1Cool

I’m not sure on that one. I kind of assumed they lost a ton buying it right before they stopped cranking out hit movies.

Or the way Disney is feeling about paying top dollar for Marvel.

We can only speak our own truths. I’m glad your collecting niche is not seeing a huge drop but if you look at the charts being shown there is really no doubt which way the market is currently going. Time will tell if it’s a correction or a full scale retreat.

I bought a copy for $200 in 2019 and got lucky and sold it for $450 during the crazy years. I’d think $250 - $300 is pretty much where it should be.

How far back does your data go? What price would your books be at the end of 2019? I think when most books revert back to 2019 prices (a lot of non keys already have) will be telling.

I wish I was red color blind so I couldn't see most of your post

I've only set up at a few shows but I've helped behind the booth for quite a few so hopefully I can give some good advice. 1) Should I just stick to comics? The vendor list already has some booths that have some of the other items I have. Just not sure if a booth with a little bit of everything is better or if it should be focused. Really depends on what market you are in and what you think people will be buying. You could bring a bunch of slabs and sell none which would lose potential sales for the stuff you keep at home. This is your first con so just use it as a learning experience (for $195 is a cheap 2 day con). I'd try to fill your booth with stuff that you think will sell and give you the best bang for your buck. Leave the cards at home but maybe take some toys and action figures and display them on a small side table that people can request. You have a lot of comics so I'd load up heavy with them and sprinkle in some other stuff to see how it goes. 2) I'm not looking to sell regularly at cons, but might do this convention annually if it goes well. With that in mind, what type of supplies for set up do you suggest? Bring small bills to make change and definitely bring a card reader that connects to your phone. Battery back up is a must if you are using your phone all day as a credit card reader. Cheap bags for customers is always appreciated. Don't over think it too much since the other dealers will help you out a bit since it's your first time. 3) I'm thinking of taking cash and PayPal but is some sort of credit card processing a must? (I don't have CashApp or zelle or any other payment systems.) Card readers are a must but some places get terrible cell reception so make sure you have plenty of change if you can only deal in cash. 4) If I sell more than comics, I think I could easily fill 2 10x10's but I'm not sure that it's worth it. Especially since I will be on my own. I do have a friend who is probably going to set up beside me so that we can watch each other's booth for food/restroom/etc. One booth is plenty your first con unless you can get a full time helper or two. A 10x10 booth is quite large and the more you are spread out the harder it is to keep things in order and prevent theft. You can always book 2 booths next year if you feel squeezed. 5) It's a 2 day convention (Sat & Sun). Do I need to be concerned about theft overnight, during set up/tear down, etc? I've never heard of theft after hours but I do recommend you bring some cheap bed sheets or table cloths to cover your stuff when you are not there. Most people take their wall books home with them each night (or at least store them under the table) but I always did that to prevent the wall from being bumped and the books getting damaged. Any other tips, tricks, or important insight you all are willing to share would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance. I found putting down foam covers on the floor behind the booth to really help my knees and back over the weekend. Those concrete floors are killer after standing for hours each day. Stand and talk to people as much as you can handle. It does help sales and some people pass booths if the person doesn't look like they are willing to help them find what they are looking for. Other dealers will hit your booth hard during set up so just be ready for the rush and know what discounts you feel comfortable with before the con to avoid feeling overwhelmed. But most important - have some fun!

Movie hype causing massive spikes in a ton of books appears to be dead and buried and unfortunately I don't see it getting resurrected anytime (if ever) soon. Great time to be a patient buyer right now for 99% of books - enjoy!

The only older warehouse find book that gets no love due to quantity is Heroes Inc Cannon 1. Darn book is from 1969 and I still see it pop up in high grade in the $1 boxes.

Regardless of how you decide to sell I know this downturn must be affecting how people are buying books and the time being spent buying / listing / shipping books. I've been spending my extra time visiting family and enjoying the warm weather the last couple weeks. Unless you put all your profits right back into buying books (ouch) then all that extra cash generated in 2020 - 2022 should provide a nice buffer during these dark days.

Hearing the books could be worth $80k and they only get $12-$15k as a collection may be a tough pill to swallow.

You have mentioned this a bunch of times but I’m not sure I understand the sentiment. If it’s your full time job then I agree cash flow keeps food in your belly but why do you believe cash flow is so critical for part time sellers? Diversification seems to be way more critical in this current environment from what I’m seeing (ie getting your books seen by as many people as possible). Selling books at rock bottom prices just to have money to buy books that continue to drop in price doesn’t compute to me unless you can find someone blowing out a collection or a widow. Becoming a museum on eBay isn’t a great way to go either but explain why you think having cash in hand during a falling knife situation is key?

Strange app. Based on this one comic, it appears they grab the highest raw price that has sold on e-bay (which I guess is a way to get a quick estimate). There is an outlier of that book that is listed as a raw 9.8 that sold for the posted price but most NM / NM+ copies are in the $250 range (CGC 9.6s are in the $400 range). I'm not knocking his approach but the app doesn't have much accuracy if it just grabs the highest price in the last 3 months (an average would be way, way more accurate price).

Am I reading that right that you cataloged 11,000 books and the best book was a Batman 423? $1,400 for that book seems kind of high - did you assign a CGC 9.8 price to books?

Wow - I don’t remember him ever having a 75% off sale. Must have been some nice overall prices in there.

If Batman can slap Robin (a minor by the way) then anybody, anywhere can get a slapping!

I'm more concerned about the 7 billion in profits on a 170 billion valuation. I've been trying to grab companies with a sub 12 multiplier and a value of 23.3 seems pretty high in the current market. I've got some shares and I'm holding but I'm not buying any more for the foreseeable future.

Meant as a levity moment not as a threat. Hawk doesn’t like snitches but he also likes a thread to not get shut down so he is conflicted!

You can go the cheap route and pay $8 for a matinee (which I’ve done a bunch of times but usually in the winter when it sucks to be outside). I just can’t go through all the time and effort to go to the theater and not at least get popcorn and a drink. It can be done on the cheap but they have essentially raised prices so much that it is not affordable to the masses which was its appeal for decades.

This is the 1st movie that the price has made me not go. It will be $30 for tickets and then another $20 for popcorn and a snack and just can’t do it. I may be down to just going to the theaters a couple times a year at these prices. I’ll watch it in a few months when it’s available at home

Had to check since I had no idea where this one is held and it’s way up in Connecticut. East coast rocks.

I would agree with most Cons but I'm continually shocked how many dealers show up at Heroes and Baltimore each year - through the good years and the bad. The minimal celebrities at both keeps people coming for the books which brings in the big and small dealers. I normally lump Motor City (outside Detroit) into this group but it appears to be having a tougher time getting a bunch of dealers over the last couple years.

Aww I was going to let it get all the way to Page 3

Side question - is there any cons over on the west coast that are similar to Heroes or Baltimore? SDCC and NYCC sound like they are fairly similar (SDCC being the big brother) but I've not seen any pictures of west coast cons that rival those two great east coast cons but maybe I missed them.