Should you try to make deals a comic cons?

[alecholland]

I price what I'd like to get for the book

 

You price your books extremely reasonably, so you don't count. Most if not all of the sales you have, the books are priced so low it would be insulting to ask for less IMO. I bought a Daredevil from you a quite a while back that was easily worth triple what you were asking for it. It made my day and is the oldest Daredevil book I own.

 

There are several sellers on these boards that I wouldn't dream of trying to haggle with because they've already priced their books so reasonably. However, if someone puts "reasonable offers accepted" or "make me an offer" I probably would just a bit. But that would be the exception, not the rule.

 

However, when I go to cons, at least in my area, the sellers usually want triple what the book is worth. The guy that wanted $275.00 for his "VF" Avengers 57 didn't have prices on any of his books. I would pull a book out of a long box and ask how much he wanted and at one point I literally thought he was just saying whatever number came into his head. How could he have memorized every price for thousands of comics anyhow? I'd pull out a Spider-Man book (either 67 or 72, can't remember) and he'd say, 300 firm. After I inquired about the Avengers book and he said 275 firm, I thanked him and left. I walked by his booth several times during the show and only once saw someone buying something.

[alecholland]

first i have to talk my wife into letting me go. then i have to haggle with her over how much i’m bringing.

 

Same here. At least at the show you don't have to promise the dealers that you'll take them to the Home Decorators Show the following weekend or let them rent that British period movie they wanted to see since it came out.

[october]

And it doesn't take long for dealers to spot or learn whether you're a serious buyer or just gawking at their books. Those guys can smell money.

 

It honestly doesn't. It took me about half an hour into working my first show to be able to spot them. People think that they aren't obvious, but they really are.

 

but really what is wrong with just looking. if i go to a show…..lets say twice a month if i’m lucky. probably more like once a month. first i have to talk my wife into letting me go. then i have to haggle with her over how much i’m bringing. so lets say one show i have a little extra and can afford a cool grand or another show i can only bring 300. well that 300 is all i have to get my back issue comic fix for the month or maybe even longer. so when i get to the show i want to make daam sure i get the most out of my 300 bucks.

so yes, i’m gonna walk through the show at least once before i make any decisions on what to buy.

but you always get the feeling that (i should say with some dealers) that they get annoyed.

what do they think i’m gonna just blow my whole wad without even checking the whole place out?

 

That's obviously not what I am talking about. Nothing is wrong with looking or asking to see the books if you actually have money or are interested in that issue. I am talking about the people who just check out the books "to see what those are going for these days" or because they are bored. The only times I have gotten annoyed was when someone I didn't know parked themselves in front of the booth without the intention of buying stuff and asked to see a bunch of wall books. It's pretty frustrating when you take time away from other customers to pull a bunch of stuff out for a guy who is just checking prices against comics he has at home. It's rude and I am not a price guide. Tables are expensive and if I am going to spend a bunch of time talking I want to talk to friends or board members, not some geeky yahoo who wants to brag about his 9.8s and his perfect run of Walking Dead.

[CKB]

Having done toy shows for many years I've been on both sides of this equation. For example, I've picked out a stack before that totals to like $48 and asked if they'd take $40.

 

Often times you will get the deal because we as dealers do NOT like to make change and we can be simple minded folk sometimes and prefer to only count in multiples of 10.

 

When talking about a quantity of books at $10 and under, I discount spontaneously based on quantity and sale amount. You do not have to ask. I will tally up the sticker price and then give you a lower amount to pay. I have never had anyone counter me significantly after doing this.

 

I should mention that in the "old days", like the mid-early 1990's, it was not unheard of at shows for buyers to be extremely aggressive. There were a couple times I had someone pick out a large stack of inexpensive books and offer less than half of the sticker price. And then refuse to help put them back. I don't see this behavior these days, but it's a different market completely. You now have bronze books routinely priced at less than cover price of new books.

 

Most of the time people who are going to be picking out a stack ask ahead of time what kind of deal they will get for quanitity. This works well, too.

 

On more expensive books, offers are welcome and I can simply be friendly in declining them - "NO soup for YOU!". As a buyer, though, you have to think that offering half of what something is marked at is a long shot and a diplomatic course of action might be to hold your tongue - but it does not bother me. That being said, I personally love to discuss differences in opinion on the grading of a book. If I think you are being reasonable, I will often re-grade and price the book on the spot, as long as it is not a dramatic change. I typically cannot spend the time necessary per-book to always get things perfect.

[Fan4Fan]

first i have to talk my wife into letting me go. then i have to haggle with her over how much i’m bringing.

 

Same here. At least at the show you don't have to promise the dealers that you'll take them to the Home Decorators Show the following weekend or let them rent that British period movie they wanted to see since it came out.

 

Or worse... the wife wants nothing.

 

Except some compromise you implicitly agreed to that will be named at a later date...

[herald2galactus]

first i have to talk my wife into letting me go. then i have to haggle with her over how much i’m bringing.

 

Same here. At least at the show you don't have to promise the dealers that you'll take them to the Home Decorators Show the following weekend or let them rent that British period movie they wanted to see since it came out.

 

Or worse... the wife wants nothing.

 

Except some compromise you implicitly agreed to that will be named at a later date...

ahh its good to be single

[skybolt]

first i have to talk my wife into letting me go. then i have to haggle with her over how much i’m bringing.

 

Same here. At least at the show you don't have to promise the dealers that you'll take them to the Home Decorators Show the following weekend or let them rent that British period movie they wanted to see since it came out.

 

Or worse... the wife wants nothing.

 

Except some compromise you implicitly agreed to that will be named at a later date...

 

Not to divert the original thread, but how do spouses react to new purchases when you enter the marriage with a large existing collection. What I mean is that instead of spending $300 of your earned income for that month, you just basically sell an old book from your original collection (acquired before marriage), to finance the new purchase. Just wondering.

[DawgPhan]

I think of it the same way that I think of ebay sales...If a seller has 1 book I want I will look for other books I want to save on postage. If I am at a show and a dealer has 1 book I want, I will look for more so that I have a better bargaining position. And while I might only ask for 10% or something like that, i enjoy the haggling process and the feeling of "winning" or "getting a deal"...

[Comicdey]

first i have to talk my wife into letting me go. then i have to haggle with her over how much i’m bringing.

 

Same here. At least at the show you don't have to promise the dealers that you'll take them to the Home Decorators Show the following weekend or let them rent that British period movie they wanted to see since it came out.

 

Or worse... the wife wants nothing.

 

Except some compromise you implicitly agreed to that will be named at a later date...

 

Not to divert the original thread, but how do spouses react to new purchases when you enter the marriage with a large existing collection. What I mean is that instead of spending $300 of your earned income for that month, you just basically sell an old book from your original collection (acquired before marriage), to finance the new purchase. Just wondering.

 

If we're short on money for some reason during the month...my wife says no new comic purchases....even though none of our household money is being used......

She just doesn't get it some of the time...why I'd be getting packages and say I'm not buying books....like a part cash trade where a check is included in the box....I just have to show her on occasion.

 

Normally it's never an issue...and I still love her...even with her quirks

[backtomarvel]

I think of it the same way that I think of ebay sales...If a seller has 1 book I want I will look for other books I want to save on postage. If I am at a show and a dealer has 1 book I want, I will look for more so that I have a better bargaining position. And while I might only ask for 10% or something like that, i enjoy the haggling process and the feeling of "winning" or "getting a deal"...

 

That's exactly what I do, too.

[awe4one]

What are you looking for these days? I want to have one trade/sale with you just to say we did it. Watcha got to trade?

 

We'll be talking later...I just got back home and haven't had time to enter the comics room yet...

 

Jim

[awe4one]

Uh...you wouldn't want to sell that Avengers 96 would you? I'll give you $5.00 for it.

 

Seriously though, you shouldn't have a problem finding a nice copy cheap. #96 seems to be most readily available of the Adams run in HG.

 

I hope you know I'm just kidding you about being old fashioned Jim.

 

I will say I've become hipper since joining this Forum on the ins and outs of dealing...

 

Jim

[Apotheosis]

Collecting GA I find that it's few and far between when I find books that are under $100 in a grade that is acceptable. Because of this I tend to ask every seller at a con what the best price is on a book I want. It's often one or two books only due to the fact that large stacks at those prices fly out of my range. The only seller that I've ever had say they couldn't take it down was Metropolis because the book was on consignment. Asking can save a ton. My Mary Marvel #1 was priced at $385 and the seller took it down to $310. The $75 difference allowed me to pick up a nice Nellie The Nurse that he also marked down. Two comics are always better than one

 

The few times that I've picked up stacks of moderns or late bronze's I've found that I don't even have to ask. Most dealers add up the total and then round down to the nearest $10

[awe4one]

The guy that wanted $275.00 for his "VF" Avengers 57 didn't have prices on any of his books.

 

No price on books means I immediately walk away. I see it as a waste of my time and shouldn't have to guess what the dealer wants for a comic...

 

Jim

[finecomics]

Several variables go into this and there is no way a standard formula can hold true to everything.

 

For the last 3 years I've been pricing my stuff at 75-100% of guide and running a blanket 25% off that. I also set up the price gun to place a 4,5,6 on the tag which just means 2004,2005,2006.

 

Take 3 different books all priced at $100. I would have 3 different bottom lines for all of them. I might sell a 4 for $50, while need more for a 5 or 6. It just all depends on total purchase, buyer personality, and the books.

 

Buyers have the most success by asking me "What's the best you can do for these?" or " Will you take x for these?" When "x" is 10-20% off.

 

I once had a guy come up who said he wanted to spend $500 after looking through my boxes, but wanted to pay 60% of my sticker. He claimed he just wanted to resell a little on ebay. I said that would be fine, but I had final say on what books went. He pulled a stack and I didn't even put any back. He said he couldn't find any dealer that would accept his offer.

 

Buyers should keep in mind that all dealers books are already discounted in their minds. Total sales - Total expenses.

[sckao]

I personally find people who haggle annoying... especially when I know they're also dealers /flippers. If someone buys more than one comic, I'll usually mark the lot down without asking.

 

I don't ask for discounts when I buy from other dealers. If they give me a discount, that's great, if not, I wanted the book(s) anyway and was willing to pay the sticker price.

 

Some dealers will price a particular comic sky high because they're not particularly motivated to sell that particular copy and would rather wait until the market catches up to that comic or until someone comes along to buy it. You should realize that at some of these local conventions, the dealer's table only costs $40 or so and that making back their table/expenses isn't that big a deal. I.E. They're just there but maybe not that motivated to give you a deal...especially if the regional crowd is pretty well known. I.E. it's the same people at each convention.

 

Now at a big Con like San Diego... I spoke to a number of dealers and the expectation is not to do 10X booth costs. That's a number everyone would like to reach (or exceed), but the general expectation is probably slightly lower. So at a bigger con with much higher expenses, there's more of an impetus to close a sale or to have a Sunday sale.

[Ze-man]

Interesting opinions all around.

 

My philosphy is like many others here. Most times when looking through a dealers books I try and open some form of communication with a them. I know right away if I like them, or worse yet they dont like me. That dictates alot on wether or not I want to buy from them. If build a rapport that seems friendly I usually throw more money their way.

 

I always haggle though.

 

Of course it depends on what book it is, or if I agree with the grade, or if I think it is overpriced to start with, or if I am buying several books. And then I guess it depends on what day of the Con it is, and how well the dealer has done all factor into the haggle equation.

 

In the end if I buy one book I take of around 10 % and ask if that is ok

 

Several books 20%

 

Key books are not as open to haggling as normal books. They know key's will move, sooner or later and will wait it out.

 

Plop down a stack of random books that are on your want list, nice books but not key books. And I would think most dealers would take 15-25% off if you dont come off like you automatically deserve, or expect it.

 

 

But I will say 2 years ago I did not even know who Harley Yee was. But I managed to talk him down 20% on some Pedigree DD Books..

 

Beginners luck!

 

Ze-

[Timmay]

I always haggle, especially when it's overpriced. At the baltimore con I saw 2 SA slabbed books at two different dealers tables that I own in the same grade.

 

Book 1 asking price $275 gpa $125

Book 2 asking price $1500 gpa $600

 

Now seriously, they are either on a big fishing expedition or it's priced with some wiggle room (or in this case A LOT of wiggle room).

[Foolkiller]

I agree with the attitude that you should not walk up to any dealer "expecting" to get a discount.

 

But I will say that outside of the Don Rosa books I purchased from Steve Wyatt, I have never, ever paid sticker. I've always simply asked, what's the best you can do on it. Even if it's a small amount, every dealer I've encountered, on just about every book I've asked for, has had room. Even Metropolis has at least offered to throw in free shipping or come down a tiny amount on a book.

 

It's important to be nice about it, but when I look at a dealer's sticker, if the price seems fair, I am already factoring in whether or not I can get a discount. The reason being is that many dealers sticker their books with the idea of giving a discount in mind. Therefore, if you don't ask, you're probably paying more than they are willing to take in many instances.

 

In truth, the stickers I see are generally a little higher than I would pay and the discount makes it both reasonable to me and a gesture for continued business... having dealt with just about every major dealer and smaller ones at cons, I can also say that it's rare that before I can even get the words out of my mouth to smaller dealers, they are already offering me a discount.

 

Moral of the story: negotiate.

[mica]

I usually tip.