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Post by starseed on Jul 19, 2013 2:47:03 GMT -5
7-19-13 2,457,796
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Post by starseed on Jul 19, 2013 2:51:10 GMT -5
I will from time to time in the top post of this thread put the total number of items for sale on eBay in the comics category. This number includes comics, original art, and whatever else sellers list under comics. Over time we should be able to see if the number of comics for sale on eBay is growing or not.
Almost 2.5 million items are currently listed in the comics category right now.
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Post by starseed on Jul 19, 2013 2:58:36 GMT -5
Mile High has 411,694 items for sale on eBay, all in the comics category. This is unprecedented. I've watched them fairly closely since they started selling on eBay, and have never seen them with more than about 240,000 listings until recently.
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Post by gowaltrip on Jul 19, 2013 3:01:31 GMT -5
I will from time to time in the top post of this thread put the total number of items for sale on eBay in the comics category. This number includes comics, original art, and whatever else sellers list under comics. Over time we should be able to see if the number of comics for sale on eBay is growing or not. Almost 2.5 million items are currently listed in the comics category right now.  Sounds like material for the Lyria message board. |
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Post by starseed on Jul 19, 2013 3:02:18 GMT -5
Mycomicshop has 209,250 items listed on eBay, which is around what they usually have listed. So, Mile High and mycomicshop combine for almost 30 % of all listings in the comics category on eBay.
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Post by Defiant1 on Jul 19, 2013 4:57:09 GMT -5
I will from time to time in the top post of this thread put the total number of items for sale on eBay in the comics category. This number includes comics, original art, and whatever else sellers list under comics. Over time we should be able to see if the number of comics for sale on eBay is growing or not. Almost 2.5 million items are currently listed in the comics category right now. Sounds like material for the Lyria message board. You're mean! You sound like me! ;D Whetteon is big into statistics and I see that from Starseed also. I think it's interesting data, but I'm more concerned about how I market my product than I am about the competition. Obviously, if I'm trying to sell a very common book for multiples of what everyone else wants, it's not going to go well. Defiant1 |
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Post by Defiant1 on Jul 19, 2013 4:59:25 GMT -5
Mile High has 411,694 items for sale on eBay, all in the comics category. This is unprecedented. I've watched them fairly closely since they started selling on eBay, and have never seen them with more than about 240,000 listings until recently. That's a huge jump. It'd be interesting to see what they are adding. Defiant1 |
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Post by starseed on Jul 19, 2013 13:43:01 GMT -5
Mile High has 411,694 items for sale on eBay, all in the comics category. This is unprecedented. I've watched them fairly closely since they started selling on eBay, and have never seen them with more than about 240,000 listings until recently. That's a huge jump. It'd be interesting to see what they are adding. Defiant1 A search for the word newsstand in their listings reveals Mile High has over 40,000 individual newsstand comics listed for sale, which is over 90 % of all newsstand comics on eBay. That's part of the answer. I wasn't going to post that observation on a message board, but now I have. ;D |
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Post by starseed on Jul 19, 2013 13:51:03 GMT -5
I will from time to time in the top post of this thread put the total number of items for sale on eBay in the comics category. This number includes comics, original art, and whatever else sellers list under comics. Over time we should be able to see if the number of comics for sale on eBay is growing or not. Almost 2.5 million items are currently listed in the comics category right now. Sounds like material for the Lyria message board. There's absolutely no reason a business man would want to understand the functions of the marketplace. |
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Post by gowaltrip on Jul 19, 2013 15:05:30 GMT -5
Sounds like material for the Lyria message board. There's absolutely no reason a business man would want to understand the functions of the marketplace. I think you meant wouldn't.... I'm not trying to time the market. When I put books up, it's because I have to put them up and put them up at that particular time. Wondering how little or how much competition I have at that moment is irrelevant to me. |
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Post by Brother J on Jul 19, 2013 15:30:29 GMT -5
There's absolutely no reason a business man would want to understand the functions of the marketplace. I think you meant wouldn't.... I'm not trying to time the market. When I put books up, it's because I have to put them up and put them up at that particular time. Wondering how little or how much competition I have at that moment is irrelevant to me. I always try to take a look at how many other copies are currently for sale of a book I am thinking about listing. If there are a crapload of copies and they're not going for much, it makes little sense to me to list it. |
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Post by Defiant1 on Jul 19, 2013 17:34:34 GMT -5
That's a huge jump. It'd be interesting to see what they are adding. Defiant1 A search for the word newsstand in their listings reveals Mile High has over 40,000 individual newsstand comics listed for sale, which is over 90 % of all newsstand comics on eBay. That's part of the answer. I wasn't going to post that observation on a message board, but now I have. ;D That's a lot. It sounds like they are capitalizing on a cash cow they've found in the market. A previously untapped segment of the customer base. Defiant1 |
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Post by Defiant1 on Jul 19, 2013 17:44:45 GMT -5
There's absolutely no reason a business man would want to understand the functions of the marketplace. I think you meant wouldn't.... I'm not trying to time the market. When I put books up, it's because I have to put them up and put them up at that particular time. Wondering how little or how much competition I have at that moment is irrelevant to me. I think both of them are just saying that with all things equal, skew your odds of doing well by timing the market the best you can. I think you are doing that within the parameters of your options. The one thing I'd do differently if I were you is sell more sets or groups of similar books. Selling single books will cut off a lot of customers because it kills them on shipping charges. When I was bidding with my dad's account, I pretty much told a seller that even though he had some stuff I wanted, I was going to quit bidding on his stuff because of shipping charges. Me and another buyer kept getting into a bidding war and when I dropped out, books that were going for $12-$15 dropped to about $5. Even though I didn't mind paying $15 a copy, I didn't want to add shipping charges on top of every book. That's just my POV. Defiant1 |
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Post by gowaltrip on Jul 19, 2013 23:26:35 GMT -5
I think you meant wouldn't.... I'm not trying to time the market. When I put books up, it's because I have to put them up and put them up at that particular time. Wondering how little or how much competition I have at that moment is irrelevant to me. I think both of them are just saying that with all things equal, skew your odds of doing well by timing the market the best you can. I think you are doing that within the parameters of your options. This... I've done that to the best of my abilities all throughout the year. I've sold literally hundreds of comics online this year. The most I ever had. And to put it simply, with all the work involved doing just that, I don't have time to look up books and figure out when would be the best time to sell it. But I have come to message boards and kept my eyes open for events that make books hotter and sold as it seemed appropriate. Books like Guardians of the Galaxy #1, Spawn #9, Sixth Gun #1 and #2, Jimmy Olsen #133 (I think it's that one), are just a few examples of timing based on info available to me that paid off by going with the news of the time. I also remember being at Whet's board and he indicated one week that the number of sellers were at the lowest point of the year and I did a listing right away and it was a good week for me. But I typically don't look up each of my books and see how many people are selling it especially since I start all my books at 99 cents. I doubt many of the bigger operations do that as well, but I believe the uptick in sellers and large numbers put up by big operations can certainly be attributed to eBay relaxing its fees on the front end, which encourage listings but they more than compensate by taking more in the back end. Sheer volume might be one way those big guys are overcoming the additional costs on the back end. As for me, it's circumstance and needs. I need to get books out and the situation is, I need to do it now. I make decisions then and there on which books I'm putting up and which ones I'm holding onto for later and I do it irregardless of how many comics are up that week or how many copies of my book(s) is already up. If someone has my book at $16 and I start mine at 99 cents, hopefully I'll find a respectable value somewhere in the middle. There is a whole different approach to selling when you need money now, then if you're sitting back in life fine otherwise and you have the luxury to be selective about which books you want to put up now. I need money ASAP. I can't say to myself "Gosh there are a lot of sellers putting up books this week, maybe I should hold off". I can't do that. To me, those numbers are depressing to me and hence maybe that is why I said what I said. I don't need to know that as I'm trying to stay alive, the competition is enormous right now. That just depresses me. While it may be true as indicated here that competition is on the rise, I'm finding views, watchers and last second snipers lower now than in the winter months. I don't feel like there is as many people at home in front of their computers on a warm 80 degree night waiting for a book to end and trying to snag it as I did when the temperature was 28 degrees outside and no one wants to go outside. The view numbers were much higher before. It could be diluted by more auctions, but I also believe less people are currently sitting in front of their computers during the summer. I think sales would be higher naturally during convention season at cons and LCS's. But at least for me, the winter seems better for ME during the cold months when people tend to be indoors and spending more time in front of their computers. If my life was great, I would research and market every one of my books according to all the info I could gather on it and what was being sold at the time. I would take my time and work the system as much as humanly possible to what would benefit me the best. As it is, I have to just focus on doing as much work as I can now because bills and living needs far out weight my ability to be a prudent studier of market trends and just hope I get a decent return for the sheer amount of work I've been doing. Nevertheless, when I think of looking for said data, I don't think about coming here to get it. That's not personally why I come here. But hey, the board can support any subject and I apologize if I came off offensively. Post all you want. I'll take from it a passing gleem of info when I see it. But again, I typically come here to see the other unique perspectives on the comics themselves and the people around it that I cannot find elsewhere because it is filled with fanboys and cliques, and etc that muddles the experience of the visit. When desired and able, I'll tend to find selling data elsewhere when I desire to look at that kind of stuff. I come here for my own reasons. Feel free to post what you want. I apologize I was so rude. It was a knee jerk reaction to seeing data that doesn't make me feel good about what I'm doing to try and make ends meet. The one thing I'd do differently if I were you is sell more sets or groups of similar books. Selling single books will cut off a lot of customers because it kills them on shipping charges. When I was bidding with my dad's account, I pretty much told a seller that even though he had some stuff I wanted, I was going to quit bidding on his stuff because of shipping charges. Me and another buyer kept getting into a bidding war and when I dropped out, books that were going for $12-$15 dropped to about $5. Even though I didn't mind paying $15 a copy, I didn't want to add shipping charges on top of every book. That's just my POV. Defiant1 I have done some experimenting with sets already and I have a huge stack of books set aside as set material waiting to go out. Unfortunately, my few attempts to go the set route has generally sold for less than when I sell books separately. For instance, I sold Kingdom Come #1-4 all NM. #1 was signed by Busiek and Ross. I believe the set old for $5 or $6. I sold a Smurfs #1-3 and that went for like $1.25 for the set. Some weak examples sure. But generally the sets havent done as well as I would want. But there are times I feel it is more beneficial for me to sell it as a set rather than individual issues. I have sets I have put aside that I know individual issues probably wouldn't sell at all, but being put out as a complete set, may entice buyers to buy. I have been making sets to be used for later auctions. I do combine shipping but ask for .20 for each auction above the initial shipping costs of the first auction win. Shipping has been purely break even for me when all expenses are figured in and the quality of the products I use. I used cheaper materials when I first started and I couldn't fit as many books in a package and I spent far more time working on things that slowed me way down. Buying quality increases efficiency. I'd rather pay a tiny bit more to package my stuff quicker and be able to easily fit more books in a package rather than struggle with materials that are hard to work with and I cannot get as many books in a package. Since I've went with higher quality, I've never looked back. The week before I did that, it took me forever to pack. |
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Post by starseed on Jul 20, 2013 2:07:02 GMT -5
A search for the word newsstand in their listings reveals Mile High has over 40,000 individual newsstand comics listed for sale, which is over 90 % of all newsstand comics on eBay. That's part of the answer. I wasn't going to post that observation on a message board, but now I have. ;D That's a lot. It sounds like they are capitalizing on a cash cow they've found in the market. A previously untapped segment of the customer base. Defiant1 I think Chuck's leading the way on the newsstand market, and it's astonishing some of the sales he's making of them. |
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Post by starseed on Jul 20, 2013 2:08:52 GMT -5
I think both of them are just saying that with all things equal, skew your odds of doing well by timing the market the best you can. I think you are doing that within the parameters of your options. This... I've done that to the best of my abilities all throughout the year. I've sold literally hundreds of comics online this year. The most I ever had. And to put it simply, with all the work involved doing just that, I don't have time to look up books and figure out when would be the best time to sell it. But I have come to message boards and kept my eyes open for events that make books hotter and sold as it seemed appropriate. Books like Guardians of the Galaxy #1, Spawn #9, Sixth Gun #1 and #2, Jimmy Olsen #133 (I think it's that one), are just a few examples of timing based on info available to me that paid off by going with the news of the time. I also remember being at Whet's board and he indicated one week that the number of sellers were at the lowest point of the year and I did a listing right away and it was a good week for me. But I typically don't look up each of my books and see how many people are selling it especially since I start all my books at 99 cents. I doubt many of the bigger operations do that as well, but I believe the uptick in sellers and large numbers put up by big operations can certainly be attributed to eBay relaxing its fees on the front end, which encourage listings but they more than compensate by taking more in the back end. Sheer volume might be one way those big guys are overcoming the additional costs on the back end. As for me, it's circumstance and needs. I need to get books out and the situation is, I need to do it now. I make decisions then and there on which books I'm putting up and which ones I'm holding onto for later and I do it irregardless of how many comics are up that week or how many copies of my book(s) is already up. If someone has my book at $16 and I start mine at 99 cents, hopefully I'll find a respectable value somewhere in the middle. There is a whole different approach to selling when you need money now, then if you're sitting back in life fine otherwise and you have the luxury to be selective about which books you want to put up now. I need money ASAP. I can't say to myself "Gosh there are a lot of sellers putting up books this week, maybe I should hold off". I can't do that. To me, those numbers are depressing to me and hence maybe that is why I said what I said. I don't need to know that as I'm trying to stay alive, the competition is enormous right now. That just depresses me. While it may be true as indicated here that competition is on the rise, I'm finding views, watchers and last second snipers lower now than in the winter months. I don't feel like there is as many people at home in front of their computers on a warm 80 degree night waiting for a book to end and trying to snag it as I did when the temperature was 28 degrees outside and no one wants to go outside. The view numbers were much higher before. It could be diluted by more auctions, but I also believe less people are currently sitting in front of their computers during the summer. I think sales would be higher naturally during convention season at cons and LCS's. But at least for me, the winter seems better for ME during the cold months when people tend to be indoors and spending more time in front of their computers. If my life was great, I would research and market every one of my books according to all the info I could gather on it and what was being sold at the time. I would take my time and work the system as much as humanly possible to what would benefit me the best. As it is, I have to just focus on doing as much work as I can now because bills and living needs far out weight my ability to be a prudent studier of market trends and just hope I get a decent return for the sheer amount of work I've been doing. Nevertheless, when I think of looking for said data, I don't think about coming here to get it. That's not personally why I come here. But hey, the board can support any subject and I apologize if I came off offensively. Post all you want. I'll take from it a passing gleem of info when I see it. But again, I typically come here to see the other unique perspectives on the comics themselves and the people around it that I cannot find elsewhere because it is filled with fanboys and cliques, and etc that muddles the experience of the visit. When desired and able, I'll tend to find selling data elsewhere when I desire to look at that kind of stuff. I come here for my own reasons. Feel free to post what you want. I apologize I was so rude. It was a knee jerk reaction to seeing data that doesn't make me feel good about what I'm doing to try and make ends meet. The one thing I'd do differently if I were you is sell more sets or groups of similar books. Selling single books will cut off a lot of customers because it kills them on shipping charges. When I was bidding with my dad's account, I pretty much told a seller that even though he had some stuff I wanted, I was going to quit bidding on his stuff because of shipping charges. Me and another buyer kept getting into a bidding war and when I dropped out, books that were going for $12-$15 dropped to about $5. Even though I didn't mind paying $15 a copy, I didn't want to add shipping charges on top of every book. That's just my POV. Defiant1 I have done some experimenting with sets already and I have a huge stack of books set aside as set material waiting to go out. Unfortunately, my few attempts to go the set route has generally sold for less than when I sell books separately. For instance, I sold Kingdom Come #1-4 all NM. #1 was signed by Busiek and Ross. I believe the set old for $5 or $6. I sold a Smurfs #1-3 and that went for like $1.25 for the set. Some weak examples sure. But generally the sets havent done as well as I would want. But there are times I feel it is more beneficial for me to sell it as a set rather than individual issues. I have sets I have put aside that I know individual issues probably wouldn't sell at all, but being put out as a complete set, may entice buyers to buy. I have been making sets to be used for later auctions. I do combine shipping but ask for .20 for each auction above the initial shipping costs of the first auction win. Shipping has been purely break even for me when all expenses are figured in and the quality of the products I use. I used cheaper materials when I first started and I couldn't fit as many books in a package and I spent far more time working on things that slowed me way down. Buying quality increases efficiency. I'd rather pay a tiny bit more to package my stuff quicker and be able to easily fit more books in a package rather than struggle with materials that are hard to work with and I cannot get as many books in a package. Since I've went with higher quality, I've never looked back. The week before I did that, it took me forever to pack. There are different ways to be successful in business, just as there are different ways to be successful in sports. Looks like you have a system that works for you. |
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Post by Defiant1 on Jul 20, 2013 3:57:35 GMT -5
That's a lot. It sounds like they are capitalizing on a cash cow they've found in the market. A previously untapped segment of the customer base. Defiant1 I think Chuck's leading the way on the newsstand market, and it's astonishing some of the sales he's making of them. The irony is that my last order involved me wanting a Direct market edition which was pictured and they sent me a newsstand version which I didn't need. Defiant1 |
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Post by starseed on Jul 20, 2013 22:54:17 GMT -5
I think Chuck's leading the way on the newsstand market, and it's astonishing some of the sales he's making of them. The irony is that my last order involved me wanting a Direct market edition which was pictured and they sent me a newsstand version which I didn't need. Defiant1 That really is ironic! |
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Post by Defiant1 on Jul 21, 2013 4:25:42 GMT -5
The irony is that my last order involved me wanting a Direct market edition which was pictured and they sent me a newsstand version which I didn't need. Defiant1 That really is ironic! If Chuck read my comments online, it could have inspired him to differentiate. I typically compliment his business practices as being designed well for one stop shopping. The customer pays more for that luxury, but the model is not cheap to maintain, so the added cost is justified. It saves the consumer time. Defiant1 |
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Post by starseed on Jul 22, 2013 1:38:41 GMT -5
If Chuck read my comments online, it could have inspired him to differentiate. I typically compliment his business practices as being designed well for one stop shopping. The customer pays more for that luxury, but the model is not cheap to maintain, so the added cost is justified. It saves the consumer time. Defiant1 I've literally spent hundreds of hours studying what Chuck does. When I was 18 I bought in on a used bookstore, and put comics in it. Two years later I pulled out of that store and opened a comic store that was a sole proprietorship. Though life took me out of retailing comics for quite a period of time starting in my mid to late twenties, I really feel an affinity for what Chuck does with Mile High. He's always been far ahead of other comic retailers in many ways, and still is. |
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Post by Defiant1 on Jul 22, 2013 3:33:53 GMT -5
If Chuck read my comments online, it could have inspired him to differentiate. I typically compliment his business practices as being designed well for one stop shopping. The customer pays more for that luxury, but the model is not cheap to maintain, so the added cost is justified. It saves the consumer time. Defiant1 I've literally spent hundreds of hours studying what Chuck does. When I was 18 I bought in on a used bookstore, and put comics in it. Two years later I pulled out of that store and opened a comic store that was a sole proprietorship. Though life took me out of retailing comics for quite a period of time starting in my mid to late twenties, I really feel an affinity for what Chuck does with Mile High. He's always been far ahead of other comic retailers in many ways, and still is. He's a character over and above the business side. Defiant1 |
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