Does anyone like having long boxes underneath tables at Cons?

[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?

 

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

 

More for me

 

[CKB]

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.

 

I used to leave an empty spot on the table for a longbox that could be picked up and put there for someone digging. I had all my stuff in order so this worked well.

 

I would sometimes have issues with people looking through the boxes on the floor when the spot was being used, blocking access to the table. But truthfully there are much worse problems than that one.

 

Once I was confident in my ability to sell lots of books I stopped doing the floor thing and bought enough table space for my stock. I would use the under table space for things I wanted to have at the show in case I was specifically asked for them, not for the public to look through...

 

I sold a box of 80's indies this way... Someone asked me if I had any American Flagg. After I got up off the floor and pinched myself a few times, I said... hmmmm.... maybe. Oh year here's a full run and look there's a run of Badger too. The guy who asked didn't buy anything, but the guy behind him who happened to be at the table bought the whole box. True story.

 

 

 

[Hado]

I have some brutal personal space issues, and the thought of kneeling on the floor while people press in, trying to get to the table stock is a thing of nightmares.

 

I wouldn't even consider looking.

 

 

[1Cool]

I have some brutal personal space issues, and the thought of kneeling on the floor while people press in, trying to get to the table stock is a thing of nightmares.

 

I wouldn't even consider looking.

 

 

Bob says "its ok".

[shadroch]

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 don't pay $30-$50 a day to go to a flea market.

[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?

 

 

I don't pay $30-$50 a day to go to a flea market.

 

What's your point? I don't pay $30-50 to go to any cons.

[jsilverjanet]

[Comicdey]

The only reason I'd like it is that those boxes get less eyes and as long as good stuff priced cheaply to move is there, I'd do the 30 sec / long box flip.

[AmazingComics413]

Completely depends on which dealer's booth I am at. I do not enjoy it, but I have found plenty of great deals hiding in floor long boxes.

[snowman28]

I'll search through them if nobody is around. Then people feel the need to search right on top of me in the table above. At that point it's EXTREMELY uncomfortable and I just slide out of there and walk away. Many times have I contemplated just giving them a swift elbow to the crotch.

[1Cool]

I'll search through them if nobody is around. Then people feel the need to search right on top of me in the table above. At that point it's EXTREMELY uncomfortable and I just slide out of there and walk away. Many times have I contemplated just giving them a swift elbow to the crotch.

 

I considered having the people looking thru the floor books come to the "inside" of the booth and leave the outside for the table people. Problem I can see with that is you will have a bunch of people lounging in the center of the booth making hard to do pretty much anything.

[anstettoman]

with table space at a local con at $80 per table (hey its buffalo after all) I need to maximize the space that I have allotted to me if 2 tables are $150 and I can have the same amt of books there for $80 sounds like a no brainer as a seller of mostly $1 books. (my opinion)

[loadstone]

I HATE digging through long boxes on the floor. I'd love to be able to but it kills my knees and my back not to mention the smell of butt when people start to search above you (especially from scantly clad cos-players with poor hygiene or that mostly naked old guy wearing nothing but a loin cloth).

 

I won't stop to dig through any of them unless they have quality items I'm looking for. Better off just using short boxes or using that space for stock refill.

[ss5rmp]

i love having runs in my comic collection. Unfortunately for me, most of the stuff I like, not many others do. No good seller would put the stuff they can sell easily on the floor, so for me, the chances of me finding a book I am missing for my run are higher with boxes on the floor. So yes I like seeing boxes on the floor and digging through them to hopefully find a book I'm missing.

 

Its better if theyre in somewhat alphabetical order but thats more so i can look through the boxes quicker.

[thecopperagekids]

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.

 

+1 on both of these comments.

 

Long boxes on the floor do not work for those reasons and it also can make you look like a hack.

 

A "professional" dealer would not put long boxes on a floor for his customers to look through, it can be seen as vaguely insulting to your potential buyers.

 

Boxes on the floor will clog up space AND stop potential buyers from going through your better table stock.Nobody wants to stand by and wait while some fat dude with a backpack leisurely flips through your floor boxes.

 

Forementioned fat dude will likely spend 15-45 minutes, clogging space, only to stand up with seven $1 books in his hand...and then he will ask you if you will take $5 for the 7 books.

 

Meanwhile, your higher priced books...where you will otherwise average 5-10 times per money from per customer/sale...will be overlooked because fatty is prohibiting legit collectors from actually perusing your boxes and spending real money with you.

 

When I go to a dealer's table, after I check their boxes briefly for "hot" silver thru modern books, I will leaf through their boxes on the floor....because I know that most people don't look through boxes on the floor.

 

But as a dealer, you do *NOT WANT* guys like me going through your boxes on the floor because I am only looking for books like Batman #357 for $1.

 

For the most part, that is the only sort of book that will sell. when it is in a box on the floor.

 

 

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....

 

No, sir.

 

I strongly believe that if the books are not WORTH paying for table space, they are not worth bringing to a show.

 

Best thing to do is to contact a dealer who buys bulk comics and get $20-$50 per box.Or sell them in 1 long box lots on eBay....worst thing to do is to take them to a show.If you have complete sets, list them on eBay at fair BIN's and they will sell, eventually.

 

WRT your last point, I have never had a set up that allowed access to both sides of a table.At a show that is worth doing like Carbo's Big Apple Con, the first show of this year that I'll be set up at....you will never see this because the promoter is bright enough to know that this is a waste of sellable room.

[1Cool]

with table space at a local con at $80 per table (hey its buffalo after all) I need to maximize the space that I have allotted to me if 2 tables are $150 and I can have the same amt of books there for $80 sounds like a no brainer as a seller of mostly $1 books. (my opinion)

 

It would be really interesting to see if people get the same results sales wise on two tables or 1 table with books on the floor. Hector said he does not get much sales on the floor boxes - anyone else have some info from past Cons?

[KPR Comics]

Past Experience:

$1 books are a great way to pay for a table at a low-cost table show, provided you have other higher dollar books to complement, in my view. But, I weigh the "cost" of lugging those 10 extra longs that will sit on the floor against the return. That analysis always has me leaving those longs at home. All this said, know your audience.

[thecopperagekids]

My past experience is in line with Hector's and KPR's.

 

 

 

 

[Ken Aldred]

Having had my varicose veins stripped out and circulation in my legs compromised, and being on medication which gives me postural hypotension and dizziness when I stand up, I can’t be bothered to crouch down and look under the tables.

 

Also, I have personal space and OCD issues.

 

I’ll leave it to the youngsters. You’re welcome.

[newshane]

Horrible idea.

 

1. I don't like feeling like I'm in the way of other customers.

2. I'm very tall and had recent knee surgery. It's uncomfortable to impossible right now.

3. I don't like turning around, only to find myself eye-level with another guy's crotch.

4. I bet the comics aren't alphabetized or organized in any useful ways.

5. The comics are likely in terrible condition, if they are even bagged and/or boarded.

6. As someone mentioned before, it if ain't worth the table space, it ain't worth bringing.

7. Leave the longboxes in the car...sell them at bulk to any interested dealer and save yourself the back problems later in life.

 

I never bother looking through boxes on floors. Never.