Buying rituals at Cons - How do you go about buying at Cons?

[1Cool]

If you attend a 3 day Con, how do you go about buying your books? Do you walk the room doing a quick compare of key books and then pick the booth with the best initial prices and then spend a ton of time digging thru boxes and haggling on prices at a few booths?

 

Do you start on one side of the room and work your way thru each booth knowing you may not see the back area until the third day? I've never spent more then 1 day at a Con so I'm curious how you go about your buying spree over the extend period.

 

Side question - If you had $15,000 to spend at a Con would you space out the buying to $4,000 - $6,000 a day at a ton of booths or find a few booth and use your money to hopefully leverage better deals since you are spending $7,000 at one booth in one day?

[jsilverjanet]

if you have $15,000 for a con, you might need someone to walk you to your car. Just sayin

[mysterio]

I'm lucky if I have $2,000 to spend at a con. Normally my strategy for a good buying show like Chicago is to go preview night and hit dealers that I've successfully found stuff with previously. The past two years that has killed my budget in 30-45 minutes, and I end up with books I'm thrilled with. The time to buy good books is when you see them.

[white_rushin]

Last con I went to I got there right when it opened and did an initial sweep through of the place asking around for a book on my want list. At each vendor I took note of their prices. If there was a no brainer pick up, I purchased it right then and there.

 

After that I went back to the booth I thought had fair prices and spent a fair amount of time and money at that one. I think 90% of my purchases came from that booth on Day 1.

 

Day 2 was mostly spent looking around at other things. I had a few items on my radar and at the end of the day I went back to a booth or two to see if they still had the books I was intereted in. Some had already sold, but if they were still there I let the dealer know this would be my last day here and asked if they would knock off some of the price. Most said no but this was where I scored my FF46.

[slym2none]

I rarely have any plans when I go to a convention. My plan is the magpie approach - "Ooh! Something shiny over there!" - and then get distracted half the time when I am going towards my first distraction.

 

::

 

 

 

-slym

[white_rushin]

Day 2/3 would also be good for dollar bin digging. Ex: found a $3 X-men #221

[Diamonddave]

I'm lucky if I have $2,000 to spend at a con. Normally my strategy for a good buying show like Chicago is to go preview night and hit dealers that I've successfully found stuff with previously. The past two years that has killed my budget in 30-45 minutes, and I end up with books I'm thrilled with. The time to buy good books is when you see them.

 

+1 , and avoid flavor of the month books. These are usually drastically overpriced at shows.

[mysterio]

I'm lucky if I have $2,000 to spend at a con. Normally my strategy for a good buying show like Chicago is to go preview night and hit dealers that I've successfully found stuff with previously. The past two years that has killed my budget in 30-45 minutes, and I end up with books I'm thrilled with. The time to buy good books is when you see them.

 

+1 , and avoid flavor of the month books. These are usually drastically overpriced at shows.

 

Exactly.

[bababooey]

I've never attended a con for more than one day. I generally go with enough to get a big book or two & look for those when checking out all the booths before I start buying...if I don't find anything big then I usually pick a run from the upgrade list & try to focus on that while buying any other dumb cheap stuff that catches my eye.

 

[BarryAllen]

I generally don't make large purchases (>$500) at cons as the pricing is typically over-inflated (not all dealers do this, but many do).

 

I usually try to purchase anything I know I am looking for ($20 or less) the first day and then spend the next two days perusing at my leisure.

[Dr. Balls]

I rarely have any plans when I go to a convention. My plan is the magpie approach - "Ooh! Something shiny over there!" - and then get distracted half the time when I am going towards my first distraction.

 

::

 

 

 

-slym

 

+1

 

Last time I was at a con, this was pretty much it for me.

[mysterio]

I rarely have any plans when I go to a convention. My plan is the magpie approach - "Ooh! Something shiny over there!" - and then get distracted half the time when I am going towards my first distraction.

 

::

 

-slym

 

This is my approach too. I rarely go with any particular focus other than to score some great books at fair prices. If I search too narrowly on specific wants I rarely find them. I save those for auction season.

[HighRadArt]

I rarely have any plans when I go to a convention. My plan is the magpie approach - "Ooh! Something shiny over there!" - and then get distracted half the time when I am going towards my first distraction.

 

::

 

-slym

 

This is my approach too. I rarely go with any particular focus other than to score some great books at fair prices. If I search too narrowly on specific wants I rarely find them. I save those for auction season.

 

I get distracted more by the costumes.

[1Cool]

if you have $15,000 for a con, you might need someone to walk you to your car. Just sayin

 

Purely a theoretical number. I think the most I've spent is $3,000 at a Con but that was over 1 day.

[Red_Hood]

My buying method for a 3 day con is simple.

 

Go on the 1st day before the public gets access.

Buy before the doors open.

Leave and never look back.

(Don't need to deal with body odours, obnoxious costumes

and others blocking the aisles as they indecisively stand around

like a deer in headlights choosing to either buy something or eat more.)

[Gatchaman]

+1 , and avoid flavor of the month books. These are usually drastically overpriced at shows.

 

Same here. I mostly buy what I like to read and ignore the flashy or flavor comics. My range is usually from silver to bronze with some current. The most I have spent at a show is around $700 and walked away with over 1,000 books.

[DougC]

I rarely buy anything the first day, but I also do not collect what is usually hot or high end key books (with exception). I Generally haggle on Sunday when making larger purchases at a table, seems to have worked out so far.

[revat]

step 1: Cut a hole in a box.

step 2: bring cash, and offer the cash as you're making the actual offer on the comics.

step 3. I only go on the last day.

step 4. Make a first pass, grab a couple lower stuffs, make note of higher/more expensive stuff you might be interested in.

step 5. towards the end of the day, go back and make offers on bigger stuff. Its better if you grab some multiple books (some non-keys), and make the math a bit hard for the dealer (they won't remember the margins on the non-keys). Like hold out $700 in cash for $900+ worth of stuff. Dealer looking at the cash will be more inclined to accept, rather than carry those books home.

 

tip 1: Better if you politely interrupt the dealer while he's chatting with someone else (a friend, not a customer). Be apologetic, like you're sorry to trouble him with giving him your money. He'll want to get back to the conversation to avoid being rude, and he'll appreciate your politeness.

tips 2: Do not be holding your smartphone or OSPG when talking to dealer. Look him in the eye, but nicely, especially when you're making offers and holding out your cash.

tips 3: I like to focus on non-comic sellers who sell only a few key comics. They often have don't have an accurate sense of the true value of the comic or what comic margins should be. If you find a someone with just a few slabs, they might be willing to move them rather than do the careful packing associated with taking them home.

tips 3.5: For the non-comic seller in tips 3 above, you can send a friend over earlier in the day to make an offer on the comic you want. Then can go over towards the end of the day and make an offer that's a little higher. That dealer will think maybe that's the right price, and be more likely to move it.

[BarryAllen]

step 1: Cut a hole in a box.

step 2: bring cash, and offer the cash as you're making the actual offer on the comics.

step 3. I only go on the last day.

step 4. Make a first pass, grab a couple lower stuffs, make note of higher/more expensive stuff you might be interested in.

step 5. towards the end of the day, go back and make offers on bigger stuff. Its better if you grab some multiple books (some non-keys), and make the math a bit hard for the dealer (they won't remember the margins on the non-keys). Like hold out $700 in cash for $900+ worth of stuff. Dealer looking at the cash will be more inclined to accept, rather than carry those books home.

 

tip 1: Better if you politely interrupt the dealer while he's chatting with someone else (a friend, not a customer). Be apologetic, like you're sorry to trouble him with giving him your money. He'll want to get back to the conversation to avoid being rude, and he'll appreciate your politeness.

tips 2: Do not be holding your smartphone or OSPG when talking to dealer. Look him in the eye, but nicely, especially when you're making offers and holding out your cash.

tips 3: I like to focus on non-comic sellers who sell only a few key comics. They often have don't have an accurate sense of the true value of the comic or what comic margins should be. If you find a someone with just a few slabs, they might be willing to move them rather than do the careful packing associated with taking them home.

tips 3.5: For the non-comic seller in tips 3 above, you can send a friend over earlier in the day to make an offer on the comic you want. Then can go over towards the end of the day and make an offer that's a little higher. That dealer will think maybe that's the right price, and be more likely to move it.

 

[mysterio]

step 1: Cut a hole in a box.

 

For what?