Would you shop at a comic store like this??

[Dale Roberts]

This is springing from Foolkillers thread and I would like to hear a little wider input on it.

 

We were talking about having a comic store that carried only back issue and comic related product. Only solid decent product in back issue. And I only think this would work in a big city, where you had a large potential customer base and lots of product available.

 

Something like this would be my business plan. If any of you guys do this, you can send me a cut.....

 

Here is how I would do it.

1. Strict Grading/pricing is of utmost importance on alot of this stuff.

2. Constant inflow of new product. Let it be known that you will buy just about anything that comes in the door. Good stuff pay fairly on, don't pay much for the rest. (This is where many stores go wrong. They try to steal everything and people stop bringing them product and back issues get stale.)

3. Carry just about everything that regular stores do, except you don't get new issues each week. Supplies, 2nd hand trades/HCs, newer bulk(in which you can normally get just about anything which has come out in the last 6 months).

 

As far as your main inventory....

 

GA - Carry as much as you can get of mainstream product. If you are in the South, or if you have a market for such, westerns, Four Colors, humor and other less product would probably need to be discounted.

 

SA - Obviously, you would like to have good inventory of the good stuff and move the other stuff. This is a mistake most stores make. Probably need to either have super tight grading on mid grade/lower grade product(especially post 1965) or have discount bins in which you carry this product. I would also be willing to carry Gold Key & Charlton, but only if you can sell it at a discount(with the exception of a few titles like Turok and Scooby Doo).

 

BA -

1970 - 1975 - I would actually want high grade(strictly graded) copies(say 8.0 or better) in inventory, and also would love to keep mid lower grade copies in the bargain bins. There are lots of people who just want to read this stuff. Especially the keys. Mid grade bronze keys sell great at guide.

1976 - 1980 - Only 9.0/9.2 stuff in inventory. Everything else goes into bargain bins unless it is a key issue.

 

CA - Only carry the premium stuff in back issues. New Teen Titans, Swamp Thing, Hell Blazer, Amazing Spidey, X-men, etc. Only 9.2 or better. Everything else in bargain bins.

 

Moderns - Carry stuff which is currently relevant, or tougher to find. Don't fill the bins full of Image and bad Valiant, or even bad Marvel and DC. Just the good stuff.

 

Bargain bins - You can really make some serious money here if you work at it a little. Sort the stuff, uniformly bag & board it (so it doesn't become ragged), don't put huge multiples out, just a copy or two of each at most. Use dividers. Make the stuff so cheap it seems like a good deal(translated 1.00 - 2.00 on bronze, 1.00 - .50 on everything else. Make a section especially for Kids comics(Batman Adv etc).

 

Carry used trades and HCs at big discounts(at least 50% off).

 

Carry used, slightly dinged statues and sell them cheap(unless you get something good). These things are everywhere. You can buy them at shows for $5.00 sometimes.

 

Sell supplies cheaper than the competition. It is a completely replaceable product, so you don't have to make a fortune off of it, just call and get some more.

 

And finally, what to do with everything else. Depends on the space, but you can try that Image/Valiant/Icon/etc *spoon* in .25 boxes, but probably would be better to just donate it, or throw it out. It really is just about unsellable.

[3319comics]

yes, been waiting for years. Until then will stick to the boards.

[zuckuss2003]

I believe I would, as I only purchase back issues.

[Jeffro.]

This is springing from Foolkillers thread and I would like to hear a little wider input on it.

 

We were talking about having a comic store that carried only back issue...........

 

 

You had me at 'carried only back issue' (thumbs u

[seank]

I'd love a store like that, but I don't know if it would be economically viable, even in a big city.

[Ringfinger]

Souds good to me.

[Cimm]

I think this is a great concept, just not sure of the population count that would be needed... Is Charlotte a big enough city? Atlanta? Miami? DC? or would you need a NY or LA? or just the right network in the larger cities, maybe designated buyers across the country, scouring flea markets, craigslist, and estate sales?

 

It could work, you'd just need to lay the groundwork before initialization of the project...

[agro23]

There is no reason not to carry new issues but put them in spinner racks near the front.

 

And carry pulps and used books as well.

 

However, no matter where you set up shop the bulk of your business would still be on the internet.

[dupont2005]

New issues dominate the wall in every comic shop I go to. There is just too many titles, and yet the one I want is never carried. I say only stock new issues for pull list subscribers just to give them a reason to pop in every week. Keep the wallspace free for your Dells and Gold Keys,

[Hamlet]

I think that it is vitally important that there is a constant inflow of new product. Many of the stores in my area have simply stopped buying comics altogether, so it isn't worth my stopping at them to look through their stuff.

 

I think they don't buy comics because they rarely sell any back issues, because they've priced all of their stuff way above market.

 

It makes sense to price a book like FF 48 at guide or higher. It's in demand and stores rarely have too many key books sitting around. However, guide on a VG copy of Thor 150 is $14. No one I know is going to pay $14 for that book. I'm pretty sure I paid about $5 for mine on Ebay, including shipping. If I was running a store, I would price that book at $5-$6 and be happy to get it. Note-- we're assuming that the book is graded correctly, which given some of my local shops is a big assumption. I see an awful lot of VG books priced at full Fine guide. They just sit. They have 50% off sales occasionally, and they still just sit.

 

I think the key to successfully running a store like this is to focus on making sure that the easily replaceable inventory sells at a decently brisk clip, while making sure you get solid money out of the stuff that is harder to come by. Don't let the drek sit in your store for years at a time. Sell it for whatever it will sell for and buy new exciting drek for your customers to look through.

 

 

 

1. Strict Grading/pricing is of utmost importance on alot of this stuff.

2. Constant inflow of new product. Let it be known that you will buy just about anything that comes in the door. Good stuff pay fairly on, don't pay much for the rest. (This is where many stores go wrong. They try to steal everything and people stop bringing them product and back issues get stale.)

[jools&jim]

 

Absolutely! One of the main reasons I don't frequent many comic book stores these days is because SA & BA back issues are generally treated as an afterthought at best (if they're stocked at all), and even the low and mid grade stuff is almost always grossly overpriced. Stock rarely turns, and so the same insanely priced back issues sit in the same bins and yellowing bags, unsold, year after year.

 

I don't know how many times I've gone into a promising comic book store while traveling, only to find the back issue bins doubling as glorified sorting tables for new product. Littered with t-shirts, model kits, carded figures, and other non-comics BS, the books themselves were completely inaccessible -- and unsold, at least to me. I'm also sick of slick "media-themed" stores, or stores with walls and walls of ugly, washed-out, dun-colored "moderns", or stores that are plastered with posters for girlie books or other essentially R-rated trash: if I can't take my 10 year-old daughter with me, or if I'm alienated or nonplussed by the look and overall focus of the retail space, I'm unlikely to shop there (or even walk inside), no matter what they may have behind the counter or in the bins.

 

I understand how and why the business model for comic book stores changed, and accept the fact that I am no longer the target audience for the comics industry as it's currently structured. But it would be nice if somebody could make this work, and make it possible once again (as it was when I first walked into a comics specialty shop in 1977 or so) to find lots of cool old comics--and almost nothing but cool old comics--under a single roof, rather than having to rely solely on the internet, or traveling to shows...

[ckp1680]

I would actually seek a store like this out. I've always wondered the same exact thing so to me this is a great idea.

[HOTFLIPS]

You had me at Supplies.

[sniderwj]

I really like the idea of a store like this and would go when ever I could. Might even go there before hitting eBay if I knew they were keeping prices to eBay or these boards level of prices. I have such a small collection and big gaps in my spidey collection I'm not too worried about new stock rolling in. I do agree with keeping the back issues looking nice. I don't want to go through a box that looks like it was fished out of a basement. On the other hand it can be intimidating to see rows of boxes all with open top archives. Might make some think that the store is out of their price range with out even looking.

 

I think another thing that would be good is a way that the store could give back to the collecting community. Giving seminar, for a lack of a better word, on collecting, storage, or even grading.

[sckao]

I don't think it will work... Not enough back issue collectors.

 

New issue sales account for too large a percentage of store sales generally and there really is no incentive to come back each week without them. (Especially if you can't guarantee that every issue will be available in NM condition as you will be buying them after the fact.)

 

Look at Valiant collectors. Every serious one has either multiple copies already or is liquidating their collection.

 

 

[Jeffro.]

Actually, thinking about this more, I have no issue with retailers that feel the need to branch out and carry other comic related items in order to survive. I don't even have an issue with stores that feel the need to branch out into other non comic things. My issue is when that branching out comes at the expense of back issue comics.

 

I've seen stores go from good back issue / new comic stores to carrying Magic cards and Beanie Babies.

[conditionfreak]

Well. I agree that one of the main problems I have with LCS's is that decent back issues are actually treated like a second thought (as mentioned above). A nice selection of Silver and Gold stuff is rarely found. The stores that do have a good abundance of that stuff (take North Coast Nostalgia in Ohio, for instance), more often than not, have that Silver and Gold selection on the road to Cons, and is rarely in the store.

 

But sometimes it is in the store, and when it is, it is a real treat to go through and find some sweet collectibles.

 

Most LCS's live and breath the brand new stuff, and especially Graphic Novels, statues, posters, t-shirts, etc, etc.

 

I would diffinitely go to a store like that if it was near me. Often, if additional stuff was added often. But how can that be done without a tremendous amount of work and capital on the store managements part? How can they survive without the new stuff, financially. I just don't see it happening. Those that read comic books, ain't gonna buy much else, other than the new stuff, and usually graphic novels. Kids and moms buying gifts, ain't gonna buy anything that is over cover price.

 

I believe the way to go with stock as you describe, is through the internet. But of course, there are stores that may prove me wrong on that. Probably the best way would be both. More or less, just what we currently have around now.

 

A comic shop is a tough tuff business to be in. You have to love it to reap big rewards, I think. It's easier to work for someone else and let them provide your health care and paycheck, and at the end of the day. You are done and can relax.

 

But then again. Being your own boss has a lot of rewards too. Sometimes the reward is failure or bankruptcy. Sometimes it is a constant chore and barely staying afloat. But every so often, someone does it and lives the good life, full of fun and gain. But that is rare I believe, in the world of comic books.

[3319comics]

I tend to disagree with those who say it is imperative or the majority of sales is in the new stuff. I think most of these people buying the new stuff have never been exposed to the old stuff and might get turned on to it.

 

Do people want the new stuff sure, but I think the Dale model would be a huge success.

[Detroit MIke]

I'd sure visit a shop like this, but probably not more than once a month. It'd have to have the new books too... if it wanted my weekly business. I'm just being honest with you and I'm too pressed for time to be running to two shops all the time.

 

We had a shop in the Detroit area and it didn't stock new issues. They stayed open a lot longer than I predicted. But, they did finally fold.

[bug33fouf]

TEXAS