Posted in: Comics | Tagged: comic store in your future, Comics

What Can You Do For Your Comic Store In Your Future?

Rod Lamberti of Rodman Comics of Ankeny, Iowa, writes Comic Store In Your Future weekly for Bleeding Cool. Find previous columns here. And it's time to ask questions.

Some of what I write may not seem to be a big deal to a few people though these are just some things people can do for their local comic store.

First off, and this is a biggie for the average comic store, be honest with your comic store. Even though we tell everyone starting a pull box (a pull box is for customers wanting to make "sure" comics coming out are set aside for them so they are available when they can make it to the comic store), the only thing we ask is they come in once a month to pick up the comics. Basically, twelve times a year.

There are exceptions, such as for people in the military. Each person always says it will not be a problem, but it becomes a problem too often. We call and let them know, and often we hear nothing back even though we leave a message for them. Others claim they will be in to get the comics yet never do. If a person has a pull box and does not want what they requested ideally, they should just say so. Continuously stalling a comic store means they hold on to the comics and do not get a chance to sell them. Comics, for the most part, are non-returnable. Comic stores often order precisely the amount they believe they can sell. Often a person with a pull box believes the store can magically sell them when sticking a store with the comics.

Most stores have to pay for the comics they order within roughly a month. When we first opened, we had to pay C.O.D. We had to hand over a check to UPS so we could even sell the comics. New stores get hurt when people shrug off or drop a pull box and do not bother to let the store know. We, thankfully, no longer have to do C.O.D's. We still get people who open up a pull box and never show up again, even ones who tell us other stores wouldn't let them start one because they would not order enough. Then we have the ones who were told they needed to pick it up once a month but still do not make it in. One person had comics on hold for five months, finally got them, and thought we forgot to pull comics for them. No, after so much time goes by, there has to be a point when a comic store protects itself.

To make this a simple math story problem, say a store has a pull box where a person gets $100 dollars of comics a month. A person does not show up for two months; now it is $200 in retail just sitting unable to be sold. To continue this problem, say the store cost is half or, in this case, $100 dollars. Perhaps in itself, it seems not that big of a deal. Now say ten people do this to a store; it is a thousand dollars of store money tied up. Also, at the end of the year, a store pays taxes on the years' unsold product. The biggest drag of our time is calling people repeatedly, not hearing anything back, or keep being told yes, we want things, we will be in, then not showing up.

Another kicker is when people show up months later upset a pull box was discontinued. Why do stores do that? To protect themselves. Remember, we tell each person to stop in once a month. Then after calls and still having comics build-up, a store has to either decide to pull the plug to protect themselves from further losses or continue to hope the person will actually show up. After years of doing this, I know we have to pull the plug on a pull box rather than lose money.

In this day and age of some people believing rules do not apply to them, we have to make sure we protect ourselves. When a person comes in saying we forgot to pull comics for them after being gone for months, not returning our calls or telling us they will be in then not coming, I know we need to focus on customers that are upfront with us, honest, and actually make an effort to come in monthly or even weekly. The store owns the comic books until they are purchased by someone else. Simple communication and respect will go a long way.

When dropping a title from a pull list, let the comic store know. At times I will suddenly find a title I reordered that I thought was sold out in-store on the shelf. I look up on the register for what people actually bought for the day and figure out someone must have decided to drop a title, and after handing them their pulled comics and looking around, they decided not only to drop a title and not tell us they simply put it on the shelf where they think it should go. At times I end up having an extra copy of a comic for no reason, along with not being able to adjust the upcoming orders because I keep pulling a title someone does not want until I figure it out. I do not think people are rude when they do this; they just do not realize what they are doing.

Our Lunar Shipments for our DC Comics come from Fort Wayne, Indiana, and have been arriving before the release date, which has been great for us. Many times, Lunar arrives on Wednesday when the next Tuesday is the for-sale date. Even if bad weather would happen, we do not have to worry about it. What I like about DC Comics being so early is people coming in have an opportunity to pick out what issues they want. It takes the guesswork out of which cover some people will want of an issue. We do not sell early. We simply pull what they want for the upcoming release date and put it in their pull box. Our customers seem pleased with this. One of the many things I have learned is, even though I read a lot online about comics, the average customer does not; they simply want the next issue of their favorite series and often have no idea what the cover art looks like until the comics are physically here in hand. If you are interested in what a comic store offers, ask.

When looking through back issue bins at comic stores, please do not put back titles wherever. Finding Batgirl, Swamp Thing, and more in the X Men section makes extra work for a store. It easily can block a sale. People looking for an issue of Swamp Thing will not find it under Swamp Thing because someone decided to put it back wherever they wanted. I remember once a person looking through the back-issue bin had a stack of various comics pulled out and then suddenly just decided to leave. I was like, what the heck? It left us to find where they all needed to go back at. That is just rude.

Same with new releases. Just recently, for some reason, the last issue of Crossover was moved, covering up another title. Even worse is when somehow a new issue of Superman gets shuffled under Young Justice. With all the added words to a title, it may look unorganized on the shelf though it should be alphabetized. I understand after being open for years why people might be confused. Where is Green Hornet? It's under Kevin Smith's Green Hornet. Where is Iron Man? It is under Tony Stark Iron Man. Where is the latest X-Men title? It is under All New X Men. Where is the new Suicide Squad? It is under New Suicide Squad. Where is Dark Crystal? It is under Jim Henson's Dark Crystal and so on. Sometimes the covers confuse a person. A customer might think we sold out of a Future State 1st issue title. No, it was just the Wonder Woman cover variant which made the person think it was not a Future State issue. Too often, a person will flip through a comic and put it back anywhere on the shelf. This can also can block sales.

Remember, when leaving online reviews, not everyone is going to agree with what a person has stated. I myself do not read reviews of the store; that said, I do have customers who forward me reviews they find funny. I also have had customers let me know they have disputed on their own what a person posted negatively, and the reviews were taken down a few times. Why do I no longer read reviews? To me, it is just a time killer. Such as a person left a negative review for a friend of mine who owns an eyeglass store. The reason for the negative review? They don't carry glasses for kids. They never claimed to, and they never have. In this age of so many people having feelings of entitlement, I see no reason to get bogged down with negative reviews. Leaving a negative review may make a person feel special even though wanting to hurt a business does not make one special in any way. Dealing with large groups of people means not everyone is going to be happy. Online reviews or likes do not pay the bills. The people that come in and spend money are the important people to a business. Some businesses do take people to court over negative reviews.

Do not talk down to a comic store owner or their employees. Weird right? I have had people come in and act like because they are thinking about buying one new comic or one new pack of cards (both roughly around $4.00), we should be forever grateful because the store sure could use it. Often these people seem to think $4 is going to be what will let us pay the bills for the month. We have been open for over ten years. If this were even close to the case, I would have just let the store shut down over the years when the lease was up. I do get heck from some telling me jokingly (I hope at least), I dress like I am poor, and that is the reason. Talking down to anyone is usually a sure way not to be respected back. My favorite line is when someone asks for a discount; I say no and then get told then I must not want to sell it. If people were able to name their own price, then everything would be sold for a penny putting a store out of business. There may be plenty of people fine with this as long as they get what they want.

For some, this will be easier than for others. Pay by cash. What? Who pays by cash these days? Not many. It is what the card providers want, as many people paying by card as possible. Why? Every swipe for purchase means money for the card providers. Money made by the card provider comes out of the amount the store gets for the transaction. Some stores do pass along the transaction fee to customers. Most do not. We have the option to, though so far, we do not. I know years ago, when using the store's credit card, it was advantageous for the store because we earned points that could be redeemed on the credit card. Now the vendors we use each charge a credit card fee that basically cancels it out. Cash transactions mean no loss of money due to a transaction fee. If we could do nothing but cash transactions, we would; it would save us thousands of dollars. So why don't we? Most people do not carry cash in this day and age.

The old adage of treat a person like you would want to be treated goes a long way. If a person owned a store, would the person be alright with someone just abandoning a pull box costing them money even though they very well have no problem doing it? Would anyone be alright with someone costing them money? I have had people who have abandoned pull boxes ask for a job here. I am just stunned; if someone is not responsible enough to manage a pull box, then I sure the heck do not feel they would be responsible enough to work here.

We are still open thanks to being profitable and the great customer base we have. We still get rude people just like anyone who deals with the public, though our customers make showing up to work at a comic store worth it. Stay safe, everyone.

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