Tales from the Comic Box - Rookie Adventures in Buying/Selling/Cons 5 5

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On ‎2018‎-‎03‎-‎29 at 9:12 AM, Wall-Crawler said:

I just received confirmation yesterday that for Sudbury Graphic Con: 

ACCEPTANCE:  VENDOR PREMIUM

Sudbury Graphic Con is the largest local con that I do and will be my second year doing so.  I applied in my first year for a premium booth but was "only" granted a regular booth.  Premium spots are very limited so I again decided to apply for premium booth and was stoked to get that email yesterday.  This basically means I have double the room to work with than I did last year for not a lot of extra money. 

Date:  Saturday, June 9th, 2018.

Based on some earlier suggestions, I will be "revamping" my boxes and hope to bring some new product and make a very good "splash". My involvement with 'big shows' is still pretty limited, but I was very impressed last year with how well this show is organized and how friendly they are.  Attendance was very good as well.  If you care to read about this show, here is the link: http://graphiccon.com/

 

Good stuff - seems like a nice show.  The website is very well put-together, although no guests identified yet and it's three months away?

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10 hours ago, thehumantorch said:

Nice.  Sometimes these smaller deals are real winners.  Guy want them gone and he isn't sitting on a valuable collection and doesn't want the moon.  

We've had a good buying month, too good.  In addition to the 20 short collection we also picked up

-35 slabbed keys and minor keys - includes Walking Dead 1 in 9.8, ASM 129 6.5, WWBN 32 6.5
-cherry picked 7 books from a small collection, best books NM98
-was at a LCS that's going out of business and the owner said she'd sell all the newer books for 10 Cents each.  Worked out to 11 longs and most of it is bagged and boarded and it's about 85% quality superhero books including lots of TMNT, Venom, Spider-man, etc

Wow, hard to go wrong paying 10 cents a book - and brand new bagged/boarded LCS stuff.  That wouldn't work for me but I can see why larger dealers like yourself (and a few local ones I know of), however this is the type of stuff with the largest profit margins. 

[thehumantorch]

3 hours ago, spreads said:

Wow, hard to go wrong paying 10 cents a book - and brand new bagged/boarded LCS stuff.  That wouldn't work for me but I can see why larger dealers like yourself (and a few local ones I know of), however this is the type of stuff with the largest profit margins. 

God, I'm not sure it will work for me either.  My basement is full of books, I have to leave my car outside because my garage is full.  My partner have boxes stacked all around the edges of his condo.  But I couldn't pass on recent moderns of decent quality at that price

[Wall-Crawler]

3 hours ago, spreads said:

Good stuff - seems like a nice show.  The website is very well put-together, although no guests identified yet and it's three months away?

The show is not "big" on guests like your typical con. It is a run by the local library and is non-profit. Show prides itself on being affordable for vendors and guests.  Special guests cost money.  Last year they had a few of the ladies from the original Degrassi Junior High but the show tends to focus on local talent and vendors, but will get some outside talent. However, unlikely will see your "big" comic names at this show (at least for now).

[Wall-Crawler]

14 hours ago, thehumantorch said:

Nice.  Sometimes these smaller deals are real winners.  Guy want them gone and he isn't sitting on a valuable collection and doesn't want the moon.  

We've had a good buying month, too good.  In addition to the 20 short collection we also picked up

-35 slabbed keys and minor keys - includes Walking Dead 1 in 9.8, ASM 129 6.5, WWBN 32 6.5
-cherry picked 7 books from a small collection, best books NM98
-was at a LCS that's going out of business and the owner said she'd sell all the newer books for 10 Cents each.  Worked out to 11 longs and most of it is bagged and boarded and it's about 85% quality superhero books including lots of TMNT, Venom, Spider-man, etc

Why can't this happen to me 

Seriously though, congrats. Super sweet score!!!

[thehumantorch]

6 hours ago, Wall-Crawler said:

Why can't this happen to me 

Seriously though, congrats. Super sweet score!!!

Thanks.  And right now my partner is looking at a 20 box collection.  Lot of GI joe including late Marvel issues and transformers magazines and odd ball stuff.

[thehumantorch]

4 hours ago, thehumantorch said:

Thanks.  And right now my partner is looking at a 20 box collection.  Lot of GI joe including late Marvel issues and transformers magazines and odd ball stuff.

And we bought it.  That's 5 collections in two weeks.

[Wall-Crawler]

10 hours ago, thehumantorch said:

And we bought it.  That's 5 collections in two weeks.

Congrats! Looks like I will just have to live vicariously through you guys in terms of collection pick ups!

[thehumantorch]

2 hours ago, Wall-Crawler said:

Congrats! Looks like I will just have to live vicariously through you guys in terms of collection pick ups!

No, I'm trying to say that the collections are out there and they will be offered to you.  We weren't offered anything over the winter and I was starting to wonder how long it would be before we picked something up.

It's important to build relationships with collectors, all those guys you're selling to today will some day begin selling.  It's important to talk to people about your hobby and to network.  I hate to say it but you almost have to be like an Amway salesman.

The first buy was from someone who came by our booth and talked comics with us for two years worth of shows.  When we finally went out to see his collection he told us he'd never shown it to anyone else.  He didn't like our offer because while we offered a reasonable amount for the good books we didn't value the drek at anything.  Even though he didn't like our offer he didn't offer it to anyone else and eventually he came back to us with 35 slabbed books and we bought those.  Yesterday we met him for breakfast and he gave us another long of books on consignment.  I can tell you he isn't meeting any other dealer for breakfast and he sold to us because he likes us, he trusts us  - he's seen us at multiple shows and he sees that we bring good books and have a lot of regular customers, and we've talked comics with him and we have a similar background of collecting in the 70s and 80s.

The second collection was offered to at least 4 local dealers.  We got it because we were willing to pay the most but we were in the mix because the guy knew us and had bought and sold with us.

The third collection was a lead from my partner's job.  Probably the 5th or 6th he got over the last few years at work.  Doesn't hurt to wear a spider-man watch or hang a batman poster at work if you can.  And this was a small deal, NM98, Spawn 1, couple other $10 to $50 books but these small buys add up.

The fourth was a visit to a LCS that's closing.  We went to say goodbye because we liked the owner but we were paying attention when she said she wanted to blow out her modern books.  And that deal will be easily the most profitable deal percentage wise of the 5.  $350 for 11 longs of decent moderns.  We picked out 4 shorts of books that should sell for $4 or $5 each and there's tons of good $1 books.

The fifth was another lead from my partner's job.  I haven't seen it but I know it has a complete Marvel GI Joe run.  Evil Ernie run and ashcans.  Transformers and Transformers magazines that I've never seen before.  At about $100 a long it should be a winner.

[Artboy99]

On ‎2018‎/‎03‎/‎30 at 11:47 AM, thehumantorch said:

God, I'm not sure it will work for me either.  My basement is full of books, I have to leave my car outside because my garage is full.  My partner have boxes stacked all around the edges of his condo.  But I couldn't pass on recent moderns of decent quality at that price

Those 10c new books that we bought from the closing comic store are stacked at my place.

We also just bought another collection: 12 longs and 4 shorts that will also go to my place. Yep, no room.

[Artboy99]

2 hours ago, thehumantorch said:

No, I'm trying to say that the collections are out there and they will be offered to you.  We weren't offered anything over the winter and I was starting to wonder how long it would be before we picked something up.

It's important to build relationships with collectors, all those guys you're selling to today will some day begin selling.  It's important to talk to people about your hobby and to network.  I hate to say it but you almost have to be like an Amway salesman.

The first buy was from someone who came by our booth and talked comics with us for two years worth of shows.  When we finally went out to see his collection he told us he'd never shown it to anyone else.  He didn't like our offer because while we offered a reasonable amount for the good books we didn't value the drek at anything.  Even though he didn't like our offer he didn't offer it to anyone else and eventually he came back to us with 35 slabbed books and we bought those.  Yesterday we met him for breakfast and he gave us another long of books on consignment.  I can tell you he isn't meeting any other dealer for breakfast and he sold to us because he likes us, he trusts us  - he's seen us at multiple shows and he sees that we bring good books and have a lot of regular customers, and we've talked comics with him and we have a similar background of collecting in the 70s and 80s.

The second collection was offered to at least 4 local dealers.  We got it because we were willing to pay the most but we were in the mix because the guy knew us and had bought and sold with us.

The third collection was a lead from my partner's job.  Probably the 5th or 6th he got over the last few years at work.  Doesn't hurt to wear a spider-man watch or hang a batman poster at work if you can.  And this was a small deal, NM98, Spawn 1, couple other $10 to $50 books but these small buys add up.

The fourth was a visit to a LCS that's closing.  We went to say goodbye because we liked the owner but we were paying attention when she said she wanted to blow out her modern books.  And that deal will be easily the most profitable deal percentage wise of the 5.  $350 for 11 longs of decent moderns.  We picked out 4 shorts of books that should sell for $4 or $5 each and there's tons of good $1 books.

The fifth was another lead from my partner's job.  I haven't seen it but I know it has a complete Marvel GI Joe run.  Evil Ernie run and ashcans.  Transformers and Transformers magazines that I've never seen before.  At about $100 a long it should be a winner.

I make sure I am talking to my customers at work about what things they like to do. it leads to them asking me what I do: I mention comics. Through that "networking" we have acquired several collections.

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Wow, gone for a day and you guys have bought-out Northern Alberta!  

Just to give you guys some color on the small lot, within less than two days of acquiring-it: I've already added around 40 books to my existing runs to complete their collection (I'll bag/board them tonight), have recouped 25% of my cost with one box sale with parties interested in two others.  I might have 80% of my cost back in about a week's time, this lot won't be a huge profit driver for me, but the effort to adding a good stack of books I need, while also building-out inventory all in a pretty minor amount of effort makes me happy.  

This is probably the coolest book from the lot, I priced-it out already for the next show if I do it, but I'm more than happy to hold-onto it.  

 

 

EDIT: I should also mention I'm scheduled to meet a collection tomorrow out-of-town, in the short period of time between going to the gym and thanksgiving dinner.  I try to make due getting by without my own vehicle, luckily this isn't a large lot....

Edited April 1, 2018 by spreads

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3 hours ago, Artboy99 said:

I make sure I am talking to my customers at work about what things they like to do. it leads to them asking me what I do: I mention comics. Through that "networking" we have acquired several collections.

It's funny you talk about work; that box I sold I met the guy wearing my company's fleece.  It turns out he has a buddy I know that works there....I could not agree with you more, you need to be able to network and talk to people to have an edge over other sellers. 

I've had people offer me deals first, just by being friendly and chatting with people.  During the monthly shows I hear some guys gripe about lack of sales while they're sitting down on their chair, removed from their boxes and customers.  Here's an idea...why don't you get up, say hello and be friendly with people!  

[thehumantorch]

I can't sit down at shows unless it's a multi-day, foot crushing show and it's near the end and quiet.  I'm constantly talking to people, sorting books that customers have misplaced, and changing what's displayed.  We like to have some books flat on the table and I've found that changing what's displayed flat at small shows can help sales as most guys will walk by your booth more than once.  

[Wall-Crawler]

20 hours ago, thehumantorch said:

No, I'm trying to say that the collections are out there and they will be offered to you.  We weren't offered anything over the winter and I was starting to wonder how long it would be before we picked something up.

It's important to build relationships with collectors, all those guys you're selling to today will some day begin selling.  It's important to talk to people about your hobby and to network.  I hate to say it but you almost have to be like an Amway salesman.

The first buy was from someone who came by our booth and talked comics with us for two years worth of shows.  When we finally went out to see his collection he told us he'd never shown it to anyone else.  He didn't like our offer because while we offered a reasonable amount for the good books we didn't value the drek at anything.  Even though he didn't like our offer he didn't offer it to anyone else and eventually he came back to us with 35 slabbed books and we bought those.  Yesterday we met him for breakfast and he gave us another long of books on consignment.  I can tell you he isn't meeting any other dealer for breakfast and he sold to us because he likes us, he trusts us  - he's seen us at multiple shows and he sees that we bring good books and have a lot of regular customers, and we've talked comics with him and we have a similar background of collecting in the 70s and 80s.

The second collection was offered to at least 4 local dealers.  We got it because we were willing to pay the most but we were in the mix because the guy knew us and had bought and sold with us.

The third collection was a lead from my partner's job.  Probably the 5th or 6th he got over the last few years at work.  Doesn't hurt to wear a spider-man watch or hang a batman poster at work if you can.  And this was a small deal, NM98, Spawn 1, couple other $10 to $50 books but these small buys add up.

The fourth was a visit to a LCS that's closing.  We went to say goodbye because we liked the owner but we were paying attention when she said she wanted to blow out her modern books.  And that deal will be easily the most profitable deal percentage wise of the 5.  $350 for 11 longs of decent moderns.  We picked out 4 shorts of books that should sell for $4 or $5 each and there's tons of good $1 books.

The fifth was another lead from my partner's job.  I haven't seen it but I know it has a complete Marvel GI Joe run.  Evil Ernie run and ashcans.  Transformers and Transformers magazines that I've never seen before.  At about $100 a long it should be a winner.

I know they are out there and there will be good and slow years, just the ebb and flow of things and to be honest, I shouldn't even be "complaining".

I am genuinely stoked for you guys and your finds though! Great to see and hear the stories! One of the main reasons I started this journal, to also collect wisdom and share in adventures in selling.

I 100% agree on relationships. I have bought from and sold to existing customers.  They keep coming back so I have to assume they are happy. I do my best to accommodate them. EVERYONE at work knows I collect, buy and sell comics.  In fact, my coworkers when they go to garage sales will either just pick up comics or text me photos  - A year or so ago, from that, there was one key find, that I ended up selling on CLink and we split the profits 50/50. Good relationships and networking are a HUGE factor.  I have also bought at shows too, not a lot but some pretty neat stuff. I think one thing I need to do is advertise better that I do BUY comics.

...Currently spending Easter long weekend with in-laws, whenever we have time, my wife and I go "antiquing".  I normally find something, so fingers crossed.

[Wall-Crawler]

12 hours ago, thehumantorch said:

I can't sit down at shows unless it's a multi-day, foot crushing show and it's near the end and quiet.  I'm constantly talking to people, sorting books that customers have misplaced, and changing what's displayed.  We like to have some books flat on the table and I've found that changing what's displayed flat at small shows can help sales as most guys will walk by your booth more than once.  

Who the heck has time to sit down at shows? Even the little local ones I do I am on my feet 99% of the time even if it just chatting with someone about comics who has no intention to buy...Always helping people, answering questions, making recommendations, basically everything you said above.  I have started to lay some books flat with ok success.  I hope to incorporate my spinner rack (finally) at a show or two.

[Wall-Crawler]

17 hours ago, Artboy99 said:

Those 10c new books that we bought from the closing comic store are stacked at my place.

We also just bought another collection: 12 longs and 4 shorts that will also go to my place. Yep, no room.

Pics ?

 

[thehumantorch]

7 hours ago, Wall-Crawler said:

Who the heck has time to sit down at shows? Even the little local ones I do I am on my feet 99% of the time even if it just chatting with someone about comics who has no intention to buy...Always helping people, answering questions, making recommendations, basically everything you said above.  I have started to lay some books flat with ok success.  I hope to incorporate my spinner rack (finally) at a show or two.

We sometimes take spinner racks to shows.  They display quite a few comics in a small space and in an odd sized space that a table won't fit in.  Sales are hit or miss, small sets or popular modern or CA seems to do best.

[Artboy99]

1 hour ago, thehumantorch said:

We sometimes take spinner racks to shows.  They display quite a few comics in a small space and in an odd sized space that a table won't fit in.  Sales are hit or miss, small sets or popular modern or CA seems to do best.

[spreads]

So I ended-up grabbing that lot yesterday; it was an hour drive back to an area where I grew-up.  I chatted a bit with the guy, but not as much as I normally would have because I had to high-tail it back to an easter dinner.

Great Lot; about three long-boxes worth that will be covered by 300 alone.  Owner had these books for years, read from the stands.  The condition as not great as most were unbagged/boarded, but he did know which books were important and those were protected.  

Highlights: 

He was a big Miller/Macfarlane guy so basically every copper-age Marvel Macfarlane was there aside from some late ASMs, and also some DC books.  

These three runs I haven't completely gone over yet, but I'm fairly confident what's there:

X-Factor - sold run, have to go through the books but I think it has the first 70 issues or so

New Mutants - complete from 1 to about 90 (too bad he didn't get the full run), includes Annuals

X-Men - big run, starts in the 100s and goes into the 270s (266, 244, 212, etc. all there)

I've already-stripped all the other books (lots of semi keys in there, some trades, and some sets I'll put together) and I've since advertised the rest into two bulk lots with buyers already scheduled to pick them up tomorrow.  I know you guys have bigger inventories, but I'm not taking that approach of having books from each title...

Oh and this book was thrown-in...he said he got it at a yard sale for a nickel - thought that was a myth!  He didn't think it was worth anything in the condition, unfortunately he didn't have any more.