I for one LOVE people overpaying on Whatnot. Chances are if you're paying these crazy prices then you're a baby-investor snapping things up because NFTs are finally out of fashion. Less money in their pockets means they run out of money faster when the actual deals come up. I was in a room the other night (creeping for Vampirella variants) when a guy won an auction, then had to openly admit he just maxed out his credit card; the seller had to run the book again. Everyone snapping up only what they recognize in the movies is making the other markets so much softer for actual readers--I consider myself a collector second. I've been able to put together 1-29 of the original 67' Warren run of Vampi for under $600 (including her first appearance in a 3.5) just because she isn't appearing in any post-credit scenes...and it's heavenly.
This is no one's fault but the buyer's. Call it FOMO, call it a lack of will-power, call it being new to the hobby....the fault lies, solely, on the person clicking the "bid" button. If there is a book you want, you find the value, set your bar for how much you are willing to spend, and then you stick to that number. There are no guns to anyone's heads making them bid these ridiculous amounts. I think a video of interviews with the people that paid these prices would be very interesting if only to ask them, on a one to ten scale, how high was their INSTANT buyer's remorse.
Great video Chris! People don’t shop around….they get caught up in bidding wars trying to win a $15 book. You MUST shop at 3-5 different stores or online sites to get a better picture of a books true value!! I’ve always wanted X-23 #1 Del’Otto variant but can’t find it at a affordable price, Drahcir’s comics said he found a nm copy at a flea market for $1 and got it graded that came back a 9.8….so yea shop around!
If everyone had the same thing and no choices in the world the world would be boring and lame.i shop around for my thing as well that is y there is red box I haven't bought a DVD in a long time.
@@JernosComicsPopCulture Hey Chris have you ever bought books on the live auctioneers app? I'm not worried about anybody reading this and going there because prices are HIGH AF. A year or two ago some deals and now more than EBay and don't even start with the Third party shipping crap. When you look at the prices sold you need to add 20-30 % commission. Keep it real brother
Hey Chris, I’ve been getting some great deals on Whatnot, but I don’t get to caught up in the bidding. I have in my mind what I will pay and stop there. Sometimes I’ll get nice books for cheap because I’m the only bidder. Good to have you back!! 👍🏻♥️
Very good analysis! I noticed this very early on when I started buying on the app. I never trust what the seller is saying a book is worth (usually twice the going rate, as if the recent downturn isn’t happening). I always have eBay and covrprice open when I am in Whatnot, and it has prevented me from making some big mistakes.
I had the strangest thing happen during my second of only 3 Whatnot auctions that I've done. I sold a Spider-Man book worth about $30 and during interacting with the people in the room commenting, one of the buyers that was buying a lot of my books shot the bid up to $200!! I told him I believe he made a mistake and just to cancel the purchase and I'll rerun the book. He told me "he likes to help out the little guys" in comics because I only had about 20 people in my auction at its peak. It was like a donation and I told him he was very kind but did not need to do that. He insisted and I took it! Just a strange feeling.
Whatnot is a cool way to browse and buy comics. If the collector is prone to "impulse" buying and maybe is a bit competetive, Whatnot may not be the app for them. They will get caught up in the "a couple more dollars won't hurt" moment and keep clicking that bid button!! When you see a book you want, set your limit in your mind, when the exceeds that number, oh well....move on.
Haters gonna hate? Sounds like a great place to sell comics!!! Many buyers on whatnot aren’t collectors they just see something cool and bid till they win.
Just goes to show, people don't do enough research and end up throwing money away. Just got a VF/NM copy of X-Men 244 for $30 shipping included from an Ebay auction btw. Glad to see you back Chris!
As a seller on Whatnot what I can say is that I see a lot of this in the bigger sellers all the time. It seems to be that folks want their names on the screen of the big sellers and are willing to far overpay for a book. Smaller sellers, like myself, have a hard time getting $10 on a $20 key book. I think we are not seeing buyers overpaying just for the book, it is like virtual clout chasing in a lot of cases.
As someone who uses WhatNot. I know going in what I'm looking for and what I'm willing to spend. Some people just bid away. But also some sellers sell low grades way too high or ask for way too much.
You definitely have to understand what you’re looking at when you get on Whatnot. It’s easy to get caught up in a sellers hype, or seeing a bunch of people throwing money around. That being said, I’ve got some straight STEALS on whatnot too. Hulk 340 SS 9.6 for $250 and the kickstarter Spawn 1 9.8 for $90. People just need to have a limit and stick to it when they go in there, and don’t let FOMO get the best of you. Great video my man!
If you know what you are going after on this auction app and you don’t check going prices beforehand it’s your own fault if you pay triple the value or more. eBay is s great resource for this and should be your current “Overstreet “ price guide.
I don't have WhatNot. I've seen these videos and then I've seen videos about people complaining no one is in the room and people are getting good deals. This looks like a majority of these are the same seller. Reason I ask is background is the same. I always question why this is. I'm wondering if it's friends bidding to drive up price. How many times does this happen?
I actually messaged some of the buyers to try to let them know they were paying way too much . This was happening every week on this particular stream . And they’re not “influencers “ btw these are NOWHERE NEAR the most egregious examples .. the silver age books were ridiculous , and I was able to find THE SAME BOOK , I mean literally the SAME book with the exact same wear etc had been bought on eBay in the weeks before the whatnot sale
I went back to my LCS a few months ago. No shipping charges, as Canadian no exchange rates. I left after watching Wolverine 88 NM go for over $200 raw. Whatnot offers the same dopamine hit gambling sites do. I'm glad I quit.
I have seen that happen to many times. Hopefully it slows down but it will never go away. As long as Whatnot doesn’t change some things they will not be able to keep track of sales and report it. These videos are good and I’m sure they will help some. Even one person at a time helps the change bro! Keep it going!🤙🤙
I'm not allowed to shop for our Veteran's books because I make dumb decisions. But I have a cute little asian who's wicked smart with finances and acquisitions. Ever since I accidentally pre-ordered 7 copies of NHOTL #1 at cover price, my purchasing privileges have been revoked 😆. But this content is ALWAYS worth putting on the watchlist for her to reference in the future. We have many from you in there that we have found helpful in the past and we appreciate you, Chris. Thanks for taking the time, Sir. -Battle66delta
I wonder if adrenaline wore off and buyers checked FMV and cancelled transaction. WhatNot free since it's exception. I think what did it for me was aggressive sellers yelling at us for not bidding on overpriced/overgraded books. The word of mouth also has been horrible. I still remember when Very Gary sold two Moon Knight books for $35. I picked up both for $5 that same day. Be well, Chris!
This is ridiculous!!! whatnot is ruining not just the market but the real collectivity or our comics... for them it's about sell, sell, sell, that is their main point of it all. Thanks for pointing this out but also it's our responsibility as collectors/buyers to do our research and make sure we are not overpaying, regardless I think whatnot should take a look at this and make sellers accountable so they are not steeling from people that don't know the market. They should have a max bid set amount so no one over pays for this comics... yes something like that.
I always find it shocking when people get into bidding wars for filler or comics you can find on Ebay for way cheaper. Honestly if WN sales were tracked I think a lot of books would go down. While you usually see this in the bigger shows the smaller streamers typically sell for under fmv if they're running low start auctions IMO
My biggest gripe on the app is when people do mystery pulls and duck races and all that other staff and people get filler books for premium prices. I have bought books like that myself where I was trying to get a grail book or a cool blind pull. Its so frustrating because you have to spend so much money to win bug books most of the time.
I stopped buying books on Whatnot for this exact reason. I prefer Mercari. Also many sellers don't list the information on each book so that you can do comparison research before the item comes up for sale. I think all items are listed prior to the start of a Whatnot session, I got sick and tired of the generic listings.
These the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Do you even know what money laundering is lol. Do you know how long that would take and how easy that would be to track?
As a WhatNot buyer/seller I see this all the time. It’s especially prevalent in large seller shows where bid fever happens or people wanna be seen buying stuff to look ‘cool’ even if it’s way over FMV. If a seller has items preloaded, and you come across something of interest, you should do your research before bidding so you know what the real value is so you don’t get stuff in bidding fever and overpay for books. You can get good deals on whatnot if you pay attention, but you can also overpay for books, especially during convention shows where FOMO wins out most of the time and almost everything that is sold will likely be worth 50% less in a month.
Thanks for this video. Pretty much highlights why WhatNot is ultimately not great for certain areas of the hobby. People mainly pushing garbage for inflated prices is a situation where nobody wins.
Here are some of the tips you need for Whatnot. Do not trust their grading on raw books. Always be willing to accept that your 9.8 will actually be a 9.2 Avoid gambling. Mystery pulls can be fixed. I've watched the 'big prize' go last pull on several of them while by pure odds, they ought to go somewhere near the middle. What a coincidence, right? If you can't see the books being pulled (they are taken from a comic box) always consider that fraud may be going on. Listen to what sellers say about their books. Make sure they say something specific about the book. A grade, the flaws on the book. Sellers who tell you that the book is "clean" are telling you NOTHING. I can rip a cover in half on a new book, the book is still 'clean.'. Clean = NOTHING. The more a seller insists his books are 'clean' the more I know he's full of shit. Whenever sellers tell you "I can't believe how low this is, you are all sleeping, they are always full of shit." If the book were that good, they wouldn't need to auction it. If they don't like the prices they are getting they can stop listing the books. Finally, the fact that a seller has been around years means nothing in of itself. There are many con men who have been around for years. Being 'around for years' does not make you trustworthy. If someone has to insist that they are trustworthy, then maybe they aren't. I know one older Canadian dealer on Whatnot who always overprices and overgrades his shit books. He's been around decades.
Finally saw someone comment on this. I hate when I go into someones what not auction and the seller is constantly saying “you got that book for a steal” or “you guys are sleeping on this book” when they just sold a 1$ book for 10$
@@Smitty1x Yes. The reality is that some of the books may well list at the price they claim, but not all books fly off the shelf the second you put them up for sale. There are three speeds at which books sell: Hot books, book that will sit for days and books that have value, but will take months to sell. A copy of Amazing Spider-Man 268 may be worth X amount, but every dealer knows this book does not fly off the shelf, they know that in a 30 second auction with 8 people in the room that no one may want it. Again, if it were so hot, why auction it off when you could list it at FMV and see it fly off your store shelf?!
Hip hop variants go for crazy money on whatnot - once saw a mockingbird 1 hip hop variant ($5-10, $15 max on ebay) go for $70 lol. But same auction I got a Silk 1 hip hop for $25
I realized this the 2nd time I was on WhatNot. I uninstalled it soon after and haven't looked back since. No dis to anyone using the app as a seller or buyer but I don't need it.
A quick glance through eBay right now shows multiple listings where you can get a similar copy of FF 258 for about $10 SHIPPED. Just to reiterate, that was a QUICK glance.
That happened to me two times, fortunately it was only a couple of dollars. It has also happened at comic shops and the book was overpriced, but I did not do my homework and research and to make matters worse I had a copy of that book at home already. Great video, this is what UA-cam is all about thank you.
Wow very interesting video. I am getting ready to launch my own WhatNot channel so this info will definitely help me. Looks like buyers need to start doing more research before pulling the trigger. Hopefully these aren't fake sales to create the illusion of spiking values.
Hey Chris, it’s been a while… I 💯 agree with you the more people get burned on non tracked platforms and find out that what they purchased could have been bought at roughly 1/3 the price new/old collector money will slow down and if people are in the market for a book, any book always check around with prices…rich and poor alike should always look for the comparable deal 🤘🤘🤘
Even just the excitement of a live claim sale on Instagram will drive high prices. The seller gets excited and doesn't want to risk losing the book to go check price guides and eBay.
You can also get stuff insanely cheap too the sellers that do dollar starts are basically playing Russian roulette. It’s also easier to see condition through video there’s a good and bad about whatnot. Example I got a Batman spawn 1:250 for 70 bucks on whatnot. I wanted that book but held out till I found one reasonably priced.
My grandfather used to say “A fool and his money will soon be parted”. If suckers don’t know the values of what they are buying, shame on them. You have to be disciplined, patient and unafraid to wait or walk away. In my case, I wanted a Batman 423. Graded books were too high and I walked away from several raw books that felt too expensive for their condition. After about 2 years, I went to a comic shop/book store that I have frequented for years and found a first print in roughly an 8.0 condition for $45. Hell yeah! I feel that’s a great deal, but I had to be patient.
They are lying. They will say a book sells for hundreds when in reality 9nly some moron did and they hang the price on that. When their are multiple lower sales and listing on other sites. You are so right. The buyers are so uneducated on whatnot. I spend hours on auctions in whatnot looking for books. And I find, I can find what I'm looking for cheaper elsewhere. I don't want to paint them all same with that brush. Their are auctioneers I trust and provide accurate info up-front. But you still can't predict the FOMO and the gambling I win nature of the bidders in the room.
I take it these books were sold by popular people. A raw Xmen 244 for 174? That book should never sell raw for over 80. Insane😂. You are very passionate about comics and honest. I just finished my Xmen 1-20 this week started in 1983.
Even those 'low' prices seem crazy to me. Those are all common, common books. There must be 150,000 to 300,000 copies of each, mostly in high-grade because collectors were buying them by the truckload in the day. Are there really that many people collecting them today?
I was on whatnot this weekend. Watching bids with my gf. I was doing the same thing as you. I had my laptop open to check ebay prices so I wouldn't overdid on books. These bidders are suffering from a clear case of fomo!
People just get caught up in the moment. They want a book, the price is hiking up from bids, it’s a popular person selling on WhatNot, and folks just bud it up maybe cuz they want a dope book from a known seller ? Just my thought on it is all. It’s not so much the seller pushing the sale all the time, I think people just getting caught up in FOMO and in the moment and NEEDING the book 🤷🏻♂️
I watched an uncanny 145 go for 112$ on whatnot 2 weeks ago. That's like a 15 dollar book. I know that stream that you used people always bid it up on their stream.
People don’t shop around they get caught up on the moment when I started collecting again I watched a lot of videos because things have changed I got Key Collector app I studied it to see what it was good for I emailed them with questions I then found the Hip Comic app it is another place to buy comics that are auctioned off and eBay and I compare prices now I’m learning Go Collect and Cover Price so I can at least know what a book is going for before overpaying I can’t get into the FOMO a couple of dollars I’m good with but what you’ve shown i would be fighting mad and have to reevaluate myself for getting caught up and wasting my money like that
This is why I stopped using Whatnot. It’s literally driven by fomo. I never once got an actual deal on it. No one has time to research or look up comps to make an informed purchase it’s all just “HURRY HURRY HURRY” lol.
How do buy without knowing what fmv for a book is or at least close to fmv and go in with a pre-set amount ur going to spend on said book? That's insane!
Thanks your for your humming opinion it is important to me and all of the coime book community. Have not been on what not app since I seen a spiderman 2099 go for 130.00. sure there are good deals and some blow way out of price but buyers need to be more careful on there money how far there money go's for. But who I'm to say about someone else's hard earned cash I'm looking after my money because I got my money on mind and my mind on my money. ( snoop dog)
The sellers who spin the wheel or do duck races are like the carnival barkers. I ignore them. I’ve bought some lower priced books on Whatnot. I always have a pricing site open on another screen to understand pricing, and for raw books I will look at lower grade pricing instead of buying into the hype. I have gotten some steals in the dollar auctions, and I know when the bidding gets too high. Last night on a stream I saw 3-4 buyers continually purchase books at prices that were completely out of whack, such as a $50 raw value that I stopped bidding on at $25 that ended up selling for $150! I avoid streams that have more than 40 participants, because the odds of someone overbidding is high. Dollar auctions are sometimes great when there are less than 20 people in the room. It is hard to effectively check comparative pricing when auctions are 20 seconds, and that is no doubt a strategy to sell at higher prices. I’ve probably bought 100 books on Whatnot, and I only feel like I paid market price on maybe 10 percent of them. On eBay I’ve been burned many times by less than honest descriptions. Just be disciplined and don’t let uneducated bidders take you to places you shouldn’t go. Most of the BIN stores are market priced or higher, and I’ve never bought anything from those. Lastly, I do like the Whatnot auctions where the sellers do close up video of the books and edges. That’s definitely better than just looking at still shots.
man and those even completed ebay sales, meaning those books could have went for cheaper. my first thought was that people were throwing in shill bids (like what happens on e-bay alot during auctions) but who knows. i guess i need to start selling my books on whatnot and retire lol
I agree so much with what you’re saying here. Thank you for saying it. I just have one question, why wasn’t it showing “current bid” or the wiped out name of who made the current bid, on some of those screen shots from whatnot?
Hey Jerno! One thing I always keep in mind is that it is almost impossible to ensure platforms are free from 2 things 1- Shill Bidding 2- Unscrupulous Hype Men (I respect Flava Flav more than I respect comic book hype men!)😆 As always, good topic matter.
Late 70s direct editions do not ever command a higher value. They were only about 10% of the market at that time, but scarcity doesn't always equate to higher demand.
Boy I love this show. I buy and sell on eBay and am totally in agreement with you. Thanks for showing this comparison and I wonder if you looked to see if there were lower prices? Maybe I should start selling on WhatNot, but I'm not going to buy on WhatNot before I check the competition? Can you check what's coming up for sale on WhatNot before the show starts/
Quick question Jerno! On those examples after the first one, how many of those actually had bids or buyers? They pictures don’t show a bid so was just curious if they all sold at those prices or the seller Simple’s had bad starting prices and no bidders.
All of them were bid on and sold. All of them had multiple bidders. I took screen shots of the final second of the auction, which shows the actual sold price.
Was up Dude. I got a??? Do you have a video showing how to press a foil comic book?if not can you make one please.i know doesn't have to do with this video. I just wondering. keep up the good work 😊
I’m not sure about whatnot, but I’ve been on a few of the Instagram live sales and I agree with you 100% on those, if they’re similar. It’s weird because it’s no different than any other auction, but I’ll see crazy sales for stuff worth a few bucks, but they’ll go for $20-$30 lol. I think when the social media element gets added in, people get competitive maybe in a different way but who knows.
Buyers have to do the hunting. If they want to live just for what not.. then it's on them. Crazy! I'm always looking for the deals. But I also pass on what not..never have bought from there. And no plans to. Just my personal preference to stay away from what not. Not for me. :)
Deals can be had on whatnot but so much trash to sift through. the b.s. whatnot variants and exclusives that the influencers create a false value and generated scarcity drive me nuts . Future Dollar bin fodder.
Does shill bidding factor into any of these sales? I know in the past you would see this on Ebay as sellers were trying to push the amounts higher by having friends bid with no intention of a sale being made. I had a few times where I lost an auction just to have the seller come back almost immediately and offer me a straight sale as long as I paid my high bid amount. Of course I never took the offer. A high bid is an if I have to situation not an I want situation, lol.
Shill bidding exists, but I think people too often jump to this conclusion just to blame something other than what something is. In this situation, watching it live, I don't think there was shill bidding going on.
Do you think we, the educated folks, have a responsibility to inform buyers who are overpaying for a book in a WhatNot stream where the seller is over-hyping their product?
Chris, love your videos and your perspective. I get what you are saying but that isn’t the norm for most sellers. I sell on Whatnot. I have almost 2k folllowrs and most of my books sell for 25% to 60% of FMV. Due to that, if a buyers a little over on a book, it just makes up a little for all the losses. Now I am not saying it’s ok to just screw people over and a lot of times I will throw in some extras, but that happens rarely to most sellers Did you stop selling on Whatnot? Has this not happened to you? I would love to hear your response.
Thanks for the comment. And yes, I know that this is NOT the norm. I could easily make a multiple videos showing off the opposite, where solid books sell for under value. That happens to me more often than not. I'm constantly losing money in Whatnot sales.
It's definitely FOMO and getting caught up in the bidding war. I admit I have been caught in it as well in the beginning, but I've learned my lesson.. lol. Some auctions have it from 20-30 seconds where the bidders have no time to do research on e-bay or even look into the condition of the book thoroughly, but FOMO will get the best of them. We can usually see this with streamers that have huge followings, that any book they put in (even at a $1 start) will sell. These streamers can afford to put a big boy book to start at a $1 for 30 seconds and can still reach it's FMV (if not more) at the end of the auction. To be fair, it is still a great platform to get some awesome deals. One advantage I could say is that you could directly chat with the seller to get deals or have them bundle a group of items for a lower price. I've gotten great deals on slabs and run fillers because of this. One thing that I stopped doing was trust a seller's grading on raw books. It's easy for a seller to throw a "mint" or "near mint" statement during the auction and it is anything but when you receive it. I now only bid on raw books if the seller shows the condition in full detail, especially if it's a pricy book. I appreciate the sellers that give a conservative grading on raw books.
I haven’t bought anything off WhatNot for this very reason to be honest. I feel I can always find a cheaper book on eBay. It’s the live sale and just in the moment that gets people to bid higher then normal
Chris, you called it alright. Look like some serious buyer FOMO going on at Whatnot. I suppose if you're in the moment, you might not listen to the voices in your head telling you it's too expensive. Me? I'm a cheap f**ker and I look for best prices and condition always. I've let so many books go by because they were either too high priced or the condition just wasn't there. Not just online but at my LCS. You never know where you'll find a solid book at a great price. This is on the buyers who pulls the trigger too soon. Maybe even have buyers remorse down the road. Still, we can't blame the platform where these sales occur. Keep the hobby going people. Best to all.
I stepped back from comics, I'll still buy a key if I want it, im mainly looking for wolverine 8, prices just got way to wild and I haven't bought comics on what not since your last sale I think. To much blind pulls and other gimmicks that just aren't for me. I can't spend 15 on a random comic when I could use that 15 for lunch gas or a comic I know what I'm buying. I do buy cards from whatnot but only from one seller because another seller seemed cool but burned me them only refunded me for one thing even tho there was 2 things and it just turned into a process so I gave up. But I do feel like some people get salty and will up bid you just to make you spend more so I give myself a hard limit. One time I remember I needed a wolvi comic and it was like maybe a 3 dollar comic but I was willing to go to 10 the person pushed to 11 so I stopped and then the canceled once they one and the seller asked if I wanted it for 10 and I said nah I'm good I'll try to find it at my lcs and they got salty with me.
Have you been able to confirm that the seller actually got paid? Can you see if it was 1 or 2 bidders jacking the price? I've seen dirty practices on eBay, so wouldn't be surprised if they happened on Whatnot as well. What if someone's done that or set up bots to boost the price in hopes of finding someone with FOMO bidding $215+ for ASAM 195 with a second to go? I could totally see some sellers having a few bidders who drive up the prices, so this is worth looking at a few different sellers. Also, have you encountered this yourself? Curious to see if you had similar issues to sell and they stayed at a FMV instead.
Get 10% off your BCW Supply order when you use the code JERNOS when you purchase from their website here: www.bcwsupplies.com/?acc=Jernos
I for one LOVE people overpaying on Whatnot. Chances are if you're paying these crazy prices then you're a baby-investor snapping things up because NFTs are finally out of fashion. Less money in their pockets means they run out of money faster when the actual deals come up. I was in a room the other night (creeping for Vampirella variants) when a guy won an auction, then had to openly admit he just maxed out his credit card; the seller had to run the book again. Everyone snapping up only what they recognize in the movies is making the other markets so much softer for actual readers--I consider myself a collector second. I've been able to put together 1-29 of the original 67' Warren run of Vampi for under $600 (including her first appearance in a 3.5) just because she isn't appearing in any post-credit scenes...and it's heavenly.
This is no one's fault but the buyer's. Call it FOMO, call it a lack of will-power, call it being new to the hobby....the fault lies, solely, on the person clicking the "bid" button. If there is a book you want, you find the value, set your bar for how much you are willing to spend, and then you stick to that number. There are no guns to anyone's heads making them bid these ridiculous amounts. I think a video of interviews with the people that paid these prices would be very interesting if only to ask them, on a one to ten scale, how high was their INSTANT buyer's remorse.
Great video Chris! People don’t shop around….they get caught up in bidding wars trying to win a $15 book. You MUST shop at 3-5 different stores or online sites to get a better picture of a books true value!! I’ve always wanted X-23 #1 Del’Otto variant but can’t find it at a affordable price, Drahcir’s comics said he found a nm copy at a flea market for $1 and got it graded that came back a 9.8….so yea shop around!
If everyone had the same thing and no choices in the world the world would be boring and lame.i shop around for my thing as well that is y there is red box I haven't bought a DVD in a long time.
Amazing video!!! 👏👏👏 Couldn't agree more. Buyers have to stop the out of control bidding.
I'm mainly into GA and SA and do happy I've avoided this app. Ty for your time and info
Thanks for watching!
@@JernosComicsPopCulture Hey Chris have you ever bought books on the live auctioneers app? I'm not worried about anybody reading this and going there because prices are HIGH AF. A year or two ago some deals and now more than EBay and don't even start with the Third party shipping crap. When you look at the prices sold you need to add 20-30 % commission. Keep it real brother
Hey Chris, I’ve been getting some great deals on Whatnot, but I don’t get to caught up in the bidding. I have in my mind what I will pay and stop there. Sometimes I’ll get nice books for cheap because I’m the only bidder. Good to have you back!! 👍🏻♥️
Very good analysis! I noticed this very early on when I started buying on the app. I never trust what the seller is saying a book is worth (usually twice the going rate, as if the recent downturn isn’t happening). I always have eBay and covrprice open when I am in Whatnot, and it has prevented me from making some big mistakes.
I had the strangest thing happen during my second of only 3 Whatnot auctions that I've done. I sold a Spider-Man book worth about $30 and during interacting with the people in the room commenting, one of the buyers that was buying a lot of my books shot the bid up to $200!! I told him I believe he made a mistake and just to cancel the purchase and I'll rerun the book. He told me "he likes to help out the little guys" in comics because I only had about 20 people in my auction at its peak. It was like a donation and I told him he was very kind but did not need to do that. He insisted and I took it! Just a strange feeling.
That is what the buyer wanted so I would take it too.
Whatnot is a cool way to browse and buy comics. If the collector is prone to "impulse" buying and maybe is a bit competetive, Whatnot may not be the app for them. They will get caught up in the "a couple more dollars won't hurt" moment and keep clicking that bid button!! When you see a book you want, set your limit in your mind, when the exceeds that number, oh well....move on.
Haters gonna hate? Sounds like a great place to sell comics!!! Many buyers on whatnot aren’t collectors they just see something cool and bid till they win.
Just goes to show, people don't do enough research and end up throwing money away. Just got a VF/NM copy of X-Men 244 for $30 shipping included from an Ebay auction btw. Glad to see you back Chris!
What the heck’s going on there 😮
As a seller on Whatnot what I can say is that I see a lot of this in the bigger sellers all the time. It seems to be that folks want their names on the screen of the big sellers and are willing to far overpay for a book. Smaller sellers, like myself, have a hard time getting $10 on a $20 key book. I think we are not seeing buyers overpaying just for the book, it is like virtual clout chasing in a lot of cases.
I hear you. This wasn't a huge seller though, and wasn't someone that is in the public eye.
As someone who uses WhatNot. I know going in what I'm looking for and what I'm willing to spend. Some people just bid away. But also some sellers sell low grades way too high or ask for way too much.
You definitely have to understand what you’re looking at when you get on Whatnot. It’s easy to get caught up in a sellers hype, or seeing a bunch of people throwing money around. That being said, I’ve got some straight STEALS on whatnot too. Hulk 340 SS 9.6 for $250 and the kickstarter Spawn 1 9.8 for $90. People just need to have a limit and stick to it when they go in there, and don’t let FOMO get the best of you. Great video my man!
If you know what you are going after on this auction app and you don’t check going prices beforehand it’s your own fault if you pay triple the value or more. eBay is s great resource for this and should be your current “Overstreet “ price guide.
Exactly!
Fascinating information and you are correct, buyers' fault.
I don't have WhatNot. I've seen these videos and then I've seen videos about people complaining no one is in the room and people are getting good deals. This looks like a majority of these are the same seller. Reason I ask is background is the same. I always question why this is. I'm wondering if it's friends bidding to drive up price. How many times does this happen?
I actually messaged some of the buyers to try to let them know they were paying way too much . This was happening every week on this particular stream . And they’re not “influencers “ btw these are NOWHERE NEAR the most egregious examples .. the silver age books were ridiculous , and I was able to find THE SAME BOOK , I mean literally the SAME book with the exact same wear etc had been bought on eBay in the weeks before the whatnot sale
WTAF??? Do people get caught up in emotion with a live auction? Pathetic!
I left Whatnot, the biddling was slab prices for mid grade raw books.
A smart buyer would look for start-up sellers with no crowds.
I went back to my LCS a few months ago. No shipping charges, as Canadian no exchange rates. I left after watching Wolverine 88 NM go for over $200 raw.
Whatnot offers the same dopamine hit gambling sites do. I'm glad I quit.
I have seen that happen to many times. Hopefully it slows down but it will never go away. As long as Whatnot doesn’t change some things they will not be able to keep track of sales and report it. These videos are good and I’m sure they will help some. Even one person at a time helps the change bro! Keep it going!🤙🤙
Some people like to bid and win , never mind the cost , it ain't the book they are buying, it's the rush u get from winning
✔️ YOURSELVES. Exactly.
I'm not allowed to shop for our Veteran's books because I make dumb decisions. But I have a cute little asian who's wicked smart with finances and acquisitions. Ever since I accidentally pre-ordered 7 copies of NHOTL #1 at cover price, my purchasing privileges have been revoked 😆. But this content is ALWAYS worth putting on the watchlist for her to reference in the future. We have many from you in there that we have found helpful in the past and we appreciate you, Chris. Thanks for taking the time, Sir. -Battle66delta
I wonder if adrenaline wore off and buyers checked FMV and cancelled transaction. WhatNot free since it's exception. I think what did it for me was aggressive sellers yelling at us for not bidding on overpriced/overgraded books. The word of mouth also has been horrible. I still remember when Very Gary sold two Moon Knight books for $35. I picked up both for $5 that same day. Be well, Chris!
This makes me want to sell on whatnot! Hahahaha....people need to do research before bidding. I don't feel bad for them though.
This is ridiculous!!! whatnot is ruining not just the market but the real collectivity or our comics... for them it's about sell, sell, sell, that is their main point of it all. Thanks for pointing this out but also it's our responsibility as collectors/buyers to do our research and make sure we are not overpaying, regardless I think whatnot should take a look at this and make sellers accountable so they are not steeling from people that don't know the market. They should have a max bid set amount so no one over pays for this comics... yes something like that.
I always find it shocking when people get into bidding wars for filler or comics you can find on Ebay for way cheaper. Honestly if WN sales were tracked I think a lot of books would go down. While you usually see this in the bigger shows the smaller streamers typically sell for under fmv if they're running low start auctions IMO
Have seen some ASM #200 -250 at my store for $30.00 each after they charge #260-294 $20.00 each Canadian.
*what not sellers* “wow what a steal you got there”
Crazy! I always look around to find the best value. People shopping on Whatnot are probably newer collectors.
My biggest gripe on the app is when people do mystery pulls and duck races and all that other staff and people get filler books for premium prices. I have bought books like that myself where I was trying to get a grail book or a cool blind pull. Its so frustrating because you have to spend so much money to win bug books most of the time.
People are addicted to gambling. All the mystery pulls and duck races ought to be taken down as illegal gambling.
I stopped buying books on Whatnot for this exact reason. I prefer Mercari. Also many sellers don't list the information on each book so that you can do comparison research before the item comes up for sale. I think all items are listed prior to the start of a Whatnot session, I got sick and tired of the generic listings.
On second thought... money laundering.
These the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Do you even know what money laundering is lol. Do you know how long that would take and how easy that would be to track?
As a WhatNot buyer/seller I see this all the time. It’s especially prevalent in large seller shows where bid fever happens or people wanna be seen buying stuff to look ‘cool’ even if it’s way over FMV. If a seller has items preloaded, and you come across something of interest, you should do your research before bidding so you know what the real value is so you don’t get stuff in bidding fever and overpay for books. You can get good deals on whatnot if you pay attention, but you can also overpay for books, especially during convention shows where FOMO wins out most of the time and almost everything that is sold will likely be worth 50% less in a month.
Thanks for this video. Pretty much highlights why WhatNot is ultimately not great for certain areas of the hobby. People mainly pushing garbage for inflated prices is a situation where nobody wins.
Here are some of the tips you need for Whatnot.
Do not trust their grading on raw books. Always be willing to accept that your 9.8 will actually be a 9.2
Avoid gambling. Mystery pulls can be fixed. I've watched the 'big prize' go last pull on several of them while by pure odds, they ought to go somewhere near the middle. What a coincidence, right? If you can't see the books being pulled (they are taken from a comic box) always consider that fraud may be going on.
Listen to what sellers say about their books. Make sure they say something specific about the book. A grade, the flaws on the book. Sellers who tell you that the book is "clean" are telling you NOTHING. I can rip a cover in half on a new book, the book is still 'clean.'. Clean = NOTHING. The more a seller insists his books are 'clean' the more I know he's full of shit.
Whenever sellers tell you "I can't believe how low this is, you are all sleeping, they are always full of shit." If the book were that good, they wouldn't need to auction it. If they don't like the prices they are getting they can stop listing the books.
Finally, the fact that a seller has been around years means nothing in of itself. There are many con men who have been around for years. Being 'around for years' does not make you trustworthy. If someone has to insist that they are trustworthy, then maybe they aren't. I know one older Canadian dealer on Whatnot who always overprices and overgrades his shit books. He's been around decades.
Finally saw someone comment on this. I hate when I go into someones what not auction and the seller is constantly saying “you got that book for a steal” or “you guys are sleeping on this book” when they just sold a 1$ book for 10$
@@Smitty1x Yes. The reality is that some of the books may well list at the price they claim, but not all books fly off the shelf the second you put them up for sale. There are three speeds at which books sell: Hot books, book that will sit for days and books that have value, but will take months to sell. A copy of Amazing Spider-Man 268 may be worth X amount, but every dealer knows this book does not fly off the shelf, they know that in a 30 second auction with 8 people in the room that no one may want it. Again, if it were so hot, why auction it off when you could list it at FMV and see it fly off your store shelf?!
Can't rule out money laundering. Especially on the huge discrepency ones.
Hip hop variants go for crazy money on whatnot - once saw a mockingbird 1 hip hop variant ($5-10, $15 max on ebay) go for $70 lol. But same auction I got a Silk 1 hip hop for $25
I realized this the 2nd time I was on WhatNot. I uninstalled it soon after and haven't looked back since. No dis to anyone using the app as a seller or buyer but I don't need it.
They bugging out here , I learned my lesson going back and forth with people trying to outbid . Not worth it !
Shill bidding at its finest . Very Easily done on whatnot
A quick glance through eBay right now shows multiple listings where you can get a similar copy of FF 258 for about $10 SHIPPED. Just to reiterate, that was a QUICK glance.
That happened to me two times, fortunately it was only a couple of dollars. It has also happened at comic shops and the book was overpriced, but I did not do my homework and research and to make matters worse I had a copy of that book at home already. Great video, this is what UA-cam is all about thank you.
It's all about the rush. Don't get got, people.
Wow very interesting video. I am getting ready to launch my own WhatNot channel so this info will definitely help me. Looks like buyers need to start doing more research before pulling the trigger. Hopefully these aren't fake sales to create the illusion of spiking values.
Im waiting for the post titled “I’m not kidding I will drill a hole in this hulk 181”
Hey Chris, it’s been a while… I 💯 agree with you the more people get burned on non tracked platforms and find out that what they purchased could have been bought at roughly 1/3 the price new/old collector money will slow down and if people are in the market for a book, any book always check around with prices…rich and poor alike should always look for the comparable deal 🤘🤘🤘
Even just the excitement of a live claim sale on Instagram will drive high prices. The seller gets excited and doesn't want to risk losing the book to go check price guides and eBay.
Definitely. Did you mean to say the "buyer" gets excited?
@@JernosComicsPopCulture Haha, I did mean buyer!
Something about whatnot, I don't go on there I'd rather just go to the store myself and pick it up for much less
You can also get stuff insanely cheap too the sellers that do dollar starts are basically playing Russian roulette. It’s also easier to see condition through video there’s a good and bad about whatnot. Example I got a Batman spawn 1:250 for 70 bucks on whatnot. I wanted that book but held out till I found one reasonably priced.
I see the same thing happen at live auctions and collectibles. So if they want to pay it let them pay it.
do you ever wonder if there's friends of sellers in auctions bidding up books?
Oh man I had to make sure it was not me. Whew!
My grandfather used to say “A fool and his money will soon be parted”. If suckers don’t know the values of what they are buying, shame on them. You have to be disciplined, patient and unafraid to wait or walk away. In my case, I wanted a Batman 423. Graded books were too high and I walked away from several raw books that felt too expensive for their condition. After about 2 years, I went to a comic shop/book store that I have frequented for years and found a first print in roughly an 8.0 condition for $45. Hell yeah! I feel that’s a great deal, but I had to be patient.
They are lying. They will say a book sells for hundreds when in reality 9nly some moron did and they hang the price on that. When their are multiple lower sales and listing on other sites. You are so right. The buyers are so uneducated on whatnot. I spend hours on auctions in whatnot looking for books. And I find, I can find what I'm looking for cheaper elsewhere. I don't want to paint them all same with that brush. Their are auctioneers I trust and provide accurate info up-front. But you still can't predict the FOMO and the gambling I win nature of the bidders in the room.
I take it these books were sold by popular people. A raw Xmen 244 for 174? That book should never sell raw for over 80. Insane😂. You are very passionate about comics and honest. I just finished my Xmen 1-20 this week started in 1983.
These sellers, according to my knowledge, do not have UA-cam channels and are strictly sellers.
Even those 'low' prices seem crazy to me. Those are all common, common books. There must be 150,000 to 300,000 copies of each, mostly in high-grade because collectors were buying them by the truckload in the day. Are there really that many people collecting them today?
I was on whatnot this weekend. Watching bids with my gf. I was doing the same thing as you. I had my laptop open to check ebay prices so I wouldn't overdid on books. These bidders are suffering from a clear case of fomo!
I've seen a bunch of people go crazy on a book and way over pay. I always have ebay up in a separate window and check things before bidding.
People just get caught up in the moment. They want a book, the price is hiking up from bids, it’s a popular person selling on WhatNot, and folks just bud it up maybe cuz they want a dope book from a known seller ?
Just my thought on it is all.
It’s not so much the seller pushing the sale all the time, I think people just getting caught up in FOMO and in the moment and NEEDING the book 🤷🏻♂️
A fool and his money are soon parted.
Do I recognize the desk of the Whatnot seller from some UA-cam videos? 🤔🤔🤔
Look at the spacing on the right side of the Uncanny #244. Could be an error print 🤷♂️ That would explain the price.
That’s weird considering those aren’t rare books either
I watched an uncanny 145 go for 112$ on whatnot 2 weeks ago. That's like a 15 dollar book. I know that stream that you used people always bid it up on their stream.
I quit whanot about a year ago. I couldnt believe what bids where going for on common books. Something stinks on that site.
People don’t shop around they get caught up on the moment when I started collecting again I watched a lot of videos because things have changed I got Key Collector app I studied it to see what it was good for I emailed them with questions I then found the Hip Comic app it is another place to buy comics that are auctioned off and eBay and I compare prices now I’m learning Go Collect and Cover Price so I can at least know what a book is going for before overpaying I can’t get into the FOMO a couple of dollars I’m good with but what you’ve shown i would be fighting mad and have to reevaluate myself for getting caught up and wasting my money like that
Awesome video! 👍🏽
This is why I stopped using Whatnot. It’s literally driven by fomo. I never once got an actual deal on it. No one has time to research or look up comps to make an informed purchase it’s all just “HURRY HURRY HURRY” lol.
How do buy without knowing what fmv for a book is or at least close to fmv and go in with a pre-set amount ur going to spend on said book? That's insane!
Thanks your for your humming opinion it is important to me and all of the coime book community. Have not been on what not app since I seen a spiderman 2099 go for 130.00. sure there are good deals and some blow way out of price but buyers need to be more careful on there money how far there money go's for. But who I'm to say about someone else's hard earned cash I'm looking after my money because I got my money on mind and my mind on my money. ( snoop dog)
The sellers who spin the wheel or do duck races are like the carnival barkers. I ignore them. I’ve bought some lower priced books on Whatnot. I always have a pricing site open on another screen to understand pricing, and for raw books I will look at lower grade pricing instead of buying into the hype. I have gotten some steals in the dollar auctions, and I know when the bidding gets too high. Last night on a stream I saw 3-4 buyers continually purchase books at prices that were completely out of whack, such as a $50 raw value that I stopped bidding on at $25 that ended up selling for $150! I avoid streams that have more than 40 participants, because the odds of someone overbidding is high. Dollar auctions are sometimes great when there are less than 20 people in the room. It is hard to effectively check comparative pricing when auctions are 20 seconds, and that is no doubt a strategy to sell at higher prices. I’ve probably bought 100 books on Whatnot, and I only feel like I paid market price on maybe 10 percent of them. On eBay I’ve been burned many times by less than honest descriptions. Just be disciplined and don’t let uneducated bidders take you to places you shouldn’t go. Most of the BIN stores are market priced or higher, and I’ve never bought anything from those. Lastly, I do like the Whatnot auctions where the sellers do close up video of the books and edges. That’s definitely better than just looking at still shots.
man and those even completed ebay sales, meaning those books could have went for cheaper. my first thought was that people were throwing in shill bids (like what happens on e-bay alot during auctions) but who knows. i guess i need to start selling my books on whatnot and retire lol
I agree so much with what you’re saying here. Thank you for saying it.
I just have one question, why wasn’t it showing “current bid” or the wiped out name of who made the current bid, on some of those screen shots from whatnot?
You can hide that info
@@carywhitt I didn’t know that. Cool. Ty
Hey Jerno! One thing I always keep in mind is that it is almost impossible to ensure platforms are free from 2 things 1- Shill Bidding 2- Unscrupulous Hype Men (I respect Flava Flav more than I respect comic book hype men!)😆 As always, good topic matter.
Actually, some these sellers remind me of the HSN or QVC! Mark my words FLEX Pay will be next!🤭
Its the reputation of ebay being the wild west. I have all my books only on ebay and buy only on ebay and have had great luck
ASM 195 -The 2nd appearance of black cat is the direct version that is way more rare in 1979.. im not saying that its a $200 book but it is more rare.
Late 70s direct editions do not ever command a higher value. They were only about 10% of the market at that time, but scarcity doesn't always equate to higher demand.
Boy I love this show. I buy and sell on eBay and am totally in agreement with you. Thanks for showing this comparison and I wonder if you looked to see if there were lower prices? Maybe I should start selling on WhatNot, but I'm not going to buy on WhatNot before I check the competition? Can you check what's coming up for sale on WhatNot before the show starts/
Quick question Jerno! On those examples after the first one, how many of those actually had bids or buyers? They pictures don’t show a bid so was just curious if they all sold at those prices or the seller Simple’s had bad starting prices and no bidders.
All of them were bid on and sold. All of them had multiple bidders. I took screen shots of the final second of the auction, which shows the actual sold price.
That seller is making a killing, which seller is that 🧐🤘
Was up Dude. I got a??? Do you have a video showing how to press a foil comic book?if not can you make one please.i know doesn't have to do with this video. I just wondering. keep up the good work 😊
It's either fake sales or inexperienced buyers I'm going to say it's the latter of the two
I’m not sure about whatnot, but I’ve been on a few of the Instagram live sales and I agree with you 100% on those, if they’re similar. It’s weird because it’s no different than any other auction, but I’ll see crazy sales for stuff worth a few bucks, but they’ll go for $20-$30 lol. I think when the social media element gets added in, people get competitive maybe in a different way but who knows.
Whatnot is driven by FOMO and that's why it sucks. I buy and sell on eBay only.
Sooo...Start selling on what not....got you 👍lol
Buyers have to do the hunting. If they want to live just for what not.. then it's on them. Crazy! I'm always looking for the deals. But I also pass on what not..never have bought from there. And no plans to. Just my personal preference to stay away from what not. Not for me. :)
Deals can be had on whatnot but so much trash to sift through. the b.s. whatnot variants and exclusives that the influencers create a false value and generated scarcity drive me nuts . Future Dollar bin fodder.
Does shill bidding factor into any of these sales? I know in the past you would see this on Ebay as sellers were trying to push the amounts higher by having friends bid with no intention of a sale being made. I had a few times where I lost an auction just to have the seller come back almost immediately and offer me a straight sale as long as I paid my high bid amount. Of course I never took the offer. A high bid is an if I have to situation not an I want situation, lol.
Shill bidding exists, but I think people too often jump to this conclusion just to blame something other than what something is. In this situation, watching it live, I don't think there was shill bidding going on.
Do you think we, the educated folks, have a responsibility to inform buyers who are overpaying for a book in a WhatNot stream where the seller is over-hyping their product?
I only think so if a seller is giving false information. Let people bid what they bid. If they want to overspend, that's on them.
Chris, love your videos and your perspective. I get what you are saying but that isn’t the norm for most sellers. I sell on Whatnot. I have almost 2k folllowrs and most of my books sell for 25% to 60% of FMV. Due to that, if a buyers a little over on a book, it just makes up a little for all the losses. Now I am not saying it’s ok to just screw people over and a lot of times I will throw in some extras, but that happens rarely to most sellers Did you stop selling on Whatnot? Has this not happened to you? I would love to hear your response.
Thanks for the comment. And yes, I know that this is NOT the norm. I could easily make a multiple videos showing off the opposite, where solid books sell for under value. That happens to me more often than not. I'm constantly losing money in Whatnot sales.
These bidders obviously are not using gpanalysis 😂
It's definitely FOMO and getting caught up in the bidding war. I admit I have been caught in it as well in the beginning, but I've learned my lesson.. lol.
Some auctions have it from 20-30 seconds where the bidders have no time to do research on e-bay or even look into the condition of the book thoroughly, but FOMO will get the best of them. We can usually see this with streamers that have huge followings, that any book they put in (even at a $1 start) will sell. These streamers can afford to put a big boy book to start at a $1 for 30 seconds and can still reach it's FMV (if not more) at the end of the auction.
To be fair, it is still a great platform to get some awesome deals. One advantage I could say is that you could directly chat with the seller to get deals or have them bundle a group of items for a lower price. I've gotten great deals on slabs and run fillers because of this. One thing that I stopped doing was trust a seller's grading on raw books. It's easy for a seller to throw a "mint" or "near mint" statement during the auction and it is anything but when you receive it. I now only bid on raw books if the seller shows the condition in full detail, especially if it's a pricy book. I appreciate the sellers that give a conservative grading on raw books.
I haven’t bought anything off WhatNot for this very reason to be honest.
I feel I can always find a cheaper book on eBay.
It’s the live sale and just in the moment that gets people to bid higher then normal
Chris, you called it alright. Look like some serious buyer FOMO going on at Whatnot. I suppose if you're in the moment, you might not listen to the voices in your head telling you it's too expensive. Me? I'm a cheap f**ker and I look for best prices and condition always. I've let so many books go by because they were either too high priced or the condition just wasn't there. Not just online but at my LCS. You never know where you'll find a solid book at a great price. This is on the buyers who pulls the trigger too soon. Maybe even have buyers remorse down the road. Still, we can't blame the platform where these sales occur. Keep the hobby going people. Best to all.
damn,this is crazy
I stepped back from comics, I'll still buy a key if I want it, im mainly looking for wolverine 8, prices just got way to wild and I haven't bought comics on what not since your last sale I think. To much blind pulls and other gimmicks that just aren't for me. I can't spend 15 on a random comic when I could use that 15 for lunch gas or a comic I know what I'm buying. I do buy cards from whatnot but only from one seller because another seller seemed cool but burned me them only refunded me for one thing even tho there was 2 things and it just turned into a process so I gave up. But I do feel like some people get salty and will up bid you just to make you spend more so I give myself a hard limit. One time I remember I needed a wolvi comic and it was like maybe a 3 dollar comic but I was willing to go to 10 the person pushed to 11 so I stopped and then the canceled once they one and the seller asked if I wanted it for 10 and I said nah I'm good I'll try to find it at my lcs and they got salty with me.
Have you been able to confirm that the seller actually got paid? Can you see if it was 1 or 2 bidders jacking the price? I've seen dirty practices on eBay, so wouldn't be surprised if they happened on Whatnot as well. What if someone's done that or set up bots to boost the price in hopes of finding someone with FOMO bidding $215+ for ASAM 195 with a second to go?
I could totally see some sellers having a few bidders who drive up the prices, so this is worth looking at a few different sellers.
Also, have you encountered this yourself? Curious to see if you had similar issues to sell and they stayed at a FMV instead.