Let's face it, there are too many conventions. If you honestly had to go to every show within a 100 mile radius of your home, you would probably be going to a show 2-3 times a month. Which, don't get me wrong, it may not seem bad from a visitor stand point, but as a retailer, imagine loading up your vehicle at 7 o'clock in the morning, driving for an hour, then unloading about 24 long boxes of books by yourself. Later in that evening what you don't sell, you have to load back up and take back home. Most retailers will lower their prices or make bulk sales at the end of shows just so they wont have to do this. Without the right tools or help, doing a job like this takes it's toll on the body after a while. Thankfully, my experiences have been few and far between, but remember, as a retailer it's your job to be at as many shows as possible. And not every show is a guaranteed cash cow waiting to be milked, but more on that later. Usually when you arrive there is always a mad rush of other retailers fighting over the best parking spots to unload their merchandise easily. So when you aren't loading long boxes on a dolly, you are weaving through a crowd of over caffeinated testosterone. Once you arrive at your table for the day you finally come to the Earth shattering conclusion that you now have to not only set up your table with merchandise, but set up a display rack behind the table, put prices on everything while trying to maintain a small walkway through your area without effecting the retailer right behind your designated spot. This can be a very grueling task, but it also inspires a lot of creativity when deciding which books go where on your wall.
So, we are all set up now and awaiting for the last half hour before the show starts and people start flooding into the room. Time to stop and take a breather.---Wrong! we are retailers and as such we are always on the hunt for a good deal, something to flip and turn into a profit. This very well could be the most important part of your day. Before the show starts, this is when it is important to get first choice on books that haven't been picked through yet. Don't ask me how, but there is an art to this. Sometimes it's just dumb luck, but mostly it comes from knowing who the other retailers are and which ones have never been to conventions before. During this time deals can be made with other people to buy them out at the end of the day to increase your stock, but it also means that you may break even for the day once all the money has settled.
The doors are open now, and depending on the promoter, something you can't control, the show may do really well or fail horribly. Usually the true book seekers will be there first in line to try and find the books they want before they are snatched out of the dollar bins and later on in the show people will trickle in just to see what the big fuss is about. It really doesn't matter how many people show up at a convention you are working at, it only matters that they buy a lot or something expensive. I know that may sound harsh, but it only takes one sale to make your day worth while. Obviously if the show has a high attendance then you know the promoter was doing their job, but as a retailer you need money to eat, and let's face it, people without pockets in their spandex Deadpool costume are not there to buy things.
With a few sales under your belt, (hopefully) you see the promoter of the show walking around collecting cash. All that money you have worked so hard for is about to pay off those tables you are working at. Depending on the convention and how many tables you have, you may be looking at anywhere from 50 dollars a table to 150 dollars. So, not only are you back to square one and out a few books, but you still have to pay for gas and food and take into consideration what your time was worth today that you could have been spending elsewhere. This is why as a retailer you have to consider what you bring to shows very carefully. To a retailer there is a method to everything they do and most without a method fail horribly at this. I haven't been doing it long enough to understand it fully, but from my experiences, this is what I have gathered.
1. Bring something flashy to bring in your customers. If you look like a creepy guy selling ice-cream to children, no one will come to your table. However if you have a nice collection of books that are well labeled and have something that a passerby will stop to ask the price on, usually if they can't afford the expensive thing they want, they may impulse buy a cheaper book as a way of thanking you for your time.
2. The more expensive books are your meat and potatoes. You should be able to sell at least one or two of these books and make a profit for the day. They should be books that everyone is looking for, even if you hate the character or book yourself, someone will buy it and make your life much happier. The other books or merchandise you bring should be what pays for your tables and gas. In reality it is only the more expensive books that you are actually trying to sell anyway, so make deals when you can to move that product, and if you overprice your books, only do that so when the customer asks you if you would be willing to go lower, you would be more than happy to come down a few bucks. Everyone is happy.
3. You will be asked if you have any X and, or Y books. If you don't know if you have something that someone is looking for, just be honest with them and tell them you don't know, but tell them you will keep an eye out for that book and even go as far as telling them you saw that book at another person's table. Not only are the people you work besides connections you will want to have for purposes of moving product, but you will have to deal with these people at other conventions on a regular basis. The customer service you give to someone by greeting them at your table is meant to spark a conversation to engage in a possible sale, but you aren't expected to know every little thing you brought with you. (Unless you sell action figures... then you should always know.)
I would like to say that at the end of the day when it's time to close up shop your work is done, but in reality, it only means you have to start working again. Not only must you load up what you didn't sell, but you may be taking even more home with you if you bought out someone else's booth. This tends to happen quite often and if you looked really hard, you may see the exact same boxes of merchandise passed around between two or three retailers at different conventions.
I really hope this helps anyone who is thinking about jumping into the comic book retailer scene. Work like this has a great appeal to many people, and there are a lot of factors to be figured in before you should consider setting up a booth at a convention. If you enjoyed this article please hop over to my facebook page and give it a like, share or comment. Thanks for reading, until next time...
