From: Stewart Brower <[s--w] at [theshop.net]>
Subject: [COLUMN] In The Bins (2) - A Little Knowledge...
Date: Sun, 29 Sep 96 23:19:00 GMT
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.info

In the Bins (2) -- A Little Knowledge...

by Stewart Brower, Copyright 1996.


One thing about shopping for comics from non-collecting types: It
takes all kinds.

Let me tell you about one experience I had with a non-collector. Let's
call her Seven. (That's not her real name BTW. But in order to protect
the innocent and such...)

Seven spent a great deal of time in the library where my wife Mandy
(also not her name; my wife's name is Molly) used to work, and so the
two became acquainted. Mandy found out that Seven had some comics, and
had collected primarily during the late 60s-early 70s. Silver Age
titles, many of them titles that I currently am tracking down. Lots of
DC Kirby and war comics. Some early Legion and JLA. Good stuff, it
sounded like, and she was wanting to sell for cash. So I asked Mandy
to set up an appointment with Seven for me to go through her
collection and possibly make her an offer.

A beautiful Saturday morning in March, we met at Seven's house. I
introduced myself as Steve (not my real name) and we went inside. She
had spread out her comics all over the living room, in no particular
order, and I pored over them while Mandy and Seven talked.

By any collectors' standards, these were *not* great books. Rolled
spines. Yellowed pages. Tears and stains. Crayon marks her brother had
made. Rusting staples. Torn or missing covers.

I selected about thirty books in Fair to Good condition. Some Justice
League, Legion, and some Kirby Fourth World titles. And I tried to
warn her.

"It's always kind of hard to make that opening bid--I don't want to
insult you or anything," I said.

"Don't worry, Steve. You won't insult me."

And then I insulted her. I offered her just under a dollar per book. I
felt that it was an appropriate opening bid on comics that could only
have value as reading copies. This was an opening bid -- I assumed she
would have a counter offer. She didn't.

"I just don't think we're going to come to an agreement here," she
said.

She was very kind about it, but it was obvious that she thought I was
trying to pull a fast one. She had checked a friend's Overstreet on
some of her titles and had convinced herself they were worth quite a
bit more. Because she didn't know enough about the market to know how
condition or resale v. guide price would factor into the equation. And
it wasn't for me to try and educate her on the matter. Because
everyone knows the "worth" of their own books -- these comics meant
more to her than a dollar apiece, and I can respect that. Even if only
for the memories they hold, comics are often worth more to the
collector than guide price.

We parted on friendly terms, but the experience reminded me that there
are people out there who have a box of their kids' comics in the
attic, aged and covered in dust, who will go to the store, buy the
latest Wizard, and convince themselves the comics are worth a fortune.
"Fair value" is determined by how much a buyer is willing to pay, and
a seller is willing to accept; sometimes, as a collector, you clash
with someone on the idea of fair value.  While you hate to crush
someone's idea of retiring on the proceeds of their crumbling,
yellowed pile of near and dear four-color pulp, the truth of the
matter is that there aren't a lot of layman's collections out there
that are worth more than was spent on them--except in their owner's
heart.

So, herewith are some tips on dealing with the non-collector:

1.  "I won't be able to give you what they're worth." Always a good
opening. Pretty much always true, and it serves to warn the seller
that you as buyer might not be able to give the seller what they want.
Also, it faces up, in a more subtle way, to the fact that the seller
should have some idea of what they are "worth" to them.

2. Have seller make the opening bid. This is far more direct than #1,
and also a heckuva lot less likely to happen. I would just about
always make this offer to the non-collector, in hopes that they might
have done a little research and figured out what their comics rate on
the market. Probably, they won't have done this, but you never can
tell. It can also provide the prospective buyer a chance to say,
"Whoa. Sorry, but that's too steep for me," and just walk away.

3. Provide grading and price guides to the seller. *Very risky!* In
fact, I would only do this with non-collectors I know well. Case in
point, a recent visit from a college bud, Lyle (his real name), became
a real education for the both of us. He had some comics from the past
several years that he needed to unload before making the big sojourn
to his new home in Albuquerque. He passed through Oklahoma City, spent
a night, and in the morning we reviewed his collection so I could make
him an offer. We looked the stuff up in a couple of price guides I
had, and I could read the surprise and dismay in his expression when
he discovered that most of his books were pricing out at under cover.
But then we found his Sandman #1-20 or so and the situation turned. I
couldn't give him as much for that title as he would be able to get on
down the road from another collector, and so I recommended that he
hold on to them for awhile longer. I could only have been this frank
with a friend.

Price guides are risky because they could mislead a non-collector into
thinking his or her books are worth substantially more than they
actually are. Grading guides vary in their usefulness, especially in
how often they leave loopholes of subjectivity to be exploited. I
would never just hand these over to a non-collector and hope they use
them correctly. Nor could I embarrass them by trying to explain every
nuance of comic pricing to them. That kind of embarrassment is best
saved for old close friends.

***

Thanks for listening again. Special thanks to Elmo for the words of
encouragement. Also a big howdy to Eddie Mitchell, whom I hope to see
writing a "bargain bins" review column soon. I'm sure you all feel
likewise.

I apologize for this column running so late. Chalk it up to my ISP
changing out newservers -- and don't even get me started about the
University's problems. Every other week from here on out, I promise!

I make mention of price guides in this column. A touchy subject, by
recent traffic on RACMisc. I hope to do a little more research and
write up a column on them soon. Keep watching for it. But next time
around, some thoughts on RACMarketplace and dealing in comics on the
'net.

Hope to see you in the bins!

Stewart Brower
[s--w] at [theshop.net]

This column was posted to RACInfo, RACMisc, and RACMarketplace.