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

[1Cool]

Well if your only source is buying from other dealers then you have a very limited business model.

 

Why aren't you buying collections?

 

Do you Advertise?

 

Why aren't collectors selling you books?

 

Are you capitalized to write big checks if the opportunity presents itself?

 

 

 

 

That's my problem - I need more collectors to sell me wholesale books! I've got 7K burning a hole in my pocket right now so you horders hit me up

 

buy my drek too?

 

$10 a long box delivered and you have a deal!

[ygogolak]

 

I tend to only buy from Dealers if the books is way under priced or a ultra hot book that they may have not adjusted yet - typical flipper situation. I've bought 2 collections this year and concentrated on setting up at a bunch more Cons to sell off the collections. Based on my limited experience I do much better being patient and selling online while in the mean time getting high grade books graded. I'm scaling down to just three smaller Cons next year and see how that goes. Always living and learning.

So your business model is "flipper" and your source is other dealers.

 

Nothing more exciting to dealers then seeing flippers at the booth looking to make money off their mistake or to have their Hot books sold to a guy wanting 20-30% off.

 

Not sure if you see this but you are NOT exactly the guy I would give first shot to.

 

I have no problem with guys making money off me but picking me off is not exactly a warm business relationship.

 

You definitely have made it a point to talk about a relationship with customers. That is always a good thing. Treating each other fairly, sharing trends, etc... But if you have a price on a book what does it matter is someone wants to sell it our use it for their birdcage? Are you not yourself a reseller?

I deal with a local shop who I routinely buy books for speculation. They know that. But I also give them a heads up on hot books pretty frequently. It's part of the relationship.

[Foolkiller]

Well if your only source is buying from other dealers then you have a very limited business model.

 

Why aren't you buying collections?

 

Do you Advertise?

 

Why aren't collectors selling you books?

 

Are you capitalized to write big checks if the opportunity presents itself?

 

 

 

 

That's my problem - I need more collectors to sell me wholesale books! I've got 7K burning a hole in my pocket right now so you horders hit me up

 

It's a lot of leg work, a lot of time, and a lot of building relationships. It doesn't just happen. One thing October, Flying Donut and I have always had in common is the enormous drive and unrelenting pursuit -- it's hard work, but fun. I really enjoy it. And all these "lucky finds" are partially that, and partially that I've been going at it with plenty of misses. The overwhelming majority of my best deals are from stores or through alternate sources, not dealers at shows, and I do very little buying there any more. As Bob notes, buying collections is the way to go, or at a minimum, groups of books.

 

It takes a ton of time and effort, and the willingness to also consistently strike out.

[blazingbob]

You are sharing with the local store owner so there is a win/win type relationship.

 

I'm doing most of the work for a flipper who wants 20-30% off on hot books.

 

The hard work is finding the material unless it is a common book.

[Foolkiller]

You are sharing with the local store owner so there is a win/win type relationship.

 

I'm doing most of the work for a flipper who wants 20-30% off on hot books.

 

The hard work is finding the material unless it is a common book.

 

Having sold a ton to Bob over the years, let me say that the flip side is that he is walking the walk and not asking for 20 - 30% off hot or key books, he pays up, as does Greg Reece. For top end material, Bob (and Greg) are the people who are paying for the best material at very competitive prices. Take out your fees and time, and their offers are second to none.

[Vger7]

As a buyer, I prefer to see a large removable sticker up front as well, especially for CGC books. Often, there are many people at a booth and it can be difficult to get the dealers attention. Once I have it, I can't very well ask him to go through every book he brought, tell me the price and remember all those numbers. He'll get annoyed, especially if I decide not to buy anything. I also don't want to initiate a sales pitch. Some dealers like to talk and talk and talk. As well, some people are introverted. I prefer to visit each booth first, look at what's on offer and see what hits me. I will of course compare prices relative to condition/grade. Once I'm interested in a book, I'll simply ask if there's any extra room on the price and from there decide yay or nay.

[blazingbob]

The "removable price" sticker gives the impression that the book was priced at the show hence many posters claim that the seller is bumping the price.

 

If CGC really wants to innovate the holder then put a LED display in place of the logo where I can put the price on.

 

Imagine a wall of blinking prices.

 

 

[originalisbest]

The "removable price" sticker gives the impression that the book was priced at the show hence many posters claim that the seller is bumping the price.

 

If CGC really wants to innovate the holder then put a LED display in place of the logo where I can put the price on.

 

Imagine a wall of blinking prices.

 

 

, I would look forward to this at C2E2. Seizures!

[originalisbest]

When I do not set up at a Con I always try to pick some of the dealers brains to see what is selling and how each Con stacks up. Unfortunately I'm starting to see a trend in the info I'm getting back.

 

First - I talked to a friend of my wife who sells cute fan-art of super-heroes and cult characters hugging. She sets up at most large Cons in my area and it turns out she is selling $3,000 - $5,000 at each Con with most of her money coming from $5 small prints that she prints out herself. That's with one small artists booth and that's more then most the smaller dealers I talk to. How the heck can a person make $5,000 selling to primarily teen age girls and women at a comic con? My wife brings up a good point that her friend is filling a niche but when that small niche is exceeding sales of the primary niche then you have to shake your head a bit.

 

Second - I found out a large comic dealer in my area did $2,300 in sales at a 1 day Con last weekend but he spent $600 for 3 booths to pull in that much sales. $2,300 in a one day show sounds good but another dealer I know said he sold $3,000 in the same day with 1 booth selling only toys and POPS (ie beanie babies for geeks). The POPs dealer also has a store and sells comics but left them all at home. So at a small 1 day comic con which usually is the bread and butter of comic book only dealers the big winner was toys and POPS??

 

Third - I keep hearing buyers at Cons say "I can get that book for 30% less on E-Bay so no sale" but they spent the time and energy to go to a Con for a day. So I can imagine they want some books but they want to spend less then E-Bay prices before ponying up the cash. But if buyers want to spend less then E-Bay prices for books then what incentives are there to dealers to not list their books on E-Bay and avoid the hassles and work of setting up at Cons?

 

I guess you could say that clearing out $1 books that do not sell on E-Bay is a valid reason to set up at a Con. But the last few Cons I've been to there are guys selling books for 2/$1 and these are not just 90s drek. It takes a lot of $0.50 sales to make up booth fees if that is the reason you are setting up at all.

 

All the Cons in my area are completely sold out (in terms of booths) a year in advance so money must be made but the info I'm getting in does not bode well for comics sales at Cons.

 

"Cute Fan Art" = Gross copyright violations of superheroes and pop culture figures... hope she's saving those proceeds for the cease and desist paperwork one day?

[Foolkiller]

The "removable price" sticker gives the impression that the book was priced at the show hence many posters claim that the seller is bumping the price.

 

If CGC really wants to innovate the holder then put a LED display in place of the logo where I can put the price on.

 

Imagine a wall of blinking prices.

 

 

To the proponents of post its with prices, this is what I do for my once a year set up. However, I would never use it as a full time dealer. The post its constantly come off when taking the wall books up and down. I definitely prefer stickers and when I briefly had priced inventory that I kept in rotation for awhile, I did use stickers.

 

I understand the ease of being able to see what books go for, and that's a good point, but you can ask what's on a book as well.

[the blob]

 

I tend to only buy from Dealers if the books is way under priced or a ultra hot book that they may have not adjusted yet - typical flipper situation. I've bought 2 collections this year and concentrated on setting up at a bunch more Cons to sell off the collections. Based on my limited experience I do much better being patient and selling online while in the mean time getting high grade books graded. I'm scaling down to just three smaller Cons next year and see how that goes. Always living and learning.

 

So your business model is "flipper" and your source is other dealers.

 

Nothing more exciting to dealers then seeing flippers at the booth looking to make money off their mistake or to have their Hot books sold to a guy wanting 20-30% off.

 

Not sure if you see this but you are NOT exactly the guy I would give first shot to.

 

I have no problem with guys making money off me but picking me off is not exactly a warm business relationship.

--------------------

 

Bob, you guys are working in different arenas. 1Cool is lamenting over selling an X-Men 141 too cheap, just like I might. You have four copies of AF 15 up on your website. You guys (and I am sort of lumping a bunch of the bigger board member dealer types in there like dale robertson, greg reece, etc.) actually may very well give a nice discount on a stack of X-Men 141 in VF/NM type books or whatever to someone you've dealt with before because it really isn't the sort of book you're paying the mortgage with. Not that I presume to know your business model.

[the blob]

Anyway, I hope my free tickets to NYCC materialize this year so I can spend some money with you dealers! My buddy hasn't gotten back to me on that yet. Not that I have any money to spend.

 

 

[1Cool]

 

I tend to only buy from Dealers if the books is way under priced or a ultra hot book that they may have not adjusted yet - typical flipper situation. I've bought 2 collections this year and concentrated on setting up at a bunch more Cons to sell off the collections. Based on my limited experience I do much better being patient and selling online while in the mean time getting high grade books graded. I'm scaling down to just three smaller Cons next year and see how that goes. Always living and learning.

 

So your business model is "flipper" and your source is other dealers.

 

Nothing more exciting to dealers then seeing flippers at the booth looking to make money off their mistake or to have their Hot books sold to a guy wanting 20-30% off.

 

Not sure if you see this but you are NOT exactly the guy I would give first shot to.

 

I have no problem with guys making money off me but picking me off is not exactly a warm business relationship.

--------------------

 

Bob, you guys are working in different arenas. 1Cool is lamenting over selling an X-Men 141 too cheap, just like I might. You have four copies of AF 15 up on your website. You guys (and I am sort of lumping a bunch of the bigger board member dealer types in there like dale robertson, greg reece, etc.) actually may very well give a nice discount on a stack of X-Men 141 in VF/NM type books or whatever to someone you've dealt with before because it really isn't the sort of book you're paying the mortgage with. Not that I presume to know your business model.

 

 

 

I'm not against giving some discounts especially when the person wants to get a few books. But when I give a nice 20% discount on a book to have the guy walk away without even a thanks and then the next 10 people seem pissed and walk away when I say I can't give them a 20% discount on hot books it just wears on you as a seller (as least it does to me).

 

For that reason I do not tend to ask for discounts from dealers unless I'm buying a large batch of books. I'm always looking for steals but asking for them is not something I do.

[dupont2005]

When I do not set up at a Con I always try to pick some of the dealers brains to see what is selling and how each Con stacks up. Unfortunately I'm starting to see a trend in the info I'm getting back.

 

First - I talked to a friend of my wife who sells cute fan-art of super-heroes and cult characters hugging. She sets up at most large Cons in my area and it turns out she is selling $3,000 - $5,000 at each Con with most of her money coming from $5 small prints that she prints out herself. That's with one small artists booth and that's more then most the smaller dealers I talk to. How the heck can a person make $5,000 selling to primarily teen age girls and women at a comic con? My wife brings up a good point that her friend is filling a niche but when that small niche is exceeding sales of the primary niche then you have to shake your head a bit.

 

Second - I found out a large comic dealer in my area did $2,300 in sales at a 1 day Con last weekend but he spent $600 for 3 booths to pull in that much sales. $2,300 in a one day show sounds good but another dealer I know said he sold $3,000 in the same day with 1 booth selling only toys and POPS (ie beanie babies for geeks). The POPs dealer also has a store and sells comics but left them all at home. So at a small 1 day comic con which usually is the bread and butter of comic book only dealers the big winner was toys and POPS??

 

Third - I keep hearing buyers at Cons say "I can get that book for 30% less on E-Bay so no sale" but they spent the time and energy to go to a Con for a day. So I can imagine they want some books but they want to spend less then E-Bay prices before ponying up the cash. But if buyers want to spend less then E-Bay prices for books then what incentives are there to dealers to not list their books on E-Bay and avoid the hassles and work of setting up at Cons?

 

I guess you could say that clearing out $1 books that do not sell on E-Bay is a valid reason to set up at a Con. But the last few Cons I've been to there are guys selling books for 2/$1 and these are not just 90s drek. It takes a lot of $0.50 sales to make up booth fees if that is the reason you are setting up at all.

 

All the Cons in my area are completely sold out (in terms of booths) a year in advance so money must be made but the info I'm getting in does not bode well for comics sales at Cons.

 

"Cute Fan Art" = Gross copyright violations of superheroes and pop culture figures... hope she's saving those proceeds for the cease and desist paperwork one day?

Are sketches any different? If someone is at the con and their sole purpose is to sell drawings of Batman, especially if they've never worked on the title or for DC, should they expect a letter?

[Dick Pontoon]

FWIW, I’m not sure if I can think of any show I’ve been to where prices are visible on every single wall book. Some dealers maximize space by slightly overlapping books which might obscure the label but even if not, wall books are usually too far away from the front of the table to see price labels clearly. Luckily this has never been an issue, I just ask if I can’t see.

 

I’ve even bought wall books after seeing con report pictures posted here where prices were tiny and blurred.

 

A dealer with unpriced longboxes on his table is another story. If I need to ask about each book while he opens his Overstreet and prices it, I’ll thank him after he comes up with a number and keep on walking.

 

As an aside, Bob mentioned a few of the typical comments he’s heard ad nauseum. One thing I’ve noticed in my limited experience is that there is a subset of people who seem unaware that books displayed on the wall are going to be fancier, pricier books and are surprised that a 9.2 Hulk #181 is “That much??!!”

 

[Rip]

All of my best finds were from friends, networking and advertising.

Expect to do lots and lots of traveling, and remember that time is valuable. I get around 5-7 calls a week, plus maybe 1-2 referrals a month . Only 1 out of 7-8 involves me spending money.

It also pays to be nice to your LCS. If they know you are trying to flip everything, they aren't going to work with you. On the other hand if you help them, there is a good chance they will help you back. And that always pays better for me in the long run.

 

Going back to the topic a bit more, I've seen a lot of mid/smaller dealers with no idea what they are doing, I see it with some local dealers and I see it at larger Cons as well. At the same time, I love seeing a dealer doing things right with a great display and lots of sales. They are still many out there and I love a good chat with em. I always love talking with Harley, Marc, Brian, and many others.

 

[blazingbob]

The best one I heard at Wizard Austin was

 

"How much is the Amazing Fantasy 2.5?"

 

I gave them the price.

 

They mumbled that maybe I should take the book back to Denver because clearly I was overpriced.

 

He ran before I could respond with maybe you should find out what Chuck Rozanski looks like before you think I'm Mile High comics.

 

The catch phrase of almost 99% of all buyers who don't want to buy the book or don't have the money are

 

"I was just curious"

 

 

[chrisco37]

 

Can I call you Chuckles?

[1Cool]

The best one I heard at Wizard Austin was

 

"How much is the Amazing Fantasy 2.5?"

 

I gave them the price.

 

They mumbled that maybe I should take the book back to Denver because clearly I was overpriced.

 

He ran before I could respond with maybe you should find out what Chuck Rozanski looks like before you think I'm Mile High comics.

 

The catch phrase of almost 99% of all buyers who don't want to buy the book or don't have the money are

 

"I was just curious"

 

 

I usually get "I'll think about it and I'll be back"

[spracks919]

We just finished the Edmonton Expo this week and it was interesting to hear how other dealers did. The general consensus from them was that it was a bad show, with some not making their costs back by the end of Saturday, which was the big sales day.

 

However, if you talk to the buyers the two complaints we consistently heard about other dealers as they bought the same books from us was that 1) their prices are too high and/or 2) the books are overgraded. It is funny how accurately graded books and realistic pricing will attract buyers.............

 

 

We just did that show too! Its was my very 1st time setting up as a Dealer at a Con, we did pretty good considering the way the Economy is in Alberta here now, but at the same time I don't have anything to base it on from Previous Years. We made our Table costs back by the end of day Friday

 

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.