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

[1Cool]

Keeping in mind that this is not a personal shot at anyone, is the cost of the booth being $1000.00 not the first part in the consideration of whether or not to set up at the con in the first place?

 

Knowing that you start out $1000.00 in the hole, do you not have to have a reasonable idea that you will EASILY sell $3000 to $5000 worth of merchandise, to even bother filling out the paperwork?

 

Or is it that you have $50,000 retail worth of cool things, and the assumption is that people will at the very least find 5% of them cool enough to purchase?

 

It seems like the conversation is turning into 2 separate ones.

 

#1 -- Does anyone agree that it is difficult to make money at a convention when no one wants to buy anything?

 

#2 -- Does anyone agree that the people wanting to buy things at the convention are being unreasonable in their want to buy things?

 

To really get much further into this, one would need to know what your particular profit margins are on items, which would be prying infinitely too much.

 

But if the profit margins are such that 10% or 20% off retail is not sufficient to make a profit (except on mega keys) then it would not matter where the item sold. No profit at a Con. No profit, after fees, on eBay.

 

Or, as mentioned before, filling some boxes with items that you paid a nickel for (modern bulk) and selling those items for 20x your investment, over and over and over, should more make up for the $10 deal off the $100 book you gave to another person.

 

In my case it was more of an assumption of the amount of books I would sell compared to previous Cons. I did reasonably well at my first 2 big Cons ($6,000 made compared to about $1,000 in expenses at both of them) but my last one (Baltimore) barely cleared $1,600 and had $800 in expenses. Weird thing is I sold $700 in slabs at Baltimore the previous year and I only had 7 - 8 slabs displayed in a corner of someone else's booth. I've sold $3,000 in books either here or on E-Bay over the last three weeks since getting back from Baltimore so I can't imagine it was a lack of quality books.

 

What is concerning is not only my experience at the last couple Cons but what I am hearing from dealers who I know that sell at local Cons this year. Buyers demanding 20% off already low prices and sometimes even 20% is not enough to get big sales.

Sounds like lesson learned and you've adapted. I don't think your latest Baltimore experience is the same for everyone. Anecdotally from two good sources who set up there, it was in their words "like printing money".

 

Must have been on the other side of the room from me. Even the guy next to us who had keys coming out of his ears and was blowing out 50 copies of She-Hulk 1 for $10 a piece did just "ok" by his words.

[Artboy99]

I just did a local comic show that was 3 days in length over the last weekend.

Sold a ton of low value books; 0.50 c, $2, $5, etc that I would never have sold via online and I really dislike shipping due to all the risks ( fraud, theft, damage, cost ).

[1Cool]

I just did a local comic show that was 3 days in length over the last weekend.

Sold a ton of low value books; 0.50 c, $2, $5, etc that I would never have sold via online and I really dislike shipping due to all the risks ( fraud, theft, damage, cost ).

 

Do you feel like the buyers were being "cheap" with their offers especially higher priced books? And if you do not mind me asking how close were you to 10x the cost to set up?

[Foolkiller]

I think the trend these days is that there are fewer collectors attending shows, looking to buy books. Most of the folks who are attending seem to be, on some level, part time dealers looking to cannibalize. The collectors who do show are either looking for something very specific or they are looking for bargains akin to what they will find on ebay.

 

On the other hand, there are many dealers who simply price unrealistically because they are either over priced or over graded.

 

I attended a local show in Maryland. The one board member there set up had the best stock and was priced the most reasonably. I was able to buy a couple nice keys from him. Most of the other folks there had decent books, but the prices were simply too high or the grades simply off for the prices. At larger shows, the major dealers are priced either right at or slightly above what you might get on your 'best day' at ebay or an auction.

 

When you're talking about run of the mill silver or bronze, yes, that's available readily on ebay. When you're talking about top level golden or silver age, often a show is a great place to pick up top level books.

 

It's absolutely possible at most shows to still find books for less than 10% FMV. In baltimore I bought a large whack of early SA FFs/Spideys in high grade, already slabbed at 30% off GPA, because I spent a large amount. Another dealer sold me two significant keys for well under market. And another sold me a golden age key, knowingly leaving thousands on the table because we've done so many deals. The idea that you can't find deals at a show I don't think is true, but I will agree it's not easy.

 

As for the selling end, I only set up at one show a year. I'm fairly certain I outsell by both margin and gross sales most of the other dealers in Baltimore by quite a wide gulf. But I only set up at one show a year, and I'm very focused on margin and percentages. I buy throughout the year from across the country. This isn't my primary job, and so I attract other dealers by specifically leaving money on the table. If I make 250% on a book, I don't need to make 350%. It's why I've consistently sold to dealers over the years, and why they do business with me on books which may not be as desirable is because I will sell them hot or rare books at a discount too. But then they will buy things that I couldn't possibly get the same numbers for often or it would take a long, long time to sell.

 

When the show rolls around, I'm giving deals, but it's predicated on spending a lot of time buying books that I'm into at a fraction of FMV, because I spent so much time buying collections or scouring stores. Most of the year I'll simply have a select few dealers over the house at various times, and they do spend large, large chunks but the trade off is they get good deals and take some of the swill along with the good stuff.

 

I'm not sure what I'd tell dealers who are frustrated, but I will say selling to other dealers has been one of the primary reasons I've had enormous success buying and selling over the years.

[fastballspecial]

 

As for the guy selling POPs at comic shows, their gross sales may look great, but they are also paying something like $6-7 wholesale to sell them at $10. Margins are very low, so if they are paying $600 for a booth (takes profits off 200 POP sales just to cover that nut), and then having to run a trailer to get all of them there, plus hotel/gas/food/etc they can't be making a whole lot of profit.

 

Bingo! To me what it comes down to is what used to be thought of as a fair profit margin at a show has changed so significantly most of us can't understand why anyone shows up anymore to sell! Buying a comic for $7.75 and selling it for $10.00 99% of us would NEVER consider. However these guys selling pop vinyl, or statues, or whatever the hottest thing is at the moment, that's exactly what they're doing. It doesn't take a math whiz to figure out that with costs of product and tables exceeding $2000 and doing $2500 in sales is a waste of a day. But yet that's so many of these guys are doing nowadays. It's nuts. But it absolutely IS the state of the market.

 

Jay

 

My wife and I were talking about this exact topic and she made a good point that $500 in profit for a days work (using your $2,500 and $2,000 example) is more them most people earn in a days work. But what she didn't account for is the additional time necessary to have a huge booth that will bring in $2,500 at a 1 day Con. It probably took 24 additional hours worth of work for that one Con and that assumes you do a few Cons a year so you can distribute the time out a bit. So you made $500 and it took 4 days worth of work to net the $500. Not minimum wage but definitely not a ton of cash for the work.

 

The way I look in what I am getting in net profit from selling in local 1-day con show ... is meant to refresh my comic book budget to chase the wanted book on my list.

 

But yes, I do agree with your comment above about $500 points

 

And there is nothing wrong with looking at as a way to buy more books. I buy from sellers like that more then the other sellers just looking to flip and make a buck.

 

I like sellers at cons promoting the hobby not trying to suck it dry and its usually pretty obvious who they are. If a dealer cant or struggles price me a raw book because they only sell slabbed books then I just move on.

[fastballspecial]

I stopped actively buying comics at convention's a long time ago because of the prices. If I buy any comics it's usually exclusives or moderns that look interesting. I mainly go to meet the artists and to pick up some original art. You can get some great art at reasonable prices if you buy it directly from the artist.

 

From what I have seen at cons I bet an art collector does do really well. Many are very personable and reasonable on their prices from what I have seen.

 

[fastballspecial]

Interesting analysis. With tons of sales data instantly at people's fingertips nowadays, the days of dealers inflating the prices of books over market value are pretty much over. As a semi-regular con goer, I expect to pay prices that are less than I can find on eBay. The advantages to the buyer are obvious, but the seller doesn't have to pay eBay fees and the books don't have to survive the USPS torture chamber before getting into the hands of the buyer. Also, cash transactions incur no Paypal or CC fees.

 

I'd say that is much more of an advantage to the buyer.

 

Not having to worry if the seller will pack the book correctly and if it will arrive to my house with some freshly incurred spine ticks is damn near priceless, to me.

 

 

 

 

Why would it be a boon to the buyer? If it shows up damaged, buyers can just return it as INAD & it becomes the seller's problem to sort out with USPS since they (likely) packed it poorly or USPS mishandled it. The only thing that the buyer is out is the time they waited for the book to be delivered & a little disappointment. Because there's always another book with very rare exceptions.

 

As long as you pack a book well you will have no issues 99 out of 100 times so other then the time necessary to pack the books all the shipping cost is incurred by the buyer. I'd think the lack of wait time is a benefit to the buyer but I'd say the ability to hand grade a book is the number one reason to buy books at a Con.

 

The point I was making is that eliminating shipping damage risks isn't any sort of boon to the buyers. It's a boon to sellers by not having to worry about whether their packaging is good enough (for non-pro or new sellers) or whether the USPS is going to play Frisbee with their book or otherwise risk a return for whatever other reason. Buyers are covered when they're buying online. They lose that protection when buying in-person. They just gotta say "not as described" because they didn't bother to read the description & ebay makes you accept the return. They don't have the same protection from their own stupidity buying at a convention.

 

As for the rest of your argument, while it's accurate it also entire disregards the point I made in my other posts that the admission fee to the con is the premium buyers pay to hand-grade books themselves.

 

I do agree the price of admission (and travel cost) is the price you pay to get in the door but that is all the money and time you are on the hook for. A dealer has to pony up thousands of dollars and several days to set up at the Con you spent $5 and 4 hours to attend. The dealers time and expenses are of course none of your concern any more then you should worry about how much time it takes Wal-Mart to restock their shelves. But when people say prices are so high at certain Cons you can at least understand why a dealer can't give away books at 20% less then E-Bay prices or maybe even try to get a bit more then the going rates to make up for all the expenses. Of course its always up to you if you buy or not.

 

That does bring up a point. Isn't a comic con kind of like having 15 Ford dealers all set up new car displays under one roof? There may be 500 buyers walking thru the door but it's definitely not a good format to sell cars unless you have some inside discounts that make your prices more attractive or you are selling the hot color that no one else can get. A ton of people all trying to sell pretty much the exact same product doesn't seem to work anywhere unless you are at a Mexico flea market.

 

I think that's where reputation and selection come in. If you sell like all the other former card dealers trying to now make a buck in our hobby you will struggle.

 

If you build up your reputation, offer fair prices and specialize in certain types of books over time you will do very well.

 

[fastballspecial]

It's really simple. if you have alot of competition at a show, then to undercut the other guy to bring more people to your booth. If there are 50 people with X-Men 266 at a show for $75 or more then price yours at $70. If you paid too much to do that, then don't do shows.

 

I've done 2 medium size shows so far and have been happy with the results. It's amazing how much you can sell when you price stuff for 10-20% less than eBay and don't try to squeeze that last penny out of every book. I also sprinkle deals all over the place. The longer that people look; the more likely they are to buy more stuff. The only thing I found disheartening was that most of my customers were dealers.

 

I've been helping my friend who is a toy dealer for years at cons and his primary seller have become POPs and the profit margin is awful, although the exclusive stuff isn't too bad. There's no comparison between comics and Funko when it comes to profit. A Funko dealer can make $10k at a show but in the end only have $2-3k in his pocket to show for it while a comic dealer can make $5k at a show and have $3k to show for it.

 

The bolded part makes no sense to me. Using your example - a X-Men 266 in nice shape sells for $85 - $90 on E-Bay with a bit of patience so why would I sell it for $70 just to beat out the other guys who have priced their possibly lesser graded copy at $75. Cash is king but throwing a book up on E-Bay cost basically nothing so why sell keys for a discount - which is expected at most bigger Cons I've set up at?

 

I think the idea is to get buyers to your booth

 

Cheap buyers I guess are better then no buyers.

 

That all depends on your negotiation tactics. Give some on one book make it back up on others. Have no problem saying no.

 

Ive been talking into buying more or have bought more from dealers who give me a break. Half the time I don't even ask they just see me with a pile of books and cut me a discount. Why? Because I am helping them move inventory which is the name of the game for dealers doing a lot of shows.

 

[october]

I'm not sure what I'd tell dealers who are frustrated, but I will say selling to other dealers has been one of the primary reasons I've had enormous success buying and selling over the years.

 

My experience has been the same. After three or four large Chicago shows (C2E2 and WWC) where I consciously sold below market and countless board threads doing the same, I "proved myself" enough to interest enough national dealers in buying direct on a regular basis. I haven't looked back, though I do really enjoy the one or two threads a year I can manage.

 

I'd rather spend my time looking for deals and not worry about maxing out money. Leaving 20% on the table suits me just fine when someone buys a large enough stack every 3 or 4 months.

[fastballspecial]

Also the benefit of selling at a con is if your prices are reasonable you can sell a lot of books really fast. Use that money to buy more stock. Rinse, repeat. How long would it take to get those sales on ebay?

 

Sounds so easy. I went to a Con on Saturday with $2,000 in my pocket and walked out with $1,600 left over. If you have a way to talk down dealers who have desirable books priced at 2X FMV to a price you can sell them for 10% under FMV then you are better then me. I've gotten pretty lucky and have bought 2 pretty large collections from non dealers over the last year but trying to buy stock at wholesale is not something I have mastered yet. And for the record I thru out some pretty nice bulk deals with my $2,000 and not a nibble at wholesale prices.

 

Sunday afternoons they listen better.

 

[fastballspecial]

I'm not sure what I'd tell dealers who are frustrated, but I will say selling to other dealers has been one of the primary reasons I've had enormous success buying and selling over the years.

 

My experience has been the same. After three or four large Chicago shows (C2E2 and WWC) where I consciously sold below market and countless board threads doing the same, I "proved myself" enough to interest enough national dealers in buying direct on a regular basis. I haven't looked back, though I do really enjoy the one or two threads a year I can manage.

 

I'd rather spend my time looking for deals and not worry about maxing out money. Leaving 20% on the table suits me just fine when someone buys a large enough stack every 3 or 4 months.

 

 

That about sums up my thoughts. I don't need to make top dollar. I prefer it that way. I don't feel like a greedy .

 

The money is nice, the repeat customer is nicer.

 

[Artboy99]

I just did a local comic show that was 3 days in length over the last weekend.

Sold a ton of low value books; 0.50 c, $2, $5, etc that I would never have sold via online and I really dislike shipping due to all the risks ( fraud, theft, damage, cost ).

 

Do you feel like the buyers were being "cheap" with their offers especially higher priced books? And if you do not mind me asking how close were you to 10x the cost to set up?

 

Buyers were being very frugal, but I believe it to be more a result of the economy here in Alberta.

 

Did about 65% of costs.

[1Cool]

I just did a local comic show that was 3 days in length over the last weekend.

Sold a ton of low value books; 0.50 c, $2, $5, etc that I would never have sold via online and I really dislike shipping due to all the risks ( fraud, theft, damage, cost ).

 

Do you feel like the buyers were being "cheap" with their offers especially higher priced books? And if you do not mind me asking how close were you to 10x the cost to set up?

 

Buyers were being very frugal, but I believe it to be more a result of the economy here in Alberta.

 

Did about 65% of costs.

 

Am I reading that right? It cost you $500 to set up for example and you sold $325 (65% of cost)?

[jools&jim]

 

Much of this discussion reminds me of a conversation I had recently with an old friend of mine (who is a big-shot academic at a top-ranked American university) about how higher education is changing, somewhat rapidly, and NOT for the better.

 

These are mostly systemic cultural and curricular issues, but also deeper stuff, including what it means to actually "know" something these days, as opposed to simply "Googling" it.

 

Seems to me that at least some nouveau comics dealers/collector-dealers may be overly fond of "Googling it": that is, mistaking the widespread availability of data & information (which are simply tools) for a deeper, more abiding understanding of the thing itself (which is the beginning of wisdom).

 

As in many other endeavors, there is simply no adequate digital substitute for the long-term, hard, messy, rough-and-tumble slog of direct experience, especially when it comes to building a business: no amount of eBay or GPA sales data will give you a better understanding of human desire (the root of our collecting impulse) than interacting with actual customers, and no on-line accounting class will make you a better steward of your own money than losing your shirt once in a while.

 

It's also important to remember that many (not all, but many) of the well-respected "heavy hitters" in our hobby today cut their teeth in the pre-digital era, or worked for people who did, and have forgotten more about comic books, and how to buy and sell them, than most of us will ever know. Try finding that knowledge on Youtube.

 

They were also beginners once, too, but not anymore, and have seen it all before: ups, downs, fads, fashions, trends, ebbs, flows, booms, busts, conmen, tramps, and thieves. There is MUCH to be learned from them.

 

Younger people who are interested in this line of work (which is what it is, after all) should really try to apprentice with a pro if they can find one willing to take them on.

 

Be diligent, smart, polite, respectful, trustworthy, and prompt; lug their boxes and load/unload their vans; cover their booth when they need to take a leak; be their gofer for lunch/coffee/dinner/etc.; do menial jobs for no pay in their store if they have one; and most of all, keep your mouth shut, your eyes and ears open, and then listen and observe.

 

In an earlier, more enlightened age, THAT was what was known as "getting an education"…

 

 

 

[Guardian Comics]

There are many ways to do it "right" and varying degrees of that combination that will equal success. Andy, Brian, KPR, Rick all have it right.

 

1Cool I think the problem you are missing here is you are unsure why anybody would sell an X-Men #266 for $75 at a show when they could get $90 on EBay. Problem with that EBay sale, you are faceless and that person may never buy a book from you again. At the show, you are now a real human being and the next time he might be looking for an X-Men #1 and go to you first. Now the 15 dollars you missed out on means absolutely nothing at this point.

 

I know I've only been been selling books full time for about 18 months now, but I know when other dealers are asking for my usual table spot from the promoters, or when dealers come to me after the show and give me spoon "for sucking all of the money out of the room" when I did 14k in sales at a one day show with one $80 table last December, I know I'm doing something right.

 

There are many reasons I contribute to this, but my business model is this, I'd rather underprice a book, than overprice a book a hundred times out of a hundred. Cuz the overpriced sale is probably a one time thing, the underpriced book means that customer is coming to your booth first the next show.

 

As for buying it can be done. I went slabbed key shopping at WWChicago and bought DD #1's, Avengers #4's, NYX #3's, GSX #1's etc etc for up to 30% off of GPA. And those are the exact dealers I will go to first, the next convention they are at.

 

 

 

Jim

[Fan Boy]

I'm not sure what I'd tell dealers who are frustrated, but I will say selling to other dealers has been one of the primary reasons I've had enormous success buying and selling over the years.

 

My experience has been the same. After three or four large Chicago shows (C2E2 and WWC) where I consciously sold below market and countless board threads doing the same, I "proved myself" enough to interest enough national dealers in buying direct on a regular basis. I haven't looked back, though I do really enjoy the one or two threads a year I can manage.

 

I'd rather spend my time looking for deals and not worry about maxing out money. Leaving 20% on the table suits me just fine when someone buys a large enough stack every 3 or 4 months.

 

 

That about sums up my thoughts. I don't need to make top dollar. I prefer it that way. I don't feel like a greedy .

 

The money is nice, the repeat customer is nicer.

 

with agreed your comments above. While I may enjoy making a bit of money from selling off some of my books. I'm not greedy in milking as much value out of a book. As long I price it reasonable to a collector who is looking for a certain book. If the collector is happy, then will be a happy returning customer to buy more!

 

I'd love to try out as a vendor in a large con to see how I'd fare. But I know my limits and be realistic, so I prefer do that in the one-day local con shows. Take for one example, I have one coming up next month. Like before in past shows, me and my buddy paid $75 for one wall table. We make sure we have about $5,000 or more retail value in stock to bring to sell. Our goals is try get 8-10x the rental table fee, but we also know to expect for the worst if we made lower profits. Thus, we are alway prepared for both best or worst at every con show no matter what. We accept whatever comes our way.

 

So far, we did well as long we know the stuff. I like to enjoy my time finding great deals for the fun.

[Buzzetta]

Interesting analysis. With tons of sales data instantly at people's fingertips nowadays, the days of dealers inflating the prices of books over market value are pretty much over. As a semi-regular con goer, I expect to pay prices that are less than I can find on eBay. The advantages to the buyer are obvious, but the seller doesn't have to pay eBay fees and the books don't have to survive the USPS torture chamber before getting into the hands of the buyer. Also, cash transactions incur no Paypal or CC fees.

 

These are reasons that I expect to pay a little MORE as a buyer at a con. Having a book in hand and being able to walk off with it immediately after the purchase are why con purchases should cost a bit more. You actually get better opportunities to purchase books you know you will be happy with, and instant gratification to boot. If you expect to get all that at a discount I think you're being a little unrealistic.

 

It costs dealers more to set up at a con than it does to sell online. That, plus giving up an entire weekend when they could be doing something else, or nothing at all. That costs money too.

 

As for the guy selling POPs at comic shows, their gross sales may look great, but they are also paying something like $6-7 wholesale to sell them at $10. Margins are very low, so if they are paying $600 for a booth (takes profits off 200 POP sales just to cover that nut), and then having to run a trailer to get all of them there, plus hotel/gas/food/etc they can't be making a whole lot of profit.

 

I'd have to say 10% of the people I've dealt with at Cons fall into this category. Wants nice condition books and expects to pay a bit of a premium at a Con. The remaining 90% of people are either fellow flippers who want it ultra cheap or guys who want a book they need but want it for 10% off E-Bay prices since they think cash is king.

 

Hey cash talks... I well known dealer taught me that years ago.

 

And yes. If I see you at the con and you have it priced the same on eBay. I expect a discount especially when I see you offering free shipping.

 

I had that experience with a page of art. Guy would not budge a couple of years ago on a page. Ok... I will buy it off of eBay at the same price AND you can send it to me for free. All of a sudden a deal was made.

 

Another time... a guy still would budge as it was for some plastic crack Masterpiece Transformer. Okay... I went home and waited a day, bought it, got some eBay bucks and he had to ship it to me for free which freed up my bag for some other dealer's merchandise at the con since I did not have to carry the piece around.

[Buzzetta]

As for the guy selling POPs at comic shows, their gross sales may look great, but they are also paying something like $6-7 wholesale to sell them at $10. Margins are very low, so if they are paying $600 for a booth (takes profits off 200 POP sales just to cover that nut), and then having to run a trailer to get all of them there, plus hotel/gas/food/etc they can't be making a whole lot of profit.

 

You know who I notice does ridiculously well at NYCC ?

 

The guys selling the Chinese Knock Off or Custom Lego figures.

 

They are getting on eBay retail shipped a maximum of 10 of each figure per $9-10... did I say shipped? Buy in bulk and you getting that batch of 10 for $6.50-8. They are then selling each figure $5 each or 5 for $20. In some cases they are selling them for $10 each for a few complex knock offs like the large size Groot figure (if anyone is wondering)

 

Every year I see people flocking to the table to buy up whatever they can.

[Artboy99]

I just did a local comic show that was 3 days in length over the last weekend.

Sold a ton of low value books; 0.50 c, $2, $5, etc that I would never have sold via online and I really dislike shipping due to all the risks ( fraud, theft, damage, cost ).

 

Do you feel like the buyers were being "cheap" with their offers especially higher priced books? And if you do not mind me asking how close were you to 10x the cost to set up?

 

Buyers were being very frugal, but I believe it to be more a result of the economy here in Alberta.

 

Did about 65% of costs.

 

Am I reading that right? It cost you $500 to set up for example and you sold $325 (65% of cost)?

 

No sorry, I always aim for 10x booth costs at a show just like KPR suggested. My table space was $400, have to add in other costs to that so lets say my show costs were $500, I did 65% of 10x.

[Dark Prime 0]

I don't go to many conventions these days because I hate to negotiate.

 

I don't mind paying a dealer FMV or more than FMV if it is something I really want and I can walk out with the book in hand that day. I do NOT expect dealers to sell for below eBay prices. Perhaps this is the case with easy to find modern books, I have no idea, however, with GA, it is hard to imagine any two books are exactly the same. Thus, I would tend to pay a little more for the copy at the convention that I can fully inspect and know exactly what I am getting. I also prefer to support the same comic dealers who I have had good dealings with in the past. That is what I like about conventions. That and just the fun of going.

 

What I hate about conventions is that MOST dealers seem to inflate their prices with the expectation that there will be a negotiation. When I look at a book and see a price that seems over inflated, I typically just walk away. I don't want to negotiate. That is not fun for me.

 

At last year's Baltimore convention I went to one dealer's booth and saw a wall book that I liked. It was marked $400. I thought I had remembered seeing the same book on their website. This I walked away and checked his wensite on my phone. The exact same book was marked $300 on the web site. The book IMO was well worth the $300, however, I was not willing to pay the $400 he had it marked at the convention and I was not about to go back and show him on my phone how the book was $100 cheaper on his website.

 

I am certain he would have sold me the book for the $300, which I would have been happy with, however, the whole "negotiation" does not appeal to me.

 

it's easier then your makeing it and honestly you'll never know if you don't ask........i call it haggling but really it's not, an example from philly. dealer had the book for 300, i asked for 240/250 (just pulled the # out of the air but not a lowball insult offer) he countered at 260 and i took it. for myself at every con and on most books that's how i do it, i take whatever they counter with. no clue what it's going on ebay for and don't care (some books i do have idea about but i don't look up a book while at the con), i feel i got a deal bc it's below sticker. while i'm not good with %'s in my head i guess a number around 20% (i think it's 20% anyways) since that imo is what the books are marked up to allow wiggle room, other times i'll ask how can they do better and take that price as well bc it's below sticker and i considered it a good price (have walked away.....rarely bc i didn't think they came down low enough but it doesn't happen often)

 

i agree with others, to go to bigger cons it's tix for 2 (my son), travel/gas, food and depending on the con a hotel........philly is about a 3hr drive so i go home, hit 2 days so that's 12hr's total drive. baltimore is 4/5hr drive with hotel, boston is 5+hr but thankfully i have a couch to sleep on if i go, NYCC. point is i'm already spending a good chunk on just getting to the con and my time there before buying 1 book, you're damed right i'm going to try and get a decent amt off any books i buy as should anyone, considering dealers do the samething trying to get books. hell even small 1 day shows are an hr drive except 1 which is about 20min. over all i get more out of a small show then a big show except for exclusives and cgc ss