But, exactly how does this work?
To begin with, we kindly request you to contact us at 954-748-0181 or send us an email in order to communicate with you a suitable time to come in with your collection. It is important to note that we do not always have a buyer readily available to evaluate your collection and provide an offer. By reaching out beforehand, you can save yourself the inconvenience of an unnecessary trip.
It is also smart at the time of inquiry to let us know what kind of items you are looking to sell. We do NOT NEED or want a detailed list of everything.
This is just in case what you are selling is something we absolutely would not buy – that way we can save you the trip over or possibly help direct you to someone who would buy those items. For example: We do not buy sports memorabilia!
The Process
Bring Your Stuff to Our Store
You will need to physically bring in your stuff for us to evaluate. We cannot give you even a “rough estimate” of what we would offer you over the phone or by email. Please do not describe in detail your stuff over the phone, you will just be told to bring it in.
Let us Know You’re Here!
Once you come in, just let the TATE’S staff member up at the front know that you are here with a collection and that you called ahead. They will tell you to bring it in, where to put it and call one of our buyers up front to assist you.
Depending on what you have and how much of it there is, please be patient! Please do not stand there and give our buyer a running sales pitch about why “xyz” is amazing and worth $$$, That is going to make the process take longer and will not increase the amount you are offered! Browse around the store a bit and they will come find you when they are through evaluating it.
We are honest to a fault and will NOT steal any of your stuff, so please don’t worry about that. Please note: You cannot drop off your collection and come back later, you have to wait!
Review Collection & Make Offer
After our buyer evaluates your collection, they will make you a fair offer (in both store credit and cash amounts). It is UP TO YOU to accept or reject the offer. Any offer we make is only valid while you (and the collection) are physically still in the store. If you choose to leave and ‘shop the collection around’, we will have to go back through the collection and make you a new offer if you choose to come back.
Store credit “tate bucks” are treated “same as cash” for in-store spending and do not expire or have any restrictions on them.
We will only evaluate collections that are for sale.
We will not evaluate a collection and give you “grades” on each book or tell you what is good and bad about each item. We do not “appraise” collections for insurance or legal purposes for free. If you need a valuation on a collection of items that are not actually for sale – please contact us and we can setup a special appointment for you. This type of evaluation will be subject to a pre-agreed hourly rate, it will require an appointment and special setup ahead of time.
Tip #1
If your collection possesses any fragrance, anticipate its value to diminish significantly. Vintage comics should smell like old paper, not cigarettes or feline urine. The same principle applies if your collection is coated in dust, dirt, or an unidentified sticky substance.
Tip #2
The amount you are offered for your collection will be based on the condition, how complete the item(s) are AND whether or not we need it for our inventory. Some valuable items, we may have too many of already sitting in our back stock!
Tip #3
Do not expect to receive full retail or full “guide value” for anything. That is not how it works!
We can only offer you a fraction of the prices you see in the guide and on our shelves. Please understand that this is the nature of retail, we may sit on an item for months or YEARS before we can sell it. We may even have five of that same “rare” item in our backroom waiting to go out already.
If you need to receive full retail or *even close* to guide pricing, we always suggest you take the time try and to sell your collection at a local comic/toy convention, Facebook marketplace or through ebay.
If you have any questions, please email us and we would be happy to help clarify anything.
