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My road to success (Moving Update 2)
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6,552 posts in this topic

Comic collection update

 

I will be selling or trading my comic collection for something smaller I can carry with me

 

Financial Update

 

I suck with math but I'll try my best

 

What I spent on comics so far

 

$7717.13

 

How much money I made from selling comics

 

$3390.80

 

Total

 

$-3311.33

 

 

 

 

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How much inventory left?

 

how many comics I have left?

 

I think he/she means "How much did you pay for whatever you have left?" THAT is your inventory.

 

BUT since you're ostensibly trying to sell/trade all of it now, its probably not in your best interests to let people know how much you paid for it.

 

But please please please please please if you're going to continue with this, please please please take a basic accounting class (or read a basic accounting book), so you can understand basic terms like revenues, income, cost of goods sold, inventory, etc. Or work for someone who does understand these things.

 

Also, it may not always seem like it, but "I suck at math" is not a great characteristic to have for this business. There's a lot of math to be done instantaneously, especially when buying and the guy is standing there looking at you and waiting for you to look up the price and then do the math to see if its profitable for you. On the whole, you will do better in negotiations if you know your stuff, can do the math quickly, and shake hands without looking up anything on your phone, if you're buying from non-stores in person. And because margins are going to be soooo thin for you (and your money tied up in inventory), that little bit (especially when you move up in volume) is going to be the difference between success and survival and failure.

 

There's a lot of ok "20 boxes with 300 comics each, I think I can get $4000 for the 10 keys (5 of which need to get graded) I saw plus $1 each for the rest of the comics, but it will take me soooo much work to sell the rest, (or I can blow them out at a quarter per comic)" What is this really worth to me??? What if I can get $2 per comic??? What about the risk of a restored comic???

 

What's the expected value? And in how long? What if you could get $2 per comic? $3? What else do you need your money while the bulk of your money is at CGC?

 

I'm not saying this to crush your dream, but before you put your money where your mouth is, you have to put your money and your mouth where you hope your money will be. Accounting and math are soooo KEY to any sales business, especially when you're not the creator of everything. Its soooo competitive, and the margins are soooo small, what are you bringing (other than passion, a mildly charming naivete) to give you a comparative advantage when you're already starting from huge disadvantages of limited capital, limited comic books (many dealers start with their own huge collections), zero experience, bad geography, having to seemingly move quite often.

 

That being said, if you're doing this part time to slowly build some extra cash and have some fun while you're in school or have another full time paying day job, get some experience, I think that's great, have a ball. But if you're all in, you can't treat it like you're biding time before you win the lottery (milehigh), you have to treat it like you're preparing to go to war for the next 40 years of your life, which means training, learning, making and sharpening tools and weapons, making allies, raising a war chest, building a base. And sparring. The only thing it sounds like you're doing is sparring (which is VERY important too).

 

If that's not for you, no shame to sit a desk like most of the rest of us, take care of your self and your family. It sounds a lot of fun to be selling and buying comics for tens of thousands of dollars, to be literally holding history, and supporting your family doing something you have a passion for. Some have worked to build that life, and have been very successful. I bet NONE of those people would describe themselves as "I suck at math".

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How much inventory left?

 

how many comics I have left?

 

I think he/she means "How much did you pay for whatever you have left?" THAT is your inventory.

 

BUT since you're ostensibly trying to sell/trade all of it now, its probably not in your best interests to let people know how much you paid for it.

 

But please please please please please if you're going to continue with this, please please please take a basic accounting class (or read a basic accounting book), so you can understand basic terms like revenues, income, cost of goods sold, inventory, etc. Or work for someone who does understand these things.

 

Also, it may not always seem like it, but "I suck at math" is not a great characteristic to have for this business. There's a lot of math to be done instantaneously, especially when buying and the guy is standing there looking at you and waiting for you to look up the price and then do the math to see if its profitable for you. On the whole, you will do better in negotiations if you know your stuff, can do the math quickly, and shake hands without looking up anything on your phone, if you're buying from non-stores in person. And because margins are going to be soooo thin for you (and your money tied up in inventory), that little bit (especially when you move up in volume) is going to be the difference between success and survival and failure.

 

There's a lot of ok "20 boxes with 300 comics each, I think I can get $4000 for the 10 keys (5 of which need to get graded) I saw plus $1 each for the rest of the comics, but it will take me soooo much work to sell the rest, (or I can blow them out at a quarter per comic)" What is this really worth to me??? What if I can get $2 per comic??? What about the risk of a restored comic???

 

What's the expected value? And in how long? What if you could get $2 per comic? $3? What else do you need your money while the bulk of your money is at CGC?

 

I'm not saying this to crush your dream, but before you put your money where your mouth is, you have to put your money and your mouth where you hope your money will be. Accounting and math are soooo KEY to any sales business, especially when you're not the creator of everything. Its soooo competitive, and the margins are soooo small, what are you bringing (other than passion, a mildly charming naivete) to give you a comparative advantage when you're already starting from huge disadvantages of limited capital, limited comic books (many dealers start with their own huge collections), zero experience, bad geography, having to seemingly move quite often.

 

That being said, if you're doing this part time to slowly build some extra cash and have some fun while you're in school or have another full time paying day job, get some experience, I think that's great, have a ball. But if you're all in, you can't treat it like you're biding time before you win the lottery (milehigh), you have to treat it like you're preparing to go to war for the next 40 years of your life, which means training, learning, making and sharpening tools and weapons, making allies, raising a war chest, building a base. And sparring. The only thing it sounds like you're doing is sparring (which is VERY important too).

 

If that's not for you, no shame to sit a desk like most of the rest of us, take care of your self and your family. It sounds a lot of fun to be selling and buying comics for tens of thousands of dollars, to be literally holding history, and supporting your family doing something you have a passion for. Some have worked to build that life, and have been very successful. I bet NONE of those people would describe themselves as "I suck at math".

 

 

I took a business course not too long ago but I feel that either I'm not understanding this, need a refresher or people are making this more complicated than it needs to be.

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making this more complicated than it needs to be.

 

you're dealing with money. It's going to be complicated.

 

if it was easy, everyone would do it, or least be successful at it.

 

you have a point but if there's one thing I hate it's balance sheets that pisses me off :mad:

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There's a lot of ok "20 boxes with 300 comics each, I think I can get $4000 for the 10 keys (5 of which need to get graded) I saw plus $1 each for the rest of the comics, but it will take me soooo much work to sell the rest, (or I can blow them out at a quarter per comic)" What is this really worth to me??? What if I can get $2 per comic??? What about the risk of a restored comic???

 

^

 

This kinda of math I can do my brother is a math whiz so if I ever need help I can ask him and when I buy things I do think about those sort of things as well and I think I'm figuring out what I want to do.

 

Taking consignments and selling them for people but in that time I can learn more about...about...math :sick:

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Trying to read between the blurred lines but are you saying you are giving up and moving on after you get what you can ? Would be a disappointment as you seem so motivated and focused (Especially when thinking out loud to yourself)

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Trying to read between the blurred lines but are you saying you are giving up and moving on after you get what you can ? Would be a disappointment as you seem so motivated and focused (Especially when thinking out loud to yourself)

 

No I'm not giving up but I'm thinking of changing my strategy to taking consignments and buying collections when we move because a couple people made me realize that having lots of comics isn't doing me any good right now but I'll see how it plays out. Besides I can't just give up on everything before I get than hang of it ;)

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Good to hear i was reading it wrong. As always keep up the hard work and good luck.

 

don't worry I'm not giving up by a longshot just in my situation it will makes sense to have less but more valuable comics :)

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Good to hear i was reading it wrong. As always keep up the hard work and good luck.

 

don't worry I'm not giving up by a longshot just in my situation it will makes sense to have less but more valuable comics :)

 

I think this depends on how much time vs money you have. It is relatively straightforward to dig through $1 boxes wherever you find them and find books that you can sell for $3-5. It's a fairly safe way to grind out a small profit in comics. However, it is an enormous amount of work for the money involved.

 

Are you in school or have a job currently? If you don't, the small ball strategy makes the most sense, since your time is not earning you anything currently. It also allows you to build up a little capital without much risk.

 

The problem with moving to bigger keys is that there are thousands of people driving the margins of selling them down to almost nothing. You're less experienced than most of them and have much less capital. I'm not sure what advantage you are going to have in that game.

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Good to hear i was reading it wrong. As always keep up the hard work and good luck.

 

don't worry I'm not giving up by a longshot just in my situation it will makes sense to have less but more valuable comics :)

 

I think this depends on how much time vs money you have. It is relatively straightforward to dig through $1 boxes wherever you find them and find books that you can sell for $3-5. It's a fairly safe way to grind out a small profit in comics. However, it is an enormous amount of work for the money involved.

 

Are you in school or have a job currently? If you don't, the small ball strategy makes the most sense, since your time is not earning you anything currently. It also allows you to build up a little capital without much risk.

 

The problem with moving to bigger keys is that there are thousands of people driving the margins of selling them down to almost nothing. You're less experienced than most of them and have much less capital. I'm not sure what advantage you are going to have in that game.

 

 

That's my problem I have to many comics with little to no value so I'm going to sell or trade them for comics that are more valuable and yes I'm not as experienced or have as much money as them but I'm building myself up.

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Hey Gabriel,

 

Long time listener, first time caller........

 

I'm definitely pulling for you as you make your comic business journey. The advise that you're receiving from experienced boardies in this thread seems to be both accurate and genuine. That can be a rare combination these days. So I would echo the sentiment that you should continue to strive to learn more about general business practices. It may seem "hard" and boring, but it is very important. Always continue learning, especially at your age. It will help you in this endeavor and the ones that follow.

 

One of the main problems I see with you shifting towards a few higher end keys is that it will only take one mistake to put you into a big hole. Mistakes with lower priced books will not hurt as bad and can be made up over time. So if you're going this route, you will have to do extensive research. Be careful with what you buy. Today's hyped up "key" could be tomorrow's lead weight weight around your neck. Be careful.

 

Couple of questions:

 

Are you still in school or do you have a job? Any chance you could get at least a part time job and learn how a business is run?

 

I wish you luck and will continue to check in on your progress. (thumbs u

 

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You have a good thing going for you here as you are getting a lot of support and good advice. The best thing you're doing at this point is accepting this advice as a form of help and not taking it like criticism. Definitely keep that up.

 

It seems to me that your biggest overarching issue is this: you want be in the same league with the big boys when you don't have a solid foundation to build from. You want to jump right into big sales with big books when your practices aren't refined. Some examples coupled with my personal recommendations:

 

---If I read this properly, you are using CGC's imaging service. CGC offers a great product and lord knows my grading dollars go to them without a second thought, but their imaging service is just not worth it. Their images are pretty widely regarded as substandard. That several dollars per image, you'd be better off buying a scanner and getting nice quality images of the books once they arrive in-hand. In the long run, this will save you money. There are huge threads dedicated to the very topic of scanning slabs. You're cutting into your own profits by paying for these images.

 

---You must learn how to pack books. You've stated multiple times in a few different areas that you're nervous about your move for fear of damaging your books. If you don't have rooms full of books (I think you fall into this category), packing them safely should be easy. If you've got multiple longboxes you've got to move and are unsure how to do it, talk to some of the dealers who set up at shows. These guys load and unload thousands of books several times a year. I'm sure they'd be happy to offer tips. This leads me to my next point...

 

---Find a reputable dealer that's close to you and see if you can work with/for him. Help him grade his inventory. Help him receive shipments of new inventory. Help him set up and tear down at shows. Watch how he negotiates. You don't have to adopt his style, but you can certainly gain a lot of good experience by working around the subject matter.

 

---Take a general finance/accounting/economics course and really take it to heart. The examples may not mean much to you, but mentally, you can probably put all examples in comic book terms and things may start to make more sense. Right now, saying you're "bad at math" and you "hate balance sheets" doesn't give me a lot of comfort if I'm thinking of sending you thousands of dollars worth of books to sell. How you present yourself to existing and potential clients can have a huge impact on how successful you are.

 

---Get your spending habits under control. Don't feel the need to buy just because the money is burning a hole in your pocket. Be a little more dicerning with your cash and the return with likely be much greater...and you'll probably have an easier time moving things. Step back and take a breath every once in a while.

 

 

The short version is this: you need to walk before you can run. Your passion and enthusiasm are commendable. If you could maintain those and build a solid foundation of good service, good packing, good shipping, good accounting, good spelling/grammar (it matters more than you think), and good purchasing, there's no doubt in my mind that you'll achieve your goal down the road.

 

Good luck! :wishluck:

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In terms of what you're looking to acquire with your collection, do you have a particular book or books in mind?

 

Just a feeling here, but if you're looking for something to salt away, I think a low to mid-grade copy of Daredevil 1 might be a good place to start. That book is sort of unique in the same vein as Hulk 1, Fantastic Four 1 and X-Men 1 as SA Marvel books go... the first appearance of a character in their self titled, ongoing series.

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Hey Gabriel,

 

Long time listener, first time caller........

 

I'm definitely pulling for you as you make your comic business journey. The advise that you're receiving from experienced boardies in this thread seems to be both accurate and genuine. That can be a rare combination these days. So I would echo the sentiment that you should continue to strive to learn more about general business practices. It may seem "hard" and boring, but it is very important. Always continue learning, especially at your age. It will help you in this endeavor and the ones that follow.

 

One of the main problems I see with you shifting towards a few higher end keys is that it will only take one mistake to put you into a big hole. Mistakes with lower priced books will not hurt as bad and can be made up over time. So if you're going this route, you will have to do extensive research. Be careful with what you buy. Today's hyped up "key" could be tomorrow's lead weight weight around your neck. Be careful.

 

Couple of questions:

 

Are you still in school or do you have a job? Any chance you could get at least a part time job and learn how a business is run?

 

I wish you luck and will continue to check in on your progress. (thumbs u

 

Thanks I'm doing my best to be careful as I already made a lot of mistakes but I'd be investing in blue chip comics as a long tern investment. I'm on employment right now so I'm just following trends of comics and seeing what's hot and what's not.

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In terms of what you're looking to acquire with your collection, do you have a particular book or books in mind?

 

Just a feeling here, but if you're looking for something to salt away, I think a low to mid-grade copy of Daredevil 1 might be a good place to start. That book is sort of unique in the same vein as Hulk 1, Fantastic Four 1 and X-Men 1 as SA Marvel books go... the first appearance of a character in their self titled, ongoing series.

 

As for what I want to buy as a long term investment it would have to be AF15, IH #1 or showcase 4.

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