Small comic conventions and little comic shows are where I spend my money. Bigger shows seem to barely have comics, just other pop-culture stuff. That is perfectly fine, but I need me some comics!
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I’ve slowed down on comic purchases but it’s not due to the recession. I’m still getting great deals on the few books I’m buying. It’s going to be a good buyers market for at least the next year.
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I just dont understand why they wont deal. Why pay table fees and lug all of those slabs if you arent going to sell any.
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It’s because they’re collectors and can’t bear to part with their collection.
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Facebook also reporting first ever revenue drop and projecting it to continue. Advertisers are tightening belts. Advertising is the first thing to get cut from the budget.
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Hey, let’s try not to swing back into the regular “are we in a recession” talk… let’s talk about buying/selling comics in recession or economy being down, etc.
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Anecdotal evidence here…. I hit the LCS every Wednesday after work and see some regular faces each week. A couple of them have openly discussed they are drastically cutting back on their pull lists. I think another couple months and budgets are going to get tighter.
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I’m cutting back in pulls because stories suck.
Plus high republic went on hiatus.
Also my sales which allow me to purchase more spec
Books have slowed somewhat. But there hasn’t been much to get excited about at the LCS in 2-3 months anyway.
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More money for Marvel Haslab😂
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So I started this section in April 2022 how things have changed since then in all asset classes.
Back then people kept on saying its just a small dip and keep on buying non key moderns etc…
Then weakness got worse for moderns then it spread to Bronze then to Copper BUT ‘no worries’ Silver Age will never go down ooops oh wait bear markets don’t care what age the book is. When someone wants to sell they will sell at whatever price they can.
Golden Age and Pre-Code Horror have in fact held up from what I have seen and heard.
Copies of AF15 are hitting the auction houses like it’s a regular key book, this is worth paying attention to when books like this are brought to market aka Supply/Demand
Hot crypto money that was all bidding up those keys with ‘monopoly $’ at auctions is long gone heck even Miami nightclubs are affected now because that cash is not dropping anymore.
What is also interesting many YTers are saying the bottom is close and you should be buying up (but most of them are not showing off the books they are telling people to buy 
) but hey they also wanna tell you about Ninja Funk variant of a variant. 
Perhaps there is more downside real bottoms happen when all the weak hands are gone and when you have influencers telling you the bottom is here perhaps it’s not a bottom
When you start hearing people swear off comics or influencers are talking about other stuff besides comics that might be a good sign. They want your eyeballs for money so they will talk about whatever hot topic there is for that day.
Bottoms take time to happen in stocks and commodities etc…so it will be the same in collectibles imho it’s human nature.
In the mean time keep hunting for deals for stuff that you wanna own no matter what kind of market we are in. 
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I sold most of my expensive books last year. I would rather transact moderns that cost $50 and less than Copper or Silver that costs hundreds or thousands.
Once the layoffs start happening those Copper- and Silver-age books will be hitting eBay in mass.
Spec-worthy moderns that cost $50 or less are the safest place to be imo.
Bottom won’t happen until Deisel prices return to normal.
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I think you are spot on with the layoff angle. Even hiring freezes all over the place even Disney announcement today.
And yes it will be easier to move a $50 raw books vs $500+ slabs just based off buyers psychology. If they paid up during the hype they would be hesitant buying slabs.
Slab market will go through its own market adjustment is what I am thinking.
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High-cost slabs whom have a population of 1,000 or more 9.8’s (outside of a few exceptions) are going to take a big hit. Especially when you consider the number of slabs that were added to the census in the last 24 months. We’re going to witness a major supply vs demand imbalance.
However, I do think we have a chance at a soft landing if they can bring down the cost of diesel quickly.
Inflation for survival-related expenses will already have peaked if they can do so - quickly.
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I’ve been doing small shows (cash only) all year. I have somewhat of a pulse on this.
$2 - $3 comics are selling rapidly. The point to point sale where buyers see the book(s) is a plus. No shipping fees as well.
My expensive raw books ($100 or more) - mostly sit there
My slabs - literally sit there like paintings in a museum. They’re looked at; and then the viewers go into the museum store to buy the $2 - $3 ones. 
It aint pretty out there
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Thank you for the real world market report 
With your slabs you have to either be patient or price them to move… if you are the long game patience is the one I would choose if the slabs are good books.
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Definitely isn’t pretty. Quite scary actually.
The difference between this inflationary cycle versus the 70’s and 80’s is that you didn’t have very many dual income households back then. Families were able to adapt by having the non-working spouse gain employment. This time around many families don’t have that option.
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I’m seeing more and more big books for cheaper. My, “Inventory,” tends to be lots of comics worth $5-$10 and those keep selling fine. My expensive stuff is struggling to be anywhere near the highs of months ago and I’m glad anytime I get something pricey not for my PC I sell it quickly or I’d be stuck with some expensive stuff and selling it at a huge loss. I already had some loss due to stuff sitting as prices dropped even further, but I basically break even with what I buy to read and then sell at a loss versus what I buy to sell for profit. If I were losing money I’d have to quit buying anything new to actually enjoy reading and that would stink.
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The bottom hasn’t been reached yet…
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Bottoms happens when people stop talking about bottoms… 