How to Sell Your Comic Book Collection (Maybe?)
I’ll be a guy who used to have a sick comic book collection.
When the Time Comes
“They take up so much space.”
“The market is hot right now.”
“I might want a boat?!”
IT’S TIME. It’s time to sell my comic books. The words taste like rust in my throat. It’s not an easy decision. I’ve been collecting comic books my entire life and I don’t know a world without them.
I’ll be a guy who used to have a sick comic book collection. And that’s scary. Even now, at a time where “I’m not buying anymore comic books,” I can’t walk past a short box in a flea market without grazing.
When I see a key first appearance up for auction I need to at least check out the starting bid. “I still need to finish run X.”
But here’s the thing, my wife and I live small and the comic books live in storage along with all the Pop Funkos, vintage action figures and trinkets mined from my personal nostalgia.
The storage locker costs money. Are those collectibles accruing more value than the cost of the storage locker? The answer some months is yes. As the MCU becomes this gigantic money tank, people are searching for a cut.
They Want What I Got, And I’m Gonna Give it to Them (I Think?)
They want first appearances and key stories ideally, before the next blockbuster featuring those characters comes out…and it’s driving up the value.
I have those books. I’ve been watching the auction sites (every night before bed) and I know what I have. No lowball offers. I’ve already bought low (in most cases) and now it’s time to sell high.
Plus, I might want a boat?
Maybe not a boat. A trip? A Porsche? An option. I’ve carried my comic books (currently over 4000) from home to home throughout my life consistent as the tides and sunrise and I deserve to reap the rewards of my Sysephean plight.
Okay, It’s Really Happening
As I get older I need to plan for my retirement and my twilight years. That money, invested now, could be a tidy sum for when that time comes. I wonder if storage lockers will get any cheaper.
I wonder if the MCU will get any bigger. I wonder if, in twenty five years, I’ll still be checking auction sites and flea market bins for hidden gems and undervalued treasures.
I wonder what it’ll be like to be a man who used to have a sick book collection.
I’m about to go on this journey and I plan to document as much of it as possible. I’d love for you to follow along. Stumble with me as I try to make as much money as possible selling a lifetime worth of comic books and collectibles.
Byline:
James Owen Brown is The P.O.E., a poet/emcee from Hamilton, Ontario. Known to the The Comics Cabinet team as our Canadian Correspondent, Brown is an explosive performer and he has created a unique blend of poetic hip hop and socially conscious music. You can find more of his work and let him talk to you through his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/poez/featured
