Comic Con sellers seem to be in the wrong business. SMH

[G.A.tor]

As for displaying big keys at cons, I absolutely do. While it might not sell at that con (many do) at least any perspective future buyer knows where they might can go to procure and many times a book I've displayed at a con (10k-100k+) sells after a con bc it was seen at said con

[1Cool]

As for displaying big keys at cons, I absolutely do. While it might not sell at that con (many do) at least any perspective future buyer knows where they might can go to procure and many times a book I've displayed at a con (10k-100k+) sells after a con bc it was seen at said con

 

When you talk about $100k books I look at my comic boxes and feel like this inside:

 

[the blob]

owning a $100K book would just scare the bejeezuz out of me.

[fastballspecial]

I found that the $2, $5, $10, $20, $50 books were selling pretty good but I don't think that we sold a book over $400. We had quite a Few Slabbed books on our Back wall and I think we sold 2. I had some Slabs priced right at GPA and Others 10% over just for haggling purposes.

 

One thing that we were constantly hearing on the Last day of the show was "Chit! I didn't see you guys till now" or "I've never heard of you guys before" We had a one guy tell us that after seeing our books and prices he was immediately feeling buyers remorse from the purchases he just made 15 mins prior

 

I think the main thing that hurt us in making sales on Big Books was the fact that it was our first show and no one knew to even look for us. I guess the more shows we do the more people will get to know us, plain and simple.

 

What you say is true for many vendors like me and others here when I started set up a table 2 years ago with my buddy. Our first time was not bad and many people asked us if we are new or if we owned a store somewhere? Our profits was small. Sold a LOT of $1.00, $2.00 books at this time.

 

Now after 2 years since, we have moved up slowly with better selection and a new wall rack. We get a few returning clients. Many tell us that we give good reasonable prices, grades good, and have some wiggle room on bigger books. Seems they like what we are doing, we must be doing something right.

 

There is one I want ask you about. What about the pre-opening of con shows when only vendors/dealers are checking other tables to seek good deals? Among dealers, we have an unwritten code that a dealer should sell below FMV to allow room for a dealer to make money. Most wants ...let's say, 25%,30% or more?

 

How does the dealer handle this deal without losing money after spending $$ on a book to flip? Use an example ... let say I'd buy a ASM 50 VF 8.5 white pages for $250, half of guide value. Put it on wall rack and mark up at FMV. At a con pre-opening, another dealer spot it and wants offer $300-350 for this book. What do the selling dealer do about that? I am curious about how other dealers do themselves?

 

Forgetting about the grading option - it would have to depend on how well I knew the other dealer. If it was a guy like Robert on the boards (or others) who always gives me a great deal I'd let him have it for $350 since I made money and we have a good relationship. If it was a guy I see at a few Cons and he will probably have it on his wall for $450 10 minutes after I sell it to him I'll probably say no. I don't see Spiderman 50 VF+s at half guide ever so why leave that much meat on the bone if I probably will not see another anytime soon.

 

I'd agree with Bob to take the easy 40% and the cash in hand, let the other guy work harder to make the lower margin if they so choose. What difference does it make if you see them again or not, or if they sell the book at that same show or not? Their money still spends, and you're not doing anything sketchy ethically to get it.

 

Good post.

 

I wish more dealers would understand this. Its the reason why shows sometimes suck. The lack of simple business sense at a convention is staggering sometimes.

 

Greed just makes people stupid

[FineCollector]

If $7K is your powder and holding out for $50 is your business plan then I'm not sure what else to say.

 

Unfortunately I see a lot of this, short term profit versus long term business relationships. That $350 sale to a dealer could turn into sales leads, splitting of deals, more sales of books between you and him, business knowledge etc.

 

$50 is pocket change when compared to what it could lead to.

 

Everyone wants to be your friend when there's money on the line. How do you keep track of which business relationships to nurture, and which ones to let pass you by? Once you have a working deal with someone, how do you measure whether it's still beneficial to you, if he's taking more and bringing less than he used to?

 

To the other point, when you've bought a key at 90% of asking, can you tell the other dealers you have no room to move on it, or will they think you're holding out for big money? Does the conversation get so detailed that you disclose what you paid for all the books they want?

[robocard]

If $7K is your powder and holding out for $50 is your business plan then I'm not sure what else to say.

 

Unfortunately I see a lot of this, short term profit versus long term business relationships. That $350 sale to a dealer could turn into sales leads, splitting of deals, more sales of books between you and him, business knowledge etc.

 

$50 is pocket change when compared to what it could lead to.

 

Everyone wants to be your friend when there's money on the line. How do you keep track of which business relationships to nurture, and which ones to let pass you by? Once you have a working deal with someone, how do you measure whether it's still beneficial to you, if he's taking more and bringing less than he used to?

 

To the other point, when you've bought a key at 90% of asking, can you tell the other dealers you have no room to move on it, or will they think you're holding out for big money? Does the conversation get so detailed that you disclose what you paid for all the books they want?

 

I will weigh in as a small seller strictly in Phoenix and Long Beach so I don't have the wide-spread experiences that Bob, Rick, or Brian have; however, I have been selling at 3-4 Cons per year since 2008.

 

I learned from the first shows in Phoenix and Long Beach that selling to dealers worked well for me. They paid fairly close to what I would sell my books for to collectors and I usually made enough to say I had a good show before it even started. I just completed Long Beach two weeks ago and sold to many of the same dealers as show #1 (Harley, Terry O'Neill, Phil Schlaefer and Ron Murray) during which two people referred to it as a "feeding frenzy". If I have books (usually graded nicer books) where my margins are tight, I just let them know. Sometimes, they have buyers lined up already and buy anyway or they are buying a group of books and my margins are better on the rest.

 

Do I leave money on the table? Absolutely! Do I usually have overall sales that exceed expectations? Without a doubt. I would say that dealer sales are typically 25-30% of my total gross amount.

 

In the end, each seller has to find his or her niche; however, I can definitely agree with Bob and Brian that relationships do pay off quite well.

 

Ed

[blazingbob]

Ed already answered this in his post

 

"If I have books (usually graded nicer books) where my margins are tight, I just let them know. Sometimes, they have buyers lined up already and buy anyway or they are buying a group of books and my margins are better on the rest"

 

Being upfront has worked out very well with me over the years.

 

Sometimes business relationships end. But I have learned from every one and sometimes knowledge is just as important as the almighty buck.

 

Again, long term, not what have you done for me lately.

 

A collection could pop up in the partners area. If you burn the bridges you may be the one flying somewhere not easy to get to where that former dealer was.

[Hudson]

As for displaying big keys at cons, I absolutely do. While it might not sell at that con (many do) at least any perspective future buyer knows where they might can go to procure and many times a book I've displayed at a con (10k-100k+) sells after a con bc it was seen at said con

 

I am NOT a comic dealer (or seller), however, as a collector (buyer) I 100% agree with Rick on this one. I often walk the room and see what is out there; what is available and who I want to deal with. At the end of the day, I may not go home with many books, however, I have made either mental or physical notes of the books I am interested in.

 

Because I hate to stand there and "negotiate" over a book, I prefer to contact the seller after the convention, ask if they still have the book(s) I am interested in, and see if we can make a deal. This is provided the book is not priced at 2 or 3 times FMV (in which case I figure they are just unreasonable and I am not going to waste my time).

 

Example: At the 2015 Baltimore convention, I saw a number of books I was interested in. Several of these books were from a single dealer who I contacted after the show. We quickly made a deal for ALL the books I wanted PLUS the dealer knew of another book I was looking for (that he had just found) and so I purchased that as well.

 

I think it is important for buyers to know which dealers have the kind of books they are looking for. If I walk by a booth and see the wall has all modern books, then I will often just pass on by.

 

I also like Gator's profit model. He has stated here that he likes to make 10% on a book (sometimes more and sometimes less). I am fine with that. As I have stated, I want dealers to make a profit. When dealers stop making a profit, they go out of business. When dealers go out of business, collectors are going to be forced to find their books on places like FeeBay (and that is not always a good experience).

 

To be honest, I am not sure how 10% is enough, but I am guessing it has to do with a business model (much like a grocery store) that lends itself to turning over a lot of inventory (as opposed to the business model of a jewelry store which tends to try and make 100% profit on each sale, and tends to turn over inventory more slowly).

 

I will say Gator has an awesome display. He makes it clear that he has the books many collectors dream of (and he often has them in multiple grades). So if you want that dream book, after seeing his display, you know exactly who to go to (either at the convention or afterwards).

 

Gator is also easy to deal with. I saw more than one person walk up and make an offer on a book and he accepted the offer without "negotiating". In one example (on an early Superman), I thought the guy offered a lot less than FMV. When Rick agreed to the price the guy asked him to hold the book and asked where he could find an ATM. Gator politely put the book to the side as the guy walked away (supposedly to go find an ATM). I was VERY tempted to say, "I will buy that book RIGHT NOW, here is the cash", but I knew Rick's ethics would keep him from selling me the book after telling this guy he would hold it for him. (Warning the following is a rant - I think if a buyer is going to walk up to a dealer and negotiate the price of a book down to what they feel is an acceptable level, then they should have the cash in hand to complete the transaction. I think it is ridiculous to go back and forth over the price of a book, have the dealer eventually agree to sell it to you for your first offer, and then say you don't have the cash to buy it. Sorry, I just feel like this is wasting a dealer's time). I stayed around the booth for awhile and did not see that "buyer" return, but perhaps he did after I moved on.

 

Kudos to Rick on his awesome display, easy going attitude, and obviously successful business model.

[1Cool]

Wow - the amount of comic buying and selling experience being discussed in this thread is mind blowing. If you can't gleam some good helpful info from here you just are not trying.

[Doktor]

This turned out to be a really useful thread.

[1Cool]

Biggest thing I've learned from this thread is my thought process in terms of selling books is not in line with some of the most successful dealers in the industry which is not a place you want to be considering that same thought process has allowed those guys to get to where they are. Any one way of doing business is not ideal for everyone but there generally is an easier way to success and it usually is not the exact opposite then successful people in your field

 

Another example of how my thought process may be holding me back is I hate to see "feeding frenzies" either at my booth, on E-Bay or on the boards. If I see a ton of dealers or guys like Hector buying massive amounts of books on my sales threads I think "what do they see in terms of profits that I did not". I think most dealers are looking to make considerably more then they purchase a book for (removing the ultra high end books from the equation but its a moot point since I do not have those types of books) and my gut clenches a bit when I see the sharks circling. If the books are pressable/gradable why didn't I grade them? If the books are rare - why didn't I do more research?

 

Maybe its the Engineer in my nature but I really do not like it when large groups of people are flocking to buy books which is exactly opposite to what has been expressed by some of the biggest buyers and sellers in the industry. Definitely going to have to do some looking into that thought process a bit more and test to see if the other side of the coin is doable for me.

[gregreece]

Biggest thing I've learned from this thread is my thought process in terms of selling books is not in line with some of the most successful dealers in the industry which is not a place you want to be considering that same thought process has allowed those guys to get to where they are. Any one way of doing business is not ideal for everyone but there generally is an easier way to success and it usually is not the exact opposite then successful people in your field

 

Another example of how my thought process may be holding me back is I hate to see "feeding frenzies" either at my booth, on E-Bay or on the boards. If I see a ton of dealers or guys like Hector buying massive amounts of books on my sales threads I think "what do they see in terms of profits that I did not". I think most dealers are looking to make considerably more then they purchase a book for (removing the ultra high end books from the equation but its a moot point since I do not have those types of books) and my gut clenches a bit when I see the sharks circling. If the books are pressable/gradable why didn't I grade them? If the books are rare - why didn't I do more research?

 

Maybe its the Engineer in my nature but I really do not like it when large groups of people are flocking to buy books which is exactly opposite to what has been expressed by some of the biggest buyers and sellers in the industry. Definitely going to have to do some looking into that thought process a bit more and test to see if the other side of the coin is doable for me.

 

There is a bell curve to total profit. Every one would like to get 100% of the profit available of every book they sell. If you have that mindset though, you are going to lose a massive amount of sales (and profit dollars). Do I leave $$ on the table at my $2 booth in Baltimore every year? Tons of it. But I also have a guaranteed feeding frenzy of 15-20 guys there every year. Good for them, they will make $$. Good for me, I will clear 30-40 long boxes and free up $$ for other purchases. And as others have posted, some books I have more room on than others. I'm probably never going to have more than 5-10% to give on an Avengers #1, ASM #1, etc but if it's a non-key, even high grade (especially if I slabbed it myself), of course I have more margin to give (and I will).

[spracks919]

You guys had an awesome set up there, as per usual!

 

 

 

[Fan Boy]

How about we remove the AS #50 VF+ from the example.

 

If it is a book you bought at $250, could sell for $450 but flip it to a dealer for $350 and make 40% is leaving $100 on the table too much meat on the bone for you?

 

What you suggest like this above. It open up a few things. I used the ASM #50 as an example because it is a key as a point, to reflect all keys in the selling. Removing the key term put the $350 book as a ordinary regular comic book. It can be a drek or a key or what??

 

Will a dealer be interested on a high grade drek? Maybe not, maybe yes. All dealers,I believe, would go for a key because they knew it will sell faster. That is what I want to see what you (other dealers) are thinking.

 

Yes, I would sell it to a dealer for $350 if I can make enough profit and leave enough meat for the other dealer on his/her side. Sometimes if a key is insane good and worthy of going to CGC, I sent it there. I would not want lose too much. Myself, I wrote every book I purchased in my notebook to track what price I paid and mark up to sell. Some books I purchased ended up in my collection (wanted list).

 

I am not a big-time dealer like Gator, Roberts, Flying Donut, and other big boys. I am a small time local dealer AND a collector who happens to enjoy my time having fun in selling and buying at cons or meet with a dealer/collector at other times to make some deals.

 

Bob, you make some good points here. I welcome you as a collector to chat someday. But I am happy thankfully that you are NOT my business advisor. It is an impossibity for you to partner with me. Asbloute impossible. No, not because of your business skills ... something else. That is all.

 

[mysterio]

How about we remove the AS #50 VF+ from the example.

 

If it is a book you bought at $250, could sell for $450 but flip it to a dealer for $350 and make 40% is leaving $100 on the table too much meat on the bone for you?

 

What you suggest like this above. It open up a few things. I used the ASM #50 as an example because it is a key as a point, to reflect all keys in the selling. Removing the key term put the $350 book as a ordinary regular comic book. It can be a drek or a key or what??

 

Will a dealer be interested on a high grade drek? Maybe not, maybe yes. All dealers,I believe, would go for a key because they knew it will sell faster. That is what I want to see what you (other dealers) are thinking.

 

Yes, I would sell it to a dealer for $350 if I can make enough profit and leave enough meat for the other dealer on his/her side. Sometimes if a key is insane good and worthy of going to CGC, I sent it there. I would not want lose too much. Myself, I wrote every book I purchased in my notebook to track what price I paid and mark up to sell. Some books I purchased ended up in my collection (wanted list).

 

I am not a big-time dealer like Gator, Roberts, Flying Donut, and other big boys. I am a small time local dealer AND a collector who happens to enjoy my time having fun in selling and buying at cons or meet with a dealer/collector at other times to make some deals.

 

Bob, you make some good points here. I welcome you as a collector to chat someday. But I am happy thankfully that you are NOT my business advisor. It is an impossibity for you to partner with me. Asbloute impossible. No, not because of your business skills ... something else. That is all.

 

Naming a specific book introduces the problem of bringing emotions into the equation. If you like ASM #50s or (insert name of key book here) those emotions can cloud your judgment on whether or not to sell a book or how quickly you can get another ASM #50 or (insert name of key book here) for your wall.

 

Your concern ought to be am I making a reasonable profit on this book at this price relative to what I purchased it for? If you are, then sell. If you are not, then do not sell. That is what you need to be concerned with when you sell books. The aim is to trade books for money, and if you don't do that when the margin warrants it then you will not be successful even if you have a boatload of ASM #50 for your wall.

[Artboy99]

I found that the $2, $5, $10, $20, $50 books were selling pretty good but I don't think that we sold a book over $400. We had quite a Few Slabbed books on our Back wall and I think we sold 2. I had some Slabs priced right at GPA and Others 10% over just for haggling purposes.

 

One thing that we were constantly hearing on the Last day of the show was "Chit! I didn't see you guys till now" or "I've never heard of you guys before" We had a one guy tell us that after seeing our books and prices he was immediately feeling buyers remorse from the purchases he just made 15 mins prior

 

I think the main thing that hurt us in making sales on Big Books was the fact that it was our first show and no one knew to even look for us. I guess the more shows we do the more people will get to know us, plain and simple.

 

What you say is true for many vendors like me and others here when I started set up a table 2 years ago with my buddy. Our first time was not bad and many people asked us if we are new or if we owned a store somewhere? Our profits was small. Sold a LOT of $1.00, $2.00 books at this time.

 

Now after 2 years since, we have moved up slowly with better selection and a new wall rack. We get a few returning clients. Many tell us that we give good reasonable prices, grades good, and have some wiggle room on bigger books. Seems they like what we are doing, we must be doing something right.

 

There is one I want ask you about. What about the pre-opening of con shows when only vendors/dealers are checking other tables to seek good deals? Among dealers, we have an unwritten code that a dealer should sell below FMV to allow room for a dealer to make money. Most wants ...let's say, 25%,30% or more?

 

How does the dealer handle this deal without losing money after spending $$ on a book to flip? Use an example ... let say I'd buy a ASM 50 VF 8.5 white pages for $250, half of guide value. Put it on wall rack and mark up at FMV. At a con pre-opening, another dealer spot it and wants offer $300-350 for this book. What do the selling dealer do about that? I am curious about how other dealers do themselves?

 

Forgetting about the grading option - it would have to depend on how well I knew the other dealer. If it was a guy like Robert on the boards (or others) who always gives me a great deal I'd let him have it for $350 since I made money and we have a good relationship. If it was a guy I see at a few Cons and he will probably have it on his wall for $450 10 minutes after I sell it to him I'll probably say no. I don't see Spiderman 50 VF+s at half guide ever so why leave that much meat on the bone if I probably will not see another anytime soon.

 

I'd agree with Bob to take the easy 40% and the cash in hand, let the other guy work harder to make the lower margin if they so choose. What difference does it make if you see them again or not, or if they sell the book at that same show or not? Their money still spends, and you're not doing anything sketchy ethically to get it.

 

Good post.

 

I wish more dealers would understand this. Its the reason why shows sometimes suck. The lack of simple business sense at a convention is staggering sometimes.

 

Greed just makes people stupid

 

Agree completely.

 

Had an interaction with another dealer this weekend that was very sour and it is all due to his awful business sense.

He had an NYX 3 in about 9.0 raw that I was trying to get, he said he was looking for some books and gave me a list. I took his list and went back to my booth and took the time to pull a small pile of books on his list, once I had the pile I went back to his booth.

His sticker was $500, mine totalled $200. I told him I am aware he is trading down, so I asked him how much cash he wanted as a part of this trade/cash deal we were working on.

To me this is a simple transaction and any dealer with some business sense could come up with a dollar figure within 30 seconds and we would complete the deal. Instead he decided to pick up his phone and make a call that took several minutes. Frustrated I walk back to my booth.

30 minutes later the deal is still not done, walking back and forth between our booths to find he doesn't want to do the trade/partial cash deal. He asks how much for my stack of books I say $150 to which he scoffs "to much!". I walk back to my booth totally annoyed at the wasted time and grab some cash and go back to give him the full asking price. As I walk back I am wondering why HE suggested the partial trade to begin with as I was perfectly willing to just give him cash in the first place. Apparently in the 30 seconds I was gone he claimed he sold it to another dealer. I note the book is still in his booth, so I guess the other dealer had to go get his cash or something.

 

I had some choice words for him, for the complete waste of time. I will never deal with him again. His behavior is very rude and I can not believe he sold the book to someone else while we were in the process of negotiating.

 

I know what really happened, he decided to keep the book so he can re-price it at his absolutely astronomical prices.

[1Cool]

I found that the $2, $5, $10, $20, $50 books were selling pretty good but I don't think that we sold a book over $400. We had quite a Few Slabbed books on our Back wall and I think we sold 2. I had some Slabs priced right at GPA and Others 10% over just for haggling purposes.

 

One thing that we were constantly hearing on the Last day of the show was "Chit! I didn't see you guys till now" or "I've never heard of you guys before" We had a one guy tell us that after seeing our books and prices he was immediately feeling buyers remorse from the purchases he just made 15 mins prior

 

I think the main thing that hurt us in making sales on Big Books was the fact that it was our first show and no one knew to even look for us. I guess the more shows we do the more people will get to know us, plain and simple.

 

What you say is true for many vendors like me and others here when I started set up a table 2 years ago with my buddy. Our first time was not bad and many people asked us if we are new or if we owned a store somewhere? Our profits was small. Sold a LOT of $1.00, $2.00 books at this time.

 

Now after 2 years since, we have moved up slowly with better selection and a new wall rack. We get a few returning clients. Many tell us that we give good reasonable prices, grades good, and have some wiggle room on bigger books. Seems they like what we are doing, we must be doing something right.

 

There is one I want ask you about. What about the pre-opening of con shows when only vendors/dealers are checking other tables to seek good deals? Among dealers, we have an unwritten code that a dealer should sell below FMV to allow room for a dealer to make money. Most wants ...let's say, 25%,30% or more?

 

How does the dealer handle this deal without losing money after spending $$ on a book to flip? Use an example ... let say I'd buy a ASM 50 VF 8.5 white pages for $250, half of guide value. Put it on wall rack and mark up at FMV. At a con pre-opening, another dealer spot it and wants offer $300-350 for this book. What do the selling dealer do about that? I am curious about how other dealers do themselves?

 

Forgetting about the grading option - it would have to depend on how well I knew the other dealer. If it was a guy like Robert on the boards (or others) who always gives me a great deal I'd let him have it for $350 since I made money and we have a good relationship. If it was a guy I see at a few Cons and he will probably have it on his wall for $450 10 minutes after I sell it to him I'll probably say no. I don't see Spiderman 50 VF+s at half guide ever so why leave that much meat on the bone if I probably will not see another anytime soon.

 

I'd agree with Bob to take the easy 40% and the cash in hand, let the other guy work harder to make the lower margin if they so choose. What difference does it make if you see them again or not, or if they sell the book at that same show or not? Their money still spends, and you're not doing anything sketchy ethically to get it.

 

Good post.

 

I wish more dealers would understand this. Its the reason why shows sometimes suck. The lack of simple business sense at a convention is staggering sometimes.

 

Greed just makes people stupid

 

Agree completely.

 

Had an interaction with another dealer this weekend that was very sour and it is all due to his awful business sense.

He had an NYX 3 in about 9.0 raw that I was trying to get, he said he was looking for some books and gave me a list. I took his list and went back to my booth and took the time to pull a small pile of books on his list, once I had the pile I went back to his booth.

His sticker was $500, mine totalled $200. I told him I am aware he is trading down, so I asked him how much cash he wanted as a part of this trade/cash deal we were working on.

To me this is a simple transaction and any dealer with some business sense could come up with a dollar figure within 30 seconds and we would complete the deal. Instead he decided to pick up his phone and make a call that took several minutes. Frustrated I walk back to my booth.

30 minutes later the deal is still not done, walking back and forth between our booths to find he doesn't want to do the trade/partial cash deal. He asks how much for my stack of books I say $150 to which he scoffs "to much!". I walk back to my booth totally annoyed at the wasted time and grab some cash and go back to give him the full asking price. Apparently in the 30 seconds I was gone he claimed he sold it to another dealer. I note the book is still in his booth, so I guess the other dealer had to go get his cash or something.

 

I had some choice words for him, for the complete waste of time. I will never deal with him again. His behavior is very rude and I can not believe he sold the book to someone else while we were in the process of negotiating.

 

I know what really happened, he decided to keep the book so he can re-price it at his absolutely astronomical prices.

 

GPA for a NYX 3 9.6 is running around $500 so I think he did you a favor. I'm sure there would be someone willing to sell you a raw 9.0ish copy for $300 - $350 if you posted it up in the WTB thread. Just saying.

 

But I 100% agree he sounds like he was jerking you around and I'd not go back to them again.

[Artboy99]

I found that the $2, $5, $10, $20, $50 books were selling pretty good but I don't think that we sold a book over $400. We had quite a Few Slabbed books on our Back wall and I think we sold 2. I had some Slabs priced right at GPA and Others 10% over just for haggling purposes.

 

One thing that we were constantly hearing on the Last day of the show was "Chit! I didn't see you guys till now" or "I've never heard of you guys before" We had a one guy tell us that after seeing our books and prices he was immediately feeling buyers remorse from the purchases he just made 15 mins prior

 

I think the main thing that hurt us in making sales on Big Books was the fact that it was our first show and no one knew to even look for us. I guess the more shows we do the more people will get to know us, plain and simple.

 

What you say is true for many vendors like me and others here when I started set up a table 2 years ago with my buddy. Our first time was not bad and many people asked us if we are new or if we owned a store somewhere? Our profits was small. Sold a LOT of $1.00, $2.00 books at this time.

 

Now after 2 years since, we have moved up slowly with better selection and a new wall rack. We get a few returning clients. Many tell us that we give good reasonable prices, grades good, and have some wiggle room on bigger books. Seems they like what we are doing, we must be doing something right.

 

There is one I want ask you about. What about the pre-opening of con shows when only vendors/dealers are checking other tables to seek good deals? Among dealers, we have an unwritten code that a dealer should sell below FMV to allow room for a dealer to make money. Most wants ...let's say, 25%,30% or more?

 

How does the dealer handle this deal without losing money after spending $$ on a book to flip? Use an example ... let say I'd buy a ASM 50 VF 8.5 white pages for $250, half of guide value. Put it on wall rack and mark up at FMV. At a con pre-opening, another dealer spot it and wants offer $300-350 for this book. What do the selling dealer do about that? I am curious about how other dealers do themselves?

 

Forgetting about the grading option - it would have to depend on how well I knew the other dealer. If it was a guy like Robert on the boards (or others) who always gives me a great deal I'd let him have it for $350 since I made money and we have a good relationship. If it was a guy I see at a few Cons and he will probably have it on his wall for $450 10 minutes after I sell it to him I'll probably say no. I don't see Spiderman 50 VF+s at half guide ever so why leave that much meat on the bone if I probably will not see another anytime soon.

 

I'd agree with Bob to take the easy 40% and the cash in hand, let the other guy work harder to make the lower margin if they so choose. What difference does it make if you see them again or not, or if they sell the book at that same show or not? Their money still spends, and you're not doing anything sketchy ethically to get it.

 

Good post.

 

I wish more dealers would understand this. Its the reason why shows sometimes suck. The lack of simple business sense at a convention is staggering sometimes.

 

Greed just makes people stupid

 

Agree completely.

 

Had an interaction with another dealer this weekend that was very sour and it is all due to his awful business sense.

He had an NYX 3 in about 9.0 raw that I was trying to get, he said he was looking for some books and gave me a list. I took his list and went back to my booth and took the time to pull a small pile of books on his list, once I had the pile I went back to his booth.

His sticker was $500, mine totalled $200. I told him I am aware he is trading down, so I asked him how much cash he wanted as a part of this trade/cash deal we were working on.

To me this is a simple transaction and any dealer with some business sense could come up with a dollar figure within 30 seconds and we would complete the deal. Instead he decided to pick up his phone and make a call that took several minutes. Frustrated I walk back to my booth.

30 minutes later the deal is still not done, walking back and forth between our booths to find he doesn't want to do the trade/partial cash deal. He asks how much for my stack of books I say $150 to which he scoffs "to much!". I walk back to my booth totally annoyed at the wasted time and grab some cash and go back to give him the full asking price. Apparently in the 30 seconds I was gone he claimed he sold it to another dealer. I note the book is still in his booth, so I guess the other dealer had to go get his cash or something.

 

I had some choice words for him, for the complete waste of time. I will never deal with him again. His behavior is very rude and I can not believe he sold the book to someone else while we were in the process of negotiating.

 

I know what really happened, he decided to keep the book so he can re-price it at his absolutely astronomical prices.

 

GPA for a NYX 3 9.6 is running around $500 so I think he did you a favor. I'm sure there would be someone willing to sell you a raw 9.0ish copy for $300 - $350 if you posted it up in the WTB thread. Just saying.

 

But I 100% agree he sounds like he was jerking you around and I'd not go back to them again.

 

The price was Canadian, so while it was high like every book he had, it wasn't crazy high. There is another side to this story: the seller didn't have a very good show, so we were trying to help him out a little by getting a book we wanted for our booth and help him get some books he also wanted and give him a bit of a break/deal.

[1Cool]

I found that the $2, $5, $10, $20, $50 books were selling pretty good but I don't think that we sold a book over $400. We had quite a Few Slabbed books on our Back wall and I think we sold 2. I had some Slabs priced right at GPA and Others 10% over just for haggling purposes.

 

One thing that we were constantly hearing on the Last day of the show was "Chit! I didn't see you guys till now" or "I've never heard of you guys before" We had a one guy tell us that after seeing our books and prices he was immediately feeling buyers remorse from the purchases he just made 15 mins prior

 

I think the main thing that hurt us in making sales on Big Books was the fact that it was our first show and no one knew to even look for us. I guess the more shows we do the more people will get to know us, plain and simple.

 

What you say is true for many vendors like me and others here when I started set up a table 2 years ago with my buddy. Our first time was not bad and many people asked us if we are new or if we owned a store somewhere? Our profits was small. Sold a LOT of $1.00, $2.00 books at this time.

 

Now after 2 years since, we have moved up slowly with better selection and a new wall rack. We get a few returning clients. Many tell us that we give good reasonable prices, grades good, and have some wiggle room on bigger books. Seems they like what we are doing, we must be doing something right.

 

There is one I want ask you about. What about the pre-opening of con shows when only vendors/dealers are checking other tables to seek good deals? Among dealers, we have an unwritten code that a dealer should sell below FMV to allow room for a dealer to make money. Most wants ...let's say, 25%,30% or more?

 

How does the dealer handle this deal without losing money after spending $$ on a book to flip? Use an example ... let say I'd buy a ASM 50 VF 8.5 white pages for $250, half of guide value. Put it on wall rack and mark up at FMV. At a con pre-opening, another dealer spot it and wants offer $300-350 for this book. What do the selling dealer do about that? I am curious about how other dealers do themselves?

 

Forgetting about the grading option - it would have to depend on how well I knew the other dealer. If it was a guy like Robert on the boards (or others) who always gives me a great deal I'd let him have it for $350 since I made money and we have a good relationship. If it was a guy I see at a few Cons and he will probably have it on his wall for $450 10 minutes after I sell it to him I'll probably say no. I don't see Spiderman 50 VF+s at half guide ever so why leave that much meat on the bone if I probably will not see another anytime soon.

 

I'd agree with Bob to take the easy 40% and the cash in hand, let the other guy work harder to make the lower margin if they so choose. What difference does it make if you see them again or not, or if they sell the book at that same show or not? Their money still spends, and you're not doing anything sketchy ethically to get it.

 

Good post.

 

I wish more dealers would understand this. Its the reason why shows sometimes suck. The lack of simple business sense at a convention is staggering sometimes.

 

Greed just makes people stupid

 

Agree completely.

 

Had an interaction with another dealer this weekend that was very sour and it is all due to his awful business sense.

He had an NYX 3 in about 9.0 raw that I was trying to get, he said he was looking for some books and gave me a list. I took his list and went back to my booth and took the time to pull a small pile of books on his list, once I had the pile I went back to his booth.

His sticker was $500, mine totalled $200. I told him I am aware he is trading down, so I asked him how much cash he wanted as a part of this trade/cash deal we were working on.

To me this is a simple transaction and any dealer with some business sense could come up with a dollar figure within 30 seconds and we would complete the deal. Instead he decided to pick up his phone and make a call that took several minutes. Frustrated I walk back to my booth.

30 minutes later the deal is still not done, walking back and forth between our booths to find he doesn't want to do the trade/partial cash deal. He asks how much for my stack of books I say $150 to which he scoffs "to much!". I walk back to my booth totally annoyed at the wasted time and grab some cash and go back to give him the full asking price. Apparently in the 30 seconds I was gone he claimed he sold it to another dealer. I note the book is still in his booth, so I guess the other dealer had to go get his cash or something.

 

I had some choice words for him, for the complete waste of time. I will never deal with him again. His behavior is very rude and I can not believe he sold the book to someone else while we were in the process of negotiating.

 

I know what really happened, he decided to keep the book so he can re-price it at his absolutely astronomical prices.

 

GPA for a NYX 3 9.6 is running around $500 so I think he did you a favor. I'm sure there would be someone willing to sell you a raw 9.0ish copy for $300 - $350 if you posted it up in the WTB thread. Just saying.

 

But I 100% agree he sounds like he was jerking you around and I'd not go back to them again.

 

The price was Canadian, so while it was high like every book he had, it wasn't crazy high. There is another side to this story: the seller didn't have a very good show, so we were trying to help him out a little by getting a book we wanted for our booth and help him get some books he also wanted and give him a bit of a break/deal.

 

Gotcha. That's a double slap in the face since you were trying to do him a favor. Ouch.

[FlyingDonut]

It is important to separate yourself from "collectible" when you are selling comics. View them as widgets. If I purchase a widget for $1 and sell that widget for $50 even though others are selling that widget for $75, I'm making profit. If it costs me $25 to replace that widget - but I can easily source it - having $25 profit in hand NOW is better than waiting for a potential $50 in profit.

 

"FMV" is, to me, a dagger if you're selling something. If I'm selling something where I've made my profit on the item already, the selling price is essentially meaningless. I was happy to sell high grade Silver slabs to Brian for 30% off "FMV". Why? Because I already made my number on those books, my COGS on them were already accounted for, and that sale gave me a positive cash flow to purchase more widgets.

 

I said this at a small show on Sunday to a bunch of people - if you can't make money in this market selling comics, you're doing something wrong. Network, move your items, set your bottom and work off that - its pretty basic at this point. You have to understand what the market is, and that's work, and you have to understand how to price and how to market, and that's work, but at the heart of it, its just selling widgets.