When It Actually Makes Sense to Sell a Comic
- Erik Dansereau
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Most collectors don’t like to talk about selling.
It feels like quitting.
Or admitting you were wrong.
Or betraying the hobby.
So instead, many collectors adopt a simpler rule:
“I don’t sell.”
That rule sounds disciplined.
In practice, it quietly damages collections.
Because never selling is not a strategy — it’s avoidance.
Why Selling Feels So Hard for Collectors
Comics aren’t just assets. They’re memories.
They represent:
The hunt
The timing
The belief you had when you bought them
Selling forces you to revisit those beliefs. And that’s uncomfortable.
So collectors invent reasons not to sell:
“It’ll come back.”
“I’ll regret it later.”
“It’s not worth selling right now.”
Sometimes those reasons are valid. Often they’re just inertia.
The Difference Between Holding and Avoiding Decisions
Long-term collectors do hold books for years — even decades.
But there’s a difference between:
Holding because your thesis still holds
Holding because you don’t want to decide
One is conviction.
The other is drift.
Drift is expensive because it keeps capital locked in places it no longer belongs. This is a common collecting mistake.
Mistake 1: Selling Only When You’re Forced To
Many collectors only sell when:
Space runs out
Money is needed
Interest collapses
By then, options are limited.
Forced selling usually means:
Weak demand
Poor timing
Emotional pressure
Selling under pressure almost guarantees regret — even when selling was the right move.
Mistake 2: Waiting for the “Perfect” Price
Collectors often delay selling because they’re anchored to a previous high or the are collecting without a framework.
They remember:
A peak sale
A screenshot
A moment when everything felt obvious
Markets don’t care about memories.
If your decision to hold is based on hoping price returns to a past number, you’re no longer investing — you’re negotiating with history.
Sometimes the best sale isn’t the highest one.
It’s the one that restores flexibility.
Mistake 3: Treating Every Book as Untouchable
Not every comic deserves permanent residency.
Collections evolve. Interests shift. Context changes.
Books that made sense early may no longer fit:
Your focus
Your capital allocation
Your tolerance for risk
Refusing to sell anything turns collections into storage units instead of systems.
When Selling Does Make Sense
Experienced collectors sell for reasons — not emotions.
Selling makes sense when:
Your original thesis no longer holds
Demand has peaked and shifted
Capital can work harder elsewhere
A book no longer fits your framework
None of those require panic. They require honesty.
Selling is not a verdict on the past.
It’s a decision about the future.
Why Selling Can Strengthen a Collection
Selling isn’t subtraction. It’s reallocation.
Done correctly, selling:
Reduces clutter
Increases focus
Improves liquidity
Clarifies intent
Most collectors who regret selling regret why they sold — not that they sold.
Purpose removes regret.
The Best Time to Decide Isn’t at the Peak
Collectors imagine the ideal sale happens at the exact top.
In reality, the best time to decide is before emotion enters the picture.
That means:
Defining exit criteria early
Revisiting assumptions periodically
Accepting that perfect timing is rare
Selling should feel deliberate, not dramatic
Why “I’ll Never Sell” Eventually Fails
The market changes.
Life changes.
You change.
A rule that refuses to adapt eventually breaks — usually at the worst moment.
Collectors who build selling into their framework:
Avoid forced decisions
Avoid panic
Avoid resentment toward their own collection
That flexibility is a form of discipline.
The Real Takeaway
Selling isn’t the opposite of collecting.
It’s part of it.
The goal isn’t to sell often.
The goal is to sell intentionally.
If buying without a framework creates regret, selling without one compounds it.
But when selling is aligned with purpose, it doesn’t weaken a collection — it sharpens it.
Add it to your box.
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