case anyone is interested most of my stuff is marvel from the late 80s through the late 90s (maybe some 2000ish era comics thrown in too, I'll have to look to be sure). I doubt I have any true gems hidden in there, but it’s nice to look anyway.

[ranagrande]

You should check out comicbookrealm.com .

[TheThan]

Thanks for the advice; I’ll be looking into it.
I just cataloged my comics I’ve got about 125 comics the vast majority of which is marvel. I’ve also got a couple binders worth of collectible comic cards (think baseball cards) I’ll probably price and sell. as well as handful of back issues of wizard magazine and some comic shields and cardboard inserts.

Anything I find of particular value I’ll probably sell individually, I might make a trip to the local comic shop and see what they’ll give me for them.
Now I’ve got to go through the process of pricing these things....

[Tyndmyr]

Thanks for the advice; I’ll be looking into it.
I just cataloged my comics I’ve got about 125 comics the vast majority of which is marvel. I’ve also got a couple binders worth of collectible comic cards (think baseball cards) I’ll probably price and sell. as well as handful of back issues of wizard magazine and some comic shields and cardboard inserts.

Unless it was a particularly notable first appearance or a extremely rare alt cover or something, they are probably not valuable in any real sense, and can be sold off at bulk prices or donated. Expect bulk prices to be in the neighborhood of ten cents a copy, if in excellent condition.

90s Marvel comics are the very defintion of not valuable, I'm sorry to say. Most comics stores will simply not take them at all, even if free.

You can probably get a few bucks selling them as a lot to a local comics fan who is interested based on stories, not collector value, but on the order of maybe twenty bucks or so.

[TheThan]

Unless it was a particularly notable first appearance or a extremely rare alt cover or something, they are probably not valuable in any real sense, and can be sold off at bulk prices or donated. Expect bulk prices to be in the neighborhood of ten cents a copy, if in excellent condition.

90s Marvel comics are the very defintion of not valuable, I'm sorry to say. Most comics stores will simply not take them at all, even if free.

You can probably get a few bucks selling them as a lot to a local comics fan who is interested based on stories, not collector value, but on the order of maybe twenty bucks or so.

Yeah I know; it really wasn’t a very good era for collecting comics (hey I was a kid).

The average value of my comics is about $3.00. The total value works out to $457.25. at least according to comicbooksrealm.com. Which is significantly more than I was expecting… actually it’s not bad for 125 comics of that era. The problem as you put it, is that I’m not going to get anything near that price for them.

I could pull out the gems that are worth $10 or more but the point of selling them is to sell the whole lot so I’ll probably end up keeping them but it’s nice to drag them out and flip through them and figure out what’s worth something.

[Tyndmyr]

Yeah I know; it really wasn’t a very good era for collecting comics (hey I was a kid).

The average value of my comics is about $3.00. The total value works out to $457.25. at least according to comicbooksrealm.com. Which is significantly more than I was expecting… actually it’s not bad for 125 comics of that era. The problem as you put it, is that I’m not going to get anything near that price for them.

I could pull out the gems that are worth $10 or more but the point of selling them is to sell the whole lot so I’ll probably end up keeping them but it’s nice to drag them out and flip through them and figure out what’s worth something.

Yeah, that's a sell price. You generally have an artificial floor for sales, because it takes so much effort to sort, bag, board and ship them. If they still have sentimental value and what not, keeping them is certainly not a bad option. After all, if stored well, they're unlikely to lose value, and the stories/enjoyment is probably more important than the money anyway.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by TheThan
In case anyone is interested most of my stuff is marvel from the late 80s through the late 90s....

I've been thinking about doing exactly this, although in my case the collection is from slightly earlier, pretty much the whole span of the 80s, and again mainly Marvel. I've been wondering how much they might be worth and where, exactly, I would go to sell them.

But that said...


Originally Posted by Tyndmyr
Unless it was a particularly notable first appearance or a extremely rare alt cover or something, they are probably not valuable in any real sense, and can be sold off at bulk prices or donated.

This is moderately depressing, but better to know up front than to spend all the time going through them. I've got each one in an individual plastic envelope with cardboard backing, packed in three of those long white cardboard boxes, so they might as well stay where they are.

: /

[TheThan]

oh i totally think it's worth the time to price them at least. lets you know what you've got.

I've got a reprint of action comics 01 (celebrating 50 years of superman) that's worth $40, I was quite surprised. I figured because it's a reprint it'd be worth basically nothing. if i hadn't checked it i wouldn't have learned that so yeah, i think it's worth it.

[Tyndmyr]

oh i totally think it's worth the time to price them at least. lets you know what you've got.

I've got a reprint of action comics 01 (celebrating 50 years of superman) that's worth $40, I was quite surprised. I figured because it's a reprint it'd be worth basically nothing. if i hadn't checked it i wouldn't have learned that so yeah, i think it's worth it.

Some folks find that enjoyable, and like watching them like stocks or something. Can be fun, even if you don't really intend to sell. Other people intentionally speculate on them(usually, buying issue #1s of new comics they think will go big). 'sall what you enjoy. The vast majority of folks with a pile of comics won't get rich off them(I certainly won't, as my collection is almost wholly trades), but as long as you're having fun, who cares?

[TheThan]

Some folks find that enjoyable, and like watching them like stocks or something. Can be fun, even if you don't really intend to sell. Other people intentionally speculate on them(usually, buying issue #1s of new comics they think will go big). 'sall what you enjoy. The vast majority of folks with a pile of comics won't get rich off them(I certainly won't, as my collection is almost wholly trades), but as long as you're having fun, who cares?

oh yeah, i totally agree with you.

If i was to dive into it again, I'd probably just go for trades as well.