I’ll be posting a list of gift books in the next few days, so I’m doing some research over on Books.com, sorting graphic novels by price, highest to lowest.

That’s when I discovered the following…

If you need some spending cash, you might want to dig through your bookshelves and storage boxes… it’s easier and less painful than selling blood or a vital organ!

Why so pricey?  The books are out of print.  The books are limited editions, signed and numbered.  While many can probably be found at your local comics shop, people shopping online aren’t that savvy, or not willing to do the extra work to find a cheaper volume.  Or maybe someone needs it for a business, or just really wants it.

Sometimes, it’s a bot running an algorithm, automatically pricing a book just a little bit higher than everyone else.  Of course, when you have two bots doing this, hilarity ensues.

These are just the first ninety titles sorted by price, and I’m not exactly sure how that website orders the titles.  If you click onto the second page, you’ll find a few titles more costly than some listed here.  Please realize that some of these titles have multiple copies available, and that the price listed is the lowest price.  Caveat lector.

5 COMMENTS

  1. I can see the Omnibus volumes increasing in value over time, as presumably it would be a nuisance to reprint a 2000 page hardcover.

    But on the other end of ‘nuisance’, it is surprisingly difficult to track down local copies of those black and white Essentials and Showcase Presents. Most comic stores seem to hate the things, (apparently) and don’t bring them in on spec anymore. So, hard to find. And therefore, price goes up on a smudgy black and white reprint volume.

  2. Some of these prices looked suspicious to me. I didn’t do an extensive investigation but many of these books can be found for much cheaper (the Powers tpb sells used on Amazon for $1.64!).

  3. That Flex Mentallo trade seems to be the one that DC cancelled because of the Charles Atlas threats…the one that never existed.

  4. What a ridiculous article. You pick one website with the highest prices, but you can find most of these on sale at ebay or amazon for MUCH less. Just because that’s the price of something, doesn’t mean people are buying it for that much. A much better barometer for these books is ebay’s auctions.

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