Stupid I guess is a bit harsh, but I am getting so tired of the same thing at every auction I go to.
As a hobby, I have a roving comic book stand that I take to trade/craft/flee market type shows. I usually break even maybe a bit better. It is a tough market out here but I have fun.
Problem is, I need stock, and in my area, it has to be 70s or older (the younger generation never seen a comic in a grocery store, like I did, and the older generation wants the stuff they grew up with. There are no comic stores within 500 miles ). So every-time an auction comes up advertising comics, I try and get there. Guess what, a HUGH 200+ comic books coming up to auction. I call the Auctioneer, get message machine. Wife (every auctioneer I know is a husband/wife team) and tells me they are probably from the 40s and maybe earlier (seller inherited them from her father, allegedly, I think details may have been mixed up) and I get excited. I should have known better.
I drove up there today to look at the comics, and decide what sort of budget to plan. If the comics in poor condition they are hard to sell, so really low bid (if at all). If they are in "good" condition, then it depends on the comic. 200 comics, MAYBE 20 were from the 50s. The rest were Looney Toons and Disney from the 60s and 70s. Do not misunderstand, they are not bad, they will eventually sell if I buy them, eventually. I only found 1 that was worth more the $10. Not a single 40s era comic. Depending on how they sell them (see below) if I pay more then $300 I would be crazy. I would ask $5, and consider myself lucky to get $2.
AUCTIONEERS!!! I can forgive some of what they do, they are on a tight scheduled so they have to do the annoying "Take Bids and whoever wins takes which ones you want, repeat till there are none left". So if two people are bidding against each other for different items, it artificially drives the price up. I prefer the "Hold item up, bid on just that item" but it is slower. Really, this is a very minor gripe.
A moderate Gripe is when they hold the auction outside, In KANSAS. Kansas (Kanzaz is the correct spelling) translates to "Land of the Wind" in the local Native American language. It is completely accurate. It is not windy until the wind get above 15mph sustained. Wind is almost always moving at 3-5mph. Ya, that nice $100 dollar comic I was looking at .
The really bad thing is that they supposedly have no idea how to tell the books age other then price on the cover. They see 10 cent and assume it is from the 50s or before (99 out of 100 its not). 10 cent comics were available through the mid-60s, then 12 cent through the early-70s and 15-25 cent spread throughout all eras after 1960. I have never seen one Auctioneer or employee do the obvious thing and check the copyright date. They do for regular Hard Back books, so they can not use that excuse, and comics rarely come up in this number (usually 10-20) so I can not figure out why they just do not look. Seriously, 10 mins. look at a couple, that will give you a basic idea and you are not making a fool of yourselves.
Then the next group is not the Auctioneers fault. They are family and friends of the seller. I have a buddy who runs a Games/Table top store about an hour away, they USE to sell comic (they lost money on them), but the sign is still up and the buy comics (and sell them to me ) One day an Auctioneer (not one I have dealt with) came in and asked if they could tell him more about a pile of comics. The woman said they were "Golden age" and worth millions, the Auctioneer wanted as much information to help "promote" the auction. They were $1 comics from the 1980s (I know I just complained about them using prices to judge dates, but this auctioneer knew what was going on and wanted my buddy try and explain it to the woman). The woman swore her 1980s era comics were older and worth millions and left in a major huff.
Ya, anyway, friends and family do the same. They erroneously think I am ripping off their loved one by making such a low bid. So they will try and raise the price because most of them think that most comics are worth $20 or more . They usually stop trying this tactic after I reach my price mark and they outbid me thinking I was going higher (I set my marks well in advance and never go over, going over will only cost you money). Then they are stuck with a comic book that is hard to sell unless you know how to online. And it is not just put it up. You have to also explain condition, in collectors terms, then ship it correctly, and barely break even because no one is going to pay $10 (after shipping) for that particular $2 book you swore to me was worth big money. (If you ever seen that "storage wars" or similar show, they call it 'dumping a bin on someone'. I really do not mean to do it, but darn it people, internet exists now look-up the prices. I am a Christian Business man, I do not lie, I do not steal. If I say it is worth 'X', it is worth that much. I am willing to pay 40-60%, I can not afford to do more or I lose money. rant more on that later, probably on fratching).
I really do not mind real competition, in-fact I welcome it. I enjoy meeting Antique dealers from all over the area, I have fun even when I lose the bid. Meet a nice dealer at the last auction, I was bidding on a lead brick (I like to make things, toy soldiers mostly), she was bidding on a lead brick that had rare makers marks on it, she won and I got a great conversation about makers marks. I love dealers. Dealers make it almost worth going to the auctions, they are great people.
I am just so tired of the same crap every time, at every auction I go to.
As a hobby, I have a roving comic book stand that I take to trade/craft/flee market type shows. I usually break even maybe a bit better. It is a tough market out here but I have fun.
Problem is, I need stock, and in my area, it has to be 70s or older (the younger generation never seen a comic in a grocery store, like I did, and the older generation wants the stuff they grew up with. There are no comic stores within 500 miles ). So every-time an auction comes up advertising comics, I try and get there. Guess what, a HUGH 200+ comic books coming up to auction. I call the Auctioneer, get message machine. Wife (every auctioneer I know is a husband/wife team) and tells me they are probably from the 40s and maybe earlier (seller inherited them from her father, allegedly, I think details may have been mixed up) and I get excited. I should have known better.
I drove up there today to look at the comics, and decide what sort of budget to plan. If the comics in poor condition they are hard to sell, so really low bid (if at all). If they are in "good" condition, then it depends on the comic. 200 comics, MAYBE 20 were from the 50s. The rest were Looney Toons and Disney from the 60s and 70s. Do not misunderstand, they are not bad, they will eventually sell if I buy them, eventually. I only found 1 that was worth more the $10. Not a single 40s era comic. Depending on how they sell them (see below) if I pay more then $300 I would be crazy. I would ask $5, and consider myself lucky to get $2.
AUCTIONEERS!!! I can forgive some of what they do, they are on a tight scheduled so they have to do the annoying "Take Bids and whoever wins takes which ones you want, repeat till there are none left". So if two people are bidding against each other for different items, it artificially drives the price up. I prefer the "Hold item up, bid on just that item" but it is slower. Really, this is a very minor gripe.
A moderate Gripe is when they hold the auction outside, In KANSAS. Kansas (Kanzaz is the correct spelling) translates to "Land of the Wind" in the local Native American language. It is completely accurate. It is not windy until the wind get above 15mph sustained. Wind is almost always moving at 3-5mph. Ya, that nice $100 dollar comic I was looking at .
The really bad thing is that they supposedly have no idea how to tell the books age other then price on the cover. They see 10 cent and assume it is from the 50s or before (99 out of 100 its not). 10 cent comics were available through the mid-60s, then 12 cent through the early-70s and 15-25 cent spread throughout all eras after 1960. I have never seen one Auctioneer or employee do the obvious thing and check the copyright date. They do for regular Hard Back books, so they can not use that excuse, and comics rarely come up in this number (usually 10-20) so I can not figure out why they just do not look. Seriously, 10 mins. look at a couple, that will give you a basic idea and you are not making a fool of yourselves.
Then the next group is not the Auctioneers fault. They are family and friends of the seller. I have a buddy who runs a Games/Table top store about an hour away, they USE to sell comic (they lost money on them), but the sign is still up and the buy comics (and sell them to me ) One day an Auctioneer (not one I have dealt with) came in and asked if they could tell him more about a pile of comics. The woman said they were "Golden age" and worth millions, the Auctioneer wanted as much information to help "promote" the auction. They were $1 comics from the 1980s (I know I just complained about them using prices to judge dates, but this auctioneer knew what was going on and wanted my buddy try and explain it to the woman). The woman swore her 1980s era comics were older and worth millions and left in a major huff.
Ya, anyway, friends and family do the same. They erroneously think I am ripping off their loved one by making such a low bid. So they will try and raise the price because most of them think that most comics are worth $20 or more . They usually stop trying this tactic after I reach my price mark and they outbid me thinking I was going higher (I set my marks well in advance and never go over, going over will only cost you money). Then they are stuck with a comic book that is hard to sell unless you know how to online. And it is not just put it up. You have to also explain condition, in collectors terms, then ship it correctly, and barely break even because no one is going to pay $10 (after shipping) for that particular $2 book you swore to me was worth big money. (If you ever seen that "storage wars" or similar show, they call it 'dumping a bin on someone'. I really do not mean to do it, but darn it people, internet exists now look-up the prices. I am a Christian Business man, I do not lie, I do not steal. If I say it is worth 'X', it is worth that much. I am willing to pay 40-60%, I can not afford to do more or I lose money. rant more on that later, probably on fratching).
I really do not mind real competition, in-fact I welcome it. I enjoy meeting Antique dealers from all over the area, I have fun even when I lose the bid. Meet a nice dealer at the last auction, I was bidding on a lead brick (I like to make things, toy soldiers mostly), she was bidding on a lead brick that had rare makers marks on it, she won and I got a great conversation about makers marks. I love dealers. Dealers make it almost worth going to the auctions, they are great people.
I am just so tired of the same crap every time, at every auction I go to.
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