Mile high comics prices 3 3

[stormflora]

On 11/23/2023 at 6:55 PM, Gambold Vintage said:

Two thoughts:

Mile High made their bones and big money a long time ago.  The owners could have sold it all out and retired  - I'm pretty sure they are still in this because of a genuine love for the hobby, and like they said, they wanted to get out of the endless inventory chase.  

Comic book stores, like any other business, work in a free market. Some people buy their broccoli at Whole Foods - others shop at ALDI. Both chains are thriving, and neither is "ripping people off." You want to find the lowest price? Comparison shop - there are a lot of good dealers out there ready to work with you. 

I don't see what the problem is. Too expensive? Don't shop there. 

Precisely my thought as well. Competition is healthy. Nobody is forcing you to buy from X or Y store. The customer is free to choose who they wish to purchase from.

Sometimes, price isn't everything. Service, environment, atmosphere, warranty, return policies, etc. can all factor in.

[Math Teacher]

On 11/23/2023 at 5:55 PM, Gambold Vintage said:

I don't see what the problem is. Too expensive? Don't shop there. 

I have already been following your advice. If I am looking for a back issue, I don't even bother looking at Mile High's website, which is atrocious by the way.

[Math Teacher]

On 11/23/2023 at 6:10 PM, stormflora said:

Precisely my thought as well. Competition is healthy. Nobody is forcing you to buy from X or Y store. The customer is free to choose who they wish to purchase from.

Sometimes, price isn't everything. Service, environment, atmosphere, warranty, return policies, etc. can all factor in.

Just as Chuck has the right to sell books at the prices he sees fit, @BA773 has the same right to speak out about them being overpriced.

I would find it interesting to find out just how many books he sells in a month. Does he also sell current comics, or is he strictly a back issue dealer?

I have never been to his store, nor do I have any desire to visit it. 

[Gambold Vintage]

Oddly enough, for all the claims of their huge stock, I did three searches on the three EC pre-code horror comic lines and they had nothing but reprints.  I then tried the four Harvey pre-code horror titles. Also nothing. I tried a couple of other horror titles like Mister Mystery and This Magazine is Haunted and...zilch.

I know the old horrors are always in demand but I figured there would be SOMETHING for sale. 

Edited November 24, 2023 by Gambold Vintage

[shadroch]

On 11/23/2023 at 5:51 PM, Math Teacher said:

Just as Chuck has the right to sell books at the prices he sees fit, @BA773 has the same right to speak out about them being overpriced.

I would find it interesting to find out just how many books he sells in a month. Does he also sell current comics, or is he strictly a back issue dealer?

I have never been to his store, nor do I have any desire to visit it. 

Chuck used to sell new comics in his many stores, but as the industry changed, so did his operations.  At one point, he ran one of the biggest subscription services, while his wife ran one of the largest new comic distributorships.  I believe he stopped selling new books years ago. At one point, he was a big buyer of recent surplus stock so he was selling recent books, that were a few weeks old.

[october]

Big copium energy in this thread. Chuck out there playing 4D chess while the plebes are sweating the market downturn. 

Git gud. 

[stormflora]

On 11/23/2023 at 8:02 PM, shadroch said:

Chuck used to sell new comics in his many stores, but as the industry changed, so did his operations.  At one point, he ran one of the biggest subscription services, while his wife ran one of the largest new comic distributorships.  I believe he stopped selling new books years ago. At one point, he was a big buyer of recent surplus stock so he was selling recent books, that were a few weeks old.

Sounds like MyComicShop/Lone Star Comics has taken the crown. They're pretty much doing everything right.

[Falcon760]

I'd certainly pay a premium for a NM copy of a good book I've been looking for, even a modern book for convenience sake, but the problem is that the grading is not correct.  Comics sold as "NM" aren't NM.  So basically they're charging a premium for books that may or may not be in the condition they're listing.  In my opinion, they just don't really care either way, and you can't really check because there are no pictures.  It's just not worth it to shop there.  Ever.  

Edited November 24, 2023 by Falcon760

[darkstar]

It's mostly just a graveyard for run-fillers and drek. It would be different if he charged a premium as the go-to seller for a particular genre or even a niche, but he isn't the source for anything in demand. Unless you are looking for a newsstand edition of a particular issue his website mostly just serves as an artifact of the internet as it used to be. 

[stormflora]

Side note: I took a look at Mile High's online store just now, and noticed that they're having a 60% off all-store Black Friday sale. So maybe there's some hope.

However, MyComicShop is also preparing for a Black Friday sale, of some amount which I've forgotten already. It's going to be interesting. Definitely going to see if I can pick up some Tom & Jerry for dirt cheap.

In terms of what I've found at Mile High, although I could fill gaps, it would be mostly with Fair-graded stuff, which is super suspicious. But I have found some acceptably priced issues here and there are at least Good, so I'll see if I can meet their minimum for free shipping.

Edited November 24, 2023 by stormflora

[Nick Furious]

On 11/23/2023 at 3:15 PM, comicstock said:

Wonder how he's doing post-Covid?

Post-Covid and post-MCU.  He may want to believe this:

On 11/23/2023 at 3:01 PM, rlextherobot said:

Then, almost miraculously, our operating results began turning around. While our unit sales remained drastically lower than in the past, our slow, but steady, incremental gains in the breadth (and depth) of our inventory attracted an entirely new class of clients, dedicated fans who were willing to pay a premium for the privilege of accessing the largest comic book inventory in the world.

  But more likely his "Miracle" was from the MCU turning stale inventory into something worth more than he had been asking.  Books he had forever suddenly started selling in quantities of 10-20 or more before he had a chance to mark them up even further.  I've seen receipts from some of these purchases.  It will be interesting to see how this business model holds up over the next couple of years.  I don't believe for a second that he's tapped a vein of gold with a new class of collector who is willing to pay Mile High multiples of what they could pay elsewhere for 99% of their inventory.       

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 11/23/2023 at 8:34 PM, Nick Furious said:

Post-Covid and post-MCU.  He may want to believe this:

  But more likely his "Miracle" was from the MCU turning stale inventory into something worth more than he had been asking.  Books he had forever suddenly started selling in quantities of 10-20 or more before he had a chance to mark them up even further.  I've seen receipts from some of these purchases.  It will be interesting to see how this business model holds up over the next couple of years.  I don't believe for a second that he's tapped a vein of gold with a new class of collector who is willing to pay Mile High multiples of what they could pay elsewhere for 99% of their inventory.       

This is what I remember from casual boards story telling, and why I give him the benefit of the doubt.

It sounds to me like marking up everything across the board somehow enhanced his poorly itemized prices to begin with, and instead of doing every issue due to massive inventory: 1) marked up everything 2) some books might still seem inexpensive and sell but at least not dirt cheap 3) new spec would eventually do the same 4) keep from added labor costs to itemize all books across all genres 

To that point it worked the past couple of years, and rather than readily admit that? I'd be cautious to continue, pioneering or not but with a grain of salt kind of thing.

I'm sure if things started going true south as he'd mentioned that he's weighed his options even considering them till the newcomers came last minute.

 

[stormflora]

On 11/23/2023 at 9:34 PM, Nick Furious said:

Post-Covid and post-MCU.  He may want to believe this:

  But more likely his "Miracle" was from the MCU turning stale inventory into something worth more than he had been asking.  Books he had forever suddenly started selling in quantities of 10-20 or more before he had a chance to mark them up even further.  I've seen receipts from some of these purchases.  It will be interesting to see how this business model holds up over the next couple of years.  I don't believe for a second that he's tapped a vein of gold with a new class of collector who is willing to pay Mile High multiples of what they could pay elsewhere for 99% of their inventory.       

From what I've seen of retailers that deliberately cater to the middle class or higher, they typically upcharge their items so that when sales come along, they break even or still make a profit.

So, in the case of Mile High, unless a customer is desperate to fill gaps or just wants the convenience of buying a large number of issues in a series at once (that for whatever reason isn't at MyComicShop), they have a solution. Time is money, and sometimes someone doesn't care about paying 2-3x the price for it when they could make it back in a month or two with their $200-300K job.

At the moment, I'm filling a basket with a bunch of Good-graded comics that drop below my maximum budget per issue after the 60% discount. And it's a sizable number of issues. But I have no idea what to expect from Good as it is a catch-all for "just acceptable." Still, after crunching the numbers, it's actually a rather low cost per issue ($4.79 USD each after all fees), which is decent.

Edited November 24, 2023 by stormflora

[Nick Furious]

On 11/23/2023 at 8:43 PM, ADAMANTIUM said:

This is what I remember from casual boards story telling, and why I give him the benefit of the doubt.

It sounds to me like marking up everything across the board somehow enhanced his poorly itemized prices to begin with, and instead of doing every issue due to massive inventory: 1) marked up everything 2) some books might still seem inexpensive and sell but at least not dirt cheap 3) new spec would eventually do the same 4) keep from added labor costs to itemize all books across all genres 

To that point it worked the past couple of years, and rather than readily admit that? I'd be cautious to continue, pioneering or not but with a grain of salt kind of thing.

I'm sure if things started going true south as he'd mentioned that he's weighed his options even considering them till the newcomers came last minute.

 

Those are good points.  Assuming the Mile High inventory is all sunk-cost and not financed, they have the ability to maneuver quickly based on the market.  The timing was good for the "premium" pricing scheme.  They may well adjust if it becomes apparent that opportunity has played itself out due to changes in market conditions.  You can always lower prices, but you can't raise them after you've sold the book.    

[Nick Furious]

On 11/23/2023 at 8:46 PM, stormflora said:

(that for whatever reason isn't at MyComicShop)

I have a hard time buying online from anyone other than Mycomicshop.  They've just earned my trust over and over again, particularly with their grading.  I will buy lower-dollar stock books from them without seeing a scan.  I have to admit, if they have a book that I want and it's MCS inventory, I will often buy it from them without price-shopping.  But that's because I know they have a history of pricing competitively with FMV.  I do also sell consignment items through MCS, so I'm probably biased.     

[Gambold Vintage]

> >fans who were willing to pay a premium for the privilege of accessing the largest comic book inventory in the world.<

This comment struck me as bizarre.  First, it's not a "privilege" for your customers to be able to view your stock. It's an essential event that you dearly hope happens every day you are open for business. 

Next, while he may indeed have the largest personal inventory of comic books for sale, the very nature of the Internet means we all can access all online comic book inventories at any time. Sure, we need to search for a few more minutes, but any comic book for sale online is accessible to everyone. 

Finally, referring to customers as "fans" suggests he sees his business as entertainment, like Bruce Springsteen, and not as a commercial enterprise, like...a comic shop. 

 

Edited November 24, 2023 by Gambold Vintage

[stormflora]

On 11/23/2023 at 10:01 PM, Nick Furious said:

I have a hard time buying online from anyone other than Mycomicshop.  They've just earned my trust over and over again, particularly with their grading.  I will buy lower-dollar stock books from them without seeing a scan.  I have to admit, if they have a book that I want and it's MCS inventory, I will often buy it from them without price-shopping.  But that's because I know they have a history of pricing competitively with FMV.  I do also sell consignment items through MCS, so I'm probably biased.     

I've already made a handful of orders from MCS already, and I am certainly just as content. However, it's always the Good area that makes me ponder a bit, as I don't want a comic that ends up looking awful on the cover. But sometimes with older comics, you don't have much of a choice.

In any case, since I would be 14 issues closer to completing my collection, and the average cost isn't awful, I will bite the bullet and give MHC a single shot. There is a massive eBay lot I'm preparing to bid on with a high price as it'll fill a significant amount of gaps in my series, so I'll just consider it averaging down.

I'll report back with how the order turns out once it arrives.

Side note: A thought just came to mind. I think the reason why MHC wants to keep a large inventory is because it would look good in the store to physical customers, many of which don't know much about comics or valuations and would simply buy at face value. It's kind of like how you'd go into a store, buy something that you think is priced fairly, and then later realize it's actually half the cost online. The mail order might not even be MHC's main focus.

Edited November 24, 2023 by stormflora

[Spyder!]

On 11/23/2023 at 2:55 PM, shadroch said:

He's been a major dealer since the mid-70s, and revolutionized the industry when he started selling the Church books at multiples of guide.  He's forgotten more than you'll learn in the next decade.

Um, no. He is a thief who fleeced the Church family out of a small fortune. 

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

On 11/24/2023 at 3:29 AM, Spyder! said:

Um, no. He is a thief who fleeced the Church family out of a small fortune. 

I think that is harsh.

I'm no Chuck devotee, but thief? That's libellous.

The Church Family wanted to get rid of those books and were more than happy for the money they got unless I'm very much mistaken. They wanted those pesky books gone.

Chuck may have taken his opportunity but he borrowed all he could to get those books. He's a lot of things, but he is not a thief IMO.  

[comicstock]

My wife and I stopped by Mile High 5-6 years ago.  It's in a hugh warehouse facility, definitely nothing fancy.  Inside there are dozens and dozens and dozens of steel racks, each 4-6 levels high.  I guess easily a million books.  There was a couple of glass showcases with some Golden Age and keys but nothing stupendous.