Would you shop at a comic store like this??

[Dale Roberts]

So. Let's just say that you have a business like you described and you have eight NM+ copies of Secret Wars #8's. What would you ask for them in this business?

 

GPA (based on books actually slabbed) is somewhere around 42 bucks for a 9.6. The ComicsPriceGuide.com also has a raw price for a 9.6 as 42 bucks. I don't know what the current Overstreet price is, but you probably do.

 

So. What would you ask for a NM+ Secret Wars #8, in the business you are talking about?

 

That's a great question. And, "priced to sell" for HG Silver Age, what is that? OSPG? Under GPA? How much under?

 

Say you've got an ASM #122 (a book that can always sell) in true NM. Are you going to price it at OS (where it's sure to move) or is it going to be priced just under GPA for a slabbed one?

 

The answer is probably neither. You're going to slab it and put it up on CL as the number of actual buyers in the store area with $500+ for that particular book will be very limited.

 

What about a Neal Adams book? Will a Batman #234 9.4 be priced at alltime GPA high $800+ or will it be "priced to sell" (say, GPA low from 2009 - $455).

 

 

 

 

 

Certainly would depend upon the book. I rarely ever price books at all time GPA high anyway. I would price the book at GPA 12 month to 3 month average, or something similar. Obviously, if you price a book at 3 month GPA, that should pretty much define "priced to sell".My goal is not to give money away. It is to sell comics. Whatever price it takes to move a reasonable amount of inventory on a constant basis.

[HouseofComics.Com]

Back to the numbers of collectors, board member Lee Hester blogged about Wondercon a few years back and stated that there were only 200 back issue collectors at the entire show. And that's why he's selling t-shirts and such, even at the biggest show of the year and one of the five or so biggest shows in the country. Discuss.

 

 

(Now he has a very conservative cutoff, apparently, because I must've sold to 50 of them that weekend.)

[DiceX]

Yes, I would shop in this store, and I think you should open it up in St Louis.

You'd have zero competition.

 

 

[sckao]

 

The real question is how many ACTIVE back issue collectors there are.

 

I don't consider myself an active back issue collector. I consider myself an impulse or opportunistic buyer.

 

So Lee Hester may have seen a limited number of people with lists or whatever, but he probably didn't notice me since I wasn't digging through his boxes or walking around with a want list.

 

At conventions, I tend to have to manufacture "collecting targets." One year, it's try to get every Atlas-Seaboard comic and magazine. At another, it's get all the comics that appear on the Marvel Mead binders/folders from the 70's.

 

So a store that has considerable and quantifiable turnover of backstock would be of some interest... but you could generate the same interest if you did something like Dale Quick and just had a sale whenever you got a new collection in... or PUT IT ONLINE.

 

 

 

 

 

[jools&jim]

 

Did Doug Sulipa ever have a storefront operation for back issues? Or has he always been mail order only? He sure seems to have deep enough stock for it...

[HouseofComics.Com]

Doug had a store or stores, plus a distribution business, no?

[conditionfreak]

So. Let's just say that you have a business like you described and you have eight NM+ copies of Secret Wars #8's. What would you ask for them in this business?

 

GPA (based on books actually slabbed) is somewhere around 42 bucks for a 9.6. The ComicsPriceGuide.com also has a raw price for a 9.6 as 42 bucks. I don't know what the current Overstreet price is, but you probably do.

 

So. What would you ask for a NM+ Secret Wars #8, in the business you are talking about?

 

That's a great question. And, "priced to sell" for HG Silver Age, what is that? OSPG? Under GPA? How much under?

 

Say you've got an ASM #122 (a book that can always sell) in true NM. Are you going to price it at OS (where it's sure to move) or is it going to be priced just under GPA for a slabbed one?

 

The answer is probably neither. You're going to slab it and put it up on CL as the number of actual buyers in the store area with $500+ for that particular book will be very limited.

 

What about a Neal Adams book? Will a Batman #234 9.4 be priced at alltime GPA high $800+ or will it be "priced to sell" (say, GPA low from 2009 - $455).

 

 

 

 

 

Certainly would depend upon the book. I rarely ever price books at all time GPA high anyway. I would price the book at GPA 12 month to 3 month average, or something similar. Obviously, if you price a book at 3 month GPA, that should pretty much define "priced to sell".My goal is not to give money away. It is to sell comics. Whatever price it takes to move a reasonable amount of inventory on a constant basis.

 

Aye, the rub. Your priced to sell is different from my priced to sell. Three month GPA is not "priced to sell". It is accurately priced, but not priced to sell. Many price collectibles where they think they can sell them, and yet make the most amount of profit they can off of that particular item.

 

My priced to sell, would be less than GPA but more than I have invested in that item. So, you are not really "giving money away". You are in fact making a profit. Just not a maximum profit.

 

If I paid ten bucks for an item that has a GPA three month average of 80 bucks. My priced to sell would be around fifty or sixty, depending on the book. But NEVER above GPA. Even if it is hot.

 

Good business, in my opinion, is customer satisfaction and repeat business. Not getting as much as you can for each and every item. Lost a little here and there, or just make a profit, no matter how hot the item is because of the latest movie or whatever, and you will do okay. How many times as someone picked up a flaming hot book in a LCS, for cover price and still talks about that fond memory years later. I bet after that experience, that person went back to that store many more times. Just to see what "might" be there and a bargain.

 

But that's just me. Probably why I will never be rich. I like making people happy, and making "enough" profit.

[Dale Roberts]

The real question is how many ACTIVE back issue collectors there are.

 

I don't consider myself an active back issue collector. I consider myself an impulse or opportunistic buyer.

 

So Lee Hester may have seen a limited number of people with lists or whatever, but he probably didn't notice me since I wasn't digging through his boxes or walking around with a want list.

 

At conventions, I tend to have to manufacture "collecting targets." One year, it's try to get every Atlas-Seaboard comic and magazine. At another, it's get all the comics that appear on the Marvel Mead binders/folders from the 70's.

 

So a store that has considerable and quantifiable turnover of backstock would be of some interest... but you could generate the same interest if you did something like Dale Quick and just had a sale whenever you got a new collection in... or PUT IT ONLINE.

 

 

 

 

 

But the fact is, you can't put the majority of collections online. If you purchase a couple of hundred boxes of comics a year, what are you going to put online. 20 boxes of the better stuff. You can't put a run of Darkhawk online, but there is probably somebody that would buy a set for 15.00 - 20.00. Same way with a run of Scooby Doo, or Spider-girl, or Tomb Raider or Hellblazer or whatever. You stick a run of Spider-girl out at 1.00 each, thats 100.00 bucks, and alot of it is sellable product at that level.

[chrisco37]

I don't think the intent is to have a firesale...

 

The comics that will move for higher prices will probably be online. It's the mid-grades he's talking about. (It's an outlet to dump books at a reasonable price.. and a place to take in new collections.)

 

 

I think you'd have to have daily "firesales" in order to keep up with rent, payroll, insurance, security, enough on-hand cash to buy new collections, etc... to make the store last for more than a few months.

 

If all the good stuff goes straight to online sales, what's the point? A shop where you can go in and buy mid-grade off-titles? How long are you going to last selling $2/5/10 copies of mid-grade House of Secrets or Black Panther or even Avengers?

 

 

[Dale Roberts]

So. Let's just say that you have a business like you described and you have eight NM+ copies of Secret Wars #8's. What would you ask for them in this business?

 

GPA (based on books actually slabbed) is somewhere around 42 bucks for a 9.6. The ComicsPriceGuide.com also has a raw price for a 9.6 as 42 bucks. I don't know what the current Overstreet price is, but you probably do.

 

So. What would you ask for a NM+ Secret Wars #8, in the business you are talking about?

 

That's a great question. And, "priced to sell" for HG Silver Age, what is that? OSPG? Under GPA? How much under?

 

Say you've got an ASM #122 (a book that can always sell) in true NM. Are you going to price it at OS (where it's sure to move) or is it going to be priced just under GPA for a slabbed one?

 

The answer is probably neither. You're going to slab it and put it up on CL as the number of actual buyers in the store area with $500+ for that particular book will be very limited.

 

What about a Neal Adams book? Will a Batman #234 9.4 be priced at alltime GPA high $800+ or will it be "priced to sell" (say, GPA low from 2009 - $455).

 

 

 

 

 

Certainly would depend upon the book. I rarely ever price books at all time GPA high anyway. I would price the book at GPA 12 month to 3 month average, or something similar. Obviously, if you price a book at 3 month GPA, that should pretty much define "priced to sell".My goal is not to give money away. It is to sell comics. Whatever price it takes to move a reasonable amount of inventory on a constant basis.

 

Aye, the rub. Your priced to sell is different from my priced to sell. Three month GPA is not "priced to sell". It is accurately priced, but not priced to sell. Many price collectibles where they think they can sell them, and yet make the most amount of profit they can off of that particular item.

 

My priced to sell, would be less than GPA but more than I have invested in that item. So, you are not really "giving money away". You are in fact making a profit. Just not a maximum profit.

 

If I paid ten bucks for an item that has a GPA three month average of 80 bucks. My priced to sell would be around fifty or sixty, depending on the book. But NEVER above GPA. Even if it is hot.

 

Good business, in my opinion, is customer satisfaction and repeat business. Not getting as much as you can for each and every item. Lost a little here and there, or just make a profit, no matter how hot the item is because of the latest movie or whatever, and you will do okay. How many times as someone picked up a flaming hot book in a LCS, for cover price and still talks about that fond memory years later. I bet after that experience, that person went back to that store many more times. Just to see what "might" be there and a bargain.

 

But that's just me. Probably why I will never be rich. I like making people happy, and making "enough" profit.

 

We are not talking about every book. I am talking about an Amazing Spider-man #122 CGC 9.6 or a Batman #234 CGC 9.4. Those books at GPA levels are priced to move.

 

Whatever, I don't feel like debating every book. You say customer satisfaction and repeat business. I guarantee you that 90% of the product I am talking about in this store would be cheaper than any other store you would go in. And it would be accessible and where you could find it.

[sckao]

The real question is how many ACTIVE back issue collectors there are.

 

I don't consider myself an active back issue collector. I consider myself an impulse or opportunistic buyer.

 

So Lee Hester may have seen a limited number of people with lists or whatever, but he probably didn't notice me since I wasn't digging through his boxes or walking around with a want list.

 

At conventions, I tend to have to manufacture "collecting targets." One year, it's try to get every Atlas-Seaboard comic and magazine. At another, it's get all the comics that appear on the Marvel Mead binders/folders from the 70's.

 

So a store that has considerable and quantifiable turnover of backstock would be of some interest... but you could generate the same interest if you did something like Dale Quick and just had a sale whenever you got a new collection in... or PUT IT ONLINE.

 

 

 

 

 

But the fact is, you can't put the majority of collections online. If you purchase a couple of hundred boxes of comics a year, what are you going to put online. 20 boxes of the better stuff. You can't put a run of Darkhawk online, but there is probably somebody that would buy a set for 15.00 - 20.00. Same way with a run of Scooby Doo, or Spider-girl, or Tomb Raider or Hellblazer or whatever. You stick a run of Spider-girl out at 1.00 each, thats 100.00 bucks, and alot of it is sellable product at that level.

 

How many people buy a longbox of backstock from an LCS?

 

I buy sets online all the time actually. Why can't you put up 100 longboxes? You don't need to pay a commission necessarily. Put it on your own website and drive traffic to it from your eBay sales (for the 20 boxes of good stuff).

 

When you buy collections, the beauty of it is is that the collector you've purchased it from may already have runs of books and put them in alphabetical order for you.

 

 

 

 

[nwpassage]

I'd probably be good for about 20 bucks a week. There might be two hundred "me's" in a large metropolitan area that are within walking, biking, driving distance. That's 4000 bucks a week. Since I live in podunk, I have no idea whether that is sufficient money to keep a woman happy in Portland.

 

50 "me's" is probably more realistic though, so how about a grand. I'm thinking it won't float. Bummer though, my kind of store.

[Dale Roberts]

I don't think the intent is to have a firesale...

 

The comics that will move for higher prices will probably be online. It's the mid-grades he's talking about. (It's an outlet to dump books at a reasonable price.. and a place to take in new collections.)

 

 

I think you'd have to have daily "firesales" in order to keep up with rent, payroll, insurance, security, enough on-hand cash to buy new collections, etc... to make the store last for more than a few months.

 

If all the good stuff goes straight to online sales, what's the point? A shop where you can go in and buy mid-grade off-titles? How long are you going to last selling $2/5/10 copies of mid-grade House of Secrets or Black Panther or even Avengers?

 

 

Maybe you didnt read my post, but I clearly said everything would run through the store for a set amount of time, before it was put on line, and even when it was put online, it would NOT have to be removed from the store. Price point inventory control is pretty cheap and accessible now.

[Dale Roberts]

The real question is how many ACTIVE back issue collectors there are.

 

I don't consider myself an active back issue collector. I consider myself an impulse or opportunistic buyer.

 

So Lee Hester may have seen a limited number of people with lists or whatever, but he probably didn't notice me since I wasn't digging through his boxes or walking around with a want list.

 

At conventions, I tend to have to manufacture "collecting targets." One year, it's try to get every Atlas-Seaboard comic and magazine. At another, it's get all the comics that appear on the Marvel Mead binders/folders from the 70's.

 

So a store that has considerable and quantifiable turnover of backstock would be of some interest... but you could generate the same interest if you did something like Dale Quick and just had a sale whenever you got a new collection in... or PUT IT ONLINE.

 

 

 

 

 

But the fact is, you can't put the majority of collections online. If you purchase a couple of hundred boxes of comics a year, what are you going to put online. 20 boxes of the better stuff. You can't put a run of Darkhawk online, but there is probably somebody that would buy a set for 15.00 - 20.00. Same way with a run of Scooby Doo, or Spider-girl, or Tomb Raider or Hellblazer or whatever. You stick a run of Spider-girl out at 1.00 each, thats 100.00 bucks, and alot of it is sellable product at that level.

 

How many people buy a longbox of backstock from an LCS?

 

I buy sets online all the time actually. Why can't you put up 100 longboxes? You don't need to pay a commission necessarily. Put it on your own website and drive traffic to it from your eBay sales (for the 20 boxes of good stuff).

 

When you buy collections, the beauty of it is is that the collector you've purchased it from may already have runs of books and put them in alphabetical order for you.

 

 

 

 

I wouldn't have time to play golf.

[sckao]

The real question is how many ACTIVE back issue collectors there are.

 

I don't consider myself an active back issue collector. I consider myself an impulse or opportunistic buyer.

 

So Lee Hester may have seen a limited number of people with lists or whatever, but he probably didn't notice me since I wasn't digging through his boxes or walking around with a want list.

 

At conventions, I tend to have to manufacture "collecting targets." One year, it's try to get every Atlas-Seaboard comic and magazine. At another, it's get all the comics that appear on the Marvel Mead binders/folders from the 70's.

 

So a store that has considerable and quantifiable turnover of backstock would be of some interest... but you could generate the same interest if you did something like Dale Quick and just had a sale whenever you got a new collection in... or PUT IT ONLINE.

 

 

 

 

 

But the fact is, you can't put the majority of collections online. If you purchase a couple of hundred boxes of comics a year, what are you going to put online. 20 boxes of the better stuff. You can't put a run of Darkhawk online, but there is probably somebody that would buy a set for 15.00 - 20.00. Same way with a run of Scooby Doo, or Spider-girl, or Tomb Raider or Hellblazer or whatever. You stick a run of Spider-girl out at 1.00 each, thats 100.00 bucks, and alot of it is sellable product at that level.

 

How many people buy a longbox of backstock from an LCS?

 

I buy sets online all the time actually. Why can't you put up 100 longboxes? You don't need to pay a commission necessarily. Put it on your own website and drive traffic to it from your eBay sales (for the 20 boxes of good stuff).

 

When you buy collections, the beauty of it is is that the collector you've purchased it from may already have runs of books and put them in alphabetical order for you.

 

 

 

 

I wouldn't have time to play golf.

 

Now see... we then have to talk about my theorized high-speed (double-sided) scanning and photoimaging system.

 

 

 

 

 

[Bunky Brian]

The Dale plan, I love it, not to steal your thunder, but the Bunkys will be re opening our retail store, EXACTLY as Dale points out in his summary,

 

HOWEVER, let it be known smarter retail people in the know, i.e. Bedrock, state you cannot live on back issue only, as nice as the thought is, nobody wants to be married to new stock, as much as market demand, forces you to carry some portion of new books.

 

Keep you posted on our success or whatever as the year plays out,

 

Bunky

 

 

[Kramerica]

Allrighty then. Let's cut the mess and do it. I'm ready to move to Los Angeles right now and work my off 80 hours a week.

 

A properly situated storefront accentuated with sales from the an Internet Website, eBay, CGC Boards, Cons, International customers, mail order, supplying other retail stores, etc, etc. Don't think we should cut out the moderns though - just eliminate the inherent BS that comes from it.

 

PROS: I hate my present job, love comics and I'm ready to jump right in the mylar and make it work. (thumbs u

 

CONS: Can't bring a huge amount of capital, and I want Thursday and Fri of SDCC off.

 

Who's with me?

[HouseofComics.Com]

Is this serious? Where was your first store? Where is the new one?

 

The Dale plan, I love it, not to steal your thunder, but the Bunkys will be re opening our retail store, EXACTLY as Dale points out in his summary,

 

HOWEVER, let it be known smarter retail people in the know, i.e. Bedrock, state you cannot live on back issue only, as nice as the thought is, nobody wants to be married to new stock, as much as market demand, forces you to carry some portion of new books.

 

Keep you posted on our success or whatever as the year plays out,

 

Bunky

 

[nwpassage]

Allrighty then. Let's cut the mess and do it. I'm ready to move to Los Angeles right now and work my off 80 hours a week.

 

A properly situated storefront accentuated with sales from the an Internet Website, eBay, CGC Boards, Cons, International customers, mail order, supplying other retail stores, etc, etc. Don't think we should cut out the moderns though - just eliminate the inherent BS that comes from it.

 

PROS: I hate my present job, love comics and I'm ready to jump right in the mylar and make it work. (thumbs u

 

CONS: Can't bring a huge amount of capital, and I want Thursday and Fri of SDCC off.

 

Who's with me?

In spirit. I get to l.a. about every five years. I'm still good for twenty.

 

I'd like to know where bunky's stoe is also. Rural southwestern oregon perhaps?

[shadroch]

To me, it comes down to sitting on my in a store hoping a buyer for some of my 600 Daredevils happens to come in to store or spending an hour to list them on ebay and my website where every person looking for the book will be able to bid on the books while I do something I enjoy doing.

When you factor in the differences in rent and insurance between a large retail space and a warehouse space, the ebay/internet option quickly makes more sense, to me.