There are many different options to consider when evaluating the best way to sell comics online. Depending on the level of individual effort, you have choices that range from grading and listing each book to working with a qualified collector or dealer to help sell the items. This guide will walk through each option, including the benefits and drawbacks to each, to help you make an informed decision. As always, North Comics offers free comic collection appraisals – so please reach out to us if interested using the following form.
Self-Service Listing of Individual Comics
If you are willing to put in the many hours to grade, photograph and list your comics individually then this is an option to list on sites such as eBay or other online sellers. Depending on the size and scope of the collection, this can be a considerable undertaking that also requires you to do customer service in terms of answering questions, shipping and handling returns. For certain sellers, this can be a good option if you are confident in your ability to see this process through. In other cases, the combination of hours, fees and customer service can make it challenging to work through an entire collection. Also, prices at online sites can vary from very low to high, and it can be hard to predict how much value you can get for your collection. Therefore, we generally recommend listing 1 or 2 books online to get a sense of how this process might work for you.
Submitting Your Comics to Auction Consignment
If you have a collection of primarily high value comics, then you can consider an option to consign comics for auction. Most auction companies generally prefer to certify (grade) your comics before listing them – that process can take many months, and has a cost associated with grading each book. You can generally expect the process to take some time, and you may receive good results depending on the visibility offered. Some auction houses, however, charge considerable commissions on the sales so you’ll want to research those in advance.
Selling Your Comic Collection to a Collector
If you are looking for convenience and a way to sell your collection fairly with less work, you can work directly with a comic collector or dealer who buy entire collections. It’s generally advised to educate yourself on the collection by researching the Overstreet Price Guide and work with a person who offers a fair price based on the latest price guides, rather than comic shops which offer a low % of the value of the collection. In good situations you can save time and fees, with a process that allows you to get a fair value for the collection.