How to Determine Comic Book Value

Have you found a stash of old comics in the attic? Or, perhaps you stumbled across a comic book collection when you were browsing at a garage sale and suddenly got the idea of grabbing them and selling them for a profit. Wherever you've gotten them, and whether you have five comic books or five hundred, you need to know how to determine comic book value.

The methods for determining the value of a comic book are several. First of all, based on accepted guidelines, you need to know what kind of condition it's in. The rarity and desirability of a comic book is another big thing that can give you a good idea of what kind of price you can get for it.

There are at least two ways to determine comic book value. This is also known as its grade. You browse online to find resources that will help you determine its grade. Alternatively, you can consult the CGC (Comics Guaranty Company) by mail or by going to a comic book convention. The grading terms are Mint, Near Mint, Very Fine, Fine, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor. You can find books that guide you in determining the grade, but the information is readily available on the internet, too.

You'll find that it is much easier to determine comic book value once you know the grade. Looking at auctions on eBay will give you a good idea as to what some comic books are selling for. However, you should be aware that values will vary from issue to issue, based on special events that might have occurred in the issue, printing errors, or rarity.

You could also buy and consult a comic book pricing guide. There are lots of different ones. Some of these guides give you a range of prices for a comic based on its grade, while others just give one price for each comic. Last but not least, use a good search engine to look up information about a specific issue. Join online communities and interact with other collectors.

Have a lot of comic books laying around? Visit Comic Book Prices and check out our sections on Comic Book Value and Comic Book Grading to find out what your collection is worth!

- Candace Right