Would you shop at a comic store like this??

[nwpassage]

it is almost like a store that takes all the best pieces from stores I grew up with

would be awesome. hobby/comic/toy/video games/etc... all in one place with

an owner who has the right taste for his locale.

 

Comics, slot cars, and surf movies.

[PokerKid]

Sounds a lot like John Verzyl's store I went to growing up. He did carry current stuff, but I couldn't have cared less and he never emphasized it. He had a vast assortment of long boxes and was constantly adding new GA, and focusing on his customers specific needs.

 

I would love a shop like this again.

[Aman619]

ID LOVE A STORE LIKE DALE ENVISIONS. In fact years ago there were plenty of such stores. But they cannot exist anymore because no city has enough back issue collector customers to support it. So the store would need to cater to the internet for most of its sales. And, if so, WHY have a store with rent etc?? Just sell mail order/online, as you and others are already doing!

 

Aside from levels of commitment in your scenario, lots of stores tried this but it does not work. Where would the store be buying its inventory from? There only so many walkin collections worth buying?

 

You could say Chuck is the closest, but if he could buy quality stuff and stay in business he'd be doing it. He doesnt cause it ties up too much cash to compete for the good comics, so he went the other way paying as little as possible and marking them up to them aximum.

[Prince Namor]

Back Issues are a niche part of an industry that at best is a very small niche of entertainment available today. It's hard enough to make ends meet, carrying a full selection of new product, much less items that a small select group of people collect.

WE are not the mainstream. My girlfriend still thinks it's weird. Except for at shows or online I know of no one else that collects or has the slightest interest in what I do.

The people OUTSIDE our world who do have comics to sell, always think it's worth more than it is, and the people who want to BUY always want it cheaper than it's worth.

You can very rarely win.

I have a friend who has owned a store in a small college town for 25 years. He used to pay for his weekly new releases with his sales made ON Wednesdy. The rest of the week was profit used toward rent, etc. , and buying an inventory of back issue product.

The moderns customers has declined.

The back issue customers have declined.

He still does okay thanks to moderns, and still does okay because of a 25 year build up of good business of customers, but has to sell non-key SA and BA at 50% of guide.

This all WITHOUT the use of the Internet.

Even Blockbuster and Game Stop have to use the Internet to make sales.

 

I'd love the idea, believe me, no one here has any decent SA/BA for sale. I have to wait on the 9-

12 area shows a year to buy it LIVE. I just don't think it'd work

[mikephoen]

You should also open a store that rents Beta and VHS tapes.

 

 

 

[HouseofComics.Com]

Chuck, I like this post. Where do you live?

 

Your story about your friend with the store in the small college town reminds me that the ones who have been selling during the good times have often built up enough capital, customers, and inventory to weather the coming years. And your comment about him paying his expenses just from his sales on Wednesday shows that it's the guaranteed instant profit on a lot of the weekly shipment that keeps stores going. Despite the huge Diamond bill.

 

 

 

I'd love the idea, believe me, no one here has any decent SA/BA for sale. I have to wait on the 9-

12 area shows a year to buy it LIVE. I just don't think it'd work

[Jeffro.]

Personally, I don't attend conventions or go to comic book stores anymore. The convenience of online shopping is too great, and the detriments of in person shopping (stress headaches, the stench, the time and rarely finding anything to buy) make me never want to do that again.

 

Interesting how preferences differ huh? While I do agree that the convenience of online shopping is appealing, I would never willingly give up the option of going to cons and stores to actually buy books in person. Nothing like it, imo.

 

[Jeffro.]

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.

 

Sounds like comic heaven to me. (thumbs u

[the blob]

I almost think a perfect Back Issue store would be one that separates the customer from the books. Meaning that the owner/staff indexes the supply and puts it into a database. A customer wanting to shop for comics can have access to the database and then can say "Alright I'd like to look at your very fine Daredevil 12, your VG plus Iron Man 55, and I'd also like the twelve most recent issues of Amazing Spider-Man" Then the shop owner/staff go pull the books requested, if they're going to buy them great, if not then they are returned to the file (a completely separate room from the sales floor) by the owner/staff. I think this would cut down on theft, damage to books, and would get people focussed on specific issues that they are looking for and save them an hour flipping through long boxes and bending up all your other stuff.

 

Personally, I would have no interest in shopping at a shop like this. It's great if you are looking for a specific issue, but how many sales are lost by not giving the customer the chance to flip through boxes and see something they didn't know they wanted until they saw it? Plus, you'd always have to have 2 people working in the store at once. Double boarding books would go a long way toward protecting them from bending.

 

[Comicdey]

I almost think a perfect Back Issue store would be one that separates the customer from the books. Meaning that the owner/staff indexes the supply and puts it into a database. A customer wanting to shop for comics can have access to the database and then can say "Alright I'd like to look at your very fine Daredevil 12, your VG plus Iron Man 55, and I'd also like the twelve most recent issues of Amazing Spider-Man" Then the shop owner/staff go pull the books requested, if they're going to buy them great, if not then they are returned to the file (a completely separate room from the sales floor) by the owner/staff. I think this would cut down on theft, damage to books, and would get people focussed on specific issues that they are looking for and save them an hour flipping through long boxes and bending up all your other stuff.

 

Personally, I would have no interest in shopping at a shop like this. It's great if you are looking for a specific issue, but how many sales are lost by not giving the customer the chance to flip through boxes and see something they didn't know they wanted until they saw it? Plus, you'd always have to have 2 people working in the store at once. Double boarding books would go a long way toward protecting them from bending.

 

I never know what I'm going to buy going into a comic store...I guess if you could see the images, it might work.

[the blob]

I mean think about it. Say you purchase 200K from Diamond in a year (which I would guess is something in line with what most stores do). If you are lucky, you are going to sell about 75% of that product.

----------------

 

then they're doing a lousy job of ordering or made the claculated risk of overordering some issue to get the variants. i think what you're seeing is that perhaps 25% of what goes on the rack winds up not selling that month. but if you have a lot of file customers (and they don't deadbeat you), the sell through ought to be better than 75%.

[shadroch]

Any shop that isn't selling 85% of its new books is in trouble. You are much better off discounting pre-orders than just taking a shot in the dark and thinking you know what will sell.

[3319comics]

Someone mentioned buying in excess to get the rare variants? is this a trend being seen in lcs? Kinda reminds me of what happened to the card market when they would crack cases of cards to get the rare variant and toss the common stuff?

[TheShadowKnows]

it kindah surprises my that there are comic shops who blow off potential collections walking in the door. when someone calls just be honest...if it's all post 1980whatever stuff I am going to pay almost nothing for it and if it's beat up 70's stuff I won't be paying much more. all the shops i have spent much time in never told someone not to bother coming in because you never know what's going to be mixed in with the junk.

On comics I always say yes.If its eighties and ninetys drek I offer ten cents.Most people will take it and its a seler at fifty cents three for a dollar.

[the blob]

Thanks for the enlightment from someone with experience. I do however, think that some things were addressed differently than I asked. For instance, the SW 8's I mentioned, were all NM+'s. I am assuming from your answer that you would be sending any 9.8's to CGC and selling them, for what? Going rate or higher?

-------------

 

slabbed books are meant to be sold online.

[the blob]

So, the consensus is that everybody would like to shop there, but many people don't think it would survive???

-----------

 

sure, if we had cross-country teleporters it would be great. there are certainly enough folks in the u.s.a. and canada who would like to go to this store and check it out. but the problem is, will there be enough in a single metro area where you will not be eaten alive by rent?

[conditionfreak]

A few points.

 

Many times someone will come on here and ask for opinions about this and that. But then get pizzy when those opinions do not go along with their initial thoughts or goals about the subject in question. If you ask, then receive and digest.

 

We in "this world" of comic book collecting and/or reading, highly overate the numbers and importance of comic book collectors. They are few and far between. There are not enough in most areas, to sustain a store front business. If they do make a success of it, they HAVE to have toys, games, posters, t-shirts, graphic novels, statures, and most of all, new comic books. The model that has proven to work, is, has, and will always be, that back issue stuff is the biggest dog of the business (no matter how we disagree with that sentiment), and gets the least amout of attention by the owner/manager.

 

New stuff is priced way too high to draw in new collectors. Old stuff is priced way, way, way too high to draw in new customers. Money has never been tighter for many, and it appears that it is not going to get better anytime soon. So, you will have to cater to the established client base already in an area. How many areas will fit that bill? NY maybe. LA maybe. San Fran. maybe. Chicago, well, not in this economic situation. The places that COULD sustain a comic book business, already have them.

 

This idea is one of those ideas that many comic book collectors always dream about, but deep inside, know it would be a huge gamble and probably not work.

 

Anyone who attempts this, I hope is in my area, and I hope they succeed. But alas, I don't think they will. I am the ONLY person in my city that cares one hoot about comic books, to my knowledge. You can't even buy a new comic book here. I am in a city of about 100,000 residents. We comic book collectors are just a drop in an ocean. IMO, you would do better if you opened a store renting fancy wheels for cars. (we actually have a store here that does that)

 

Now that's sad.

 

Good luck.

[Dale Roberts]

A few points.

 

Many times someone will come on here and ask for opinions about this and that. But then get pizzy when those opinions do not go along with their initial thoughts or goals about the subject in question. If you ask, then receive and digest.

 

We in "this world" of comic book collecting and/or reading, highly overate the numbers and importance of comic book collectors. They are few and far between. There are not enough in most areas, to sustain a store front business. If they do make a success of it, they HAVE to have toys, games, posters, t-shirts, graphic novels, statures, and most of all, new comic books. The model that has proven to work, is, has, and will always be, that back issue stuff is the biggest dog of the business (no matter how we disagree with that sentiment), and gets the least amout of attention by the owner/manager.

 

New stuff is priced way too high to draw in new collectors. Old stuff is priced way, way, way too high to draw in new customers. Money has never been tighter for many, and it appears that it is not going to get better anytime soon. So, you will have to cater to the established client base already in an area. How many areas will fit that bill? NY maybe. LA maybe. San Fran. maybe. Chicago, well, not in this economic situation. The places that COULD sustain a comic book business, already have them.

 

This idea is one of those ideas that many comic book collectors always dream about, but deep inside, know it would be a huge gamble and probably not work.

 

Anyone who attempts this, I hope is in my area, and I hope they succeed. But alas, I don't think they will. I am the ONLY person in my city that cares one hoot about comic books, to my knowledge. You can't even buy a new comic book here. I am in a city of about 100,000 residents. We comic book collectors are just a drop in an ocean. IMO, you would do better if you opened a store renting fancy wheels for cars. (we actually have a store here that does that)

 

Now that's sad.

 

Good luck.

 

 

I hope the Bunkys do great. I think it is a winning formula. (thumbs u

 

I don't know where you live, but I can't personally believe that there is no one else in the 100,000 people in your city that collects comics. In fact, I would be willing to bet it is not remotely the case. I would bet the the number is in the 100s.

 

I live near a city of about 50,000 and there is currently 1 shop and it has at times supported 2 or 3 stores. Right now it is the only store within about 40 minutes in any direction. He has somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 - 50 subscription customers, and many more casual customers, who come in every week or two.

 

I would guess his customer base consists of 125 - 150 people, and probably another 100 - 200 people that come in when in the area. Plus the occasional holiday, birthday, etc customer.

 

 

[MrBedrock]

I would guess his customer base consists of 125 - 150 people, and probably another 100 - 200 people that come in when in the area. Plus the occasional holiday, birthday, etc customer.

 

I thank my lucky stars every day...

It sounds like your local guy has carved out a niche that works for him in that area. That is so awesome considering the limitations of population that he has to deal with.

By comparison, we average about 500 subscribers per store. If there aren't 300 customers through the door on a Saturday I get bummed.

[shadroch]

Try crunching the numbers. What would you lay out for a hundred boxes of decent or better stock? Sounds like you'd want a minimum of $100,000 in stock. Now you need to buy shiny new boxes, new bags, dividers and such. Wall racks, display cases, carpeting, cash registar, security systems,computer, ect,ect, ad nauseum.

In a high profile area, your rent will be several thousand a month. Assuming you can get a 50% mark up on your books, you'll need sales in the $5000-$6,000 range just to cover your rent, let alone your salary, expenses and cost of replacing your inventory. If you want to make a living wage( $600 a week) plus have a little help around the shop, you are at $10,000 a month. Factor in advertising, telephone, cable, good will and you are at the $12,000 a month mark. Then you get into the mundane-accountants,taxes( self employment tax is double), business supplies, shrinkage,government licenses, electricity( air conditioning is essential), ad nauseum.

While you are running the store, you are not out getting new inventory, so will you pay finders fees to buyers or pay for staff to run the store while you shop?

Expecting nice collections to walk thru the door on a regular basis is not very

realistic.