At this moment, we are not buying comics. This is because the overwhelming majority of comics are not actually liquid, and the rent and wages in San Francisco are such we just can’t make a profit when offering more than a nickle a book for most comics. So we stopped accidentally insulting people. See the next answer, too!

Sure, though we have a pretty steep hourly fee to do so. Please contact brian@comixexperience.com for more details. Note that we can not appraise books if they are not in order: Alphabetical by title, and in numeric order. Having said that, appraisal is almost never worth your money, unless you have a big collection of rare and valuable comics (which you probably don’t!), or if you are trying to value your collection for insurance purposes

If you have comics from (roughly) pre-1976 it’s possible you could have something worth the effort to sell — we advise you search eBay with your specific items and use the search filter to show SOLD items. This can give you an idea of what the actual market demand might be for your comics. Note, however, that very few stores would even pay you 25% for your collection (they need to pay labor, storage and so on and still make a profit!). We paid a nickle a book when we still bought comics (which we no longer do!)

Before there were comic book price guides, comics were worth money, because most people either through their comics away or read them over and over and over again until they fell apart. That’s WHY old Golden- and Silver-Age comics are valuable – you can’t find many of them, and less in terrific condition. But that changed with the advent of price guides – after about 1976 everyone started keeping all of their old comics in bags and boards, and no one threw them away, and the market is just drowning in high condition copies of almost every comic after that point. If you walk in to a comic shop with 100 comics, odds are fabulous they'll pick out 1, maybe 2 of your books, and offer you a realistic fraction of their selling price, and the other 98 comics they won't give you one thin dime for.

We started this policy when I went to sell my LPs. I went to 14 different SF record shops trying to sell my albums. Each took 2 or 3. By the time I made it to the last shop, I still had more than 80% of my collection left, and I had spent five hours of my life to make maybe $50. Yuck. I would have KILLED to find a place that would buy everything for a flat rate. Think about it this way: your time is worth money. MY time is worth (at least) $50/hour. Looking at it from that POV, I LOST $200 selling my albums. If you think 50 cents a pound isn't enough for your comics, you've got many options: You could donate them to charity (or a children’s hospital, or a homeless shelter, or a veteran’s hospital), and take the write-off from your taxes; you could go from store-to-store and see what you might get; you could go onto eBay (or the like), and sell them that way.... But, again, if you spend an hour of your time scanning, listing and tracking the comic you're selling, have you actually made any money?

For what it is worth, the "average" back issue is sold at CE in sets -- for prices that range around 25 cents a book. Single-copy (bagged and boarded) comics almost always go for 50 cents above cover price, and in the insanely rare circumstance where we look something up in a guide, we almost always price it far under price guide “value” to get it to move.

But, either way, we are not currently buying comics.

If a comic or graphic novel is brought back in the exact same condition as it was purchased, and you have your receipt, and it is within 30 days, we can exchange for store credit. Under no circumstances will you get cash back. All exchanges are purely and 100% at our discretion, and we reserve the right to withdraw this offer for any reason at any time.

No, we put all of our purchasing power into comic books and graphic novels, only, and are very proud of being that kind of dedicated specialist. If you are interested in games, San Francisco’s finest game store (Gamescape!) is just a few doors down the block at 333 Divisadero. You can call them at 415-621-GAME.

Yes! Our Pull & Hold service makes it easy to reserve your favorite comics and never miss an issue. There are no minimum order requirements, and our subscription system tracks your standing orders and special requests with exceptional accuracy. Visit the store to get started and learn more.

Yes! You can shop online through our webstore, 24 hours a day. All graphic novel and new release comic inventory is listed there. Looking for something specific? Contact us and we'll be happy to help.

Interested in hosting a signing or event at Comix Experience? We'd love to hear from you. We're always looking for exceptional creators and books that resonate with our community, though our event calendar is carefully curated and often planned months in advance. Reach out to discuss your project and see if it might be a good fit.

We're not currently hiring, but we're always happy to keep resumes on file for future opportunities. If you'd like to be considered, stop by the store and introduce yourself in person.

(Read that last sentence very carefully!)

The best candidates are passionate comic readers who genuinely love the medium and our community. While there's no guarantee of a future opening, getting to know us—and letting us get to know you—is always a good place to start.

Comix Experience is located at 305 Divisadero St. (at the cross street of Page) in the beautiful city of San Francisco. We are located very centrally in The City, in the neighborhood now known as “Nopa”

We are located a few blocks from the Panhandle of Golden Gate Park, as well as from the Painted Ladies of Alamo Square, and the truly lovely Buena Vista park.

We have many public transportation options extremely close to us: most notably the 24 Divisadero, the 7 Haight, the 6 Hayes/Parnassus, the N Judah, and the 5 Fulton. There are more, too!

We are San Francisco’s comic book and graphic novel specialist. Probably the best in whole Bay Area since the passing of Rory Root and Berkeley's Comic Relief, but we don’t update this FAQ frequently enough to freeze that one in amber, and we’ve got a lot of fantastic peers. Comix Experience has been in business since April Fool’s Day 1989.

Our goals in the world are entirely about spreading the joy and wonder that is the medium of comics. We are entirely focused on READERS and much less on COLLECTORS — we’ve been in business long enough to recognize that our industry is especially vulnerable to The Grifters, and we actively oppose things that value short-term gain over accessibility to the market. We also have little loyalty to publishers, per se — our focus is on the creator, and the wonder that their dedication and passion and craft produces. We’d like to assert that while the Marvel and DC brands are SUPER HYPER-AWESOME and man, we will sell you comics from those publishers with much enthusiasm, that’s just a teeny tiny fraction of the wonder and joy that is the panoply of the medium of comics. BRANDS should never capture your loyalty; CREATORS should!

We want to spread the love of amazing comics to all humans, regardless of their race, creed, or color. We also want to spread amazing comics FROM all humans, regardless of their race, creed, or color. Comics are an incredible form of expression, and should be widely accessible for everyone!

Doing business in San Francisco is very expensive, so a significant focus for us is our Graphic Novel of The Month Clubs — available in flavors of New Releases for Adults, and one aimed at Kids. These clubs bring you in-depth creator interviews and very exclusive swag — buttons and magnets for the kids, and hand-signed limited bookplates for the adults.

The GN clubs also are a major source of paying our incredibly awesome staff. We are proud to say that during COVID-19 we did not have to reduce hours, and raised base pay for our staff thanks to the Clubs!