Does anyone like having long boxes underneath tables at Cons?

[1Cool]

I'm throwing around different booth configurations and I really want to know if people actually look thru long boxes on the floor underneath tables? I don't think I've ever gone thru a long box on the floor myself but it may be due to my bad back and the $1 book booth are the only ones that go this route. Let me know if you like this layout?

 

 

[DR.X]

I understand the dealers that do this need to put them somewhere, but to me its a pain. First of all if people start kneeling on the floor looking through boxes, it plugs up the people trying to look at whats on the tables on top.

 

If they have back packs on, its double trouble. I've see people many times just sit on the floor in front of a booth and start leisurely looking through boxes like the thoughtless jerks they are.

 

 

[jsilverjanet]

Whenever I've done this, the sales are minimal

 

I do like to search through them as most skip them

[bababooey]

I've looked and bought from long boxes on the floor but I don't usually spend a lot of time doing it - if it's not labeled or alphabetically sorted in some way & attractively priced I'm less likely to look. It also depends on how many dealer options there are at a show.

 

I'm not crouching down to search for ten minutes to pay you $4 for a fine copy of Marvel Two in One #69 but if there's a handful of issues from the run sitting together in some dollar boxes under a table an impulse buy might happen.

 

 

[jimjum12]

It MIGHT be worth considering IF the books on the table above are similar. If the books above are nicer and more expensive, the floor books may block access and impact your bottom line negatively. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[1Cool]

It MIGHT be worth considering IF the books on the table above are similar. If the books above are nicer and more expensive, the floor books may block access and impact your bottom line negatively. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

 

It kind of comes down to not being able to have all my $1 book out without putting a bunch of boxes on the floor which I'm not keen on doing. I personally hate see boxes on the floor for the reason already stated - people will lounge while going thru them which blocks the whole area of the booth. I also like the storage aspect of not having long boxes on the floor.

[Jeffro.]

I love rummaging through boxes so yes, I go through them.

Having said that, boxes on the floor can be a PITA for the person crouching to look through them and also for those standing

 

[jsilverjanet]

I love rummaging through boxes so yes, I go through them.

Having said that, boxes on the floor can be a PITA for the person crouching to look through them and also for those standing

 

yeah that's another thing. they get in the way of customers and most get frustrated and never finish going through them. i've stopped putting them on the floor.

[1Cool]

I love rummaging through boxes so yes, I go through them.

Having said that, boxes on the floor can be a PITA for the person crouching to look through them and also for those standing

 

yeah that's another thing. they get in the way of customers and most get frustrated and never finish going through them. i've stopped putting them on the floor.

 

Great info. Thanks Hector.

[miraclemet]

the goal for the floor books is to have extra inventory available without clogging access to the books on the table.

 

so if that's the goal you want people to get in and out of those floor boxes fast.

browsing thru random $1 books doesn't keep the space clear and clogs things up bad...

 

If you have sets, or alphabetized books that aren't as hot, you could put them there, people could go thru them faster (if they are sets) or just look for the books on their want list and then be done (if theyre alphabetized).

 

Ive gone thru floor boxes, but it was when I was working on full $1 runs of "good read" titles, and if they didn't have the title in bulk (lke 20 issues of Hitman, or Starman) I moved on.

 

It also works if you have access to the long boxes from both sides of the table (at least then you can have people looking at the table top boxes on one side of the table, and people looking under the table on the other side....

[joeypost]

As a buyer, unless the dealer has outstanding stock and I have purchased from them in the past, I avoid dealers with books on the floor that block access to the stock on the table or back wall.

 

I have seen dealers that have enough floor space that put boxes out under their wall. They can then invite customers back to look through the additional boxes without disrupting the flow to the main table stock.

[RockMyAmadeus]

When I was in my 20's and 30's, I loved to dive into boxes on the floor. Now that I'm in my 40's...it's pretty tough on the knees. I'm one of those thoughtless jerks who likes to sit on the floor, not trying to impede progress, but...you never know if that guy digging through your long boxes is going to spend $2,000 on $1-$2-$5 books, while the people they're impeding might buy a single book for $10.

 

You never know, so it's hard to eschew one for the other.

 

Things to remember:

 

Alpha-numeric your books as much as is humanly possible. Yes, I know it's a tremendous pain to do it, and maintain it, but it makes a massive difference.

 

"Seed" your bulk boxes with some decent books. I guarantee you, this works. If someone sees an NYX #4, for example, or an X-Factor #24, or a decent Star Wars #2, they absolutely will do the hard work of looking through every nook and cranny to see what else they might find. Absolutely. And, when they dig, they will see other books that they might not have been looking for, but will be more likely to buy.

 

I was at Earl Shaw's booth in Sept at Baltimore, and I got sucked in for $900 on his $5-$10 books, all because I saw a couple of books that Mike's Rack had found. It was great.

[ygogolak]

The stuff on the floor is where the gem's are hidden!

[blazingbob]

Stuffing boxes into every space imaginable gives the booth the look of a flea market setup.

 

I'm not digging on the floor for books.

 

 

[darkstar]

Put short boxes on the floor that can be picked up and put one at a time on top of the table or on top of the longboxes that are on top of the table. Only thing worse than longboxes on the floor are drawer boxes on the floor. Or keep your overstock in longboxes on the floor and replace the stuff up top when necessary.

[1Cool]

Put short boxes on the floor that can be picked up and put one at a time on top of the table or on top of the longboxes that are on top of the table. Only thing worse than longboxes on the floor are drawer boxes on the floor. Or keep your overstock in longboxes on the floor and replace the stuff up top when necessary.

 

The extra longbox hidden underneath approach is the format I may try. Keeping everything in order up top is going to be a nightmare but I'll do my best when filling boxes.

[Doktor]

My knees can't handle digging thru boxes on the floor anymore. And considering that I am only every looking for X-titles, and most people have their stuff in alphabetical order (outside of high-priced stuff), the books I'm looking for for filler stuff are gonna be on the floor. So no, I don't like boxes on the floor under the table.

[Topnotchman]

If your booth is complete drek mind as well fill the floor under the tables to get as many boxes into the booth. The more people at your booth will get a feeding frenzy going on. I would recommend bringing carpet or foam cushions so people don't have to sit on the concrete. Make it a Man Cave booth.

[ygogolak]

Stuffing boxes into every space imaginable gives the booth the look of a flea market setup.

 

I'm not digging on the floor for books.

 

 

What's wrong with flea markets?

[jsilverjanet]

Stuffing boxes into every space imaginable gives the booth the look of a flea market setup.

 

I'm not digging on the floor for books.

 

 

What's wrong with flea markets?

 

I've found some great stuff on the floor boxes because most have that attitude.

 

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