I love comic books!

It's been a crazy week at the store. We've switched to a new inventory and transaction system this past week. For the past 6+ years we've been using a program called Quickbooks POS (Point of Sale) and switching to a new program meant we had our work cut out for us. The new system is designed by a comic book retailer and after various testimonials and word of mouth we decided to make the switch (we were going to have to update the Quickbooks POS anyway). We were planing on making the switch on Weds. April 1st but for some reason Quickbooks made the decision for us. Last Saturday I got the call (I'm the default IT guy) that Quickbooks POS wasn't opening up. Saturday is the 2nd busiest (if not 1st) of the week so I had to rush down to figure it out. We didn't have much time to figure it out so I decided to go live with MOBY, our new POS system. This meant that I had to teach everyone how to process credit cards (MOBY doesn't do that so we had to get a separate system, which now allows us to accept Discover and Amex) as well as make transactions. This was all before we finally got the chance to input the inventory. Ugh.

The plus side to this new system is it allows us to track what a pull customer (aka subscriber) has in their folder, how long it's been in there as well as easy to use sales tracking. This system is amazing!

On top of the craziness of inputting our inventory we had the Boston Comic-Con to get ready for. While it didn't take the preparation on the New York Comic Con, it did entail what to bring, getting and packing a van and various other house keeping. I drove the van down Saturday morning and set the tables up. When the doors opened at 10am, the people flooded in... to look. There were various dealers set up, from Silver Age comics, to new and used toy dealers to comic store owners selling trades for dirt cheap (more on the later). We had some hot books that had moved quickly at NYCC that people at the Boston Comic-con just looked at, pointed to and kept on walking. This is the BCC's first 2 day show, hopefully the 2nd day is better.

At the past few shows we've been to I've seen more and more comic dealers selling stuff dirt cheap, trades less than 1/2 price were the thing that stuck out the most for me. There have been deals out there for retailers and these retailers are blowing them out dirt cheap. I'm a little insulted by this. I feel it lessens the value of the books, publishers set the value of the books for a reason. I brought down our overstock (books we don't have room for or already have 2 of in the back issue bins) and I was selling them for $1 each (if they aren't moving in the back issues, hopefully I can move them to someone to get some of the money back, that's the business man in me) and within an hour of the show it was suggested by one of the organizers that I sell the books for $.50. 50 cents! Back in the day shows would showcase hot books, silver age, golden age books you couldn't find at your local store. Now it seems like local shows have become dumping grounds for books no one wants. I feel guilty selling my comics for $1, but $.50? Wow.

I'm taking each show I go to and using what I see to make the Granite State Comic Con a better show. We try to get unique guests and dealers as well as cool programs and events people want to see. We want to make the 5 bucks you spend at the door the best spent $5 you've spent in a while. If you have ideas or suggestions, please email me, scott@dmcomics.com!

Stay Tuned for some other updates...