Zapp Comics

Zapp! Comics will be back at NYCC this year

BOOTH 3724

We're back again for another Zapp! Con!

Wayne PAL  1 PAL Drive  Wayne, Nj 07470

September 16th  10am to 6pm.  Badges can be purchased for  $10 at the door.

100s of long boxes of $1 comics in alphanumerical order!

A great selection of hot books and wall books from Golden Age to Modern! Lots of nice keys!

Scott Snyder and Tom King plus over 50 other artists drawing and autographing all day!

https://www.zappconfam.com/about

See ya there!

On 2/23/2021 at 7:38 PM, Silver_Couch_Surfer said:

What do you have for auto save?

 

I'll check that out tomorrow thanks!

I have been happy with the HP 8300 for about 5 years, although the glare has been a problem. Now, when I go the step of importing the scan into my folder, it does not import. 

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

30 minutes ago, lighthouse said:

I think the answer to this question really depends on what kind of store you are/were in the years in question.

Because for some, the best years would be years where the economy was in shambles and they were able to scoop up valuable collections right and left for pennies on the dollar. For others it would be when the economy was so good that people spent money on worthless detritus.

But I will toss out an unexpected answer: May 1999 - April 2000

Every shop that existed in 1999-2000 that had any kind of reliable distribution was printing money with Pokemon. At one point that fall I had a spiral notebook with probably 300 phone numbers from moms who had to have packs for their kids. Didn't matter if it was retail price or double retail or triple retail. Didn't matter if it was a 2 pack per person limit or just one. I had a couple hundred numbers I could call and folks would race to the store to give me money. Between Jungle and Fossil, I was routinely doing 2x rent in margin every month just from Pokemon booster packs. If I misordered a comic series here or there it was irrelevant because the Pokemon gravy train was nuts. It eventually died of course. But it was awfully easy to own a comic shop that year, when a product that took up less that 5 sqft of floor space covered double your rent everyues

Yes, Pokemon made those years the best until recent years, 2018,2019, which have been pretty crazy between back issues and real strength in Pokemon again. 2020 was off to a great start, would likely have been my best year ever until the pandemic came along.

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We're back again for another Zapp! Con!

Wayne PAL  1 PAL Drive  Wayne, Nj 07470

March 28th.  10am to 6pm.  Badges can be purchased $11 on-line or $10 at the door.

100s of long boxes of $1 and $2 comics and $5 TPBs! Funko POPs, and much more!

A great selection of hot books and wall books from Golden Age to Modern! Just picked up some nice Golden Age Bats and Tecs that we'll be debuting that day.

Tyler Kirkham and Dan Slott, plus over 50 other artists drawing and autographing all day!

https://www.zappconfam.com/about

See ya there!

Hi, there,

We have inquired with CGC about this, and we're waiting to see if anyone is available to facilitate.

We will make an announcement if it is going to happen.

Best,

Ben-Zapp Comics

1 minute ago, the blob said:

Isn't J&S comics in Neptune nj and JC in Plainfield? But now I can't remember who always has a big nycc set up. 2 middle aged guys, one dude is pretty intense and other dude is a pharmacist or podiatrist or something? In any event you'd probably be more likely to have a high grade copy of a Godzilla book.

Right, JS Neptune, JC North Plainfield. JC is the NYCC exhibitor. Yes, pharmacist. To my knowledge, JS never exhibits there. Godzillas aren't in the bargain boxes anymore unless low to mid-grade.

On 10/19/2019 at 1:11 AM, the blob said:

Were js comics or zapp there? I would expect to find some decent copies in their $2 or $5 boxes. Although I have now missed the last 2 nycc.

I think you mean JC comics. JS comics is the Ebay seller,different dealer.

On 10/18/2019 at 11:32 AM, marvelmaniac said:

Again...

This thread was about which books are hot right now.

$1200.00 is a price I told him he could expect, he did not come up with that number, I came up with that number by assuming 30% of FMV for the keys and .30 cents per book for the remaining which consists of $5, $10, $15 books as well as 25 cent fillers so rather than grade and price each book individually I "ballparked" an average price and now that is what he expects.

A lot of these books (McFarlane ASM's, Miller D.D's, Secret Wars 1-12 , Transformers 1-80, X-Men 94-150 just to name a few) I have already graded, photographed and cataloged, I graded the books I felt had value back in 2015 when I graded mine.

I have no idea what his plans are for the collection or how he plans on selling the books or where he is going to try to sell them or how he is going to sell them, he just sold all of his other collectibles (NASCAR Stuff, Garbage Pail Kids Cards) and my HO train collection and other things at a yard sale and got almost $500.00 so he feels he can sell these himself and get what he feels is the right price.

I am the one that wants to know what books are in the collection that may be "hot" right now so if he is going to sell them individually he has an idea of what folks are looking for at the present time or if another dealer shows interest we know what is actually there other than the 35 I listed.

Besides, this is good practice and experience for him, when I am no longer here he and my Daughter will be selling my books which should be easier since the majority are 10 cent - 25 cent covers.

I'm in New Jersey and I buy collections. Contact me if you're interested in an offer-the one you got seems low based on the list.

Thanks, Ben

11 hours ago, 1Cool said:

NEO Con in Lorain, Ohio.  Not a huge Con but for $8 it definetely is a must if you want to check out some books.  All the proceeds go to Make A Wish and it gets about 20 local comic vendors.  My only disappointment was Zapp Comics brought only toys and no comics.

I wasn't there. I think someone opened up a toy store and used my name. 

Zapp Comics will be there!

On 9/18/2017 at 4:10 PM, the blob said:

Zapp comics.

Ben..remember me at Comiccon....

Thanks! I'm working on my NYCC stock now. No more $1 books, my friend. The rent is too damn high! But LOTS of good $2 and $5 books.

Why not focus on the gaming but have the comics as a side aspect. Develop a business plan that attracts gamers so they somehow pay money. Either through snacks and drink or time played or supplies, something / anything so you basically break even.

 

Then you have your wall books of $10 to $500 books to show you are a comic guy. Have maybe 10-40 long boxes of old stuff only GA/SA/CA and a smattering of quality 1990s on up. Then Man Cave it up so it's wicked sweet with what you like. Posters, art, statues, 1970s toys - you name it.

 

The point of the comics is to sell and make a little there but really your goal is to acquire walk in collections. Buy those at 30-50% on the dollar (as in what will sell easily not full retail)

 

So you don't have to deal in new inventory and the Diamond hassle. You hang out with comic folks but that will mostly be slow. And the Gamers keep the place relatively lively.

If you buy a couple $5000 collections a year and hit on one really good one, then you can make the $25,000 or more a year. The gamers and back stock pay for the bills.

 

You still need to sell online. Part of your comments worry me (if I were playing shark tank) in that you don't want to box and ship. ???? That's called work. Every avenue must be utilized or the odds of failure increase. You don't need to sell online 40 hours a week but at least 10. And maybe more in a slow month to make ends meet. It simply has to be done IMO. Also it is a good way to clear stale inventory.

 

I probably wasn't totally clear...I don't enjoy boxing and shipping...that's why I wouldn't want to do it full time...of course it's a necessary evil and something I would have to do, but I wouldn't want to do it full time...I'm not afraid of hard work...just wasn't totally clear...

I like your image of the store...It will be mostly MTG and gaming as I reflected in a later post...I've been building up some inventory the last few months and have some nice minor keys...nothing ultra high end, but hopefully I can build up to that...

 

Awesome feedback, thanks!

 

I don't have the time to read through this entire thread but just saw the the title, "Opening up a brick and mortar".

 

I would NOT suggest opening up a comic book store mainly for the reason that present day comics, like other print mediums, are going completely digital. In the next few years current print issues are undoubtedly going to be obsolete with tablet/iPad prices dropping, more readers owning them and everything print going digital and mobile. Diamond has already begun selling lots of their stuff on eBay and unless they can survive on the Gemstone publishing brand alone, they too are likely gone. Comic Books stores who rely solely on flipping new issues, hardbacks and trades will be closing their doors. It's already started happening to them but you'll see more and more in the years to come.

 

I'm sure you've already thought through this but what else do you plan on selling? You're probably better off just setting up at cons and trying to flip back issues. There's no money in selling modern stuff. You'll undoubtedly have to mark things up and because you've got rent/retail space, you won't be able to compete with Amazon/eBay.

 

While this may be a passion it sounds more like a sinkhole given the current state of storefront retail.

Not true. While in the very long term print could be on its way out, in the present and near term, physical comics are still very much alive. Digital has been around for many years now, and sales on print have steadily risen the past 5 years. not gangbusters, but certainly not dead yet.

One of my LCS just closed last year after being in business for 18 years. He ended on his best year including selling an AF 15. He said he wanted a vacation and some time off. He is in his late 40s now.

 

He did well selling $1 books and then stocked his wall with keys. He constantly flipped his $1 books bringing in inventory weekly then blowing it out every few months just in case it wasn't selling. Even then he still made money. When you buying collections cheap and you don't put a lot of money in new issues you can do well.

 

New shops make mistakes ordering too much new inventory. Nothing wrong with having new books in small amounts, but inventory can choke you. He required a 50% down payment on anything he ordered for a customer. He learned this after getting burned a few times. Pay attention to that. Someone wants you to order for them? Sure, but you are going to pay 50% down upfront which covers your cost.

 

I still buy my supplies locally so you can do well off of those. Even buying it bulk its still easier to just drop buy and buy what I need locally for suppliers.

 

Make sure you have plenty of walk traffic in front of your store. Master social media to increase your web traffic. Price your books. I know it sucks sometimes when someone finds a $50 in $1 box, but I hate stores that wont price their books.

 

There is a lot of downtime in owning a comic shop. Use the time constructively. List books on a facebook or ebay to sell some of your inventory. Keep it separate so it wont get sold by accident.

 

Good Luck

 

Some great advice here, thank you!

I have 2 LCS owners that are guiding me with new comics and ordering...I may not do it right away as some people have suggested, but I was told by a few LCS that "new comics" is what brings people in weekly and they inevitably buy some back issues as well...of course the risk is there and I'll have to start slow...

Unless rent is really cheap,will be very hard to survive without new product arriving weekly to bring in traffic. If Long Island rents are like Jersey, you'll need that steady traffic and daily volume. We do a lot with vintage material. It's profitable and a great differentiator, but not consistent enough for storefront with the high rent clock ticking.

Great thread!

I will chime in here.

My shops have been open for nearly 24 years and we're still at it. Business is very good and has been for the past 4-5 years. I've learned a lot from my mistakes and am still constantly learning.

There are myriad, obvious reasons that stores don't succeed,like location, insufficient capital, macro-economic, inventory issues, personality problems, etc.

However, I've observed one major reason that most stores fail:

The new owners bring tons of passion, but have NO experience buying and selling stuff.

Before committing to a full time brick and mortar, and all that it entails in cost and time, I would buy and sell part time for as long as possible, either at conventions, ebay, facebook groups, etc.

This experience and knowledge of actually having to buy and sell correctly and manage that bankroll is something that is best learned by doing. And, is best learned on a small scale so your mistakes don't bury you.

I have seen many, many shops that had plenty of capital and plenty of passion, but zero expertise in running a business where you have to buy and sell correctly. They run into trouble fairly quickly. I would also highly recommend doing that road trip suggested earlier and get as many ideas from other shops as possible.