I have violated a major rule of the comic selling business that a friend warned me about. Let me explain. Once I made the decision to start selling comic books, which meant primarily my sizable collection of silver, bronze and copper age comics, I did a bunch of market research. I viewed the major you tube personalities, read the tools and techniques about running a business and the latest ecommerce and online selling info. The research of this information has paid dividends.
One particularly invaluable exploration led me to discover Jason Stum over at the @certifiedcomicshop - (if you have not checked him out -do so). He has a site that sells graded comics. When he started his business, he decided to catalogue his experience via multi-media, he has a blog, podcast and you tube that explains the history of how he built his comic business. I found this information supremely helpful in my own pursuit of the “how to” of comic selling. At one point, I reached out for some personal advice to Jason and I will never forget his words: “In order to build a comic business, you have to make the metal transition from comic book collector to comic seller.” ( I believe the term he coined was ‘comic-prenuer’ but you get the point).
This, I have found, was the most difficult part vs the other mechanics of setting up a website, learning to sell online etc. While I knew I was going to be selling the comics I loved as a kid, I did not realize that it is like giving away a part of yourself. I had thought I was mentally ready for that transition on the surface, but as I got back into the hobby after a long layoff, the nostalgia on many of these books came back. Even looking at certain comicbook covers, brought back what the story was about and it gives me a huge dopamine hit.
Now I will say, before I even began selling, I put aside a longbox worth of comics that I designated as the “PC” (personal collection) that I was not going to sell and mentally thought all those other boxes were ‘fairgame.’ But as I have had to look through the rest of the collection and begin to list them for sale, this process has let me to put more and more books aside into the PC box! (And even buying missing back issues of certain runs like Secret Wars, Punisher limited Series, #marvel25anniversaryboardercovers etc) I should say that before listing something for sale, I take care to open up the comic, count the discrepancies (spineticks, color breaks, etc) and determine as accurate a grade, before pricing, as possible. This process requires flipping through every page, closely inspecting the book and taking care to be accurate. This brings back all those good comics memories (see what I did there!) from when I read these things 30 years ago, thus it means sometimes not wanting to sell a particular book. Sometimes due to the cover art, other times, the story. You might say the struggle is real!
This is not the case for all comics mind you, some I am not attached to, but those are usually the ones the no one else wants to buy either. Some I am perplexed that I should part with, like those early silver age Avengers and Fantastic Four. I collected these as a 10 year old and it involved my dad and I driving to stores all around southern New England to find back issues. That bonding time was great memories. The actual stories of some back issues, for example, Avengers Vol 1, Issue 2, were not as appealing to me as the story of Captain America annual 8, (Cap vs Wolverine) that I bought and read upon release. Those 60’s books, while classic, seem campy compared to the storylines of the 80s (at least for me). I guess I am not as emotionally attached to those #silverage book covers or stories, merely the memories that they represent.
This brings me to this week, where I removed the Crisis on the Infinite earths series off my website and moved it to the PC. One, It had not been selling and two I mentally struggled with putting it on there in the first place. I decided to move it to the PC and instead listed some books that I can more easily part with and that more people are interested to buy. Sorry Jason, I guess you can say I had a partial relapse from your advice. I guess just like other recovering addictions, it’s a process not a destination!
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