..and I just discovered http://www.sellmycomicbooks.com/ (note: I'm not necessarily recommending them - I just found them on the internet)
I don't know anything about comic books, but my older brother is somewhat of an avid collector. His advice is to do pretty much what everyone else in this thread has said.....catalog the collection, identify which ones are the most valuable, and sell them individually. Do not make the mistake that most people do and sell them all at once just to get them out of your house. You'll be making someone else very rich by doing that. Also, incredibly sorry for your loss. Condolences to you and yours.
Yea...like....did the nephew actually leave a zillion comic books to a guy who knows nothing about comic books? Sorry for your loss there.
Key comics are on fire right now. If he is a 30 year collector and has that many books, he's bound to have some gems. A couple of notes: ANY Gold age comics are worth money now, they are just that rare. Look for comics labeled with a 10 cent price tag. Silver age comics are red, red hot. These are 12 - 15 cent comics that tend to have "KEY" beginning stories of all the popular Marvel characters. Even "off brand" comics, "horror" comics, and Disney type comics from this era tend to have value. It only takes a few "key" books to be worth hundreds if not thousands of dollars. "Key" books has taken on a different meaning with the DC and Marvel Studios putting out all these movies. Books that would have been worth a few bucks even a few years ago, can be worth hundreds now. Newer books (copper to modern age books) have a weird value gap. When comics got super popular in the late 80s and early 90s, the market was flooded with New style heroes from brands like Image (Spawn), and Valiant. Marvel was in the middle of almost going out of business, but people like Todd McFarlane have some great books from this era. DC has some great Batman titles from this era as well, while the whole "death of superman" frenzy really led to an over production of DC books from this time. The interesting thing about this period is that there has been renewed interest. Books that were basically trash a few years ago are starting to get some interest. McFalane's spiderman stint with the intro of Venom and Carnage are key arcs and valuable, some of the Image stuff has seen a resurgence of value, and a lot of the Valiant stuff has surged in the last 2 years on rumors of the rights being sold to movie studios. If he collected in the last 10 years, there was a early 2000's boom in non hero books, such as Chew, The Walking Dead, etc. These books bring astronomical values and are good to watch out for. Books from this era, even super hero books, tend to be UNDER produced as comics had a depression in the late 90s and early 2000s. In the last 10 years, there has been the emergence of the "alternate cover" industry. It seems like every book has 10 cover variations, usually a retail, a hobby, a couple of artist, blank covers for sketches, black and whites, etc. Some of these bring big time value, so if he was an avid collector over the last 10 years, he may have gems in alternates. If your younger cousin is cataloging them, make sure he puts a quick "condition note" in the spreadsheet. Even if it is "Excellent, Good, Fair, or Poor. This will at least give you an idea when you go back and look at the most popular. If its a comic in the last few years, make sure he catalogs the "version" of the cover. Final note: once you get a full catalog, I wouldn't mind seeing it. I may be willing to give a fair offer for the collection if you are in the Houston area. Let me know (PM me if you'd like) if you have specific questions about specific books or series of books. I may be able to help.
My guess is that his nephew died rather young, and didn't have a will. No need for you guys to be crass. Great info right here. Wins the thread. Also, this brings up a good thought. There are some great comic book cataloging apps that make the job MUCH easier. CLZ Comics - Catalog Tool [iOS, Android] For pricing I'd check prices for recently sold on ComicLink and Ebay.
Way too young. He was only 40 and a bachelor. Thanks for the app recommendation. That makes things a lot simpler.
Create a database and list it on here. I know what some comics are worth in general (there will be people on here though that know a lot more than me) they can tell you what to put aside to get the most value from them. One comic I personally have is the first 12 issues of Preacher a show that just came out. Too bad the show may fail and they may not end up being worth that much. There are many examples like that though.
Sorry to hear about your loss. I have to agree with everyone here, take your time, and Svpernaut is absolutely correct on getting valuable ones graded. If you can get something that's truly mint graded with a high rating can make a huge difference in money. Even something close to mint is worth more graded than not, obviously like he said only do it on the ones that are above probably $100 or so (I mean depending on cost to grade). Also I'd look at auction or specialty sites for private sales, if you do have to do through ebay and have enough transactions you might want to consider a storefront (through ebay) to avoid high auction costs. With a storefront you can save a ton of money. Iirc you can make it where there's a flat fee, so if you had some special edition that's worth a lot ebay won't be able to take the full 10% etc (like might get down to a capped 5% that has an actual max). Can make a huge difference, possibly thousands of dollars or more saved etc.
Good point on the eBay storefront. It will save you a ton in fees if you pay the upfront cost for one. I would imagine the basic store would be sufficient. Here's a breakdown of the storefront fees and benefits: Basic Store $24.95 per month, 250 free listings, 20 cents for each fixed price listing after 250 free Premium Store $74.95 per month, 1,000 free listings, 10 cents for each fixed price listing after 1,000 free Anchor Store $349.05 per month, 10,000 free listings, 5 cents for each fixed price listing after 10,000 free Also, if you maintain a 98% or higher rating you get a reduced shipping costs, and always pay for the shipping through the eBay portal, as it is cheaper. With these I'd offer free media mail shipping, and allow them to purchase priority mail for an additional charge if they'd like, or for the more expensive books. It may be worth picking up a thermal printer for labels (pays for itself quickly), and I'd buy the shipping supplies in bulk on eBay too. Padded/boarded envelopes by the several hundreds are pretty cheap. Grab a tape gun and tape too. Oh, and go to USPS.com and order a bunch of Priority Mail envelopes, boxes, tape, etc. - it is all free. My nephew who is in college buys stuff from Alibaba and resells it on eBay, and has the shipping process down to a science. He makes $10-15k a semester while in college doing it.
This is why pawn shops make so much money it takes a ton of time and research to find out value on items - so you have a choice, either you spend a ton of time sorting through each individual comic, or you pay someone to do that and PRAY they are honest.....or you sell them in bulk and let the person that bought them all do that. DD
