How much to offer for store inventory for a bankrupt LCS?

[comicparadox]

Hi all. Hoping to get some guidance here: I am going to look at the inventory of a shuttered/bankrupt comic shop tomorrow afternoon. The property mangement company padlocked the shop with inventory intact about 2-3 months ago. Frankly, I went to the shop a few times and was amazed the place stayed in business as long as it did - the staff was always watching TV or playing cards, and I never saw any real transactions taking place. I had gone thru the stock reasonably well while the shop was open - no real high-dollar books whatsoever, some back stock but maybe a total of 50 long boxes, one 6 foot wall shelf of various action figures (about which I know next to nothing).

 

Mostly moderns from 2006-up. And no, when they were still open, they didn't have a stack of Walking Dead books.

 

I know dealers offer 10-15 dollars per long box for nondescript comics, does this seem about right for this type of inventory? I honestly don't know what the property management company wants for the books, it might be as much as 1-2 months back rent, which wouldn't be worth it at all. Of note, I do have a fair amount of attic storage space so storage costs wouldn't be anything.

 

Thanks in advance for the help. If the inventory is absolute carp, I probably won't even make an offer.

[Topnotchman]

Comic stores useually have unsorted long boxes somewhere, so there is probably more than the 50 boxes. There is a chance good books were put away and lost for a few years, just becasue they were in one of those boxes in the back room. Its worth making an offer, they just might take it to get rid of the stuff without hiring an auction company. I remember buying comics out of a card store in 1996, they sold comics for two years 1994-1996. In those boxes were multiple copies of Preacher 1-10, and multiple copies of G.I. Joe 145-155, along with tons of other spoon. They were sorted by month, each month they put the books that did not sell through into boxes and stuck them in the back room.

[PokerKid]

The $10 to $15 sounds like a fair deal - about 5 cents a book. In long boxes, I know getting 10 cents a book can be challenging at times when you are trying to make room, so much more than $10 to $15 can be a problem.

 

I guess the big thing is deciding if you really want to give up this kind of storage space to taking on the drek as opposed to using the space for something else down the road. Would you be moving them at shows for a quarter/50cents a piece or what is the plan?

[drbanner]

[RockMyAmadeus]

$10-$15 per long box isn't bad...but keep in mind, if you're reselling, you'll have work ahead of you to make a profit.

[comicparadox]

Would you be moving them at shows for a quarter/50cents a piece or what is the plan?

 

Why I'd be offering this fine inventory to a few of my choice friends on the Boards, of course. At only a quarter apiece, I'm sure the books will fly out out of the listing.

 

I wish I had a plan...I am just interested to see if there's ANYTHING worth owning. If there is, I suppose I will keep that and can give the carp away for kindling/Halloween/Comics for Kids/local hospitals etc.

[nocutename]

Just curious, what is the largest lot of comics that you purchased at one time? 50 long boxes will take heck of a long time to just look through. It is alot of fun to pick up a lot of books and sort through them but this is way much.

[DR.X]

Just curious, what is the largest lot of comics that you purchased at one time? 50 long boxes will take heck of a long time to just look through. It is alot of fun to pick up a lot of books and sort through them but this is way much.

 

 

The most I purchased in one shot was around 18,000 books. And they were from a shop that went belly up. There were alot of Graphic Novels in there and a ton of multiple X-Mens and Bats from the mid-eighties. Once you get everything sorted in groups and numbers the biggest headache is over. Its alot of work sorting this stuff out and it takes some time to move it but it was fun. Good luck.

 

DRX

[Jeffreykli]

If you're talking about the property management company being the seller, it's likely because the store defaulted on their loan, and the management company seized all the inventory. They're probably just looking to move the stuff to make their lives easier...their goal is to get the location back in shape so they can lease it again. So, I wouldn't bother with a per longbox price; just offer them $300 or $500.

 

When the Sacramento store of Comics and Comix went out of business, the property managment company listed the collection on craigslist. Turns out they wanted $300 for everything; I'm talking about probably 50-100 longboxes, store fixtures, display cases, and boxes and boxes of statues. I still regret not taking a look, since I was talking with the management company, but I would have had to rent a U-Haul to bring everything back and storage would have been an issue. But, a fantastic deal for the eventual buyer. The buyer made a profit instantly by selling some rare undergrounds.

[B3AST]

Yeah 10-15 a long box and Id make sure they are packed tight at that price.

 

topnotchman

Comic stores usually have unsorted long boxes somewhere

 

(thumbs u

I'd have a close look around. All the wall books that I had I kept in the back in a nondescript box and rotated every few months. But don't get hopes to high

 

 

 

[dupont2005]

If you're talking about the property management company being the seller, it's likely because the store defaulted on their loan, and the management company seized all the inventory. They're probably just looking to move the stuff to make their lives easier...their goal is to get the location back in shape so they can lease it again. So, I wouldn't bother with a per longbox price; just offer them $300 or $500.

 

When the Sacramento store of Comics and Comix went out of business, the property managment company listed the collection on craigslist. Turns out they wanted $300 for everything; I'm talking about probably 50-100 longboxes, store fixtures, display cases, and boxes and boxes of statues. I still regret not taking a look, since I was talking with the management company, but I would have had to rent a U-Haul to bring everything back and storage would have been an issue. But, a fantastic deal for the eventual buyer. The buyer made a profit instantly by selling some rare undergrounds.

I would turn the living room and dining room into storage space if I had to

[WaltT-migration]

If you're talking about the property management company being the seller, it's likely because the store defaulted on their loan, and the management company seized all the inventory. They're probably just looking to move the stuff to make their lives easier...their goal is to get the location back in shape so they can lease it again. So, I wouldn't bother with a per longbox price; just offer them $300 or $500.

 

When the Sacramento store of Comics and Comix went out of business, the property managment company listed the collection on craigslist. Turns out they wanted $300 for everything; I'm talking about probably 50-100 longboxes, store fixtures, display cases, and boxes and boxes of statues. I still regret not taking a look, since I was talking with the management company, but I would have had to rent a U-Haul to bring everything back and storage would have been an issue. But, a fantastic deal for the eventual buyer. The buyer made a profit instantly by selling some rare undergrounds.

 

surprise the owner of those 50-100 long boxes sell them at a major convention.

 

 

[PokerKid]

Would you be moving them at shows for a quarter/50cents a piece or what is the plan?

 

Why I'd be offering this fine inventory to a few of my choice friends on the Boards, of course. At only a quarter apiece, I'm sure the books will fly out out of the listing.

 

I wish I had a plan...I am just interested to see if there's ANYTHING worth owning. If there is, I suppose I will keep that and can give the carp away for kindling/Halloween/Comics for Kids/local hospitals etc.

 

With that plan, you cannot go wrong. I give stacks of comics out to my students as rewards, so I have bought a few long boxes for that. Sorting through for your needs and getting rid of the rest to people who will enjoy them is a great idea.

[comicparadox]

Well, I took a look yesterday afternoon. I had no idea there were so many non-collectible moderns in existence.

 

According to the property management rep, the owners had declared bankruptcy and had taken any comic of more than $5 "value" with them before the doors were padlocked. There were a dozen or so comic-themed t-shirts, about 50 boxes of hard-even-to-give-them-away books, and about a long-box worth of squarebound $5.95 cover books. I really rummaged thru almost everything, about the best things I found were a run of Batman/Detective Knightfall books, some pre-Macfarlane Spideys in the late 200s, essentially everything was bargain box type stuff. If anyone wants to buy this stuff and lug it away, PM me. It wasn't worth the effort to me.

[gcstomp]

Well you did put the effort to take a look, and now you know you arent missing anything.

 

I have had some experience buying large bulk lots in very similar situation. The fixtures such as sorting tables, display cases, racks, even the grid walls and shelves have good value. There are specialty buyers for that material that could cover entire purchase.

 

What city is this in, by the way?

[gcstomp]

By the way, not sure storing the books in attic would be worth the hassle. Aside from attic storage having adverse effect on condition, 50 stuffed long boxes is around 2500 pounds, then add weight of whatever else you have up there, and weight of you and a couple of your buddies sorting books. It would be like parking a car in your attic, imagine that coming down while you are eating your morning cereal.

[G.A.tor]

bulk, 2-3 c a book is fair