Would you shop at a comic store like this??

[Dale Roberts]

As far as constantly turning the back issue supply, the ideal would be to have a co-op arraingment with several stores not in your immediate sales area. You could rotate the stock between them and it would appear to be fresh without constantly

having to lay out cash for it.

That said, I don't think there would be enough business to justify the expenses of a full time shop. Perhaps a permanent booth in an indoor weekend flea market.

 

 

You could never do the scale I am talking about in a flea market booth. I am talking about several hunded boxes of books.

 

There is no need to constantly turn the back issue supply. But to constantly sell books and replace them. I don't want someone else's overstock. It would take too much time to constantly work that type of inventory.

 

I am talking about pricing books cheaply enough that they are too good to pass up, and to replace those books with other collections.

 

And I am talking about not buying new comics from the distributor, but from collectors, or even from other dealers at conventions. I have done this myself and it can be done easily.

 

[the blob]

If something brings clients into a business, it doesn't have to generate profits.

As an example- in the early 90s, when fax machines were not all that common, I offered free fax services to anyone needing to send a job application. Didn't generate a dime of profit in and of itself but generated free publicity and some people who used the services became regulars.

I'm not sure what the criteria is to become a CGC submission center, but for a store hoping to succeed as a back issue specialist, this would seem to be a must.

 

I just don't see it adding to the bottom line with enough new customers in a city with 150,000 people. i could see it bringing in enough new customers if you are one of the few places in NYC, Chicago, LA, Houston, etc. Being a submission center takes up space, adds potential liabilities (insurance expense I'd think...criminey, what if you lose one of the high value books???), so it had better generate a bunch of extra good customers.

[etanick]

yes I would. By the way 2 out of the 3 stores here in Sarasota are closed. I mentioned in previous thread that they were selling their inventories on Craigslist and now both stores are emptied with for Lease signs on them...very sad indeed. I think I have more back issues than both of them combined and what they had was copper and modern stuff that most already have.

[thehumantorch]

No reason not to put away new comics, statues and the like for file customers. Profitable and some buyers may develop a taste for back issues.

 

The trick to stocking back issues is buying them cheap enough and knowing at what percentage of guide they will move at. Any older book will sell if priced right and you don't need to run a museum. Dale, I'm sure you know the market well enough.

 

If you do buy a collection it would be smart to release the books into your boxes slowly so that there is always new inventory. I hate going to a LCS and seeing no new back issues month after month.

 

Rather than putting up back issues on the wall it makes sense to photocopy the better issues and put the photocopy up. I hate watching vintage comics fade. If someone asks to see an issue it is much easier to grab the book out of a box than fish it off the wall.

 

Keep your wall inventory up to date. Seeing spaces on the wall tells me that the store owner isn't paying attention to his back issues and is focused on new product.

 

Use different coloured stickers for high grade books or put the grade in huge letters/numbers on wall books. I get tired of asking the store clerk what grade wall books are in and I usually don't bother or give up after a few books.

[MrBedrock]

It sounds like a great concept. In fact it is the exact concept we use presently for the back issue portion of out retail business. The probably is that it is an unsustainable business model. Back issue sales as category don't generate enough profits to carry a retail storefront, particularly one that is located in any kind of visible high-traffic area, an important necessity for success. The new issue, book and assorted ancillary merchandise sales cover our bottom line (rents, salaries, overhead). Back issues are a category we use as our calling card. It is what sets us apart as a destination comic store. But there is no way we could rely on only those sales to carry a store.

[VintageComics]

It sounds like a great concept. In fact it is the exact concept we use presently for the back issue portion of out retail business. The probably is that it is an unsustainable business model. Back issue sales as category don't generate enough profits to carry a retail storefront, particularly one that is located in any kind of visible high-traffic area, an important necessity for success. The new issue, book and assorted ancillary merchandise sales cover our bottom line (rents, salaries, overhead). Back issues are a category we use as our calling card. It is what sets us apart as a destination comic store. But there is no way we could rely on only those sales to carry a store.

 

I was going to say something similar.

 

A store just can't survive on back issues sales alone.

 

 

 

[NewWorldOrder]

Dale,

 

Are you on crack this morning?

 

John

[3319comics]

What percentage works best? To me it seems like 95% of the stores by me are 90-95% new stuff and maybe less than 2% SA forget GA and maybe beat up CA/BA at 3% of the store.

 

And those stores seem pretty empty. Do the Mr Bedrock store see more people coming in to pick older issues with new or is it either new or old only? Seems alot of people coming in dont even know what the old stuff looks like?

[sckao]

Okay, let's look at situations where this MIGHT work...

 

I'm thinking Frank and Sons in the City of Commerce, CA. How much does a semi-permanent booth go for? Open twice a week. One day is when the new issues come in so people go just for that probably.

 

If you get a good reputation for having fair prices and constant new back issue stock, your clientele will also be other dealers.

 

http://www.frankandsonshow.net/

 

 

 

[Moondog]

It sounds like a great concept. In fact it is the exact concept we use presently for the back issue portion of out retail business. The probably is that it is an unsustainable business model. Back issue sales as category don't generate enough profits to carry a retail storefront, particularly one that is located in any kind of visible high-traffic area, an important necessity for success. The new issue, book and assorted ancillary merchandise sales cover our bottom line (rents, salaries, overhead). Back issues are a category we use as our calling card. It is what sets us apart as a destination comic store. But there is no way we could rely on only those sales to carry a store.

 

This is the model I used for years (before deciding on a cookie-cutter approach to expanding my mall stores). Richard's a very sharp retailer and I wish we had stores like his in Chicago.

[Dale Roberts]

Dale,

 

Are you on crack this morning?

 

John

 

Nope, not this morning, afternoon or tonight.

 

I think it could work, but....I could be wrong. I do certainly hold Richard's opinion very highly. I have not been in Richards store, but I can imagine it being something like this. However, I have never seen any type of store with the type of back issue setup that I describe in the first post.

 

My goal would be for it to be something like a convention at all times. Imagine going to a store with 30 boxes of Golden Age, 100 boxes of Silver/Bronze - 20 - 30 boxes of good copper age, 20 boxes of current relevant moderns, 100 boxes of bargain bins of different ages of books.30 boxes of trades and Hardcovers. 20 - 30 boxes of comic magazine. Fanzines, treasuries, pulps, original art, who knows what else.

 

Everything priced at a level to sell.

 

Might even have guests from time to time.

 

[Dale Roberts]

I might add that this is all theoretical. I have no desire to move anywhere to do this (in fact, I wouldn't even do it if it was guaranteed of success. I have no desire to live in or near one of the cities I am talking about.

[capt_comics]

No way you can have a retail store without selling new product. May have worked 20 or 30 years ago, but not today.

 

 

 

 

 

[codfish]

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.

 

Honestly? Not very much. Probably a couple of times a year and only if I REGULARLY found items from my back issue list. I have greatly cut down on impulse buying and when I look for back issues I look in a very contained series of books. I might partake in the trades and HCs provided the prices were really good savings and they were in as new condition.

 

I do think something like this could fly in a larger centre with a good population and a known collecting community. Without much new content you might have trouble drawing some folks in. Strictly back issues can be hard to do unless the majority of what you have is dirt cheap OR you have a name in the marketplace already.

 

I have to admit I am a bit biased though because I live in a market that is pretty cheap and I seriously doubt that such a venture here would work out unless the selection was really good and cheap.

[NewWorldOrder]

I might add that this is all theoretical. I have no desire to move anywhere to do this (in fact, I wouldn't even do it if it was guaranteed of success. I have no desire to live in or near one of the cities I am talking about.

 

I learned enough theory in redundant college business classes.

 

You would have to move to or near a major comic book thriving city that has a proven track record of collectors.

 

Just having accurately graded back issues would not suffice as you would need to carry new issues.

 

Besides you would have no more time to play golf during the day.

 

[alecholland]

It sounds like a great concept. In fact it is the exact concept we use presently for the back issue portion of out retail business. The probably is that it is an unsustainable business model. Back issue sales as category don't generate enough profits to carry a retail storefront, particularly one that is located in any kind of visible high-traffic area, an important necessity for success. The new issue, book and assorted ancillary merchandise sales cover our bottom line (rents, salaries, overhead). Back issues are a category we use as our calling card. It is what sets us apart as a destination comic store. But there is no way we could rely on only those sales to carry a store.

 

This is the same as my LCS Elite Comics

 

William buys just about every collection that comes through his door and therefore has a great selection of back issues from every age, but he would not be able to survive on back issue sales alone. Most of his business still comes from new comic sales.

 

He is also very involved in the local comic book convention Planet Comicon and regularly has comic creators in his store for book signings and sketches which I think helps generate interest in his shop.

 

It's the best comic shop I've ever visited and run entirely by adults, but is also very kid friendly.

[NewWorldOrder]

Dale,

 

Are you on crack this morning?

 

John

 

Nope, not this morning, afternoon or tonight.

 

I think it could work, but....I could be wrong. I do certainly hold Richard's opinion very highly. I have not been in Richards store, but I can imagine it being something like this. However, I have never seen any type of store with the type of back issue setup that I describe in the first post.

 

My goal would be for it to be something like a convention at all times. Imagine going to a store with 30 boxes of Golden Age, 100 boxes of Silver/Bronze - 20 - 30 boxes of good copper age, 20 boxes of current relevant moderns, 100 boxes of bargain bins of different ages of books.30 boxes of trades and Hardcovers. 20 - 30 boxes of comic magazine. Fanzines, treasuries, pulps, original art, who knows what else.

 

Everything priced at a level to sell.

 

Might even have guests from time to time.

 

So it sounds like to me you maybe want to try to do the same approach as Richard Bedrock or Jaime G. at Southern California Comic Books here around the corner from me.

 

They both are doing what you are describing right now, but they also have new comic books which brings in the collectors in turn can lead to vintage back issue sales.

 

 

[comicalgems]

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...

 

I would love to be someone's buyer. I find awesome deals all the time, just not necessarily the capital to back 'em up.

[BrianR]

It is a nice idea, and as much as I would like a store like this here in Phx. I don't believe it would survive very long. The last store like this was the Lost Dutchman; unfortunately the owner killed himself a few years back. Even then he also had vintage toys, cards, etc. It was a small, dirty, cramped store, but I really enjoyed going there.

[comicalgems]

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...

 

Comic Empire in Tulsa, OK has nearly nothing but comic books. If/When you ever stop in though, be sure to ask about the "good stuff". The owner usually has some stuff tucked away that tower over his wall books.