Market Spotlight!

It's been overlong since I've done one of these, mainly because I'm having trouble finding anything new that really looks enticing.  Uncanny X-Force # 4 is completely out of its mind right now, that's for sure.  But that was Rich's homework, not mine.  What I should probably do is either talk about some really powerful "old" material, or get into some next-level thinking on the actual nuts and bolts of selling.

Instead, I'll just talk about these tepid little tomes:

Black Panther: Bad Mutha
ISBN:  0785117504
SRP:    $10.99
Amazon Min:  $20+

Not exactly a barn burner at the $20 mark, and I don't imagine the Reggie Hudlin era is remembered as a high point of the character's progression.  In the long term, I think I like Priest's "Enemy of the State" better than this as an investment.

But in the now, the initial investment isn't that much, and if it spikes up from here, the margins look pretty darned good.  I've had good success finding a couple copies for around $5 as well, which takes a lot of the risk out of the equation.  Again, not my favorite find in the world, but I bet I make some money on this one.

Green Lantern Corps: The Dark Side of Green
ISBN:  1401215076
SRP:     $12.99
Amazon Min:   $20/$30

I've had much success with a wide selection of Green Lantern books, although this is the first simmerings I've observed from the "Corps" camp.  Can't say I fully trust it, yet, especially when Amazon doesn't even have it listed correctly.  (It's in there now as "darker" side of green) 

But it doesn't seem crazy for this to be riding the coattails of the well popular Geoff Johns books. (none of which do well in the secondary market as trades because they keep up with supply)  If you can dig one up in the 50% range in nice shape, it's tough to imagine losing money on that.

George RR Martin's Hedge Knight TPB
ISBN:  0785127240
SRP:    $14.99
Amazon Min:  $????


This one is kind of an intriguing, disgusting mess.  I've actually sold the hardcover version of volume one for a profit before.  Martin's got a little heat on him now with the success of the Game of Thrones HBO show, so the thesis on this one is actually strong.

But again, this thing is a mess.  The listings on Amazon are all over the place.  There's a book club version of this, which is bad, because that generally means a much larger supply lying somewhere latent and waiting.  It's a little dodgy to figure out where exactly to list the damn thing, even with an ISBN, and prices are spotty as well.  Near as I can tell, nobody is selling this for less than $30 right now.

I did see a corroborating sale on eBay recently, where some poor bastard apparently gave up $75 for a copy of this book.  More than one witness tends to make the story sound more plausible.  And to be fair, even a giant latent supply doesn't necessarily kill the profit. Not sure that I did better with anything last year than Cowboys & Aliens, which had an absolutely monster supply behind it.  I was buying multiple copies from Instocktrades for $2, posting them, and then selling them for $20-$35 overnight. 

Long story longer, I think you can make money on this book, but I would be awfully wary about sinking money into multiple copies.  I think supply can catch up on this quite quickly.

- Ryan