The Chu Forums

ouch.


oops, i meant owned.

it was inevitable... with the digital age, people don't really bother with print issues anymore. the old generation is dying out and the new gen of comic book readers just buy digital copies.

shouldn't that make the physical copies worth MORE?

I already knew that. Same goes with hockey cards.

At least with my old comics I bought them for 25 cents. plus packs of hockey cards too.

Even when I jumped back into it, I noticed that you could buy back issues for $1 at comic stores (POW). And if you were looking for large lots of 3-10 year old comics, you could get them even cheaper, and that's including shipping.

So I never paid full cover price for the comics ($4) b/c they're worth 25% and less after a few years. There could be a few "key issues" that might pop up, but those drop in price too as the years go by.

With comics and cards, if you have anything that's of real value, you have to get it graded. If you get a high grade, you can be guaranteed to get full market value.


The misconception is that just because it's old, it's worth something. Pavel Bure's rookie card is 20 years old. How much would you pay for it? Go even older. Stan Smyl's RC is 30 years old. Even older, Dennis Kearns. Who? Exactly.

First there's condition, then there has to be a demand.

Jai bought an ungraded Gretzky rookie card for $120 (Can't remember exactly) Wasn't the greatest condition, but it was still a Gretzky. So what's a no name scrub worth in the same condition? Not much. Even if it was in perfect mint condition. $5?

Ebay has also caused a huge drop in re-sale value for collectibles because it's so readily available.

Suppose you have something rare that sells on ebay for crazy money. All of a sudden, everyone else who has one too decides to sell it too to "rake it in". Little do they know by doing that, they flood the market, even if only a handful pop up. You go from 1 showing up on ebay in the last 10 years, to 5 showing up in 10 days. Doesn't seem that rare any more. But people don't understand marketing.

If you got something for $1, then you see it being sold for $200, but then it drops to $20 b/c the market gets flooded. When would you sell it? Some people will sell it at $20. But they don't realize that if they wait a year, they'll be able to sell it back up at $100. Obviously it depends on what it is, so you have to know the market. But since you bought it for $1, you're not out much at all, and if you don't need $20 right away, why not wait?

yeah i think there's this thing called supply and demand. someone should write a book on it.

Plus he sold them b/c he was desperate to sell. Also it seems like he sold them as one giant lot, so he is going to get less return.

Also, I don't make the mistake in thinking that my hobby is an investment. If you are trying to do as an investment, you have to keep track of it.

It's like thinking 40 years ago that stocks of Woodward's is only going to go up, so I'm going to buy some and then sell it in 40 years where it'll be worth a fortune.

hay gaiz, sum1 shud envezt in a companie kalld appul

or woodward's.
that reminds me, i should buy some stocks.