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

[THE_BEYONDER]

That's a great point about prejudging a potential customer. At one show I did a guy came to the booth about a half hour before show close. Looked like he couldn't afford the price of admission let alone comic books. He pulled at least 20 books from my boxes and asked to see a wall book. 15 minutes later he spent $700 with me. Young me might've said sorry I'm shutting down as he rolled up. Glad it was old me that day

 

Happens everywhere. I went Jeep shopping wearing a t-shirt & camo cargo shorts. 1st dealership I went to didn't even acknowledge my existence. Wandered around for 15 minutes......nothing.

 

Shrugged my shoulders & drove to the next closest dealer. Bought a brand new Jeep that day.

[TheRealVenom]

My 2 cents-

 

Attended Fan expo canada again this year.

I couldn't find a single book I wanted that wasnt priced about 20% above GPA

 

Everything was overpriced. I see the comments about getting it cheaper on ebay vs the getting it in your hands without shipping and I feel its better to get it off ebay then. Most dealers I talked to weren't willing to budge on prices.

 

I understand that as a dealer you're there to make money, but you won't if you bring books you won't at least talk about a deal. Seems most dealers are content with selling the one or 2 books at above gpa and hauling the rest of their product back home.

 

I know for a fact if i ever had a booth id want to move everything. Im there to make money so i want sales. Sunday should be a firesale man. everything must go! haha

 

 

 

I look forward to your upcoming sales thread where you will be blowing out key books in a firesale! I'll definitely be there with cash in hand!

 

You missed my point. You go thru all the trouble to pay for a booth, lug all those books and toys across country unload and set up only to sell maybe 20 books above gpa then bust your butt to load up and haul everything home again? no thanks. If it were me. IF. I would def firesale everything on sunday

[THE_BEYONDER]

My 2 cents-

 

Attended Fan expo canada again this year.

I couldn't find a single book I wanted that wasnt priced about 20% above GPA

 

Everything was overpriced. I see the comments about getting it cheaper on ebay vs the getting it in your hands without shipping and I feel its better to get it off ebay then. Most dealers I talked to weren't willing to budge on prices.

 

I understand that as a dealer you're there to make money, but you won't if you bring books you won't at least talk about a deal. Seems most dealers are content with selling the one or 2 books at above gpa and hauling the rest of their product back home.

 

I know for a fact if i ever had a booth id want to move everything. Im there to make money so i want sales. Sunday should be a firesale man. everything must go! haha

 

 

 

 

 

I look forward to your upcoming sales thread where you will be blowing out key books in a firesale! I'll definitely be there with cash in hand!

 

You missed my point. You go thru all the trouble to pay for a booth, lug all those books and toys across country unload and set up only to sell maybe 20 books above gpa then but your butt to load up and haul everything home again? no thanks. If it were me. IF. I would def firesale everything on sunday

 

As you just said, you're there to make money. Unless you got your inventory for free, I'm not sure a "firesale" would produce that result.

[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.

 

I call BS, Dan. Then why won't you sell me your FF widgets?

 

Those are the exceptions that prove my rule. Those widgets I don't sell.

[1Cool]

My 2 cents-

 

Attended Fan expo canada again this year.

I couldn't find a single book I wanted that wasnt priced about 20% above GPA

 

Everything was overpriced. I see the comments about getting it cheaper on ebay vs the getting it in your hands without shipping and I feel its better to get it off ebay then. Most dealers I talked to weren't willing to budge on prices.

 

I understand that as a dealer you're there to make money, but you won't if you bring books you won't at least talk about a deal. Seems most dealers are content with selling the one or 2 books at above gpa and hauling the rest of their product back home.

 

I know for a fact if i ever had a booth id want to move everything. Im there to make money so i want sales. Sunday should be a firesale man. everything must go! haha

 

 

 

I look forward to your upcoming sales thread where you will be blowing out key books in a firesale! I'll definitely be there with cash in hand!

 

You missed my point. You go thru all the trouble to pay for a booth, lug all those books and toys across country unload and set up only to sell maybe 20 books above gpa then bust your butt to load up and haul everything home again? no thanks. If it were me. IF. I would def firesale everything on sunday

 

I get your point but the people who say "firesale" on Sunday are usually people who have not had a blow out sale before. Everyone wants a killer deal but when it comes down to setting prices on their own books the high end prices materialize on their books.

[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.

 

How did you pick the $50 price tag? If you paid $1 then a $5 sale would have been a money maker. I'm assuming you knew the market was in the range of $75 and knew the $50 would sell quickly so that is where the $50 came from but just checking if you would come up with the $50 price tag differently.

 

Because I understand the market and I understand what the *real* selling price of an item is. I echo many of the posts in this thread from both sides - I believe the overwhelming majority of convention dealers are pricing books at the absolute top end of the market right now. When did Kamandi 1 in raw become a $125 book - I saw that a couple of times last Sunday.

[VintageComics]

There are waaaaay to many generalities in this thread.

 

At every show you get

 

1) reasonable dealers who are looking to sell

2) unreasonable dealers who want 1.5 market for their New Gods #7 ( I will myself because my stomach turns at the thought of what the next 'big key' will be)

3) reasonable buyers who are looking to buy

4) unreasonable buyers who are not looking to buy.

 

 

[FlyingDonut]

That's a great point about prejudging a potential customer. At one show I did a guy came to the booth about a half hour before show close. Looked like he couldn't afford the price of admission let alone comic books. He pulled at least 20 books from my boxes and asked to see a wall book. 15 minutes later he spent $700 with me. Young me might've said sorry I'm shutting down as he rolled up. Glad it was old me that day

 

Happens everywhere. I went Jeep shopping wearing a t-shirt & camo cargo shorts. 1st dealership I went to didn't even acknowledge my existence. Wandered around for 15 minutes......nothing.

 

Shrugged my shoulders & drove to the next closest dealer. Bought a brand new Jeep that day.

 

I have a lengthy story about this. In summation:

 

1) My father has lots of cash

2) My father cares less than I do - which is saying something - about how he looks

3) My father was in the market for a Mercedes-Benz and went to a dealership here to buy one.

4) The salesman told him that he should go to the Ford dealership across the street.

5) My father pulled out his checkbook and politely told the salesman to (1) take a look at the balance and (2) perform an anatomically difficult act.

[VintageComics]

I believe the overwhelming majority of convention dealers are pricing books at the absolute top end of the market right now.

 

Yup.

 

And to be fair, I did that when I was new as well but learned that I'd rather sell books.

 

Also, the market looking for books like Kamandi #1 or New Gods #7 at top dollar is not very large.

[1Cool]

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.

 

How did you pick the $50 price tag? If you paid $1 then a $5 sale would have been a money maker. I'm assuming you knew the market was in the range of $75 and knew the $50 would sell quickly so that is where the $50 came from but just checking if you would come up with the $50 price tag differently.

 

Because I understand the market and I understand what the *real* selling price of an item is. I echo many of the posts in this thread from both sides - I believe the overwhelming majority of convention dealers are pricing books at the absolute top end of the market right now. When did Kamandi 1 in raw become a $125 book - I saw that a couple of times last Sunday.

 

I'm guessing right after a couple CGC 9.0 and 9.4s sold for $130ish on E-Bay last month the prices for ultra high grade books took off. Never been a big fan of that book so I don't keep track myself.

[mysterio]

That's a great point about prejudging a potential customer. At one show I did a guy came to the booth about a half hour before show close. Looked like he couldn't afford the price of admission let alone comic books. He pulled at least 20 books from my boxes and asked to see a wall book. 15 minutes later he spent $700 with me. Young me might've said sorry I'm shutting down as he rolled up. Glad it was old me that day

 

I used to be that way with little kids, until the one day a kid who looked to be about 6 took $25 out of his pocket to buy one of my more modest wall books.

[FineCollector]

We spent a couple hours working on that deal. Walked to his booth 4 or 5 times. Dug out the books he wanted. The NYX 3 also included #1,2 4 so a little more value than just #3. This dealer is also just a pain in the butt, always wants our stuff at dirt cheap prices and won't budge on his stuff. When he wants something I know it will be difficult and he'll offer less than I'm willing to sell it for and he won't reciprocate when I want to buy something of his. He even got in a fight at the last show when he parked in the only loading dock well before the show ended and then refused to move for 5 minutes when another dealer needed the dock to move out a heavy machine that couldn't be moved out any other way. Police were called sigh.

 

Sounds like the kind of mischief one of the Montreal dealers would get up to... when I was growing up, our convention dealers appeared less business-like, and more like hyenas picking a carcass. Unfortunately, most of them managed to endure.

[THE_BEYONDER]

That's a great point about prejudging a potential customer. At one show I did a guy came to the booth about a half hour before show close. Looked like he couldn't afford the price of admission let alone comic books. He pulled at least 20 books from my boxes and asked to see a wall book. 15 minutes later he spent $700 with me. Young me might've said sorry I'm shutting down as he rolled up. Glad it was old me that day

 

Happens everywhere. I went Jeep shopping wearing a t-shirt & camo cargo shorts. 1st dealership I went to didn't even acknowledge my existence. Wandered around for 15 minutes......nothing.

 

Shrugged my shoulders & drove to the next closest dealer. Bought a brand new Jeep that day.

 

I have a lengthy story about this. In summation:

 

1) My father has lots of cash

2) My father cares less than I do - which is saying something - about how he looks

3) My father was in the market for a Mercedes-Benz and went to a dealership here to buy one.

4) The salesman told him that he should go to the Ford dealership across the street.

5) My father pulled out his checkbook and politely told the salesman to (1) take a look at the balance and (2) perform an anatomically difficult act.

 

 

 

 

[Logan510]

While I think it's important to have good customer service skills, if some guy dressed like a bum came into my shop, I might look at him a little sideways. I wouldn't automatically assume he's there to buy something, but I wouldn't dismiss him off-hand either.

[thehumantorch]

My 2 cents-

 

Attended Fan expo canada again this year.

I couldn't find a single book I wanted that wasnt priced about 20% above GPA

 

Everything was overpriced. I see the comments about getting it cheaper on ebay vs the getting it in your hands without shipping and I feel its better to get it off ebay then. Most dealers I talked to weren't willing to budge on prices.

 

I understand that as a dealer you're there to make money, but you won't if you bring books you won't at least talk about a deal. Seems most dealers are content with selling the one or 2 books at above gpa and hauling the rest of their product back home.

 

I know for a fact if i ever had a booth id want to move everything. Im there to make money so i want sales. Sunday should be a firesale man. everything must go! haha

 

Are you factoring in the exchange rate? Shipping cost, GST and GST collection fee?

 

If I buy a graded book off ebay for $1000 us$, add $25 us$ for shipping, $50 cnd$ for GST and $10 cnd$ for Canada Post collection fee and I'm at $1440 cnd$.

 

 

That 1000$ USD priced ebay book was priced at 1700 at fan expo. It was really out of control.

 

Saw a legends #3 raw book. around a 9.2 with a 150$ price tag on it haha

Saw a batman adventures 12 cgc 8.5 with a 1200$ price tag. crazy.

 

Also just want to pipe in with, when Im at a con I dress to feel comfortable, shorts t mess back pack. Dont judge me when I ask to see a top shelf book! Sure I probably looked a little bummy but the 8K in cash in my pocket probably would have looked really good to you.

 

So many dealers couldnt even be bothered to take a book down for me.

 

$1700 cnd or $1700 us?

 

I learned a long time back not to judge by appearance. Say hi to everyone and take them seriously.

[VintageComics]

I'm guessing right after a couple CGC 9.0 and 9.4s sold for $130ish on E-Bay last month the prices for ultra high grade books took off. Never been a big fan of that book so I don't keep track myself.

 

I look at one or two off anomalies like that with a grain of salt.

 

Sometimes a couple of people looking to make a market can hijack eBay listings and with today's lack of transparency on eBay it makes it hard to figure out if it's legit or not.

 

If the book was legitimately that hot they'd sell like hotcakes at shows at very close to those numbers.

 

 

[blazingbob]

The Selling price was $1700 US dollars, the buying price of 1000 was Canadian.

 

[blazingbob]

Do you even deal with books that are under $500 anymore?

 

To a high rolling rock star I wouldn't think a $130 dollar book would cause a arm hair to flutter.

[VintageComics]

Do you even deal with books that are under $500 anymore?

 

To a high rolling rock star I wouldn't think a $130 dollar book would cause a arm hair to flutter.

 

 

I do, when I have time. I can't set up at US shows without a green card or a work visa and I'm often on the road when there are local shows going on but I have boxes of under $500 books that are waiting for me to get to.

[FlyingDonut]

Do you even deal with books that are under $500 anymore?

 

To a high rolling rock star I wouldn't think a $130 dollar book would cause a arm hair to flutter.

 

 

I do, when I have time. I can't set up at US shows without a green card or a work visa and I'm often on the road when there are local shows going on but I have boxes of under $500 books that are waiting for me to get to.

 

Immigration reform.