Hello Everyone Im New and Have a Question

[Hibou]

Does anyone else have a comic booth in a antique mall or anything similar?

 

Where is yours located?

 

I've been to many across NY and PA and I've noticed similarities in those booths...

 

Uncirculating stock (which I guess I would expect), rapidly deteriorating conditions due to the unattended availability to anyone, top of the book pricing with suspect grading and unorganized (again, due to the unattended access).

 

All of the above are discouraging, yet I'll briefly flip through these.

 

Of course those are purely my observations and others may have had different experiences.

 

I like some of the ideas put forward like resisting in bulk or trying MyComicShop.

 

Good luck and welcome to the boards!

[RCheli]

 

Uncirculating stock (which I guess I would expect), rapidly deteriorating conditions due to the unattended availability to anyone, top of the book pricing with suspect grading and unorganized (again, due to the unattended access).

 

All of the above are discouraging, yet I'll briefly flip through these.

 

There are a ton of booths in antique malls that are like this -- comic books or otherwise. If you're not willing to put in time/money to keep your stock moving (again, whether you sell comics or vintage clothing or furniture), you're destined to have low sales.

[AvengersMyJam-migration]

Does anyone else have a comic booth in a antique mall or anything similar?

 

Where is yours located?

 

I've been to many across NY and PA and I've noticed similarities in those booths...

 

Uncirculating stock (which I guess I would expect), rapidly deteriorating conditions due to the unattended availability to anyone, top of the book pricing with suspect grading and unorganized (again, due to the unattended access).

 

All of the above are discouraging, yet I'll briefly flip through these.

 

 

Thanks for the observation, yes my main idea is to add fresh/new stock weekly. Also I had a fun idea to put like a $30-$50 comic say Secret Wars #8 in there randomly or on the shelf for like $10-$15 and have its as the "Amazing Deal of the Week".... so soon as I post it a bunch of people rush there

[RCheli]

 

Thanks for the observation, yes my main idea is to add fresh/new stock weekly. Also I had a fun idea to put like a $30-$50 comic say Secret Wars #8 in there randomly or on the shelf for like $10-$15 and have its as the "Amazing Deal of the Week".... so soon as I post it a bunch of people rush there

 

Eh... I don't know. People don't usually go to the same antique mall every week. You're pretty much just giving away a nice comic for somebody that may not return to the booth again for 4 or 5 months.

[jools&jim]

 

Also I had a fun idea to put like a $30-$50 comic say Secret Wars #8 in there randomly or on the shelf for like $10-$15 and have its as the "Amazing Deal of the Week".... so soon as I post it a bunch of people rush there

Eh... I don't know. People don't usually go to the same antique mall every week. You're pretty much just giving away a nice comic for somebody that may not return to the booth again for 4 or 5 months.

Agreed. A loss leader in that situation is heavy on the "loss".

 

Are there any good monthly/bi-monthly/quarterly local comics shows in your area? Smaller one-day "hotel" shows are rapidly becoming a thing of the past in my area, but if you can find one and the table rates are reasonable, you might try your luck there.

 

Of course, you'll need to schlep your own boxes, load-in very early, spend all day in a badly decorated "ballroom", and quite likely load-out 90 - 99% of the books you loaded in 7-9 hours earlier, but ya never know. And if your stock looks salable to the right dealer, you might get bought out at the end of the day and still make a small profit if you bought it all cheaply enough to begin with.

 

In general, the more work you're willing to put into this, the more you're likely to get out of it...

 

 

[bb8]

Eww. This sounds too much like a job, and I already have one of those.

[oakman29]

Eww. This sounds too much like a job, and I already have one of those.

Amen! Kinda takes all the fun out of collecting.

[dupont2005]

Sounds like you have a good start, a realistic expectation on your liquidation prices.

 

Put in the time and put together runs and sell them together. Use Craigslist. It's where you bought your comics, it's where you can sell them. Especially if you have nice long runs of 80 comics or around there. It's a pain dealing with someone on CL over a $5 sale, but not too bad knowing you're making a $50-$100 sale. Encourage people to buy long runs. Also, I've found it very easy to sell 90's drek at a buck an issue on CL.

 

Also, wouldn't hurt to list them here just to see what happens.

[AvengersMyJam-migration]

Sounds like you have a good start, a realistic expectation on your liquidation prices.

 

Put in the time and put together runs and sell them together. Use Craigslist. It's where you bought your comics, it's where you can sell them. Especially if you have nice long runs of 80 comics or around there. It's a pain dealing with someone on CL over a $5 sale, but not too bad knowing you're making a $50-$100 sale. Encourage people to buy long runs. Also, I've found it very easy to sell 90's drek at a buck an issue on CL.

 

Also, wouldn't hurt to list them here just to see what happens.

 

Great input, thanks! Yes I have heard good things about selling on here as well. I have a lot to learn because im new to the board.