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Seeding bins at a convention - how do you do it?
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172 posts in this topic

The moral of the story is don't be the doof who sells $50 books for $10. I love you guys, I love finding those books, but I wouldn't recommend it as a business model. Of course, is they guy who jacked the prices up 500-1000% actually selling anything? There was a local guy who set up here and would mark all his run filler books 200-250% of opg and then put out a 50% off sign. I don't think I ever saw anyone buy. Maybe he sold some wall books.

Edited by the blob
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I've seen some LCSs use the placeholder method in their boxes to indicate high price books are behind the counter for those buyers who are looking to complete sets.  You could use a note on a backing board to give the run collector the info and also safe guard your keys.  I've also seen people now going the route of photocopying their keys and keeping the very high priced books in a lock box.  Different ways to safeguard your books but also give the buyers some info.

You want to offer discounts but don't want to basically give local dealers those intentionally missed profits - correct?  I don't know if I would use the 20% after an hour principal and drop it 10% after an hour because you will just have dealers (or helpers of dealers) running over and grabbing all the keys when they get low enough.  You can set books at market prices and then if you see a non dealer looking at some books you can offer to knock 20% off the marked price as a new buyer discount.  That is assuming you are not that busy and you don't mind interacting with the customers before they actually buy the book.

Edited by 1Cool
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A lot of dealers lack interpersonal skills. I once pulled out some early SA wonder womens and was contemplating discussing buying them and before I said a word the guy (another regular here in nyc) jumps in and obnoxiously tells me "those are going to be expensive".. I took that as my cue to walk away. I wasn't 12, I was a full grown adult.

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1 hour ago, the blob said:

A lot of dealers lack interpersonal skills. I once pulled out some early SA wonder womens and was contemplating discussing buying them and before I said a word the guy (another regular here) jumps in and obnoxiously tells me "those are going to be expensive".. I took that as my qui to walk away. I wasn't 12, I was a full grown adult.

Ya, that's just stupid.  A big part of this is selling, like everything else in life......I was at the grocery store and convinced a total stranger who was with his girlfriend to buy a dessert....I think saw him again at the cash register and told him he needed to nuke it for 30 seconds then toss a scoop of ice cream on it.  I remember my girlfriend was shocked that I did that and more shocked the guy listened to me, I said to her, 'what's he gonna do, punch me in the face'?

Honestly, if you don't enjoy talking to people maybe you should stick to the online sales.  :)

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7 hours ago, FineCollector said:

I'm not treating this as a business venture.

I think that's what some people aren't getting. I understand, because I'm the same way. Occasionally setting up at local shows is just a small part of the hobby for me.

I'm sorry your local scene apparently sucks so much. Hopefully you can improve it a bit for at least a few people.

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28 minutes ago, Lazyboy said:

I think that's what some people aren't getting. I understand, because I'm the same way. Occasionally setting up at local shows is just a small part of the hobby for me.

I'm sorry your local scene apparently sucks so much. Hopefully you can improve it a bit for at least a few people.

I'm actually thinking, he'll make it worst.....:wishluck:

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17 hours ago, jsilverjanet said:

Locally here there's a flipper who refuses to look through my boxes because he thinks he knows what I paid and that I got the deal instead of him. That seems silly to me.

That is just stupid. In that context, his only concerns should be how much you're asking and how much he could get.

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27 minutes ago, Ryan. said:

Where are these shows where dealers are selling through all of their keys? 

I think at local shows you are more likely to have a collector setting up shop who isn't always keen on everything. A big show where it costs $2000 to set up, not so much.

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On 1/9/2019 at 12:57 PM, Shawnismaximus said:

I've sold at only one convention. I didn't have a wall (I would have liked to have had one, I just didn't have anything available to use as a wall to attach comics to. Any cheap suggestions?).

I didn't see any responses to this question, so I'll jump in.

Back in the 90's, I experimented with numerous configurations of self-built display wall racks.  Some worked well, and others... well, let's just say there was a reason I had numerous configurations.  

Here were my requirements: I needed something that was

1) Sturdy.  It can get expensive if a wall collapses or is knocked over.

2) Collapsible to a relatively small size.  I've typically driven small hatchbacks (Honda Accord, Acura Integra).  Longboxes fit just fine, but finding a display rack that could collapse and fit inside was a challenge.

3) Inexpensive.  I suppose everybody has a different idea of what 'cheap' is.  My feeling is that sub-$100 is a pretty good price for a good rack.

4) Easy to set up.  I need to be able to set the whole thing up in about 5 minutes, so can spend time displaying things just right and maybe even doing some pre-show shopping.  

5) Six feet long.  Most tables are six feet, so that's typically the most wall space I get.

6) Flexible enough to display odd sizes.  You never know what you'll need to sell.  Magazines? Treasuries?  Original art?  Slabbed books?  (ok, so when I was doing this, slabbed books hadn't been invented yet.  But I did have some books in heavy Fortress-like plastic that was the precursor to the modern-day slab.)

I tried walls with Snap-its, an erector-set type metal structure that required nuts & bolts, and other configurations.  But in the end, I hit upon something  (most likely copied from another dealer) that now seems pretty common:  linen shelving.

Linen shelving at Lowe's

I built two wooden side rails, and attached some hinged support legs.  Then I used cup hooks in the wood to support the shelves.  Extra cup hooks strategically placed in the wood can also provide the support that keeps the rack from being able to slide side-to-side.  Voila!  A rack that meets all of my requirements.  It has been to dozens of shows, and has never let me down.  The cup hooks do bend easily, so I keep an extra supply of them just in case one breaks or gets bent beyond usefulness. 

This rack is very flexible.  If I'm at a show that has a lot of space behind the table, then the display shelves can go all the way to the floor.  If I go to a show that has 8' tables (uncommon, but it has happened), then I can use 8' linen shelving instead (or maybe just make the top 3 shelves the 8' ones).  If I have a lot of tall items, it's easy to re-do the cup hooks to provide more space between the shelves.  The lip on the shelves is wide enough that if I need to, I can stack several copies of a book on top of each other.  And of course, a copy of Seduction of the Innocent fits very nicely on the lip with no danger of falling. 

 

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11 minutes ago, SOTIcollector said:

I built two wooden side rails, and attached some hinged support legs.  Then I used cup hooks in the wood to support the shelves.  Extra cup hooks strategically placed in the wood can also provide the support that keeps the rack from being able to slide side-to-side.  Voila!  A rack that meets all of my requirements.  It has been to dozens of shows, and has never let me down.  The cup hooks do bend easily, so I keep an extra supply of them just in case one breaks or gets bent beyond usefulness. 

This rack is very flexible.  If I'm at a show that has a lot of space behind the table, then the display shelves can go all the way to the floor.  If I go to a show that has 8' tables (uncommon, but it has happened), then I can use 8' linen shelving instead (or maybe just make the top 3 shelves the 8' ones).  If I have a lot of tall items, it's easy to re-do the cup hooks to provide more space between the shelves.  The lip on the shelves is wide enough that if I need to, I can stack several copies of a book on top of each other.  And of course, a copy of Seduction of the Innocent fits very nicely on the lip with no danger of falling. 

@SOTIcollector I didn't ask for the help but I DO appreciate it! I am a visual guy, do you have any photos of it in use? Do the books slide on or off the racks at all?

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There are many threads on this board about building your own wall rack complete with instructions and photos... You just have to search for them. (Many different types of racks too... Home Depot wire shelf racks to PVC pipe racks...)

 

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On 1/9/2019 at 10:34 AM, shortboxed said:

I keep my short boxes closed until doors open. After that, I don't care if dealers buy from my booth or a con attendee. But I like keeping my full inventory that I painstakingly curated for the show to be available to con attendees.

As a collector, I've been to many shows (often the first one through the doors) only to find that all the "good books" and deals have already been snatched up by dealers during setup.  So this is simply my way of giving the attendees a fair shot at what I think is a nice selection of very fairly priced books. 

(thumbsu  I pretty much do the same thing for the same reasons. Do I miss out on dealer sales? Maybe a few but I find that the books the dealers want to buy are the ones that sell themselves to regular con attendees anyway. Also, I don't do this for a living so I don't have to give away good stuff cheap. Believe me, when I do a show, I get a lot of people make a bee line to my booth. 

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Seeding would make more sense to me if, let's say, you had $5 boxes but the books were 3 for $10 (or, more optimally, 6 for $20). Of course, folks would try to make their three "seeded" books, but absent that, maybe a better book may be the needed incentive to get two more less desired books.

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