If you’re an avid comic book collector, finding hidden gems is a thrill. However if you take the traditional route of relying on auctions, classifieds and local comic book stores, you’ll almost always pay top dollar. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as long as you ensure you don’t pay too inflated of a price, especially if you purchase a “winner”.
What if you want to buy rare comic books at a great price where you don’t need to compete with other buyers? Then you need to find the comic books that no one else knows are for sale! These types of transactions are called “off-market” because they aren’t actively being marketed for sale in the traditional places. You can certainly find great deals through the traditional route, but “off-market deals” are where you can find the truly once-in-a-lifetime deals.
Here are our tips from the experts at Sparkle City Comics on finding off-market comics to purchase:
In this article
Strengthen Your Network Within The Comic Book Community
Off-market sales are all about building and utilizing your personal and professional network. The thing about off-market sales is that they aren’t a very scalable or streamlined process, therefore it becomes a numbers game. The more people that know you’re in the market to make a private offer, the higher the chances are that you’ll be presented with a private offer or will have the opportunity or invitation to make one. So strengthen and widen your network as much as possible through networking events, trade shows, online groups and so on!
Let People Know You’re In The Market To Purchase Comic Books Privately
Once you have a large and connected network, it’s time to use it! If people don’t know you’re interested in making private offers for comic books, they won’t approach you with a private offer. Sounds like common sense, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t put themselves out there. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking these deals will simply come to you- you need to seek them out!
Let Auction Houses & Brokers Know You’re In The Market To Purchase Comic Books Privately
Comic book brokers and auction houses are often first to know about an item that may potentially go up for sale. If you build in these resources into your network, you may be notified before items go up for auction so you can be ready, or better yet, these third parties may seek to simply broker a quick deal between you and the potential seller if they know you’re a quick, easy and reliable buyer.
Actively Seek Out Specific Comics You Want And Make Private Offers
Even if you let your network know that you’re interested in buying comic books, you still have to sit back and wait until someone takes interest and reaches back out. If you want to take things a step further *and* you know exactly what you’re looking for, you can seek out who the last buyer was of that item and reach out directly to them to see if they’re willing to sell and if they’d be open to hearing an offer.
Question? Comments? Sparkle City Comics Is Your #1 Resource For Buying & Selling Comics!
Sparkle City Comics is a leader in buying and selling comic books, from individual comics to prized collections. We’d be happy to be a resource for you however we can.
If you’re ready to sell comic books, fill out our seller inquiry form and let us help! If you’re looking for comics to buy, we always have interesting comics for sale on our dedicated eBay page.
