New York Comic Show Pics

[g-man]

George, you are an amazing man.

 

 

 

thanks.....but i am only looking for a market report of the show.

[jonnydouble]

Sure Bob!!!..Thanks you're O.K.!!!....Selling comixs is FUN !!!

[blazingbob]

Even if I did 50% off how would most people find out?

 

It's scary but more and more people want scans. Ever scan 10,000 books?

 

Ever try and describe a book over the phone? It's not that easy, unfortunately I can describe the book worse than it really is because I am used to dealing with highgrade collectors.

 

Being a high grade dealer puts you in the position of "trying" to have the best grade, however most people will walk right by thinking I just have VF+ or better which I generally try to do. But the trick is to get them to stop and "look". I can use the 50% off method which I despise because it's what I previously stated, make 50% higher and you get the price I would have sold it for anyway.

 

 

[Foolkiller]

You're right. Scanning all those books that you're just trying to blow out is a complete waste of your time. Or low grade books you're sitting on because you had to buy them.

 

I guess what I'm referring to isn't offering 50% off at a raised price, but 50% off guide for books you've either already made your money on out of the collection, or more likely, books you haven't moved in a long time or don't want to keep the inventory of. Every dealer and store seems to say that they have tons of books and that they just are storing them for someone asks (who carries 100 boxes at every show? too much lifting) but what I'm suggesting is that once a year, maybe during a dead time like (November-Feb.) at the National and then coinciding on your website say, hey, I'm blowing a ton of books out for the next month or so. I do this once a year for these books... I don't carry them all the time... and then on your website say, due to the volume, I can't scan all these books, they're being offered at a really cheap price... if the book is over x dollar, I'll scan it. Or maybe a graduated scale, but this many books, get x% off. I'm obviously suggesting this only for low/mid grade stuff you have that isn't all that rare, or overstock of books you want to make up in volume of sales. I know that this considers your reputation for high grade only, and I know that's something to consider, so I'm not saying my idea is the best one... but you do carry some 8.0 stuff, especially raw... maybe this would get people to look at the boxes and get to know you as someone who's "primarily" high grade and not "exclusively".

 

Recently a brick and mortar store I go to bought a collection of over 21,000 books. They filled their quarter bins with books that were in 9.0 condition and mostly Marvel and DC stuff... a lot of books were easily between $3-$6 a piece, and over time you could get that. Plus, the collection had a decent amount of silver/bronze that was 8.0 and better (bought a NM Iron Fist 15 at just slightly over guide). But... my point is, they could have sat on those books, but decided to just blow them out. I'm not suggesting dealers start blowing books out at a quarter or a dollar, that's not your thing. But a once a year sale might open you up to some new customers and stimulate sales of books you normally don't move. Just a thought.

[shadroch]

Why not consign some of your dead inventory to Donut tosell for you.

You'd raise some cash

You'd reduce your inventory

You'd keep your status as someone who doesn't discount

We would get a chance to obtain books cheaper than thru shows.

When I was doing shows on a regular basis(15-30 a year)

I used different color price stickers. A small sign would indicate to potential buyes which color sticker represented new additions to my inventory. In additon it was easy to track which books I had had for over six months and I would then discount all books with that color label. Some buyers would look for the new labels,some would watch for books that just got discounted.

[aardvark88]

That's exactly what I did. Color coded stripe on each price sticker to help me judge how long the back issue has been in inventory. Could tag different colored adhesive dots for different discount structure say 20-30% off.

[shadroch]

That's exactly what I did. Color coded stripe on each price sticker to help me judge how long the back issue has been in inventory. Could tag different colored adhesive dots for different discount structure say 20-30% off.

 

If you started doing this after 6/83, you have been remiss in sending my royalty checks. Low grade Marvel silver age are perferred but will grudgingly accept that there Monopoly money you people are so fond of.

[Aman619]

Bob - - it seems all this advice (although not asked for by you) is in earnest reply to your comments about how frustrating it is for you to have amassed box after box of comics when trying ony to buy the really high grade stuff that noone bothers to look at at shows anymore.

 

If it really is "dead weight" then it makes sense to "blow it out". Business is business. We all would like to be in a position where we name a price and thats it! No griping from customers and no discounts asked or given But we all have to assess the marketplace and make adjustments sometimes. It seems like this is becoming one of those trying times!.

 

Gotta move the books? Have a sale.

Dont want to cut prices...then wait foir that one buyer....but then you cant complain about it.

 

[Aman619]

oh, I forgot to add that this advice here isnt motivated by personal gain, since all these "self-appointed" business advisors are high grade guys and wouldnt be interested in the lower grade stuff that ssits around, right? We're just trying to help. You seem like areasonable guy and a breath of fresh air for a dealer.

[g-man]

oh, I forgot to add that this advice here isnt motivated by personal gain, since all these "self-appointed" business advisors are high grade guys and wouldnt be interested in the lower grade stuff that ssits around, right? We're just trying to help. You seem like areasonable guy and a breath of fresh air for a dealer.

 

[Warlord]

Ever scan 10,000 books?

 

Welllll... I'm working on scanning several thousand books. Front and back! Have done less than a thousand so far. I can do about 1/minute, 60/hour if I concentrate only on that. Or about half that rate if I intersperse the scanning with other online reading, such as in these forums.

 

Of course all that scanning came to a screeching halt when my HD crashed a couple weeks back and I've been rebuilding my files from backups, rebuilding my system/apps, etc. Coincidence? Or overworked HD?

 

 

[jkrk]

 

"TO ALL

Please define "reality" What should I price books at so you will spend lots of money or start buying runs in different grades? Can somebody please tell me that because quite frankly comments about dealers pricing stuff too high just isn't cutting it anymore. And my frustration on this is because it starts a whole new rambling of complaints of which never results in the bottom line - You spending more $$$$.

 

Here are the chain of events that I see comin

 

If the price is too low, there must be something wrong with it.

 

If it's not CGC graded, there must be something wrong with it.

 

It's probably overgraded, why would he give me such a great deal.

 

It's probably restored, why would he give me such a great deal.

 

I'd never sell the book this cheap, he must have ripped off some buyer to get it - Moral ramification threads to follow.

 

I can find it on ebay cheaper, besides everybody knows that grading on ebay is better than yours anyway.

 

Why won't he knock 25 - 50% off the price, other dealers I know do this. Yeah and most dealers that knock 50% off have the book price 50% higher than the grade, next result you pay the price he would have originally marked it at. "

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Bob is correct with every quote he made. I defended Bob's right to pick a price and not sell books lower than he chooses. I still believe it's his right but now I'll give the buyers view.

 

I was talking to someone about a security today and said to him, "perception is reality". I thought about the conversation on the way home and started relating it to this thread (you culd see I was trying to get my mind off my trading today). If comic buyers believe there is something wrong with the book, they are right. Whether the book is overgraded or restored doesn't matter. Whatever the mass collection of buyers believe, their ideas will affect the buyers willingness to pay the price. A seller can choose not to lower the price, and hold onto the book until a buyer is found or lower the price. I have stated before that everyday more buyers are buying CGC books in high grade and unwilling to make the raw purchase. If you subscribe to my thesis then the facts are that it will become more difficult to sell raw books as time passes unless a substantial enough discount is offered. Currently we have a new group of amateur collectors who flocked into this hobby seeing the movies or reading articles. This group might indeed continue to buy raw books for awhile. In my view the trend is certain going forward. Unless the incentive is great enough raw book sales will slow no matter how high the grade. The dealers are trying to assure the buyers that there is nothing wrong with raw books. The problem is that "there is something wrong with raw books". That's the growing perception and perception is reality.

 

 

 

 

 

[Foolkiller]

The dealers are trying to assure the buyers that there is nothing wrong with raw books. The problem is that "there is something wrong with raw books". That's the growing perception and perception is reality.

 

I agree with this statement to a degree concerning high grade books... but the vast majority of the hobby is not trending towards CGC only... especially in lower grade books, because it doesn't even pay to have them slabbed.

 

The trick with raw high grade sales though is not put at the same levels of CGC books, because there has to be a certain amount of confidence that the book is the same grade, and unfortunately, there's very few dealers out there who are consistently close.

[FlyingDonut]

Turning 5K into 8K isn't that hard over 6 months. It takes a buttload of work, so I suppose I would be doing it for slave labor wages, but it can be done. I'm not playing in Bob's league with books - so I can deal with sunk costs better than he can. If I buy 500 books for $50 and sell 400 of them for $2-5 each, I can throw the other 100 away if I want.

 

And Bob - I'd be damn happy to sell some of your "dogs" for you. Your dogs would be my pedigree books!

[jkrk]

You are correct that lower grade books will rarely be cGC'd. The problem is that lower graded books are often a commodity and will rarely fetch prices close to guide whether graded or not. The purpose of the CGC grade, is to assure the buyer of what he has and therefore receive full value for the book.