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Collector/ Dealer relationship

Started by Dale Roberts,

80 posts in this topic

Dale Roberts

Dale Roberts

Posted
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Posted
I dont see Dales thread as a person_without_enough_empathying and moaning thread, so much as a spotlight on the seemingly endless line of bloodsucking nibbles that take a bite out of profits, while still maintaining a sense of humor about the whole thing.

 

Maybe I am alone, but I like the glimpes at the insiders point of view on the circus freak show act known as the pro comic book dealer. (No offense Dale, I want to be you if I could only talk my wife into letting me become the comic gypsy, setting up at shows from Kalamazoo to Timbukto.)

 

Actually, it is not as bad as you think. I never complain about the life I have chosen. I love it, still love comics, especially buying collections. I even like the interaction with most of the customers. The travel I don't like as much as I used to, especially now that I have a wife and the cutest little girl in the world(maybe I am biased). I travel only about 9 - 10 weeks a year to cons, and occasionally on buying trips. I have plenty of time for golf, fishing, and to spend with family.

 

Lots of freedom sometimes, but lots of work from home, lots of 70 hour weeks before shows or if I am running ebay heavy or if I have working on collections. When you work for yourself, it is the toughest boss you will EVER work for. He is demanding. He keeps the pressure on you. If you don't get your work done, you get paid. When you screw up, you know you did it yourself. There is no passing the buck, there is no working enough to get by, there is no slacking when the boss is out to lunch, in a meeting, etc. And there is ALWAYS more that you can do. It is a job with no end. Many guys don't have the discipline for it and even if they do, they don't have the aptitude for the selling and for recognizing the details that separate the truly successful guys from the guys who sell enough to just pay the bills.

 

I know I still have lots to learn and in this business you have to adapt very quickly to an ever changing market, but I have 17 years in now, and about 11 of that full time, and I am just getting started into where I want to be.

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Foolkiller

Foolkiller

Posted
Posted
What a poor attitude... Pity you didn't take the time to read the beginning of the post, instead of just going off about it.

 

This guy sent this e-mail to me, he did not post it on the board to whine. It was his random thoughts about the endeavor he had undertaken.

 

And what is the difference between him " whining" about that, then all of the people that whine on here because someone is charging too much?

 

It is whining. And I did read the beginning of the post, as I did understand it was something sent to you. Nevertheless, it's posted here, and thus whether it was intended to be public, it was made so.

 

Whining about charging too much? Absolutely a problem. Then again, there's lots of data to back up over pricing at times. I think the attitude is generally, people can price how they like, but then I think it's only fair to criticize them how you like as well. It's no different than saying Best Buy way over prices their DVDs compared to the internet.

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Foolkiller

Foolkiller

Posted
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I dont see Dales thread as a person_without_enough_empathying and moaning thread, so much as a spotlight on the seemingly endless line of bloodsucking nibbles that take a bite out of profits, while still maintaining a sense of humor about the whole thing.

 

Maybe I am alone, but I like the glimpes at the insiders point of view on the circus freak show act known as the pro comic book dealer. (No offense Dale, I want to be you if I could only talk my wife into letting me become the comic gypsy, setting up at shows from Kalamazoo to Timbukto.)

 

Actually, it is not as bad as you think. I never complain about the life I have chosen. I love it, still love comics, especially buying collections. I even like the interaction with most of the customers. The travel I don't like as much as I used to, especially now that I have a wife and the cutest little girl in the world(maybe I am biased). I travel only about 9 - 10 weeks a year to cons, and occasionally on buying trips. I have plenty of time for golf, fishing, and to spend with family.

 

Lots of freedom sometimes, but lots of work from home, lots of 70 hour weeks before shows or if I am running ebay heavy or if I have working on collections. When you work for yourself, it is the toughest boss you will EVER work for. He is demanding. He keeps the pressure on you. If you don't get your work done, you get paid. When you screw up, you know you did it yourself. There is no passing the buck, there is no working enough to get by, there is no slacking when the boss is out to lunch, in a meeting, etc. And there is ALWAYS more that you can do. It is a job with no end. Many guys don't have the discipline for it and even if they do, they don't have the aptitude for the selling and for recognizing the details that separate the truly successful guys from the guys who sell enough to just pay the bills.

 

I know I still have lots to learn and in this business you have to adapt very quickly to an ever changing market, but I have 17 years in now, and about 11 of that full time, and I am just getting started into where I want to be.

 

And this was my whole point: you don't complain about the life you've chosen.

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MrBedrock

MrBedrock

Posted
Posted
No offense, but but boo friggin' hoo. running a law practice is far more complicated and difficult than being a comic dealer.

 

BULL mess

 

And here's why. There many stupid lawyers that are still practicing. You guys get paid very well for what you do.

But stupid comic dealers can't stay in business very long. (I might be an exception). The margins are too small.

 

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qualitycomix

qualitycomix

Posted
Posted
I dont see Dales thread as a person_without_enough_empathying and moaning thread, so much as a spotlight on the seemingly endless line of bloodsucking nibbles that take a bite out of profits, while still maintaining a sense of humor about the whole thing.

 

Maybe I am alone, but I like the glimpes at the insiders point of view on the circus freak show act known as the pro comic book dealer. (No offense Dale, I want to be you if I could only talk my wife into letting me become the comic gypsy, setting up at shows from Kalamazoo to Timbukto.)

 

Actually, it is not as bad as you think. I never complain about the life I have chosen. I love it, still love comics, especially buying collections. I even like the interaction with most of the customers. The travel I don't like as much as I used to, especially now that I have a wife and the cutest little girl in the world(maybe I am biased). I travel only about 9 - 10 weeks a year to cons, and occasionally on buying trips. I have plenty of time for golf, fishing, and to spend with family.

 

Lots of freedom sometimes, but lots of work from home, lots of 70 hour weeks before shows or if I am running ebay heavy or if I have working on collections. When you work for yourself, it is the toughest boss you will EVER work for. He is demanding. He keeps the pressure on you. If you don't get your work done, you get paid. When you screw up, you know you did it yourself. There is no passing the buck, there is no working enough to get by, there is no slacking when the boss is out to lunch, in a meeting, etc. And there is ALWAYS more that you can do. It is a job with no end. Many guys don't have the discipline for it and even if they do, they don't have the aptitude for the selling and for recognizing the details that separate the truly successful guys from the guys who sell enough to just pay the bills.

 

I know I still have lots to learn and in this business you have to adapt very quickly to an ever changing market, but I have 17 years in now, and about 11 of that full time, and I am just getting started into where I want to be.

 

And this was my whole point: you don't complain about the life you've chosen.

 

I didn't take Dale's post as whining. Being a comic dealer is like any other profession, especially if you're working for yourself and want to be successful. As a small business owner, I have to be the ceo, marketer, shipper, accountant, customer service rep and wear many other hats as well. As you get bigger, you can hire others to handle those things, but in the beginning it's difficult for most small business owners to wear all these hats with ease. There's a big learning curve that doesn't involve just grading, pricing, buying or selling. It's much more than that. Sure you can snag $30-$40K a year just getting by if you're a hard worker, but if you want to make a real living selling funny books, then you have to have a much bigger vision.

 

And I would say that although I love comics, there are much easier professions than this one.

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comix4fun

comix4fun

Posted
Posted
No offense, but but boo friggin' hoo. running a law practice is far more complicated and difficult than being a comic dealer.

 

BULL mess

 

And here's why. There many stupid lawyers that are still practicing. You guys get paid very well for what you do.

But stupid comic dealers can't stay in business very long. (I might be an exception). The margins are too small.

 

 

lol ....oh wait you're serious...... lol lol lol

 

PS...I have run both (lawyer for 10 years....comic show dealer for almost 10 years), and I won't say that being a comic dealer is easy....it is tedious, annoying and difficult....but I would never attempt to compare it to another profession if I did not walk a mile in those shoes.

 

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MrBedrock

MrBedrock

Posted
Posted
No offense, but but boo friggin' hoo. running a law practice is far more complicated and difficult than being a comic dealer.

 

BULL mess

 

And here's why. There many stupid lawyers that are still practicing. You guys get paid very well for what you do.

But stupid comic dealers can't stay in business very long. (I might be an exception). The margins are too small.

 

 

lol ....oh wait you're serious...... lol lol lol

 

PS...I have run both (lawyer for 10 years....comic show dealer for almost 10 years), and I won't say that being a comic dealer is easy....it is tedious, annoying and difficult....but I would never attempt to compare it to another profession if I did not walk a mile in those shoes.

 

Since you have insight into both please tell me honestly if you can live the same lifestyle and make the same money being a comic dealer as you can as a lawyer. And then let me know if one or the other is truly more demanding mentally, physically or otherwise.

Yes, I am serious. Let's get into a lawyers versus comic dealers debate.

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Foolkiller

Foolkiller

Posted
Posted

No offense, but but boo friggin' hoo. running a law practice is far more complicated and difficult than being a comic dealer.

 

BULL mess

 

And here's why. There many stupid lawyers that are still practicing. You guys get paid very well for what you do.

But stupid comic dealers can't stay in business very long. (I might be an exception). The margins are too small.

 

 

lol ....oh wait you're serious...... lol lol lol

 

PS...I have run both (lawyer for 10 years....comic show dealer for almost 10 years), and I won't say that being a comic dealer is easy....it is tedious, annoying and difficult....but I would never attempt to compare it to another profession if I did not walk a mile in those shoes.

 

This is a fair statement. I don't think being a comic dealer is "easy" though...

 

As for Richard's reasoning, I'm not sure that speaks to the relative difficulty in running one effectively (and I mean your own practice). Stupid lawyers who hang their shingle are not particularly successful.

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Fazybones

Fazybones

Posted
Posted

 

 

Damn straight, give me the risks of a comic dealer anytime of the week. Rather risk those hazards than a fricken IED.

 

Sir Trooper,

 

You and your fellow soldiers have my total respect and admiration. (worship)

Next tour PLEASE keep your head down and be careful if that's

possible.

 

I think in life many of us have tough jobs and I admire anyone who sets

their alarm every night and heads off each day to complete the task at

hand whether they love their jobs or hate them.

 

As far as comic dealers go I admire their same dedication and like Brent

said they have to wear many hats and us collectors can sometimes be

a hard bunch to please. Some days must really test their patience.

Personally I give them credit for a tough business to stay successful

like many other lines of work.

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MrBedrock

MrBedrock

Posted
Posted
No offense, but but boo friggin' hoo. running a law practice is far more complicated and difficult than being a comic dealer.

 

BULL mess

 

And here's why. There many stupid lawyers that are still practicing. You guys get paid very well for what you do.

But stupid comic dealers can't stay in business very long. (I might be an exception). The margins are too small.

 

 

lol ....oh wait you're serious...... lol lol lol

 

PS...I have run both (lawyer for 10 years....comic show dealer for almost 10 years), and I won't say that being a comic dealer is easy....it is tedious, annoying and difficult....but I would never attempt to compare it to another profession if I did not walk a mile in those shoes.

 

This is a fair statement. I don't think being a comic dealer is "easy" though...

 

As for Richard's reasoning, I'm not sure that speaks to the relative difficulty in running one effectively (and I mean your own practice). Stupid lawyers who hang their shingle are not particularly successful.

 

I should add that I also include comic shop owners in the dealer catagory. Being a show dealer exclusively requires less day to day management. But doing shows AND running shops is every bit as taxing as running any law office.

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King_of_Batch-migration

King_of_Batch-migration

Posted
Posted

"collectors can sometimes be a hard bunch to please."

 

Some buyer emailed me when I, in an email, complained about his neutral FB on ebay.

 

He shot back with "What are you whining about?" among other things.

 

The email exchanges disintegrated from there into the gutter.

 

Bottom line? It's predatory capitalism w/the game theory of zero-sum-gain when it should always be a Win-Win deal.

 

It shouldn't be all about giving the other guy a financial beat-down.

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Foolkiller

Foolkiller

Posted
Posted
No offense, but but boo friggin' hoo. running a law practice is far more complicated and difficult than being a comic dealer.

 

BULL mess

 

And here's why. There many stupid lawyers that are still practicing. You guys get paid very well for what you do.

But stupid comic dealers can't stay in business very long. (I might be an exception). The margins are too small.

 

 

lol ....oh wait you're serious...... lol lol lol

 

PS...I have run both (lawyer for 10 years....comic show dealer for almost 10 years), and I won't say that being a comic dealer is easy....it is tedious, annoying and difficult....but I would never attempt to compare it to another profession if I did not walk a mile in those shoes.

 

Since you have insight into both please tell me honestly if you can live the same lifestyle and make the same money being a comic dealer as you can as a lawyer. And then let me know if one or the other is truly more demanding mentally, physically or otherwise.

Yes, I am serious. Let's get into a lawyers versus comic dealers debate.

 

I'll give you the physical right off the bat Rich.

 

Most likely, you can't make the lifestyle being a lawyer as a comic dealer but...

 

you have far more freedom -- play golf when you want, move your schedule around as needed, be flexible -- no deadlines, no daily/weekly requirements to have things in on time (except diamond orders for new book dealers), no daily correspondence, letters that need to be written (and not counting the emails, which I will grant you have probably somewhat equal numbers on), and quite honestly, nobody's life is going to be significantly impacted by what the comic dealer does or doesn't do -- it's hobby/business. That's not a disparaging remark. The lawyer, accountant, teacher etc., makes a life impact on the person in their job each day which simply adds to the stress of successful completion of the task they were hired to do. Though comics bring joy to the lives of many (including mine), everyone is going to be fine without them. If I fail to successfully defend my client in a criminal proceeding, they go to jail. The stakes are higher.

 

DA's make a median salary in Philly of around $50k (that's for ones with 5-10 years of experience) -- lawyers at many plaintiffs' firms are not making much more than $70-90k a year (before bonus, so it's eat what you kill). Sure at big firms they are making $140k a year plus, but they are working 90 hour weeks under intense pressure. And that represents a minority of the lawyers out there.

 

Since you don't pay malpractice insurance, are likely not to get sued by your customers, don't provide health insurance for your employees (so your HR worries are far smaller), are not (unless you are Harley Yee) traveling about 1/3 of the year, cannot have your case basically tanked by a judge or a jury (in the case of Plaintiffs' work which I do) where after investing $300k you get ZERO and no big brother who looks over your shoulder (like an ethics board or the state Supreme Court disciplinary board). Managing and providing 401k plans for your employees are also another HR headache. As the managing attorney here in Philadelphia, there are countless of these HR simple managerial tasks that I am faced with every single day in addition to simply running the actual practice and trying to push cases on my docket. In addition, we (as a national firm) have more clients (close to 30 or 40,000) than most stores have customers, and each one of those require personal attention, though I would grant less on a face to face basis than most stores. In addition, there is plenty of ordering office supplies, paying rent, managing overhead -- all of which are responsibility of owning a comic store as well. There's also all the marketing, advertising etc. that effective firms have to be concerned about including figuring how to bring in more business. In fact, I have a marketing consultant group that I've hired, in addition to all the traditional outlets, web based advertising etc. that we are currently are a part of. Additionally there's lead intake management which means that on a daily basis there are literlly dozens of people that require some sort of response from a law firm after an inquiry... since any one of these people might have a high quality case, some response needs to be given to all. I would say there is plenty of strain in running an effective practice.

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Foolkiller

Foolkiller

Posted
Posted
No offense, but but boo friggin' hoo. running a law practice is far more complicated and difficult than being a comic dealer.

 

BULL mess

 

And here's why. There many stupid lawyers that are still practicing. You guys get paid very well for what you do.

But stupid comic dealers can't stay in business very long. (I might be an exception). The margins are too small.

 

 

lol ....oh wait you're serious...... lol lol lol

 

PS...I have run both (lawyer for 10 years....comic show dealer for almost 10 years), and I won't say that being a comic dealer is easy....it is tedious, annoying and difficult....but I would never attempt to compare it to another profession if I did not walk a mile in those shoes.

 

This is a fair statement. I don't think being a comic dealer is "easy" though...

 

As for Richard's reasoning, I'm not sure that speaks to the relative difficulty in running one effectively (and I mean your own practice). Stupid lawyers who hang their shingle are not particularly successful.

 

I should add that I also include comic shop owners in the dealer catagory. Being a show dealer exclusively requires less day to day management. But doing shows AND running shops is every bit as taxing as running any law office.

 

I might agree with this -- perhaps. And since my original comment was directed at the flexibility of show dealers, I'm going to maintain that.

 

As for running a store, it's as taxing as running any small business.

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