From what I can recall of other times this (or something similar) has been asked:

It depends on what issues you have.  For the first 50 (I think) issues, you're better off selling them individually.

After that, you're better off selling them as small lots of 3-5 consecutive magazines.  Mid-range and later Dragons generally aren't worth what it costs to ship them and are more of interest to people looking to fill holes in their collections than anyone else.

Now the above could be wrong, but the following I know is right:
If you want to maximise the price per issue, don't sell them as one big lot.

g026r wrote:Now the above could be wrong, but the following I know is right:
If you want to maximise the price per issue, don't sell them as one big lot.

This is the conventional wisdom here, but it's not been borne out by any facts or hard data. For one thing, we just don't have a lot of data on what complete sets or runs of 200 issues or whatever have sold for.



For a recent discussion, see:



viewtopic.php?t=6619&start=0



For a current listing of 157-plus Dragons, see:



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :IT&ih=010



This lot jumped to $635 right away and has been hovering there for a couple of days. I suspect there are some snipes in place, so the final figure should be higher, although I have no way to know that for sure.



Another thing to consider is that, recently, many early issues of Dragon have been artificially inflated by certain buyer(s), who bid a certain amount on every issue they see in an effort, apparently, to prop up the value of their own collections. This has been debated here before and doesn't really interest me, so I'm not going to say much more ... other than quite a few of those listings would have finished with lower prices in a truer "open market" situation.



The problem with single-issue or small-lot sales is that the seller is largely dependent on a potential buyer filling in specific missing pieces of a collection. This is, at best, a crapshoot; good timing, more than any other factor, will determine if a sale is made or not. It doesn't seem to work as well as the conventional wisdom seems to think it does, I know that much. Whenever I do completed-item searches for "Dragon Magazine," I see dozens of no-sales for these sorts of listings. I'm honestly sort of baffled as to why a lot of people here seem to think this is such a great solution to selling Dragons; it doesn't add up that way to me.



I won't argue that many later issues are a problem to sell, regardless of strategy. Once you get up into the 100s, the 150s, and 200s, you're looking at mass-produced items that have none of the quirky appeal of the first 50 or so issues. Plus, they are bulky, which means coming up with a smart shipping plan is more difficult. I'm not that surprised that many collectors, myself included, have literally begun to throw many of these issues into the garbage. (Oddly, though, many of the earlier 3e issues do quite well on eBay, so those can still be sold individually or in small lots).



Finally, as discussed in that other thread, shipping becomes a huge issue if a seller wants to try off-loading a huge bulk lot of Dragons ... in fact, it's probably the key issue. Anyone looking to sell a bulk lot really needs to come up with a clear, precise, and fair shipping solution; if that doesn't happen, many potential buyers are going to be discouraged.

Possibly ... others have mentioned the same thing.

I might toss in a bid in the hopes that the price doesn't spike. If I win — and I honestly don't think I will — I'd want them all shipped. I'm looking to replace the worst-looking issues in my current collection.

Xaxaxe wrote: Whenever I do completed-item searches for "Dragon Magazine," I see dozens of no-sales for these sorts of listings. I'm honestly sort of baffled as to why a lot of people here seem to think this is such a great solution to selling Dragons; it doesn't add up that way to me.

As a rule, Dragon magazines tend to be overpriced on Ebay by about double their actual, market value.  That would be my theory on why so many of them do not sell...particularly over #100.

It is my general impression that sellers of Dragons in the #30s to #100 range have an over-inflated idea of their worth.  The problem can be even worse over #200.

The less experienced a seller is, the more likely he is to believe he has a rare treasure.  The more experienced a seller is the more likely he is to just let a Dragon sit in his Ebay store at an inflated price.

What buyers like me want are experienced sellers who really want to sell.

Magazines...including Dragon...are valuable because they are components to larger collections.  Individual magazines are not crunchy game values.  Most issues of any gaming magazine, including Dragon, are disappointing in their actual content.  They hold value only when stacked together...kind of like enriched plutonium.

Thus, the system is stacked against the seller who expects to make big money on single or small lot Dragon sales:

For instance, with small lots, there are bound to be duplicate issues to my own collection.  I don't want to pay a premium price for just one Dragon I need out of a lot of five.

But...when Dragons are listed as singles, they are often priced two or three times their reasonable worth and are usually stacked with a shipping ripoff.  

Even if two or three Dragons are available for reasonable prices from the same seller, the standard combined shipping ripoff still wrecks any value they might have gained from price.

Large lots of magazines prove costly to ship, but are less subject to shipping ripoffs than small lots.

Large lots are also likely to appeal to newer buyers who see a chance to recapture their entire collection in one easy deal.

Unless you are auctioning Dragon #1-10, you might do better posting a massive lot...with a reserve if you feel it necessary.

FINALLY:  I hope you are all joking, but if anyone is thinking of tossing out or shredding their Dragon magazines please contact me first to see if I can pay shipping to take them off your hands.  No guarantees, but for cripes sake!

Mark

FormCritic wrote:
As a rule, Dragon magazines tend to be overpriced on Ebay by about double their actual, market value.  That would be my theory on why so many of them do not sell...particularly over #100.

It is my general impression that sellers of Dragons in the #30s to #100 range have an over-inflated idea of their worth.  The problem can be even worse over #200.

The less experienced a seller is, the more likely he is to believe he has a rare treasure.  The more experienced a seller is the more likely he is to just let a Dragon sit in his Ebay store at an inflated price.

What buyers like me want are experienced sellers who really want to sell.

Magazines...including Dragon...are valuable because they are components to larger collections.  Individual magazines are not crunchy game values.  Most issues of any gaming magazine, including Dragon, are disappointing in their actual content.  They hold value only when stacked together...kind of like enriched plutonium.

Thus, the system is stacked against the seller who expects to make big money on single or small lot Dragon sales:

For instance, with small lots, there are bound to be duplicate issues to my own collection.  I don't want to pay a premium price for just one Dragon I need out of a lot of five.

But...when Dragons are listed as singles, they are often priced two or three times their reasonable worth and are usually stacked with a shipping ripoff.  

Even if two or three Dragons are available for reasonable prices from the same seller, the standard combined shipping ripoff still wrecks any value they might have gained from price.

Large lots of magazines prove costly to ship, but are less subject to shipping ripoffs than small lots.

Large lots are also likely to appeal to newer buyers who see a chance to recapture their entire collection in one easy deal.

Unless you are auctioning Dragon #1-10, you might do better posting a massive lot...with a reserve if you feel it necessary.

FINALLY:  I hope you are all joking, but if anyone is thinking of tossing out or shredding their Dragon magazines please contact me first to see if I can pay shipping to take them off your hands.  No guarantees, but for cripes sake!

Mark

I agree.

But you have to look at it as a seller; it's simply not cost effective to sell items under, say, $3 or so in today's ebay climate.  I dare say most items that sell for $1 or less in auctions are money losers for sellers.

Thus I have to price individual Dragon issues in the $4-$5 range, when in truth they should go for $2-$3 at most. I do offer a cheaper shipping for magazines ($4) instead of the regular priority rate. So essentially when I sell single issues I'm concentrating on the buyer (usually overseas) that needs only a couple of mags for his collection; it's more cost effective to buy a large lot of these and pick out the ones you need, but if you are overseas you can't afford the shipping for a box of 25.

Another thing to consider, I don't sell any Dragons unless they are in EX+ or better shape, and if you notice most mags selling online are crapshoots when it comes to condition. So when you buy a mag from me you are guaranteed it is complete and in above average condition; most people wanted to complete their collections are looking for this sort of item.

But in general I agree with everything Mark said. Dragons are usually priced too much, when there doesn't seem to be any shortage of particular issues in the 100-300 range.

And I will go back to my old story of the seller on frp.marketplace that I was very good friends with, he lived in Kansas City, on one of my trips there to visit inlaws I visited his office. He had boxes and boxes of old Dragons in the 100-200 range he had been unable to sell online for ANYTHING; he had resorted to using them as packing material, which both took care of the excess magazine problem, and saved him money buying shredded paper to fill his shipments.

Mike B.

Mike B.

I am fairly sure mine don't go all the way back to number 1 or even close. Most of them are over issue 100. I need to inventory and photo them. I am going to sell them all in one lot.

Luckily they seem to have originally been sourced by someone who seemed fairly particular, most of them are in plastic bags and still look new.