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Tales from the Comic Box: Rookie Adventures in Buying/Selling & Setting Up at Shows

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Wall-Crawler

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Adventures and musings about Buying, Selling and setting up at Conventions and Shows

I participated in my first ever show last October. You can read about it here: http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=8903742#Post8903742

I was pleased with my sales, it was an excellent learning experience and most importantly, I had a great time. I must have did "ok" as I was invited back by the show organizers.

In my town, there use to be a larger two day Antique Show, but with the sale of the local Legion (where that event was held), the Antique Show organizers asked the organizers of the Collectibles Show to "take over"...I think this is a good thing, merging the two shows.

The first show under the new 'brand' is scheduled for Sunday, April 17th, 2016. Moving forward, the plan is to have a regular two day show in October.

For as long as there is some degree of interest I will share my experiences, good and bad. I also look forward to any new comments and tips from more seasoned sellers. Thanks for your interest!

Thanks for reading!

To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

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There needs to be a post "reaction" for "love" for those moments something is so much more than "like"! 

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On 2/22/2021 at 9:52 PM, Arkham said:

There needs to be a post "reaction" for "love" for those moments something is so much more than "like"! 

Wait about 4 months when my next batch gets back from CGC :roflmao:

I just sent in over 30 books...Largest single sub yet...Mostly modern era though.

Edited by Wall-Crawler
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I finally received my CGC sub that I sent back in April 2021 (3 Standard, 26 Modern "Fast Track". The Standard sub came back in June and the Modern just a week or so ago).

This was the largest single CGC sub I have made and it involved several of my recent purchases that I have previously posted in my journal. Needless to say, I am pleased overall and ecstatic with a handful of them. I am currently prepping another large submission (well, large for me). I won't be bothering to fast track the moderns. When I initially submitted, the stated TAT for MFT was like 28 working days, so I do feel like I got shafted a bit by CGC there, but hey, books are here and safe and l am generally pleased so I am not about to shout at the wall.

Everything will be for sale except the ASM Annual #16 as that is going in my PC and one of the newsstand Spawn #1's. Maybe one or two others, but that's it.

Sidebar: I miss not being in the office where I have access to a large scanner, so until then, pics will have to do or I may have to have a look at the slab scanner thread.

Pics below. Enjoy and thanks for following/reading!

 

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FINALLY got around to beefing up my ebay store this past weekend and posting some of my last CGC subs up and some did not last long at all.

Notable sales (so far) Spawn 1 Newsstand CGC 9.8, Daredevil Vol.2 #9 CGC 9.8, Hulk 1 CGC 9.8, Infinite Crisis #5 CGC 9.8 and raw Spawn #230 and Vengeance of Bane #1.

My goal is to minimally always have 100 items in my store but ideally I'd like to get to 200-250 and maintain that with the occasional small auction.

Of course, I would like more but trying to be realistic with family and regular work responsibilities.

Also, I have managed to pick up some hot and/or fun speculation books that the price was too fair to ignore. Several will be added to next CGC sub.

Samples:

 

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Edited by Wall-Crawler
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Finally, I was invited to participate at a local show in late September that I have done in the past but with my current family situation (busy toddler) and work...I can't do it and that is not even factoring Covid into the decision.

Even though in my part of Ontario Covid numbers are low and relatively stable, I wouldn't be comfortable mingling with larger crowds right now....Realistically, I can't see me doing a show until late  summer/early fall 2022 at the earliest and I will be "online only" for awhile. 

Edited by Wall-Crawler
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Beautiful new books mate! Looking forward to seeing more of them back from the slabbers!! 

Congrats on the early sales from store too. Some great issues listed there - I'm not surprised they flew out the door!! 

What are your thoughts on eBay vs other mediums for selling? For example, have you had much interest in books you've posted up on your IG? 

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On 9/9/2021 at 2:15 AM, Arkham said:

Beautiful new books mate! Looking forward to seeing more of them back from the slabbers!! 

Congrats on the early sales from store too. Some great issues listed there - I'm not surprised they flew out the door!! 

What are your thoughts on eBay vs other mediums for selling? For example, have you had much interest in books you've posted up on your IG? 

Thanks! Yes, when they get back in about 1000 years!

Good Question! I use my IG mostly for "promotion" but to be fair, I don't use it "as a business" and I am not super knowledgeable about it. I have mostly had tire kickers though. Don't get me wrong, I am sure there are those who use it very well, just not for me, not at this time. I also don't have a ton of followers there either.  The one issue I can see with it is that it is "out of sight, out of mind", like if you don't get hits or bites shortly after posting, people are on to the next thing, whereas eBay you can post stuff and it can sit for MONTHS and then get a bite or a sale on something. But, it is just not a platform I have truly invested a lot of time in for selling purposes, unlike my eBay page. But of course, there are some VERY successful IG sellers for sure.

Facebook is ok, but I do better posting books through my own Facebook Page (www.facecbook.com/morefuncomics.ca) where I have locals who frequently contact me through there as well as random Facebook peeps. I have dabbled in Facebook sales on some of the specific comic sites and had some success but still prefer eBay as a selling platform. I should also try more with the CGC boards here as well...I did in the past but I have kind of gotten away from having even the few modest sales threads that I rarely did. Maybe time to try again?

I encourage you to read a post that @thehumantorch has up about his selling experience with My Comic Shop. After long considering it and reading that post, consigning and/or selling with My Comic Shop is definitely an option that I am going to take a deeper look into.

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Thought I would do a little 2020/21 Year(s) in Review...

Despite the pandemic, I had, by my standards, two very good years for buying and selling.

I did not do any shows due to lockdowns and honestly, becoming a new dad (January 2020), even if I wanted to, I would not have had time for them anyway. 

However, thanks to doing those local shows and connections made, I had several bigger books and collections/lots of books linked to the one contact or directly from the one contact come my way in 2020 and 2021. So, while I have not done any shows since 2019, dividends from shows have still been "paying off".

The first one really came from an older gentleman who had a lot of GA books and some silver age and some bronze , who was referred to me by my show acquaintance. I have been able to sell a lot of the stuff I was not interested in and into profit territory, but I still have most of the GA war and western books. Several of them are Canadian Editions...Not as valuable I know, but still pretty cool for me to find. I am in no rush to sell those as material of this vintage simply does not come my way too often.

Much of the other recent pick ups over the last year and a half have come from the same individual and all moderns. Either he was looking to make a quick buck, money for a key or things like moving expenses. I was fair with him, he understood I needed to make money on books and I paid fast. I even bought books that I normally would not just to keep the train running but even with those books, I have had some pleasant surprises sales wise. I also bought the books without thoroughly inspecting them as we did deals exclusively online as we live 4 hours apart, so there was trust on both parts, but it has worked out well for both of us. Looking to 2022, I think I have pretty much cleaned him out, but don't know for certain.

Most of my sales have come from eBay but a few also through my Facebook Page and locals, but for now, as much as people gripe about eBay, that's where I do the bulk of my business. I think I had my first sale through IG a few months ago (I still really just use it for "promotion" but no idea how to really use it effectively). I still need to find time to investigate selling via and/or consigning with My Comic Shop.

I have also submitted more books in the past year and a half to CGC than I ever have for a single year or so...Much of which is still with CGC...As of right now, I have about 36 books with CGC in various stages processing (sitting with them LOL)  and I am supposed to be getting a shipment of 11 books back today and I just sent another shipment of 12 books. Praying for no QC issues. A vast majority of these will be for sale, like 99% of them. I know this volume of books being sent for grading is peanuts for some, but for me, it has been/is a lot but I have already done well with what I have had come back and goal is to just keep pushing forward with selling - But I need to find a new source for 2022 or find time to really dive into my stock.

My challenges remain the same...Finding time to organize/buy/sell and list while balancing work and family. I also still have a lot of cataloguing to do and still don't have most of my stock onsite, which is another big ongoing challenge. Hopefully that changes in 2022. Just having the bulk of it "arm's reach" would be major accomplishment, so fingers crossed that will change in 2022.

All in all, buying and selling has been very good these past few years and been good to help support the family for a few things and to help build up the "war chest " for my PC. Now, onto 2022 and thanks to those who take the time to read and as always, comments welcomed.

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I have had some more books come back from CGC from previous collections (forgot to post) but sales have been doing well.

My battle is still finding time between work, life with a toddler and other every day stuff. I usually manage to find time in the evenings, hence sporadic journal postings as well. And time to create new listings. 

I recently had a collection directed my way from a contact. I picked up a nice Ultimate Spider-Man/Miles Morales themed collection. About 45 books total, not all shown but should give you an idea.

I'm going to open both polybagged editions. Bags look ok so hoping books are too.

 

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I realize I have not posted in awhile and I have had some nice subs come in but really, I'm still not doing any shows for the foreseeable future due to variety of factors and how exciting is it to read about ebay or other sales right?

Well, this week I finally have something interesting to report in the old journal.

A local used bookstore advertised they got some comics in on Facebook. Of course, I could not get there and some local flippers got there first. 

I was off yesterday, so decided, what the heck, let's see if there are any scraps left over. 

Turns out, I was right to trust my Spidey sense, they got some more stuff in or the other vultures simply didn't know where to look.

Here's the haul...Stickers/prices are what I paid...But subtracted from my store credit from previous book donations. I ended up paying around $50 CAD.

This will likely be my best find and return of 2023!

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Edited by Wall-Crawler
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On 3/7/2023 at 9:31 AM, Wall-Crawler said:

I realize I have not posted in awhile and I have had some nice subs come in but really, I'm still not doing any shows for the foreseeable future due to variety of factors and how exciting is it to read about ebay or other sales right?

Well, this week I finally have something interesting to report in the old journal.

A local used bookstore advertised they got some comics in on Facebook. Of course, I could not get there and some local flippers got there first. 

I was off yesterday, so decided, what the heck, let's see if there are any scraps left over. 

Turns out, I was right to trust my Spidey sense, they got some more stuff in or the other vultures simply didn't know where to look.

Here's the haul...Stickers/prices are what I paid...But subtracted from my store credit from previous book donations. I ended up paying around $50 CAD.

This will likely be my best find and return of 2023!

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Congrats, nice haul

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Books back from CGC the Ghost Rider 1 has already sold to a local customer.

Not bad for less than total $50 spend!

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I'm going to try to start posting a bit more regularly...Here are some other books back, all FS except the ASM 102.

Results mixed. Some a little higher than expected Some a little lower but overall pleased.

Sales will continue to be primarily driven through eBay but I still do have the odd local customer buy and a rare buy from Instagram.

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Edited by Wall-Crawler
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