The In Store

This addition of the “In Store” might seem like an obvious entry and let’s face it, it is. eBay is one of those businesses that is known by everyone you meet on the street, like Microsoft and Coca Cola. So I’d imagine a lot of people who collect comic books use eBay but I also know from talking to people a lot of people use ebay wrong.

Never buy single issues on eBay. If you buy one comic, the price for postage and packaging tends to be more then the actual comic so you tend to pay more then you would getting it from a physical comic book store. The cost of the comic may seem like a steal but that p+p will bite you in the butt.

If you want to use eBay to collect comics make sure the seller you want has a few other comics you want to get as well. As a rule of thumb I normally need to want a minimum of 5 issues from a seller to try beat the postage costs.

The safest bet is bidding on lots. I just won 105 issues on ebay and had to pay £10 postage. If I’d bought them in single issues on average the postage would have been £1.25 an issue. The different is huge. The problem with this of course is that sometimes you don’t need runs so you need to balance it out with your own personal needs and if ending up with a few doubles is worth the amount you save.

In terms of quality of issues sometimes you have to take a risk. Everyone looks at their comics and over evaluates their quality so bare that in mind. You also need to remember if you aren’t sure of the quality, ask for more pictures. Most sellers will be happy to do so as could lead to them selling their auction.

eBay is perhaps one of the most valuable tools at a comic buyers finger tips if used wisely. The only downside is you can sometimes spend more then you have to spend so make sure you can afford what you are bidding!