Mile High Under Water!

[brasseye]

it is distressing me beyond all measure to see so many of our best comics being sold at a minimum of 62% off ....

This is an instance where I have no choice but to offer all of you a chance to purchase whatever you wish from our entire back issue inventory at prices that end up being far below what we need to operate our business for the longer term.

 

Oh come on! If I could sell common back issues at 80% off Chuck's standard retail prices I'd have a business model that would make me rich for life!

 

I could never be a good businessman. I just can't pitch like that. I'd be too honest.

 

 

If Chuck thinks under 12 year olds read his blog, then some of it might pass off as persuasive.

 

But for the rest of the planet that possesses half a brain, it merely comes across as comical at best!

[Flaming_Telepath]

it is distressing me beyond all measure to see so many of our best comics being sold at a minimum of 62% off ....

This is an instance where I have no choice but to offer all of you a chance to purchase whatever you wish from our entire back issue inventory at prices that end up being far below what we need to operate our business for the longer term.

 

Oh come on! If I could sell common back issues at 80% off Chuck's standard retail prices I'd have a business model that would make me rich for life!

 

I could never be a good businessman. I just can't pitch like that. I'd be too honest.

 

 

If Chuck thinks under 12 year olds read his blog, then some of it might pass off as persuasive.

 

But for the rest of the planet that possesses half a brain, it merely comes across as comical at best!

 

So explain to me how he keeps going, with an operation of such a size?

[Forbush-Man]

it is distressing me beyond all measure to see so many of our best comics being sold at a minimum of 62% off ....

This is an instance where I have no choice but to offer all of you a chance to purchase whatever you wish from our entire back issue inventory at prices that end up being far below what we need to operate our business for the longer term.

 

Oh come on! If I could sell common back issues at 80% off Chuck's standard retail prices I'd have a business model that would make me rich for life!

 

I could never be a good businessman. I just can't pitch like that. I'd be too honest.

 

 

If Chuck thinks under 12 year olds read his blog, then some of it might pass off as persuasive.

 

But for the rest of the planet that possesses half a brain, it merely comes across as comical at best!

 

So explain to me how he keeps going, with an operation of such a size?

 

 

I'd like to hear the answer to this one myself, because I can't for the life of me figure it out.

[goldust40]

it is distressing me beyond all measure to see so many of our best comics being sold at a minimum of 62% off ....

This is an instance where I have no choice but to offer all of you a chance to purchase whatever you wish from our entire back issue inventory at prices that end up being far below what we need to operate our business for the longer term.

 

Oh come on! If I could sell common back issues at 80% off Chuck's standard retail prices I'd have a business model that would make me rich for life!

 

I could never be a good businessman. I just can't pitch like that. I'd be too honest.

 

 

If Chuck thinks under 12 year olds read his blog, then some of it might pass off as persuasive.

 

But for the rest of the planet that possesses half a brain, it merely comes across as comical at best!

 

So explain to me how he keeps going, with an operation of such a size?

 

Fast efficient shipping to a loyal overseas customer base who either aren't concerned with shopping around or don't have the time to.

[brasseye]

it is distressing me beyond all measure to see so many of our best comics being sold at a minimum of 62% off ....

This is an instance where I have no choice but to offer all of you a chance to purchase whatever you wish from our entire back issue inventory at prices that end up being far below what we need to operate our business for the longer term.

 

Oh come on! If I could sell common back issues at 80% off Chuck's standard retail prices I'd have a business model that would make me rich for life!

 

I could never be a good businessman. I just can't pitch like that. I'd be too honest.

 

 

If Chuck thinks under 12 year olds read his blog, then some of it might pass off as persuasive.

 

But for the rest of the planet that possesses half a brain, it merely comes across as comical at best!

 

So explain to me how he keeps going, with an operation of such a size?

 

Fast efficient shipping to a loyal overseas customer base who either aren't concerned with shopping around or don't have the time to.

 

He is good for new stuff, I know Gambo gets shipment's from Chuck with reasonable frequency.

Plus his inventory is large, so that is a good apprealing point for those seeking slightly esoteric material along side of their main pull list items.

 

And he seems to price only the mainstream stuff like he's planning on retiring off his next sale.

[joe_collector]

I guess all those soaked NM comics will now be VF-...

 

Nope, Chuck just needs to add a "slight water damage" to his NM requirements.

[Rocketeer]

I hate being Chuck's apologist but we should all realize that his first newsletter was published when he was in NEW YORK and not onsite. He was writing based on reports from his staff... which were no doubt exaggerated due to the excitement.

 

His second newsletter is after he has returned to the store and seen first hand the problems. He is now experiencing the actual clean-up process. I'm sure a lot of people in the MidWest who are experiencing flooding problems right now know what it feels like.

 

This is very similar to what happens after a major event (like an earthquake or a hurricane or a fire.) The initial reports are just that... an incomplete picture of the actual damage. If you're away from your home when a disaster hits your area... from the news reports, you might get the idea the entire area is devastated.

 

I saw the store, 1st hand.Walls and floor may be damaged but all his books, cards and everything else are aleast 2 feet off the ground ,if not higher and were not damaged.Not even close to being a major disaster as far as his inventory goes.

 

..again like I said,..you just can't take any of his "cry wolf" situations seriously,...everything is blown completely out of proportion with him and an excuse to have a massive sale,...

[awe4one]

OK...this is for all of you Chuck "the waterpipe bursted and ravaged my Superstore" apologists. Here is Item #1 in the latest CBG spam e-mail masquerading as a newsletter...

 

"Mile High Megastore flooded, help sought

 

According to Mile High Comics President Chuck Rozanski, the company's Megastore in Thornton, Colo., was flooded by a burst water main June 7.

 

In a release, Rozanski wrote, "The resulting jet of water that burst up through our concrete floor was so powerful that it has been reported to me that it spewed water and mud to a depth of 18 inches throughout the store."

 

You can read more about it as well as Mile High's special online sale here."

 

This came in last night and after the damage was revealed to be far less than originally thought. Chuck and CBG have sunk to a new low in my opinion...

 

Well actually CBG was already near rock bottom in my opinion due to the recent porn spam but this just cements their placement there...

 

Jim

 

[That Ron Dude]

I wonder how many stores stay in business. My guess is he sells mostly to people who need , what are to them, key books, and are willing to pay the prices asked to own them. He probably doesn't sell a lot but makes a large profit on the ones he does sell. If he doesn't sell a lot of books, he doesn't need a lot of employees. He has a lot of irons in the fire, as far as I can tell, probably doesn't pay his workers much, may not have any business partners, and gets to keep most of the profits for himself.

 

How's that for a theory?

 

 

[steveout22]

I wonder how many stores stay in business. My guess is he sells mostly to people who need , what are to them, key books, and are willing to pay the prices asked to own them. He probably doesn't sell a lot but makes a large profit on the ones he does sell. If he doesn't sell a lot of books, he doesn't need a lot of employees. He has a lot of irons in the fire, as far as I can tell, probably doesn't pay his workers much, may not have any business partners, and gets to keep most of the profits for himself.

 

How's that for a theory?

 

 

I'd say your theory holds true for Silver Age books, but not for more modern age-you can see that he does sell a ton of stuff off ebay-12,000+ items per month, more out of his online store, and more from the shelves of his brick and mortar stores. He does employ a lot of people, so your wrong about that, but he does not pay them much-thats for sure based on his 7.50/hr starting wage that he posts on his site. Thats good money for a high school kid to make during a summer job in 1987. I don't know about business partners, says in his blog that the business has been under his sole ownership since the outset many moons ago-but can't verify that one.

[50 Cent #II (1st)]

Wonder what that blower is going to due to the brittleness of all those comics, guess Chuck won't care once their sold for 4x's their actual condition.

[topofthetotem]

He buys comics for pennies and sells them for dollars. Whats so hard to figure out?

[MR.COMICBOOK]

He buys comics for pennies and sells them for dollars. Whats so hard to figure out?

I wonder if the rumor is true that he bought Action 1 for 10 cents and Detective Comics 27 for 10 cents?

[cd4ever]

He buys comics for pennies and sells them for dollars. Whats so hard to figure out?

 

Wish I could do that. I buy comics for dollars and sell them for pennies. So who's the insufficiently_thoughtful_person here?

[drice6900]

Here is the latest:

 

Howdy!

 

I want to start off today's newsletter by personally thanking everyone who has placed an order with us using the FLOODHELP codeword. Thanks to your kind support, our ability to deal with the negative ramifications of last Friday's massive flood at our Thornton store has been greatly enhanced. I wish that I could say that we are now out of the woods, but that simply isn't the case. Our largest store is still closed (except for our N.I.C.E. subscription club members being able to pick up their weekly new comics orders), and will be for the foreseeable future. That means that our company cash flow remains significantly constricted, even after factoring in the great support that we've been receiving from our online friends. This should be a temporary situation, as our insurance company has assured us that they will cover our lost sales as a result of our having a "business interruption" element to our policy, but heaven only knows when (and how much...) they will pay us. In the meantime, I am having to cover all of our pre-existing costs out-of-pocket with no offsetting revenues, as well as paying for salvage costs at the store. I've been assured that these costs will also be eventually covered, but the timeline for settlement is still completely uncertain. Sigh...

 

The good news is that I am meeting with the landlord of a prospective new location later this morning. The new spot is "only" 4,000 square feet (as compared with our existing 11,000), but it is in a much more visible and higher traffic location. Presuming that we can work out a deal on this new space, we might be able to reopen the Thornton store in about two weeks. Our insurance company has told us that they will (eventually) reimburse some portion of our moving costs, but in the meantime, I also have to find a way to pay all the costs of fixing up the new location, and moving about 100 tons of fixtures and inventory, from our now limited cash flow. Since our primary company asset is our precious inventory of back issue comics and magazines, that's where I'm going to go in order to find the means to keep us going until the insurance company sends a us a check. That's precisely why I am going to be keeping the 25% off FLOODHELP codeword in effect through at least early next week. Simply put, I really have no choice. As much as I might not like it, it is obviously better for us to sell off some of our best comics inventory at cost today, than to not be able to move the store.

 

All of the above having been said, I am making a special point today of emphasizing that all of our Golden Age, Silver Age, and Bronze Age comics are now available (after the 25% discount from the FLOODHELP codeword is factored in...) at a minimum of 62% off, with quite a few of those 1939-1982 issues now available at 68%-80% off. As a great many of our suppliers on these older comics will attest, I am actually offering you the opportunity to purchase these rare issues for less than what I paid for them. To say that this hurts me is an understatement, as I have taken particular personal pride in the fact that I have successfully added over 50,000 pre-1982 comics into our inventory since I started going on the road to comics conventions last November. Life being what it is, however, sometimes you simply have to recognize when you have to take a step backwards in order to guarantee the future. For me, this is one of those moments Please enjoy these giveaway prices on our best back issues. As much as it may pain me to sell them, I genuinely do thank you in advance for any support you might be able to provide. With any luck, the insurance settlement will eventually allow us to replace most of the great back issues that we are sacrificing today (codeword does not apply to new comics or the Dallas Stephens consignment issues).

 

My final comment for today is about our New-In-Stock items. Our inventory teams have been working non-stop this week in order to process the best of the comics that I purchased in Houston, Philadelphia, and New York over the past two weeks. I have no choice but to include all of these great new purchases in our FLOODHELP sale. You'll have to click on the link in order to view the New-In-Stock listing from the past two weeks, however, as it is simply too immense to ever include in a newsletter. Because I think that it is really important that you see just how successful my buying efforts have been, however, I have asked Lynne to go ahead and attach the links to our entire premium comics listing from the past two weeks to this newsletter. At a minimum of 62% off, a significant number of those newly arrived choice issues have already sold, but that is offset by the fact that more are being added each day. If you see an issue that you would like to own, I would urge you to place an order right away. At 62% off, our shelves will be emptying rapidly...

 

Sincerely,

 

Chuck Rozanski

 

 

[thanos_oftitan]

He sure likes to write..... :blahblah:

[lou_fine]

He buys comics for pennies and sells them for dollars. Whats so hard to figure out?

I wonder if the rumor is true that he bought Action 1 for 10 cents and Detective Comics 27 for 10 cents?

 

Not sure how long you've been collecting, but you are obviously referring to the Edgar Church collection of books that Chuck had brought back in the mid 70's. A total of 18,000 to 20,000 GA books (with complete runs) that Chuck had purchased for only $2,000.

 

Needless to say, the entire collection would be worth absolute millions of dollars today, with just the Action #1 being worth millions of dollars just by itself.

[Murph]

While I feel slightly bad for him, I find it in somewhat poor taste to continue a "flood" sale when most of the midwest has been devastated by real flooding that won't be replaced with insurance coverage.

[heinlein99]

Ya gotta hand it to the old hippy, he's a shrewd businessman.

[Mr. Spider-Woman]

Well, I used the FLOODHELP code to purchase roughly $75 worth of back issues for the very low cost of roughly $56. Thirty comics in total, including a few miniseries, some random issues to fill small holes in my collection, and even the first issue of Dazzler just because I love the cover. All were moderns, not published before 1994, and all were supposed to be in NM condition. Half were less than $2, most were less than $3 and only three were over $5 (the three issues of Black Widow: Pale Little Spider were the most expensive).

 

They arrived today, found on my driveway, somehow dropped off without any noise being made to suggest they were being delivered, and discovered shortly before it began storming. That would have been frustrating -- and somewhat ironic and/or fitting under the circumstances -- but they all appear to be in NM condition and I am quite satisfied. This is the second batch of moderns I have purchased from Mile High Comics and I am happy with my purchase.

 

I know a lot of folks dislike Mile High and Chuck for their/his suspect grading on older comics, but for moderns it is a great resource. I did think about trying to pick up some low-grade SA Marvels, but they were too expensive for my tastes. So maybe Mile High does have its problems. Personally, I have only had good experiences with them.