So you’ve flown, driven, hitchhiked several hundreds (or even thousands) of miles. You’ve got a pocketful of money and, unless your last name is “Hilton,” you don’t want to waste it. So here’s a primer on how to navigate the dark, dangerous waters of shopping at the San Diego Comic-Con.
Right off the bat, Rule #1, ladies and gentlemen, is: Patience, patience, patience!! The wide array of rare, dreamy comics available on the killing floor of the San Diego Convention Center can be overwhelming. Every book you’ve ever thought about purchasing is here, hanging on the walls of some small, cluttered booth, begging to be bought and, it seems, needing to be purchased immediately. It can make a person more than a little heady. And it can also lead to impulse buying that, ultimately, sabotages even your most well-laid plans of coming home with your more coveted comic book (and next month’s rent).
So, as we survey the other essential rules of making it through comic-con, remember the most important rule: be patient!
Rule #2: Nothing is set in stone.
As Americans, I think we’re somewhat trained to believe that haggling is a lost tradition. In this day and age of shopping at malls and mega-superstores where every price is dictated by corporate structuring and no price changes without mandate by the boys (and girls) in the boardroom, we’ve forgotten the art of price negotiating. And, if you let them, booth owners at Comic-com will take advantage of that.
Upon entering the booth of the seller with that coveted comic book of your choice, you’ll see the prices and, if you’re new, think that it’s a set price. And, quite frankly, if you try to talk them down in the early days of the convention, they’ll stick to their guns…which brings us back to Rule #1: Patience. As the weekend progresses, the sellers get more anxious to rid themselves of the overstock they’ve purchased and lugged all the way out to San Diego. Much of what they’re selling has been purchased solely with the hope of offloading it to you, the San Diego Comic-Con patron. Keep that in mind as the weekend progresses and don’t be afraid to stand your ground and remind the seller that they’re not the only game in town.
Rule #3: Don’t be afraid to play one against the other.
It’s a little-known (or little-realized) fact that many of the sellers at Comic-Con know one another. Many of them come back, year upon year, to peddle their wares and you’d be strangely surprised by how much the sellers collaborate to established unified pricing. So you’ll often find that almost all of the sellers are selling the same grade of comic for almost the exact same price. And you’ll also find that, as the weekend progresses, the degree to which these sellers are willing to haggle and renegotiate their prices increases. But this can be helped on your part. It’s all a little like car shopping. You don’t want to appear too excited by what you’re looking at. And don’t be afraid to remind the seller that he’s not the only game in town. Even though these sellers do, at times, communicate in regard to their pricing, at the end of the day, they’re each in business for themselves and I can personally attest to the fact that they’re willing to slit each other’s throat once Sunday rolls around and they stand watching potential sales slide out the door and fly away to parts unknown.
Rule #4: Research, research, research!
This is a simple rule, but an often overlooked one. It is very important that you know what you’re buying and how much the current market value for said product is. If you’ve been following the comic book industry for a while, then you’ve watched the value of books rise and fall based upon the overall market, the introduction of the CGC, the renaissance of the comic book movie and more. Keeping a bead on exactly what the true fair-market-value of Fantastic Four #48 (1st appearance of the Silver Surfer) and Tales of Suspense #39 (1st appearance of Iron Man) was like watching a rollercoaster barrel through its curves as the Fantastic Four and Iron Man movies were released. At the end of it all, one book gained in value, while the other did little more than stand pat.
So, as a Comic-Con shopper, make sure you know what your targeted book is doing outside the comic book world. Is there a new movie pending that could increase the value at all? Has the CGC census seen an increase in the number of high-quality issues being registered? Has the star of the book been slated for “death” recently by its publisher? All of these elements will influence the price of your book.
Lastly, as a footnote to the research section, remember to know exactly WHY your book is a book of value. While shopping, be careful of getting taken advantage of due to movie and/or marketing hype. Two years ago I attended Comic-Con and watched many “recreational” comic book buyers get fleeced over Watchmen hype. As much as I love Watchmen, the book is unlikely to ever become a “Golden Pony” in regard to its value because 1) there were extremely large numbers of the books printed at the original time of printing and 2) comic book collectors immediately recognized the quality and importance of the book and, therefore, immediately began holding on to them. As a result, there’s still (relatively) lots of copies of the original Watchmen books floating around. Less each year, naturally, but still, it’ll never become a book as rare as Incredible Hulk #181 or Giant Sized X-Men #1 because, with those books, there wasn’t the immediate realization of their value and, consequently, most of those issues have been lost or destroyed over the years, creating a shortage of these pivotal markers for the genre and, ultimately, sustaining and increasing their value.
Remember this while book buying. And, when the seller argues that his book “is maybe a little overpriced, but guaranteed to be the next hot thing once the movie comes out!”… take it with a grain of salt.
Okay shoppers, this concludes our “How to buy” installment of our series. Stay tuned for the next installment: “How to meet and greet!”—a series designed for those looking to come back from San Diego with a hot, new batch of business or career contacts. I’m gonna show you how to not be intimidated when you see the head of marketing for Marvel Comics standing at the urinal next to you!
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