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As many know, I work in a local comic book store. We've been around for a quarter decade now and about a year ago we had new ownership, a new name and pretty much relaunched the store and became slightly more aggressive in the local comic book market. In the past I've talked about the various up and down sides to this business, what it does to my mental state and the array of lunatics we've dealt with, that won't really be the focus of this thread as I want to keep a positive theme going here. If something highly amusing happens I will share it but only if it has a positive ending. Business is booming. Our comic sales are higher than they have been in years with month to month growth for the last 10 months. Comics, trades, toys, it's all selling like crazy. We have a constant stream of new customers coming in with each major film and many of them are sticking around. But I'm greedy, I want more. More of the local market share, more reasons to bring people in the doors. So I want to start this off with asking all of you, what is the best thing your local shop does that makes you keep shopping there? Discount? Product variety? Back issues? Service? Pretty girls that work there? The need for social interaction aside from your parents? (I kid, I kid). And what does your local shop not do that you would like to see? In addition if you have any questions about comic book retail in general I would be happy to answer them.
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Mar 7, 2016 06:41
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Good back issue selection is always a high priority for me. Sure, I have my pull list, but I often browse the old stuff. Whether it's filling collection holes or something I heard about that I want to read. My shop doesn't do this but I'd gladly pay a few cents extra for a shop to pre- bag and board my pull books. Also, my shop has a small kids rack. I often take my 5 year old and sometimes my three year old. I'd like a little more variety and volume in kids books. And not just the new ones. Throw some old, 25 cent books on a spinner for kids (their parents) to buy. The crummy ones they'll fold no matter how much I tell them not to. I don't like seeing a $4 scooby doo wrinkled but I'm fine with a $.25 Iron Man or Archie getting a little hosed up.
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Mar 9, 2016 01:48
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Do people really give a poo poo about variant covers? Any customer collect the full set of Deadpool meme ones?
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Mar 9, 2016 10:59
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Ferrule posted:Good back issue selection is always a high priority for me. Sure, I have my pull list, but I often browse the old stuff. Whether it's filling collection holes or something I heard about that I want to read. We have a very extensive $1 back issue selection, I will get some pics of the area later today. The only place with a large selection is Half Price Books but they put their price stickers directly on their books! We also bag & board everything, even the $1 books. Kids stuff has been a headache for me. I used to have an enormous kids section, multiple spinner racks, two bookshelves and two half boxes of cheap stuff. And it amounted to roughly $100 worth of sales in 2014 so we broke it up and shelved the all ages books in with the regular comics and sales have tripled. We do have a segregated section in our graphic novels for that stuff but sales on those are kind of weak at the moment. Teenage Fansub posted:Do people really give a poo poo about variant covers? Any customer collect the full set of Deadpool meme ones? Yes. We have numerous regulars who are all about variants. Deadpool variants are always selling out. The Hip Hop variants are kind of a flop. Pricing variants is always a headache but the best bet s to go by Ebay price+shipping and that tends to work.
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Mar 9, 2016 15:54
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I work PT at my local one, and I think because we're in a fairy family area, plus there's a lot of foot traffic in the area when its nice out (we are in Toronto's Beaches) we sell a lot of kids books. Not to mention Pokemon. Variants are kind of odd. We tend to get them in, but what sells is hit and miss. I personally bought the Hip Hop cover for Ms Marvel and All New Wolverine, but for the most part they languish on the rack until someone who needs that issue breaks down and buys it because its the only copy we have. We don't have a huge back issue section, because sadly, its a smaller store and we devote a lot of space to collectables because they are major movers. The Marvel Legends, DC Icons and of course pop move like crazy. We are actually known in the city to being a good stop for pops. The backissues we do have are generally stuff from the last few years. We do have a rack for interesting back issues that are relevant to something that's going on. And of course the more valuable stuff. Something I'm always amused by is someone who comes in and complains there's too much non-comic stuff. Too much Magic and Pokemon, too many statues, too many toys, too many board games. Dude, in this enviroment you are lucky if you can survive on just comics. Plus I''ve been going to comic stores since the early 80s, and they've always had statues, action figures, D&D and miniatures in addition to comics. Something that makes me really happy though it the variety of people who come in the store now. We have a lot of young kids, who mostly want to buy batman, spider-man, and Deadpool. Lots of young women now too, who come in looking for Paper Girls, Lumberjanes but also interested in other stuff (i've gotten a few to pick up Hellcat and Squirrel Girl). I miss our regular Magic and Heroclicks nights, but the Pokemon sunday mornings with the kids is pretty amusing. I've learned more about pokemon in the short time I've been working there than the 20 years since it was released.
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Mar 12, 2016 08:06
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Ya know what - I do have a question for you guys who run/work at Brick-And-Mortar Stores: So, I've got a pull list, and there may or may not be things on it that I don't want anymore. But I feel weird walking in and saying "Ya know, Bob, I just don't want Captain Perfect anymore." I get that it's my prerogative as the customer, but is this a thing you guys cringe at? Like, you know there are regulars coming in and that they're buying Capt. Perfect every month and now one drops it does that effect the bottom line (drop in the bucket, I know). I just don't want to make a guy feel like "Oh crap that's one less sale/one less order". Am I being too empathetic? Too crazy? Years and years ago, I just stopped going into my old LCS. The clone thing got to me, and I started getting into indie books and being all cool and college, but I left a poo poo load in my pull box that they added to for who knows how long and I kinda regret it to this day.
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Mar 16, 2016 01:20
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BACK ISSUES 57 long boxes, 52 of which are $1 back issues. Ferrule posted:Ya know what - I do have a question for you guys who run/work at Brick-And-Mortar Stores: Some shops require you to buy the issues that are already ordered or have a credit card on file so they can charge you for the books you haven't picked up. We're pretty laid back, add and drop whenever you like but don't get pissy when a book you dropped suddenly heats up and back issues are scarece. The best thing you can do is keep your shop informed if you want to quit stuff or altogether. The way we deal with no shows is simple: You need to come in at least once a month for you books. If I see that you have 4 weeks or more of books not picked up I pause your pull list. You then have 4 more weeks to show up or else I put your books out on the stand and ill your pull. Edit: Additional Pictures Our Graphic Novel Section (one side)  One of our aisles for new books  STUFF 
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Mar 16, 2016 01:53
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The comic shop I sometimes went to [like, every few months] recently went under, due to a comic + game + brewery shop that opened up a little bit away. I haven't gone yet, but they apparently make their own beer and host D&D games and stuff and really despite having comics everything seems to be more game related. So my question is: what are the like, the ratio of profit on like, TCGs vs Comics vs D&D style games? Like does Magic earn 3x the money actual comics do? Because they push Magic hard. All their advertisements but one on their windows are for Magic [the other advertises Pathfinder, because they're host Pathfinder Society games]. They have a single cardboard foldout Captain America in the store as a 'hey we have comics' thing. I mean, their selection is as good as the other place was, and they still have all the toys and statues and stuff people collect, but the whole angle of 'lets not advertise that we have comics at all' thing just weirds me out.
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Mar 17, 2016 18:45
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Card games are major money but the profit margins are much smaller. For comics we pay roughly 1/3 of the retail price for singles. MTG on average we pay 2/3 of the retail price for booster boxes. Board games we pay closer to 50% of srp. Now that said, our store does mad sales in MTG. Fridays when we run events it's not unusual for MTG to account for 1/4 of our sales for the day and all of that is usually done in 2-3 hours. Yugioh, Pokemon, Vanguard and Force of Will have a combined sales total that comes to roughly the same as MTG.
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Mar 17, 2016 18:50
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Hello Rhyno, I think this could be a v. entertaining thread, but also one in which we all learn a little something. Thank you for posting it!!!!! I have a question, which is: What was the weirdest combination of items that a customer has ever made as a single purchase?
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Apr 7, 2016 18:23
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Squizzle posted:Hello Rhyno, I think this could be a v. entertaining thread, but also one in which we all learn a little something. Thank you for posting it!!!!! We don't really carry the super weird stuff out of previews, no Anime statues and nothing super mature because that's pretty much throwing money away on unsold merch. I did have a guy get ask for those super hero dildos a few months ago.
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Apr 7, 2016 19:18
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Rhyno posted:We don't really carry the super weird stuff out of previews, no Anime statues and nothing super mature because that's pretty much throwing money away on unsold merch. I did have a guy get ask for those super hero dildos a few months ago. Did he make the request as you were ringing up his giant stack of Owly books or anything  like that?
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Apr 7, 2016 20:37
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Squizzle posted:Did he make the request as you were ringing up his giant stack of Owly books or anything I honestly don't remember what he bought at the time. I had an older guy who shops at the store, he came in every week with a hand written list, picked and bought his books without a word. We've tried talking to but he never made a sound. Then he stopped showing up. Found out later that he had passed away and when they cleared his home they found 8 old fridges in his garage where he stored his comics.
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Apr 7, 2016 20:53
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Did you get the Plutona sweatshirts? I want one of those dumb pears.
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Apr 7, 2016 21:12
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Teenage Fansub posted:Did you get the Plutona sweatshirts? I want one of those dumb pears. We did not. The book isn't a big seller for us sadly.
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Apr 7, 2016 21:20
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Rhyno posted:Card games are major money but the profit margins are much smaller. For comics we pay roughly 1/3 of the retail price for singles. MTG on average we pay 2/3 of the retail price for booster boxes. Board games we pay closer to 50% of srp. Does selling card singles help make up the difference in the higher wholesale prices of Magic product (if you sell singles, that is) Also, do you carry other sealed product like the Commander precons? I've noticed a very small number of shops that carry Magic don't deal in singles, and only carry booster packs and boxes. Mostly they seem to be stores that are more focused on comics. They don't hold events either. Lightning Lord fucked around with this message at 21:50 on Apr 7, 2016 |
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Apr 7, 2016 21:44
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We sell a ton of single MTG, YGO and PKM cards. They definitely helps with the bottom line on CCG sales. We opened a box of Pokemon last week and got a $150 card out of it (which we sold) which covered the cost of two whole booster boxes. Like I said, we run weekly MTG and a dozen special events a year. And we have events for the Japanese TCGs 48 weeks out of the year.
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Apr 7, 2016 21:55
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Speaking of cards, is the any business in non-game trading cards these days? You just reminded me that my local comic place as a kid was much more of a card than comic shop, and It was called Card Crazy. Are there, like 2016 Fleer X-Men cards? e: Probably not if they went out of business ten years ago. Teenage Fansub fucked around with this message at 22:15 on Apr 7, 2016 |
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Apr 7, 2016 22:11
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Non Sports Cards are a really good way to flush profits away!
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Apr 7, 2016 22:34
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Related question, what would you say is the most useful stat for a comic book shop guy: Strength, Intelligence, Energy Projection, Mental Powers, Fighting Ability, or Speed?
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Apr 7, 2016 22:44
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Squizzle posted:Related question, what would you say is the most useful stat for a comic book shop guy: Strength, Intelligence, Energy Projection, Mental Powers, Fighting Ability, or Speed? According to his wikia entry, Rick Jones' highest stat is Fighting Ability, at 4. Since Rick worked in his wife Marlo's comic shop, there you go. Marlo unfortunately has no stat array.
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Apr 7, 2016 23:14
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Squizzle posted:Related question, what would you say is the most useful stat for a comic book shop guy: Strength, Intelligence, Energy Projection, Mental Powers, Fighting Ability, or Speed? Would endurance be under strength? The ability to put up with small children with a smile on my face might be my greatest power. Are farts energy projection? My boss has that one.
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Apr 7, 2016 23:15
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Rhyno posted:Are farts energy projection? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfSy5LkTeLc
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Apr 7, 2016 23:22
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It was weird as I was in one of the big stores in Toronto and saw they had the newest 3.5" Marvel figures, and almost bought the Captain Marvel one but decided against it because I could just get it when we got it in and I could get my discount. When I asked the manager, she told me that the orders for that set were canceled and Diamond now has the set TBA. So I'm left to wonder where the other store got theirs. One of the most amusing things I deal with are people calling in, looking for super rare figures and being surprised that they're expensive. Yes a Star Wars Darth Malak is going to go for a lot of money, yes i know you bought a Revan for 12bux 8 years ago, but things go up in price. Or just in general when people ask about LE statues and figures, or collected items and are surprised at how expensive they are. Yes this 3.75" Bruce Lee is $85 becuase its a LE figure imported from Japan.
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Apr 7, 2016 23:34
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A lot of the larger stores often have direct accounts with Hasbro, Mattel etc as it's sometimes easier to go direct than to rely on Diamond and their "Maybe we'll get this, maybe we won't" policy. Like the Absorbing Man Legends wave. They allocated orders for 70% of stores and now suddenly those orders were filled. I tend to get my Transformers through work because it beats going to 17 stores looking for a single bot but sometimes the shipping times are so wonky.
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Apr 7, 2016 23:42
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twistedmentat posted:It was weird as I was in one of the big stores in Toronto and saw they had the newest 3.5" Marvel figures, and almost bought the Captain Marvel one but decided against it because I could just get it when we got it in and I could get my discount. When I asked the manager, she told me that the orders for that set were canceled and Diamond now has the set TBA. So I'm left to wonder where the other store got theirs. Alliance Game Distributors handles toys and collectibles as well, I believe. It might have been from them. Which store was it by the way?
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Apr 7, 2016 23:42
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Lightning Lord posted:Alliance Game Distributors handles toys and collectibles as well, I believe. It might have been from them. Which store was it by the way? Diamond owns Alliance. They do carry some items but they don't keep the same selection in their warehouses that Diamond does. The Alliance hub is 6 miles from our store.
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Apr 7, 2016 23:45
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Rhyno posted:Diamond owns Alliance. They do carry some items but they don't keep the same selection in their warehouses that Diamond does. The Alliance hub is 6 miles from our store. Hmm, for some reason I thought they were a separate company. Jesus Diamond really does have a monopoly. They control the bulk of elfgame distribution too.
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Apr 7, 2016 23:50
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Lightning Lord posted:Hmm, for some reason I thought they were a separate company. Jesus Diamond really does have a monopoly. They control the bulk of elfgame distribution too. There's actually quite a few other game distributors that carry the same product. ACD is better to deal with but it's hard to beat Alliance when you need a game ASAP. There have been critical days (birthdays) where I've driven to the warehouse to pick up a $20 game just to make a mother happy.
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Apr 7, 2016 23:52
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Lightning Lord posted:Alliance Game Distributors handles toys and collectibles as well, I believe. It might have been from them. Which store was it by the way? The Snail of course. One of the niftiest things Diamond has is their scratched and dented boxes; for 75bux you get a box full of random stuff, mostly pops and figures with damaged boxes, but sometimes you get a jackpot, like a black series first order tie fighter.
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Apr 8, 2016 01:00
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twistedmentat posted:The Snail of course. Silver Snail has a bunch of special contracts with distributors, I don't know the ins and outs of it. What's weird is 1 million comix up the street has 3 rooms the biggest one holds comics and if you talk to to the owners they say the things they sell the most of without question is t-shirts and MTG and comics is a distant 3rd even though they have something 200 active pull lists. They say they are always at the whim of Diamond unlike silver snail that has a bunch of direct stuff and I would be willing to bet 1 million comix does more business. Does anyone know what goes into getting direct contracts? That was my highly specialized knowledge of comic book stores in toronto. If anyone wants to know what my thoughts are on the difference between page and panel and the beguiling I can get into it too.
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Apr 8, 2016 17:13
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Silver Snail is ancient, isn't it? It might not be something that can still be done today. Hey Rhyno, what percentage of your sales are Pops? It seems like when that bubble crashes, half the comic book stores I've ever seen are going to go down with it.
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Apr 8, 2016 17:14
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Aphrodite posted:Hey Rhyno, what percentage of your sales are Pops? It seems like when that bubble crashes, half the comic book stores I've ever seen are going to go down with it. It's tiny overall but I'd say it's a quarter of our overall action figure sales.
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Apr 8, 2016 18:52
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trashbuilder posted:Silver Snail has a bunch of special contracts with distributors, I don't know the ins and outs of it. That might explain it. And yea, its very likely they are contracts from before Diamond had such a complete monopoly over everything.
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Apr 8, 2016 19:23
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DC. Marvel. Which sells more at your place? 
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Apr 10, 2016 13:00
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Rhyno sells exclusively Zenescope.
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Apr 10, 2016 13:21
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My local store's specifically avoiding pops, unless someone wants to special order them, because he doesn't want to end up with a fuckton of inventory that won't sell when the bubble pops. He's also told his GW rep to gently caress off with the Age of Sigmar poo poo because no one local wants to run it.
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Apr 10, 2016 14:20
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Currently Marvel outsells DC. Our DC sales are composed of 70% Batman books.
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Apr 10, 2016 15:52
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Rhyno posted:Currently Marvel outsells DC. Our DC sales are composed of 70% Batman books. Talk about reflecting the market!
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Apr 10, 2016 17:18
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As goes wherever Rhyno is, so goes the nation.
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Apr 10, 2016 18:05
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