Do dealers WANT to sell their books?

[MrBedrock]

I'm not disagreeing with you here, though you seem to think I am.

I'm not disagreeing with you either, though I do think you are completely wrong.

[G.A.tor]

I'm not disagreeing with you here, though you seem to think I am.

I'm not disagreeing with you either, though I do think you are completely wrong.

[Transplant]

Different target markets, right?

Not if the goal is a sale. In both instances the target market is a buyer.

Treat 'em all the same and the guy with $30 in his pocket now will come back when he has $30,000 in his account later.

I just wish certain dealers would stop fleecing me on pretty White paged Fawcetts.

[VintageComics]

Different target markets, right?

Not if the goal is a sale. In both instances the target market is a buyer.

Treat 'em all the same and the guy with $30 in his pocket now will come back when he has $30,000 in his account later.

I just wish certain dealers would stop fleecing me on pretty White paged Fawcetts.

 

Exactly.

 

[VintageComics]

I'm not disagreeing with you here, though you seem to think I am.

I'm not disagreeing with you either, though I do think you are completely wrong.

 

What am I wrong about if I'm not disagreeing with you?

 

[the blob]

Metropolis prices relatively high and doesn't seem to have a problem with a deep inventory and sitting on the books they want to keep. They seem to be doing just fine (they had the burliest security at NYCC).

 

They don't mind blowing out there cheaper stuff now and then.

 

Of course, just how deep do you want to be with Tracy 22 or whatever...nice book, but there's a limit.

 

Also, it's not a "bubble" when prices are maintained due to dealers maintaining a lot of inventory and not pricing it to sell quickly. The price may be artificial versus a world where every bit of inventory or collection is listed in an ebay store, but it not unlike any other sort of collectible. Diamonds are expensive because we think they should be and the diamond cartels make sure that the inventory doesn't flood the market, they just let a bit out at a time.

[Hamlet]

I don't know that we have any idea how Metropolis is doing as a business. They could be doing great, or they could have a constantly expanding inventory that is eating up money, but have deep enough pockets to continue feeding it.

 

Unless someone has access to their internal business numbers, there really isn't any way to know for sure.

 

All that inventory does have an opportunity cost.

 

I'm sure it also gets them a ton of sales from people who are looking for hard to find books but aren't particularly price sensitive.

 

Overall, I think their strategy makes more sense the rarer a book is.

 

I can't imagine paying their prices for an ASM when I could just get a copy on Ebay or the boards for quite a bit less.

 

If I was interested in collecting Church copies of a particular series though, they would be the first place I looked.

 

 

Metropolis prices relatively high and doesn't seem to have a problem with a deep inventory and sitting on the books they want to keep. They seem to be doing just fine (they had the burliest security at NYCC).

 

They don't mind blowing out there cheaper stuff now and then.

 

Of course, just how deep do you want to be with Tracy 22 or whatever...nice book, but there's a limit.

 

Also, it's not a "bubble" when prices are maintained due to dealers maintaining a lot of inventory and not pricing it to sell quickly. The price may be artificial versus a world where every bit of inventory or collection is listed in an ebay store, but it not unlike any other sort of collectible. Diamonds are expensive because we think they should be and the diamond cartels make sure that the inventory doesn't flood the market, they just let a bit out at a time.

[otherworldsj33]

Over time, if one has really looked at the pricing of their (specically) better books, like the truely rare, the keys and the semi keys, they are far from always being the highest priced dealer. And in fact, all in all, for the more expensive books, especially in todays modern cgc/auction crazed climate, I think their pricing for such books is for the most part reasonable, and usually competitive.

[Ted Knight]

I don't know that we have any idea how Metropolis is doing as a business. They could be doing great, or they could have a constantly expanding inventory that is eating up money, but have deep enough pockets to continue feeding it.

 

Unless someone has access to their internal business numbers, there really isn't any way to know for sure.

 

All that inventory does have an opportunity cost.

 

I'm sure it also gets them a ton of sales from people who are looking for hard to find books but aren't particularly price sensitive.

 

Overall, I think their strategy makes more sense the rarer a book is.

 

I can't imagine paying their prices for an ASM when I could just get a copy on Ebay or the boards for quite a bit less.

 

If I was interested in collecting Church copies of a particular series though, they would be the first place I looked.

 

 

Metropolis prices relatively high and doesn't seem to have a problem with a deep inventory and sitting on the books they want to keep. They seem to be doing just fine (they had the burliest security at NYCC).

 

They don't mind blowing out there cheaper stuff now and then.

 

Of course, just how deep do you want to be with Tracy 22 or whatever...nice book, but there's a limit.

 

Also, it's not a "bubble" when prices are maintained due to dealers maintaining a lot of inventory and not pricing it to sell quickly. The price may be artificial versus a world where every bit of inventory or collection is listed in an ebay store, but it not unlike any other sort of collectible. Diamonds are expensive because we think they should be and the diamond cartels make sure that the inventory doesn't flood the market, they just let a bit out at a time.

 

Agree completely with Hamlet. And diamonds are a terrible example. Diamonds are expensive because a small group of people cornered the market and supply on the raw minerals, colluded among each other to restrict supply in order to prop up an extremely profitable selling price, and propagated a myth about how much a diamond should cost. And that is the sort of thing that thrives in an "unregulated free market".

 

But it is still a bubble. Bubble economics are all about control or perceived control over the factors that effect price and availability. Sound familiar?

[jimjum12]

I thought everyone already knew this......but the "convention circuit" was never intended as a means to sell comics. Most of the larger nationwide dealers designed the circuit as a cover for a nationwide "members only" Swingers Club in which the proceeds are actually derived from said dealers participating for monetary compensation in a far more lucrative and primal market than comics. Any comics sold are incidental and mere "butter on the muffin". It has been this way for years. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[tth2]

Suddenly those Theo Holstein ads start to make sense.

[jimjum12]

Suddenly those Theo Holstein ads start to make sense.

 

If I recall correctly, they called themselves "Pony Express Travellin' Stud Farm".....and if one purchased an "Action 1", one received a Whole Lotta Customer Service. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u