At Ace Comics, we buy back-issue comics from those that wish to sell. At any one time we have literally over 100,000 comics in stock, which means we do not always need to buy comics. Here are a few points to consider if you have back-issues you want to sell to us.
The first thing we need is a clear list of the items you have for sale. You can either supply this via a spreadsheet (an excel file and the like), or by listing the title and issue numbers you have – for example, Uncanny X-Men #150-250, less #159, #180, #195, and so on. We can then determine if we need enough from your list of comics to make a purchase worthwhile.
If you want to just clear out everything, the best we would offer is 10p to 25p per comic. This is not because we are heartless capitalists, but it is likely that we will only want a few comics from the collection and it will be those key issues that we will be able to sell. Should your collection contain high quality, valuable comics we will work with you to provide a better price.
Always bear in mind that most of our back-issue sales take place via online markets with high fees for retailers. We also have to consider postage, packing and staffing costs. Then there is the speed of the sale – some comics take years to find a home and having money tied up in stock is also an expense to be taken into account. We will never pay more than half of the current market value of a comic for these reasons.
We are always looking for continual DC and Marvel top sellers like Batman, Amazing Spider-Man, Venom, Thor, Captain America, Harley Quinn and the like – the obvious titles of high interest. Some titles such as New Mutants, X-Factor, Excalibur, Darkhawk, Hawkman and Spectre are of very low interest and only ‘first appearance’ issues would be of use to us, such as New Mutants #98 (the first appearance of Deadpool), X-Factor Apocalypse issues and so on.
From Image Comics, only main titles like Spawn and The Walking Dead would be of interest and from Dark Horse Comics it will be Aliens and Predator titles that we may require, the rest have little resale value.
We have little need for Valiant Comics, Boom! Studios, Malibu Comics, Archie Comics, Oni Press, DC: Vertigo or small press comics.
Once your supplied list has been considered, we will then make an offer. Any accepted offer will always be paid by cheque or bank transfer once we have collected the comics, checked their condition and ensured all of the items we have agreed to buy are there.
Unfortunately, due to the high volume of collections offered to us, we are unable to respond directly to every enquiry, but if we are interested in your comics, we will contact you within a week.
We are always clear and honest about our valuation and our offer. We want you to be satisfied with the deal and understand that a low price is a fair price. You are not obliged to accept our offer.
We have been trading in comics for 38 years and we always strive to give the best price possible. Our longevity is testament to our integrity and business model.