Nerdly » eBuying Comics: Week 74

09th Mar2022

eBuying Comics: Week 74

by Ian Wells

Recent Sales Success

I had the recent fortune of some puzzle pieces all falling into place at the same time. It only resulted in me selling one comic but I think the turn of events involved was worth documenting. It all started the morning after the Superbowl. I had the day off as it was my birthday and I awoke to see the words Doctor Strange, Illuminati and Professor Xavier all trending online! Of course, the first thing I did was to watch the new trailer and like a lot of people I was blown away. I am really looking forward to this movie. It’s amazing to think how they are still trying and succeeding at keeping things fresh and exciting after Endgame. I slept on Spider-Man No Way Home and just never got around to seeing it. I enjoyed the first Doctor Strange movie and am looking forward to it even more now with the way things have panned out. My only hope is that it doesn’t lack a sense of accessibility with what has occurred in the Disney+ shows. Back to the matter of comics, as I had no real plans for my day off I decided this presented me an excellent opportunity to list some comics on eBay for the first time in 2022. I have the first four issues of Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo’s Doctor Strange series from 2015. This includes a Kevin Nowlan variant cover f0r #3. I have previously listed them as a set but had no attention, which is when I decided to sit on them till the second Doctor Strange movie became a reality. If a trailer garners a lot of positive online response like this one did then I usually try listing the comics then as well. This time I listed #1 on its own, thus breaking up the set. I started it at £10 which was rather heady I admit. Halfway through the 10-day auction it had 2 watchers so I dropped it to £5, but it still went unsold. I will give it another run out on its own at £5 then wait until the movie is released before relisting. I will have to weigh up the pros and cons of doing single-issue auctions or as a set. Immediately what jumps out is the appearance of Scarlet Witch on the cover to #4, so that might be worth a try on its own nearer the time. Also appearing in the trailer is the Defenders incarnation of Doctor Strange who first appeared in the 2012 Defenders series by Matt Fraction and Terry Dodson. At the time of its release I remember picking up #1 on a whim, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I must have already sold it or I have misplaced it!

Obviously, the biggest talking point of the trailer is the perceived MCU debut of The Illuminati, especially with the use of Patrick Stewart’s voice as Xavier. In my opinion, The Illuminati have been a great addition to the Marvel Comics lore, but are very underused. I like the concept of Marvel’s brightest minds from all different facets of the universe coming together to plot a course of action. I just wish we had seen more of them, outside of the few mini-series. Writers just seem to use them as a plot point as and when. I do feel the movie lineup for The Illuminati will be very different. All of this is a long way of me saying I was willing to let go of my issues of the 2006 mini-series. Originally I did just think about listing the 5 issues as one lot. But first I wanted to try #1 on its own merit. I graded my 8.0 VF the only drawback being a price sticker on the back cover. I went big and bold on the headline to draw in all the speculators, it read; “Illuminati #1 Marvel Comics MCU Multiverse of Madness Doctor Strange Professor X.” Again it was a 10-day listing and again I started it £10. It wasted no time in racking up the views and gaining a few watchers. Before the halfway point of the 10 days and after attracting 3/4 watchers I reduced the starting price to £5 and the views and watchers kept on coming. Way, way back in eBuying Comics Week 1 I regaled you all with the tale of when I sold my copy of New Mutants #98. Even though that listing sold for a much higher price it didn’t anywhere near as much attention as Illuminati #1. By the time the auction had ended it had 64 views, 13 watchers and 6 bids, eventually selling for £10.50. Obviously, I was more than happy with this result as I paid about £6 for the 5 issue series including P+P only a few years ago. As I had such a good result with #1 I am tempted to list the remaining four issues at a starting price of 99p and see how much they go for.

I wanted to wrap up this week talking about ‘Item Specifics.’ eBay seems to be pushing this big time. With these recent listings I got more notifications about adding item specifics to bring more interest to my listings. I don’t know when eBay first introduced them and I have always sold items without ever using them. What I thought I would do is use my recent listing of New Mutants #100 as an example and go through and examine the entries for item specifics. I will then relist all my recent unsold items and see if using the item specifics brings more views/watchers. To start with here is my original headline and item description.

New Mutants #100 Rob Liefeld X-Force Stryfe VF 8.0 White Cover

New Mutants #100 by Rob Liefeld
The team is essentially X-Force by this last issue. Stryfe unmasked for the first time
Comic is in good condition, white cover is still white. Good interiors, slight reading crease midway through.

As with all my listings I tried to cram as much information into the headline as possible. Obviously the series title and issue number is a must. In my opinion this is how buyers are searching for comics 99.9% on eBay. I usually include the publisher in the headline too. It is handy too that the short acronyms MCU and DCEU exist as they don’t eat into the headline if you have a comic that ties into the movies. Then I weigh up what makes a certain issue desirable, is it the star power of the creator or the key story developments? For this issue I was able to make mention of both. Lastly, I include the grade. If I am selling cheaper issues at 99p I leave the grade out of the headline. As for the item description again I repeat the issue number and make note of the creative team. If I am listing a trade paperback I always make note of what issues, from what series it collects. Then I can expand on the points from the headline that make it a key issue. I then go in-depth on the condition. I only ever do one simple picture of the cover. Only adding more pictures if there is a certain amount of damage people may want to see.

The first two items up on the specifics is Series & Characters. These are both obvious and easy to answer. But if the series has a huge cast how many are you listing? As New Mutants has a relatively small cast I listed them all. Then we have Format (single issue, Annual, Mixed Lot, Hardcover, etc). This could be a helpful indicator for newcomers I suppose. Next up we have Publisher & Universe. Again this isn’t in my opinion new information for people who know what they are looking for. I think even the newest of speculators knows if X-Force of Marvel or DC. On the drop-down menu for Universe it only has Marvel (MCU) as a frequent answer. So for this listing I added Marvel/X-Men. Writer/Artist is again information you can have in the headline or description. To be honest I don’t know how the search algorithm works. If you search Rob Liefeld for example is it only returning results with it in the headline or in item specifics? If it is the latter then it is worth filling them in to save room in the headline. Era is a moot point in my opinion. It screams of something that is there for the speculators. I mean if you are looking for a certain issue does it matter what era it is from? Type seems a waste of time after already telling shoppers it is a single issue. Publication Year is just narrowing down the exact year within the already established era. Tradition is another odd one that doesn’t really add much. The two frequent answers on the drop-down menu are US comics or UK Comics. I suppose I do take it for granted that most of the comics I’m buying or selling are US comics. I have sold UK editions myself but always make a note in the headline and description. Also if you know your stuff you can tell from the picture of the cover which it is. Last, there is Grade which is rather self-explanatory. In addition, if the grade is from professionals there is a space to name them and provide the certification number.

All of the above specifics are what eBay refers to as recommended. The next specifics are additional. First up is Features basically what makes this issue desirable. For New Mutants #100 I entered ‘last issue.’ Genre was an easy choice as I opted for Action and Adventure. Country/Region of Manufacture as it is a US comic I selected United States, my comics history isn’t that good to know if this series was printed elsewhere, So I assume a large majority of potential buyers will be in the same situation. Cover Artist is a good option for the variant market, but again this is information that is going to stand out more in the headline. Then there is a whole lot of needless stuff that only applies to high-end collectors or speculators trying to sound knowledgeable. Ex Libris, Title, Inscribed, Personalised, Style, Signed, Vintage, Language, Convention/Event, Unit of Sale, Intended Audience, Issue Number, Custome Bundle, Unit Quantity, Unit Type. Some of these seem like really obvious things that if you haven’t mentioned by now I don’t think many people will be looking at your listing. So below is the items I have relisted with their original headline and how many views/watchers they had on their previous listing. I haven’t changed the starting price and will report my findings shortly.