I started selling comics full-time in 2010 and wanted to track my progress against the online back issue markets. Here’s a look at the current comics aftermarket and my progress in achieving my goal of becoming a prominent back issue dealer.
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one month change | one year change | five year change | |
| Listings in eBay’s Comic Books, Manga & Memorabilia section | 11,651,529 | -2.65% | +3.87% | +143.95% |
| Cyberspace Comics listings | 177,032 | -0.19% | +2.96% | +29.63% |
| Cyberspace Comics “market share” of comic listings on eBay | 1.52% | +2.66% | -0.69% | -46.87% |
| Number of eBay comic listings that are auctions | 260,092 | -7.95% | -17.52% | +1.57% |
| Percentage of eBay comic listings up for auction | 2.23% | -5.41% | -20.56% | -58.35% |
| Number of listings sold in eBay’s comics section (90 days) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Number of listings sold in eBay’s comics section divided by current listings | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
 Total number of listings in eBay’s “comics” section My current eBay feedback (unique): 126,531 |
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one month change | one year change | five year change | |
| Listings on Atomic Avenue | 1,794,430 | +0.43% | -1.21% | +8.23% |
| Listings in the Cyberspace Comics Store on Atomic Avenue | 160,367 | +4.30% | +6.93% | +31.06% |
| Cyberspace Comics “market share” of comic listings on AtomicAvenue | 8.94% | +3.80% | +8.20% | +21.10% |
| Number of unique issues on Atomic Avenue | 290,887 | +2.78% | +6.45% | +24.61% |
| Cyberspace Comics “market share” of unique issues on AtomicAvenue | 55.13% | +1.47% | +0.46% | +5.17% |
 Total number of comics listed on Atomic Avenue |
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one month change | one year change | five year change | |
| Number of members on ComicCollectorLive | 254,699 | +0.05% | +2.49% | +23.71% |
| Number of items for sale on ComicCollectorLive | 1,359,769 | +0.34% | +5.23% | -6.89% |
| Number of items sold on ComicCollectorLive | 2,969,815 | +0.17% | +2.05% | +19.32% |
| Number of stores open on ComicCollectorLive | 45 | -2.17% | +7.14% | -19.64% |
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one month change | one year change | five year change | |
| Number of listings in HipComic’s Comic Books section | 1,473,263 | -2.67% | -3.50% | +195.54% |
| Number of those listings that are in the Cyberspace Comics HipComic store | 175,375 | -0.21% | +3.95% | +30.47% |
| Cyberspace Comics “market share” of comic listings on HipComic | 11.90% | +2.53% | +7.73% | -55.94% |
| Number of Stores on HipComic | 355 | -2.20% | -15.48% | |
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one month change | one year change | five year change | |
| Number of listings on YouSellComics | 184,718 | +0.22% | +5.11% | |
eBay‘s number of listings has pulled back slightly from its all-new high of 12 million listings. Unfortunately, I’m unable to access their “sold listings” information at a Category level (or even sub-category level) again this month so I couldn’t provide that data segment again. It appears they don’t want us to know the sell-through numbers at the category level anymore.
Atomic Avenue: This marketplace’s number of unique comics took a big jump this month because they are now including newsstand editions. Nine years ago, I spoke with the developer of ComicBase (which powers Atomic Avenue) about the inclusion of newsstands. He wasn’t for it at the time but I told him I’d be adding them in to my database with a specific designation that he agreed upon. All these years later, he’s included them and used the designation we decided on long ago. That’s led to a big leap in my listings, as well.
Comic Collector Live: The resurgence of CCL stores has subsided from last month.
HipComic: This marketplace’s number of listings has grown by nearly 200% in just five years. Something of interest here is that HipComic has created an eBay selling account on October 29, 2024, that is beginning to mirror listings from the HipComic user “Mark”. They currently have 47,000 listings on eBay.
YouSellComics: This is a marketplace that has caught my eye so we’ve added our inventory to their marketplace. They’re showing slight growth in their number of listings within the past year.
*Cyberspace Comics has secured an interest in YSC.