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Copper's Heating/Selling Well on Ebay
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18,721 posts in this topic

On 12/19/2022 at 1:31 AM, kimik said:

Your comment re: $1 boxes is interesting. I have actually stopped taking $1 and $2 boxes to shows since everyone has them and I do not sell as many as I used to. Pre-covid I would move 3-5 longs easily each one day show. Since last fall I have noticed a change in buying patterns re: dollar books. Every other vendor has them at shows, and I am doing better using the space for $5+ hot modern retail and older back issue books (raw and slabbed) instead.

You sell in a more affluent area I would guess. My area without $1 books many will just pass by your booth completely. You have to draw them in. I am not saying you have to your booth full of them, but you need to have some. You want ever advantage you can get especially
if you competition has similar product.  My shows have 19 dealers of just comics so diversification and variety helps to a certain extent.

Edited by fastballspecial
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On 12/19/2022 at 8:38 PM, fastballspecial said:

You sell in a more affluent area I would guess. My area without $1 books many will just pass by your booth completely. You have to draw them in. I am not saying you have to your booth full of them, but you need to have some. You want ever advantage you can get especially
if you competition has similar product.  My shows have 19 dealers of just comics so diversification and variety helps to a certain extent.

Well huh. I always go past $1 books because they make the rounds, get picked over, and if they're not worth the time to price individually, I'm not particularly interested in doing it myself. I like boxes of books priced individually, because there I can decide if I like the price or not. $1 books are probably stuff I'd rather get at $0.10 each. Wall book boxes or sometimes boxes with groups of $5, $10, $20 are also nice. I'm happy if the dealers can get by bringing $1 boxes, but they are not my thing and I keep looking.

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On 12/19/2022 at 8:01 PM, PeterPark said:

Well huh. I always go past $1 books because they make the rounds, get picked over, and if they're not worth the time to price individually, I'm not particularly interested in doing it myself. I like boxes of books priced individually, because there I can decide if I like the price or not. $1 books are probably stuff I'd rather get at $0.10 each. Wall book boxes or sometimes boxes with groups of $5, $10, $20 are also nice. I'm happy if the dealers can get by bringing $1 boxes, but they are not my thing and I keep looking.

I <3 people like you. You're the reason I can get those $5, $10, $20 (or more) books out of dollar boxes because you don't see them and grab them first! Sure, not every dollar box is filled with treasure, but there is also plenty of overpriced junk in the individually-priced books.

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On 12/19/2022 at 7:38 PM, fastballspecial said:

You sell in a more affluent area I would guess. My area without $1 books many will just pass by your booth completely. You have to draw them in. I am not saying you have to your booth full of them, but you need to have some. You want ever advantage you can get especially
if you competition has similar product.  My shows have 19 dealers of just comics so diversification and variety helps to a certain extent.

From his posts, I always assume he sells in an alternate reality. What a waste of dimension-hopping tech.

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On 12/19/2022 at 6:38 PM, fastballspecial said:

You sell in a more affluent area I would guess. My area without $1 books many will just pass by your booth completely. You have to draw them in. I am not saying you have to your booth full of them, but you need to have some. You want ever advantage you can get especially
if you competition has similar product.  My shows have 19 dealers of just comics so diversification and variety helps to a certain extent.

No. It is the same as any other area. I view it this way - if most other sellers lack Copper and older books, I will be the one capturing those sales at a higher price point. In the end, I will sell fewer books and make 2x+ times what those sellers do (and yes, I know this from talking to those other dealers at the end of the show). In addition, as I am getting lazier as I get older, lugging 8 - 12 boxes of higher value books for two tables at a one day show is preferable to taking 20+. 

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On 12/19/2022 at 8:01 PM, PeterPark said:

Well huh. I always go past $1 books because they make the rounds, get picked over, and if they're not worth the time to price individually, I'm not particularly interested in doing it myself. I like boxes of books priced individually, because there I can decide if I like the price or not. $1 books are probably stuff I'd rather get at $0.10 each. Wall book boxes or sometimes boxes with groups of $5, $10, $20 are also nice. I'm happy if the dealers can get by bringing $1 boxes, but they are not my thing and I keep looking.

You are not the average show buyer.  Honestly I doubt many regulars on this board are.

Thats not an insult we are just more selective. My sales thread here I dont bring in alot of $1 books because
while I will sell some here its just not worth the time. At a comic show dollar books will keep lines of people
at your booth. If anything to look and then they see something on your rack or so on.

 

 

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On 12/19/2022 at 9:33 PM, Lazyboy said:

From his posts, I always assume he sells in an alternate reality. What a waste of dimension-hopping tech.

No. If you grade accurately, price at market and not 2x, and are willing to give deals to repeat customers, it is easy to sell at shows. The last one of the year I had some fun selling slabs to regular buyers with the discount being decided by the flip of a coin - 10% if I won, 20% if they won. It did not work out well for me as I had one buyer win three tosses in a row and hit 20% off on a couple of grand of books, but it was fun. lol 

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On 12/19/2022 at 10:31 PM, Lazyboy said:

I <3 people like you. You're the reason I can get those $5, $10, $20 (or more) books out of dollar boxes because you don't see them and grab them first! Sure, not every dollar box is filled with treasure, but there is also plenty of overpriced junk in the individually-priced books.

I do too honestly. We thank you from the bottom of our $1 dollar digging heart. 

 

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On 12/19/2022 at 10:38 PM, kimik said:

No. If you grade accurately, price at market and not 2x, and are willing to give deals to repeat customers, it is easy to sell at shows. The last one of the year I had some fun selling slabs to regular buyers with the discount being decided by the flip of a coin - 10% if I won, 20% if they won. It did not work out well for me as I had one buyer win three tosses in a row and hit 20% off on a couple of grand of books, but it was fun. lol 

I don't put on a show. I know other dealers that are successful with that its not my bag. I sell a decent amount of books and I make a little as the promoter everyone is happy.

I cover lunch and breakfast and have water bottles and hand sanitizer as well for dealers. They seem happy I never have yet to sell out a show.

 

Edited by fastballspecial
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On 12/19/2022 at 7:01 PM, PeterPark said:

Well huh. I always go past $1 books because they make the rounds, get picked over, and if they're not worth the time to price individually, I'm not particularly interested in doing it myself. I like boxes of books priced individually, because there I can decide if I like the price or not. $1 books are probably stuff I'd rather get at $0.10 each. Wall book boxes or sometimes boxes with groups of $5, $10, $20 are also nice. I'm happy if the dealers can get by bringing $1 boxes, but they are not my thing and I keep looking.

My dollar boxes used to have a bunch of low grade Silver and Bronze that were worth $10 - $20 in OSPG in grade, and they would sit. When I would price them up to guide and put them in my regular boxes, they would sell. It was funny to watch.

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On 12/19/2022 at 10:35 PM, kimik said:

No. It is the same as any other area. I view it this way - if most other sellers lack Copper and older books, I will be the one capturing those sales at a higher price point. In the end, I will sell fewer books and make 2x+ times what those sellers do (and yes, I know this from talking to those other dealers at the end of the show). In addition, as I am getting lazier as I get older, lugging 8 - 12 boxes of higher value books for two tables at a one day show is preferable to taking 20+. 

Ive heard this as well. Tomato/Tomatoe. I switched over to short boxes several years back. I will pack up and bring my whole inventory if I could.
I am the opposite I am a volume seller. I watched Mark Scott at my last show bring out what had to be at least 15k+ of books or more. He was busy
all day and made much more than any other dealer at my last show by far. He even brought 6 tables of his own. I was watching a Master Class in 
comic set up and I paid attention. 

 

 

Edited by fastballspecial
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On 12/19/2022 at 9:42 PM, fastballspecial said:

I don't put on a show. I know other dealers that are successful with that its not my bag. I sell a decent amount of books and I make a little as the promoter
everyone is happy.

I cover lunch and breakfast and have water bottles and hand sanitizer as well for dealers. They seem happy I never have yet to sell out a show.

 

Oh, I did not mean to imply that I put on shows. I have thought about it but never have as it is too much of a hassle dealing with some of the other sellers from what I have seen at shows. I prefer to come in, leisurely set up, and then pack up as fast as possible to grab dinner after the show with some other boardies.

It sounds like you are a good promoter based on that. Keep up the good work.

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On 12/19/2022 at 10:38 PM, kimik said:

No. If you grade accurately, price at market and not 2x, and are willing to give deals to repeat customers, it is easy to sell at shows.

I know. I sell at shows occasionally.

But I've never done or seen some of the things you've claimed in the past.

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On 12/19/2022 at 9:50 PM, Lazyboy said:

I know. I sell at shows occasionally.

But I've never done or seen some of the things you've claimed in the past.

Are you referring to sales totals? They are all accurate. That being said, I can remember doing shows in the early 00s locally when $500 was a good one-day show. Thank goodness those days are long past lol 

If I did this for a living then I would take a different approach, but this is a side hobby for fun. That is why I have fun giving regular buyers and kids a good deal. It is great to see the kids' eyes light up when you give them a great deal ($10-$20, depending on what they have to spend) on a decently valuable book ($50-$100) to help them get their collections going. 

Edited by kimik
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On 12/19/2022 at 9:47 PM, fastballspecial said:

I will pack up and bring my whole inventory if I could.

@kimik is my show partner.  I can attest that his posts are accurate.

My philosophy is like yours - I’d bring a load the size of Santa’s sleigh if I could.  And, like you, I try to bring some of everything.

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On 12/19/2022 at 10:41 PM, 500Club said:

@kimik is my show partner.  I can attest that his posts are accurate.

My philosophy is like yours - I’d bring a load the size of Santa’s sleigh if I could.  And, like you, I try to bring some of everything.

Hard to sell if you left it at home.  And variety is always wise, if the wall books aren't selling perhaps the $1 books are flying out.

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we do a local 1 day show twice a year, used to be 4 times a year. We alternate with 45 short boxes of $2/$5/$10 comics- Marvel/DC/Indy SA/BA/CA some modern, but nothing newer than 2015. Overly high amount of DC in the 20 cent to 50 cent era in addition to "wall" books (stuff over $75) which is a range of GA/SA/BA/CA and few modern. Almost no slabs. Also 8-10- short boxes of Magazines, books, digests, treasuries, fanzine, sketchbooks, real weird stuff.  The next show we bring 45 short boxes of individually priced books over $10,  (leave the 2/5/10 stuff at home) and all the other stuff mentioned above.

We do almost the same with each set up. Pre-covid we had gone 50% off the $2/5/10 boxes. It helped move volume. Post covid we stopped the 50% off, and probably now we need to bring it back as back issues have cooled considerably. On the 45 boxes of priced books $10-75, that inventory is not moving fast enough. We repriced during covid and the first few shows were killer, but now I think it's going soft.  We should probably just take 25% off of those. We have a very broad inventory of titles, not enough Marvels though. 3:1 ratio of DC to Marvel. We've added in new stock during covid, but mostly indy 2/5/10 stuff and ephemera. Those things take time to find the right buyer.  

Basically we've accumulated inventory in the $20 range that's too esoteric to move at a local 1 day show, too cheap to consign to MCS. God help me, does that mean I have to sell on the boards again??? I don't mind some aspects of that, but I work at a computer all day as it is, and I simply hate dealing with shipping. 

Edited by MyNameIsLegion
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On 12/19/2022 at 10:56 PM, kimik said:

Are you referring to sales totals? They are all accurate.

No, not totals.

On 12/19/2022 at 10:56 PM, kimik said:

That being said, I can remember doing shows in the early 00s locally when $500 was a good one-day show. Thank goodness those days are long past lol 

Yeah, $500 should not be a good one-day total. That's around my worst, though it's still not terrible for a $50 table.

I meant specific examples of sales well above FMV that you've mentioned.

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On 12/20/2022 at 2:06 AM, thehumantorch said:
On 12/19/2022 at 10:41 PM, 500Club said:

@kimik is my show partner.  I can attest that his posts are accurate.

My philosophy is like yours - I’d bring a load the size of Santa’s sleigh if I could.  And, like you, I try to bring some of everything.

Hard to sell if you left it at home.  And variety is always wise, if the wall books aren't selling perhaps the $1 books are flying out.

If you two and @500club bring $1 books, there is no need for me to do the same and compete for sales. Thankfully, now that I have dumped all of my $1 boxes on another seller that will not be an issue going forward. lol 

I may start competing with you by putting up 25% off signs on boxes now though...... :devil:

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