LCS Using eBay as a Price Guide

[Dr. Balls]

QUESTION to the FORUM: How can LCS's avoid this problem and still be able to make price adjustments for overnight hot books? I guess don't price anything and look it up on a book by book basis in the back before quoting prices.

 

How about "Don't be lazy and do your job researching what is hot and what is not for your business sector."

 

I operated my comic shop by doing researching, finding out what was going to be hot, selling books on bulletin boards (in 1996) and actually *doing work* instead of sitting around keeping the counter from hitting the ceiling. And this was the days that we only had Wizard. SO much more resources now to utilize.

 

I have zero sympathy for owners who think simply unlocking the door to their business entitles them to making money.

[500Club]

The fundamental flaw in a few people's logic posting up is that the person wanting to buy multiple copies of the just now hot book represent the only chance the LCS has of ever selling said books. That buyer/flipper is not the only chance they have. The buyer/flipper is wanting to purchase multiple copies BECAUSE it's a hot book and they got there first. There will be other opportunities. In store most likely, online if need be.

 

Believe it or not, businesses really do sell stuff for what it is worth to the buyer, not what it costs them to make/acquire it. If they can sell their products for more than it costs them, they make money. If they can sell it for lots more than it costs them, they make lots of money. If buyers won't pay what it costs them, they go out of business. What I've said above just restates a universally accepted truth - Something is worth only what it is worth to the buyer.

You are saying the exact same thing we are, just from the polar opposite perspective. We've been arguing from the cash flow and inventory side of the equation; you are arguing from the margin/ROI side of the equation.

 

The criticism levelled at LCS's in general is that they set a price point where the chance to sell the book is rare to never. This completely destroys cash flow and is the epitome of 'opportunity cost of holding inventory' taught in economics classes.

 

As you lower the price point, those chances become more frequent. Lower prices too far, and your margin is minimal, making it not worthwhile to be selling the item at all. The challenge is to find the optimal price point.

[the blob]

the OP was trying to pull a fast one on the dude,

 

 

 

It's not a fast one. It's called trying to buy something, finding out how much it costs, etc. Many shops don't really care much about "ebay" prices if they are not on ebay. Not to mention, how is it a $20 book? 1 or 2 sales? asking prices? I found a copy of the 500 copy Bendis signed Dynamic Forces dinky in one of my boxes and it turn out the last sale was only $9.99! you guys had got me all excited, i thought the DF version might be going for $50!

 

With that said, the OP made it too obvious. When I am buying multiples of something like this (a formerly worthless book that is now hot) out of a back issue bin I mix them up in my pile and probably buy a few copies of "borderline" stuff to make it less obvious that I am buying these, I don't just cherry pick the best flips.

 

This is how I managed to snag about 30 copies of Albedo 3 over the course of 2 months from one of my LCSs. he must have been clearing out some old stock from the basement and I see 5 copies one day in the cheap-o box. he obviously doesn't know what it is or has forgotten. I know it is a $10-$25 book and, also, from past experience, if he has 5 copies of something, he likely has another 5-30 copies in storage, but I don't just pull those 5 copies out and walk up to the register, because then he'll know something is up and either check to see what they're going for and not sell them to me or check the price the next time he re-stocks the cheapo-o box. those 5 copies got mixed in with other stuff, some get turned fback cover facing front, and sure as heck weren't all together in the pile. this technique has resulted in me never getting an "hey wait a minute" when buying multiples of some overlooked book out of the cheap-o box.

 

yes, depending on the pickings this sometimes results in me buying some additional not particularly flippable books, so i try my best to even out the pile with good reads and what not.

[the blob]

The fundamental flaw in a few people's logic posting up is that the person wanting to buy multiple copies of the just now hot book represent the only chance the LCS has of ever selling said books. That buyer/flipper is not the only chance they have. The buyer/flipper is wanting to purchase multiple copies BECAUSE it's a hot book and they got there first. There will be other opportunities. In store most likely, online if need be.

 

Believe it or not, businesses really do sell stuff for what it is worth to the buyer, not what it costs them to make/acquire it. If they can sell their products for more than it costs them, they make money. If they can sell it for lots more than it costs them, they make lots of money. If buyers won't pay what it costs them, they go out of business. What I've said above just restates a universally accepted truth - Something is worth only what it is worth to the buyer.

You are saying the exact same thing we are, just from the polar opposite perspective. We've been arguing from the cash flow and inventory side of the equation; you are arguing from the margin/ROI side of the equation.

 

The criticism levelled at LCS's in general is that they set a price point where the chance to sell the book is rare to never. This completely destroys cash flow and is the epitome of 'opportunity cost of holding inventory' taught in economics classes.

 

As you lower the price point, those chances become more frequent. Lower prices too far, and your margin is minimal, making it not worthwhile to be selling the item at all. The challenge is to find the optimal price point.

 

The problem is the clerk doesn't own the business and probably doesn't care. The smart thing to do would be to say "hmm, I see that's going for about $20 on ebay, how about $10?" and I suspect many comic shop owners might have done the same.

 

sure, the OP probably wouldn't have bought it, but the OP probably wouldn't have been as ticked off about the whole process and lost as a future customer.

[joecgcmaniac]

The fundamental flaw in a few people's logic posting up is that the person wanting to buy multiple copies of the just now hot book represent the only chance the LCS has of ever selling said books. That buyer/flipper is not the only chance they have. The buyer/flipper is wanting to purchase multiple copies BECAUSE it's a hot book and they got there first. There will be other opportunities. In store most likely, online if need be.

 

Believe it or not, businesses really do sell stuff for what it is worth to the buyer, not what it costs them to make/acquire it. If they can sell their products for more than it costs them, they make money. If they can sell it for lots more than it costs them, they make lots of money. If buyers won't pay what it costs them, they go out of business. What I've said above just restates a universally accepted truth - Something is worth only what it is worth to the buyer.

You are saying the exact same thing we are, just from the polar opposite perspective. We've been arguing from the cash flow and inventory side of the equation; you are arguing from the margin/ROI side of the equation.

 

The criticism levelled at LCS's in general is that they set a price point where the chance to sell the book is rare to never. This completely destroys cash flow and is the epitome of 'opportunity cost of holding inventory' taught in economics classes.

 

As you lower the price point, those chances become more frequent. Lower prices too far, and your margin is minimal, making it not worthwhile to be selling the item at all. The challenge is to find the optimal price point.

 

The problem is the clerk doesn't own the business and probably doesn't care. The smart thing to do would be to say "hmm, I see that's going for about $20 on ebay, how about $10?" and I suspect many comic shop owners might have done the same.

 

sure, the OP probably wouldn't have bought it, but the OP probably wouldn't have been as ticked off about the whole process and lost as a future customer.

 

But the OP never said whether or not he even tried negotiating price. Considering how he reacts, I doubt he did. I like how people complain about how LCS's price their books, yet they don't even try to negotiate the price down at all, they just storm out with their panties in a bunch.

[mackenzie999]

LCS owners are free to manage their businesses however they like, and let economic Darwinism run it's course. If their practices hinder the business of selling books (unpriced, etc) to the extent that they lose customers, they will either adapt & survive, or they won't.

 

Personally I couldn't be bothered with a store that didn't price it's mdse, so they would lose my custom. If enough potential customers in the area felt that way, the lcs would be out of business if they did not react accordingly.

[Tony S]

The fundamental flaw in a few people's logic posting up is that the person wanting to buy multiple copies of the just now hot book represent the only chance the LCS has of ever selling said books. That buyer/flipper is not the only chance they have. The buyer/flipper is wanting to purchase multiple copies BECAUSE it's a hot book and they got there first. There will be other opportunities. In store most likely, online if need be.

 

Believe it or not, businesses really do sell stuff for what it is worth to the buyer, not what it costs them to make/acquire it. If they can sell their products for more than it costs them, they make money. If they can sell it for lots more than it costs them, they make lots of money. If buyers won't pay what it costs them, they go out of business. What I've said above just restates a universally accepted truth - Something is worth only what it is worth to the buyer.

You are saying the exact same thing we are, just from the polar opposite perspective. We've been arguing from the cash flow and inventory side of the equation; you are arguing from the margin/ROI side of the equation.

 

The criticism levelled at LCS's in general is that they set a price point where the chance to sell the book is rare to never. This completely destroys cash flow and is the epitome of 'opportunity cost of holding inventory' taught in economics classes.

 

As you lower the price point, those chances become more frequent. Lower prices too far, and your margin is minimal, making it not worthwhile to be selling the item at all. The challenge is to find the optimal price point.

 

The problem is the clerk doesn't own the business and probably doesn't care. The smart thing to do would be to say "hmm, I see that's going for about $20 on ebay, how about $10?" and I suspect many comic shop owners might have done the same.

 

sure, the OP probably wouldn't have bought it, but the OP probably wouldn't have been as ticked off about the whole process and lost as a future customer.

 

I am in 100% agreement with the two comments above. What has been odd for me about the entire discussion is that it is much more common for me to be discussing with dealers the importance of cash flow and money turn over. But the examples that have been bandied about ($2 for a $20 book and $1 for a $75 book) are simply to extreme in the opposite direction. Retailers of any type have to consider replacement costs as well. Once all the Alias 1's are gone, you have none to sell to a customer that walks in hoping to buy one for or close to the current price.

 

In the instance that the OP posted up about, had the OP been willing to pay say $10, the clerk's best course of action would have been to contact the owner and say "got a guy interested in......" Based on what was posted up, the OP never entered into a discussion of what he thought would be reasonable.

 

BTW, I just now got around to looking in the current OPG for the price of Alias. It's $8 - in Ovestreet's top listed condition of NM-. So perhaps $20 for a cherry picked best of six copies isn't so unreasonable by any standard?

[Hamlet]

Yup, and at least from my experience, I agree that many LCS's price their inventory too high to make it a real profit center, because they rarely turn over their books.

 

I have a LCS that has a huge amount of space devoted to back issues that don't appear to ever sell, because everything is priced at multiples of FMV. I'm not exactly sure how they stay in business. I'm assuming that they sell a large number of new issues and trades, but their back issues appear remarkably stagnant. I suspect that they would be better off using that space to sell something else.

 

On the other hand, I have a LCS that sells very cheaply. They don't sit on inventory. The downside of that is that they often don't have many back issues available at all, but when they don't have many back issues, they fill the space with something else. Right now they are selling Marvel Masterworks for $10/each that they must have got in some warehouse deal. They're moving them pretty quickly at that price, so I imagine they will need to find something else to put in that space soon.

 

The interesting thing about it is that like most LCS's, the first store doesn't buy back issues, since they don't sell many of them. The second LCS is happy to buy collections, but at a pretty low price. They get stuff in though, because they are one of the few places in the metro area that will actually buy comics.

 

 

 

You are saying the exact same thing we are, just from the polar opposite perspective. We've been arguing from the cash flow and inventory side of the equation; you are arguing from the margin/ROI side of the equation.

 

The criticism levelled at LCS's in general is that they set a price point where the chance to sell the book is rare to never. This completely destroys cash flow and is the epitome of 'opportunity cost of holding inventory' taught in economics classes.

 

As you lower the price point, those chances become more frequent. Lower prices too far, and your margin is minimal, making it not worthwhile to be selling the item at all. The challenge is to find the optimal price point.

[the blob]

The fundamental flaw in a few people's logic posting up is that the person wanting to buy multiple copies of the just now hot book represent the only chance the LCS has of ever selling said books. That buyer/flipper is not the only chance they have. The buyer/flipper is wanting to purchase multiple copies BECAUSE it's a hot book and they got there first. There will be other opportunities. In store most likely, online if need be.

 

Believe it or not, businesses really do sell stuff for what it is worth to the buyer, not what it costs them to make/acquire it. If they can sell their products for more than it costs them, they make money. If they can sell it for lots more than it costs them, they make lots of money. If buyers won't pay what it costs them, they go out of business. What I've said above just restates a universally accepted truth - Something is worth only what it is worth to the buyer.

You are saying the exact same thing we are, just from the polar opposite perspective. We've been arguing from the cash flow and inventory side of the equation; you are arguing from the margin/ROI side of the equation.

 

The criticism levelled at LCS's in general is that they set a price point where the chance to sell the book is rare to never. This completely destroys cash flow and is the epitome of 'opportunity cost of holding inventory' taught in economics classes.

 

As you lower the price point, those chances become more frequent. Lower prices too far, and your margin is minimal, making it not worthwhile to be selling the item at all. The challenge is to find the optimal price point.

 

The problem is the clerk doesn't own the business and probably doesn't care. The smart thing to do would be to say "hmm, I see that's going for about $20 on ebay, how about $10?" and I suspect many comic shop owners might have done the same.

 

sure, the OP probably wouldn't have bought it, but the OP probably wouldn't have been as ticked off about the whole process and lost as a future customer.

 

But the OP never said whether or not he even tried negotiating price. Considering how he reacts, I doubt he did. I like how people complain about how LCS's price their books, yet they don't even try to negotiate the price down at all, they just storm out with their panties in a bunch.

 

the guy has brought 3 copies of a hot book to the store's attention that have been languishing in a box and likely would have continued to languish. offering one copy up at half "ebay" price doesn't seem to be all that much. i understand the lack of desire to haggle as i have found that haggling in a comic shop is usually a waste of time as most comic shop owners seem to think that you have profaned their mother if you try and get a few bucks knocked off unless you are a regular or spending $300.

[RockMyAmadeus]

This thread used to be interesting, until it turned into RMA's own personal soapbox about how comic book stores should operate. Since he knows so much, maybe he should open one. Given that he'll be selling everything cheap, I'll be a customer

 

 

If you can't have a discussion without being offended and taking comments personally...especially when someone corrects you...you would be well served to not take part at all.

 

 

 

 

[Tony S]

Never realized how good we have it in Evansville, Indiana. Based experiences quoted here, our comic book stores are gems

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

A few brief points though:

 

Yes, employees do have free time. I begin to think there aren't too many managers on this thread either.

 

When I was a project manager, working under contract for Federated Dept. Stores (Macy*s, Bloomingdales), my independent contractors (Journeyman and Apprentice carpenters) never had "free time", except during their breaks. And any worker that was standing around with "free time" was quickly told to get to work.

 

Employees are not paid to have "free time." That comic store clerks DO "stand around" with "free time" is yet another symptom of poor management.

 

So, again, simply assuming employees have "free time" to package an item, especially when it is not a normal situation, is an assumption you simply cannot make.

 

People on selling on eBay charge for shipping. If shipping is "free" it's not really. It's built into the price

 

Don't know what this refers to, but if shipping is free, that means this particular example...Alias #1...is in even worse shape. Media Mail for one book is a minimum of about $3, materials and postage included, and if you can't ship MM, First Class is the cheapest...and since it goes by the ounce (and can't be over 13 ounces) and Alias #1 weighs approximately 5 ounces, that means there will be little to no packaging...and the book will likely be destroyed.

 

And since Alias #1 is currently a "$15 on eBay or less" book, and labor and packing costs are around $7, and the cheapest postage (if you can) would be $2.53...then you're looking at 74 cents for the Paypal fee, $1.20 (at best) for the FVF...and at least 1/2 of work by SOMEONE...

 

...and you've made a grand total of $3.53.

 

The numbers just don't lie.

 

Since cover price was $2.95, the seller made a whopping 58 cents more, and spent time better spent elsewhere, than he would have gotten had he simply sold three copies for cover price to the buyer.

 

And that's why comic stores go out of business.

 

The fundamental flaw in a few people's logic posting up is that the person wanting to buy multiple copies of the just now hot book represent the only chance the LCS has of ever selling said books. That buyer/flipper is not the only chance they have. The buyer/flipper is wanting to purchase multiple copies BECAUSE it's a hot book and they got there first. There will be other opportunities. In store most likely, online if need be.

 

No one said that at all. The fact is, however, that this particular book...Alias #1...had been "hot" for *at least* TWO WEEKS before the OP's experience (assuming he posted the same or next day after his experience)...and yet, no one beside the OP had bothered to go into the store and look for that particular book, and the seller had no clue it was "hot" UNTIL someone did their work for them.

 

Two weeks these days can sometimes represent the entire cycle for a particular "hot" book.

 

The buyer/flipper was, in this case, the only chance they had. Had this particular buyer/flipper NOT come in, they would have had no idea, and could very easily missed the entire hot/cool cycle. "Got there first"...? Not hardly.

 

Believe it or not, businesses really do sell stuff for what it is worth to the buyer, not what it costs them to make/acquire it.

 

Sorry, but that's not how retail business works. That's how COLLECTIBLES "works", and that is why all but a very, very few are ever really successful in the comics retail business.

 

Businesses sell things based on what it costs...they do not sell them for "what they think a buyer will pay for them." This is proven by the fact that I can't walk up to my local Target cashier and say "hey, this pair of pants is $20, but I'm only willing to pay $12, because that's what it's worth to me. Here's your cash!"

 

And then store security is quickly called.

 

It's also why Target can't take "the latest hot item" and mark it UP. In fact, the vast majority of "hot items" are specifically contracted between manufacturers and retailers to NOT sell them for more than the contracted price.

 

That's also why I can't take the latest copy of Book X #827 and say "I know this has a cover price of $3.99, but it's only worth 75 cents to me, so here you go."

 

Yes, I know that doesn't work in reverse (and retailers frequently price "hot" books ABOVE cover), but they still base prices on what it cost them to obtain...not what they imagine it might be worth to someone else.

 

Because fundamentally, no one knows what something is worth to everyone else. You can guess, but you don't really know. What you DO know is what it cost you to acquire it, and you price it according to what it cost you and what YOU think it might be worth. If you're wrong, and you price too high, you can lower the price. If you're wrong, and you price too low....you'll never know.

 

But if you price based on what it cost you, and you know your market well (as you should), then you will always have a good idea about what it is really worth at the retail level.

 

If they can sell their products for more than it costs them, they make money. If they can sell it for lots more than it costs them, they make lots of money. If buyers won't pay what it costs them, they go out of business. What I've said above just restates a universally accepted truth - Something is worth only what it is worth to the buyer.

 

And yet, millions of businesses the world over, big and small, have the same prices for identical merchandise, regardless of what the buyer may think it's worth. And if I can't buy a gallon of milk for less than $3, and I want milk, I pay $3, whether I think that gallon is only worth $1 or not (and I do think it's only worth $1.)

 

The real fundamental question is WHY is something worth what it is worth.

 

The retail landscape is littered with the corpses of businesses that were able to sell plenty of product - but not a price that covered their expenses. Circuit City for instance.

 

That's a poor example. Circuit City was founded in 1949 and lasted for SIXTY YEARS before it finally closed its doors in 2009. It started as Wards Company (not related to Montgomery-Wards), and there are people who began and ended their entire working careers with the company.

 

There are many reasons for Circuit City going out of business, but an important one was that most CC locations were in areas that had become lower class, and could not compete with the newer Best Buy stores in better locations. They also made a critical mistake in abandoning large appliance sales in 2000.

 

But it's silly to say that Circuit City could not sell goods at a price that covered their expenses...they lasted for six decades. Clearly, for the vast majority of their existence, they COULD do just that, and at a profit.

 

There used to be about 200 manufacturers of Hard Disk drives for computers. Now there are three. The other 197 could not manufacture HD's cheaply enough, though a number of them shipped lots of product

 

We are not talking about manufacturing. We are talking about RETAIL.

 

Manufacturing is a completely different discussion.

 

Then there are businesses that are able to sell their stuff for much, much more than it costs them - and more than their competitors can charge - because they have created a "mystique" about their brand. Apple, Nike, Rolex

 

Again, we are not talking about manufacturing, even if those manufacturers have their own retail arms.

 

Last, there are businesses that can charge basically what they want as they have no effective competition. CGC. Your local utility companies. Microsoft on the Windows operating system.

 

CGC is limited by its parent company, CCG. They can't "charge what they want." They have to charge what the market will bear. They also are not RETAILERS. Utility companies are quasi-governmental entities, governed by public utility commissions.

 

Microsoft is not a retailer...it is a manufacturer.

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

The fundamental flaw in a few people's logic posting up is that the person wanting to buy multiple copies of the just now hot book represent the only chance the LCS has of ever selling said books. That buyer/flipper is not the only chance they have. The buyer/flipper is wanting to purchase multiple copies BECAUSE it's a hot book and they got there first. There will be other opportunities. In store most likely, online if need be.

 

Believe it or not, businesses really do sell stuff for what it is worth to the buyer, not what it costs them to make/acquire it. If they can sell their products for more than it costs them, they make money. If they can sell it for lots more than it costs them, they make lots of money. If buyers won't pay what it costs them, they go out of business. What I've said above just restates a universally accepted truth - Something is worth only what it is worth to the buyer.

You are saying the exact same thing we are, just from the polar opposite perspective. We've been arguing from the cash flow and inventory side of the equation; you are arguing from the margin/ROI side of the equation.

 

The criticism levelled at LCS's in general is that they set a price point where the chance to sell the book is rare to never. This completely destroys cash flow and is the epitome of 'opportunity cost of holding inventory' taught in economics classes.

 

As you lower the price point, those chances become more frequent. Lower prices too far, and your margin is minimal, making it not worthwhile to be selling the item at all. The challenge is to find the optimal price point.

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

The fundamental flaw in a few people's logic posting up is that the person wanting to buy multiple copies of the just now hot book represent the only chance the LCS has of ever selling said books. That buyer/flipper is not the only chance they have. The buyer/flipper is wanting to purchase multiple copies BECAUSE it's a hot book and they got there first. There will be other opportunities. In store most likely, online if need be.

 

Believe it or not, businesses really do sell stuff for what it is worth to the buyer, not what it costs them to make/acquire it. If they can sell their products for more than it costs them, they make money. If they can sell it for lots more than it costs them, they make lots of money. If buyers won't pay what it costs them, they go out of business. What I've said above just restates a universally accepted truth - Something is worth only what it is worth to the buyer.

You are saying the exact same thing we are, just from the polar opposite perspective. We've been arguing from the cash flow and inventory side of the equation; you are arguing from the margin/ROI side of the equation.

 

The criticism levelled at LCS's in general is that they set a price point where the chance to sell the book is rare to never. This completely destroys cash flow and is the epitome of 'opportunity cost of holding inventory' taught in economics classes.

 

As you lower the price point, those chances become more frequent. Lower prices too far, and your margin is minimal, making it not worthwhile to be selling the item at all. The challenge is to find the optimal price point.

 

The problem is the clerk doesn't own the business and probably doesn't care. The smart thing to do would be to say "hmm, I see that's going for about $20 on ebay, how about $10?" and I suspect many comic shop owners might have done the same.

 

sure, the OP probably wouldn't have bought it, but the OP probably wouldn't have been as ticked off about the whole process and lost as a future customer.

 

I am in 100% agreement with the two comments above. What has been odd for me about the entire discussion is that it is much more common for me to be discussing with dealers the importance of cash flow and money turn over. But the examples that have been bandied about ($2 for a $20 book and $1 for a $75 book) are simply to extreme in the opposite direction. Retailers of any type have to consider replacement costs as well. Once all the Alias 1's are gone, you have none to sell to a customer that walks in hoping to buy one for or close to the current price.

 

YOU brought up "$2 for a $20 book." Since the example here was Alias #1, and it has been conclusively demonstrated that this is NOT currently a "$20" book, your "$2 for $20" was never accurate in the first place.

 

And "hoping to buy one for or close to the current price"...? What customer has ever HOPED to pay FMV for an item, unless said item is overpriced to begin with?

 

And you're still assuming this mythical customer comes in! You can't make decisions based on what MIGHT happen.

 

As far as replacement cost...again, the buyer was only buying three, not all six...and, if there is demand for an item (and there clearly was not; the worker had no clue what the item was worth, and neither did the owner, if they're not the same person)...so there were at least three copies left that the store could have priced "at FMV"...and if those copies were gone, and there was still demand, then the retailer has to go back on the market to find the item...and then the book has a NEW price point, based on the NEW cost to acquire.

 

That's the retail business cycle.

 

In the instance that the OP posted up about, had the OP been willing to pay say $10, the clerk's best course of action would have been to contact the owner and say "got a guy interested in......" Based on what was posted up, the OP never entered into a discussion of what he thought would be reasonable.

 

BTW, I just now got around to looking in the current OPG for the price of Alias. It's $8 - in Ovestreet's top listed condition of NM-. So perhaps $20 for a cherry picked best of six copies isn't so unreasonable by any standard?

 

"Reasonably priced" back issues do not pay the rent. Sales do.

[RockMyAmadeus]

The fundamental flaw in a few people's logic posting up is that the person wanting to buy multiple copies of the just now hot book represent the only chance the LCS has of ever selling said books. That buyer/flipper is not the only chance they have. The buyer/flipper is wanting to purchase multiple copies BECAUSE it's a hot book and they got there first. There will be other opportunities. In store most likely, online if need be.

 

Believe it or not, businesses really do sell stuff for what it is worth to the buyer, not what it costs them to make/acquire it. If they can sell their products for more than it costs them, they make money. If they can sell it for lots more than it costs them, they make lots of money. If buyers won't pay what it costs them, they go out of business. What I've said above just restates a universally accepted truth - Something is worth only what it is worth to the buyer.

You are saying the exact same thing we are, just from the polar opposite perspective. We've been arguing from the cash flow and inventory side of the equation; you are arguing from the margin/ROI side of the equation.

 

The criticism levelled at LCS's in general is that they set a price point where the chance to sell the book is rare to never. This completely destroys cash flow and is the epitome of 'opportunity cost of holding inventory' taught in economics classes.

 

As you lower the price point, those chances become more frequent. Lower prices too far, and your margin is minimal, making it not worthwhile to be selling the item at all. The challenge is to find the optimal price point.

 

The problem is the clerk doesn't own the business and probably doesn't care. The smart thing to do would be to say "hmm, I see that's going for about $20 on ebay, how about $10?" and I suspect many comic shop owners might have done the same.

 

sure, the OP probably wouldn't have bought it, but the OP probably wouldn't have been as ticked off about the whole process and lost as a future customer.

 

But the OP never said whether or not he even tried negotiating price. Considering how he reacts, I doubt he did. I like how people complain about how LCS's price their books, yet they don't even try to negotiate the price down at all, they just storm out with their panties in a bunch.

 

the guy has brought 3 copies of a hot book to the store's attention that have been languishing in a box and likely would have continued to languish.

 

This cannot be overstated. If the store has any brains, they have already pulled those six books and done something else with them. In this case, the OP did them a huge favor, and got nothing for his trouble.

 

If *I* was the seller, and a buyer brought something "hot" to my attention of which I was unaware, I would have told the OP he could have one copy at cover price, and the other two for $10 each. That way, he's happy, and I have an opportunity to now make more than I otherwise would have made since I was unaware. Now, I have the chance to make much more than if I had entirely missed the cycle, when I might have ended up selling all six copies for $1 each in the cheapo box.

 

offering one copy up at half "ebay" price doesn't seem to be all that much. i understand the lack of desire to haggle as i have found that haggling in a comic shop is usually a waste of time as most comic shop owners seem to think that you have profaned their mother if you try and get a few bucks knocked off unless you are a regular or spending $300.

 

Absolutely.

[Kevin76]

I don't see why LCS need to put a limit on comics that one person can buy if they are so concerned with profit. You walk into a grocery store and see people buy shopping carts full of soda on sale, no on says anything, LCS's are turning down money but then get mad when stock collects dust. People who work at comic stores are typically very weird people and don't treat it like a store, they treat it like a hang out. Unorganized, dirty with bad lighting and zero personality with everything thing being a magic card, Star Trek reference as their main sense of humor.

 

I pretty much just dig through all the back issues, pick out what I can flip and then never return to the store ever again as I don't buy new comics. Can't flip those!

[Kevin76]

The fundamental flaw in a few people's logic posting up is that the person wanting to buy multiple copies of the just now hot book represent the only chance the LCS has of ever selling said books. That buyer/flipper is not the only chance they have. The buyer/flipper is wanting to purchase multiple copies BECAUSE it's a hot book and they got there first. There will be other opportunities. In store most likely, online if need be.

 

Believe it or not, businesses really do sell stuff for what it is worth to the buyer, not what it costs them to make/acquire it. If they can sell their products for more than it costs them, they make money. If they can sell it for lots more than it costs them, they make lots of money. If buyers won't pay what it costs them, they go out of business. What I've said above just restates a universally accepted truth - Something is worth only what it is worth to the buyer.

You are saying the exact same thing we are, just from the polar opposite perspective. We've been arguing from the cash flow and inventory side of the equation; you are arguing from the margin/ROI side of the equation.

 

The criticism levelled at LCS's in general is that they set a price point where the chance to sell the book is rare to never. This completely destroys cash flow and is the epitome of 'opportunity cost of holding inventory' taught in economics classes.

 

As you lower the price point, those chances become more frequent. Lower prices too far, and your margin is minimal, making it not worthwhile to be selling the item at all. The challenge is to find the optimal price point.

 

The problem is the clerk doesn't own the business and probably doesn't care. The smart thing to do would be to say "hmm, I see that's going for about $20 on ebay, how about $10?" and I suspect many comic shop owners might have done the same.

 

sure, the OP probably wouldn't have bought it, but the OP probably wouldn't have been as ticked off about the whole process and lost as a future customer.

 

I am in 100% agreement with the two comments above. What has been odd for me about the entire discussion is that it is much more common for me to be discussing with dealers the importance of cash flow and money turn over. But the examples that have been bandied about ($2 for a $20 book and $1 for a $75 book) are simply to extreme in the opposite direction. Retailers of any type have to consider replacement costs as well. Once all the Alias 1's are gone, you have none to sell to a customer that walks in hoping to buy one for or close to the current price.

 

YOU brought up "$2 for a $20 book." Since the example here was Alias #1, and it has been conclusively demonstrated that this is NOT currently a "$20" book, your "$2 for $20" was never accurate in the first place.

 

And "hoping to buy one for or close to the current price"...? What customer has ever HOPED to pay FMV for an item, unless said item is overpriced to begin with?

 

And you're still assuming this mythical customer comes in! You can't make decisions based on what MIGHT happen.

 

As far as replacement cost...again, the buyer was only buying three, not all six...and, if there is demand for an item (and there clearly was not; the worker had no clue what the item was worth, and neither did the owner, if they're not the same person)...so there were at least three copies left that the store could have priced "at FMV"...and if those copies were gone, and there was still demand, then the retailer has to go back on the market to find the item...and then the book has a NEW price point, based on the NEW cost to acquire.

 

That's the retail business cycle.

 

In the instance that the OP posted up about, had the OP been willing to pay say $10, the clerk's best course of action would have been to contact the owner and say "got a guy interested in......" Based on what was posted up, the OP never entered into a discussion of what he thought would be reasonable.

 

BTW, I just now got around to looking in the current OPG for the price of Alias. It's $8 - in Ovestreet's top listed condition of NM-. So perhaps $20 for a cherry picked best of six copies isn't so unreasonable by any standard?

 

"Reasonably priced" back issues do not pay the rent. Sales do.

 

This makes no sense. If you sell a "reasonably priced back issue", it's called a sale.

 

I think what you meant to say is "Back issues don't pay the rent, New Comics do"

[joecgcmaniac]

This thread used to be interesting, until it turned into RMA's own personal soapbox about how comic book stores should operate. Since he knows so much, maybe he should open one. Given that he'll be selling everything cheap, I'll be a customer

 

Rock On, Amadeus...

 

A few brief points though:

 

Yes, employees do have free time. I begin to think there aren't too many managers on this thread either.

 

 

I'm sorry, but if somebody is a manager, and they think that their employees having free time is a normal, acceptable thing, than they are not only costing their company money, but they are not doing their job as a manager. There is absolutely no reason why an employee should have free time. If there is no more work for them to do, including deep cleaning, organizing, sorting, pricing, whatever, than they should be sent home. Businesses who constantly allow their employees to just stand around and have free time will almost certainly be going out of business.

 

A comic shop employee should always be doing something. Even the owner and manager, for if employees see them standing around doing nothing, then they'll know that they can get away with doing the same thing. A businesses culture starts at the top, lazy, lax management will bring the same from their employees, motivated, active management will bring that out in their employees.

 

If you truly think that employees having free time is okay, then you're pretty much a failure as a manager. (thumbs u

[RockMyAmadeus]

I don't see why LCS need to put a limit on comics that one person can buy if they are so concerned with profit. You walk into a grocery store and see people buy shopping carts full of soda on sale, no on says anything, LCS's are turning down money but then get mad when stock collects dust. People who work at comic stores are typically very weird people and don't treat it like a store, they treat it like a hang out. Unorganized, dirty with bad lighting and zero personality with everything thing being a magic card, Star Trek reference as their main sense of humor.

 

I pretty much just dig through all the back issues, pick out what I can flip and then never return to the store ever again as I don't buy new comics. Can't flip those!

 

You're such a dink.

 

[fastballspecial]

Never realized how good we have it in Evansville, Indiana. Based experiences quoted here, our comic book stores are gems

 

Our local stores all have issues, they just aren't as bad as some of shops they are talking about. When I have to submit a back issue list and it takes one shop a month to get back to me that's ridiculous.

 

Ive been to some very well run shops. Here locally all 3 shops are run differently with each having their own personally philosophy about comics. None is perfect, but I agree we are a lot better then some areas I read about on here.