• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Tales from the Comic Box - Rookie Adventures in Buying/Selling/Cons
5 5

809 posts in this topic

10 minutes ago, Wall-Crawler said:

Pretty basic...I did not have time to put set info on top of all of them, just did the larger ones but I want to have that info on the top of ALL sets going forward...Basically, I put the Title, Issue #'s or Series and Price.  All of this info was also on front of set. Totally stole this idea from @Artboy99 and @thehumantorch

I will take credit for that. Labeling the tops means the customer doesn't have to pull the sets up out of the box to see what it is. I noticed people were pulling them up, dropping them back in ( potentially damaging the books ) and that the tape was letting go and/or the bags were having the flaps lift up. I also noticed people would give up after lifting a few sets up to see them. I have nice printing, but one suggestion I would make is to print up the labels. Nicer to read. Also bag and board all the books in the set, we tried to just bag up the books the set doesn't hold up.

003.JPG

Edited by Artboy99
Link to comment
Share on other sites

SUDBURY GRAPHIC CON 2018 PHOTO PARADE

Just a few pics of the show that I was able to snap or have sent to me from friends. 

Set up day before the show...I love being able to set up the day before, makes day of con so much less stressful. I secured a "premium booth" this year, or a 16 x 8.1.thumb.jpg.077c77655b78fbdad6ce372dc0b11bd6.jpg

My shelving units, banner and 'wall' of CGC books...I switched books around to help keep it seeming 'fresh'.

2.1.thumb.jpg.b005f7d629ede7bfb4e0c83f54e5f761.jpg

This pic was taken a few minutes after the Con opened...

216883943_Conopening.thumb.jpg.d9fd636ddbc2b53213e405a78d6b3d8f.jpg

Customers starting to browse our wares...

3.thumb.jpg.7be2c2ae2c42cba82d0c3befa4f4ce62.jpg

Members of Cybertronic Spree checking out some comics

6.thumb.jpg.dbfa895b72ba19373d3f1a9520905322.jpg

 

5.JPG.2a2fd9ce1bc8ba1ed47c3efdbd6d0d55.JPG

I have mentioned it before, but I can't thank my wife enough for helping me out so much with my side hobby. Couldn't do it without her!

2144974718_tyandnaomihelping.thumb.jpg.2002ac8dfd8d676c70786096c1a4bf81.jpg

This pic was taken by a representative from local radio station (92.7 Rock)...They were kind enough to share it with me :)

7.thumb.jpg.8d9a26756a6bc6b058ce4b7a5c03c1cc.jpg

 

 

 

Edited by Wall-Crawler
Link to comment
Share on other sites

SUDBURY GRAPHIC CON 2018 PHOTO PARADE PART II

I wanted to support some local artists, some of these guys I have had great conversations with and starting to form some friendships.

Auric of the Great White North "Starter Pack" Canadian Independent Press comic book by Davis Dewsbury and Andrew Thomas. Have to support our locals! Got em signed and remarked!

Auric.thumb.jpg.979fcda586aed0a710879ce86f50dfdd.jpg

Venom sketch on a blank cover by Loc Nguyen - A "whopping" $45!

1193539646_VenomSketch1.thumb.jpg.f76c9bfe0a5c3cbc0fde29a6cb2272e7.jpg

Pre-show commission by local zombie master, Rob Sacchetto...I asked for a homage to Web of Spider-Man #32, one of my favourite covers, but zombiefied on Walking Dead blank. I asked for Spidey to be in his traditional red and blues. 

1838274034_SpideyZombie.thumb.jpg.7bf06e1b64b4af0ae358d438f6c0cff0.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Wall-Crawler said:

SUDBURY GRAPHIC CON 2018 PHOTO PARADE

Just a few pics of the show that I was able to snap or have sent to me from friends. 

Set up day before the show...I love being able to set up the day before, makes day of con so much less stressful. I secured a "premium booth" this year, or a 16 x 8.1.thumb.jpg.077c77655b78fbdad6ce372dc0b11bd6.jpg

My shelving units, banner and 'wall' of CGC books...I switched books around to help keep it seeming 'fresh'.

2.1.thumb.jpg.b005f7d629ede7bfb4e0c83f54e5f761.jpg

This pic was taken a few minutes after the Con opened...

216883943_Conopening.thumb.jpg.d9fd636ddbc2b53213e405a78d6b3d8f.jpg

Customers starting to browse our wares...

3.thumb.jpg.7be2c2ae2c42cba82d0c3befa4f4ce62.jpg

Members of Cybertronic Spree checking out some comics

6.thumb.jpg.dbfa895b72ba19373d3f1a9520905322.jpg

 

5.JPG.2a2fd9ce1bc8ba1ed47c3efdbd6d0d55.JPG

I have mentioned it before, but I can't thank my wife enough for helping me out so much with my side hobby. Couldn't do it without her!

2144974718_tyandnaomihelping.thumb.jpg.2002ac8dfd8d676c70786096c1a4bf81.jpg

This pic was taken by a representative from local radio station (92.7 Rock)...They were kind enough to share it with me :)

7.thumb.jpg.8d9a26756a6bc6b058ce4b7a5c03c1cc.jpg

 

 

 

great looking booth. All the boxes look in great shape with organized inventory.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Artboy99 said:

great looking booth. All the boxes look in great shape with organized inventory.

Thank You!!!

Yep, all new nice looking boxes. I also applied white duct tape to the very bottom of the front and back and underneath to hopefully help give them some additional longevity.

The plastic dividers had computer printed labels, all titles organized alphabetically.  On the front of the box that may not be clear in the photo's it would say what "range" of titles were in each box, for example "C- D", "W - Z", etc.

...One thing I may do is also print the titles on the back of the dividers so when I am behind a booth and someone asks if I have something (because either a) they are too lazy to look or b) still can't find it if there is a crowd), I can identify where that title may be from behind the booth.

"Premium" Comics were singled out in a specific long box, organized alphabetically as were my variant cover boxes and those were kept in the middle of the booth to help keep an eye on them.

Sets were divided alphabetically by title (A - Z) but unfortunately ran out of time so not all of them had top labels, but will in the future. Cheapie boxes were also just organized alphabetically (A - Z)

I was also glad to get more stock priced and available for the show, so bonus all around. I am quite pleased with where I am at now, organizationally speaking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Wall-Crawler said:

Pretty basic...I did not have time to put set info on top of all of them, just did the larger ones but I want to have that info on the top of ALL sets going forward...Basically, I put the Title, Issue #'s or Series and Price.  All of this info was also on front of set. Totally stole this idea from @Artboy99 and @thehumantorch

I like to put the Title, Issue #s, year published, and if the run is a complete run so they know they're getting the entire read, and price

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hope that group of transformers won whatever costume contest there was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

50 minutes ago, revat said:

I hope that group of transformers won whatever costume contest there was.

Ha! They are pretty good but no, they were special guests and later performed at the after party (which I did not attend).

https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/5gqkqq/these-people-dress-up-like-transformers-and-cover-the-transformers-soundtrack

 

 

Edited by Wall-Crawler
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sudbury Graphic Con 2018 Sales Report

The previous show from last year was my biggest show of the year.  This is likely my last show for several months and based on last year, I had the expectation or hope that this would be also be my best show of the year. 

Customer Conflagration: Unfortunately, I had my first truly negative experience with a customer this show.

One of my "regulars" showed up and for some reason he was "in a mood".  He is a bit of a character/know it all, but always buys X-Men comics from me.  This time he picked out a stack and wanted WAY too much off the sticker price.  I proposed a counter that I thought was still a very good deal for him.  He initially agrees, then recants.  He then goes off on me saying "he always buys from me" and that he "knows X-Men better than me" and these "books are not worth this much" and became rude and caused a scene when I would not go down in price any further.  He acted like I have never given him a deal before too, despite always giving him a discount off the sticker price.

So, as I am standing there, after trying to be polite for several minutes and wanting to tell him to take a hike along with a few expletives of my own, my wife can see that I am starting to get tense and steps in (who had years of retail experience) and was able to shut him down.  She basically says to the guy (paraphrasing here): "We are not in the business of giving books away. We have given you discounts before and we are offering you one now.  We are as low as we are going to go and arguing with us is not going to change that so you can either buy the books at this price or please move on".

He bought them and left in a huff.  As far as I am concerned, he has burned a bridge with me and if he thought I didn't discount enough this time, well, I won't be so generous with discounting him in the future. If I lose him as a customer, honestly, I can do without that kind of so no great loss.

CGC Books:  Again, I was one of the few sellers who had CGC books...I might have been the only seller with CGC books as I did not see any others, but then again, I don't have a ton of time to go and check out other vendors.

Last year, I sold 5 CGC books that accounted for about 30% of my sales total.  This year I brought a bigger and more varied selection, including some books I thought for sure would sell, like a Amazing Spider-Man #361 in 9.6 and New Mutants #87 in 9.4 but nope, lots of interest but no one was buying them this year.  This year, I only sold one CGC book...Avengers #196 (newsstand edition) in 9.4

I like to think I price fairly and I brought some "hot books" so I am not really sure why CGC sales were down. About halfway over the show I took one row of CGC books off the wall display and replaced them with some cool raw books in the $20 to $60 range as  I thought maybe the price might have been a factor.

Keys:  The only other key books I sold were raw...They two biggest were high grade copies of Amazing Spider-Man #194 and Uncanny X-Men #128.

Biggest seller:  Sets, once again, reigned supreme, followed by random run books.

The "biggest" sets that I sold were Batman and the Outsiders #1 - #32 + Annual #1, Grimm Fairy Tales Presents: Wonderland #1 - #36,  Ultimate X-Men #1 - #78 + Annuals #1 and #2 (I was glad to move that one, it had been in the boxes for awhile).  The rest ranged from nice sets of various price points of your typical Marvel and DC titles with a few independents in the mix.

The fact that sets continue to sell so well for me in my area is another reason to add information on the top of the sets to make them even more "sellable".

Run Books:  Run books did fairly well, but not all titles.  There were several titles that I did not sell a single issue of.  The usual books performed well and there were a few surprises, like run books of Marvel Team and Two-In-One. Various DC horror books did OK too.

Surprise Sale:  The biggest "surprise" sales were actually Lois Lane comics. At the previous Sudbury show that I did (Northern Game Expo), I had a young woman approach me if I had any Lois Lane comics, I said that I did but not at that show but that I could bring them for Sudbury Graphic Con.  I know you can never "count on" people to show up but I said I would bring them and I did.  Well, very close to the end of the show, she showed up!  She ended up picking up nearly $100 worth of random and mid to higher grade Lois Lane comics.  

I keep a list of what customers ask for and next show, believe it or not, I am going to try to bring some Cartoon/Disney books and Westerns.

Misc. Items: This show I sold one treasury (Fantastic Four), Star Trek Motion Picture magazine (Marvel), a 1977 Shazam Pepsi glass, one X-Men action figure and some Archie digests.  I like to have a variety, something to offer everyone but my action figure stock is pretty much non-existent now as are some other misc. items. I hope when I go antiquing with the wife in late summer I can start to find a few more things.

What people asked for that I did not have: Alien/Predator and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  I'm starting to wonder if it is the same small group of people who keep asking...

Overall Assessment:  Despite the initial "showdown" with the customer mentioned above, I had a very fun show. People were nice and happy to be there and the show definitely has a family vibe.  I remain very impressed with how well this show is organized and how friendly the organizers are. Again, this show is put on by staff and volunteers from the Greater Sudbury Library and they do an excellent job. 

In speaking with other comic vendors though, they said that their sales were all down from last year. I am not yet 100% certain but it did feel like this show was a little less busy than last year.

While I did not sell as many CGC books and keys, I did "better" this time around as I made a little more money selling less CGC books and keys and the bulk of sales were sets, runs and 'cheapies'. I definitely think being able to offer a wide variety of books was my key to success this show.  I was the only comic vendor to have a premium booth as they are limited.  One really local vendor (lives/operates in Sudbury) was 'upset' that I got a premium booth and he did not as he had been "supporting the show" longer, etc. I am not sure what swayed the organizing committee to grant me a premium booth over others but all I can say is that I provided a detailed account in my application why I wanted one and what I could offer as a vendor.  I never just "assumed" I would get one.  Overall, my profit after all expenses was very satisfactory and I will look forward to participating again in 2019 again with the hopes of again getting a premium booth.

Edited by Wall-Crawler
Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, Wall-Crawler said:

While I did not sell as many CGC books and keys, I did "better" this time around as I made a little more money selling less CGC books and keys and the bulk of sales were sets, runs and 'cheapies'. I definitely think being able to offer a wide variety of books was my key to success this show.  I was the only comic vendor to have a premium booth as they are limited.  One other local vendor was 'upset' that I got a premium booth and he did not as he had been "supporting the show" longer, etc. I am not sure what swayed the organizing committee to grant me a premium booth over others but all I can say is that I provided a detailed account in my application why I wanted one and what I could offer as a vendor.  I never just "assumed" I would get one.  Overall, my profit after all expenses was very satisfactory and I will look forward to participating again in 2019 again with the hopes of again getting a premium booth.

Thanks WC for a detailed summary, very informative. 

Lots to comment on but I wanted to zero-in what I quoted above, and that is how variety really is key - the largest local dealer had told me on Sunday you need to have variety, it can't all be keys.  We do have a few vendors that offer unique items, but a lack of diversification will hurt sales, even when you have items better-priced than other dealers you won't be able to capture random buyers that don't make their way to your table.  Our show was very slow too, I don't know if that's regular seasonality (but it further validates my need to increase online sales). 

Great response with the irate buyer, you could have walked-away and eventually he would probably come back to you in time anyway.  I have not had anything like that, but I did have a very awkward buyer chat with me a long time about which X-men books he thought I should recommend he buy (from someone else).  After a long chat and then a subsequent departure, he came back ectastic that he was able to find the books for his price range elsewhere....umm, congrats? lol 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/8/2018 at 7:00 AM, Wall-Crawler said:

This week started on re-jigging my set up.

I have purchased several new long boxes (15), just a few more to get.  As stated earlier, several of mine after many shows and withstanding brief increments of poor weather were starting to show a little too much wear for my tastes. I have also printed up new front labels and I have used white duct tape at the bottom to see if that helps the front of the boxes longevity. It was the front bottom that seemed to have the most damage, so we shall see of that helps.

My old show long boxes will be "retired" to local storage so they can still be put to good use.

Instead of making my own dividers, I opted to purchase some.  I bought the Max Pro (blue and red) Plastic Dividers with folding write on tabs (got a good deal on eBay for them). They seem pretty decent.  I have also printed off labels for easy reading instead of writing on them and that way, I can just peel the label off if it needs to change. I will also be making clearly visible what boxes contain what, alphabetically (once I have them sorted into the boxes of course).

I'm off this Friday, so I will begin the task of moving my show stock from individual title/mixed boxes to the new alphabetical ones. I am also using this opportunity to do some more pricing to include new stock/titles.

This is a fair bit of work and yes, some expense but I think this will lay the groundwork for many, many shows to come. I doubt I will have to buy any more dividers and I can just replace boxes as I need to now. Also, once they are sorted, it will be easier to swap titles in and out. Eventually, I would like for all of my stock to be sorted and priced and ready to go, that is the goal and I am getting there...

You mentioned that you were having wear at the bottom of the front of your boxes...

Not saying that this is the case with you but just as a tip to con sellers from a guy that has sold at shows for years.

There is a stealing tecnique that involves sliding a book down in the front of a box by pushing in the innner flap thus creating an opening at the bottom where by books can be moved to the front of the box and slid out the bottom. Hard to even detect anyone doing it from the back of the box especially when you are busy. The fix? Just put a wide piece of tape wrapping from the front bottom to the bottom of the box. Eliminates the open space. 

Just a tip  :foryou:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Wall-Crawler said:

Sudbury Graphic Con 2018 Sales Report

The previous show from last year was my biggest show of the year.  This is likely my last show for several months and based on last year, I had the expectation or hope that this would be also be my best show of the year. 

Customer Conflagration: Unfortunately, I had my first truly negative experience with a customer this show.

One of my "regulars" showed up and for some reason he was "in a mood".  He is a bit of a character/know it all, but always buys X-Men comics from me.  This time he picked out a stack and wanted WAY too much off the sticker price.  I proposed a counter that I thought was still a very good deal for him.  He initially agrees, then recants.  He then goes off on me saying "he always buys from me" and that he "knows X-Men better than me" and these "books are not worth this much" and became rude and caused a scene when I would not go down in price any further.  He acted like I have never given him a deal before too, despite always giving him a discount off the sticker price.

So, as I am standing there, after trying to be polite for several minutes and wanting to tell him to take a hike along with a few expletives of my own, my wife can see that I am starting to get tense and steps in (who had years of retail experience) and was able to shut him down.  She basically says to the guy (paraphrasing here): "We are not in the business of giving books away. We have given you discounts before and we are offering you one now.  We are as low as we are going to go and arguing with us is not going to change that so you can either buy the books at this price or please move on".

He bought them and left in a huff.  As far as I am concerned, he has burned a bridge with me and if he thought I didn't discount enough this time, well, I won't be so generous with discounting him in the future. If I lose him as a customer, honestly, I can do without that kind of so no great loss.

CGC Books:  Again, I was one of the few sellers who had CGC books...I might have been the only seller with CGC books as I did not see any others, but then again, I don't have a ton of time to go and check out other vendors.

Last year, I sold 5 CGC books that accounted for about 30% of my sales total.  This year I brought a bigger and more varied selection, including some books I thought for sure would sell, like a Amazing Spider-Man #361 in 9.6 and New Mutants #87 in 9.4 but nope, lots of interest but no one was buying them this year.  This year, I only sold one CGC book...Avengers #196 (newsstand edition) in 9.4

I like to think I price fairly and I brought some "hot books" so I am not really sure why CGC sales were down. About halfway over the show I took one row of CGC books off the wall display and replaced them with some cool raw books in the $20 to $60 range as  I thought maybe the price might have been a factor.

Keys:  The only other key books I sold were raw...They two biggest were high grade copies of Amazing Spider-Man #194 and Uncanny X-Men #128.

Biggest seller:  Sets, once again, reigned supreme, followed by random run books.

The "biggest" sets that I sold were Batman and the Outsiders #1 - #32 + Annual #1, Grimm Fairy Tales Presents: Wonderland #1 - #36,  Ultimate X-Men #1 - #78 + Annuals #1 and #2 (I was glad to move that one, it had been in the boxes for awhile).  The rest ranged from nice sets of various price points of your typical Marvel and DC titles with a few independents in the mix.

The fact that sets continue to sell so well for me in my area is another reason to add information on the top of the sets to make them even more "sellable".

Run Books:  Run books did fairly well, but not all titles.  There were several titles that I did not sell a single issue of.  The usual books performed well and there were a few surprises, like run books of Marvel Team and Two-In-One. Various DC horror books did OK too.

Surprise Sale:  The biggest "surprise" sales were actually Lois Lane comics. At the previous Sudbury show that I did (Northern Game Expo), I had a young woman approach me if I had any Lois Lane comics, I said that I did but not at that show but that I could bring them for Sudbury Graphic Con.  I know you can never "count on" people to show up but I said I would bring them and I did.  Well, very close to the end of the show, she showed up!  She ended up picking up nearly $100 worth of random and mid to higher grade Lois Lane comics.  

I keep a list of what customers ask for and next show, believe it or not, I am going to try to bring some Cartoon/Disney books and Westerns.

Misc. Items: This show I sold one treasury (Fantastic Four), Star Trek Motion Picture magazine (Marvel), a 1977 Shazam Pepsi glass, one X-Men action figure and some Archie digests.  I like to have a variety, something to offer everyone but my action figure stock is pretty much non-existent now as are some other misc. items. I hope when I go antiquing with the wife in late summer I can start to find a few more things.

What people asked for that I did not have: Alien/Predator and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  I'm starting to wonder if it is the same small group of people who keep asking...

Overall Assessment:  Despite the initial "showdown" with the customer mentioned above, I had a very fun show. People were nice and happy to be there and the show definitely has a family vibe.  I remain very impressed with how well this show is organized and how friendly the organizers are. Again, this show is put on by staff and volunteers from the Greater Sudbury Library and they do an excellent job. 

In speaking with other comic vendors though, they said that their sales were all down from last year. I am not yet 100% certain but it did feel like this show was a little less busy than last year.

While I did not sell as many CGC books and keys, I did "better" this time around as I made a little more money selling less CGC books and keys and the bulk of sales were sets, runs and 'cheapies'. I definitely think being able to offer a wide variety of books was my key to success this show.  I was the only comic vendor to have a premium booth as they are limited.  One really local vendor (lives/operates in Sudbury) was 'upset' that I got a premium booth and he did not as he had been "supporting the show" longer, etc. I am not sure what swayed the organizing committee to grant me a premium booth over others but all I can say is that I provided a detailed account in my application why I wanted one and what I could offer as a vendor.  I never just "assumed" I would get one.  Overall, my profit after all expenses was very satisfactory and I will look forward to participating again in 2019 again with the hopes of again getting a premium booth.

Great show report.

I sell at an antique flea market once in a month and have run into plenty of rude people. Usually it's "It's not worth this" and they proceed to "educate" me. I usually tell them to take it to the nearest convenience store and see if they will give you a carton of milk for it. It isn't worth squat to the average person. This is junk people threw out. But, my price is what it is worth to me and I will be more than happy to keep it if the price is not to their liking. They usually just grumble and slink away. If it escalates, I tell them to leave my booth or ask someone to get security. It's part of doing business I guess.

I also like the fact that you take people's wants and bring them to the next show. Hey, if they want it and I don't, I make it a point. They don't always come back but I have created a lot of "regulars" by doing so. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, spreads said:

Thanks WC for a detailed summary, very informative. 

Lots to comment on but I wanted to zero-in what I quoted above, and that is how variety really is key - the largest local dealer had told me on Sunday you need to have variety, it can't all be keys.  We do have a few vendors that offer unique items, but a lack of diversification will hurt sales, even when you have items better-priced than other dealers you won't be able to capture random buyers that don't make their way to your table.  Our show was very slow too, I don't know if that's regular seasonality (but it further validates my need to increase online sales). 

Great response with the irate buyer, you could have walked-away and eventually he would probably come back to you in time anyway.  I have not had anything like that, but I did have a very awkward buyer chat with me a long time about which X-men books he thought I should recommend he buy (from someone else).  After a long chat and then a subsequent departure, he came back ectastic that he was able to find the books for his price range elsewhere....umm, congrats? lol 

Variety is important.  I try to bring something for every comic buyer who comes through the door and I want every one of them to drop money off at my booth.  $1 books, sets, 50% off, GA, SA, BA, CA, MA, variants, Dynamic Forces, wall books, run builders, it's all important.  Wall books are big sales but sometimes those buyers don't show or they're not buying what you're selling.  $1 book sales are pure gravy but sometimes you don't move enough and a big wall book or a couple of nice sets pay the bills.

And we're always looking for new formats to sell.  

We had a bunch of trades that had accumulated from collections over the years.  Tossed 3 boxes of them on the floor under our booth last year with a $5 each sigh and sold 1/2 of them to another dealer right away and a bunch more trickled out.  Proof of concept, trades will sell at a comic show if priced cheap.

The last collection we bought had tons of hard and soft cover books.  At the last 2 shows we tossed boxes of them on the floor under our booth with the spines up.  Moved about 100 of them for a rough average price of $20 per.  Proof of concept, books about comics will sell at a show.

The last collection also had tons of magazines and fanzines.  Took 4 boxes of them to the last show and sold quite a few.  Proof of concept, fanzines and magazines will sell at a show.

Which reinforces another concept.  Unusual inventory is important.  I love bringing stuff I've never seen and nobody else has and I love bringing stuff I think is cool, if I'm crazy enough to want it there's probably other guys who'll feel the same.  And when a buyer finds something they like they won't find it in any other booth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Robot Man said:

You mentioned that you were having wear at the bottom of the front of your boxes...

Not saying that this is the case with you but just as a tip to con sellers from a guy that has sold at shows for years.

There is a stealing tecnique that involves sliding a book down in the front of a box by pushing in the innner flap thus creating an opening at the bottom where by books can be moved to the front of the box and slid out the bottom. Hard to even detect anyone doing it from the back of the box especially when you are busy. The fix? Just put a wide piece of tape wrapping from the front bottom to the bottom of the box. Eliminates the open space. 

Just a tip  :foryou:

The wear problem was due to the boxes having been through several shows and being loaded and unloaded into the back of a pick up truck.  One show, it was also horrible weather so they got a little wet in spots, which did not help.

I don't attribute the wear to thievery but thanks for the tip! I never would have thought that and I don't think I have had any books stolen but wow...The things people will do to lie, cheat and steal...Definitely good information, thank you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Robot Man said:

Great show report.

I sell at an antique flea market once in a month and have run into plenty of rude people. Usually it's "It's not worth this" and they proceed to "educate" me. I usually tell them to take it to the nearest convenience store and see if they will give you a carton of milk for it. It isn't worth squat to the average person. This is junk people threw out. But, my price is what it is worth to me and I will be more than happy to keep it if the price is not to their liking. They usually just grumble and slink away. If it escalates, I tell them to leave my booth or ask someone to get security. It's part of doing business I guess.

I also like the fact that you take people's wants and bring them to the next show. Hey, if they want it and I don't, I make it a point. They don't always come back but I have created a lot of "regulars" by doing so. 

Thanks!

Yes, I have had people make one or two lame comments but never anything that rude to that degree.  Lesson learned, if there is a next time, I will shut it down much earlier. I think I tried to be a little too "accommodating" given the fact he had been a decent customer.

The lists have worked well, sometimes you bring stuff and they don't show and other times it works out great! Regardless, it helps motivate me to price new stock to get it into the rotation. 

Lately for Gold Key/Dell, Cartoon books and Westerns have even come up a few times, so I think my super hero stock is decent enough so I may concentrate on adding those to the mix. I think it is because the demographics here skew a little older.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, thehumantorch said:

Variety is important.  I try to bring something for every comic buyer who comes through the door and I want every one of them to drop money off at my booth.  $1 books, sets, 50% off, GA, SA, BA, CA, MA, variants, Dynamic Forces, wall books, run builders, it's all important.  Wall books are big sales but sometimes those buyers don't show or they're not buying what you're selling.  $1 book sales are pure gravy but sometimes you don't move enough and a big wall book or a couple of nice sets pay the bills.

And we're always looking for new formats to sell.  

We had a bunch of trades that had accumulated from collections over the years.  Tossed 3 boxes of them on the floor under our booth last year with a $5 each sigh and sold 1/2 of them to another dealer right away and a bunch more trickled out.  Proof of concept, trades will sell at a comic show if priced cheap.

The last collection we bought had tons of hard and soft cover books.  At the last 2 shows we tossed boxes of them on the floor under our booth with the spines up.  Moved about 100 of them for a rough average price of $20 per.  Proof of concept, books about comics will sell at a show.

The last collection also had tons of magazines and fanzines.  Took 4 boxes of them to the last show and sold quite a few.  Proof of concept, fanzines and magazines will sell at a show.

Which reinforces another concept.  Unusual inventory is important.  I love bringing stuff I've never seen and nobody else has and I love bringing stuff I think is cool, if I'm crazy enough to want it there's probably other guys who'll feel the same.  And when a buyer finds something they like they won't find it in any other booth.

 Well, if it there is one problem you guys' don't have, its VARIETY!

The one item that did not sell, were hardcovers for me...Specifically, the larger Omnibus editions.  No one even wanted to look at them but I don't really care as I only brought a few for a local customer who asked if I would mind taking a handful on commission.  They were priced very fairly but zero interest.

I will buy pretty much anything to improve the variety I can offer...Basically, if it is superhero or pop culture or somehow related and the price is right, in my area, unless it is complete junk, I will usually buy it.

...The trick is finding it :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great approach, i've definitely found variety is key.  At my last show I sold some Marvel Graphic Novels, I had them for a few shows.  But this time around I decided to put them on the bottom of my wall.  Because of the size and covers they drew attention and eventually sold.  I'm also happy to here about the sale due to a customer request.  I also keep a list of books people ask about and try to bring them to future shows, you never know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Wall-Crawler said:

 Well, if it there is one problem you guys' don't have, its VARIETY!

The one item that did not sell, were hardcovers for me...Specifically, the larger Omnibus editions.  No one even wanted to look at them but I don't really care as I only brought a few for a local customer who asked if I would mind taking a handful on commission.  They were priced very fairly but zero interest.

I will buy pretty much anything to improve the variety I can offer...Basically, if it is superhero or pop culture or somehow related and the price is right, in my area, unless it is complete junk, I will usually buy it.

...The trick is finding it :)

Books that are moving best are large coffee table books and books dedicated to popular artists with lots of great images of their work.  But also moved some reprint hard covers and other assorted books.  The key to us is that they display quite nicely in boxes on the floor with the spines up so people can bend over and scan quickly - never underestimate how lazy customers can be, the easier it is to browse the more customers will buy.  We've always found the space under our tables hard to sell from and we've finally found the ideal items to place there.

The collection we bought also included Overstreets from # 2 to current and I sold $150 worth to one buyer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/14/2018 at 10:29 AM, Wall-Crawler said:

In speaking with other comic vendors though, they said that their sales were all down from last year. I am not yet 100% certain but it did feel like this show was a little less busy than last year.

Suspicions confirmed.  Attendance was down a fair bit from last year.  I may not have touched on this but I did not feel as "swarmed" as last year but I thought that may have been attributable to having the larger booth so things didn't seem as "crammed" but attendance was for sure down.  There were were a few factors why but a main one was also that there were two other events taking place downtown the same day.  However, knowing that I still did as well as I did with a fair drop off in attendance, still makes me feel good about my end results and this show as a whole but definitely reinforces my desire to keep lobbying and applying for the larger booth space to be able to offer that all important variety.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 5