Are LCSs the new enemy or have they always been?

[Chip Cataldo]

IMHO, store owners should know their business.

 

If I had a store no one would need to tell me what books were hot and what weren't. It's part of running a comic shop.

 

Its not that easy man. If you own a store you have a million things to worry about from ordering books to fixing the light fixtures. I can't imagine a store owner can spend a lot of time looking over completed e-bay sales or hanging out on the boards gathering info. That being said I don't think the LCS owner can't expect others to impart free knowledge about which book is hot. If they get some free info that great but you can't hold a grudge when they don't get it.

Dude, I've averaged listing nearly 200 auctions a week for the entire year. I do all that myself plus run my household AND take care of a 2-year-old. Running a store would be a breeze.

 

uhh....congratulations

Thanks, but that wasn't the point of what I said. My point was that if I can keep up with what's going on then any LCS owner should be able to. You don't see GAtor or Dale Roberts getting caught on the short end of pricing on books.

[wombat]

A business owner must decide how to run things and what to make a priority and what not to. Those things they don't make a priority don't become the customer's job.

[CBT]

I hit up a new shop in Columbus and the owner was a cool guy to talk to (not many books to buy but they can't all be winners). He was saying he takes offense when his long time customers come in and secretly buy up all of the new hot books without telling him about it. In his words they come in all sneaky and act like they are getting away with something. He said he still would sell the books at the price marked but if the customer tells him about it he can go in the back room and pull out more copies. He didn't really expect much info from guys like me who are in once and done but he feels his loyal long time customers should be a little more free with the info.

 

Do you feel long time buyers should help out the store owners or is it a dog eat dog world. I feel like it has to go both ways. If a store owner has been upfront in selling hot new books (like variants) then the buyer should give back a bit with some free info. If the store owner has jacked up the price of all new books and bought books for pennies on the dollar for years then all's fair in love and war.

 

Store owners should always honor the price on their stock that is out, and if they are worried about missing out on a hot book, hold stock back. When it sells out off the shelf, check and reprice if necessary before restocking.

 

It's really quite simply.

 

If a store wants to put out 50 copies on the shelf at cover price, dont be upset if someone decides they want all 50. That's what "For Sale" means.

 

Alternatively, if restocking is too time consuming, implement a limit on same issue per customer, and put a sign in your front window and at the till. Then everybody is being treated fairly.

 

If you lose large/long time customers to another shop that doesnt limit, that's the trade off.

[the blob]

i think comic shops should do whatever the heck they want with hot new releases EXCEPT skrewing over file customers who ordered them and are presumably on the hook for them by yanking them from the file. that is total B.S.

 

the drawback to not putting hot issue __ on the stand and having it behind the counter at $25 is alienating people who object to the profiteering (because they wanted to buy it at cover and sell it for $25 on ebay as is their god-given right). sometimes too much greed blows up in one's face, however. tread carefully. if you have someone who drops $50, $75, $100 or whatever a week in your shop maybe it would be a good idea to sell it to them for cover or not $25. i would like to think they would remember the good deed.

 

no, shop owners are not the enemy, but sometimes they shoot themselves in the foot. a shop i used to go to had multiples of southern bastards 1 covers on the rack even though it was at issue #3. at that point I figured what the heck and tried to buy one of each cover, even leaving a few on the rack. the clerk said no more than one copy. i countered, but it's three months old, i left a bunch on the rack, whoever wanted it would have bought it by now, and I just want one of each cover. nope he says. i say what about one for me and one for my son (who was with me). nope he says. but i'm buying a bunch of other , including a $14.95 TPB for my son? nope he says.

 

(at that point i should have walked out, but i put all the other stuff aside (I was buying some other comics off the rack (about $15 worth) as well as the SBs) and just bought one SB and the tpb i had promised my son.

 

it is not a collectors' shop, i get it, and they NEVER mark anything up over cover, so I give them credit for that, and I understand they wanted to leave copies out there for "others", but it is silly to do that for a 3 month old book sitting on the rack...particularly when i just wanted one of each cover. isn't that's why they have multiple covers, so i can collect 'em all? (which is what i told him to no avail)

 

i haven't been back. i was not a big customer, but I spent $20-$50 there 2-3 times a month, they recognized me when i came in, etc.

 

with that said i have officially dropped out of trying to make a buck buying books off the rack. the SB 1 i bought is sitting in a box somewhere, i didn't try to flip it.

[techtre2003]

I absolutely tell my LCS owner what's hot; but I don't think he's the typical owner either. He couldn't care less if new books are hot or not, they all go on the shelf at cover price. He puts the variants out on the shelf with all the other books too; although he usually mixes them in the stack so you have to actually look for them. He bases his back issue prices off of guide and knows how much he wants out of the book; not how much he can squeeze out of you.

 

I've gotten books off him that he knows are hot for a great price. I've only sold one book of his for a large profit; and those profits went right back to him. He does keep up with trends and pulls those books from his inventory to put up on the wall but he still prices them very fairly.

 

So yeah, he takes care of me so I try to take care of him. He's told me before his bread and butter are new books so instead of saving a bunch of money by pre-ordering online, I keep a pull list with him and happily pay cover for everything.

[1Cool]

Great views here but I can't imagine the daunting task of running a comic shop, especially in this day and age. Just look at that Batman 40 fiasco. I'm not gonna pass judgement on a shop if they are not in the know of a certain "hot" issue. Shooooooooot, he's probably more worried on how to pay the rent.

 

Maybe I missed something. What was the "Batman 40 fiasco"?

 

I didn't buy any at cover price

[Bookery]

IMHO, store owners should know their business.

 

If I had a store no one would need to tell me what books were hot and what weren't. It's part of running a comic shop.

 

Its not that easy man. If you own a store you have a million things to worry about from ordering books to fixing the light fixtures. I can't imagine a store owner can spend a lot of time looking over completed e-bay sales or hanging out on the boards gathering info. That being said I don't think the LCS owner can't expect others to impart free knowledge about which book is hot. If they get some free info that great but you can't hold a grudge when they don't get it.

 

This pretty much nails it. I think a lot of older store owners have been taken aback by all of these sudden and massive price swings on hot and speculator books. They've never experienced anything like it before. But I agree.... I know things still get by me, and that's just life. My bigger concern is that I might be unaware of a hot book in a collection I'm buying, and accidentally underpay for those books.

 

I can tell you it's a full-time job on top of a full-time job to keep up on it. Most people on this thread are probably only concerned with hot silver and bronze through modern books. But the golden-age is also in huge flux. There are books going for 10x guide, and many others, including big GA keys... going for half guide. I've been forced to spend every evening for the past 5 months putting my own pricing guide together... 600-pages long covering real world pricing on everything that meets the "collectible" criteria. It's just for me... not for publication... but I've never had to do this before.... and now I believe it to be essential. But most dealers are not going to be in a position to do this.

 

[W16227]

IMHO, store owners should know their business.

 

If I had a store no one would need to tell me what books were hot and what weren't. It's part of running a comic shop.

 

Its not that easy man. If you own a store you have a million things to worry about from ordering books to fixing the light fixtures. I can't imagine a store owner can spend a lot of time looking over completed e-bay sales or hanging out on the boards gathering info. That being said I don't think the LCS owner can't expect others to impart free knowledge about which book is hot. If they get some free info that great but you can't hold a grudge when they don't get it.

Dude, I've averaged listing nearly 200 auctions a week for the entire year. I do all that myself plus run my household AND take care of a 2-year-old. Running a store would be a breeze.

 

uhh....congratulations

Thanks, but that wasn't the point of what I said. My point was that if I can keep up with what's going on then any LCS owner should be able to. You don't see GAtor or Dale Roberts getting caught on the short end of pricing on books.

 

--- and most LCS are not running a store - and running around setting up at shows across the country---

 

 

Andrews example - he found a couple of MP #1 for a good price. Great. For every purchase like that I find in the wild- I pay FMV or maybe even a little more than FMV at a local shop.

 

 

Heck - even I know that MP #1 has jumped lately - and I am a microscopic "dealer" (if I can even be called that ) - with a full time job that is every bit as demanding as owning a comic shop.

 

People can run their businesses how the see fit. That specific owner - instead of complaining, why not think of ways to improve the situation? - if he has employees - why isn't one of them assigned the task of identifying books that suddenly jump on the radar - then comparing them to stock? Most of the area stores - are not always swamped with people and there is down time.

 

 

Heck - hire one of the regulars for a couple of hours a week. If it is THAT big of a loss for them - then paying someone for a couple of hours work a week will pay off "big".

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Xela]

I absolutely tell my LCS owner what's hot; but I don't think he's the typical owner either. He couldn't care less if new books are hot or not, they all go on the shelf at cover price. He puts the variants out on the shelf with all the other books too; although he usually mixes them in the stack so you have to actually look for them. He bases his back issue prices off of guide and knows how much he wants out of the book; not how much he can squeeze out of you.

 

I've gotten books off him that he knows are hot for a great price. I've only sold one book of his for a large profit; and those profits went right back to him. He does keep up with trends and pulls those books from his inventory to put up on the wall but he still prices them very fairly.

 

So yeah, he takes care of me so I try to take care of him. He's told me before his bread and butter are new books so instead of saving a bunch of money by pre-ordering online, I keep a pull list with him and happily pay cover for everything.

 

sounds like a really good guy!

[techtre2003]

I absolutely tell my LCS owner what's hot; but I don't think he's the typical owner either. He couldn't care less if new books are hot or not, they all go on the shelf at cover price. He puts the variants out on the shelf with all the other books too; although he usually mixes them in the stack so you have to actually look for them. He bases his back issue prices off of guide and knows how much he wants out of the book; not how much he can squeeze out of you.

 

I've gotten books off him that he knows are hot for a great price. I've only sold one book of his for a large profit; and those profits went right back to him. He does keep up with trends and pulls those books from his inventory to put up on the wall but he still prices them very fairly.

 

So yeah, he takes care of me so I try to take care of him. He's told me before his bread and butter are new books so instead of saving a bunch of money by pre-ordering online, I keep a pull list with him and happily pay cover for everything.

 

sounds like a really good guy!

 

The best. That's why he's been in business 20+ years and why he'll have my business as long as he's there!

[mysterio]

Good topic Andrew.

 

Recently hit up a local store I had never been to. This store has been in business 40 years+, so I had to check the shop off my list. TONS of back issues. The kind of store I would frequent, and I'm sure plenty of boardies would enjoy as well.

 

I went to leave a positive review on Facebook, as there aren't many good spots for back issues around here. The owner was on the store's front page complaining about (paying) customers who come in and scoop up hot books at low prices. He called them "mistake buyers." Although, I wouldn't call it a "mistake" buy, but an educated one. I skipped out on leaving a positive review, because I would fall right into that category. Is it the customer's fault that the store owner neglects the thousands of books sitting in front of him? If your business is comics, shouldn't you be keeping track of what is in demand?

 

Don't get me wrong, if you're in the comics business for 40 years, you're (probably) doing something right. But if you can't keep up with the current market, maybe it is time to reevaluate pricing methods, instead of complaining about customers via social media.

 

If LCS owners get into a mindset where they feel a "me vs. them" mentality towards their customers then that sounds like a losing battle. Shops are (allegedly) in business to exchange their books for a customer's money, and if shop owners are going to become embittered by envisioning that they are being taken advantage of by their customers I can't see how that ends well. Shop owners can come onto sites like this just as easily as their customers can, and many of us find plenty of free time to come here to indulge our interests even when we don't stand to gain financially from it. If it affected my livelihood I'd practically live here to get the information I'd need to price accurately and follow trends.

[revat]

i think comic shops should do whatever the heck they want with hot new releases EXCEPT skrewing over file customers who ordered them and are presumably on the hook for them by yanking them from the file. that is total B.S.

 

the drawback to not putting hot issue __ on the stand and having it behind the counter at $25 is alienating people who object to the profiteering (because they wanted to buy it at cover and sell it for $25 on ebay as is their god-given right). sometimes too much greed blows up in one's face, however. tread carefully. if you have someone who drops $50, $75, $100 or whatever a week in your shop maybe it would be a good idea to sell it to them for cover or not $25. i would like to think they would remember the good deed.

 

no, shop owners are not the enemy, but sometimes they shoot themselves in the foot. a shop i used to go to had multiples of southern bastards 1 covers on the rack even though it was at issue #3. at that point I figured what the heck and tried to buy one of each cover, even leaving a few on the rack. the clerk said no more than one copy. i countered, but it's three months old, i left a bunch on the rack, whoever wanted it would have bought it by now, and I just want one of each cover. nope he says. i say what about one for me and one for my son (who was with me). nope he says. but i'm buying a bunch of other , including a $14.95 TPB for my son? nope he says.

 

(at that point i should have walked out, but i put all the other stuff aside (I was buying some other comics off the rack (about $15 worth) as well as the SBs) and just bought one SB and the tpb i had promised my son.

 

it is not a collectors' shop, i get it, and they NEVER mark anything up over cover, so I give them credit for that, and I understand they wanted to leave copies out there for "others", but it is silly to do that for a 3 month old book sitting on the rack...particularly when i just wanted one of each cover. isn't that's why they have multiple covers, so i can collect 'em all? (which is what i told him to no avail)

 

i haven't been back. i was not a big customer, but I spent $20-$50 there 2-3 times a month, they recognized me when i came in, etc.

 

with that said i have officially dropped out of trying to make a buck buying books off the rack. the SB 1 i bought is sitting in a box somewhere, i didn't try to flip it.

 

I agree w you, and sometimes I don't get why owners get so mad about stuff.

 

I went into a store a few years ago after a job interview, never been there, different part of town. Saw a nice blank I wanted, grabbed the newest walking dead, and since hawkeye was hot at the time, I checked for #1's since I started late on that series (they were on issue 5). They had 3 copies. I pulled two of those copies, took them to the front.

The worker says loudly to another worker, "Don't you just hate it when strangers come in to just flip books on ebay?"

 

I told him there was still another copy for anyone who still wants it FIVE MONTHS later and that there were no signs limiting copies.

 

Obviously haven't been back.

[the blob]

IMHO, store owners should know their business.

 

If I had a store no one would need to tell me what books were hot and what weren't. It's part of running a comic shop.

 

Its not that easy man. If you own a store you have a million things to worry about from ordering books to fixing the light fixtures. I can't imagine a store owner can spend a lot of time looking over completed e-bay sales or hanging out on the boards gathering info. That being said I don't think the LCS owner can't expect others to impart free knowledge about which book is hot. If they get some free info that great but you can't hold a grudge when they don't get it.

Dude, I've averaged listing nearly 200 auctions a week for the entire year. I do all that myself plus run my household AND take care of a 2-year-old. Running a store would be a breeze.

 

chip, you start your auctions low and let the market decide. there isn't going to be overlooking a "hot book" that way. if you stick something in your store then maybe research its FMV.

 

 

[Iceman399]

Until recently I was overly pleased with my LCS. They would sell new books at cover price and not jack up the hot books. They had a limit of 2 per person (unless pre ordered).

 

About 3 months ago when I heard about the Darth Vader 3 variant, I emailed them to preorder the copy (they previously sold them at the ratio) 1:10 = $10 etc. When I went in to pick up my DV3 variant there was a sticker price of $75 on it. I asked if they were joking, they replied nope we now price our variants as the market commands (they checked on ebay the day before release and put that sticker price on it). Ok that is cool and all and you have every right, but when someone preorders the book before FOC orders are due (I only ordered 1 copy) don't rake them over the coals for it. I told them straight up I won't ever count on them for another variant book.

[revat]

IMHO, store owners should know their business.

 

If I had a store no one would need to tell me what books were hot and what weren't. It's part of running a comic shop.

 

Its not that easy man. If you own a store you have a million things to worry about from ordering books to fixing the light fixtures. I can't imagine a store owner can spend a lot of time looking over completed e-bay sales or hanging out on the boards gathering info. That being said I don't think the LCS owner can't expect others to impart free knowledge about which book is hot. If they get some free info that great but you can't hold a grudge when they don't get it.

Dude, I've averaged listing nearly 200 auctions a week for the entire year. I do all that myself plus run my household AND take care of a 2-year-old. Running a store would be a breeze.

 

chip, you start your auctions low and let the market decide. there isn't going to be overlooking a "hot book" that way. if you stick something in your store then maybe research its FMV.

 

 

too be fair to chip, he doesn't buy his comics at a set price like most stores do, he has to research before the 'buy' to make sure there's enough meat on the bone.

 

Comic stores 'in theory' have to do neither. They generally buy and sell at set prices for the majority of their business. The research they (hopefully) do is reading the previews and gathering information, experience, and data about their market (and possibly the larger market) and making wise purchasing decisions in terms of quantities ordered.

[Chip Cataldo]

chip, you start your auctions low and let the market decide. there isn't going to be overlooking a "hot book" that way. if you stick something in your store then maybe research its FMV.

That's true, but I'm talking also about the opposite end of the spectrum...when I acquire stock. I'm in business to make as money as I can doing something I enjoy. I keep up on everything that's going on in multiple collectible hobbies to educate myself on not only how to sell, but how to buy as well.

 

I'm also saying that if I had a shop I'd be up on everything I needed to be. All it takes is effort. Not sure what I'd do if I got as big as Bookery or some of the other guys here, but I'm sure they're making good enough money without having to worry about every little hot thing out there. I'm a one-man operation so I need that "all-encompassing" information more than they do. Like Bookery said, he's concentrating a bit on Golden Age because that's probably more where his money is. I'm sure he cares more about the $500 GA book on a client's want list jumping $200 than me finding the 1st Captain Carrot for $1 and getting a final hammer of $10 via eBay.

[BettrFastrStrongr]

Don't you work from home? Totally different than owning a shop.

[mysterio]

i think comic shops should do whatever the heck they want with hot new releases EXCEPT skrewing over file customers who ordered them and are presumably on the hook for them by yanking them from the file. that is total B.S.

 

the drawback to not putting hot issue __ on the stand and having it behind the counter at $25 is alienating people who object to the profiteering (because they wanted to buy it at cover and sell it for $25 on ebay as is their god-given right). sometimes too much greed blows up in one's face, however. tread carefully. if you have someone who drops $50, $75, $100 or whatever a week in your shop maybe it would be a good idea to sell it to them for cover or not $25. i would like to think they would remember the good deed.

 

no, shop owners are not the enemy, but sometimes they shoot themselves in the foot. a shop i used to go to had multiples of southern bastards 1 covers on the rack even though it was at issue #3. at that point I figured what the heck and tried to buy one of each cover, even leaving a few on the rack. the clerk said no more than one copy. i countered, but it's three months old, i left a bunch on the rack, whoever wanted it would have bought it by now, and I just want one of each cover. nope he says. i say what about one for me and one for my son (who was with me). nope he says. but i'm buying a bunch of other , including a $14.95 TPB for my son? nope he says.

 

(at that point i should have walked out, but i put all the other stuff aside (I was buying some other comics off the rack (about $15 worth) as well as the SBs) and just bought one SB and the tpb i had promised my son.

 

it is not a collectors' shop, i get it, and they NEVER mark anything up over cover, so I give them credit for that, and I understand they wanted to leave copies out there for "others", but it is silly to do that for a 3 month old book sitting on the rack...particularly when i just wanted one of each cover. isn't that's why they have multiple covers, so i can collect 'em all? (which is what i told him to no avail)

 

i haven't been back. i was not a big customer, but I spent $20-$50 there 2-3 times a month, they recognized me when i came in, etc.

 

with that said i have officially dropped out of trying to make a buck buying books off the rack. the SB 1 i bought is sitting in a box somewhere, i didn't try to flip it.

 

I agree w you, and sometimes I don't get why owners get so mad about stuff.

 

I went into a store a few years ago after a job interview, never been there, different part of town. Saw a nice blank I wanted, grabbed the newest walking dead, and since hawkeye was hot at the time, I checked for #1's since I started late on that series (they were on issue 5). They had 3 copies. I pulled two of those copies, took them to the front.

The worker says loudly to another worker, "Don't you just hate it when strangers come in to just flip books on ebay?"

 

I told him there was still another copy for anyone who still wants it FIVE MONTHS later and that there were no signs limiting copies.

 

Obviously haven't been back.

 

I never understood that mentality either. They're in the business to sell things, and you want to buy them, so what gives? I agree that if you were trying to buy up their entire stash on the day of release that that would be tacky, but buying two copies five months out shouldn't raise anyone's eyebrow (let alone get you chastised by people whose paychecks depend on them selling merchandise).

[Chip Cataldo]

Don't you work from home? Totally different than owning a shop.

I'm not saying it is. All I'm saying is that if you own a shop and aren't up on this stuff, then it's on YOU so quit whining about "being taken advantage of." If I had a shop (and that's my goal) I know that stuff wouldn't happen to me. I maintain that the effort that goes on day-to-day when owning a shop can't be any more difficult or time consuming than doing it from home while running your household and taking care of a child all at the same time.

[Xela]

chip, you start your auctions low and let the market decide. there isn't going to be overlooking a "hot book" that way. if you stick something in your store then maybe research its FMV.

That's true, but I'm talking also about the opposite end of the spectrum...when I acquire stock. I'm in business to make as money as I can doing something I enjoy. I keep up on everything that's going on in multiple collectible hobbies to educate myself on not only how to sell, but how to buy as well.

 

I'm also saying that if I had a shop I'd be up on everything I needed to be. All it takes is effort. Not sure what I'd do if I got as big as Bookery or some of the other guys here, but I'm sure they're making good enough money without having to worry about every little hot thing out there. I'm a one-man operation so I need that "all-encompassing" information more than they do. Like Bookery said, he's concentrating a bit on Golden Age because that's probably more where his money is. I'm sure he cares more about the $500 GA book on a client's want list jumping $200 than me finding the 1st Captain Carrot for $1 and getting a final hammer of $10 via eBay.

 

is it your job also?