Collecting in a small town 0

[theCapraAegagrus]

1 minute ago, Bookery said:

You drive a vehicle that uses up a tank and a half for a 50 mi. round trip?  What make is it... a Bradley? 

 

I meant gallon and a half. Didn't finish my 1st cup of coffee at the time...

[Bookery]

13 minutes ago, TwoPiece said:

I meant gallon and a half. Didn't finish my 1st cup of coffee at the time...

I know what you mean.  I don't drink coffee, but am here sucking down diet coke at 7:30 in the morning... and it's not working.  It doesn't help that the a/c is out and the office is 81 degrees.

[theCapraAegagrus]

3 minutes ago, Bookery said:

I know what you mean.  I don't drink coffee, but am here sucking down diet coke at 7:30 in the morning... and it's not working.  It doesn't help that the a/c is out and the office is 81 degrees.

Diet Coke and 81 degrees!?

Edited July 17, 2019 by TwoPiece

[Bookery]

2 minutes ago, TwoPiece said:

Diet Coke and 81 degrees!?

We're having rainstorms at the moment (leftover's from tropical storm Barry)... but most of the rumbling that I'm hearing isn't thunder... 

[Krismusic]

As I mentioned before I have had more luck with buying online through the boards here and eBay a few books from the online comicbook auctions and a few from random auctions. I haven't had much luck except for the occasional rare find or priced book before it becomes Hot as they are usually a bit high and I have a few shops within a 30 min drive. 

[Bookery]

A couple of weeks back we had a collector stop in who loves our shop and said he wished we were closer to him.  Because of the distance, he can only get up here once or twice a year.  I assumed he was out of state.  Turns out he lives about 15 minutes away.  But it's too far.  We get this constantly... people who live a couple of suburbs away and won't travel the distance even though the shop has pretty much everything they need.  It might have been true once, but the old "if you build it they will come" is now total bunk.

Here in Ohio there are at least 3 shops within 60 miles of each other that carry a regular inventory of golden-age comics and up.  There are several others that get some pretty sweet collections in from time to time.  But today's internet addicts ignore them.  So dealers sweep in and buy up all of it, and take it to shows or online to sell to you at twice the price.  I have one savvy customer who nets over 5 figures a year just flipping comics he buys from area and regional shops... partly because he has no competition.  He works his butt off, travels thousands of miles per year... but it pays off.  

The weird thing is... almost everyone I've talked to who says it's difficult to get to comic shops a few miles out of their way will tell you of all the great places you can go to get a fancy hamburger... an hour away!  And they go there regularly.  If comic collecting is worth less effort than obtaining a hamburger... maybe it's time to shift to a different hobby...?

 

[mec3437]

@Bookery, I'll be in after work.  

[comicginger1789]

On 7/14/2019 at 5:28 PM, Getoutandstayout said:

I moved from a large city with several really good comic shops, which had a great selection of Silver and Golden Age comics. I'm now in a smaller city (~75K people) with comic shops that really only sell modern comics and games. My only alternative to acquiring good books is to go to a large comic con several hours away or buy online. Does anyone else face this issue? Has it worked out for you?

Yes, it has worked out for me and I would argue your odds of getting good deals and finding good stuff are better. Mainly because there is less of it but also less people around hunting for it so you find it first.

I live in Ontario, Canada and used to live in southern Ontario. Close to a lot of major cities (close meaning within 2.5 hours). Sadly, I was not collecting as hard then as I am not (I was in university....had to pay to survive lol). I moved to Northern Ontario and now the nearest major city is 4 hours away and after that, another 4 hours to Toronto. So collecting locally has been tough.

My suggestion? Hit up pawn shops, antique stores, any old bookstores. Post want ads on craigslist, find a website (if there is one) for your town/city/community and post want ads there or follow the classifieds. Chances are you will come across others who collect and know people who do. I find rural and smaller cities/towns the best because you have hidden collections there. Older men (and I suppose women although not as common) who have hoarded away collections. Families who had kids who had comics and just kept them stored away in the basement. If you advertise enough that you are looking for them, you will eventually get a response.

Where I am, for example. There are two brothers with collections in excess of 60 000 comics! Stuff from the 1950's until now. I have been fortunate enough to be in contact with one of the brothers who has graciously shown me some of his collection and traded/sold stuff to me. The other brother I have yet to meet and see if he sells but hope to one day.

I put ads on kijiji (Canadian craigslist) and have managed to scored a healthy Byrne run of X-Men, and multiple small boxes of silver and bronze age stuff. I also use this as a way to sell comics as there is only one shop that sells back issue and they are at a premium (normal stuff found in $0.50-1 are $3-5). People love buying from me because I sell stuff cheap, so that helps the income portion. I also stay on top of local yard sales during early spring and if posted on a site like Craigslist or Kijiji, I take some time to contact people to ask if they are selling comics (even if they dont list it in their yard sale listing). You'd be surprised how many times people respond "oh yes, I have some and other books".

Finally, I resort to ebay. I know people love the hunt and this takes that all away, but you can make ebay interesting if you keep searches vague and are searching often enough and are patient enough to eventually get some good finds.

I guess it all depends on how much you wanna work for it. I have lived where I am now for almost 7 years and every year am surprised with what pops up in my city in terms of comics. And I don't hunt too hard, heck I am too busy. If I had time, I would be driving around more, as there is stuff to explore and I am sure comics to be found.

Edited July 17, 2019 by comicginger1789

[Bookery]

42 minutes ago, mec3437 said:

@Bookery, I'll be in after work.  

mmmmm... could be worth it...