I Purchased my 1st Over street price guide 1982 with some money for my 14th b-day I had already been spending every spare penny on comics for the last few years and now realized I could find out what they are worth! For years afterwards when I bought the next one I would curl up on the couch and compare it to last years totally geeky but very exciting! This however quite sadly is no more.The price guide now is basically a reference for 1st app's artists dates and such the prices really are a joke.The overstreet allegedly gathers info from dealers,stores shows, the internet and factors everything in.Well lets be real with the exception of whatever is hot at the moment(these days driven by whatever movie is coming out) and a few keys nothing seels for anywhere near guide! I mean especially on e-bay how often do you get more than half of guide? and trade shows at least the ones in the N.E. area where I am are ridiculus! $25 comics old for $10 and the vultures trying to get them even cheaper.There is no such thing as a real #1 anymore amongst the major publishers as they just keep restarting titles and creating variants and as far as 1st app's go well Marvel and DC would actually have to be creating new characters for that.It is sad to see silver age comics going for pennies on the dollar while a year old book like Locke and key #1 goes for $50 but my point is how do they justify the prices going up? well their answer is CGC of course if people keep overpaying for comics slabbed at 9.4 or better it brings up the market they will say but this is pure gouging.Over street sold out to CGC when they lowered thier NM from the 9.4 it had been to 9.2 as it made a 9.4 seem more NM. anyway my point is anyone dealing in comics these days unless you have golden age horror or early silver age marvel knows that the guide is worthless years ago a $100 comic sold at $70 would be a deal now even priced at $50 it generally does'nt move and starting it live i have seen more than i can count not even make $20+ all in all just very sad to see the market this watered down and have Overstreet become basically irrelevent. thanks for letting me vent! MIke p.s. a little about me: I have been reading comics since the age of 6(starting with Swamp Thing Man Thing and any horror comic my mother would bring home) and have been a hardcore collector ever since I also owned and operated a retail store Shadowland Comics for 5 years and have been selling comics on e-bay since 2002 adopting the new value policy of not what its worth but what did i pay for it. once again just kind of sad
I understand completely, but since I opened my 1st store in 1986, I have seen many cycles in this system. I still sell quite a bit on ebay, but am using the down part of the cycle to buy all the silver (and bronze) I can on ebay at really low prices. I completed almost all of the silver age teen titans, and a large chunck of the silver Justice league and all of the broze aged all Star comics.
I was a contributor for wizard a long time ago, I rarely ever buy it anymore, they have very little comic news and almost no pricing anymore. I don't pick up a comic price guide to hear about video games, movies (unless they are about comics) and pop culture.
I, too, was a big fan of the Overstreet Guide back when I started selling comics in the mid-1990s. I also have seen this new trend and have not used it for many years. I use online guides a lot lately and they seem to be just a useful as the Overstreet used to be.
I will always place more stock in Overstreets Price guide. Because I want to feel nostalgic when I hold a copy IN MY HANDS. Slabbed comics ( a good investment for money hungry golddiggers) take that feeling away . My 20 cent comics are important to me than my golden age stuff. Why, because that's when I cold not wait to spend 2 bucks for 10 brand new superhero titles. I gave it a go with a comic shop back in 1981-83. I paid people 50% of Overstreet and sold at TRUE GUIDE PRICES. All other shops in the Baltimore area about 30% over guide. I've held on to all my old stock and will list maybe 10 or so a week , untilll I understand today's market better. I still think you have to sell when titles are hot , and todays media is always changing. My key comics might get slabbed for my kids, but the have fun to hold will stay bagged. WORD TO NEW COLLECTORS ... USE MYLAR TO STORE YOUR BOOKS . Mylar was not in common use in the 70'S . Plain plastic will hurt books after several years.
The best way to properly price comics and collectables is to find the average on eBay. Unfortunatly, ever since the internet became hot, those price guides are obsolete. What a price guide says an item is worth and what you can actually sell it for is completely different.
Must use Buy It Now and PayPal.
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