MrBedrock

My only San Diego pick up is also, like Steve's New Fun, an early DC sci-fi cover...
 

My only San Diego pick up is also, like Steve's New Fun, an early DC sci-fi cover...
 

The advisors being mostly dealers can affect pricing, but not in a way that you might think. I have long grumbled about the market reports. I stopped submitting them about eight years ago and every time I think about doing a new one I go and read the most recent reports and get annoyed all over again. The method of the market report in the Overstreet is so antiquated, unscientific and self serving that I think they actually do more harm than good. Here are a couple of the main reasons why...the folks who write that a particular genre is HOT HOT HOT possibly have a large inventory of those items. You cannot say something is HOT without actually having some to sell or without having sold some. It is a little self serving to have some and say they are hot because you sold some in the past. Flipside, if you never had any and haven't had anyone ask then you can't definitively say something is cold. Most dealers don't purchase Classic Illustrated, have none in stock, and continuously say they are dead. I sell the snot out of them. But I also stock the snot out of them. For me to say they are HOT would be self serving...for others to say they are dead is ridiculous. Present day...we all know that Centaurs are HOT right? Half the market reports in the Guide will say yes. But I bet half of those folks haven't sold a single Centaur in the last year. How in the world can a dealer announce that something is hot if he/she hasn't sold one? There is no filter or checks-and-balances to the market reports, but subliminally they affect the opinions of readers and more importantly those who calculate pricing.

only 2 s.d. pick-ups, as jon's books have me kinda tapped, but I do like 'em very much.

The advisors being mostly dealers can affect pricing, but not in a way that you might think. I have long grumbled about the market reports. I stopped submitting them about eight years ago and every time I think about doing a new one I go and read the most recent reports and get annoyed all over again. The method of the market report in the Overstreet is so antiquated, unscientific and self serving that I think they actually do more harm than good. Here are a couple of the main reasons why...the folks who write that a particular genre is HOT HOT HOT possibly have a large inventory of those items. You cannot say something is HOT without actually having some to sell or without having sold some. It is a little self serving to have some and say they are hot because you sold some in the past. Flipside, if you never had any and haven't had anyone ask then you can't definitively say something is cold. Most dealers don't purchase Classic Illustrated, have none in stock, and continuously say they are dead. I sell the snot out of them. But I also stock the snot out of them. For me to say they are HOT would be self serving...for others to say they are dead is ridiculous. Present day...we all know that Centaurs are HOT right? Half the market reports in the Guide will say yes. But I bet half of those folks haven't sold a single Centaur in the last year. How in the world can a dealer announce that something is hot if he/she hasn't sold one? There is no filter or checks-and-balances to the market reports, but subliminally they affect the opinions of readers and more importantly those who calculate pricing.

SDCC pick-up and it's Holy Grail time as I NEVER thought I'd be able to own an acceptable copy of this book. The third ever published DC comic, the first science-fiction cover in comics, and while this copy certainly has its share of problems it is unrestored and has off-white pages. I couldn't be happier!
 

Isn't Mitch the one that started this whole tirade about how SDCC is now nothing more than a circus sideshow and then he goes running around acting like a circus clown when he should be like a old time comic collector down on his hands and knees digging through your dime boxes? 

Too bad Theo and Beerbong weren't there, because with the addition of those two clowns it would have been a real 3-Ring Circus! 

Yep.  That's what I do, too:  Hit him first before he hits you. 

I don't know how you guys do it Ricky. People see big prices dealer sell for but they don't realize the small margin you are really netting. It has got to be VERY hard to aquire great inventory for your customers especially when you have to rely on buying from other dealers at shows. Then you get kicked down by collectors. Auctions are your only other option. You have a store and get some walk in stuff but I'm sure that has diminished a lot.
I do way more than just comic books. I set up at toy shows, flea markets ect. Where I buy and sell. Comics, Paper stuff of all kinds, Advertising items, Toys, Sports memorabilia, Political items ect. A lot easier to find deals and easier for me because I deal in a lot of different stuff. And even this has gotton hard to find good stuff. You guys don't have that option.
Compettition mostly comes from other collectors now. It is hard to find books that are cool, "off the radar" and affordable any more. I have had to adjust my wants many times over the years as I just got priced out. At the end of the day, they are just comic books and I can live without most of them anyway.
Hope you had a good SDCC. You are the kind of dealer I hit first. You get it. Something for everyone, spot on grading, fair prices and just a great guy to deal with! 
Oh, and the Dodgers are 3 games up on you. Better get going...

As a dealer, it is getting harder and harder to acquire inventory. More and more we have to rely on auctions. It is a hard world when we have to pay more than anyone in the auction to purchase something we hope to resell for a profit. But in most cases we are pretty successful turning these items around because a large chunk of our audience does not participate in every auction and therefore they depend on us to conveniently have the items they are looking for. I realize it may be a bummer for the fans of a particular item who are participating in a particular auction to subsequently see that item available in my or another dealer's inventory for resale at a higher price. Fortunately for you there are two easy ways to guarantee that this won't ever happen again.
1) Convince all of the fans of an item to participate in the auction and bid aggressively, or
2) You yourself bid high enough to win the item.
Otherwise those books that you feel are being market manipulated because they are going elsewhere for resale will continue to go elsewhere for resale.

One of my favs...

It's offset by my kids talking about how lame things must have been in the old days! 

Are flea collars made big enough to fit slabs?

I love that!
 
 
When I dont hate it.

Finally, someone addressed the elephant in the room. Couldn't agree more.  
 

Hey! What if it's a month or two and you only charge a little more than you paid? 
I say those kinds of "nondealers" are pretty great.