Moderns that are heating up on ebay! 70 70

[PhilipB2k17]

On ‎11‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 12:32 PM, Brother J said:

Yeah, If I spent hours in front of a dealer pulling books and then put them all back, I'd be pretty much a toolbag. Being experienced with cheap boxes, I also can tell pretty quickly if I want to invest the time going through all the books a dealer has, or if they might not be the right books for me, so I don't waste either of our time. I have a 9 page paper list that I use to try to complete runs, and many people look at me like I'm a dinosaur! Probably over half the things I pull are NOT on my list, but catch my eye for one reason or another.

Sorry. But if a dealer just tosses unsorted cheap common books into 15 long boxes at a con, which forces someone to spend an hour digging through them looking for stuff, they have every damn right to decide they don't want stuff they pulled out. A) The dealer was an a-hole who made it a PITA to look for stuff. B) If someone takes the time and effort to look through a box of UNSORTED comics, they have the right to change their minds on any they pull out; 3) It's if they're pulled from the unsorted lot, it takes all of 5 seconds for the dealer to stick them back in a box! 

If a dealer puts out boxes of sorted/alphabetized books, then its easier for the collector to find what he or she is looking for (or not), and move on. A LOT of dealers do not sort books for this reason, plus it's a lot of effort. They make more sales because they have a bunch of peole going through 10 long boxes looking for hidden gems, or to fill holes in their collections. So, do not complain about someone doing all of that, and deciding not to buy anything. 

[spreads]

51 minutes ago, PhilipB2k17 said:

Sorry. But if a dealer just tosses unsorted cheap common books into 15 long boxes at a con, which forces someone to spend an hour digging through them looking for stuff, they have every damn right to decide they don't want stuff they pulled out. A) The dealer was an a-hole who made it a PITA to look for stuff. B) If someone takes the time and effort to look through a box of UNSORTED comics, they have the right to change their minds on any they pull out; 3) It's if they're pulled from the unsorted lot, it takes all of 5 seconds for the dealer to stick them back in a box! 

If a dealer puts out boxes of sorted/alphabetized books, then its easier for the collector to find what he or she is looking for (or not), and move on. A LOT of dealers do not sort books for this reason, plus it's a lot of effort. They make more sales because they have a bunch of peole going through 10 long boxes looking for hidden gems, or to fill holes in their collections. So, do not complain about someone doing all of that, and deciding not to buy anything. 

You should probably learn how to use the quoting function, so the message is targeted to the right audience. 

Have you brought books to a show and tried moving 50 cent boxes?  If the answer is no, then you have no idea whether there are more sales generated by having them.  For those that have done this, they will determine what items and at which price points it makes sense for them to have these boxes, I described clear reasons why it's not feasible for me to do this when I can blow out longs cheap to the same type of buyer (but one individual instead of a few dozen over multiples of transactions). 

[Lazyboy]

3 hours ago, spreads said:

You should probably learn how to use the quoting function, so the message is targeted to the right audience. 

Have you brought books to a show and tried moving 50 cent boxes?  If the answer is no, then you have no idea whether there are more sales generated by having them.  For those that have done this, they will determine what items and at which price points it makes sense for them to have these boxes, I described clear reasons why it's not feasible for me to do this when I can blow out longs cheap to the same type of buyer (but one individual instead of a few dozen over multiples of transactions). 

His post was about the actions of the prospective buyer. Your response is a non sequitur.

[Karl Liebl]

17 minutes ago, Lazyboy said:

His post was about the actions of the prospective buyer. Your response is a non sequitur.

YEAH!

 

[kimik]

20 hours ago, J.Biz said:

I believe Dr Frye was also a character from the original Hulk television show and this is his first comic appearance. Look back to that character and it clues you to where the current story is going.

It is a first appearance of something. That is all that matters.

[the blob]

1 hour ago, Lazyboy said:

His post was about the actions of the prospective buyer. Your response is a non sequitur.

Well, the post did imply that 15 boxes of unsorted drek might make the dealer an a-hole. I am fine either way, organized or not. A mish mosh scares off enough people that I might actually find something good in there. Organized obviously makes my life easier, but unless I am one of the early pickers to hit the box, I may have missed the gems. But not always, I am shocked what I still have found an hour or two into a show even at popular dealers' tables, and not just obscure stuff. One year I find 5 or 6 $25-$75 1980s/late 70s Batman minor keys in very nice shape still in the $2 boxes and tons of $10-$15 books (ok, that's a little less surprising).

Anyway, the dollar books (although nowadays it is often $2 boxes) do draw me in and I'll often add a bit more expensive book to the mix. But if I hit a good table I might spend $100-$250 on cheap stuff, so a little different than someone who goes through 15 boxes and pulls 3 books. 

[Bird]

nuorganized and bagged is fine by me but unorganized and unbagged is a nightmare, much too hard to flip through quickly

 

Edited November 27, 2018 by Bird
Imma leave that poor unorganized spelling job up there

[the blob]

34 minutes ago, Bird said:

nuorganized and bagged is fine by me but unorganized and unbagged is a nightmare, much too hard to flip through quickly

 

agreed. and just pointless. half the inventory will be destroyed. with bags only 1/4 of the inventory is destroyed. but I understand not wanting to go through the trouble of bagging 50 cent books, even if it is with old bags taken off other comics. too much time.

[darkstar]

18 hours ago, divad said:

I never do "loss leaders" . . . 

You also holdout for that last dollar failing to recognize that you could have turned earlier, slightly-lower profits over several times during the time span in which you had to wait for that one sale. 

[Conacon]

I spent two hours at an antique mall a few weekends ago going through unsorted longs, about 20 of them. Not organized in the least bit, but at least they were bagged and boarded. The guy used to have a shop and he just threw everything in long boxes. They were $3 bucks each,  but it was worth it. Nothing I would call dollar bin material. 

The owner of the mall apologized that they were not in alpha order. She said the guy told her collectors wouldn't care. I laughed and told her he was right. The guy eventually came in and we had a good talk. 

My tastes are so varied, I think I spent way more having to go through each box. Had it been alpha ordered, I would have hit my main titles and not spent as much. 

[divad]

6 hours ago, darkstar said:

You also holdout for that last dollar failing to recognize that you could have turned earlier, slightly-lower profits over several times during the time span in which you had to wait for that one sale. 

Hardly . . . BMPF

 

[1Cool]

Love love love unsorted books that are cheap and look rough.  There is always diamonds in those boxes and the early riser dealers or dealer friends usually pass those guys by and go for the low hanging fruit. 

[Nico Esq]

1 hour ago, 1Cool said:

Love love love unsorted books that are cheap and look rough.  There is always diamonds in those boxes and the early riser dealers or dealer friends usually pass those guys by and go for the low hanging fruit. 

I think everyone has a different strategy when they go shopping and alot of it depends on the size of the convention, what I'm in the mood to do and if I'm looking for anything in particular.  Sometimes I am want to browse first, other times I want to target newer dealers whose stuff I haven't seen, other times I'm shopping for specific comics.  I agree that the less organized a dealer's wares are the more likely I am going to find something that others have overlooked.  I find that a lot of the time people don't know what they have (not so much that they don't know the value of something more that they literally don't know what they have in their inventory).  

[F For Fake]

I'm with the "unsorted" gang. If books are organized, you know that they were almost certainly cherry-picked right away. If stuff is unsorted, everyone has a short at finding gold. My LCS does 50 cent and $1 sales every couple of months, where they line their storage room with a few dozen boxes of the stuff. It's a feeding frenzy when they open the doors, and there's always that feeling that you might be missing out on good stuff. But if it's all unsorted, you know you have as good a shot as anyone else in there. 

I enjoy the hunt. 

[the blob]

17 hours ago, darkstar said:

You also holdout for that last dollar failing to recognize that you could have turned earlier, slightly-lower profits over several times during the time span in which you had to wait for that one sale. 

Well, it wouldn't be profts techinically, necessarily, but more like "getting what you can when you can" which could be a loss or break even, not necessarily a profit

Now that I see my thrift shop I donate to marks their comics $3, I have to wonder whether it is worth having dollar sales threads if I can donate and claim $3 each. Money in a paypal account feels better than turbotax telling me I owe less, but it's all the same.

It might be time to start putting together a donation box while I can still itemize my deductions. I can't go in there with 7 long boxes, but a short box worth, sure.

Now I am questioning my decision to blow out my leftovers at the yard sale for about 30-40 cents each in one big sale.

Edited November 28, 2018 by the blob

[spreads]

21 hours ago, Lazyboy said:

His post was about the actions of the prospective buyer. Your response is a non sequitur.

No, go read the chain of quotes and discussion again.  His comment was criticizing my stance on bringing 50 cent boxes, but he quoted BrotherJ, who's the buyer of the 50 cent boxes.

Edited November 28, 2018 by spreads

[spreads]

1 hour ago, the blob said:

Well, it wouldn't be profts techinically, necessarily, but more like "getting what you can when you can" which could be a loss or break even, not necessarily a profit

Now that I see my thrift shop I donate to marks their comics $3, I have to wonder whether it is worth having dollar sales threads if I can donate and claim $3 each. Money in a paypal account feels better than turbotax telling me I owe less, but it's all the same.

It might be time to start putting together a donation box while I can still itemize my deductions. I can't go in there with 7 long boxes, but a short box worth, sure.

Now I am questioning my decision to blow out my leftovers at the yard sale for about 30-40 cents each in one big sale.

Be appreciative US tax law permits that, we can't dump drek on 'goodwill' for a tax receipt. 

I would be happy moving stuff in bulk, it's on average quite a bit less for me; sometimes $50 CAD for a long box.  But I've never had a regret moving bulk and cleaning-up space.  It's not always about trying to squeeze every nickle...

[kimik]

1 hour ago, spreads said:

I would be happy moving stuff in bulk, it's on average quite a bit less for me; sometimes $50 CAD for a long box.  But I've never had a regret moving bulk and cleaning-up space.  It's not always about trying to squeeze every nickle...

+1

A lot of dealers try to squeeze out every last nickel on books at shows and they end up having the best stuff picked out while the drek sits in their $0.50 or $1 bins for years. I am at the point now where I would rather blow out $5 - $10 common slow sellers in $1 or $2 bins just to turnover dead stock and use the funds to buy better stuff. The past couple of years I have had other dealers just buy out my $1 and $2 boxes during the show. It is fun at the Edmonton Expo - I put out a few longs the first day, and sell them in bulk at $100 CDN per box to one of the Eastern dealers. I go home, load up a few more boxes for the next morning, and sell those in a bulk deal. Do that for three days and you can move 10 - 20 boxes for $1K - $2K of books. The other dealers can move them in their home markets, and I have funds to chase more keys with. It works well.

[Jaydee]

UM...This is no longer Moderns on Ebay its Days of our Lives in Bin Diving and a HOW TO Create a Long Box Love affair... Now Someone tell me has Batwang broke $1k Yet?  If I keep holding my Wang Book will I go Blind?   (Something I remembered I was told once)

 

Edited November 28, 2018 by Jaydee

[the blob]

1 hour ago, spreads said:

Be appreciative US tax law permits that, we can't dump drek on 'goodwill' for a tax receipt. 

I would be happy moving stuff in bulk, it's on average quite a bit less for me; sometimes $50 CAD for a long box.  But I've never had a regret moving bulk and cleaning-up space.  It's not always about trying to squeeze every nickle...

All I know is that the 150 or so comics I donated were gone by the time I was next there  9 - 12 months later. Were they sold, thrown out, or moved to another location, I have no idea. They also didn't used to be marked $3, that location used to mark them at $1, but I guess someone decided that there might be valuable treasure in there. I never found anything good at that shop.