How to Open a Comic Book Store

Summary: Starting a comic book store needs the following: a great background and an even greater passion for comic books; deciding on what kind of store you would like to open, whether it is web-based or not; deciding on what exactly do you wish to sell in your comic book shop; approaching publishing houses and order comic books by the bulk; and finally, keeping up a network of contacts, of like-minded entrepreneurs.

For the unlearned in the ways of caped crusaders and masked villains, starting a comic book business may be a childish endeavor.

Nevertheless, starting a comic book store business is a great way of making money, especially if you have the passion for collecting these magazine type narratives. This is hardly a childish endeavor, and serious minded entrepreneurs that sell comic books can be rightfully compared to book dealers of any caliber.

When opening a comic book shop, you must seriously love comics. Nothing can be worse than going to a comic book store that carries nothing that is remotely attractive to customers, or a store proprietor who doesn’t know a thing about the comic collection. Needless to say, comic book enthusiasts and earnest collectors belong to a breed of their own, with their own usable jargon and their own fancies. A great background and an even greater passion for comic books is therefore a must.

Perhaps, after a careful consultation with your business finances, you may want to decide what kind of store you would like to open. The Internet is a great way of selling online books reaching a global market, especially since comic book enthusiasts range far and wide. Still, if you are intent on setting up a brick-and-mortar store, you need to find a suitable place that can accommodate your overhead business expenses. As a rule, a comic book store is very low maintenance, with your utility bills at a minimum. Certainly you won’t need a lot of glitzy lights and movable window displays to attract your potential customers. Also, foot traffic won’t be a huge concern because your potential customers are bound to find you even if you have a store deep in the Himalayas.

Your next agenda is to think of what exactly do you wish to sell. There are many types of comic books, and selling new editions of popular titles is always the very foundation of your money gig. However, more specialized stores are selling collector item pieces, and these are certainly worth much more than selling one or two pieces of the most popular titles. There are also comic book stores that sell every conceivable paraphernalia for the protection and care of rare comic books, so if you have a big enough of a work space, you may want to include that in your list of saleable items.

Once you have decided as to what exactly you wish to sell, you now have to approach publishing houses and order comic books by the bulk. Usually, when you get comic books direct from the publishing houses, you are entitled to great discounts. You can also sort out business if you can find reliable web-based comic book suppliers. If, however, some titles have to go through middlemen, (for example, importing comic books from different parts of the world like Japan, UK and Italy, etc.) you can expect your starting prices to be higher than the norm. Keeping your business afloat means you know exactly what the current trends are, and what the most competitive prices you can offer without going broke yourself. Try to keep a wide range and variety of comic books, keeping one or two pieces of comic graphic novels, spider man comic, superman comic, wolverine comic or an x men comic is of no work, customers need a huge catalog.

Try to keep up a network of contacts: like-minded entrepreneurs selling the same things as you. These contacts are invaluable because they can point you in the right direction especially when it comes to comic book conventions, or upcoming sales of rare and out of print comic books.