uchiha101

3 hours ago, Red84 said:

I'm sorry, but no.  An actual test of what it's worth would be a straight auction.  All you are doing is picking a number out of thin air that you'd like to receive that is not based in reality.  Get out of dreamland, listen to common sense, and sell the books for their market value.

 

This isn't a number based on a fantasy I already told you I know what I'm asking for it and it's FMV for the lot is as it did that before I bought the comics.

2 hours ago, Red84 said:

But that still doesn't answer what you were testing?

I did answer it many times when people asked but I'll say it again. I'm testing what people are willing to pay for this lot while it's heating up, while I'm waiting for a decent offer and finding the balance of correcting my mistake because this too was a lot  I bought without considering the eBay fees.

2 hours ago, revat said:

There's certainly room out there for those who strategize and play the long game, but I agree that if the OP doesn't quit entirely (which he definitely should), he should go for the quick flip.  Which means don't buy ANYTHING that you can't make money selling QUICKLY AT or BELOW the most recent selling price on ebay, taking into account condition, shipping back and forth, paypal fees, ebay fees, customs fees (if any).  If your strategy is to buy at prices hoping to hook a 'sucker', or an outlier, than you're the sucker.

Its much less about the keyness or fame of the comic (although that helps), and totally irrelevant what you like about the comic, but only the actual data-driven discernible value.

Which leads me to one of the ways most successful comic dealers (and part time sellers) make money with less investment.... hitting local shows, stores, and especially yard sales/garage sales/estate sales/craigslist HARD.  You buy big lots or long boxes with a few keys to cover your cost, then selling the rest of the comics is pure profit.

 

For example:

Saw a craigslist ad for a guy selling a bunch of his old comics because he wants to open a store.  I went right when it opened, he had like 20 longboxes of dollar books, and 6 longboxes of better stuff.  It was a dollar per comic or $100 for a longbox full.  So I hit the dollar boxes and loaded up.  Found probably 10-20 books worth $5-$10 each (some a few more), and the rest was stuff that would sell for $3-$5, probably, even if it took some time.  But with 220 books in a long box, each of those books was 50 cents or less.  AND then I went to the bigger books and he was more willing to deal with me since I already bought a bunch of his little books, so I got some good deals.

So I'm looking at a minimum 6:1 return on my longbox but probably more likely 7 or 8:1 where I can at minimum recoup the original hundred quickly from selling the keys, plus most likely at least 40% profit on the extra better keys I bought.  Yes it will take a long time to sell the rest, but its fun usually and I'm not burdened with having my money tied up.  Yes I could have driven out there and not bought anything, yes I probably still would have bought with smaller estimated profits (but not much smaller), but at some point you gotta put in the work.  But I needed a car, I needed access to disposable cash, I needed knowledge of the value and desirability of  books,

Of course these situations aren't reproducible at will, but they're not so uncommon where someone buys a box or multiple boxes, sells the keys quickly, and sells the rest off slowly for profit.  I don't recall the OP EVER doing this or anything similar to this, even though this many people (even those with full time jobs) are most successful selling comics.  At some point you gotta put in the work, and even then it still might not work out.  And no, searching the internet for mildly underpriced megakeys is not putting in the work.  If you buy a GPA $1100 for $850, you will not be looking at $250 worth of profit 19 out of 20 times.

 

Thanks for explaining that and I don't exactly understand the last part of what you said about the gpa and 19 times out of 20, do you  perhaps mean that it's not worth the time and effort just looking for big flips but instead focus on smaller comics I can flip for better profits while I'm getting myself out of the hole?

4 hours ago, Red84 said:

Here's an example of a quick flip. On Sunday I bought 6 TMNT figures in varying conditions for $70. Yesterday I listed them on ebay for $225 obo + $10 shipping (understanding I will end up having to pay extra on top of that $10).  $225 was not unreasonable, but was a little high given the condition. I received an offer of $150. I countered at $180. They countered at $160 and I accepted.  $160 + $10 shipping - (fees of of about $20 + another $5 for shipping) = $145. So my profit is $75 in 3 days.  Could I have held out for $200? Yes, but I wanted to get them out of the house and get the money flowing quickly.

Quick flips should be your goal.

 

Yes I told myself that as well but it's harder to let go then I thought

4 hours ago, Wall-Crawler said:

The other wrinkle to the Invincible lot is Gabe thought the trailer was going to be out far sooner than it actually will be...I kept wondering why he brought it up...Now that he knows the trailer is not "imminent" he says he will adjust his strategy. 

 

Correct 

7 hours ago, revat said:

the importance of this cannot be understated.  When making decisions such as buying or pricing, he never factored in fees that are likely 10-15% taken off of GROSS REVENUE, when often times he was only ATTEMPTING to realize profits of 10-20%. 

While its good that he finally decided to consider this and he will likely count it as a 'victory' since he is 'improving', it SHOULD underscore (but likely won't to the OP) how ill equipped the OP is for success at any level of this type of  endeavor.  Its the equivalent of "I'm going to be a pro basketball player.  I know I have some limitations (could be anything:  too short, bad knees, bad reflexes, lack of basketball sense, started too late, not athletic enough) , but I love basketball and I've been paying for training videos and practicing on my own for three years now, and my passion will carry me forward, and I am improving, and I can make uncontested layups at 50%, which is a good shooting percentage for pro's.  Yesterday I learned that I am allowed to dribble with BOTH hands.  So .... I should definitely spend more time and money on this while I still don't have a steady job, and definitely plan to make money doing this someday.

The basketball example doesn't mean the can't be reasonably competent at some aspects of basketball at work with practice, and doesn't mean he should never play for fun, but it does mean he will never make money doing so and probably means he shouldn't keep dumping money into it expecting a financial return if and when he can't afford to. 

 

Thanks for your concern and maybe won't be like the big dogs at all but if I can make some nice side income I'll have no problem with it.

2 hours ago, Red84 said:

You keep saying that pricing it at $800 is a "test."  What are you testing?  Are you looking to see if someone will accidentally hit the buy it now button?

No I'll be pricing it lower after talking to some boardies but that's in response to his question as to why I did it

10 hours ago, 1Cool said:

It happens all the time and it really does not work for most of us.  There are a few sellers (like Mile High) which can price books sky high and then offer a 60% off sale (which is still double the current market).  If I walk around a Con and see a Wolverine Limited Series 1 on a wall that is priced at $100 then I keep moving.  If I see a Preacher 1 for $400 then I keep moving to the next booth.  It is an art to price books above the market but not so high people don't want to bother making you an offer.  Your test price is way too high and will have people virtually move on rather then stop to look at the books.

 

I see, how do you find that happy medium?

12 hours ago, chrisco37 said:

So glad this thread came back to life after the "new boards".  

All I'm going to say is that Invincible lot is priced way too high.   And, yes, it would cause me to skip over a sellers other auctions (or a dealer's table). 

 

Yes I spoke about that with some boardies I trust but it's good to know that. That said when is the right timing to mark something up and not miss out should movie news or something happen?

18 hours ago, Iceman399 said:

He won't be setup... I was being facetious.

I hope he is allowed to come and check out all the deals I'll be offering though! 

 

I won't have a booth myself but are you going to the NFCC?

19 hours ago, Iceman399 said:

I freaking hate dealers that price books at 2x market waiting for a sucker as a buyer. They are nothing but scum trying to screw someone out of money be it a gift for a friend, a new person entering the hobby etc. Scum scum scum

I freaking love dealers that price books at 2x market waiting for a sucker as a seller.   I get all their dissatisfied buyers after they see how much they got raked over from the scum dealer

 

Carry on Gabe carry on! Hope to see your dealer setup at nfcc in a few weeks. 

 

I love how you misunderstood what I said yet carry on going about how much you hate it, I told you that what I'm doing would be a test and unless you didn't catch the many times I said it if I would get a fair offer or the prices would change it  would be reflected in my listing.....friend.

20 hours ago, jcjames said:

Pretty much.

Whatever price you envision yourself selling a book for, dock 15% right off the top that you'll never get.

 

 

Fair enough

2 hours ago, Red84 said:

Well, not really.  But it will shift the fees to an initial cost from an unexpected cost later on.

Fair enough either way it's a great idea

2 hours ago, Red84 said:

10-15%

Added to my bottom line each time? That's amazing  thanks again for this idea

2 hours ago, jcjames said:

Well at least you got that piece of the puzzle in place now!

 

 

It's odd to think that it's been three years yet this thought never crossed my mind and how much of a difference do you think it will make?

2 hours ago, jcjames said:

Wait - so for the past three years you have NOT been taking your potential selling-fees into account when deciding on your purchase price of big $ books you bought for resale!???

 

 

 

That's correct I only took away the fees when I was calculating what I bought it for and sold it for

2 hours ago, 50AE_DE said:

If the asking price is within reason then I think it'll get some offers, but when the asking price is double the price of other lots then no.

Thanks I'll keep that in mind

2 hours ago, 50AE_DE said:

It doesn't matter how I see you, but rather your potential customers.  As another poster stated, you'll have customers bypass your auctions completely if they feel you are over-priced on your books regardless of what "cool" books you have.  There is one seller I don't even bother looking at since I know his prices are crazy high.  You could be potentially losing customers because of the same reason.  Your customers won't know you're willing to work with them to make a deal if they're not even going to look at your book.  

 

But won't having the OBO make people want to look and make an offer? Because it's already telling people that the price I have isn't the one I'm selling for 

2 hours ago, 50AE_DE said:

This would be ideal, but you can't have that going into every deal.  If you're trying to become a credible seller, inflating your prices is not going to convince people you can be trusted or know what you're doing.  You need to win over your buyers and if that means you give up a good deal then do it.  So many thread talk about building a relationship between the seller and buyer, but you seem to be so focused on trying to increase your profit that you're willing to sacrifice any potential future business for a few more bucks.

 

Is that really how you see me as? I'm willing to work with people to make a deal but I need to profit that's as simple as it gets with me.

2 hours ago, 50AE_DE said:

 I would like to know.  Please PM me.

Pm sent

2 hours ago, Wall-Crawler said:

Yeah, but did you actually "buy low"? How about you give us a hint? Wouldn't THAT be a fun game???

Multiple Choice Gabe. Choose the truthful answer.

1.  Gabe paid for the Invincible Lot In:

A) USD funds

B) CDN funds

 

2.  Gabe paid the following price range for the Invincible Lot:

A) $0 - $100

B) $101 - $200

C) $201 - $300

D) $301 - $400

E) More than $400

 

Why do you want to know so badly? If you're really interested I can pm you

2 hours ago, 50AE_DE said:

  I think it's called common sense.

My common sense was buy low, sell high to make a profit and I'm happy for the idea as it will improve my bottom line

2 hours ago, thehumantorch said:

I did read what you said and that's the direct reason for my posts.  I don't care what you paid, it has no bearing on what you can sell the books for.  What a buyer is willing to pay for a book is what's important.

Actually, I didn't agree with the price that he set and wanted half of that which he agreed to so I'm the one that decided what I wanted

800 OBO

Ironically, it appears you found someone who set a ridiculous price and you fell for it.  I can see where you learned your new marketing strategy.  

 

 

I didn't fall for it because I'm happy with what I paid

2 hours ago, Red84 said:

It's awesome that after all of this discussion you are staying with the $800 obo price that everyone has told you is absurd.

Don't think that what you said is going unnoticed after all you taught me a new way of calculating and negotiating comics. Regarding my price point, it's a test so I'll have to figure out what exactly I need out of it and I need to have the comics arrive and see what condition they'll be in.

2 hours ago, Red84 said:

We just went over this. What you paid does not change what the books are worth. Whether you paid $1000 or got them for free.  The books are worth what they are worth based on the market.

 

I'm aware of that I was just making a point