A Career Comic Shop Owner...

[Beyond Batman]

I've always wondered how much comic book shop owners make a year. Does anyone have any insight as to how profitable being a comic retailer is? Assuming typical comic shops sell statues, toys, card games, and comics, how much profit do they really make?

[MR.MXYZPTLK]

:rolleyes2 yeh ive been wondering that as well

[James Meeley]

Well, there's an old joke among comic retailers, about there being a reason that you don't see any comic shop owers in the Fortune 500. ;)

Honestly, if you are looking to go into comic retailer for profit, you are getting into it for the wrong reasons. I'm not saying there's no money to be made, but you aren't going to "get rich" doing it.

As for the shop I'm at, well, last year we did about $80,000 in comic sale in our town. Then, add about another $20,000 from our eBay sales and you get a picture of the profitablity of it (at least for us). At least in a small town (we have about 85,000 people in ours). We also sell a variety of other items, too, which helps offset the overhead of running our three locations in town, plus our eBay listings.

Still, even just taking the costs of the comics themselves, I doubt we'd be able to keep more than one location open, if that was all we sold. So, I guess it just goes back to my original point. Don't get into comic retailing for the money. You'll only end up disappointed. There's a reason so many comic shops are started by fans. You need to have a love of this stuff, if you want to have the will to survive. You can make a living at this, but it's not easy, nor is it for those easily discouraged.

I don't know if this gives you the kind of answers you were looking for, but I hope it's given you some insight. :)

[Beyond Batman]

Well, there's an old joke among comic retailers, about there being a reason that you don't see any comic shop owers in the Fortune 500. ;)

Honestly, if you are looking to go into comic retailer for profit, you are getting into it for the wrong reasons. I'm not saying there's no money to be made, but you aren't going to "get rich" doing it.

As for the shop I'm at, well, last year we did about $80,000 in comic sale in our town. Then, add about another $20,000 from our eBay sales and you get a picture of the profitablity of it (at least for us). At least in a small town (we have about 85,000 people in ours). We also sell a variety of other items, too, which helps offset the overhead of running our three locations in town, plus our eBay listings.

Still, even just taking the costs of the comics themselves, I doubt we'd be able to keep more than one location open, if that was all we sold. So, I guess it just goes back to my original point. Don't get into comic retailing for the money. You'll only end up disappointed. There's a reason so many comic shops are started by fans. You need to have a love of this stuff, if you want to have the will to survive. You can make a living at this, but it's not easy, nor is it for those easily discouraged.

I don't know if this gives you the kind of answers you were looking for, but I hope it's given you some insight. :)
Thanks for the response, your answer was what I was looking for. :)

Considering you live in a small town, what would you say a high volume store could rake in located in a big city?

I understand people that enter into the comic book biz aren't in it to be multi-millionairs, and that all shop owners get into it because they are fans at heart, but in the end it's still a business. No one in their right mind enters a business not looking to make a profit. It's an investment.

[James Meeley]

Thanks for the response, your answer was what I was looking for. :)

Considering you live in a small town, what would you say a high volume store could rake in located in a big city?

I understand people that enter into the comic book biz aren't in it to be multi-millionairs, and that all shop owners get into it because they are fans at heart, but in the end it's still a business. No one in their right mind enters a business not looking to make a profit. It's an investment. Well, it's natural that you start a business to profit. But with comics, as with any entertainment venue, you need to have more than the simple business to profit ratio in you. Especially since, as a source of entertainment, your business will be one of the first hit, if folks hit rough times. You need to have something else to keep you striving, beyond the allude of profit. That's all I was getting at.

As for the volume of a big city? I don't know. It's not exactly an easy thing to calculate. But just as a ballpark guess, in a major city (like New York or Chicago, for example), I'd say you could probably do more than double the figure of my shop(s) (figure around $250,000). Still, while that all sounds like a huge amount, when you count in the cost of your product, overhead expenses (rent, power, incidientials like paper, a cash register, tables and other furniture, ect.), and the possibility of payment for other employees, that amount doesn't go as far as you think.

Like I said before, this isn't something you'll get rich at doing. You can make a living, but you are going to have to hussle and work hard. There's not much room for slacking (despite how the Simpsons "Comic Book Guy" makes it appear). There's a reason so many shops went under without the bubble of speculation that burst in the mid-90's. You have to have a love of this stuff (not just a passing fancy, but a true love) or you will never make it.

That's about the best advice I can give you on the matter. :)