I think it’s a mix of everyone. Collectors, speculators and people who think investing in such things is a good idea.
Speaking for myself, I am spending a lot more time at home and that is creating more disposable income. I make too much to have received stimulus and with a limited amount of new TV/Movies coming out due to production stopping, I am looking for other avenues of entertainment. I think it is the combination of a creative outlet with the mental stimulus that gambling provides that probably speaks to a lot of people. There is also a community aspect to collecting that some people might be looking for as we are stuck in our homes.
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Was in a shop today…they had a stack of Thor #4s bagged/boarded & on the rack, priced at $19.99. A customer grabbed one, asked for issue #5 also (hasn’t been available since the Wed it came out here), but was also clearly playing the “I just want to read them/what makes it special” routine.
There is a shop 5 min away from that store, with a stack of #4s at cover.
I think there are many people, with money to burn, who just aren’t very good at the game & aren’t willing to put the time in.
If I signed up for the RobinHood Stock trading app today…I could likely spend a ton of money in the name of “investing” which would seem sound to me, but those skilled at day trading would scoff at.
Using RobinHood in the first place would be your first mistake. The outages could really screw you with that platform.
For all I know, the same people … if you buy a book for $100 and sell it for $200 soon after, then, you see the book for $200 and decide you can now sell it for $300, you buy it and try and get $300 … etc, etc, etc …
Eventually, people at the end of the cycle get the short end of the stick … something like a hybrid Ponzi or Pyramid Scheme … 
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My wife noticed this on the UF#4. She noticed same people bidding and re-listing the same book. She noticed cuz of the seller and the #s on the CGC. That’s why I haven’t bought one.
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This is why I compare these tactics to Day Trading or even a Hedge Fund … it’s actually creating an artificial market … and, at some point, the last in the line gets fully screwed …
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Yup… Even buying at 2k and selling for $200 more is still profit. It’s like playing hot potato… Last one holding loses.
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I think a lot of people under estimate the potential of modern comics. For example, Venom Cover A’s typically have a print run of around 50,000 copies. That’s small potatoes guys. 50,000 translates to 1 cover A for every 6000 Americans.
50,000 is roughly 10% of 1990’s production. So we’re in an era with 90% less inventory coupled with the endless budget of Marvel/Disney, a 24/7 hype cycle with YouTube, on-demand pricing data via completed auctions on eBay, a bunch of 40- and 50-somethings (eg; me) yearning to revisit our childhood and are looking for a more safe place to park our cash instead of the stock market, with the added potential that our titles could get picked up by any of the 5+ major streaming services that are out there competing against each other for streaming content. Plus add movies for good measure.
I also think the better store variants are long-term sleepers. With the print runs they have, they remind me of the limited serial numbered sports cards of the nineties and 2000’s. Look those up if you haven’t lately. Cards that use to sell for $20 back then are selling for thousands now.
I’m long on comics, but they have to be keys or sweet looking covers, and the right franchise.
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I know all about modern print runs and these people that say I only collect SA and bronze I won’t waste my times on Moderns are the dumbest of comic collectors. They are the people that have to pay $1000 for Knull or $600 for Batman Who Laughs when they realize they need the character. Meanwhile the modern collectors have a stack of these books and will sell them all and buy whatever book they want from whatever age. There’s a lot of easy money in moderns to help jump start your collection not so much in old comics. We know what the keys are in silver and bronze and without movie news the fringe characters rarely see any gains. Sure Moderns are way harder to predict than bronze and silver age and you can waste a ton of money on moderns being that guy that has to spend $100 a week on new comic book day, that’s a horrible collector too. Spend a ton for little return and the storage you need to keep up that habit is insane. The best thing you can do as a Modern collector is buy what has potential by reading the PREVIEWS dont be afraid to spend $20 on the hot book of the week if you missed out that way you don’t miss out when it becomes a $500 book.
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That’s also a hit and miss because you never know if it was a good investment or not.
And that’s why I have slowly been buying silver and bronze age books.
Anyone that believes there is no Market Manipulation going on is simply fooling themselves … if you truly want to invest, buy books that have a long term, proven, consistent track record …
I don’t care what a modern print run is … the bulk of books end up bagged / boarded / slabbed / graded, so the number of high grade issues is the determining factor …
The question you need to ask yourself is :: ‘Why are there so little high(er) grade Silver, Bronze, Golden Age …??’ … the answer should be self-evident …
I’ve been in this business for 45 long years … I’ve watched the cycles unfold … and, it did not have eBay, et al during all those cycles …
The one proven fact, throughout all those years is, buy the highest grade you can afford on key books / truly rare books … no, they may not jump 1000% in a month, but they will be consistent in rising value …
If, on the other hand, you want to play into the current Market, hey, it’s your money …
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A Ponzi scheme requires new investors constantly being brought in, in order to supply new money to pay out to the older investor, because there is no actual commodity being invested in, or returned on. Comic books, an actual physical commodity, have been appreciating in value for decades. I don’t think there has been new investors brought in a such a rapid rate that would justify the quick returns that we have seen on some books as of late. I don’t think that the guys who have bought and sold an IH181 over the years would feel like they have been part of a Ponzi scheme.
The housing market also has always seemed to appreciate too. Just like comic books. The people who buy a new home and sell it a few years later for profit, rinse and repeat for all parties involved, would not consider themselves as part of a Ponzi scheme, imo.
It would also require that each subsequent investor in a ‘comic book Ponzi scheme’ would need to be ‘more gullible’ than the last, meaning that the investors with the most money (or willing to spend the most) are the ones who are the worst at putting their money in a solid investment, if it was a ‘scheme’. I understand what you are trying to say, Willie, but I think it is somewhat short sighted. No offense intended, my friend. I think your explanation can better called ‘a game of hot potato’, rather than a Ponzi scheme. Ponzi scheme has such a negative connotation to it as well. (I wrote the above before having read your subsequent post, Willie. Your subsequent post explains some of the questions raised)
I wholly agree with you on this point. But, I don’t think what is happening with all increasing moderns and bronze can be filed under market manipulation. I truly believe that some of these books have had a natural increase in value that will continue to be sustained.
It doesn’t matter it’s not an investment it’s a $20 lottery ticket you lose $20 or you win big, a week from now ten years from now whenever. Sure you want that lottery ticket at cover or below but we all miss stuff. This works for DC and Marvel once you start getting into image, IDW, boom hot books of the week your odds at a return down the road are severely lower. Outside of Walking Dead #1 every hot image book to go for big bucks at one time is way down right now Peter Panzerfaust, Chew, Saga, etc…
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The scheme/wet dream of a modern collector is to take something like Venom#3 3rd print which was $20 6 months ago have 15 copies sell them and get a Amazing Fantasy #15 6 months later.
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I’m almost there myself if first Gwenom goes up anymore I’m sitting on a 100 copies sending 20-25 to the graders on Monday. Might flip a few to pay for the rest to get graded. When it hits $500 9.8 I will sell them all.
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I am selling the hell out of action figures too. Just FYI.
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Another round of stimulus checks and unemployment aid, and likely another round of comics going bonkers!
Checks to be distributed as early as next week.
My x-mas credit card bill won’t hurt as much this year…
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Next week? I heard 3 weeks? Either way all those marvel and star wars shows spec books sell em high!!