Buying Longboxes what are your general expectations

[Exquisimagic]

Hey friends. Just your friendly local newb collector, doing regrettable newbish things.

I purchased some Valiant Longboxes on eBay I offered $193 seller accepted then invoiced me for $280. He listed the shipping wrong apparently. I was told I assumed wrong even though eBay told me shipping price I didn't want to argue I just paid.

I opened 1 long box last night and the contents were far from spectacular. Or not even average for that matter.

So my question is when you buy Longboxes what do you look to spend per box. What type of value of comics do you normally expect? It looks like he just offloaded his surplus and VEI damaged books on me. Example was might get 5 or 10 of an issue. Maybe 20..... nope I received 40 Harbinger #19. This was the most of any single book in the box. Ok. So I have 5 kids and wife that can account for 7 books how about the other 33...... I like to buy comics not sell already have a job......

I hope I'm not being a *SQUEE but this just doesn't feel right. Anyone have experience buying Longboxes ?

[corey]

Don't think I have ever bought a long box. .off and on over the last 15 years I only buy singles. It's just my preference. I like to look at 1 comic instead of trying my luck on a bunch. That and I don't have much room to store boxes upon boxes

[nycjadie]

I have a general formula as to what I pay for a long box based on the age, general value, condition, etc. For what you are describing, with no keys, I generally sell that type of stuff for $20-30 a long box. I have several right now in my garage if you want them;) Seriously, it's not junk. There are 9.8 candidates in there, but for non-keys.

If I'm buying stuff like what you have, I tend not to pay more than $50 for a long, and only if there is stuff in there I want. I've paid more, generally to dealers, but that's because they were minty 9.8 candidates, or something else special. I might pay $50 for a long, take what I want out of there, and sell it for $20. That will give you an idea of my interest. There might be 5-6 books in that long I want as they will grade 9.8 (about $5 a book after costs). Those books might be worth $40-200 graded, depending, etc. That's how I make that math work.

I will say though that I have not had much luck in the last year sourcing good collections. I bought one great one a year ago - bronze age. I also bought a great modern one early spring - tons of unread 90s keys. That's about it though, and nothing in months. In the Bay Area, I used to buy a collection every month or so.

[myron]

My expectations from the 'bay would be low and the $70 a box would be high...

like said earlier, without seeing contents or having a listing wouldn't pay more than $20-$30 for a long...and watch out for that altoid bin in there...

[ftrain]

I dont think I would advocate buying longboxes from ebay. Those tend to be already striped of the good stuff...

I personally would suggest just buying complete runs. You can get some great deals on ebay if you look hard enough!

[jmatt]

I dont think I would advocate buying longboxes from ebay. Those tend to be already striped of the good stuff...

This. They will be cherry-picked to death and you're getting the junk. Most people who sell on Ebay know what they're looking at. Buying runs is a good Ebay idea, since then you know exactly what you're getting.

If you're looking for the original VH1 stuff, Craigslist is a different story. There, you will find people who are looking to clear space in the basement and dump their collections. Many of them see the Marvel and DC stuff as the desired books and the Valiant as box filler.

I once saw a CL listing, a guy was selling his Iron Man run. He sold off the first ten issues and #55 on Ebay and just wanted to be rid of the rest. I jumped in the car and drove straight over. For $125 I got every Iron Man issue, every mini, every tie-in, etc etc from 1969 through 2000 or so. (those mentioned issues aside).

But you have to check frequently, since dealers are also watching CL.

[Exquisimagic]

Don't think I have ever bought a long box. .off and on over the last 15 years I only buy singles. It's just my preference. I like to look at 1 comic instead of trying my luck on a bunch. That and I don't have much room to store boxes upon boxes

You're smart

I have several right now in my garage if you want them;) Seriously, it's not junk. There are 9.8 candidates in there, but for non-keys.

That is great information you provided. Very helpful. In regards to what I quoted you on. If we are still around in 2018 I may need more info on this

My expectations from the 'bay would be low and the $70 a box would be high..like said earlier, without seeing contents or having a listing wouldn't pay more than $20-$30 for a long...and watch out for that altoid bin in there...

Yah I bit off more then I can chew here. Learning lesson I guess. $20 per Longbox would have been fair market value.

I dont think I would advocate buying longboxes from ebay. Those tend to be already striped of the good stuff...

I personally would suggest just buying complete runs. You can get some great deals on ebay if you look hard enough!

I'm with you here. Not advocating. The hunt for deals on eBay is real.

This. They will be cherry-picked to death and you're getting the junk. Most people who sell on Ebay know what they're looking at.

Yah, seems as this is what happened here and condition of this stuff not even VN+

[Jrosen]

When I started reading VEI, I thought about buying a long box to get a bunch of back issues. But when I did the math, it seemed like I was going to overpay for duplicates. Instead, I bought VEI lots that didn't have any duplicates and full arc runs. I don't care about condition, and I focus on spending less than $2 a book after shipping.

[Joshua]

I am okay with buying a longbox locally but I wouldn't do it off Ebay. The shipping usually just wipes out whatever kind of deal I was hoping for so I stay away.