This is KILLING Comic Cons 

Comic con dealers are just that….CONS. It is criminal what they are doing lying in wait to hook a big fish. Take advantage of someone not knowledgeable of the market. It is pathetic

I went to Collect-A-Con in Orlando recently and unfortunately there were virtually no comic dealers there. That said; I see the same issue on the sports card side of the equation. Dealers post that they "Buy, Sell & Trade" but when you attempt to trade them something they either offer you something idiotic like 40%-%50% of comps or they simply won't make you an offer. I totally understand that due to inflation and increased costs across the board dealers are getting squeezed. For that reason they are overpriced on pretty much all of their inventory. I had one dealer become quite frustrated with me because I was trying to get his copy of Killing Joke in a CGC 9.4 for close to what it was going for on EBay. He was way over market so his excuse because; "I haven't made many cash deals this weekend, everyone wants to trade." Well that's part of being a dealer right? You take the good with the bad; this is the life you have chosen. When the market is good they are printing money but when it's bad they don't want to take even a small loss. "I've gotta make money" is the most annoying while obvious excuse in the book. A lot of these guys have taken the fun out of it at the end of the day.

I am a buyer, exclusively. Been doing conventions 40 years. The dealers have been facing rising prices at conventions. There is a lot of overhead that goes into a large three, four day convention and those costs are added to the books. There are so many reasons large conventions are not as fun as they were 30, 40 years ago. My biggest critique is we are losing many comic book creaters at an alarming rate and you don't see them very often anymore. I would like to see conventions focus on the stars of the profession and headline them. We need retro comic book conventions.

i say this at every comic con ive been to since the pandemic, same thing prices 2x-3x fmv and they wont budge. If you are in for more than its worth thats how buying and selling works..

Blue chip comics,is a complete scam cause I brought a lot of mystery boxes and got nothing but junk books so never buy from these scammers plus they have been banned from whatnot for scamming people as well.

My son and I love to go to one bigger show a year but have found that a show like C2E2 is just to big for us as book buyers. The sweet spot for us seems to be the medium sized show such as Indianapolis or a con that still brings a few larger sellers but it's the mid to small sized vendors we tend to buy from. Great video;

Outstanding video. Thank you for the content and effort that went into it.

Going to Heroes Con in a few weeks. That's a comic con. No Movies. The Grandchild is excited as well to go as is the son. Let us see what it is like this year.

Cons won’t die but the bubble is going to burst real soon. Venders are price gouging because they know the value is going to come way down. This is because of the movies and the speculators that bought into the hobby because $$$$. But now they’re switching back to baseball cards. Long gone are the vendors that are comic book fans. The good side is the bubble will burst with in the next year or two and I can buy my old books back for pennies on the dollar.

We've all seen ridiculous prices at some booths during cons. What does it matter? Not every booth is like that. Also, a lot of people price things expecting them to be reduced by a significant percentage during the purchasing process. For instance, I know someone who has high prices marked but tells everyone everything is 40% off. If someone has a comic marked for $100, often they'll take $70 for it. Its almost baked in to the process...but yes, some prices are truly absurd too.

You said it all ....at these prices Buyer's are not gonna Buy ...therefore Seller's are "NOT" gonna Sell !!! Great Video (😢prices 😫)

So this was a great video my friend. I hear all the time from friends that see books on sale from certain places, “those are con prices.” So the fact that the term exists to explain over priced books says something in and of itself. It surprises me these prices are attempted when speaking to your point that there are many different apps or points of sales data that people can research and see what FMV for any book should be. I haven’t been to a con since 2014 and so much as changed since then but I am going to Terrificon in August so I’m very interested to see what prices are like there. I like the last seller saying anyone that is savvy adopts a “hybrid” model and maybe sets up at a show but streams and sells afterwards. I definitely feel this is the way sales are going for many collectible markets but time will tell. Really enjoyed this my man, keep up the great work!

Go to smaller local comic shows, vendors have more realistic prices because they don’t have to pay thousands of dollars for tables like they do at the big cons

The problem is the deep pocketed flippers. Those youtube bloggers who created content showing their "hauls" Stuff they don't need for their personal collections, but buying collections and taking them out of the market. Speculation driven prices will always reset back to close to normal. Chasing variants, slabbing, all those seller driven gimmicks. I personally can't wait for the bubble to burst and get alot of the flippers and resellers out of the market. Let the buyers run the show.

Still watching but had to comment before I comment, the first wall shot where you examine the Avengers 8. I know that shop because I know those star price tags. They’re 20 min from me and I can’t go there because it’s offensive how overpriced they are. It’s mind boggling.

As someone pretty fresh to comic books, looking for Conan, Vampirella, Red Sonja, Lady Death etc.... comics are crazy priced and places like Dynamite while producing awesome stuff whilst browsing their site for the first time today I felt like I took a time portal back to the 90s. What is that website? They're such a big name and their site feels so damn sketch to buy from. Not to mention, poor stock and overall marketing. I'm guessing that is a thing though in the comic industry, limit production to inflate prices. Not to mention the outrageous inflation from re-sellers. Like 3x the amount of something you can find a few new copies of left floating around. I digress, couldn't have been a better time stumbling upon your video while searching "Vampirella Volume 1: Our Lady of Shadows". Good work man! Alot of bigger TTRPGs seem to be doing the same thing except the use the approach of piecing out a game "starter set" ope that was just a taste for 50-60 bucks now spend another 50-60 bucks to learn how to make a character for the game and another 40 to learn each class etc etc. Though there are some companies that are a saving grace in the industry in the last couple years. *Rando nerd rant end*

Loved this video. So much truth in it. I have plans to go to Terrificon this summer in CT, and I fear that it’s going to be the same old story mentioned in this video. I have hopes I’ll find some deals but we will see. Thanks for sharing 👍

I agree with your general sentiments about comic cons. I don't do them and collectors should not waste their time - most of what you are looking for are online...and has been that way for a while. And don't give comic book dealers (not talking about auction houses) too much credit either. A majority of the lot are not the sharpest knife in the drawer. But I'll give you that they can talk it up very well.

I'm surprised you waited this long! I stopped going to big cons for this exact reason in 2012! It's become a carnival instead of a place to find decently priced comics.

Big priced books are also foot traffic marketing to draw folks to a booth. Sometimes they aren't priced to sell, but to catch eyes.

They have a small con here in Richmond Va a few times a year I've been maybe half a dozen times. Have yet to buy anything because of the overpricing. At the most recent one a dealer told me he would "throw me a bone" (his exact words) by offering me a deal on an FF 15 8.0 that was priced almost three times FMV.... The fact that he would "throw me a bone" was the ass chapper lol, such nerve. I didn't even respond just kept it moving. And to the folks who will invariably say you have to negotiate, I refuse to have 3x FMV as a starting point, just NO. I have just adjusted my expectations to just meeting and chatting a few other comic nerds.

from someone who press/cleans books for comic-con dealers and even occasionally sells myself at them. These prices you are seeing fall under 1 of these categories. 1. Dealer has the price set so high as they havent changed the price to match current sales. So usually if you show them current data they will come down if they really care to make a sale. 2. These books are prices so high as they have no real interest in selling them as they are meant to catch peoples eyes and draw them to the booth for people to buy other stuff, but if someone coughs the money up they will sell it and call it a day. 3. All dealers have their prices set usually 20% higher than FMV so that there is room to haggle with, but if someone buys it at face value then great. But if they haggle then they have that 20% to work it down. 4. Some Dealers just don't care if there books sell as comic-cons are just side hobby and their main jobs pay for everything. So if they sell then great and if they sell nothing they dont care either. 5. Lastly many dealers are upside down on so many big books they bought during the pandemic that if they were to sell these books for their true FMV they would loose alot of money on them. So their view is they will just hold the books till the market jumps back up to those high prices again (which wont ever happen again atleast for another 10-15 years atleast). But their brains just cant expect selling for less that the sticker price. So when going to these cons and you see a Dealer with a wall of just massive keys, 9/10 those books they have been carrying around with them for awhile and still wont sell them at the end of the con. But i have noticed many who are trying to hold out are finally giving in to the current market and selling. Esp. since prices are still on the downward turn and keep loosing money on these books. Case in point last hero-con i heard from a few vendors that the big sellers didnt make anymoney at all and ended up being in the negative cause their prices were just way to inflated. While the smaller dealers who had their books prices correctly and making dealers were walking away with a ton of money from their sells. Then at the end of the con on sunday, those same big dealers started to try and drop their prices. But the con was pretty much over.

GREAT video man! I was just at C2E2 last week and it was 100% big con prices, but I still snagged a few things. The best bet in today’s market is the small to medium sized shows. If you’re in a VFW/American Legion hall or a hotel conference room, you’re most likely in the right place! Keep up the great content man!

i live an in area where are no cons so be thankful you even have the opportunity to go to these. as far as people pricing shit for insane jabs, i just dont buy it or even try to haggle with them. if you price shit insanely, a lot of people wont even interact. i honestly think a lot of these people are in the hole really bad for buying during pandemic. i am glad i i started collecting again where market is way down.

Love this video, I love comic cons also, but I feel like it's better to go to an online site because of those outrageous prices. The other thing is that I have been told by many people that the reason for over priced books is to discourage interest in them.

I just got back from a comic con myself. I really want to help these vendors out but at those prices forget it. I saw the same crap at the Fan Expo today. Been hunting Golden Age Disney Comics. These vendors were charging the same prices from Heritage Auctions that sold graded high copies for their raw (and far worse condition) books. I left kind of grouchy that I made the trip for nothing. This is seriously probably the last time I go to a giant con anymore.

Great video, I just started my own show in Cali paso robles, all books and artists

I'm buying entire lots of a whole series on ebay for $3-6 per comic including the first issue. Hard to beat

I dont go to comic cons to buy comics. I go there to meet the artists and writers and get their autographs and sketches.

I heard an argument in some video the other day that basically said "Being a comic book collector = being a flipper, it's part of the hobby." I think there is a middle ground that still allows for dedicated collectors and vendors to trade/sell their books all while being differentiated from the people who are here strictly to make a buck. I think that a genuine comic collector/comic book hobbyist buying and then selling off a book to be able to continue their collection aspirations is different than someone buying a book at a low price with the sole intention of making a career off of tricking people into paying 2-3x over FMV. I also think that the random comic book vendor who has a love for comics is, likewise, different. They care for the hobby and the people in it and while they might also be making a career out of it, they are also being fair to the people buying from them. This mutual respect ensures that the hobby stays healthy and that the buyer/seller relationship is an even one. I don't know if that is the most lukewarm take of all time but I feel deeply that we need to separate ourselves from those people. I don't know if it's harsh to say but I think they should be ostracized. They should be pointed out and effectively removed from the community by people refusing to do business with them.

Instant sub in the first few mins; I'm also a collector and cons drive me insane. These are not comic cons, these are hollywood fan fests - the comic element is completely secondary (if they're even represented at all lately). Thank you for this video!

When dealers were unable to obtain higher grade books they decided to way up the price of the lower grade books which are very common and no where near the high prices they ask. Common low grades books. There not worth anything. Example. Marvel spotlight 5. Very common book in low grade

Pricing is rampant but hey , it;s all up to the buyer to say nope , not going to spend that amount of money for that comic. I think I'm probably one of the strictest in that regard. I'll never pay more than the going rate of the normal cover price which means that a 12c cover price ( new at that time ) is at most a 5 dollar book for me now. Yep it's easy saying this as a 67 year old collector but that has kept cost low enough to go on and maybe I don't have everything but who has room for everything and even more important the time to read all the comics because that's why I collect .

I find the smaller cons are better. I think they pricing based having to pay the convention fees for the booth.

I suppose there is the risk for older guys who don't check prices on their phone before buying - those guys are passing away, with many of them gone in 5 years, that trick won't work, soon ?

You can get that Kang book for a few hundred, 3500 is nuts! I’m going to start looking for some auctions to grab a few books. I haven’t been in the hobby in a while, seems like a good time To buy?

It is newsprint, within a decade or three it will turn to dust. Buy 90s stuff & reprints because u like the art & stories. Give them to your kids & grandkids.

No one casually goes to comic con and spends 3k+ on something they don’t really know lol 😂

Haven’t finished the video yet but it just seems like they’re trying to take advantage of stupid money and impulse. What they may not realize though is that any sensible collector is going to see that one horribly overpriced book, assume they’re all overpriced and just walk away before even looking

Stupid money bought books in 2020-2021. - 11:40 that book is a booth-catcher, not usually intended to actually sell.

Good video man -👍🏻 iv never been to a comic con iv been just buying on eBay and heritage and finally found a trusted seller on fb I’m gonna do a lot of business with,

Great video. Looking forward to more content!

i dont like that either, but no 1 just walk away, and no 2 in the future remember that unscrupulous dealer and dont subsidize them,..... its a little off the subject but........whats killing cons for me is: im a old school collector,...hence i buy comics, i dont collect autographs, photos, tshirts, decals, or prints, also i dont collect cosplayers, but ... i understand these folks wanna have a con experience too, problem is all this extra stuff causes ticket prices to explode, and i feel like im paying for something i dont want,.....so ive pretty much quit going to big shows and attend smaller regional shows,....

Reading the title, I thought the video might go a different way, but yes, the overpricing of books is a valid point as well. My thought on the death of Comic-Cons is the pricing out of comic book buyers like me. I go to comic-cons to ... wait for it ... buy comic books. Novel idea, right? I'm not familiar with con ticket prices in other parts of the country, but, in my area, it can cost you $50, $60 or even $70(!) JUST TO WALK IN THE DOOR (not including parking, food, etc.), and I just can't justify spending that much money just to attend a con when comic book dealers are

Drop the full interview

Bro, check out up north from wondercon. In Santa Clara last May 5th was ShortBoxed LIVE. I had a great time. And there were only comic dealers. No fluff. Just comic books.

I will be selling at my first con siesta con May 11th in Sarasota,I am sharing a table & told my friend I should sell out at my prices compared to others,I clean & press all my books,reserve FMV & am under pricing a grade as I wan to sell. Thanks for the video! 👩‍🎨✌️

Oh my God it’s about time somebody said it. They’re over fucking charging. It’s ridiculous the amount of money they think they’re gonna get for these books. They need to stop that.

Have you ever been to Heros con? I feel like that has more comic dealers than any other con. I just walk away if I can’t negotiate the price. Great video.

I love your videos man, plz post more

Comic cons - I go to them. Actually buy high-end comics at them? I haven't done that since the 80s.

I hate graded books and slabbing but really enjoyed this video.

Some sellers are just looking for a sucker.

That daredevil I can get for 5k Canadian

You have a good idea, we'll send the book to be graded and drop the price on the lower grade book. We're here to make friends not money like Blue Chip books.

With these prices I would definitely call it a Comic- Con.

Prices are higher in a Con. Except for collected editions like tpb or omnibus

Please consider doing a video on streaming services and how they rate as a buying experience. I’m not sure a lot of the vendors on those platforms are committed to FMV either 😮

Just clip the lapel mic on your lapel, you dont need to hold it

6,000 for some damn PEANUTS!! How much for just one page

If dealers wanna make good margins they don’t need to price gouge. Keeping your big books liquid keeps the flow of income up. It’s so much more beneficial to sell a book at a fair price than sit on it for nothing. If anything, you’d think it’d be logical to set up at a big con with books priced to sell. Sell more = cash flow -> profit margins

Imo the most comic if it CGC and signed 30/40/60/100/200 if it rare 1000 no more Or less if it limited edition 70-80 the majority of people that collects us the younger generation or the older generation and is not many since manga is the popular industry at the moment because of DC and Marvel making stupid decisions

Those dealers price gouging are either still looking at the 2021 prices. Or they hope to catch any newbies to the hobby and over charge.

If I told you how much I bought my amazing spider-man 129 for back in 2008 you’d cry and get sick at the same time lol and I bought it at a chain comic store in Boston……. I got it for $25 😎

The reason there charging these prices is that with the market dropping there trying not to lose money

It’s all pretty gross -thank you for the great journalism . Comic cons are good only for digging in sale boxes that’s it !

Subscribed.

Yeah i agree with you.

OK the bad news I forgot to mention this is Bob in Connecticut again right now it’s too late to try to get the major keys because you have to have lots of money now that was not true 10 or 15 years ago

Listen, I was just watching the video again that KANG for $3500 the dealer must be on drugs. Just remember when you see very high prices that really means the dealer does not want to really part with the book.. try to talk to somebody down on amazing fantasy 15. I bought amazing fantasy 15 New York comic con 6.0 no Marvel chipping presents much better than the grade and it’s only valued at $70,000 plus I was offered $100,000 cash in October at the New York con. I’m not selling it.. I even showed it to Heritage and they said it was awesome looking the guy was probably going to send it to Sarasota Florida to get it re-graded. Yes, a lot of the comic books have come down to earth since Covid but you are never ever going to get a great deal on amazing fantasy 15 tales of suspense 39 stuff like that.. listen I paid $5300 for tales of suspense 39, 8.5 Comic Link sold this book about two years ago for $120,000 and the next copy sold for $99,000. Now it’s down to earth where it should be about $70,000..

I've been to a couple cons this year, so far, and the prices were ridiculously high for the most part. Thankfully, there were a couple vendors looking to unload below FMV. I've become very selective the last year or so, and there was even one convention (TerrifiCon) in which I didn't come home with anything. I recommend going on Sundays and sticking around close to the end of the convention, when vendors are looking to sell as much as possible.

Oh, by the way the amazing fantasy 15 that I did buy in New York City. I only paid $4000. It was already graded 6.0 no Marvel chipping it was graded 20 years ago and presents much better than the grade. That’s why I was offered $100,000 cash and I did not take it. I’m not selling this book

I hope DC and Marvel keeps on pumping those key facsimile editions out!!! Who wants them old ass silver fish riddle books anyways hahahaha!

What Im also finding even worse are dealers who sell reprints as original real vintage books and do not say a word about it being a reprint of having it labeled as such. Like Star Wars or Silver Surfer reprints. These people may gain a few quick books but they screw themselves in time.

Hey, I don’t know how new you are to Comics but prices have always been over inflated because they have to pay for their hotels gas flights staff booth prices etc., and a lot of dealers mark their stuff up some dealers are greedy and just move on past them Some of the Raw books are very high grade and they’re charging slab prices. But a lot of vendors, you can approach and negotiate prices and get much cheaper than the FMV not their marked prices. I’ve been buying and selling Comics for over30 years . I could name a ton of dealers where you could get good prices from I was just at Shortboxed in Santa Clara yesterday and had all the boys there, but you could negotiate prices or trade.

I love going to sellers at these fairs and asking them about obscure books most of the time I get dumbfounded looks.

Have you never been to a con before. Live sells for big books always sucks. eBay, Heritage, and any other online outlet is usually superior. Cons are good to fill your runs, maybe get some books signed, and meet up with your friends. At times I feel like these dealers don’t even want to sell there books, or there looking for a sucker.

these sellers think they can get a sucker..that or they will be taking these books to their grave

This is Bob in Connecticut of course, comic cons are not dying. They are more popular than ever.. the comic con in New York and San Diego is now bigger than the Super Bowl. That’s how big Comic Books are.. well I was buying comic books when I was a bartender I don’t do anything at all now, if people were not ignorant, everyone would’ve bought the first appearances of the characters about 15 years ago and everyone would have a small fortune right now. Not many people really thought Comic Books would be worth so much money now.. if people were smart a few years ago, everyone would be driving a Lamborghini at least a brand new Corvette or hellcat and have lots of money left over.🥳🥳🥳

Dude, no. That is how comics work. The FMV is a 'Guide'. It's NOT the price. It's supply and demand in the secondary market. You're just wrong dude.

Surely , these are prices that one would haggle from… no one is paying that…. It’s advertised for 10, you offer 7….no?

Stop "investing" in books based on movies. Making a whole video to complain about prices is wild. Pay it or don't, it's pretty easy.

These sellers are not collectors they're profiteers they purchased these books too high and now are trying to get back their profits back.

The movies and TV shows suck woke crap! Killing comics!

Seems silly to complain about prices they own it they can ask what ever they want . No one is twisting any ones arm to purchase it. Just Keep on walking and look for a deal . There is really no need to carry on about it makes you look like a cry baby . If you do not like the price walk away. Simple no drama and no looking like a cry baby over prices .

Comics at Comic Cons are dying. They have been for a very long time.