MH Chuck's WW Dallas Report

[Sal]

As strange as it may seem, I actually think Chuck's wholesale buying at shows is good for the hobby.

 

Scenario 1: Chuck doesn't show up. Dealer A sells 600 books out of his $1 stock. 300 of these books are sold to other dealers at 75c each. The dealers who purchased these books intend to resell them at $2 each. 300 are sold to collectors who intend to keep them in their collections.

 

Scenario 2: Chuck shows up. Dealer A sells 2400 books out of his $1 stock to Chuck at 40c a piece. Dealer A sells an additional 100 books of $1 stock to collectors. Chuck resells these 2400 books at an average of $4 each on his website.

 

In scenario 1, Dealer A moves 600 books and receives $525 cash he can use to purchase new collections. He restocks the 600 books at an average of 20c a book, and retains $405 profit.

 

In scenario 2, Dealer A moves 2500 books and receives $1,060 cash he can use to purchase new collections. He restocks the 2500 books at an average of 15c a book, and retains $685 profit.

 

In scenario 1, other dealers turn a $375 profit after a year of holding the books.

In scenario 2, Chuck turns a $7,200 profit (figuring it costs him roughly 60c a book in labor and shipping to prepare these books for sale) after 2 months of holding the books.

 

 

It's easy to say that Chuck has stolen money away from other dealers in this scenario. But what he has done is absolutely better for the hobby.

 

In scenario 1, 300 books have moved from "Some random lady's garage" into the hands of someone who really wants the book. Another 300 have moved from "Some random lady's garage" into the hands of a dealer charging $2 a piece where they will sit for a year before being in the hands of a collector.

 

In scenario 2, 100 books have moved from "Some random lady's garage" into the hands of someone who really wants the book. Another 2400 have moved from "Some random lady's garage" into the hands of a dealer charging $4 a piece where they will sit for two months before being in the hands of a collector.

 

 

Chuck doesn't hoard inventory. His mainframe reprices inventory every hour to ensure that it is moving at exactly the same rate at which he can replenish it. Rest assured that if he buys stock at a con, it's because he knows it will move quickly for him. And his stock does not move quickly to dealers, his stock moves quickly to collectors.

 

Chuck being at a show means that more collectors fill their collecting wants faster. And it means that less inventory stays stagnant in "Some random lady's garage". I don't care what you sell to hobbyists. If they are actively completing their comic book collections, that is good for your business. If Chuck makes it easier for someone to fill their run of FF 180-380, it gets that collector that much closer to buying your copies of FF 160-170. If Chuck helps folks to realize that it is possible to finish runs of certain titles, he increases demand for all the books in that title. That generates sales for other dealers down the line, and much more importantly, it keeps people in the hobby.

 

Liquidity is always a good thing, always. And Chuck brings liquidity to the comic market. He and Buddy Saunders both. Their websites allow customers who otherwise face high transaction costs or high opportunity costs to complete their runs and stay in the game. Chuck isn't buying 50c stock to sit on it. He is buying it because he can't get it in fast enough to meet the demand of his customers. There are collectors out there happily paying $5 a book for comics that are readily available at shows for 50c because the opportunity costs are simply too high. If Chuck doesn't restock at shows, those customers will not get those books through any other means. They will do without. And after enough time of doing without, they will do without comics altogether.

 

Argue all you like about what Chuck should have to pay to attend the show or set up at the show, or when he should be allowed to buy. But the fact is, it is good for the hobby for Chuck to be there.

 

 

What I would really be concerned about is if somebody with a lot of money (and a lot of boredom) started showing up at shows and hoarding this kind of stock. It wouldn't take but a few hundred grand a year to wipe out nearly all the liquidity in the late 70s to mid 80s market. And that kind of activity could put a huge damper on the collecting interest in that era... But thankfully, it's not happening.

 

interesting - and completely unprovable, due to the many variables - hypothetical.

 

unfortunately, it kind of misses the larger point. if Chuck wants to come in and clean out dealers, that's great, but he should have to wait until Sunday.

 

for him to come in early and clean out dealer after dealer of books...well, that just ruins the appeal of the show for the walk-in guys, the guys who make shows viable from a promoter's point of view. yeah sure, the dealers like it, some far-off collector in BFE who can pay six bux for a nm- copy of The Wanderers 2 is happy, and the pottery dealers in southwestern CO are happy, but the dude who paid his 2 or 5 bux to take a look at stuff normally unavailble to him is thinking to himself "wtf is this garbage? where are all the good books?"

 

let the collectors come in and take first crack. if Chuck wants to drop by Sunday at 4 to clean out the tables for everyone else, then by all means

[langur88]

As strange as it may seem, I actually think Chuck's wholesale buying at shows is good for the hobby.

 

Scenario 1: Chuck doesn't show up. Dealer A sells 600 books out of his $1 stock. 300 of these books are sold to other dealers at 75c each. The dealers who purchased these books intend to resell them at $2 each. 300 are sold to collectors who intend to keep them in their collections.

 

Scenario 2: Chuck shows up. Dealer A sells 2400 books out of his $1 stock to Chuck at 40c a piece. Dealer A sells an additional 100 books of $1 stock to collectors. Chuck resells these 2400 books at an average of $4 each on his website.

 

In scenario 1, Dealer A moves 600 books and receives $525 cash he can use to purchase new collections. He restocks the 600 books at an average of 20c a book, and retains $405 profit.

 

In scenario 2, Dealer A moves 2500 books and receives $1,060 cash he can use to purchase new collections. He restocks the 2500 books at an average of 15c a book, and retains $685 profit.

 

In scenario 1, other dealers turn a $375 profit after a year of holding the books.

In scenario 2, Chuck turns a $7,200 profit (figuring it costs him roughly 60c a book in labor and shipping to prepare these books for sale) after 2 months of holding the books.

 

 

It's easy to say that Chuck has stolen money away from other dealers in this scenario. But what he has done is absolutely better for the hobby.

 

In scenario 1, 300 books have moved from "Some random lady's garage" into the hands of someone who really wants the book. Another 300 have moved from "Some random lady's garage" into the hands of a dealer charging $2 a piece where they will sit for a year before being in the hands of a collector.

 

In scenario 2, 100 books have moved from "Some random lady's garage" into the hands of someone who really wants the book. Another 2400 have moved from "Some random lady's garage" into the hands of a dealer charging $4 a piece where they will sit for two months before being in the hands of a collector.

 

 

Chuck doesn't hoard inventory. His mainframe reprices inventory every hour to ensure that it is moving at exactly the same rate at which he can replenish it. Rest assured that if he buys stock at a con, it's because he knows it will move quickly for him. And his stock does not move quickly to dealers, his stock moves quickly to collectors.

 

Chuck being at a show means that more collectors fill their collecting wants faster. And it means that less inventory stays stagnant in "Some random lady's garage". I don't care what you sell to hobbyists. If they are actively completing their comic book collections, that is good for your business. If Chuck makes it easier for someone to fill their run of FF 180-380, it gets that collector that much closer to buying your copies of FF 160-170. If Chuck helps folks to realize that it is possible to finish runs of certain titles, he increases demand for all the books in that title. That generates sales for other dealers down the line, and much more importantly, it keeps people in the hobby.

 

Liquidity is always a good thing, always. And Chuck brings liquidity to the comic market. He and Buddy Saunders both. Their websites allow customers who otherwise face high transaction costs or high opportunity costs to complete their runs and stay in the game. Chuck isn't buying 50c stock to sit on it. He is buying it because he can't get it in fast enough to meet the demand of his customers. There are collectors out there happily paying $5 a book for comics that are readily available at shows for 50c because the opportunity costs are simply too high. If Chuck doesn't restock at shows, those customers will not get those books through any other means. They will do without. And after enough time of doing without, they will do without comics altogether.

 

Argue all you like about what Chuck should have to pay to attend the show or set up at the show, or when he should be allowed to buy. But the fact is, it is good for the hobby for Chuck to be there.

 

 

What I would really be concerned about is if somebody with a lot of money (and a lot of boredom) started showing up at shows and hoarding this kind of stock. It wouldn't take but a few hundred grand a year to wipe out nearly all the liquidity in the late 70s to mid 80s market. And that kind of activity could put a huge damper on the collecting interest in that era... But thankfully, it's not happening.

 

interesting - and completely unprovable, due to the many variables - hypothetical.

 

unfortunately, it kind of misses the larger point. if Chuck wants to come in and clean out dealers, that's great, but he should have to wait until Sunday.

 

for him to come in early and clean out dealer after dealer of books...well, that just ruins the appeal of the show for the walk-in guys, the guys who make shows viable from a promoter's point of view. yeah sure, the dealers like it, some far-off collector in BFE who can pay six bux for a nm- copy of The Wanderers 2 is happy, and the pottery dealers in southwestern CO are happy, but the dude who paid his 2 or 5 bux to take a look at stuff normally unavailble to him is thinking to himself "wtf is this garbage? where are all the good books?"

 

let the collectors come in and take first crack. if Chuck wants to drop by Sunday at 4 to clean out the tables for everyone else, then by all means

 

It's nice to see that somebody "gets it". The shows are for the fans/collectors.

 

Not for Chuck to enrich his financial empire. It is unfortunate that some dealers have messed up their finances to the point that they have to dump books to Chuck.

[langur88]

 

for him to come in early and clean out dealer after dealer of books...well, that just ruins the appeal of the show for the walk-in guys, the guys who make shows viable from a promoter's point of view.

 

Again, its nice that somebody "gets it".

 

as opposed to a few big mouths who have to make stupid comments no matter what the subject is.

 

Some people have forks and knives and got to cut into something.

 

It's usually the same cowardly bullies who attack and then hide behind the moderators skirts by getting the posts removed.

 

Bullies hate it when their victims stand up to them.

[arexcrooke]

It's nice to see that somebody "gets it". The shows are for the fans/collectors

If were all about fans and collectors the books would have no value and we would sit around trading books because they would have little worth.

 

Its not all about the fans collectors. Its also abuut the people there making a buck. Its also about people like Chuck who buy books from whoever. Its also about Chuck or insert any dealer buying low and selling high. Its about any dealer buying books so he can turn around and sell it to other people and make money and the customers he sells to getting what they want.

[langur88]

It's nice to see that somebody "gets it". The shows are for the fans/collectors

 

If it were all about the fans and collectors the books would have no value and we would sit around trading books because they would have little worth.

 

 

 

[Davenport]

Very interesting thread to read through.

 

It does seem odd to expect backissue collectors to keep spending travel/ticket money to attend Cons where the comics are pre-show pillaged by internet mega-dealers. Why bother attending if good stuff is snatched up before the doors open, and what you're after is on the web or headed that way?

 

Seems like show promoters would fircely protect their paying dealers/attendees by restricting any wholesale store re-stocking activity at their event. Maybe host a seperate post-show 'dealers only' event where they can go at each other, but only after everyone else enjoyed the show they paid to attend.

[sckao]

 

Argue all you like about what Chuck should have to pay to attend the show or set up at the show, or when he should be allowed to buy. But the fact is, it is good for the hobby for Chuck to be there.

 

 

Pure nonsense. Chuck only does what is good for Chuck. Fact.

 

 

You seem to have quite a lot of hostility for the larger dealers.

 

 

 

Not at all. My comments in this thread have been about Chuck and only Chuck. The thread is about Chuck isn't it? Show me where I mentioned one other dealer.

Please do not go from one egg to fifty chickens without any facts.

 

I also have no hostility towards Chuck either. I only speak of which I have seen with my own eyes or heard with my own ears.

 

Facts is facts. Chuck is what he is.

 

Earlier in the thread, Buddy Saunders of Lone Star Comics, was also mentioned as having the same buying practices as Chuck, even down to the same use of a sidekick/helper. It wasn't your post, but the hostility toward the larger dealers who 'harvest" books for their giant machines is pretty obvious.

 

Of the 70,000+ comics Chuck mentions purchasing in his newsletter, over 40,000 were purchased off-site. This would be the same thing as a dealer traveling to view and purchase a private collection.

 

Again, perhaps your ire should be directed at other promoters and the dealers who sell to Chuck or to anyone else prior to the show opening. Chuck can't buy anything if no one will sell to him prior to the show opening.

 

Some people are also advocating that he WAIT UNTIL THE END OF THE CONVENTION to buy. That sounds like blatant discrimination to me unless you bar ALL DEALERS from buying from each other before and during the convention. As a sometime dealer, I recognize that MOST of the people buying my comics are either other dealers or people who tell me they slab and flip my comics.

[langur88]

 

Seems like show promoters would fircely protect their paying dealers/attendees by restricting any wholesale store re-stocking activity at their event.

 

We do.

[finecomics]

 

Seems like show promoters would fircely protect their paying dealers/attendees by restricting any wholesale store re-stocking activity at their event.

 

We do.

 

I've only seen Chuck at 2 "bigger" shows Atlanta 2 day and Heroes Con (where I've been set up). I know for a fact he was invited to Atlanta by promoters and I would guess the same for Heroes (but I don't know for sure)

 

He had the proper badges for both so I don't see how he isn't invited by the promoter. Chuck doesn't strike me as a guy who's being hooked up with a pass to get in early. In Atlanta they even coordinated the UPS pick up for all his boxes (over 100).

[Sal]

 

Argue all you like about what Chuck should have to pay to attend the show or set up at the show, or when he should be allowed to buy. But the fact is, it is good for the hobby for Chuck to be there.

 

 

Pure nonsense. Chuck only does what is good for Chuck. Fact.

 

 

You seem to have quite a lot of hostility for the larger dealers.

 

 

 

Not at all. My comments in this thread have been about Chuck and only Chuck. The thread is about Chuck isn't it? Show me where I mentioned one other dealer.

Please do not go from one egg to fifty chickens without any facts.

 

I also have no hostility towards Chuck either. I only speak of which I have seen with my own eyes or heard with my own ears.

 

Facts is facts. Chuck is what he is.

 

Some people are also advocating that he WAIT UNTIL THE END OF THE CONVENTION to buy. That sounds like blatant discrimination to me unless you bar ALL DEALERS from buying from each other before and during the convention. As a sometime dealer, I recognize that MOST of the people buying my comics are either other dealers or people who tell me they slab and flip my comics.

 

"discrimination."

 

no, i think it's just a reaction from someone who isn't a dealer and who doesn't much care for the fact that 90% of the best deals are between dealers before the show.

 

why not have a final day - or half-day - when dealers just trade their "circle of chrap" to one another?

[finecomics]

for him to come in early and clean out dealer after dealer of books...well, that just ruins the appeal of the show for the walk-in guys, the guys who make shows viable from a promoter's point of view. yeah sure, the dealers like it, some far-off collector in BFE who can pay six bux for a nm- copy of The Wanderers 2 is happy, and the pottery dealers in southwestern CO are happy, but the dude who paid his 2 or 5 bux to take a look at stuff normally unavailble to him is thinking to himself "wtf is this garbage? where are all the good books?"

 

let the collectors come in and take first crack. if Chuck wants to drop by Sunday at 4 to clean out the tables for everyone else, then by all means

 

Are you serious? So what... every person who is on the floor before the show opens is a dealer and everyone who pays for a ticket is a collector? Come on. A dealer is going to turn down a chance to sell an inventory he/she no longer wants so little Jimmy can get his Freedom Fighters #3 in F+ for $1?

 

You should know that Chuck's purchases make almost no difference in the room before a show opens. Look at what happened at Heroes this year.

[finecomics]

the fact that 90% of the best deals are between dealers before the show.

 

Does this assume 10 good deals?

[The Troll King]

 

Argue all you like about what Chuck should have to pay to attend the show or set up at the show, or when he should be allowed to buy. But the fact is, it is good for the hobby for Chuck to be there.

 

 

Pure nonsense. Chuck only does what is good for Chuck. Fact.

 

 

You seem to have quite a lot of hostility for the larger dealers.

 

 

 

Not at all. My comments in this thread have been about Chuck and only Chuck. The thread is about Chuck isn't it? Show me where I mentioned one other dealer.

Please do not go from one egg to fifty chickens without any facts.

 

I also have no hostility towards Chuck either. I only speak of which I have seen with my own eyes or heard with my own ears.

 

Facts is facts. Chuck is what he is.

 

Earlier in the thread, Buddy Saunders of Lone Star Comics, was also mentioned as having the same buying practices as Chuck, even down to the same use of a sidekick/helper. It wasn't your post, but the hostility toward the larger dealers who 'harvest" books for their giant machines is pretty obvious.

 

Of the 70,000+ comics Chuck mentions purchasing in his newsletter, over 40,000 were purchased off-site. This would be the same thing as a dealer traveling to view and purchase a private collection.

 

Again, perhaps your ire should be directed at other promoters and the dealers who sell to Chuck or to anyone else prior to the show opening. Chuck can't buy anything if no one will sell to him prior to the show opening.

 

Some people are also advocating that he WAIT UNTIL THE END OF THE CONVENTION to buy. That sounds like blatant discrimination to me unless you bar ALL DEALERS from buying from each other before and during the convention. As a sometime dealer, I recognize that MOST of the people buying my comics are either other dealers or people who tell me they slab and flip my comics.

 

This is a great point that you've made before I got a chance to and I'd like to add the following:

 

No one seems to complain about "Exhibitor Badges" being flipped around on these boards to get friends into shows yet if someone does that for Chuck then it's a bad thing? (I happen to know how he got in to WW Texas)

 

Dealers that set up at these cons/shows aren't under ANY obligation to actually sell anything to Chuck so I don't understand what the problem is if they do.

 

When it comes to Saunders, Lone Star set up at WW Texas to not sell a single thing! It was strictly used as a way of getting his people into the show to BUY from other dealers, which he did the whole weekend, unlike Chuck who was pretty much only there on Friday and part of Saturday.

 

I think the dealers that sell oodles of 50 cent stock to other "big" dealers are probably better off in the long run as they probably only paid pennies per book anyway and at least they don't have to haul around a bunch of long boxes full of cheap stuff anymore.

 

Most dealers at shows make their money on the big ticket items anyway. (At the very least the items that are over $20) THOSE are the books that THEY want to focus on, not the cheap book filled long boxes they've been carrying around for years.

 

I had a yard sale a few weeks ago with many books that would have sold for a few dollars each with GOOD titles that people want and I sold the books 3 for $1.00. I suppose if someone like Chuck would have come buy and bought the whole box (which I refiled a few times) then with the logic floating around in this thread that would have been a bad thing!

[drice6900]

It certainly isn't confined to Chuck, but all this pre-event selling and flipping is a huge turn-off to the average collector. Why bother showing up? Just buy on-line from the proven dealers and Ebay (if you so choose).

 

For the past couple of years, the only reason to go to a show is to get autographs or meet creators. Comics seem secondary to the events anymore, and you can't find what you want anyways.

[finecomics]

It certainly isn't confined to Chuck, but all this pre-event selling and flipping is a huge turn-off to the average collector. Why bother showing up? Just buy on-line from the proven dealers and Ebay (if you so choose).

 

For the past couple of years, the only reason to go to a show is to get autographs or meet creators. Comics seem secondary to the events anymore, and you can't find what you want anyways.

 

This is an interesting point of view. But I still don't think the room is that different. How do you know what deals your missing out on?

 

I think as shows become more expensive dealers are moving prices up on inventory to cover.

[Sal]

for him to come in early and clean out dealer after dealer of books...well, that just ruins the appeal of the show for the walk-in guys, the guys who make shows viable from a promoter's point of view. yeah sure, the dealers like it, some far-off collector in BFE who can pay six bux for a nm- copy of The Wanderers 2 is happy, and the pottery dealers in southwestern CO are happy, but the dude who paid his 2 or 5 bux to take a look at stuff normally unavailble to him is thinking to himself "wtf is this garbage? where are all the good books?"

 

let the collectors come in and take first crack. if Chuck wants to drop by Sunday at 4 to clean out the tables for everyone else, then by all means

 

Are you serious? So what... every person who is on the floor before the show opens is a dealer and everyone who pays for a ticket is a collector? Come on. A dealer is going to turn down a chance to sell an inventory he/she no longer wants so little Jimmy can get his Freedom Fighters #3 in F+ for $1?

 

You should know that Chuck's purchases make almost no difference in the room before a show opens. Look at what happened at Heroes this year.

 

who is saying a dealer has to turn down anything? just move the dealer dealing to after the show rather than before...you know, like a certain instance i can remember...

[finecomics]

for him to come in early and clean out dealer after dealer of books...well, that just ruins the appeal of the show for the walk-in guys, the guys who make shows viable from a promoter's point of view. yeah sure, the dealers like it, some far-off collector in BFE who can pay six bux for a nm- copy of The Wanderers 2 is happy, and the pottery dealers in southwestern CO are happy, but the dude who paid his 2 or 5 bux to take a look at stuff normally unavailble to him is thinking to himself "wtf is this garbage? where are all the good books?"

 

let the collectors come in and take first crack. if Chuck wants to drop by Sunday at 4 to clean out the tables for everyone else, then by all means

 

Are you serious? So what... every person who is on the floor before the show opens is a dealer and everyone who pays for a ticket is a collector? Come on. A dealer is going to turn down a chance to sell an inventory he/she no longer wants so little Jimmy can get his Freedom Fighters #3 in F+ for $1?

 

You should know that Chuck's purchases make almost no difference in the room before a show opens. Look at what happened at Heroes this year.

 

who is saying a dealer has to turn down anything? just move the dealer dealing to after the show rather than before...you know, like a certain instance i can remember...

 

That's a great advantage to the dealer, who can sell stuff they already know is sold. At bigger shows it doesn't work like that. You really think the dealers at Heroes were going to let that booth open up with that kind of inventory? I know that is a rare event. But really only an extreme example of why it will never happen.

 

People like Chuck don't spend travel $$$ to walk around friday and saturday just to make purchases on sunday.

 

Not to mention that some dealers bring stuff specifically to wholesale, but I guess that's not what your talking about.

[drice6900]

It certainly isn't confined to Chuck, but all this pre-event selling and flipping is a huge turn-off to the average collector. Why bother showing up? Just buy on-line from the proven dealers and Ebay (if you so choose).

 

For the past couple of years, the only reason to go to a show is to get autographs or meet creators. Comics seem secondary to the events anymore, and you can't find what you want anyways.

 

This is an interesting point of view. But I still don't think the room is that different. How do you know what deals your missing out on?

 

I think as shows become more expensive dealers are moving prices up on inventory to cover.

 

It is a collector/customer point of view. Dealers and promoters are losing focus on the fact that WE are the ones they are there to sell to FIRST. What will be interesting is to see the first show where the dealers have no one to sell to but each other because the collector/customer is either meeting a creator or 3rd rate hollywood star or not bothering to go to the event at all.

 

The Motor City Con here in Detroit costs $20 at the door, plus another $5 to park. $25 to get in the door and look through picked over *spoon*? No thanks.

[sckao]

It certainly isn't confined to Chuck, but all this pre-event selling and flipping is a huge turn-off to the average collector. Why bother showing up? Just buy on-line from the proven dealers and Ebay (if you so choose).

 

For the past couple of years, the only reason to go to a show is to get autographs or meet creators. Comics seem secondary to the events anymore, and you can't find what you want anyways.

 

This is an interesting point of view. But I still don't think the room is that different. How do you know what deals your missing out on?

 

I think as shows become more expensive dealers are moving prices up on inventory to cover.

 

It is a collector/customer point of view. Dealers and promoters are losing focus on the fact that WE are the ones they are there to sell to FIRST. What will be interesting is to see the first show where the dealers have no one to sell to but each other because the collector/customer is either meeting a creator or 3rd rate hollywood star or not bothering to go to the event at all.

 

The Motor City Con here in Detroit costs $20 at the door, plus another $5 to park. $25 to get in the door and look through picked over *spoon*? No thanks.

 

By your logic, no collector should show up on Sundays then as everything is already picked over. Unless you're talking about the "good" buys which is extremely subjective. (I doubt that what you yourself are collecting applies to every other collector out there....)

 

Once again, Dealers have private collections. Collectors are also sometimes dealers. We're all comic book collectors and hopefully fans.

 

Business is about networking. It's also about making a living/profit. A benefit of becoming a dealer is that it's a nice way to network with other people who may have comics that you may want for your local area (or for your personal collection.)

Retailers have a retailer association. Comic dealers have the same loose network. We have a similar network on these boards for buying and selling.

 

If a person was known to do amateur restoration on books and then tried to sell those restored books from dealer to dealer at a convention, that's the person I wouldn't want to sell to (or buy from). Not someone like Chuck. (I've never sold to Chuck.)

[drice6900]

It certainly isn't confined to Chuck, but all this pre-event selling and flipping is a huge turn-off to the average collector. Why bother showing up? Just buy on-line from the proven dealers and Ebay (if you so choose).

 

For the past couple of years, the only reason to go to a show is to get autographs or meet creators. Comics seem secondary to the events anymore, and you can't find what you want anyways.

 

This is an interesting point of view. But I still don't think the room is that different. How do you know what deals your missing out on?

 

I think as shows become more expensive dealers are moving prices up on inventory to cover.

 

It is a collector/customer point of view. Dealers and promoters are losing focus on the fact that WE are the ones they are there to sell to FIRST. What will be interesting is to see the first show where the dealers have no one to sell to but each other because the collector/customer is either meeting a creator or 3rd rate hollywood star or not bothering to go to the event at all.

 

The Motor City Con here in Detroit costs $20 at the door, plus another $5 to park. $25 to get in the door and look through picked over *spoon*? No thanks.

 

By your logic, no collector should show up on Sundays then as everything is already picked over. Unless you're talking about the "good" buys which is extremely subjective. (I doubt that what you yourself are collecting applies to every other collector out there....)

 

Once again, Dealers have private collections. Collectors are also sometimes dealers. We're all comic book collectors and hopefully fans.

 

Business is about networking. It's also about making a living/profit. A benefit of becoming a dealer is that it's a nice way to network with other people who may have comics that you may want for your local area (or for your personal collection.)

Retailers have a retailer association. Comic dealers have the same loose network. We have a similar network on these boards for buying and selling.

 

If a person was known to do amateur restoration on books and then tried to sell those restored books from dealer to dealer at a convention, that's the person I wouldn't want to sell to (or buy from). Not someone like Chuck. (I've never sold to Chuck.)

 

Great, so there is no reason for the average collector to go to a show/convention then, since all it has become is a "dealer network".

 

I am obviously out numbered by the dealers here, so I will move along.