HENRYSPENCER

great comics.  Love the Action 7.

This epic thread deserves a bump.  Great performances by everyone.  Matt Nelson is an unbelievable guitar player.  Blown away and suprised he doesn't move to Nashville and play professionally.

Really enjoying this show.  Go ahead and tell me.  Who in the hell is the Black Hood?

You can factor the BP into your bid, but in reality, you are paying MORE than what the items worth respective to market.  BP artificially inflates the price of the items as in addition to the sale price you are paying a percentage tacked on to the auction house.  That half a percentage point means subsequent sales will be higher than they previously would have been and sellers, dealers, and other auction venues will be comparing their future asking prices to those sales at Heritage with the new higher BP. These items with the new 20% BP will be reported to GPA Analysis and will over inflate asking prices more than they already are. Auction houses being able to adjust BP whenever they so desire and the vice-grip, ripple effect it creates on the rest of the hobby is one of the many reasons why I think auctions, in general, should be tightly regulated.  When interest rates are low, they can adjust BP to their liking, and in the end, they can collect whatever percentage they deem necessary to keep their business looking better to investors than it actually is.

10 minutes ago, tth2 said:

Again, very few (if any) sellers on Heritage pay the full boat.  

If you negotiated how could they potentially pay you out? Would they take a commission as a percentage of the total sale, so you get a cut of BP or would they lower their commission?  Perhaps no commission at all?  What kind of prices are we talking about for the lower commissions?

I received an eBay purchase this week shipped media mail that was inspected by the USPO.  They checked the first box though which is great and I owed no additional postage because the seller decided to go cheap and ship this way.  You're pretty much guaranteed an inspection notice on Blu-ray/DVD box sets shipped media mail in bubble wrap. 

On 6/8/2018 at 4:35 PM, entalmighty1 said:

Their buyer premium doesn't bother me, as it makes no difference to me as a buyer how the sales price gets split between Heritage and the owner.  Doesn't change how much I'm willing to spend.

Maybe but the added BP artificially inflates the sale price if you compare their results to Comic Connect.  Unless I knew with absolute certainty that what I was selling would command a premium through Heritage buyers I'd look elsewhere because they subtract the BP from your check and then take out their consignment fee.  On a 1200 item, you're only looking at netting around $750 when it's all said and done which is nuts.

On 6/28/2018 at 7:41 PM, namisgr said:

They offer additional insurance to the $100 that comes automatically on every express or ground package through what they call the 'replacement cost'.  Just a few weeks ago I mailed a 17 slab consignment to an auction house by FedEx Ground and was able to purchase $6K of replacement insurance (there's a $50K limit).  With slabs, it's relatively straightforward to document replacement values thanks to GPAnalysis.

Have you had bad experience getting FedEx to pay out a well documented replacement cost for items you insured?

 

I have never had to file a claim with FedEx but was told (or perhaps I read) the adjuster would only pay out based on the original purchase price of the item. I know it sounds scary and no clue if this is true and fortunately never tested the waters.  I heard UPS is the same way and the only way to CYA is to ship Registered Mail through the USPO.  The problem with Registered Mail is it's incredibly slow and I have found when sending packages the higher risk for damage and loss comes the longer the package is in route.  Also for Registered Mail, you can't purchase insurance through USPS.com you must go into a post office.  This becomes a nightmare with the clerks questioning you as to the insurance amount and wanting to inspect everything while there are people standing in line.

I use FedEx but have a policy covering inbound and outbound shipments with CollectInsure.com.  Nice folks who work there though quasi-disorganized and again I have never had to file a claim.  The problem with CollectInsure.com is they won't allow you to have just shipping insurance you must also have the dealers policy which can be pretty damn expensive given one's coverage. Dealers policy's through CollectInsure are very expensive, and you must have the dealer policy to get the shipping coverage.  They won't give you shipping coverage on a collector's policy which is far cheaper.

https://www.shipsurance.com/

I have used shipinsurance.com who will insure collectibles and certain artworks (make certain to check if what you are shipping qualifies).  I know someone who does millions of dollars in jewelry sales on eBay every year and uses ShipInsurance.com along with UPS for high dollar shipments.  Never filed a claim with them though.

The problem with shipping FedEx, unlike USPS, is there declared value will not pay the cost you paid for the book if lost or damaged while in transit.  For example, if you paid $20k for a Green Lantern 1 in the event something happens they are only going to pay out 10 cents. Regardless if you have proof of what you paid.  Your only option using FedEx is to carry a private insurance plan.

Anyone else getting broken links and wrong item history when searching through eBay’s completed listings?

Collectibles of any kind listed in those mom and pop auctions on AuctionZip.com can go for crazy amounts of money as many think they are getting the deal of the century and that they can make money by turning around and flipping their pickups at mega-venues like ComicConnect and Heritage. The famous Mound City Auctions were initially a single ad on AuctionZip.  Then one board member made mention of it on this forum, and suddenly the auction blew up, and you had dealers and collectors flying in from all over the country.  Books all went for many multiples of GPA.

4 minutes ago, shadroch said:

I was told by a Torpedo employee that Torpedo is not setting up at the show. They certainly aren't pushing the show at their shop.

But they have a helluva lot of booths at the SDCC.

9 minutes ago, n2wdw said:

check out https://www.viagogo.com/Theater-Tickets/Exhibitions/Comic-Con-Tickets

But I have no idea if this is legitimate; but whew are prices high

But how would they transfer the pass and put it in your name if tickets are said to be non-transferable?

28 minutes ago, blazingbob said:

Lets see,  3 6 ft tables $375,  20X20 booth $4000+

 

It's not the pricing I'm concerned about but the effort in setting up and moving inventory around.

20 minutes ago, blazingbob said:

How about it is the first show and see how it goes.

I just can't understand how one can justify a full booth setup for only seven hours of show time...

2 hours ago, VintageComics said:

I think the real question is, will the Torpedo show make SD not worthwhile to do if you get a lot of SD goers just take the LA route and forefo the SD show.

If the Torpedo show gains traction over the years, that could be a real thing and prevent people from going to SD altogether unless they are looking for the entire SD experience.

Any clue why they decided on just a one day show versus the traditional Friday and weekend?

On 3/25/2018 at 6:45 PM, jsilverjanet said:

I would love to hear the thoughts from dealers in regards to your comments above. While I understand you may be over SDCC and maybe locals may be looking for an alternative (to SDCC), I just don't see how 17 dealers from across the country would come out to do a one day show in San Diego. Are San Diego buyers that desperate that they have no alternative to fill their runs, that this is the only solution? I mean it's not like local shops or ebay don't have the items they are looking for.

no matter how many people you get to attend this one day show, i can't imagine that it compares to the amount of traffic (money) over a 5 day show a few days later. I assume you will be attending, and providing a full report. Can't wait to hear from some of the dealers who do this show etc

 

 

For a one day show on a Sunday (perhaps the absolute worst day of the week schedule wise) and only seven hours of actual show time, this seems like a helluva lot of work.

So is there any way to get into Comic-Con without buying passes off from the Comic-Con website far in advance?  Crazy how there are no resale badges for folks who missed out on tickets and are willing to pay the premium on sites like eBay and Craigslist.  It says you must have a Comic-Con Member ID associated with the badge which to be quite frank I find pretty scary, that is, handing over my private information to organizers that's linked to a pass I'd be wearing.  That data could be collected and sold to outside third parties for marketing purposes.  I'm guessing there is some opt-in to hand over your information or else be blocked from buying passes altogether. 

sad day for fans of independent film.

1 hour ago, F For Fake said:

Agreed, maybe 1Cool just stumbled upon a bad Waffle House, but in general they are terrific. They cook real food, live in front of you on the griddle. Fresh made, greasy and delicious. Their waffles are a delicacy!

Far too many bad things happen at Waffle House to ever make me want to go in there and eat.  There was the Waffle House massacre earlier this year where some deranged psychopath went in and killed four people, then there is the endless run of Youtube videos with people drunk, shouting and fighting on the premises. I guess Waffle House considers this good publicity as they never do anything about it.  Have they ever considered installing cameras or beefing up security?  Now there's a thought.  It's like individuals as soon as they walk through the doors and take a whiff of the week's old waffle batter lose all sense of humanity and become wild, rabid dogs.

Here are two nice looking individuals having a good time:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/W0Egp_9iYmo?start=71" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/W0Egp_9iYmo?start=71" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

You see websites selling concert and movie tickets having countdown timers allowing you five minutes or so to check out before they waive the right to cancel the sale.  Most online checkout systems for retail don't mark items as sold and out of stock until payment has been fully processed.  So theoretically you could have two customers with the same item(s) in their cart.  One person gets the item while the other person gets an out of stock error message.

The backend of the e-commerce website, which is the CMS or content management system, is so portable and UI friendly these days  I think dealers who have both a con and online sales presence should have a computer on hand, and update inventory regularly item by item as it's sold at the con.  Worst case scenario at the end of each day.   I've never understood people's mindset who wait to answer emails in bulk by the hundreds instead of individually as they come into their inbox nor from a business perspective would I ever advise to wait until after the con is over to mark online what's been sold.  The latter seems like a great way to make errors.

53 minutes ago, FSF said:

I believe the cutoff was 6/15 and now you have to go to the door to buy a ticket.  A limited amount will supposedly be available. 

Wow.  It sounds like they're expecting quite the crowd.  I would be interested in the report and photos on this one for sure.

How many tickets have sold so far during the presale?  Great price on the rooms.

What I have noticed is some dealers have dedicated a section on their wall for raw comics and another section for slabbed comics.  The raw comics are typically keys, notable covers or scarcer issues that you get the sense were at some point in time slabbed and either decertified or would benefit in the present if they were holdered.  What's become common practice is that the exhibitor will disagree with the assigned CGC grade and  "liberate" the comic with both a price and grade bump just as if it were certified.  Then the discussion starts off with something like "Yeah CGC really missed the ball on this one" or "It presents much nicer than the assigned grade".  It becomes nearly impossible to negotiate on these ticket items unless you agree with the dealer's assigned grade and are willing to pay the premium.  They won't price down, and well you move on.
Sadly I see these conventions including the Heroes Convention in Charlotte evolving more into all pop culture festivals in a matter of years when more of the comic dealers retire.  I don't see the fifty and under generation buying at the same rate as baby boomers. Nor do I see collectors buying from dealers as much as I see dealers buying from other dealers. This week there were at least four times as many booths selling other things besides vintage comics.  
I look at Metropolis Collectibles, and how they figured ten years ago, they were going to need a dedicated auction site to stay viable in the business and competitive with Comiclink and Heritage.  That's the direction the market is headed in, and they seem to be doing well.
With rising booth costs, surging summer fuel prices, travel expenses, costs associated in buying inventory, quality inventory being harder to find I can't imagine how anyone could go at the comic business full time unless they dealt mostly in keys and first issues and were pricing well over previous record sales and GPA.  Maybe it would also work if you were able to find some collections and peddle them quickly to other dealers.  Unless you've been in the business a long time with deep inventory and plenty of money dealing in comics right now seems like one tough gig.

7 hours ago, Foolkiller said:

I'll just echo what Dan said, I've spoken to a number of dealers who reported great shows, both buying and selling.  

I do think that who you speak to and how the show goes for you individually can color your perspective.  If you hit that one great deal in the room, then suddenly it was an 'amazing' show.  Heroes has always been a traditionally strong buying show.  Competition is now stronger than ever at these shows.  If you drive 7.5 hrs as 1Cool did and don't hit that home run, I can relate to the feeling of meh, was it all that great?  But with that said, it sounds like most folks did well and it was a great time.

I just didn't see a whole lot of variety of eclectic titles in my time on Friday.  There were certainly lots of keys in the room; Showcase 22’s and FF1’s were a dime a dozen, albeit priced anywhere from 1.5 to 2X GPA.  Sometimes 4X GPA! If paying that kind of premium is your thing then most certainly you came to the right place.  For example, one dealer was asking $65k for Hulk #1 in CGC 7.0 when sales at Heritage the past year are hovering around $30k.  

Ultimately it's about pushing material.  I would, however, be interested in reviewing what percentage of sales were dealer to dealer versus those sold directly to collectors.  I saw dealers walking the con buying books to relist on their websites and auctions, but most collectors I saw left empty-handed.