Oooh. There it is, under glass in your local comic shop (LCS). A beautiful copy of Ultimate Fallout #4, the blazing hot first appearance of Mile Morales. It's a raw copy and not a 9.8, even with a press, but there it is nevertheless. High grade with the price to match, $500.
If you are like me, your first thought might be, "I have to have that." But your second is, "how am I going to swing a $500 book?" Enter the LCS trade.
Know Thyself
First things first, so I want to be sure that this is something that I am willing to give up hard-earned treasure for, be it cash or comics. If you haven't done so, it can be helpful to examine what kind of collector you are. Most of us here are "key collectors", but what kind of keys specifically? Myself, I try to focus on Batman and a few favorite artists/writers, oh and Planet of the Apes and almost forgot Plastic Man, I'm always on the lookout for some Jack Cole goodness. I could go on because there are lots of little tangents that our collecting paths take and that's fine, but hopefully, you have some kind of direction for your collection. Something cohesive that holds it together.
Trade Stock
Once I'm sure I know what I want, I'm free to ask what don't I want? I bought a collection a number of years ago that had a few dozen Dark Horse Presents titles in it. Some of them were decent with Aliens or Predator covers and some are dollar books. This is a good place to start, plenty of dupes, mostly $3, $5 & $10 books. I would much rather trade these then try and sell them myself. Too much work for too little return. I also have a bunch of high grade (but not 9.8) Marvel issues that are sought after, Wolverine #8 with that awesome Joe Fixit cover for example, and Black Panther #18, the Michael Turner variant featuring Storm, for another. These make good trade items. The store is going to recognize them and may even have a buyer in mind. What you don't want to do is haul in a long box of junk with no keys or no obvious value to the shop.
It's a Business After all...
You have to be thinking about what the shop can use. They want to move stuff quickly but they also need those run issues. Common issues are fine to trade if they are a major character, are in nice shape, and help fill a hole in the shop's inventory. Your trade expectations need to be realistic here. Shops will often use the 50/30 formula for items THEY WANT. That's 50% trade credit or 30% cash. For non-key issues that take a long time to move, expect less. Keys are more in demand and you can expect a better deal. But even so, you are not likely to get more than 60% of the going price and that's only if the shop can move it right now. With an in-demand book selling for $100 or more, I'm more interested in at least trying to sell it myself. But $10 - $40 books, no thank you. They take time to list, you pay too much in fees, have to ship them and oh, you better hope you noted the grade accurately or better yet, knocked it down a notch or two so your customer is happy.
It's OK if it Hurts a Little
We are trying to grab an important key here, it's Miles Morales for crying out loud. If we want it, we need to move fast. So maybe we need to part with something that hurts a bit. I've got a complete run of Immortal Hulk plus Avengers 684. This is a great run, it's fun and in demand and now from the shop's point of view, things are getting interesting.
The LCS Trade
OK, what do we have to offer? Some newly hot Aliens/Predator books from the DHP series, a couple of sweet variant covers, and a sought after a run of Immortal Hulk. I recently traded 25 Dark Horse Presents titles for $50. Not super great, but look at it from the shop's perspective. There were a lot of dupes along with some dollar books in addition to the Aliens and Predator issues. The variant issues we are bringing in should get us $50 to $60 or more depending on condition and if the owner has a customer that is looking for them. Does it make sense to sell those on our own? Possibly, but keep in mind the work involved and the time factor. That book we want isn't going to wait forever. The Immortal Hulk run with the various hot books dispersed throughout is a real sweetener to the deal. You aren't going to walk away with the Ultimate Fallout # 4 even up, but you might get that price down 60%. Now you are looking at $200 after your trade credit. Maybe you can offer $180 in cash on top of the LCS trade.
It's OK to Walk Away
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, the LCS trade isn't going to happen. Maybe the shop is firm that a $500 key needs to be paid in cash money. Maybe you overestimated the value of your own trade stock, I have been guilty of that many times. I usually realize later that I was mistaken and the offer was fair. But not always and that's fine. Don't let a deal that doesn't get made ruin a good relationship with your shop. This is a hobby and it is fun, try and keep it that way. I think one way to consistently enjoy the process is to funnel lesser books into better books. Good luck out there!
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