Do dealers WANT to sell their books?

[HOTFLIPS]

If they don't need money, why schlep boxes across the country to go to shows? Why even be in the comic business?

 

The only advantage I can assume is probably some fiscal thing where the inflated value of their inventory is a tax-deductible at the end of the year or something, in which case I could see why NOT selling is the way to go...

 

 

Are you just making this stuff up as you type? Obviously you know nothing about the secret world of comic dealers, the big round table at Comic Con, the special signs which enable you to great "dealer" discounts, nor the comraderie one gets from being in The Brotherhood or The Guild.

No one schelps boxes all over the country. The big dealers maintain show stocks in the spare bedrooms of their various weekend homes. It's a social circuit. Summers in San Diego, a jaunt to New York in the fall, Chi-town in the Spring.

And don't forget the lackeys (thumbs u

 

And the secret handshakes.

[VintageComics]

If they don't need money, why schlep boxes across the country to go to shows? Why even be in the comic business?

 

The only advantage I can assume is probably some fiscal thing where the inflated value of their inventory is a tax-deductible at the end of the year or something, in which case I could see why NOT selling is the way to go...

 

 

Are you just making this stuff up as you type? Obviously you know nothing about the secret world of comic dealers, the big round table at Comic Con, the special signs which enable you to great "dealer" discounts, nor the comraderie one gets from being in The Brotherhood or The Guild.

No one schelps boxes all over the country. The big dealers maintain show stocks in the spare bedrooms of their various weekend homes. It's a social circuit. Summers in San Diego, a jaunt to New York in the fall, Chi-town in the Spring.

And don't forget the lackeys (thumbs u

 

And the secret handshakes.

 

You forgot all the free women that can't wait to get a piece of you because you live the glamorous life as a dealer.

 

 

[HOTFLIPS]

If they don't need money, why schlep boxes across the country to go to shows? Why even be in the comic business?

 

The only advantage I can assume is probably some fiscal thing where the inflated value of their inventory is a tax-deductible at the end of the year or something, in which case I could see why NOT selling is the way to go...

 

 

Are you just making this stuff up as you type? Obviously you know nothing about the secret world of comic dealers, the big round table at Comic Con, the special signs which enable you to great "dealer" discounts, nor the comraderie one gets from being in The Brotherhood or The Guild.

No one schelps boxes all over the country. The big dealers maintain show stocks in the spare bedrooms of their various weekend homes. It's a social circuit. Summers in San Diego, a jaunt to New York in the fall, Chi-town in the Spring.

And don't forget the lackeys (thumbs u

 

And the secret handshakes.

 

You forgot all the free women that can't wait to get a piece of you because you live the glamorous life as a dealer.

 

 

Thats really not a perk as a comic dealer as it happens when I go grocery shopping as well.

[MarkWoodcock]

And it costs me nothing to carry the book around

What do you mean? What about things like opportunity cost, ROI, time value of money, etc.? The book might not require you to expend more money, but the money that you spent to acquire the book in the first place could be earning more money for you in a different, possibly much safer investment. If you`re not beating those other benchmarks, then that book is indeed losing money for you even if you`re not losing money in an unsophisticated layman`s sense.

 

 

EXACTLY!

 

If you're a comic book dealer, then it is a BUSINESS and money is money whether it's sitting in a Tip Top #23 or a 401K.

[MarkWoodcock]

I don't think we're referring to the cream -- it's the other 90%.

 

No, I wasn't referring to the cream. I totally get that - it's like white dress shirts - you don't mark those down (if they're priced right) because everyone needs a white dress shirt at some point.

 

I was referring to the skim milk that sits there for a long time BECAUSE IT'S PRICED WRONG and also books like Dominatrix Duck #3 that don't come up enough in high grade to really test the market but once the market has been tested and it tells you: "Yes, we want this book but you're living on Planet Zzutaak if you think any of us is EVER going to pay that price."

 

I have no problem with throwing a price against the wall and seeing if it sticks. However, after a year or two of it oozing down the wall and going plop, then it's time to reprice it and sell it. I don't get why dealers don't reprice things. It strikes me as a really bad business practice.

[skypinkblu]

I don't think we're referring to the cream -- it's the other 90%.

 

No, I wasn't referring to the cream. I totally get that - it's like white dress shirts - you don't mark those down (if they're priced right) because everyone needs a white dress shirt at some point.

 

I was referring to the skim milk that sits there for a long time BECAUSE IT'S PRICED WRONG and also books like Dominatrix Duck #3 that don't come up enough in high grade to really test the market but once the market has been tested and it tells you: "Yes, we want this book but you're living on Planet Zzutaak if you think any of us is EVER going to pay that price."

 

I have no problem with throwing a price against the wall and seeing if it sticks. However, after a year or two of it oozing down the wall and going plop, then it's time to reprice it and sell it. I don't get why dealers don't reprice things. It strikes me as a really bad business practice.

 

Some of them might be a tad irrational;) OR, they firmly believe that there is a sucker born every minute...

 

Dominatrix Duck #3

[chrisco37]

There's a local dealer here who owns a store, has several slabs, but no clue as to the pricing reality. He keeps insisting they "must" be worth his price. And he does need the money. But he's been like this for 25 years, so he has it in his head what they "should" be worth and every 5 year high sale must be the "true" value . The "insulting" offers he gets on Comiclink for Fair Market Value are just "ludicrous" to him.

 

 

PM me this info.

[shadroch]

 

 

Some of them might be a tad irrational;) OR, they firmly believe that there is a sucker born every minute...

 

 

Might be a tad irrational? Thats pretty optimistic. We're talking about comic dealers here.

[tth2]

And it costs me nothing to carry the book around

What do you mean? What about things like opportunity cost, ROI, time value of money, etc.? The book might not require you to expend more money, but the money that you spent to acquire the book in the first place could be earning more money for you in a different, possibly much safer investment. If you`re not beating those other benchmarks, then that book is indeed losing money for you even if you`re not losing money in an unsophisticated layman`s sense.

 

 

EXACTLY!

 

If you're a comic book dealer, then it is a BUSINESS and money is money whether it's sitting in a Tip Top #23 or a 401K.

I think the first problem is that most comic dealers don't even understand the concept of opportunity cost.

 

[thehumantorch]

I don't think we're referring to the cream -- it's the other 90%.

 

No, I wasn't referring to the cream. I totally get that - it's like white dress shirts - you don't mark those down (if they're priced right) because everyone needs a white dress shirt at some point.

 

I was referring to the skim milk that sits there for a long time BECAUSE IT'S PRICED WRONG and also books like Dominatrix Duck #3 that don't come up enough in high grade to really test the market but once the market has been tested and it tells you: "Yes, we want this book but you're living on Planet Zzutaak if you think any of us is EVER going to pay that price."

 

I have no problem with throwing a price against the wall and seeing if it sticks. However, after a year or two of it oozing down the wall and going plop, then it's time to reprice it and sell it. I don't get why dealers don't reprice things. It strikes me as a really bad business practice.

 

Interesting discussion Mark but all I can think about is how much

I like your last name.

 

I will say that when we do local shows we take books that we don't want to sell.

They draw eyes and shoppers to our booth. If someone wants to pay a premium for any of those books we will take it. Generally these are high demand books.

 

At the last show we were at the seller beside us complained that he hadn't sold a slab in many shows. I looked at his slabs and they were all mid grade, low demand books. One mid grade, late 50s War book was in a PGX case and I wanted to buy it just to study the case as I've never seen a PGX book up close before. He wanted double mint guide for it and would not budge. :shrug:

[october]

And it costs me nothing to carry the book around

What do you mean? What about things like opportunity cost, ROI, time value of money, etc.? The book might not require you to expend more money, but the money that you spent to acquire the book in the first place could be earning more money for you in a different, possibly much safer investment. If you`re not beating those other benchmarks, then that book is indeed losing money for you even if you`re not losing money in an unsophisticated layman`s sense.

 

Very true. On top of that, dealers often have cash flow problems which generally stem from a low turnover rate. If I make a bad buy, I acknowledge it, take a loss, learn from it, and put the money towards a purchase that makes sense....a purchase I may not have been able to afford if I had just hung on to bad inventory like grim death.

[Timmay]

If they don't need money, why schlep boxes across the country to go to shows? Why even be in the comic business?

 

The only advantage I can assume is probably some fiscal thing where the inflated value of their inventory is a tax-deductible at the end of the year or something, in which case I could see why NOT selling is the way to go...

 

 

Are you just making this stuff up as you type? Obviously you know nothing about the secret world of comic dealers, the big round table at Comic Con, the special signs which enable you to great "dealer" discounts, nor the comraderie one gets from being in The Brotherhood or The Guild.

No one schelps boxes all over the country. The big dealers maintain show stocks in the spare bedrooms of their various weekend homes. It's a social circuit. Summers in San Diego, a jaunt to New York in the fall, Chi-town in the Spring.

And don't forget the lackeys (thumbs u

 

And the secret handshakes.

 

You forgot all the free women that can't wait to get a piece of you because you live the glamorous life as a dealer.

 

 

Thats really not a perk as a comic dealer as it happens when I go grocery shopping as well.

 

You shop for your own groceries?

[kimik]

I don't think we're referring to the cream -- it's the other 90%.

 

No, I wasn't referring to the cream. I totally get that - it's like white dress shirts - you don't mark those down (if they're priced right) because everyone needs a white dress shirt at some point.

 

I was referring to the skim milk that sits there for a long time BECAUSE IT'S PRICED WRONG and also books like Dominatrix Duck #3 that don't come up enough in high grade to really test the market but once the market has been tested and it tells you: "Yes, we want this book but you're living on Planet Zzutaak if you think any of us is EVER going to pay that price."

 

I have no problem with throwing a price against the wall and seeing if it sticks. However, after a year or two of it oozing down the wall and going plop, then it's time to reprice it and sell it. I don't get why dealers don't reprice things. It strikes me as a really bad business practice.

 

Interesting discussion Mark but all I can think about is how much

I like your last name.

 

I will say that when we do local shows we take books that we don't want to sell.

They draw eyes and shoppers to our booth. If someone wants to pay a premium for any of those books we will take it. Generally these are high demand books.

 

At the last show we were at the seller beside us complained that he hadn't sold a slab in many shows. I looked at his slabs and they were all mid grade, low demand books. One mid grade, late 50s War book was in a PGX case and I wanted to buy it just to study the case as I've never seen a PGX book up close before. He wanted double mint guide for it and would not budge. :shrug:

 

Dave, I should have a cracked PGX case or two kicking around the basement. I can bring one the next time we meet so you can see the difference.

[tth2]

And it costs me nothing to carry the book around

What do you mean? What about things like opportunity cost, ROI, time value of money, etc.? The book might not require you to expend more money, but the money that you spent to acquire the book in the first place could be earning more money for you in a different, possibly much safer investment. If you`re not beating those other benchmarks, then that book is indeed losing money for you even if you`re not losing money in an unsophisticated layman`s sense.

 

Very true. On top of that, dealers often have cash flow problems which generally stem from a low turnover rate. If I make a bad buy, I acknowledge it, take a loss, learn from it, and put the money towards a purchase that makes sense....a purchase I may not have been able to afford if I had just hung on to bad inventory like grim death.

Yeah, but by virtue of your business degree, you're a bit more sophisticated than the average person and a lot more sophisticated than the average comic dealer.

[RockMyAmadeus]

I seriously doubt Bob's data gathering skills were any better back then than they are today, so I doubt that he set his prices any more systematically or accurately back then than today.

 

Fwiw, Jon Warren, longtime editor of the (pre-Fan) Overstreet monthly guide, used to talk about his multi-user mainframe sytem and its data sifting abilities. I was surprised to notice recently that he developed the Heritage setup under the hood, so obviously he kept a hand in slicing and dicing comics data over the years.

 

What Overstreet did or didn't do with it back then for the big guide is of course another matter.

 

Jon Warren is a man I respect a great deal. He and Keith Contarino understood the market in ways few people ever have.

[RockMyAmadeus]

And it costs me nothing to carry the book around

What do you mean? What about things like opportunity cost, ROI, time value of money, etc.? The book might not require you to expend more money, but the money that you spent to acquire the book in the first place could be earning more money for you in a different, possibly much safer investment. If you`re not beating those other benchmarks, then that book is indeed losing money for you even if you`re not losing money in an unsophisticated layman`s sense.

 

 

EXACTLY!

 

If you're a comic book dealer, then it is a BUSINESS and money is money whether it's sitting in a Tip Top #23 or a 401K.

I think the first problem is that most comic dealers don't even understand the concept of opportunity cost.

 

Opportunity cost is a difficult concept to grasp for 3rd year business majors. It's not something Joe Q. Public can easily understand, nor is it very intuitive, which is, of course, why so many dealers went under in the mid 90's.

 

 

[G.A.tor]

And it costs me nothing to carry the book around

What do you mean? What about things like opportunity cost, ROI, time value of money, etc.? The book might not require you to expend more money, but the money that you spent to acquire the book in the first place could be earning more money for you in a different, possibly much safer investment. If you`re not beating those other benchmarks, then that book is indeed losing money for you even if you`re not losing money in an unsophisticated layman`s sense.

 

Very true. On top of that, dealers often have cash flow problems which generally stem from a low turnover rate. If I make a bad buy, I acknowledge it, take a loss, learn from it, and put the money towards a purchase that makes sense....a purchase I may not have been able to afford if I had just hung on to bad inventory like grim death.

Yeah, but by virtue of your business degree, you're a bit more sophisticated than the average person and a lot more sophisticated than the average comic dealer.

Vanderbilt, really

[G.A.tor]

And it costs me nothing to carry the book around

What do you mean? What about things like opportunity cost, ROI, time value of money, etc.? The book might not require you to expend more money, but the money that you spent to acquire the book in the first place could be earning more money for you in a different, possibly much safer investment. If you`re not beating those other benchmarks, then that book is indeed losing money for you even if you`re not losing money in an unsophisticated layman`s sense.

 

 

EXACTLY!

 

If you're a comic book dealer, then it is a BUSINESS and money is money whether it's sitting in a Tip Top #23 or a 401K.

I think the first problem is that most comic dealers don't even understand the concept of opportunity cost.

 

Opportunity cost is a difficult concept to grasp for 3rd year business majors. It's not something Joe Q. Public can easily understand, nor is it very intuitive, which is, of course, why so many dealers went under in the mid 90's.

 

I disagree a wee little bit... I have found it very easy to explain opportunity costs (even to my kids)... I believe the average person can comprehend (it is a very simple concept), they just choose not too

[mysterio]

Maybe opportunity cost can be illustrated very easily in comic terms. For example, if you put your money into a complete run of West Coast Avengers for $100 at a show, that is $100 less that you can spend on a book that you see at the next booth. Money is a finite resource (for most of us, anyway) and the way you divide that resource up will dictate how well that resource returns value to the consumer.

 

But then, I'm an anthropologist so what do I know about economics...

[fantastic_four]

Understanding the concept of opportunity cost is easy, but understanding how and when minimizing it can increase your sales is difficult. A kid won't grasp this, nor will the majority of dealers. I'm not sure most of the people talking about the concept here grasp it either; I know I don't.