What is the most widely desired comic book for $100? 2 2

[mackenzie999]

53 minutes ago, revat said:

... let the winner choose.  That way you only give away one but all four draw attention. 

THIS is your answer. Solves everything.

[rjpb]

 

43 minutes ago, bababooey said:

If the book has broad appeal that would be best but I'd probably choose a book based on my inventory if I was a seller- if you've got a lot of BA/CA X-men books sitting in $3/5/10/20 dollar boxes then offering a nice 137 or 141 makes the most sense.  If you can't pinpoint related inventory then try to choose a key that relates to slower moving inventory that you've been lugging around for a while.

 

This makes the most sense, raffle a book most likely to appeal to buyers of your stock inventory. 

[1Cool]

10 minutes ago, Mackenzie999 said:

THIS is your answer. Solves everything.

Not a bad idea but I don't really want to lock up multiple higher priced / hot books that have the best chance of selling at the Con.

[1Cool]

10 minutes ago, rjpb said:

 

 

This makes the most sense, raffle a book most likely to appeal to buyers of your stock inventory. 

In that price range - I'd say that would be limited to X-Men 266, Star Wars 1, X-Men 141 & 142, Marvel Graphic Novel 4, Wolverine Limited 1-4 (upper mid grade), SW 8/ASM 252 combo, Fantastic Four 46.  If I was to go on my current inventory I'd probably go with the Star Wars 1 since I have a few copies and it may get some WOW points from casual comic fans.

Edited October 19, 2017 by 1Cool

[sorb3t]

Amazing Spider-Man 301 CGC 9.4-9.6 or a 9.8 ASM 700

Edited October 19, 2017 by sorb3t

[CKinTO]

44 minutes ago, 1Cool said:

In that price range - I'd say that would be limited to X-Men 266, Star Wars 1, X-Men 141 & 142, Marvel Graphic Novel 4, Wolverine Limited 1-4 (upper mid grade), SW 8/ASM 252 combo, Fantastic Four 46.  If I was to go on my current inventory I'd probably go with the Star Wars 1 since I have a few copies and it may get some WOW points from casual comic fans.

I agree Star Wars 1 probably hits the widest group of people - even non-hardcore comic collectors will know that book has value.

[ThothAmon]

1 minute ago, CKinTO said:

I agree Star Wars 1 probably hits the widest group of people - even non-hardcore comic collectors will know that book has value.

+1. 

[jools&jim]

I'm not a general con-goer these days, nor much of one at all, given that I only attend one per year (which I skipped this year).  So feel free to ignore me...I would!

That said...when I was a lot more active back in the '80s and '90s, this sort of thing (i.e., raffles or other promotional stunts) would make me steer clear of a booth completely: too carnival like, I suppose, and there is a whiff of desperation about this as a selling tactic which would scare me off, or make me dismiss the dealer as being somehow less than professional. 

The other thing to consider is that when it's time to pick the winner, you're going to have a crowd around your booth which could block the aisles, and may spill over into your neighbors' space as well.  This, as you can imagine, may not sit well with the promoter and the other dealers in your vicinity.

 

Edited October 19, 2017 by jools&jim

[PunisherPunisherPunisher]

Star Wars 1.....You will get Star Wars fans who aren't even comic book fans interested because it's Star Wars 1

[Mapleleafvann]

7 hours ago, 1Cool said:

What comic book would you pick that would be most desired by the general public and collectors?  I'm considering actually trying out a raffle of a $100 book at an upcoming comic con ($20 purchase would get you a raffle ticket) but still undecided on what book to offer up?  I'd love to offer a Hulk 181 or ASM 129 but the size of the Con just does not justify that kind of expense.  Beater BA 12?  Low grade SS 1?  In a nut shell - what $100 comic book do you think would have the most wow factor to the general Con goer?  

I am unsure of a couple things....unless I missed something, maybe you can clarify them for me please:

1.  What is the primary purpose of your raffle?  Is it to draw customers?  Is it a conversation piece?  I am unclear what your actual goal is in this.....is it to make money?  Knowing that helps you with picking out your prize.

2.  $100 prize is just fine, but how many raffle tickets are you going to try and sell?  If you were charging $2 per ticket...with a max ticket total of 100....then you're on to something I think.  You would net out $100---makes sense.  Charging $20 to win a prize worth $100 with the amount of tickets to sell unknown (or as many as possible) seems like a horrible proposition to me.  I can't imagine many people lining up for that----the risk reward ratio for buyers is really quite poor.  You might also face some customer backlash as a result.

[ADAMANTIUM]

4 minutes ago, Mapleleafvann said:

I am unsure of a couple things....unless I missed something, maybe you can clarify them for me please:

1.  What is the primary purpose of your raffle?  Is it to draw customers?  Is it a conversation piece?  I am unclear what your actual goal is in this.....is it to make money?  Knowing that helps you with picking out your prize.

2.  $100 prize is just fine, but how many raffle tickets are you going to try and sell?  If you were charging $2 per ticket...with a max ticket total of 100....then you're on to something I think.  You would net out $100---makes sense.  Charging $20 to win a prize worth $100 with the amount of tickets to sell unknown (or as many as possible) seems like a horrible proposition to me.  I can't imagine many people lining up for that----the risk reward ratio for buyers is really quite poor.  You might also face some customer backlash as a result.

I think the $20 was a $20 purchase worth of books at his booth, not a $20 raffle ticket.

Still $20 seemed pretty steep to me too Edit: I mean is that a raffle ticket for every $20 worth of purchase, even if I buy a $100 book = 5 tickets? or the guy who purchased a $50 or $100 purchase get (1) raffle ticket a piece? 

Maybe I'm wrong.....  

Edited October 19, 2017 by ADAMANTIUM

[Mapleleafvann]

1 minute ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

I think the $20 was a $20 purchase worth of books at his booth, not a $20 raffle ticket.

Still $20 seemed pretty steep to me too 

Ah.  Thank you for clarifying that....I really don't know how I misinterpreted his intentions...

I think the raffle parameters should be defined by the stock you are bringing to the show.  it depends on your inventory make-up and expected sales of $1 books to wall books to slabs.  Then you could define a reasonable "entry" cost for the raffle.

[ADAMANTIUM]

1 minute ago, Mapleleafvann said:

Ah.  Thank you for clarifying that....I really don't know how I misinterpreted his intentions...

I think the raffle parameters should be defined by the stock you are bringing to the show.  it depends on your inventory make-up and expected sales of $1 books to wall books to slabs.  Then you could define a reasonable "entry" cost for the raffle.

Well I agree with you that the raffle ticket should cover the cost of the book in question... $2 raffle ticket limited to 50 raffle tickets... Otherwise, I edited my post, but if it's a $20 purchase equals one raffle ticket then the guy spending $100 is going to feel left out over the guy spending $50

[Mapleleafvann]

Well, one thing is for sure, this topic has created a lot of message traffic.  Given that he's a veteran of the cons and having his own booth, whatever he decides to do will be measured and evaluated.  

Whenever I think of a raffle, I always think of something I can't afford (or do not want to).  It's almost like gifts....the best ones to give someone are something that they wouldn't buy for themself.  Most of the classic covers are simply too expensive for this purpose so what about reprints?  There is one classic book that every collector wants.....an AF 15.

How about a copy of the True Believers AF 15 reprint put out 3-4 months ago in CGC 9.8?  I think the price is cheap enough that you could also throw in another title, like the ASM 1 or the IH 181.  Pick 2....both in CGC 9.8 and I bet that will come in under $100.  

I think any collector or fan would love it.  It's a great prize as these reprints tend to up over time since that is as close as many collectors will come to the real books.  I would also go down to a $10 purchase per ticket.....

[Artboy99]

56 minutes ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

Well I agree with you that the raffle ticket should cover the cost of the book in question... $2 raffle ticket limited to 50 raffle tickets... Otherwise, I edited my post, but if it's a $20 purchase equals one raffle ticket then the guy spending $100 is going to feel left out over the guy spending $50

Interesting points to consider.

All of these types of considerations say to not bother with the raffle at all.

[Pizzafist]

BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS FIRST PRINT NM- 9.0-9.2

[shadroch]

People love free. Don't say a $50 voucher. Say $50 in FREE comics. Twice as effective. Do three and advertise HUNDRED$$$ DOLLAR$$$$ of FREE COMICS to be won.

Have a short box of various  stock that is priced at $20 and up and let the winners pick their winnings out of it.  

Omnis, HCs, TPBs and some comics. 

Edited October 19, 2017 by shadroch

[1Cool]

1 hour ago, Artboy99 said:

Interesting points to consider.

All of these types of considerations say to not bother with the raffle at all.

The raffle would be a way to entice people to A) stop by the booth when they see "win a free key book" B) maybe bump up their purchase from 1 $10 book to 1 $10 and 10 dollar books to hit the $20 threshold.  The raffle tickets will be each $20 so a guy who spends $200 will get 10 tickets and with a hopeful $2000 in sales there should be 100 raffle tickets in the hopper.  My prices are good so its really just an extra reason to spend money at my booth over going elsewhere.  It may be a bust but the $100 book will not kill me even if its a complete bust.

[boatfund]

I don't believe this is a long term strategy for drawing traffic, nor increasing sales long term.  Having collected for a long time and also going to baseball card shows with friends in 90s I am reminded of dealers with dice boards (roll the dice win what's on that space), and grab bags with a chance of the day's hot card or comic.  It may make you stand out from other dealers however it might not be in the way you want.  Is this how you want to be known as a comics dealer - the raffle guy? Or the guy that has the great comics?  You've gotten responses from lots of other people and I'm the only one saying this so maybe I'm wrong.  This is just my 2 cents.

[1Cool]

1 hour ago, boatfund said:

I don't believe this is a long term strategy for drawing traffic, nor increasing sales long term.  Having collected for a long time and also going to baseball card shows with friends in 90s I am reminded of dealers with dice boards (roll the dice win what's on that space), and grab bags with a chance of the day's hot card or comic.  It may make you stand out from other dealers however it might not be in the way you want.  Is this how you want to be known as a comics dealer - the raffle guy? Or the guy that has the great comics?  You've gotten responses from lots of other people and I'm the only one saying this so maybe I'm wrong.  This is just my 2 cents.

Valid point.  I do think it is a bit cheesy but since last years Con was a disaster (worst Con for me other then Baltimore) I'm willing to be known as the raffle guy if it brings in some more casual buyers.  I don't think a raffle for a Star Wars 1 will bring in the big fish comic buyers but if I can get 20 new customers to stop that wouldn't otherwise then I consider it a success.  I don't have the huge selection of killer keys (they sell way to fast online) so I think you have to try different things to attract buyers when 10 other guys have the same books in the room.

Edited October 20, 2017 by 1Cool