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Seeking Advice for An Odd Shop (Comic Book Forums)

  • Seeking Advice for An Odd Shop

Author Discussion
  • Posted: October 20, 2016 5:55:48 pm
  • Hi guys, I work at a shop and after recognizing "comic books" as a sales weakness I decided to take over and it's created a pretty decent profit since starting my new strategy.

    Now the question I have is a very common question.....with a bit of a twist.

    I'm trying to convince the stores owner to start carrying a retail line. He was a comic collector in the late 80's early 90's and watched comic shops shut down left and right.

    In our community there is already one established seller who has been in business for a good twenty years, and yes would be direct competition....they however do not buy collections and actually carry less back issues than we do.

    Now I believe I have covered all my bases with funding, special strategies(pre bagging and boarding/longer store hours) and incentives.(Selling at cover price in a CAD market)

    Now the real question is would you buy retail books from a " shop"?(we are extremely retail friendly.....50/50 almost)

    If you wouldn't, what would be your hangups on why not?

    Would you change your go to shop for a 30% discount?

    In short do you think this idea is feasible or flawed?

    Thank you all for any help you can provide.
  • Posted: October 20, 2016 10:10:04 pm
  • I wouldn't care where I got my books if it had a 30% discount. You could sell them out of a dumpster if you wanted.
  • Posted: October 20, 2016 10:50:14 pm
  • Agreed that there would be absolutely no issues with buying comics at a shop. Probably the biggest issue on your side is marketing to the local collectors that you have the product.
  • Posted: October 20, 2016 11:07:04 pm
  • Friendly competition is good for all. 30% might make someone feel richer than they are and they'll pick something else up from your establishment!
  • Posted: October 21, 2016 11:57:53 am
  • Connor1313 said:
    Hi guys, I work at a shop and after recognizing "comic books" as a sales weakness I decided to take over and it's created a pretty decent profit since starting my new strategy.

    Now the question I have is a very common question.....with a bit of a twist.

    I'm trying to convince the stores owner to start carrying a retail line. He was a comic collector in the late 80's early 90's and watched comic shops shut down left and right.

    In our community there is already one established seller who has been in business for a good twenty years, and yes would be direct competition....they however do not buy collections and actually carry less back issues than we do.

    Now I believe I have covered all my bases with funding, special strategies(pre bagging and boarding/longer store hours) and incentives.(Selling at cover price in a CAD market)

    Now the real question is would you buy retail books from a " shop"?(we are extremely retail friendly.....50/50 almost)

    If you wouldn't, what would be your hangups on why not?

    Would you change your go to shop for a 30% discount?

    In short do you think this idea is feasible or flawed?

    Thank you all for any help you can provide.



    In my opinion, Do not even go there. Save yourself the headaches. You are a shop. If someone brings in comics then check them out and if there's something that you can resell and make some $$$ then take it in. If not pass. Selling retail comics is not the way to go.

    Last edited October 21, 2016 12:00:05 pm
  • Posted: October 21, 2016 1:09:13 pm
  • I'm with stormraider. Best to just sell the older/used comics. I have been collecting for over 30 years and have never bought a comic from a shop and probably never will. People don't go into the comic book business to get rich (I heard that from Jim Starlin once). There are other items that people go to shops for that will bring in more (guitars, firearms, knives, etc.)
    We strike hard and fade away into the night
  • Posted: October 21, 2016 3:17:53 pm
  • When I was buying multiple comics every month there were many comic book shops all over. If I was collecting like that today I would never think about going into a shop to purchase my comics, though if you are located in a smaller town and there is only one other "game in town" I would go to you if I knew about what you provided. In the end it's your business, so good luck with it!
    Tenzil
  • Posted: October 21, 2016 6:25:34 pm
  • See the odd twist part about my title is that yes by definition we are a " shop" but I carry something like 30k in new product.... we sell retail MTG haha

    We have always focused on used items as our higher margin sales but we can't keep retail graphics cards in the store to save our lives.

    So imagine a shop that you could go into and buy a 1070 brand new in the box.

    I'm expecting a few dollars and I mean FEW dollars profit off of bringing a retail line in however I expect it to generate and help with the marketing of the back issues where I can then make upwards of 90% profit on items.

    But yeah right now with only one store as our competition and them not buying lots I think it's pretty safe.

    Thanks for all of the feedback and yes I would love to hear more opinions as I will be having a pitch meeting later next week and could use all the insight to prepare.
  • Posted: October 22, 2016 1:22:14 am
  • I've always wondered why I can't find collectible comics in shops. I don't know about you wanting to get into new comics, dealing with distributors and such, but I don't see any reason why you can't turn some good collectibles into a bit of extra profit.

    Have you thought of this. . .maybe you could work WITH the comic shop in town to help turn over some of their higher-end wall stock as a commission deal.
    Favorite Characters: Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, Captain America, The Shadow, Zorro, The Rocketeer, Jonah Hex
17 posts • Page 1 of 2
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