RonS2112 Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 (edited) 21 hours ago, blazingbob said: Problem I have are the customers that are asking for books I have at home. My show schedule is a FULL year in advance. Go to the website and ask me to bring the books you need to the show. Problem solved. Nope, ask me when they see me and I then have to remind me I can't bring 35K books to the show. This. I swear I don't know what's wrong with some of you people. Go to cons regularly. Develop a relationship with the guys you regularly buy from. Get their e-mail address and get on their mailing lists. You'll find that: a) most will send out e-mails prior to the next con telling you what big-ticket books they're bringing, b) will be happy to bring anything you ask, if they have it, and c) give discounts to regular customers. Went to a show this past Sunday, and a guy I buy from regularly discounted me $30 on a $170 purchase (which was already a great deal for the books in question), without me even asking him. All because I talk to him without acting like a jerk-off. He even asked to take a look at my want-list, told me which he had, and asked me to send him an e-mail telling which to bring to the next show. At which point, I'm certain to get another good discount. Edited January 30, 2020 by RonS2112 Krismusic, F For Fake, porcupine48 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theCapraAegagrus Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 6 minutes ago, RonS2112 said: This. I swear I don't know what's wrong with some of you people. Go to cons regularly. Develop a relationship with the guys you regularly buy from. Get their e-mail address and get on their mailing lists. You'll find that: a) most will send out e-mails prior to the next con telling you what big-ticket books they're bringing, b) will be happy to bring anything you ask, if they have it, and c) give discounts to regular customers. Went to a show this past Sunday, and a guy I buy from regularly discounted me $30 on a $170 purchase (which was already a great deal for the books in question), without me even asking him. All because I talk to him without acting like a jerk-off. He even asked to take a look at my want-list, told me which he had, and asked me to send him an e-mail telling which to bring to the next show. At which point, I'm certain to get another good discount. buttock 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCheli Posted January 30, 2020 Author Share Posted January 30, 2020 2 hours ago, RonS2112 said: This. I swear I don't know what's wrong with some of you people. Go to cons regularly. Develop a relationship with the guys you regularly buy from. Get their e-mail address and get on their mailing lists. You'll find that: a) most will send out e-mails prior to the next con telling you what big-ticket books they're bringing, b) will be happy to bring anything you ask, if they have it, and c) give discounts to regular customers. Went to a show this past Sunday, and a guy I buy from regularly discounted me $30 on a $170 purchase (which was already a great deal for the books in question), without me even asking him. All because I talk to him without acting like a jerk-off. He even asked to take a look at my want-list, told me which he had, and asked me to send him an e-mail telling which to bring to the next show. At which point, I'm certain to get another good discount. I definitely have regulars at different shows and I try and bring books that I know they would like. I also know that some shows I need to bring my loincloth boxes (Conan, Kazar, Tarzan, etc), and others where I leave them home. And my regulars always get a discount off my already low, low prices. I know how much I have in on certain books, and if somebody has spent $1,000 with me last year on 50-cent and $3 books, I'm surely going to continue to give him a break, because my cost on those comics are really pennies. porcupine48, The Lions Den and RonS2112 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttock Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 On 1/27/2020 at 2:24 PM, RCheli said: ...do you take into consideration what you're paying compared with other means? For example, if you're buying on eBay, you need to add in shipping and taxes. If you're buying at an auction house (Heritage, ComicLink), you have those plus a (not insignificant) buyer's premium. I often have to compete (as do others selling at shows) with a price that is not actually the real price. So a $60 graded comic on eBay may actually turn out to be closer to $80 after taxes and shipping are added in. And that same cost consideration is not included in the GPA price either. ("You're asking $120, and I only pay 90-day GPA when I buy, which is $100." "Yeah, well, good luck actually paying only $100 for that comic when you complete the sale." Customer walks away.) And while I don't really deal in big-ticket books, that price differential can get pretty considerable with the hefty priced keys. Thoughts? I'm happy to pay a premium to good dealers. That premium pays for their work finding these books and bringing them to me. To nickel and dime someone seems petty. But I'm almost always buying something for my collection, which means that I don't mind paying a bit more for the pleasure of owning the book. If I were a flipper, I would assume that I would be more picky, but that's not what I'm in this for. Same principle applies when I'm selling books to a dealer. I recognize they have a margin and I try to price things fairly. I'm not going to get taken, but if it's not something that I want in my collection, I'd rather have the money and turn it into something I do want. Even if I lose a few bucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William-James88 Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 12 minutes ago, buttock said: I'm happy to pay a premium to good dealers. That premium pays for their work finding these books and bringing them to me. To nickel and dime someone seems petty. But I'm almost always buying something for my collection, which means that I don't mind paying a bit more for the pleasure of owning the book. If I were a flipper, I would assume that I would be more picky, but that's not what I'm in this for. I would be hard pressed to think of why a flipper would go to a convention for premium books. Maybe scour the dollar bins for overlooked keys. Anyways, I agree with you Buttock (ha!). I actually much preffer buying books at conventions. Granted, being a golden age collector, there is basically just Harley at the oes I go to, but he prices things fairly and the fact that he doesn't bother converting the currency for non keys in Canada is an automatic 30% discount for me, so that is most kind of him. Speaking of him, he too expressed the issue of having a void not filled by new collectors. Not for keys, those are always in demand, but for the other books, like the Fawcett stuff I collect, which means prices haven't gone up in 15 years (and he's one of the contributors to the price guide). In return, I am in the camp where my want list is really small. There are just a few GA Detectives I want along with a few Fawcett books and I have never seen them in a show. Nothing expensive, just not stuff I ever see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttock Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 5 minutes ago, William-James88 said: I would be hard pressed to think of why a flipper would go to a convention for premium books. Maybe scour the dollar bins for overlooked keys. Anyways, I agree with you Buttock (ha!). I actually much preffer buying books at conventions. Granted, being a golden age collector, there is basically just Harley at the oes I go to, but he prices things fairly and the fact that he doesn't bother converting the currency for non keys in Canada is an automatic 30% discount for me, so that is most kind of him. Speaking of him, he too expressed the issue of having a void not filled by new collectors. Not for keys, those are always in demand, but for the other books, like the Fawcett stuff I collect, which means prices haven't gone up in 15 years (and he's one of the contributors to the price guide). In return, I am in the camp where my want list is really small. There are just a few GA Detectives I want along with a few Fawcett books and I have never seen them in a show. Nothing expensive, just not stuff I ever see. Flippers go everywhere. They're like roaches. I'm running into the same thing where my want list is dwindling, especially when you factor in prices. But that's part of the reasons I go to shows, I always find new cool stuff I didn't know about. Especially by flipping through the books. The last 3 Cal Comic Con's I've gone to I've been over budget within 5 minutes of the doors opening. Usually before the show even starts. mec3437 and The Lions Den 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post blazingbob Posted January 30, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted January 30, 2020 (edited) There will come a time when collector's/dealers need to share their experience or this hobby/business will go to the grave with them. I understand the need to protect what you know and my wife is always yelling that I'm a little to forthcoming with information but if somebody doesn't share with the younger generation then there will be NO future. What the younger generation needs to learn is that experience isn't FREELY given. If you want to learn you need to EARN. Making money for that dealer/splitting deals/bringing something to the table other then your hand out can work out for the both of you. I have very few partners but the ones I do work with have taught me a lot and I hope the same is true from my side. If the partnerships weren't successful we wouldn't be doing more deals. Edited January 30, 2020 by blazingbob F For Fake, The Lions Den, ADAMANTIUM and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lions Den Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 On 1/29/2020 at 11:23 AM, blazingbob said: If you are coming to most shows looking for hard to find books I can go a whole year without seeing certain types of material and I'm doing 15+ shows a year. I can imagine how expensive that must be. I'd be pitching a tent on the convention floor and eating cold pork and beans for supper... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine48 Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 (edited) 13 minutes ago, The Lions Den said: I can imagine how expensive that must be. I'd be pitching a tent on the convention floor and eating cold pork and beans for supper... Beans WITH pork.Ladeeda,pretty bougie! Edited January 30, 2020 by porcupine48 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan. Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 17 hours ago, The Lions Den said: I'd be pitching a tent on the convention floor I hope you are wearing sweatpants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE_BEYONDER Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 On 1/30/2020 at 11:17 AM, theCapraAegagrus said: theCapraAegagrus and The Lions Den 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
