I'm opening up a brick and mortar this year and want some advice!! 7 7

[NoMan]

2 hours ago, Genesis Comics said:

Just trying to build up anticipation with the delays lmfao...

I was sick for a week and am still getting better, hence the no write-up, but there was also a problem logging in one day...found out mother in law has cancer, son had an anxiety attack (pretty bad one, he has smaller ones, but this one was rough) AND I had to put my dog to sleep (14 1/2 years old).  Rough week...just because I'm running a business now doesn't mean that life stops outside...

This was the first real tough time I had as the guy who was helping me was also sick and didn't come in for just about a week, so I was here, solo...it was rough...I've worked open to close every day since open 8/26, and that's not including the 12-14 days of getting set up . Body started to break down and I was mentally drained...Last Friday, I was so sick, that the guy who helps me out (he was back), told me to go home lol...I took a few hours off (6-11) on Friday night.  I knew I was going to have to do something eventually as I couldn't keep up  the pace I was doing.  While I had my hours posted 12-8 (Sun, Mon, Tue), 12-10 (Wed, Thur, Sat), and 12-1 (Friday), the closing hours weren't "hard" closing hours, as I'm not going to ask someone to leave that's in the middle of a game, so the 12-8's became 12-10ish, the 12-10 are like 12-11/12).  We have the MTG events on Thurs, Fri, and Sat and those nights can go really late...Sat night until 3:50 AM...but I need to cater to the community and the times that they want to play...there is a store in the area open until 1 AM every night and my preference is to have the players here, not leaving to go to another place.  So, I have to figure out a schedule that will allow for me to have some time off and still cater to the community.

Things are going well.  I have enough money to make my weekly orders, pay my bills, bring in some extra product and pay a few guys a few bucks to help me out.  Not taking any money out for myself yet as I'm reinvesting all I can while I can to build up inventory.  

I've had some decent Magic the Gathering Collections come in as well as some OK comic collections.  Inventory is turning over quickly for Magic the Gathering and not so for comics...If I was just a comic store, I'd be very nervous right now, but with Magic the Gathering continuing to lead the way, still about 70% of sales, things are solid.  

I've increased the shelf area for POP's as they are in higher demand that I anticipated.  I've even brought in some "exclusives" as there is a market for them.  I've also brought in anything Rick and Morty that I can get my hands on, as everything sells well in this genre...comics, POP's, games, etc.

I have 6 people on my pull list, which isn't great, but not bad considering there are 4 comic shops within 30 minutes of here.  All 6 are getting Dark Night Metal lol, but there are some other things as well.  I'm hoping to get up to 10 by Christmas and then add 1 a month and hopefully be at 20+ by next year.  I'm offering 2 different pull services, based on their preference.  1) Straight 10% off all new books or 2) 20% credit that can be used towards back issues in the bins.  There is no "fee" for joining and all pull list customers get a free bag/board if they want.

 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I made a big mistake which cost me some $$.  I did not get my POS in a timely fashion, i.e. more than 2 days before opening lol...I should have made it one of the first things I did, but hindsight is 20/20 as they say.  This caused me to get the computer only 2 days before opening and only 2 days to get it going properly.  There was an issue with the tax, as it was charging tax on some items and not others.  It was charging tax on new comic books (tax free in NYS), and not charging tax on supplies, which it should have.  Things were hectic and I didn't know how to change it myself...was too busy and didn't have time to sit down and speak with the helpdesk, so I made the terrible decision to just take tax off of everything (unfortunately I did know how to do this lol)...figured I'd get caught up in a few days...well a few days became a few weeks...and $2000 + later we finally got set up properly.  It was a whirlwind and other things kept popping up that needed attention.  I should have made this my first priority...expensive lesson learned.   Looking back, I feel like such an insufficiently_thoughtful_person not making this a priority, but live and learn.

Had my first sweet book come in...a very clean ASM 129...probably and 8.5 but IMHO can press to 9 + as there are a number of NCB creases on back cover...girl, who's dad passed, had no idea of values...explained to her that this was a valuable book and gave her a few hundred for it...she says he has boxes of books at home and she will bring them in...she said lot's of early Spiderman books...we will see...

Banned my first guy.  Guy came in, recovering addict, wanted to straighten out his life and focus on comics to take his mind off of the drugs, he also had a slight mental handicap as well..., I knew him from my local LCS, not a bad guy, just a guy who made some really bad decisions...wanted to help if I could...He was a handful...no social skills, would interrupt me, bother people, sit on the floor, take books out and put them back where ever, place random books on the "wall", etc.  He would always move things around and would constantly ask the same questions as he would forget he asked them in the first place.  I was doing my best to be patient with him and gave him his own set of rules.  One day he came in high and I asked him to leave.  He proceeded to get mad and do a bunch of "air karate" moves.  I explained it would be better if he didn't return.  Tried to do something nice, just didn't work out...he needs to want to change first...

 

My Magic the Gathering crowd is awesome, spend money, good solid crowd, clean up after themselves, etc!  So happy to have them here!

My Vanguard crowd, on the other hand, not so much...messy, don't spend money, and feel like it's OK to curse whenever they want.  I had conversations with them 4 straight weeks about language...by the 5th week, after a guy YELLED out, not softly, not coversationally, YELLED F&%$@ YOU!!  to the guy he was playing I lost my cool and told them the next time I hear foul language they can all leave.  Incidentally they didn't show up this week to play, which is OK with me...not going to tolerate that kind of behavior in my store.  If they show up this week they can play, but the first time I hear foul language, they are out.  

Had a guy come in thinking I was trying to rip him off.  He said he had old comics worth thousands!!  I told him I'd love to see them!  He, his wife, and his daughter came in with a pile of the books, his wife said she finally convinced him to bring in a small stack.  I went through the books, Return of the Jedi limited series, Nick Fury Agent of Shield reprint from 1983, a magazine, forget the name, that had an article about Return of the Jedi (from around the time of the release) and Wolverine 1 (1988).  I said the Wolverine was the best book, and I sell them at 40...his was in nice shape, and explained if he wanted to sell it, I'd offer him $20...he sneered/snickered, looked at his wife and showed her something on his phone.  She asked about the Nick Fury book and the guy interrupted me saying that it was worth $350 dollars.  I explained it was a reprint and he got more and more agitated, continually showing his wife his phone and saying "See, see!!  I told you they try to rip you off".  At this point I was getting a bit annoyed as this guy was questioning my integrity.  I asked him if he'd like me to show him why the books were priced the way they were, show him a price guide, and explain Ebay completed listings. I even explained that I would not offer to purchase the books, only show him actual values.  He said the Woverine book was worth $17,000 and that he emailed a picture of the magazine to someone in California and they told him it was worth $8000.  I showed him the Overstreet Guide and had him come behind the counter to look at Ebay completed listings.  I explained the Nick Fury was a reprint and not the original # 1.  I asked to see what he kept showing his wife and he said "Here it is!!!"  He had an article from some site that said "Record Breaking Sale of Wolverine # 1 for $17,000, along with some other ridiculous prices for copper age CGC 10's  At this point I had to explain grading and how CGC 10's were like unicorns.  No matter what I told him, he would not believe me.  When I realized that this guy just wasn't getting it (his wife and daughter understood), I showed him my Wolverine # 1 on the wall for $40.  You would have thought I kicked his dog...it's hard to explain to people when they think they have gold, that what they have is basically worthless.  He picked up his stuff and stormed out, his wife and daughter apologized...haven't seen them since...

Getting ready for Halloween Comic Fest this Saturday...have all the free comics in house, hired some cosplayers 12-4:30 (Harley Quinn, Green Arrow, Supergirl, and Catwoman) as well as Mr. Popintwist (3:00-5:00)  who does incredible balloons of anything you can think up.  Artist Creeece will be here from 12-2 along with colorist Mike McGuire.  We'll be teaching the new TCG Lightseekers, and raffling off a beautiful print by JaCo Tartaruga titled "La Llorna Boriquena" to help raise some money for those devestated by the hurricane in Puerto Rico.  We will also be collecting food donations as well.

 

So much has happened that I'm sure I've forgotten a lot, but overall it's been a positive experience!  I'm glad I did it, now I'm just fine tuning it and putting more and more systems in place in order to make it run more profitably and smoothly.  Thanks for all the support and for all the interest!  

Any questions, fire away!!

 

 

 

 

Re: the guy trying to sell the Wolverine book makes me hate people more than I generally do. However, sounds like you got some great people showing up, too. Seems like you're focusing on that. Great! If I'm up you're way ever I'd stop by in a heartbeat. 

Upon further thought, I wonder why some believe so firmly (when presented proof otherwise) they are getting so badly ripped off ??

Edited October 23, 2017 by NoMan

[Mmehdy]

keep up the good work..it will pay off...hope a great  GA collection comes thru the door

[F For Fake]

3 hours ago, Genesis Comics said:

Just trying to build up anticipation with the delays lmfao...

I was sick for a week and am still getting better, hence the no write-up, but there was also a problem logging in one day...found out mother in law has cancer, son had an anxiety attack (pretty bad one, he has smaller ones, but this one was rough) AND I had to put my dog to sleep (14 1/2 years old).  Rough week...just because I'm running a business now doesn't mean that life stops outside...

This was the first real tough time I had as the guy who was helping me was also sick and didn't come in for just about a week, so I was here, solo...it was rough...I've worked open to close every day since open 8/26, and that's not including the 12-14 days of getting set up . Body started to break down and I was mentally drained...Last Friday, I was so sick, that the guy who helps me out (he was back), told me to go home lol...I took a few hours off (6-11) on Friday night.  I knew I was going to have to do something eventually as I couldn't keep up  the pace I was doing.  While I had my hours posted 12-8 (Sun, Mon, Tue), 12-10 (Wed, Thur, Sat), and 12-1 (Friday), the closing hours weren't "hard" closing hours, as I'm not going to ask someone to leave that's in the middle of a game, so the 12-8's became 12-10ish, the 12-10 are like 12-11/12).  We have the MTG events on Thurs, Fri, and Sat and those nights can go really late...Sat night until 3:50 AM...but I need to cater to the community and the times that they want to play...there is a store in the area open until 1 AM every night and my preference is to have the players here, not leaving to go to another place.  So, I have to figure out a schedule that will allow for me to have some time off and still cater to the community.

Things are going well.  I have enough money to make my weekly orders, pay my bills, bring in some extra product and pay a few guys a few bucks to help me out.  Not taking any money out for myself yet as I'm reinvesting all I can while I can to build up inventory.  

I've had some decent Magic the Gathering Collections come in as well as some OK comic collections.  Inventory is turning over quickly for Magic the Gathering and not so for comics...If I was just a comic store, I'd be very nervous right now, but with Magic the Gathering continuing to lead the way, still about 70% of sales, things are solid.  

I've increased the shelf area for POP's as they are in higher demand that I anticipated.  I've even brought in some "exclusives" as there is a market for them.  I've also brought in anything Rick and Morty that I can get my hands on, as everything sells well in this genre...comics, POP's, games, etc.

I have 6 people on my pull list, which isn't great, but not bad considering there are 4 comic shops within 30 minutes of here.  All 6 are getting Dark Night Metal lol, but there are some other things as well.  I'm hoping to get up to 10 by Christmas and then add 1 a month and hopefully be at 20+ by next year.  I'm offering 2 different pull services, based on their preference.  1) Straight 10% off all new books or 2) 20% credit that can be used towards back issues in the bins.  There is no "fee" for joining and all pull list customers get a free bag/board if they want.

 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I made a big mistake which cost me some $$.  I did not get my POS in a timely fashion, i.e. more than 2 days before opening lol...I should have made it one of the first things I did, but hindsight is 20/20 as they say.  This caused me to get the computer only 2 days before opening and only 2 days to get it going properly.  There was an issue with the tax, as it was charging tax on some items and not others.  It was charging tax on new comic books (tax free in NYS), and not charging tax on supplies, which it should have.  Things were hectic and I didn't know how to change it myself...was too busy and didn't have time to sit down and speak with the helpdesk, so I made the terrible decision to just take tax off of everything (unfortunately I did know how to do this lol)...figured I'd get caught up in a few days...well a few days became a few weeks...and $2000 + later we finally got set up properly.  It was a whirlwind and other things kept popping up that needed attention.  I should have made this my first priority...expensive lesson learned.   Looking back, I feel like such an insufficiently_thoughtful_person not making this a priority, but live and learn.

Had my first sweet book come in...a very clean ASM 129...probably and 8.5 but IMHO can press to 9 + as there are a number of NCB creases on back cover...girl, who's dad passed, had no idea of values...explained to her that this was a valuable book and gave her a few hundred for it...she says he has boxes of books at home and she will bring them in...she said lot's of early Spiderman books...we will see...

Banned my first guy.  Guy came in, recovering addict, wanted to straighten out his life and focus on comics to take his mind off of the drugs, he also had a slight mental handicap as well..., I knew him from my local LCS, not a bad guy, just a guy who made some really bad decisions...wanted to help if I could...He was a handful...no social skills, would interrupt me, bother people, sit on the floor, take books out and put them back where ever, place random books on the "wall", etc.  He would always move things around and would constantly ask the same questions as he would forget he asked them in the first place.  I was doing my best to be patient with him and gave him his own set of rules.  One day he came in high and I asked him to leave.  He proceeded to get mad and do a bunch of "air karate" moves.  I explained it would be better if he didn't return.  Tried to do something nice, just didn't work out...he needs to want to change first...

 

My Magic the Gathering crowd is awesome, spend money, good solid crowd, clean up after themselves, etc!  So happy to have them here!

My Vanguard crowd, on the other hand, not so much...messy, don't spend money, and feel like it's OK to curse whenever they want.  I had conversations with them 4 straight weeks about language...by the 5th week, after a guy YELLED out, not softly, not coversationally, YELLED F&%$@ YOU!!  to the guy he was playing I lost my cool and told them the next time I hear foul language they can all leave.  Incidentally they didn't show up this week to play, which is OK with me...not going to tolerate that kind of behavior in my store.  If they show up this week they can play, but the first time I hear foul language, they are out.  

Had a guy come in thinking I was trying to rip him off.  He said he had old comics worth thousands!!  I told him I'd love to see them!  He, his wife, and his daughter came in with a pile of the books, his wife said she finally convinced him to bring in a small stack.  I went through the books, Return of the Jedi limited series, Nick Fury Agent of Shield reprint from 1983, a magazine, forget the name, that had an article about Return of the Jedi (from around the time of the release) and Wolverine 1 (1988).  I said the Wolverine was the best book, and I sell them at 40...his was in nice shape, and explained if he wanted to sell it, I'd offer him $20...he sneered/snickered, looked at his wife and showed her something on his phone.  She asked about the Nick Fury book and the guy interrupted me saying that it was worth $350 dollars.  I explained it was a reprint and he got more and more agitated, continually showing his wife his phone and saying "See, see!!  I told you they try to rip you off".  At this point I was getting a bit annoyed as this guy was questioning my integrity.  I asked him if he'd like me to show him why the books were priced the way they were, show him a price guide, and explain Ebay completed listings. I even explained that I would not offer to purchase the books, only show him actual values.  He said the Woverine book was worth $17,000 and that he emailed a picture of the magazine to someone in California and they told him it was worth $8000.  I showed him the Overstreet Guide and had him come behind the counter to look at Ebay completed listings.  I explained the Nick Fury was a reprint and not the original # 1.  I asked to see what he kept showing his wife and he said "Here it is!!!"  He had an article from some site that said "Record Breaking Sale of Wolverine # 1 for $17,000, along with some other ridiculous prices for copper age CGC 10's  At this point I had to explain grading and how CGC 10's were like unicorns.  No matter what I told him, he would not believe me.  When I realized that this guy just wasn't getting it (his wife and daughter understood), I showed him my Wolverine # 1 on the wall for $40.  You would have thought I kicked his dog...it's hard to explain to people when they think they have gold, that what they have is basically worthless.  He picked up his stuff and stormed out, his wife and daughter apologized...haven't seen them since...

Getting ready for Halloween Comic Fest this Saturday...have all the free comics in house, hired some cosplayers 12-4:30 (Harley Quinn, Green Arrow, Supergirl, and Catwoman) as well as Mr. Popintwist (3:00-5:00)  who does incredible balloons of anything you can think up.  Artist Creeece will be here from 12-2 along with colorist Mike McGuire.  We'll be teaching the new TCG Lightseekers, and raffling off a beautiful print by JaCo Tartaruga titled "La Llorna Boriquena" to help raise some money for those devestated by the hurricane in Puerto Rico.  We will also be collecting food donations as well.

 

So much has happened that I'm sure I've forgotten a lot, but overall it's been a positive experience!  I'm glad I did it, now I'm just fine tuning it and putting more and more systems in place in order to make it run more profitably and smoothly.  Thanks for all the support and for all the interest!  

Any questions, fire away!!

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the write up, it continues to be fascinating, but more importantly, condolences on your dog. From experience I know that is never easy. Take care.

[Mystafo]

4 hours ago, Genesis Comics said:

 

Had a guy come in thinking I was trying to rip him off.  He said he had old comics worth thousands!!  I told him I'd love to see them!  He, his wife, and his daughter came in with a pile of the books, his wife said she finally convinced him to bring in a small stack.  I went through the books, Return of the Jedi limited series, Nick Fury Agent of Shield reprint from 1983, a magazine, forget the name, that had an article about Return of the Jedi (from around the time of the release) and Wolverine 1 (1988).  I said the Wolverine was the best book, and I sell them at 40...his was in nice shape, and explained if he wanted to sell it, I'd offer him $20...he sneered/snickered, looked at his wife and showed her something on his phone.  She asked about the Nick Fury book and the guy interrupted me saying that it was worth $350 dollars.  I explained it was a reprint and he got more and more agitated, continually showing his wife his phone and saying "See, see!!  I told you they try to rip you off".  At this point I was getting a bit annoyed as this guy was questioning my integrity.  I asked him if he'd like me to show him why the books were priced the way they were, show him a price guide, and explain Ebay completed listings. I even explained that I would not offer to purchase the books, only show him actual values.  He said the Woverine book was worth $17,000 and that he emailed a picture of the magazine to someone in California and they told him it was worth $8000.  I showed him the Overstreet Guide and had him come behind the counter to look at Ebay completed listings.  I explained the Nick Fury was a reprint and not the original # 1.  I asked to see what he kept showing his wife and he said "Here it is!!!"  He had an article from some site that said "Record Breaking Sale of Wolverine # 1 for $17,000, along with some other ridiculous prices for copper age CGC 10's  At this point I had to explain grading and how CGC 10's were like unicorns.  No matter what I told him, he would not believe me.  When I realized that this guy just wasn't getting it (his wife and daughter understood), I showed him my Wolverine # 1 on the wall for $40.  You would have thought I kicked his dog...it's hard to explain to people when they think they have gold, that what they have is basically worthless.  He picked up his stuff and stormed out, his wife and daughter apologized...haven't seen them since...

 

 

 

 

Man o man, I know this type of guy very well!  Good on you for not just laughing him out of the store (I have a hard time)!

[WolverineX]

4 hours ago, NoMan said:

Re: the guy trying to sell the Wolverine book makes me hate people more than I generally do. However, sounds like you got some great people showing up, too. Seems like you're focusing on that. Great! If I'm up you're way ever I'd stop by in a heartbeat. 

Upon further thought, I wonder why some believe so firmly (when presented proof otherwise) they are getting so badly ripped off ??

Probably because he built up the ridiculous value in his head and refused to burst his bubble.

[CKinTO]

6 hours ago, revat said:

its a tough one either way, IF she's inclined to look it up after the fact.  Either she'll be mad you offered her so little, or she'll expect 70-80%% of FMV on all the rest of the non-keys she selling too.  If she looks it up, you're probably boned either way.  I'd give her the fair but lower offer up front (as the OP did), just in case she's in the mood to negotiate.  Its already hard enough to get a non-comic person to come BACK to the shop.  Its possible that it backfires, but you'll probably never know either way.  But I expect everyone is a little different on those types of things, and experience will help one develop a methodology.

 

5 hours ago, ft88 said:

Each deal and person is different.  And you can't win every deal.  Some folks are thrilled to get 50% of value they just want to sell.  Others are trying to sell Wolverine #1......

When it comes to selling keys to a store, I generally think of "fair" as 1) if selling slabs, a store or dealer will typically want 25% below GPA/FMV. 2) if it's raw, whatever they would buy it for slabbed per #1, less grading costs, and if it's unclear what grade it would be, they get the benefit of assuming it grades out lower. 

To me, that's the "cost" of the huge convenience of selling it to the store and letting them do all the work (getting it graded, risk it comes out at lower grade, risk the price / demand decreases in time it gets graded, etc.) If you want to maximize value (and get all the upside potential), then you have to go through the legwork yourself. 

I heard a guy trying to sell a slab to a store/dealer at Ebay prices. The easiest answer I heard back was, if you want Ebay prices, why don't you just sell it on Ebay yourself? If I buy it from you at Ebay price, the only way I'm going to make money is if I sell it for more, and who will buy it? Not much you can say back to that... 

 

[SteppinRazor]

6 hours ago, NoMan said:

 

Upon further thought, I wonder why some believe so firmly (when presented proof otherwise) they are getting so badly ripped off ??

1- people do take advantage of ignorance.  We have a thread on here about an app that got some negative responses for educating noobs.  That leads to others expecting getting lowballed.

2- the internet provides a lot of very accesible information, but people don't realize/want to discern the pertinent and full information about what it is exactly.

3- with the skimming of information, it forms a skewed view of value and it's tough and disappointing for people to see expected windfalls evaporate.

4- everybody inherently values their <insert just about anything> than others' <anything>.  Notice dude thought he was being ripped off, but didn't buy Wolverine #1 at $40 when by his reasoning he'd make a fortune on it.

Edited October 24, 2017 by SteppinRazor

[shadroch]

People like that just make me appreciate my circle of friends more.

[mackenzie999]

Wishful thinking is a powerful thing.

[NoMan]

16 hours ago, Wolverinex said:

Probably because he built up the ridiculous value in his head and refused to burst his bubble.

I realize that.

I was wondering why the refusal part when clear and plain evidence is presented. 

[shadroch]

If they can fake the moon landing, you don't think they can fake some comic book price?

[thehumantorch]

6 hours ago, NoMan said:

I realize that.

I was wondering why the refusal part when clear and plain evidence is presented. 

Because the guy had Wolverine 1.  Wolverine 1!!!!!! Dangit  

The first appearance of Wolverine is worth a fortune and some crook at the comic store will try to buy if off me for peanuts and get rich....

[revat]

9 minutes ago, thehumantorch said:

6 hours ago, NoMan said:

I realize that.

I was wondering why the refusal part when clear and plain evidence is presented. 

Because the guy had Wolverine 1.  Wolverine 1!!!!!! Dangit  

The first appearance of Wolverine is worth a fortune and some crook at the comic store will try to buy if off me for peanuts and get rich....

Just make them an offer they can't refuse.  If you're so sure you can sell them for $1000+ per, then I'll sell you 100 of them at $200 per.  Then everyone goes home happy.

[the blob]

On 10/23/2017 at 9:20 PM, CKinTO said:

 

When it comes to selling keys to a store, I generally think of "fair" as 1) if selling slabs, a store or dealer will typically want 25% below GPA/FMV. 2) if it's raw, whatever they would buy it for slabbed per #1, less grading costs, and if it's unclear what grade it would be, they get the benefit of assuming it grades out lower. 

To me, that's the "cost" of the huge convenience of selling it to the store and letting them do all the work (getting it graded, risk it comes out at lower grade, risk the price / demand decreases in time it gets graded, etc.) If you want to maximize value (and get all the upside potential), then you have to go through the legwork yourself. 

I heard a guy trying to sell a slab to a store/dealer at Ebay prices. The easiest answer I heard back was, if you want Ebay prices, why don't you just sell it on Ebay yourself? If I buy it from you at Ebay price, the only way I'm going to make money is if I sell it for more, and who will buy it? Not much you can say back to that... 

 

For a dealer to pay 75% of FMV the book needs to be a very easy sell or expensive enough that the 25% margin (which might be reduced by ebay/paypal commissions, CC fees, etc.) is still a nice number.

[SteppinRazor]

On 10/27/2017 at 5:29 PM, the blob said:

For a dealer to pay 75% of FMV the book needs to be a very easy sell or expensive enough that the 25% margin (which might be reduced by ebay/paypal commissions, CC fees, etc.) is still a nice number.

Yeah, I would expect no better than 50% for a dealer to buy a book and still make money on it.  if they pay 75% of FMV, it'll be very hard to realize a 25% margin unless he/she already has a request for it from some buyer.

[CKinTO]

52 minutes ago, SteppinRazor said:

Yeah, I would expect no better than 50% for a dealer to buy a book and still make money on it.  if they pay 75% of FMV, it'll be very hard to realize a 25% margin unless he/she already has a request for it from some buyer.

Even for slabbed keys? (Or unslabbed keys)? I agree the 75% only really makes sense for in-demand keys that can be sold at FMV / GPA price with reasonable confidence. 

[shadroch]

2 hours ago, SteppinRazor said:

Yeah, I would expect no better than 50% for a dealer to buy a book and still make money on it.  if they pay 75% of FMV, it'll be very hard to realize a 25% margin unless he/she already has a request for it from some buyer.

Throwing percentages around makes little to no sense.  No dealer will pay 50 cents for a book he might sell for a dollar, but the same dealer will pay $800 for a book he can quickly flip for $1200. I have no problem offering 5-10% of value for really common stuff, but will pay 70-85% for prime stuff.  I recently paid $5200 for a book I sold a week later for $5900. Thought I'd get a bit more, but the whole thing was a quick flip.

[G.A.tor]

On 10/28/2017 at 10:47 PM, SteppinRazor said:

Yeah, I would expect no better than 50% for a dealer to buy a book and still make money on it.  if they pay 75% of FMV, it'll be very hard to realize a 25% margin unless he/she already has a request for it from some buyer.

I’d happily pay 75% or more for asm 129...every copy I could buy!

[fastballspecial]

On ‎10‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 10:47 PM, SteppinRazor said:

 

On ‎10‎/‎27‎/‎2017 at 5:29 PM, the blob said:

For a dealer to pay 75% of FMV the book needs to be a very easy sell or expensive enough that the 25% margin (which might be reduced by ebay/paypal commissions, CC fees, etc.) is still a nice number.

Yeah, I would expect no better than 50% for a dealer to buy a book and still make money on it.  if they pay 75% of FMV, it'll be very hard to realize a 25% margin unless he/she already has a request for it from some buyer.

 

50% has always been the common price when trading with dealers/shops. Some a little more some a little less. Cash is less unless they are hot sellable books then you might get a little more. The books really dictate the offer. My LCS will buy just about everything if its in good shape. He will then offer then around $30 a long box for normal Image/DC/Marvel junk and load it up in his $1 books. It worked for almost 20 years that way. 

[Pirate]

3 hours ago, G.A.tor said:

I’d happily pay 75% or more for asm 129...every copy I could buy!

Yea but you are a 5% profit guy.  Most business models want to make money.