My road to success (Moving Update 2) 8 8

[1Cool]

[revat]

At this point it just sounds like someone w a gambling addiction

[DeadOne]

My road to success

 

please don't give me this "hard work n stuff" bull

 

[jcjames]

At this point it just sounds like someone w a gambling addiction

Yep. Exactly.

 

It's an addiction. He CAN'T stop himself.

 

He doesn't have the self-control to take the ONLY bit of advice that is nearly unanimous from dozens of longtime experts and professionals in the field for the past year or more in this thread.

 

Comics are his crack. They are his craps table. He is addicted to the possibility of finding that next big score - exactly how a gambler is addicted to the next round of betting.

 

He hasn't hit rock bottom yet, he might in a year or two. But he's not there yet. So downward he goes continuing to dig ignoring everyone who's telling him to stop digging.

 

 

[W16227]

Gabe, I've been following this thread since page 20 something a while back and it has been informative and educational, if for nothing else than stimulating conversation from the forum about buy/selling.

 

I applaud you for not spending what money you have on drugs and porn. I realize you do not want to stop flipping comics so...

 

You know, buying a short box or long box can be just as fun, or more fun, than buying an expensive, hot book. A long box full of nice condition moderns with a few keys is nice, especially when you get them for $1 each. Churning through dozens or hundreds of moderns keeps your hands busy and flipping a $1 book for $25 is fulfilling.

 

I also like buying modern keys from Canadians because Americans do not often bid those up to regular prices. Get those cheaper Canadian books pressed and slabbed if you really want to press something. Then sell them for profit.

 

I realize some here won't agree with my advice, but I'm a realist. If you spend less money for more books that have profit potential, that is a step in the right direction. It's like what a probation officer I met (during a college lecture) once said, "I considered one specific case a success because I got the man to switch from huffing diesel fuel to unleaded gasoline. While still unhealthy, it was an improvement."

 

Not terrible advice, if he could restrain himself to 'smaller investments'. But if he's still in the 'game' of comics, he will most likely come across potential 'can't miss' deals that he won't be able to resist throwing too much money at.

 

Its like cutting back on your prostitute problem by just going to strip clubs instead.

 

 

It's absolutely terrible advice as the OP has shown ZERO inclination for having any feel for this business. He's currently $1100 in the hole and with the recent ASM 8.5 / 8.0 snafu, that hole appears like it's going to get deeper.

 

With all this great advice he's getting, he might as well get a Paypal business loan or another credit card, he can use that to pay off the first credit card.

 

 

Even somewhat hard to say weather or not the $1100 is really the full tale. We (lots of different boardies) - have written up basics of how you account for a small business - earlier - Gabe looked at it from a money spent vs money collected standpoint not considering purchased items as inventory.

 

I believe he has that fixed in his latest number - but the lack of understanding of the accounting concepts leads me to believe that the 1100 might be larger than he is stating.

 

The ASM..... have to add another one of these out there,,,,,

 

 

This illustrates exactly why you need to back off comics for a while. Once you have the REST of your life in order - go back and start small.

 

 

Seriously. If the book was an 8.5 - you paid pretty much FMV for it. Trying to flip for a profit? - not a lot of potential. But as an 8? --- ZERO GPA sales of this book over 1000. How exactly will you convince people to pay 10% to 20% over FMV?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My numbers for what I have I debt is exactly as you see it

 

how much I bought- how much I sold = my profit or debt number

 

How I would convince people to pay 10-20% over gpa? After I check the graders notes I'll decide what to do but even then it's very simple I will offer it as time payments with a 20% non-refundable deposit to make sure people are serious about buying it and not wasting my time.

 

 

You have to sell at 10-20% over GPA to BREAK EVEN. Not including any fees that have to be paid....

 

Didn't you have a local comic shop owner interested? - What did they offer?

 

Once you hit that 8.0 with a key book ( and in many cases lower grades for keys as well) - EVERY grade bump matters. Every one. You are insisting on working with single high value books - and since you cannot spread purchase price over a collection and work with averages - you HAVE to focus on every single cent.

 

You state that paying the same price for a book that is a lower grade us what you would have done anyway - this just confirms that you are NOT EXPERIENCED ENOUGH to be playing with $1000 on a single book. With patience - you could have found a better initial deal for the comic.

 

Heck - you think you will sell the 8.0 for 1200? - without even sweating - I found a 8.5 for 1200 and 2 others for 1250, This is without any offer or back and forth with the sellers. Why would anyone pay 1200 for an 8.0 --- when it is perfectly reasonable to think that there are three chances at an 8.5 for 1100 to 1150. - maybe less.....

 

 

 

 

You need to track a LOT more as far as profit and/or loss goes......

 

Paid 100 for a comic - sold for 200 - does not necessarily mean that you are up 100. (or down 100 if you reverse the values) .

 

Did you pay for packaging?

Did you pay ebay fees?

Did you need a laptop, scanner or other electronics?

Shipping fees....

Paypal/credit fees?

 

ALL of this (and more) - go into a profit/loss calculation.

 

Most likely you are at least 20% more in the hole than you think.

 

 

 

quick edit -

 

you also stated you get graders notes on books - this is part of the expense column as well.....

 

 

 

When I calculate that I already add that to what I buy and sell because it wouldn't make sense to add it like that and I have yet to bring the comic to the comic shop owner but he was interested in it.

 

 

um - no idea how you have to report taxes on home based businesses in Canada - but that is basically how we have to track items in the states.

 

For a smaller business (cash based accounting) - you track expenses and cost of goods sold separately than individual inventory costs. You do this so at the end of the year - you can calculate your yearly profit/loss. You do this separately as there are MANY expenses that you incur that are not set per individual book - but part of the entire business. Like - say - a COMPUTER which is pretty much a requirement for any business these days.

 

And - well - ANY LCS would say they are interested in an ASM 129.

 

A very high percentage would not be interested in paying retail price for one. Even lower percentage paying well over FMV for it.

 

 

[Wall-Crawler]

My road to success

 

please don't give me this "hard work n stuff" bull

 

 

Top contender for CGC Board Quote of the Year.

[newshane]

I think this thread has gotten to the point where it is doing more harm than good. I would suggest that the moderators close this thread.

 

I have to agree with Red here regarding the thread doing more harm than good.

 

I agree. The board is simply feeding his addiction for attention.

 

I don't know if the moderators should close the thread, but perhaps we should all think twice before posting here. At this point, everyone is simply banging their head against the wall.

[Logan510]

I think this thread has gotten to the point where it is doing more harm than good. I would suggest that the moderators close this thread.

 

I have to agree with Red here regarding the thread doing more harm than good.

 

I agree. The board is simply feeding his addiction for attention.

 

I don't know if the moderators should close the thread, but perhaps we should all think twice before posting here. At this point, everyone is simply banging their head against the wall.

 

 

I don't know that it's doing more harm than good...I don't know if it's doing anything at all really. It's his journal, we're just tourists.

[Logan510]

My road to success

 

please don't give me this "hard work n stuff" bull

 

 

Top contender for CGC Board Quote of the Year.

 

 

That sums it all up right there. I don't think he even really wants advice / help as he certainly doesn't appear to be doing anything more than paying lip service to most of what people have said to him.

 

 

[MetalPSI]

There's a tool here alright.

 

 

You think that's me haha no I just say what I mean to others and no one forced red to come here.

 

No, I don't think. Haha You're pretty insolent for someone in your situation

[uchiha101]

All the comic buying/selling/trading shenanigans aside, here's one part I can't get past.

 

The OP keeps saying that he wants to get a job that offers more hours, yet he has a job.

 

 

When I managed a restaurant, I never gave hours to anyone...employees earned their hours.

 

My superstars...the ones that went above and beyond by either covering a last minute call-off, cleaning in between other jobs, or just having great attitudes were the ones I took care of. I always made sure they had the hours they were looking for. I couldn't do my job well without them.

 

Even the people a step down from my superstars...the people that were always on time for their shift, who followed directions well, and had good attitudes were sure to get 30-40 hours a week depending on their needs. I'd work with them because they made my life easier.

 

But the bums...the ones that showed up late for shifts, never covered a shift outside of their schedule, people with bad attitudes who obviously took no pride in what they did, these people would generally get 15 hours or less. Even the people who were good at a specific job but had poor attitudes, they are bums to me. I'd take an unskilled hard-worker over a skilled diva with a poor attitude any day.

 

 

What I'm saying to the OP is that if you're not getting enough hours at work, it's nobody's fault but yours.

 

 

 

Do a self-assessment:

 

• Are you there early every day? No exceptions? Remember, if you're "on-time", you're late. Be 5 minutes early for every shift.
• Is your uniform clean, nails clean and trimmed, hair washed, combed and out of the way? I don't care if you work in the back, you need to look presentable at work at all times.
• Check your attitude. When you're assigned a job, do you grumble and meander over to it, or is your response a peppy "sure thing!" with physical enthusiasm to match?
• What are you doing during slow times? If you're a dishwasher, what do you do between trays of dishes to be done? Is your station spotless? If not, clean it. If the area is perfect, grab something like a pot or a board and give it a deep cleaning. Make it like new again. Things like this is restaurants get dingy after time. A little elbow grease goes a long way.
• Are you smiling? I don't care if you hate the job. SMILE! It goes a LOOOOOONG way.
  

 

Supposedly, the OP says he "wants" another income, but apparently just not - ya' know... a JOB.

 

Jobs get in the way of his super-valuable sleep/game/money-losing-comic-addiction time.

 

Maybe he does want a second job (like everyone's been telling him to get) but he doesn't want a job nearly as much as he wants to regularly pay full-market-value for comicbooks that cost more than his monthly rent.

 

He kinda sorta a little bit wants to work (not really though, work is hard n'stuff), and he really doesn't want a SECOND job (ya' know - another income stream) - so instead he just wants buy nearly thousand-dollar books that he doesn't even know what he's buying.

 

 

 

So OP..... what's your next great comic money-pit you're looking at hitching on to? We all know you're nowhere near done buying big yet, and you're clearly still not completely out of money yet ,and we all know you're probably already got an idea of your next "big score", so.... do tell. It's most interesting.

 

 

A second job is not something I'm comfortable with managing and please don't give me this "hard work n stuff" bull. I worked hard for my previous job lifting groceries for other people in all kinds of weather some things over 50 pounds and do you know what my boss told me when I said I couldn't handle lifting anymore? Go find another job. So that was the thanks I got for working my off for him? Never again.

 

....Always the victim eh Gabe?

 

No but it happens more often then naught.

[uchiha101]

Keith doesn't want the book he already has an 8.0 not to mention he isnt going to pay 20% over market. If he really wanted it that badly I would have sourced him one. Heck I have an 8.5 I'll be bringing into his shop in 2 weeks time

 

Is it wrong to say I'm going to laugh when you cpr the book and it doesn't get a grade bump... You don't have the knowledge or the funds to gamble on a grade bump. Many have said cgc us tight atm coupled that with if it doesn't go up a full point (9.0 you are still losing!!!)

 

If you want to sell comics and make money I have some short boxes filled with $1 books I would gladly sell for $0.33c a unit and heck I would even drive them over just to free some space.

 

The best I see the asm 129 getting is a 8.5 and I didn't expect him to overpay since he's in the business to make money. I don't want any more 1 dollar comics I don't even know what to do with the ones I have.

[uchiha101]

So, you say you're learning. What have you learned?

 

No offense but you just bought an 8.0 thinking it was an 8.5 and overpaid for it. I don't understand how this can happen when you don't have a large margin for error with your flipping.

 

I only overpaid 30 dollars for it currently but with the graders notes I'd be able to get a 8.5 max that means that my margin will be razor thin but I'd be able to do it.

[Foley]

Keith doesn't want the book he already has an 8.0 not to mention he isnt going to pay 20% over market. If he really wanted it that badly I would have sourced him one. Heck I have an 8.5 I'll be bringing into his shop in 2 weeks time

 

Is it wrong to say I'm going to laugh when you cpr the book and it doesn't get a grade bump... You don't have the knowledge or the funds to gamble on a grade bump. Many have said cgc us tight atm coupled that with if it doesn't go up a full point (9.0 you are still losing!!!)

 

If you want to sell comics and make money I have some short boxes filled with $1 books I would gladly sell for $0.33c a unit and heck I would even drive them over just to free some space.

 

The best I see the asm 129 getting is a 8.5 and I didn't expect him to overpay since he's in the business to make money. I don't want any more 1 dollar comics I don't even know what to do with the ones I have.

 

You do realize that you have just a big if not bigger chance of making the tear worse and having a grade drop, right?

[Red84]

Keith doesn't want the book he already has an 8.0 not to mention he isnt going to pay 20% over market. If he really wanted it that badly I would have sourced him one. Heck I have an 8.5 I'll be bringing into his shop in 2 weeks time

 

Is it wrong to say I'm going to laugh when you cpr the book and it doesn't get a grade bump... You don't have the knowledge or the funds to gamble on a grade bump. Many have said cgc us tight atm coupled that with if it doesn't go up a full point (9.0 you are still losing!!!)

 

If you want to sell comics and make money I have some short boxes filled with $1 books I would gladly sell for $0.33c a unit and heck I would even drive them over just to free some space.

 

The best I see the asm 129 getting is a 8.5 and I didn't expect him to overpay since he's in the business to make money. I don't want any more 1 dollar comics I don't even know what to do with the ones I have.

 

Why have a small profit on a dollar book when you can have a large loss on an expensive book! #winning

[uchiha101]

A second job is not something I'm comfortable with managing and please don't give me this "hard work n stuff" bull. I worked hard for my previous job lifting groceries for other people in all kinds of weather some things over 50 pounds and do you know what my boss told me when I said I couldn't handle lifting anymore? Go find another job. So that was the thanks I got for working my off for him? Never again.

 

Well what in the hell would you expect!? Your boss hired you to do a certain job, you said you didn't want to - there's the door g'bye!

 

Your "thanks" for doing the job you were hired and trained to do was called your "paycheck". What the hell else did you want, a trophy? A cake? An invite to his house for Thanksgiving dinner? Grow the hell up!

 

You are the living embodiment of the "Entitlement Mentality".

 

Calling hard work "bull" and blaming your boss for telling you to go find another job when you told him you didn't want to do the job that he hired you to do is simply pathetic.

 

You are 24 going on 12.

 

It's one thing to be handicapped or disabled and acknowledging it as a limitation to what work you can do - but you don't do that - you actually call hard work "bull" and blame your boss for not letting you NOT do your job!

 

That's not disabled, that's just a pisspoor attitude that will keep you living in poverty FOR-EV-ER.

 

 

 

 

Lifting groceries wasn't the only part of the job and there's more to it then that I got hurt on the job because of the way he told me to lift things and I only had to use one arm and he said he "always find me something to do and never have to worry about being fired' Guess what? He didn't let me go to work for about three weeks so from that point on I hated my job and especially him for lying to me.

[Kenners]

Keith doesn't want the book he already has an 8.0 not to mention he isnt going to pay 20% over market. If he really wanted it that badly I would have sourced him one. Heck I have an 8.5 I'll be bringing into his shop in 2 weeks time

 

Is it wrong to say I'm going to laugh when you cpr the book and it doesn't get a grade bump... You don't have the knowledge or the funds to gamble on a grade bump. Many have said cgc us tight atm coupled that with if it doesn't go up a full point (9.0 you are still losing!!!)

 

If you want to sell comics and make money I have some short boxes filled with $1 books I would gladly sell for $0.33c a unit and heck I would even drive them over just to free some space.

 

The best I see the asm 129 getting is a 8.5 and I didn't expect him to overpay since he's in the business to make money. I don't want any more 1 dollar comics I don't even know what to do with the ones I have.

 

You've been told often enough. Sell them. Ebay, Craigslist, etc

[uchiha101]

All the comic buying/selling/trading shenanigans aside, here's one part I can't get past.

 

The OP keeps saying that he wants to get a job that offers more hours, yet he has a job.

 

 

When I managed a restaurant, I never gave hours to anyone...employees earned their hours.

 

My superstars...the ones that went above and beyond by either covering a last minute call-off, cleaning in between other jobs, or just having great attitudes were the ones I took care of. I always made sure they had the hours they were looking for. I couldn't do my job well without them.

 

Even the people a step down from my superstars...the people that were always on time for their shift, who followed directions well, and had good attitudes were sure to get 30-40 hours a week depending on their needs. I'd work with them because they made my life easier.

 

But the bums...the ones that showed up late for shifts, never covered a shift outside of their schedule, people with bad attitudes who obviously took no pride in what they did, these people would generally get 15 hours or less. Even the people who were good at a specific job but had poor attitudes, they are bums to me. I'd take an unskilled hard-worker over a skilled diva with a poor attitude any day.

 

 

What I'm saying to the OP is that if you're not getting enough hours at work, it's nobody's fault but yours.

 

 

 

Do a self-assessment:

 

• Are you there early every day? No exceptions? Remember, if you're "on-time", you're late. Be 5 minutes early for every shift.
• Is your uniform clean, nails clean and trimmed, hair washed, combed and out of the way? I don't care if you work in the back, you need to look presentable at work at all times.
• Check your attitude. When you're assigned a job, do you grumble and meander over to it, or is your response a peppy "sure thing!" with physical enthusiasm to match?
• What are you doing during slow times? If you're a dishwasher, what do you do between trays of dishes to be done? Is your station spotless? If not, clean it. If the area is perfect, grab something like a pot or a board and give it a deep cleaning. Make it like new again. Things like this is restaurants get dingy after time. A little elbow grease goes a long way.
• Are you smiling? I don't care if you hate the job. SMILE! It goes a LOOOOOONG way.
  

 

Supposedly, the OP says he "wants" another income, but apparently just not - ya' know... a JOB.

 

Jobs get in the way of his super-valuable sleep/game/money-losing-comic-addiction time.

 

Maybe he does want a second job (like everyone's been telling him to get) but he doesn't want a job nearly as much as he wants to regularly pay full-market-value for comicbooks that cost more than his monthly rent.

 

He kinda sorta a little bit wants to work (not really though, work is hard n'stuff), and he really doesn't want a SECOND job (ya' know - another income stream) - so instead he just wants buy nearly thousand-dollar books that he doesn't even know what he's buying.

 

 

 

So OP..... what's your next great comic money-pit you're looking at hitching on to? We all know you're nowhere near done buying big yet, and you're clearly still not completely out of money yet ,and we all know you're probably already got an idea of your next "big score", so.... do tell. It's most interesting.

 

 

A second job is not something I'm comfortable with managing and please don't give me this "hard work n stuff" bull. I worked hard for my previous job lifting groceries for other people in all kinds of weather some things over 50 pounds and do you know what my boss told me when I said I couldn't handle lifting anymore? Go find another job. So that was the thanks I got for working my off for him? Never again.

 

I have to give you credit. You reply to everybody and you keep coming back for more.

 

God, if your definition of a tough job is lifting groceries you're clearly not a motivated, hard worker. You seriously think that's a tough job?

 

 

For me lifting was hard since I didn't have the strength to keep doing it for hours and no it's not the hardest job in the world but to me physically I found it hard as I have a bad back. You'll probably think I'm making this all up just to have people's pity right? WRONG if I only had one wish in the world it'd be to be perfectly healthy.

[Iceman399]

So, you say you're learning. What have you learned?

 

No offense but you just bought an 8.0 thinking it was an 8.5 and overpaid for it. I don't understand how this can happen when you don't have a large margin for error with your flipping.

 

I only overpaid 30 dollars for it currently but with the graders notes I'd be able to get a 8.5 max that means that my margin will be razor thin but I'd be able to do it.

 

You've overpaid by 90$ based on 90 day gpa. Your the same guy that sets up at a con and says I did 5,000 this weekend and booth fees were only $2500 I made 2500 but you don't account for everything like product cost, transportation, food, parking, time.

[uchiha101]

I think this thread has gotten to the point where it is doing more harm than good. I would suggest that the moderators close this thread.

 

I have to agree with Red here regarding the thread doing more harm than good. I think we've past the point where good advice is going to have any impact whatsoever. Gabe is either too stubborn or too ignorant to take any of this advice onboard, this has been proven over and over.

 

I'm not saying that he makes these constant mistakes on purpose or for our entertainment, but he must be enjoying the attention to some extent.

 

I wonder if we all completely stopped posting here what the effect would be. At the very least it would free up the time Gabe spends responding to every post with his insightful, well thought out, rational and coherent replies. This would give him more time to "look" for a job.

 

I don't enjoy the attention and I never have what I enjoy is getting advice and experience from those that are smarter and better off then I am.