uchiha101 Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 I think jcjames had a great point. If $100-200 a month is around what you realistically hope to clear in profit, there may be easier ways than high-wire consignments or trying to deal with piles of long boxes. As an example, there are certain in-demand GA, SA and BA raw books I look out for all the time. If I see something like an underpriced Batman 227 or a Hero for Hire 1 on ebay or a dealer site, I'll pick it up, with an eye towards potentially reselling either right away or months down the road. It's not high finance... I'm talking reselling a $20 book for $40, or a $40 book for $80, etc, and you have to resist the urge to jump on every semi-deal. But done consistently and carefully, buying and selling a book or two each week, it can indeed add up to that $100-200 a month figure. Disclaimers as always... You have to know the market well and be on top of trends so you're not getting stuck with lukewarm books... and you really, REALLY have to know grading. also yard sales where you spend 50 cents per book to sell them for $5 to $10 per. Its adds up fast with little risk. I'm sort of trying that I bought a short box of comics a while back that once I move I'll need to sell so I'll keep you posted on that. I'm kind of curious as to why you move so much? Moving absolutely sucks, so it can't be because you enjoy it. Moving does suck and usually it's because of bad landlords more then anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uchiha101 Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 I think jcjames had a great point. If $100-200 a month is around what you realistically hope to clear in profit, there may be easier ways than high-wire consignments or trying to deal with piles of long boxes. As an example, there are certain in-demand GA, SA and BA raw books I look out for all the time. If I see something like an underpriced Batman 227 or a Hero for Hire 1 on ebay or a dealer site, I'll pick it up, with an eye towards potentially reselling either right away or months down the road. It's not high finance... I'm talking reselling a $20 book for $40, or a $40 book for $80, etc, and you have to resist the urge to jump on every semi-deal. But done consistently and carefully, buying and selling a book or two each week, it can indeed add up to that $100-200 a month figure. Disclaimers as always... You have to know the market well and be on top of trends so you're not getting stuck with lukewarm books... and you really, REALLY have to know grading. The comic shops that around me have wall books but every time I find something good they jack up the price and they say they can't budge on it any tips? You're probably better off at checking the bin books vs. wall books if you want to make some money. You're going to pay FMV on the wall books whereas there could be some gems hiding in the bins. You're right about that with the shop I go to he way overprices issues that are #1 because he think their all valuable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uchiha101 Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 I think jcjames had a great point. If $100-200 a month is around what you realistically hope to clear in profit, there may be easier ways than high-wire consignments or trying to deal with piles of long boxes. As an example, there are certain in-demand GA, SA and BA raw books I look out for all the time. If I see something like an underpriced Batman 227 or a Hero for Hire 1 on ebay or a dealer site, I'll pick it up, with an eye towards potentially reselling either right away or months down the road. It's not high finance... I'm talking reselling a $20 book for $40, or a $40 book for $80, etc, and you have to resist the urge to jump on every semi-deal. But done consistently and carefully, buying and selling a book or two each week, it can indeed add up to that $100-200 a month figure. Disclaimers as always... You have to know the market well and be on top of trends so you're not getting stuck with lukewarm books... and you really, REALLY have to know grading. The comic shops that around me have wall books but every time I find something good they jack up the price and they say they can't budge on it any tips? Yes. Don't go there anymore. If they are jacking it up when you are asking about a book or when taking it to the counter and the price goes higher than what the sticker says, that is a move. HOWEVER, if they know you are a "flipper" they might be treating you a bit differently. Have you ever "irked" them before? Example - There is a known shady flipper guy in my home town and he is a individual_without_enough_empathy - He asked the owner for a bunch of books. Said he was trying to build a run (this is when he was still "new" to the area) then when the owner brought him all those books (out of storage), he only "picked" a few, the "keys" and said he changed his mind and didn't want the rest. There was a significant amount of books from what I was told too. ...After that, my LCS no longer lists variants for cover price and he started basically marking previously below FMV items up to FMV. Thankfully, I am on good terms and I am a long time customer but this one guy ruined it for a lot of others. That sucks and no I have never irked them because I was looking through all the boxes and found key issues and after I took them to the counter they said because it's #1 it has to be valuable and jacked the price up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uchiha101 Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 I'll try this again Gabe. Don't go where everyone else goes. Don't buy graded books until you have more knowledge and networks. Don't do consignments. You are trying the lazy way. And failing miserably at the moment. You need to work smarter and harder than the established guys. These people have sellers phoning them !!! You don't work, so get a job. Wash pots, flip burgers. There is always a job for ANYONE who wants one. It may be awful, and pay poor wages, but there is always one out there. Don't be too proud to do a lousy job to put food on the table. When you have,say $300 saved up, after all bills etc are paid - start again. Run a free ad. Put signs up in shop windows, contact estate buyers and tell them that you are always looking for comics. LEAVE CONTACT DETAILS!! Hit up every craigslist/yard sale/church bazaar you see when you are not at work. You have to enjoy it, or this isn't the hobby for you. This year, I have managed to find approx. 15 modest collections. The smallest being 19 Phantoms, the largest 1500 lovely Disney books. And I'm in Australia where USA comics were banned up until the late 70's (give or take a year). Get a scanner, scan and list them individually, or in lots if they are poor condition/unpopular. Open an ebay store, save your listing fees. Find sources of free bubble wrap, free packing cardboard. You will be amazed at how many shops/liquor stores are happy for people to take away the boxes and protective wrapping. List the comics forever (you use the 'list til sold option in your store) - and save up your sales money in paypal. Buy high grade 1st appearances that you like, or you think will go up. Don't buy a high graded NM #98 or BA #12 - those ships are long gone, so try to think what may be hot next. With hard work, you will raise $$, have inventory continually on sale on ebay (don't forget to sell old stock off cheap to turn over stuff) and KEEP WORKING HARD. I decided 18 months ago that comics had to be self financing, so I bought the aforementioned collections, sorted, scanned, sold, packed and shipped and bought books that I wanted. Since then, I have managed to buy with the proceeds some really nice books (by my standards - to others they are probably nothing ). Financially it has cost me very little, but it took a lot of time and work. Luckily I enjoy it, so it's actually fun. So what did hard work bring me? Again compared to others, not that much, but to me, they are all keeper books. Tec #38 0.5 TTA #52 9.4 Avengers #19 9.4 Action #252 5.0 Hulk #162 9.6 Conan #1 9.4 UXM #266 9.8 plus another 10 odd others here or with Joey/CGC/Voldermort. All these came from an outlay of less than $2200 AUD, but took hours and hours of work per week. I still have 750 comics and toys on my store for sale as well. I think this is the way for you to go - but you need to get a job first, and then work damn hard and stop taking short-cuts. I've said before - Chip should be your inspiration on how to work hard and smart, and Junk Donkey on how to target a book, hoard and sell. Both are very generous with their time, but you have to show a desire to want to put the hard yards in. The advice you have received in this thread has been invaluable, probably more to other readers than you. You need to stop dithering, get a job, and start working your butt off if you want comic collecting to pay for itself, let alone become a dealer. Best of luck to you - I hope you listen to the people trying to help. Thanks that was a lot of info and I'll reply to it more fully later but I don't know why people say I'm above a job. I'm looking for anything I can get but more towards a cashier or dishwasher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.A.tor Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Gabe....what is your level of education? naturally, that has a lot to do with job perspectives... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisco37 Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 I think jcjames had a great point. If $100-200 a month is around what you realistically hope to clear in profit, there may be easier ways than high-wire consignments or trying to deal with piles of long boxes. As an example, there are certain in-demand GA, SA and BA raw books I look out for all the time. If I see something like an underpriced Batman 227 or a Hero for Hire 1 on ebay or a dealer site, I'll pick it up, with an eye towards potentially reselling either right away or months down the road. It's not high finance... I'm talking reselling a $20 book for $40, or a $40 book for $80, etc, and you have to resist the urge to jump on every semi-deal. But done consistently and carefully, buying and selling a book or two each week, it can indeed add up to that $100-200 a month figure. Disclaimers as always... You have to know the market well and be on top of trends so you're not getting stuck with lukewarm books... and you really, REALLY have to know grading. The comic shops that around me have wall books but every time I find something good they jack up the price and they say they can't budge on it any tips? Yes. Don't go there anymore. If they are jacking it up when you are asking about a book or when taking it to the counter and the price goes higher than what the sticker says, that is a move. HOWEVER, if they know you are a "flipper" they might be treating you a bit differently. Have you ever "irked" them before? Example - There is a known shady flipper guy in my home town and he is a individual_without_enough_empathy - He asked the owner for a bunch of books. Said he was trying to build a run (this is when he was still "new" to the area) then when the owner brought him all those books (out of storage), he only "picked" a few, the "keys" and said he changed his mind and didn't want the rest. There was a significant amount of books from what I was told too. ...After that, my LCS no longer lists variants for cover price and he started basically marking previously below FMV items up to FMV. Thankfully, I am on good terms and I am a long time customer but this one guy ruined it for a lot of others. That sucks and no I have never irked them because I was looking through all the boxes and found key issues and after I took them to the counter they said because it's #1 it has to be valuable and jacked the price up. As someone else said, bail on them. Also, picking wall books (as others have mentioned) isn't the best way to find flipping material. Wall books usually are priced at FMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uchiha101 Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 Gabe....what is your level of education? naturally, that has a lot to do with job perspectives... My highest level of education is one year of college. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.A.tor Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Gabe....what is your level of education? naturally, that has a lot to do with job perspectives... My highest level of education is one year of college. I'm sure folks have already suggested this too you, but if you are not currently enrolled in college, that might be your best course of action... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wall-Crawler Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Perhaps a trade? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uchiha101 Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 Gabe....what is your level of education? naturally, that has a lot to do with job perspectives... My highest level of education is one year of college. I'm sure folks have already suggested this too you, but if you are not currently enrolled in college, that might be your best course of action... People have suggested it but I have no clue what to take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uchiha101 Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 Perhaps a trade? I was thinking welding because I don't have a knack for anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisco37 Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Gabe....what is your level of education? naturally, that has a lot to do with job perspectives... My highest level of education is one year of college. I'm sure folks have already suggested this too you, but if you are not currently enrolled in college, that might be your best course of action... People have suggested it but I have no clue what to take. You are young, so start with just basic college entry courses (Freshman English/Comp, History, Math, etc..). Start with the "core" classes that everyone has to take to graduate. Once you take those, you may find one subject is of particular interest to you and you can go from there. When I went to school, I had no idea what I wanted to do. After the first year, I really found that I enjoyed English/Literature, so I focused on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Cool Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Perhaps a trade? What do you have:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wall-Crawler Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Perhaps a trade? What do you have:) What are you looking for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uchiha101 Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 Gabe....what is your level of education? naturally, that has a lot to do with job perspectives... My highest level of education is one year of college. I'm sure folks have already suggested this too you, but if you are not currently enrolled in college, that might be your best course of action... People have suggested it but I have no clue what to take. You are young, so start with just basic college entry courses (Freshman English/Comp, History, Math, etc..). Start with the "core" classes that everyone has to take to graduate. Once you take those, you may find one subject is of particular interest to you and you can go from there. When I went to school, I had no idea what I wanted to do. After the first year, I really found that I enjoyed English/Literature, so I focused on that. when I went to college I had English and business so I'll add math and history as well if I can because Pawn Stars made it interesting and I do love ancient civilizations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThothAmon Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Calf implants? Funny, Drama! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisco37 Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Gabe....what is your level of education? naturally, that has a lot to do with job perspectives... My highest level of education is one year of college. I'm sure folks have already suggested this too you, but if you are not currently enrolled in college, that might be your best course of action... People have suggested it but I have no clue what to take. You are young, so start with just basic college entry courses (Freshman English/Comp, History, Math, etc..). Start with the "core" classes that everyone has to take to graduate. Once you take those, you may find one subject is of particular interest to you and you can go from there. When I went to school, I had no idea what I wanted to do. After the first year, I really found that I enjoyed English/Literature, so I focused on that. when I went to college I had English and business so I'll add math and history as well if I can because Pawn Stars made it interesting and I do love ancient civilizations. I assume that CA is like the US and any school will have academic advisor(s) available to speak with and help map a course out for you. If you plan on going back to school, I would suggest setting up a meeting with one. Use that available (and free!) resource to your advantage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman1fan Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Perhaps a trade? I was thinking welding because I don't have a knack for anything else. With your pleasant demeanor and seemingly endless ability to turn the other cheek, you should give some thought to something in the customer service field. I think that's something you might be very good at. A good personality and a thick skin are traits that are difficult to find in a customer service representative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uchiha101 Posted October 29, 2015 Author Share Posted October 29, 2015 Perhaps a trade? I was thinking welding because I don't have a knack for anything else. With your pleasant demeanor and seemingly endless ability to turn the other cheek, you should give some thought to something in the customer service field. I think that's something you might be very good at. A good personality and a thick skin are traits that are difficult to find in a customer service representative. As a sales rep? or in general? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Cool Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Perhaps a trade? I was thinking welding because I don't have a knack for anything else. With your pleasant demeanor and seemingly endless ability to turn the other cheek, you should give some thought to something in the customer service field. I think that's something you might be very good at. A good personality and a thick skin are traits that are difficult to find in a customer service representative. As a sales rep? or in general? Sales rep? Start off small and see how it goes. Work at a Best Buy selling TVs for a bit and keep looking for a better job once you have gotten your feet wet. Don't always look for the instant jump to the big time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
