AFTER THE GARAGE SALES ARE OVER

 

My 2024 garage sales were fairly successful. I made decent money putting books, comics and other items in the hands of customers who enjoyed getting them, especially at my low prices. I reduced my Vast Accumulation of Stuff somewhat, though I still have much more stuff than I need. And the fun isn’t over yet.

After my last garage sale, I consolidated my garage sales boxes on one side of the garage. This allows my saintly wife to once again park her car in the garage. But the big fun comes from the side of the garage I’ve continued to claim for the VAOS. It will remain mine throughout the year.

We have a second vehicle. The Hyundai Santa Fe SUV I drive and which I christened “Tina Fe” because I’m a clever person. But it has weathered several winters outside the garage and is prepared to do so again. I will explain.

By using half the garage for my boxes of stuff, I’ll save four or five days I’d normally spend bringing it back into the house and bringing it back out in the spring. The plan was always to have the boxes readily available for my post-garage sales guest appearances at upcoming conventions – like the Akron Comicon and GalaxyConColumbus.

It also allows me to continue working on next year’s VAOS sales throughout the fall and winter. So far, I’ve put together nine mystery boxes, six of which have already been sold to one of my regular customers. Indeed, by special appointment, I’ll open the garage to any customer who wants to shop for an hour. E-mail me to arrange such an appointment.

Most days will see me adding a dozen or so books and comics to my garage stock. Which puts me that much further ahead for next summer’s sales. And I’ll continue putting together mystery boxes as suitable contains arrive at my house.

I am contemplating some changes for next year’s sales. I’m going to reduce the number of dollar comic boxes. Putting those comics in bags with boards cuts into my non-existent profit on them and takes time. Initially some of those comics will go into my other comic boxes and some will go into the mystery boxes. The better and newer comic books will be priced at $2, still a considerable discount over their cover prices. If they don’t sell at $2, they will end up in mystery boxes. While the mystery boxes are not profitable in themselves, they make my beloved customers happy while reducing the afore-mentioned VAOS that much quicker.

I could probably devote an entire bloggy thing to the economics of being an older comics creator who is not getting many paying gigs from publishers who pay a decent wage. In my case, I rely on my social security, reprint payments and royalties from a few publishers, convention sales, my garage sales and my eBay store. My wife and I are in better shape than most, but others are not as fortunate.

SIDEBAR: Talking with one of the big publishers recently, I have suggested they do an anthology to benefit the Hero Initiative. It would feature older creators doing stories about characters who are also dealing with age, financial matters, health issues and so on. There is so much under-utilized talent out there.

As I go through the VAOS for next year’s garage sales, I am also looking for items to offer in my eBay store. My dear friend Rob Petersen runs the store and he’s been amazing about educating me in the arcane knowledge of eBay. His packaging and pricing are second to none. Please check out my eBay listings every week. You will find some wonderful things there.

My next convention will be the astonishing Akron Comicon, Saturday and Sunday, November 9 and 10, at Emodio’s Expo Center,48 E. Bath Road in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. I’ll be writing about it in greater detail later this week, but I wanted to let you know I will be bringing my garage sale stock, which includes some way cool Godzilla swag and a few $10 mystery boxes. I hope to see you there.

Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be back soon with more stuff.

© 2024 Tony Isabella