Comic Book Price Value Scanner

My Experience with Comic Book Price Value Scanner

This app is for anyone who buys, sells, or just has a closet full of comics and wants a quick reality check on their value. I definitely fit that profile. I downloaded it because I was tired of manually searching eBay sold listings every time I found a box of books at a flea market or wanted to sell a few issues online. I’ve been using it on my OnePlus 11 for several months now. Last Saturday, I was at a local swap meet and saw a guy with a long box marked “$3 each.” I pulled out my phone, opened the app, and scanned the barcode on a “Batman: The Killing Joke” trade paperback. In seconds, I saw it was trending for over $20. That one scan paid for the app’s utility ten times over right then and there. It turned a guessing game into a strategic hunt.

Features Worth Noting

The barcode scanner is the star. It’s fast and gets it right most of the time, even in iffy lighting. When it works, you get a clean screen with the cover art, title, and a current estimated market value. I’ve found the values for modern books to be pretty spot-on when I double-check them. I also use the basic collection tracker to keep a list of what I own, which is handy for insurance purposes. The wishlist feature is simple but effective; I added “Amazing Spider-Man #300” and forgot about it until I got a push notification months later about a price drop on a marketplace. That was a cool surprise. For a free tool, having these organized in one place is a huge help.

What Needs Work

My biggest gripe is with older comics. A lot of my 80s and early 90s books don’t have barcodes, so you have to search manually. The search function is clunky and often doesn’t find the exact issue or variant I’m looking for, which defeats the purpose of a quick scan. I also ran into a problem where the app crashed every time I tried to export my collection list. I used the contact form in the app’s settings to report it. The response I got a week later was vague, just saying they were “aware of some stability issues” and to “try again later.” That kind of slow, non-answer support leaves you feeling stuck, especially when you’re trying to rely on the app for something important.

Pricing

Here’s the best part: it’s completely free. No subscriptions, no in-app purchases to unlock core features, no trial periods. You get the full scanner and collection tools from the start. The trade-off is banner ads along the bottom of the screen. They’re not video ads that interrupt you, just static banners. For my budget-conscious self, that’s a perfect deal. I’ll gladly look at an ad if it means I don’t have to pay. I tested every function thoroughly before even considering if a “pro” version was needed, and honestly, the free version does enough that I’ve never felt pressured to spend a dime.

Developer Notes

The developer is listed as petraapps. The app has gotten a few updates since I installed it, mostly small fixes. I appreciate that the price database seems to update on its own in the background; I don’t have to manually refresh anything. It’s clearly a niche app built for a specific community, not some giant corporation’s project. That shows in both the good ways (it understands what collectors need) and the not-so-good ways (the slower support and occasional bugs). It feels like a passion project that’s mostly well-maintained.

Security & Privacy

I’m always skeptical about free apps and what they’re doing with my data. The app’s privacy policy is fairly standard, saying it collects usage data for ads and analytics. It doesn’t ask for crazy permissions—just camera access for the scanner and internet access to pull prices. I didn’t have to create an account or give an email to use the basic features, which I liked. My collection data is stored locally on my phone. I feel okay about the privacy trade-off for the functionality, but I wouldn’t input any super sensitive personal information into it.