So, as usual, this isn't an easy question to answer.
First, let's start with an explanation into the current situation. Why is comic book value so low at the moment? Sheer bad luck? Well, yes. In a way.
Firstly, one of the biggest things to take into consideration in recent times is, of course, lockdown. Why? Simple. During lockdown, we were all effectively cut off from spending, to an extent, and as such, because of this, we accumulated substantial funds that would normally have been sunk into things such as holidays, activities, shopping etc, things that we could no longer do during this period. So what did we do with that cash? We sunk it into our home improvement schemes, online shopping... and yes, you guessed it. Hobbies.
Comic book value boomed during lockdown, with so much money being forced into the collectibles market, they more than quadrupled in value in some instances. Great right? Wrong. Lockdown wasn't a permanent change to our situation, therefore, the constant funds inflating the collectibles market had an expiry date, causing the record values to become artificial. Think of it like an overfilled balloon, the air being forced into it, the funds. It can only take so much before the pressures causes it to explode. Well, in this case, this isn't entirely accurate, seen as what happened was lockdown ended, the money dried up, the balloon deflated, rather than burst. So, at this point, we have a stale market that's recovering from a dried up rapid influx of money. Prices are high, but nothing's moving, literally nothing is selling. What's next?
The rising cost of living. Great. So here we are, stacks of comics a mile high that cost us a tonne during the lockdown period that have suddenly dropped 50- 70% in value in a matter of months. The cost of our heating bills could fund a Nigerian prince for a decade, and a loaf of bread costs the same as a string of pearls. Oh, and to make matters worse, some idiot has decided to change semi-skimmed milk bottle lids from green to white. Why? Aside from the fact that this was an insane decision, how does this affect the comic market?
With less money coming in, nothing is selling. Stock is stagnating, and due to the increased price that same stock initially cost just months before, some of the less intelligent traders are increasing the sale price of their goods to try and recover the cost, effectively further lowering their value by stagnating the market even more. Yay.
But do we stop there with the depressive occurrences? We do not. An impending recession is now on the cards, with interest rates rising, house prices falling, and everything pretty much going down the drain.
We're in for a turbulent time ahead, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. From a private collector's perspective, this is great. Cheap books, high-end issues that have been out of reach, are suddenly reachable, and much more of a selection out there. For traders/sellers, cheap stock and again, a lot of people selling larger collections in preparation for the hard times ahead.
The downside though is pretty substantial. From a private collector perspective, their collections have plummeted in value, and could take 10 years or more to even return to pre-lockdown values. Private traders that lack the business intelligence to sacrifice some profit to stay in the game are pushing ridiculous lockdown prices, and the knowledge of the price crash has yet to reach many private collectors ears, so there is a frustratingly large amount of people with unrealistic expectations of the value of their books.
Then, from a trader perspective, things are even worse. Sure, we can buy high value books for a pittance, but what is the point if we can't sell them? Our total stock value is down 70%, and sales of higher value items have effectively stalled. Much of the market is driven by the purchases made by resellers and traders, so without their constant buying and selling, the market will continue to slow, and continue to fall in value. Yikes.
So finally, should you sell? Should you hold?
If you're a private collector, and you plan to hold your lot for an indefinite period, without a doubt, do that. Prices will eventually return to normal as the items will become scarcer and rarer, but if you think you're going to need to liquidate within the next five years, sell now before you lose even more.
Traders, what about you? We've seen established shops closing doors more often than not in the last few months. Physical shopfronts being shut down, websites closing, and businesses failing left right and centre, so what should you do? Obviously everyone operates in different ways, and you may not agree with my advice here - but I lead by example, and this what I'm doing. Slash prices, sell cheap, buy up stock and hold. Do your part to kickstart the economy, get stuff moving, even if at a temporary loss. It's all relative, and when the market turns around, the profit will come. Of course, some people don't have the luxury, or the ability, to do so, and therefore cannot. Regardless of your decisions, I wish you all the best of luck!
If you have a collection to sell, we are always buying stock - currently in the hopes of a market correction, so just drop us an email at customerservice@fantasyroad.co.uk
Thanks for reading!
