Comic Book Prices
Finding comic book prices is an arduous task. First of all, the old debate about a book’s “value” will never be settled. Can an actual value for Amazing Spider-Man #14b be established? Why do comic book price guides claim this issue is worth $2,499 in mint condition? Isn’t an object like a book really worth only what someone will pay for it? We could argue about this for hours, suffice to say — the debate is still on.
Establishing Insurance Value through Comic Book Prices
One reason to look for comic book prices is to establish an insurance value for a collection that is worth enough to insure. If you own lots of Golden Age or Silver Age books or a good number of any valuable books you may want to insure them — in this case, establishing a “market value” is absolutely necessary. I look for all my comic values online at ComicsPriceGuide.com. Registration is required, but it is totally free, and you can opt out of any of the features you don’t want, such as their e-newsletter. Let’s take a look at one of their listings for a better understanding of how this whole thing works.
Comic Book Prices at ComicsPriceGuide
Go to ComicsPriceGuide.com and look at Uncanny X-Men #19. This is a great book — the Mimic is prominently displayed on the cover looking all mimic-y and cool, and there’s a great city scene way beneath the Mimic crouched on an icy power line. Great cover. Great book. Notice on the right side of the screen — these are Comics Price Guide’s values for the book at different levels of wear and tear. Obviously the highest value is for a mint condition book on down through “poor” condition. The “value” listed on the front page of your search probably showed a value of $240 — that’s the value of a book rated 9.4 or “Near Mint” condition. Realize that a lot of the books out there aren’t going to be a 9.4, so don’t assume the one line value you see on the search page is the actual value.
Now take a look at that search page. There’s currently one of these books for sale from a member of ComicsPriceGuide.com — selling a book for $25 that is listed as “Good” condition. See how the market can vary in value? According to CPG, a “Good” condition Uncanny X-Men #19 is only worth about $12. The real market is not always the same as the market value. That’s a nitpicky example, but you get the idea.
How do you think the value of Uncanny X-Men #19 would change if a collector needed your 9.4 condition book to complete his entire series? He’d pay just about whatever you wanted. If the comic book price market is anything, it is mutable.
Now that I’m off my soapbox, I’ll tell you a little more about why I like ComicsPriceGuide.com. You can input your collection and keep track of the values of your books online. You can buy and sell books, keep a “wish list”, message with other members, discuss books online, and even dig through a nice sized Classifieds section for books and accessories. If you need a way to keep your collection and your book’s values in one place, join Comics Price Guide. Remember, its totally free.