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Rhyno posted:Currently Marvel outsells DC. Our DC sales are composed of 70% Batman books. Yep, us too, though wonder woman does fairly well too. Star was marvel is super popular here out of the Marvel titles. But yea you have to be connected to Batman to sell if you're a DC title for the most part. Walking dead and Saga are the best selling titles that aren't part of the big two.
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Apr 10, 2016 18:09
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Walking Dead does well for us as well. Sales on Saga are slipping a bit. Batman is (was) my best seller overall. Followed by JL. But I've had 12 preorders drop Batman since #50 and numerous people are asking when the JL arc is over so they can bail for Rebirth. Marvel sales are all over the map but Invincible Iron Man is the current top dog for us looking at today's sales figures.
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Apr 10, 2016 19:00
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On the previous page someone mentioned that a comic shop/game shop/brewery combination had opened. Now you often see the first two together but brewery seems like an unusual addition. Does anyone else know of any strange comic shop + something combinations?
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Apr 10, 2016 19:00
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Starsnostars posted:On the previous page someone mentioned that a comic shop/game shop/brewery combination had opened. Now you often see the first two together but brewery seems like an unusual addition. Does anyone else know of any strange comic shop + something combinations? Three of our local comic shops in Orlando have things like this. Two (A Comic Shop and Acme Superstore) have large event spaces where they host concerts, comedy shows, art classes, book clubs and other meetings, children's parties, and even a nerd wedding or two. Of these, A Comic Shop has a permanent bar where you can order sodas, snacks, beers, and custom grilled cheese sandwiches. They call it the Geek Easy, since it's a "secret" room in the back, like a speakeasy. Our newest comic shop, Gods and Monsters, is gigantic. Square footage-wise, it's one of the largest comic shops in the nation, and a lot of production value went into making it look cool -- Arkham Asylum facades, etc. They also have a bar where you can get snacks, drinks (including beer), and even noodle dishes -- probably ramen and stuff, since ramen is super-trendy here among foodies and otaku types alike. They also have a large seating area with restaurant-style booths, away from the merchandise, but probably also well-suited for hosting events.
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Apr 10, 2016 19:29
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I've heard that G&M is hemorrhaging money pretty badly and that a lot of stuff is prices way over SRP. I do want to get down there and check it out though.
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Apr 10, 2016 19:39
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Rhyno posted:I've heard that G&M is hemorrhaging money pretty badly and that a lot of stuff is prices way over SRP. I do want to get down there and check it out though. Everything is marked up, yes. But it doesn't help that they opened in one of the worst malls in Orlando, on the edge of our very touristy part of town (International Drive, gateway to the theme parks), but the less-traveled edge that tourists and locals alike avoid. The mall has a few big anchor stores like a Bass Pro Shops and a Western wear store that attract rednecks, but the rest has been made over into a weird real-life Etsy/craft fair with small booths hosting local artists and craftspeople hawking small-batch, homemade goods. And there is also the saddest Fuddruckers ever, and that used to be my favorite burger joint. If you ever find yourself in Orlando, let me know, and I'll take you to lunch somewhere awesome and show you all the good comic shops. Big Bad Voodoo Lou fucked around with this message at 19:50 on Apr 10, 2016 |
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Apr 10, 2016 19:46
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Rhyno posted:Walking Dead does well for us as well. Sales on Saga are slipping a bit. Saga has the problem with being very inconsistent. Trades are pretty much by order only for the first few weeks of release becuase they're so popular.
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Apr 11, 2016 02:12
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This may have been asked in another thread, but how much of your business is trades vs. singles? Having only recently (within the last year) gotten back into comics, it seems the industry is much more focused on TPB sales than it was even 15 years ago. When I first started reading in the late 80's/early 90's, the only trades that I remember being available were of "famous" storylines like Dark Phoenix and the wedding of Spider-Man and the like. I remember Vertigo putting out trades of most of their stuff but Marvel really didn't seem to do it that often.
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Apr 11, 2016 14:57
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Lots of people only buy trades. Its probably because most books cost 5bux + Canadian, and you can get 6 issues for around 15-25 (depending on the publisher) which saves lots of money. I intend on doing this for the DC stuff I missed because I really want to read the nu52 Batgirl, Batwoman, Green Lantern titles and a few others. Stuff like Saga or Sex Criminals are mostly trades, as they're so good, people just don't want to wait month to month for each issue.
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Apr 11, 2016 19:48
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Our overall comics sales are dominated by singles. We still sell a lot of trades and keep a healthy amount in stock. I am off today and don't have the numbers but I think they're below 25% of comic sales overall. And 5% of that is probably me oh god I have a problem and I can't stop.
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Apr 11, 2016 19:56
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What do you use for pull list management, and inventory and the like? I know my CBS just has a giant excel file they use with all the titles people are getting, is there dedicated Comic book inventory software? Let me guess: No, because comic books?
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Apr 12, 2016 09:37
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Big Bad Voodoo Lou posted:Everything is marked up, yes. But it doesn't help that they opened in one of the worst malls in Orlando, on the edge of our very touristy part of town (International Drive, gateway to the theme parks), but the less-traveled edge that tourists and locals alike avoid. The mall has a few big anchor stores like a Bass Pro Shops and a Western wear store that attract rednecks, but the rest has been made over into a weird real-life Etsy/craft fair with small booths hosting local artists and craftspeople hawking small-batch, homemade goods. And there is also the saddest Fuddruckers ever, and that used to be my favorite burger joint. Is Sci-Fi City still around? That's the store I went to when I lived in rural N. Fla. Had to drive two hours to get there so I only went 2-3 times a year.
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Apr 12, 2016 09:46
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Achernar posted:Is Sci-Fi City still around? That's the store I went to when I lived in rural N. Fla. Had to drive two hours to get there so I only went 2-3 times a year. It is, although it has probably moved once or twice since your day. I actually work within walking distance of it now, but I never go. It must be great for gaming, but their selection of TPBs, back issues, and action figures is lousy, and that's how I rate a good comic shop. Plus, we're completely spoiled for great comic shops here, including several in my immediate area.
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Apr 12, 2016 13:58
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LordPants posted:What do you use for pull list management, and inventory and the like? I know my CBS just has a giant excel file they use with all the titles people are getting, is there dedicated Comic book inventory software? There are a few services but nothing beats the good old excel file. Comixology has a nifty retailer portal but only about 30 of my customers use it.
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Apr 12, 2016 14:01
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How good is your relationship with Diamond?
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Apr 12, 2016 18:09
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Heathen posted:How good is your relationship with Diamond? Excellent. Our rep is a cool dude and we don't rock the boat.
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Apr 12, 2016 18:21
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Big Bad Voodoo Lou posted:It is, although it has probably moved once or twice since your day. I actually work within walking distance of it now, but I never go. It must be great for gaming, but their selection of TPBs, back issues, and action figures is lousy, and that's how I rate a good comic shop. Plus, we're completely spoiled for great comic shops here, including several in my immediate area. I'll admit I went mostly for gaming stuff but picked up a few TPBs if they looked interesting. I also used to go to Xeno's/Borderlands in Jacksonville if I had to go north instead of south.
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Apr 12, 2016 19:19
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We recently got the Diamond RMS system that has peoples pull lists in the system so It tells us who gets what. A cool feature is that it will pop up with the current pull list stuff when you bring their name up. It's also super easy to edit their pull lists too, though you need to know the exact title of the book to add it. You can't just put in Spider-Man if you wanted to add Amazing Spider-Man to someones account, you need to put in Amazing Spider-Man.
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Apr 12, 2016 19:35
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I guess you're not old enough to have been there during the Great Collapse but do you think that it's coming again or is the comics retail industry in a good place.
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Apr 12, 2016 20:19
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They're not shipping millions of copies of 25 different variants, and they have a lot of other revenue streams beyond the floppies, so no. Here is some BS though; Because DC didn't get all its Rebirth stuff done in time for Previews, they put their own out. Okay, fair enough, but they slapped a big FREE on the cover, though each book costs the stories 50cents, they sent a ton without asking and they expect the stores to just eat the cost. Yea it's only a few bux, but still DC what the gently caress?
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Apr 12, 2016 21:20
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twistedmentat posted:They're not shipping millions of copies of 25 different variants, and they have a lot of other revenue streams beyond the floppies, so no. Say huh? The first 300 copies were free if you ordered by the deadline. After that they were 50 cents a pop. My invoice shows zero in the cost column. And supposedly we're getting a freight credit for them as well next week.
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Apr 12, 2016 22:22
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So, FCBD is next weekend! So let me give you some advice. If you ever have the opportunity to work in a comic shop, no matter what the incentive, do not help out a local library with their won FCBD event. Because when the books are initially announced DC and Marvel keep their poo poo secret, some years they haven't even released the titles until well after the fina order cutoff. So this year we once again helped out the library and they wanted 500 of the gold level DC title. Cool, that's easy. Except that it ended up being a reprint of N52 Suicide Squad #1 and now they're declining to take them because of the name of the book. Fine whatever, I will sit on them and give them away this August during the release of the film. But now their event coordinator is being a pain in the rear end and she wrote off a long lovely email to Diamond about it and since we're not technically allowed to be supplying books to outside sources we got a super lovely email from our Diamond rep. Massive headache.
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Apr 29, 2016 01:32
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Punk-rear end book jockeys! (And I say this as a professional librarian, but not a public one.)
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Apr 29, 2016 04:38
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In happier news, I'm giving away 1000 comics during the Civil War releases next week! I love theater events, very chill and everyone is super excited.
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Apr 29, 2016 04:43
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I really do enjoy your enthusiastic posts, Rhyno. I've seen so many comic shops go out of business over the last 20 years it's great to see people who still enjoy the business. It's why I go to the one ten miles from me rather than the one down the street because the kid who works at mine is genuinely happy every time I come in while the dude at the closer one clearly hates his life.
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Apr 30, 2016 00:33
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I promised I would try not to rant in this thread, the library thing just really pissed me off as their behavior has been very unprofessional.
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Apr 30, 2016 01:53
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Rhyno posted:I promised I would try not to rant in this thread, the library thing just really pissed me off as their behavior has been very unprofessional. One of my biggest pet peeves is when you're doing someone a favor and they bitch about it. I'm fairly easy going and have incredible patience but that sets me right off. You're completely justified in your post.
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Apr 30, 2016 02:32
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Did they know you were breaking the Diamond rules for them?
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Apr 30, 2016 02:41
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Aphrodite posted:Did they know you were breaking the Diamond rules for them? They did. Which is why them contacting Diamond pissed me off so much. We had another call from them today and I told them that due to their behavior they'd could go elsewhere in the future if they want to do a FCBD event.
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Apr 30, 2016 03:41
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But enough of that! So my store buys comics. We do it a few different ways, one of which is blind buying long boxes. You bring in a long box, we give you $30 cash. We don't look what's inside until we give you the cash. It's a good way to bulk of our $1 books quickly but lately people have been wanting full price outs and payment based on that. Which often times doesn't make a difference. Well today a gentlemen brought in a box and opted for the $30 quick route. I went through the box and while it was 99% crap there were these three gems in there  The Spectacular #2 isn't really all that special but it will complete a customer's collection. Hulk #182 is the second appearance of Wolverine and the What If is suddenly hot poo poo because of Jane being Thor these days. Not a bad score really.
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Apr 30, 2016 05:09
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If you ever come across those old Hulk magazines form the 70's please let me know. I need them to complete my Moon Knight collection.
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Apr 30, 2016 16:46
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Sadly I rarely see that stuff but if anything comes across my path I will let you know.
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Apr 30, 2016 17:44
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Today's score! Third Print! 
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Apr 30, 2016 21:01
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Rhyno posted: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? The place I shop at has a really nice old man running it. He's been there for 30+ years and has a pretty good group of regular customers. He is also friends with a good number of other local and not so local shop owners. I read a fair amount of new books, but I love collecting the old stuff. The sheer number of Golden and Silver Age books he can get a hold of is astounding. One of the nice things he does is that he'll let you put stuff aside for a long time until you get it paid off. The bad part is that he'll hold on to stuff for a really, really long time. He likes to joke that if everyone would come in and pay off what they owe him he could retire tomorrow. He puts a post-it on the back of the bag saying who wants it, when he put it away and how much they owe. After a year he takes the post-it off and gives his regulars first dibs. He could resell them for full price, but instead you pay off what's left and they're yours. I picked these up for a total of $320.   Thank you random dude who stopped paying for his comics.
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Apr 30, 2016 23:15
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Is that supposed to be an ice airplane he's throwing at him?
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Apr 30, 2016 23:16
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I love that the Blob is basically a slightly oversized American male on that cover. We fat.
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Apr 30, 2016 23:20
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Aphrodite posted:Is that supposed to be an ice airplane he's throwing at him? kinda looks like the planet express ship "good news, everyone! I turned all of us into ice!"
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May 1, 2016 01:58
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Heathen posted:The place I shop at has a really nice old man running it. He's been there for 30+ years and has a pretty good group of regular customers. He is also friends with a good number of other local and not so local shop owners. I read a fair amount of new books, but I love collecting the old stuff. The sheer number of Golden and Silver Age books he can get a hold of is astounding. Isn't that ASM worth thousands?
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May 1, 2016 15:31
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So, how did everyone's FCBD go? Seemed fairly busy at the places I went to, and probably close to 1000 people showed up at the busy shop in my city. Is it a fairly wide spread rule that it's 5 issues per customer? Cause it seemed like it was universal for every shop I went to.
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May 8, 2016 20:31
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The one shop I went to had a limit of four. I picked up Love and Rockets (the one I wanted the most), Civil War II by Bendis, Captain America by Spencer, and ROM.
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May 8, 2016 20:32
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