Hello comic book investors and welcome back to Covering the Spread!

I make an effort to not only talk about books that I think you should invest in, but books you shouldn't as well.  If you haven't read my article before this is a great place to start.  My philosophy on investing is stay away from what everyone else is investing in.

That may sound strange but I promise there is a reason for it.  Today I will use a few books to illustrate why.  But first, I'll explain.  The basic principle of any investment is buy low, sell high.  That's what we're all here to do.

Trying to buy a book while everyone is trying to buy it, means increased demand.  With increased demand, comes increased price.  That's simple economics.  On the opposite side of the coin, when a book is in lower demand, the price is lower.  Let's look at some books to further explain.

 

Naomi 1

Yes, I'm finally going to talk about this book.  This has been on of the most in demand books in recent memory.  While copies were flying off eBay, myself and many other writers here were discouraging people from buying in.  Of course if you could get them for cover price that's another story.  But this article is about buying off eBay, grading and reselling.  So how would that look with Naomi 1?

 

Average Raw Price	54.82
10 Copies	548.22
Shipping Fees (EST)	100
Grading Fees (EST)	180
Selling Fees	90
Total Costs	918.22

 

9.8 Av Price	9.6 Av Price	9.4 Av Price	9.2  Price (EST)
156	86	70	50
2 Copies	3 Copies	4 Copies	1 Copy	Total Value
312	258	280	50	900

Not very pretty.  I will say, I am only using the past month for pricing information on slabs (I usually use the past year).  With this book being so new, I think the more recent sales are the most relevant, and show where the market is headed.  Of course prices could go back to where they were during it's peak, but that remains to be seen.

As it stands I estimate upfront costs of $828.22 and expect a loss of $18.22.  That would be a spread of -1.82.  Of course you may end up with more 9.8 copies since this is a newer book, but I wouldn't count on it.

In this case the competition on auctions is so high, it's increasing this price.  Whereas demand for graded copies is relatively low.  With most new books high grade copies are plentiful, and won't command as much value.

 

Sandman 1

These days, this is the other big type of in demand issue.  With the announcement of the Netflix series, sales of this issue have skyrocketed.  But, as I mentioned earlier that doesn't mean you should also be jumping on the hype train.  Let's look at some numbers and see why.

 

Average Raw Price	90.49
10 Copies	904.90
Shipping Fees (EST)	100
Grading Fees (EST)	180
Pressing Fees (EST)	120
Selling Fees	193.30
Total Costs	1498.20

 

9.8 Av Price	9.6 Av Price	9.4 Av Price
331	150	95
3 Copies	5 Copies	2 Copies	Total Value:
993	750	190	1933

This book does look much more appealing.  Again, I am using the past 12 months of sales here.  The prices of graded copies are much higher than the historical norm, but that doesn't mean they will always stay this high.  I think the average from the past year is the best estimate.

With that in mind I expect an upfront investment of $1304.90 and expect profits of $434.80.  That's a spread of +43.48 and an ROI of about 33%.  This certainly isn't a bad result, and I wouldn't fault anyone for going after it.  However, as far as comic books go, that isn't spectacular.

 

Batman Vengeance of Bane

Here's my example of the type of book I like to target.  This book is certainly something that is valued in the market.  I wouldn't say that this is currently in high demand though.  So if my theories are correct that should make the numbers more appealing for this one as well.

 

Average Raw Price	45.09
10 Copies	450.90
Shipping Fees (EST)	100
Grading Fees (EST)	180
Selling Fees	126
Total Costs	856.90

 

9.8 Av Price	9.6 Av Price	9.4 Av Price	9.2  Price
256	112	84	78
2 Copies	3 Copies	4 Copies	1 Copy	Total Value
510	560	336	78	1260

Our upfront costs should be about $730.90 and we expect profits of $403.10.  That's a spread of +40.31 and an ROI of 55%.  The ROI is where you really start to see the difference here.  I generally try to recommend books with at least a 50% ROI because that is clearly better than most traditional investment methods.  Plus, with a character like Bane, I'm sure we'll see him on the big screen again eventually.

Wrap-Up

Well, do you all agree with my theory about what books people should be investing in?  Have you fallen victim to the fear of missing out in the past?  Let me know in the comments down below.

This weeks winner was Batman Vengeance of Bane with a solid 55% ROI.  Second place was Sandman 1 at 33%.  Finally Naomi 1 lead to a loss of 2%.

Thanks as always to Comic Collateral for our pricing information!  See you all next week!