how to start a comic shop

[kav]

It really is a fluke when a store succeeds-I've seen so many open and close

[Stumptown]

Do you have the equivalent of Craigslist (www.craigslist.org) over there? Seems like you could pick up some collections that way and start accumulating backstock.

[thatcomicbookguy]

Do you have the equivalent of Craigslist (www.craigslist.org) over there? Seems like you could pick up some collections that way and start accumulating backstock.

 

Yeah we have Craig's list, gumtree all that stuff but I've found that the only vintage comics books were bought over when the US army was here and left them behind or traded them. Vintage books are few and far in between. But I know alot of people want them. I'm coming to the states in June to catch up with some mates. So I may try hunt some stuff down then see how it goes.

[thecopperagekids]

Trueness, I'm in no rush to do it. So I'm just asking the question. But the markett I was hoping to take was where aussies order from USA when I could already have the book here. Maybe not so much the modern age books but more the vintage comics

 

Vintage comics can *easily* be purchased online....via ebay....metropolicomics.....mycomicshop and so on.

 

Granted, it sounds like your local comic shops offer you little competition in this regard, but you cannot overlook the fact that a lot of collectors can simply buy nearly any vintage comic that they want, off the internet, at any given time.

 

You cannot compete with that.

 

Sure, some collectors prefer to buy vintage books in person.I sold a raw G/VG Superman # 16 last year to a guy I know (who incidentally is a comic shop owner) while the same book sat on ebay for around 4 months, with a BIN considerably set lower than I got in cash from the buyer....the guy wanted the book for his own collection; not for resale.

 

That is an exception.....but if I were to have the book slabbed at a 3.0, I would not have an issue selling it online at/around the Overstreet G/VG price.

 

The drive to succeed is one thing, but you should place that drive towards scouting out raw books that you know will give a decent return, having them slabbed and seling them online.....if you know what you're doing, apply insight, do your research on market trends..... you really cannot fail, with this approach.It isn't easy, and is in no way a get rich quick scheme....but you wont lose money by having it tied up in dead stock, which you can't sell.If you don't have a 90% or greater sell through rate on your weekly new comic releases on Wednasdays, you are screwed.

 

"New books are toilet paper, by the folowing Monday, after they are released"....to qoute a local comic shop owner that I've known for years.

 

 

Comic shows will be glorified Cosplay and celebrity signing events.Damn near ALL back issues will be a dollar each...........$20 silver age books?Yeah, you'll see them in dollar bins, soon enough.

That is where the market is headed.I have talked to a couple "bigger name" dealers, whom I will not mention by name,on the east coast convention circuit......who plaintively have stated as much.And I could not agree more.

 

In 10 years time, I think that most comic shops will either be totally out of business, or primarily sell games like Magic The Gathering.....that is how most comic shop owners I know make their money;their weekly comic book buyers who get their new books every Wednasday and hosting Magic tournaments....most of the profit is in the latter.

 

However, the market would be different in Australia due to less supply (overlooking the fact that you can buy anything online).....so if you have a buddy who owns a coffee shop and want to give a coffee/comic shop a shot (not too bad as you're splitting the rent).....I would suggest playing everything VERY close to the vest.

 

Do not go out and buy a ton of comics, in bulk or vintage comics and so on.

 

Just offer new books and order in very CONSERVATIVE numbers...as in 5 copies of a Harley Quinn book, each Wednasday.If you start getting weekly buyers, get them onto a subscription service and offer 10% off , and a free bag/board with each comic.

 

Even then, with a lower risk involved, you time is better spent elsewhere,as I said above

 

.....and I mean the following with all due respect:

 

If you need to start a thread on an comic book forum for advice on how to open up a comic book shop, you really are not in a position to open up a comic book shop.

 

For that reason and cough cough....internet competition...cough cough....do yourself a big favor and consider all possible outcomes, before you move on.

 

Know that I'm telling you this, to be a nice guy and to help you out, not to shoot down your dreams or to be a .

 

[shadroch]

Volunteer to work for free in a local shop for six months. Learn everything you can about how to run a shop, and how not to run a shop. don't worry about the money, its about what you'll be making the first few months in your own shop if you choose to continue down the path.

[kav]

Contact Lex Ledger for tips on starting a comic shop!

[thatcomicbookguy]

Contact Lex Ledger for tips on starting a comic shop!

 

hahaha ill ask him for tips on security

[kav]

Tip: if you see someone milling around and slowly making a stack of valuable slabs while looking around constantly, hover over him like a hawk.

[thatcomicbookguy]

Trueness, I'm in no rush to do it. So I'm just asking the question. But the markett I was hoping to take was where aussies order from USA when I could already have the book here. Maybe not so much the modern age books but more the vintage comics

 

Vintage comics can *easily* be purchased online....via ebay....metropolicomics.....mycomicshop and so on.

 

Granted, it sounds like your local comic shops offer you little competition in this regard, but you cannot overlook the fact that a lot of collectors can simply buy nearly any vintage comic that they want, off the internet, at any given time.

 

You cannot compete with that.

 

Sure, some collectors prefer to buy vintage books in person.I sold a raw G/VG Superman # 16 last year to a guy I know (who incidentally is a comic shop owner) while the same book sat on ebay for around 4 months, with a BIN considerably set lower than I got in cash from the buyer....the guy wanted the book for his own collection; not for resale.

 

That is an exception.....but if I were to have the book slabbed at a 3.0, I would not have an issue selling it online at/around the Overstreet G/VG price.

 

The drive to succeed is one thing, but you should place that drive towards scouting out raw books that you know will give a decent return, having them slabbed and seling them online.....if you know what you're doing, apply insight, do your research on market trends..... you really cannot fail, with this approach.It isn't easy, and is in no way a get rich quick scheme....but you wont lose money by having it tied up in dead stock, which you can't sell.If you don't have a 90% or greater sell through rate on your weekly new comic releases on Wednasdays, you are screwed.

 

"New books are toilet paper, by the folowing Monday, after they are released"....to qoute a local comic shop owner that I've known for years.

 

 

Comic shows will be glorified Cosplay and celebrity signing events.Damn near ALL back issues will be a dollar each...........$20 silver age books?Yeah, you'll see them in dollar bins, soon enough.

That is where the market is headed.I have talked to a couple "bigger name" dealers, whom I will not mention by name,on the east coast convention circuit......who plaintively have stated as much.And I could not agree more.

 

In 10 years time, I think that most comic shops will either be totally out of business, or primarily sell games like Magic The Gathering.....that is how most comic shop owners I know make their money;their weekly comic book buyers who get their new books every Wednasday and hosting Magic tournaments....most of the profit is in the latter.

 

However, the market would be different in Australia due to less supply (overlooking the fact that you can buy anything online).....so if you have a buddy who owns a coffee shop and want to give a coffee/comic shop a shot (not too bad as you're splitting the rent).....I would suggest playing everything VERY close to the vest.

 

Do not go out and buy a ton of comics, in bulk or vintage comics and so on.

 

Just offer new books and order in very CONSERVATIVE numbers...as in 5 copies of a Harley Quinn book, each Wednasday.If you start getting weekly buyers, get them onto a subscription service and offer 10% off , and a free bag/board with each comic.

 

Even then, with a lower risk involved, you time is better spent elsewhere,as I said above

 

.....and I mean the following with all due respect:

 

If you need to start a thread on an comic book forum for advice on how to open up a comic book shop, you really are not in a position to open up a comic book shop.

 

For that reason and cough cough....internet competition...cough cough....do yourself a big favor and consider all possible outcomes, before you move on.

 

Know that I'm telling you this, to be a nice guy and to help you out, not to shoot down your dreams or to be a .

 

well stated thanks for the advice

[Aweandlorder]

Wasnt there a guy on these boards who was in Australia and had someone in Atlanta I think purchase inventory for him until he got locked up?

I recall he went to auctions and got him some big ticket books on a regular basis and then left him with an open tab of tens of thousnds.. Anyone?

[H0RR0RSH0W]

Comic books are hard to come by in Australia. It is a different market. If he had them he might have something. Ahh the dream...

 

I am trying to think who it was that said' the best way to end up in the poorhouse is to turn a hobby into an occupation.'

[Noodlez]

$$$$$$

[shadroch]

Wasnt there a guy on these boards who was in Australia and had someone in Atlanta I think purchase inventory for him until he got locked up?

I recall he went to auctions and got him some big ticket books on a regular basis and then left him with an open tab of tens of thousnds.. Anyone?

 

Someone in Oz was sending money to a respected dealer to buy him books. Guy ended up being not so respectable, took the guys money and never bought the books. Then he got arrested for a slew of things and ended up killing himself. Sad event.

[Aweandlorder]

Wasnt there a guy on these boards who was in Australia and had someone in Atlanta I think purchase inventory for him until he got locked up?

I recall he went to auctions and got him some big ticket books on a regular basis and then left him with an open tab of tens of thousnds.. Anyone?

 

Someone in Oz was sending money to a respected dealer to buy him books. Guy ended up being not so respectable, took the guys money and never bought the books. Then he got arrested for a slew of things and ended up killing himself. Sad event.

 

WOW! I havent heard about the suicide part. So tragic.

I thought that they had that arrangement for a number of years and then things escalated.

One cant stop from thinking about the opportunities that exist overseas. I wonder what the market is like in Australia. I have close relatives in Melbourne and Sidney and always thought of exporting books there and see how it would work out.

[romanheart]

Isn't opening any retail store a tough proposition. Where I am, Target has pulled out, Future shop has folded, Best Buy is under pressure. Internet has made it tough for any normal store with floor space harder.

 

Virtually all businesses have larger competition and competing attention for consumer dollars.

[sonicyouth]

Attend the northeast conventions in Pittsburgh and Baltimore Comiccon lots of good deals there. make connections for good raw keys. both of those cons have the best prices in the world prolly. like hulk 1's for 2k in vg, no joke..

t

 

call Todd Mcdeviit and ask to bulk buy a bunch of long boxes of 20-35 cent cover bronze age titles such as Avengers, Iron Man, Daredevil,Defenders,X-men,marvel feature/premiere etc..set this up while you are in the states.

 

tell him your story. probably one of the best dudes you can go through.

 

Overstuff longboxes to fit like 300 books each and they will cost around $150 a box.you'll find plenty of $5-10 bronze books to supplement costs as well as the occasional $50 book.

 

At Todd's bulk prices you can easily beat myscomicshop, metropolis and ebay prices all day.

 

 

for a few thousand dollars you can have a nice bronze selection folks will gladly pay $2-3 a book for and the good ones for $5-10. Attend Baltimore/Pittsburgh cons early in the morning will get you cheap keys and there ya go. (hit the key bins, at these cons they are usually priced at overstreet rather than ebay value, the veteran dealers will blow out books like asm 298,601, batman 570,612 for $5-10 each, which of course sell for three times or more that online.

 

you have a back issue stock for a minimal investment. where at the very elast if all falls through you can make profit selling via ebay.

 

good luck!

 

 

 

 

 

[loadstone]

One thing I saw that worked well at a new shop that opened a few years back is the owners/investers who initially ran the shop hired a terrific store clerk/manager. This guy reads about 120+ comics a month, is over 50 and a life long collector, has vast knowledge and experience in reading comics from GA to modern and can engage you and talk your ear off on any comic topic you can think of. He is also super nice. that turned their store around. He frequently helps introduce new and longtime collectors to new moderns and provides recommendations which helps increase subscription titles and sell books.

[Bookery]

Unfortunately, there is no way I can recommend anyone opening a new comic book shop in this day and age. Maybe an internet mail-order operation, or maybe buying an existing business from someone retiring.... even then risky. But to open a brand new shop and trying to build a client base from scratch in this retail environment... the odds of success are about 1000 to 1 (and you better have lots of your own cash on hand... because I guarantee no bank will loan you money for it).

 

Comics are doing okay at the moment due to all of the movie/TV hype. But there is no way they are ultimately immune to the same market conditions that are wiping out used bookstores across the nation. Plenty of old bookstores going under.... don't know of anyone opening a new one.

 

 

[Kevin76]

Lot of problems I see with comic stores today

 

not clean

bad lighting

lack of inventory

bad customer service

store smells

store being treated like a hangout

lack of owners not taking advantage of something called the internet

[the blob]

easier to just move to America.

 

Oh I have been thinking about that. isn't the whole green card thing an issue over there. That's what the movies tell me anyway

 

marry an american woman. problem solved. and i don't think you even need a green card to run the shop as nobody is employing you (assuming you are here legally, as a spouse)

 

tons of australian x-pats in NYC, but it is way too expensive here to open a shop like that