Comic Book Values

As every comic book collector knows, buying and selling comics is central to building a collection to be proud of. It’s also half the fun of collecting: trying to extract as much bang from your buck as possible. While buying comics as an investment isn’t as popular as it used to be, there is nothing more satisfying than making money from the hobby you love.

Besides loving the comics themselves, comic collecting is about floating around cons looking for that one issue you’re missing, or entering into bidding wars on eBay. It’s great to have that feeling that you’ve got a great deal by hustling and clever negotiation and knowing the secrets that others don’t.

It seems that every other Tom, Dick and Harry is getting ripped off because they don’t know what they’re doing. Even when they’re not getting outright scammed, collectors in the know run rings around them by barely lifting a finger. Knowing how to sell for more and buy for less is key for serious comic collectors.

There is loads of lousy and conflicting advice online that supposedly helps out collectors. I get the impression that many of these people just invent this stuff on the spot and don’t have any actual experience collecting comics. If you love comics, you buy and sell comics, you dislike time-wasting and hassle, and you want quality information not fluff, then I’d recommend getting Comic Selling Secrets.

The author is an 11-year-veteran comic book collector, and in his eBook he spills loads of solid tips and tricks that I simply haven’t seen anywhere else. It’s well worth it just as an investment, completely ignoring the satisfaction you’ll have knowing you’re getting the best deal. Check it out here.

Technorati Tags: comic book collecting, sell comics, selling comics

In the United States, the first comic book was published in 1934. Ever since the first comic came out, the leading producer has been the United States. The first comics were similar to the comics found in early newspapers; however, they were published as their own books. The first comic books were mostly about adventure stories and depicted some type of superhero character. Historians break up the history of American comic books into different eras. There are four eras starting with the Golden Age, the Silver Age, the Bronze Age, and the Modern age of comic books.

The Golden Age of comics is said to have last from the 1930s to the late 1940s. During this time, comics became main stream and readers were introduced to superheroes such as Batman, Captain America, and Wonder Woman. Superman was the first known superhero and made his debut in 1938. After Superman, almost all comics featured a superhero, and the Golden Age is classified by their appearances. World War II had a big impact on the popularity of the superhero comic books during this era. What made them so popular was showcasing that good triumphs over evil. There were even some comic books that showed characters punching Adolf Hitler.

The Silver Age of comics was more about commercial success and artistic advancement. The Golden Age proved that comics were popular and readable, and the Silver Age maintained that success. This ere lasted from the mid 1950s to the early 1970s. During this time, comics were blamed for juvenile crimes occurring more frequently. As a result of this, comic sales went down and writers had to rethink their story plot. Comics started to represent authority. The characters went through a dynamic change and the stars of the comics started to appear as aliens and other science fiction characters. Also during this time, underground comics made for adults started to emerge.

The Bronze Age lasted from the 1970s to the mid 1980s. The look of the comic book didn’t change during this era, however, the story plot changed dramatically. Although the pages and pictures were bright and colorful, the story line was more dramatic, realistic, and dark. Real world issues were brought to attention in the comics of this era. Drug use was an issue addressed. The comics became more mature and life like.

The Modern Age of comic books started in the 1980s and continues on in to the present. In addition to the characters in comics, the writers are also more recognizable. There are more publishing houses that produce comics and there are independent comic books too. The larger publishing houses became more commercialized. The characters also change during this era. They are now more complex, show self doubt, and the villains are darker.

About the Author: Conan Saunders is Chief Technology Officer for mycomicshop.com, one of the largest retailers of comic books in the world. Mycomicshop is the online presence of Lone Star Comics, a leading retailer of comic books with seven stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. For more information please visit: http://www.mycomicshop.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Conan_Saunders

There are many ways to sell comic books. Where you decide to sell your comics can depend on how much time you want to commit, and the value of the comics you have. In this post I’ll list a three different ways to sell your comics and briefly comment on each.

Classified Ads And Printed Ads
Many people who don’t know much about buying and selling comics try to sell their entire collection with a small advert. While this is quick and easy, people who search such ads for comics are probably looking for bargains. Many hope that the seller does not know the value of their comics, wishing to pick up treasure for chump change.

Dealers
Some dealers will buy comics outright to sell in their shop or on their website. The price you get will depend on the dealer in question, and obviously dealers will only buy at a price that will ensure they can sell your collection on at a profit. A better way to sell is to make a contract with your dealer, a “consignment”, where a dealer sells your comics for you in exchange for a percentage of the money made. If you’re looking for the quickest and easiest method to sell your entire collection in one go, this is probably a good option. However, in exchange for the time you save, you’ll lose money that you could have had.

Auction
While it is possible to sell your comics at proper auction houses, and perhaps that is appropriate for extremely rare and valuable comics, what I’m discussing here is online auctions, particularly those on eBay. For many comic collectors, eBay is the first place they search when buying comics. eBay does have a wide audience, but how much your comics sell for depends on how you listed it and how lucky you are. If you are going to sell on eBay, it’s important to take the time to list your comic properly, otherwise you’ll get a raw deal.

Technorati Tags: sell comics, selling comic books