tip 1: pull boxes with at least 6 monthly titles 20%
tip 2: diversify, toys, games, etc
tip 3: hold a weekly comic discussion open to anyone(we do ours on fridays from 7 to 10 and it went from 5 people to 25 people in just 6 months) also give those that come on a regular basis 25% off of books every so often(hint:announce it about an hour into the comic talk) also it may turn into more than talking about comics, this is a good thing it builds relationships and loyalty to your store
tip 4: find local people who create comics (i.e. independent creators, self publishers) and invite them to your store. buy some of their comics to sell at your store and setup in store appearances. it helps build their business and yours.

good luck

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. It's nearly a done deal. BTW, the place is very clean and has plenty of space. Subscription services are already set up the way you guys want them. The only thing that sucks is the rent, but it's in a good part of town.

I'm assuming free comics for DVD Talkers, correct?

Click here for a darn good reality check- http://www.wildpigcomics.com/comic-shop-tips.htm

Here is the thread where I got the above link-http://boards.collectors-society.com...=2#Post1805083

Wow, what a depressing read that was! Remind me NEVER to consider buying a comic shop...

Wow!! I just read that link about that store. And one of the the things he listed as his biggest problem was that UPS would ship his stuff to the wrong location. And how ironic is this, I was the running the store his stuff would routinely wind up at. That store is not that far from the store I use to run. His store actually, is very very small, & we would always wonder how on earth he stayed in business.

I can't stress this enough, to balance out the cost of rent, do LOTS of ebay, & most importanly, put a LOT of time into maintaining ebay yourself, or have someone you completely trust do it. Ebay is a godsend to the comic book retailer, but when you do ebay in bulk, negative feedbacks can pile up very quickly & absolutely kill the money you should be making on the stuff you sell.

Which also leads to another of the most important things that most people buying a store never focus on enough. If you, yourself are not going to be working at the store 24/7, make sure you have people working for you that you trust. 5+ years running a store, I just can't stress that enough, & tell you how many people we truly thought we could trust, ending up screwing us in the end.

When I had a reserve box it never occurred to me that the shop had to pay for those books weekly. Now I feel kind of bad for going in once a month or so. Sorry Geppis.

I think most of these tips are pretty good. Eventhough the store has been doing well, it doesn't mean you can try and expand on it and try and make it better.

I personally would try something to get kids involved, figure in their pre-teens. Focusing on college students will be difficult because you're losing 25% of your clientele each year.

As well as December-January and the summer. Assuming they go home.

To add to the suggestion of employees... once you start running a comic shop, you will find that you no longer have time to read the books. Make sure that your employees are well-read when it comes to the weekly titles, and hopefully on many of the independants as well as it allows them to suggest other titles. Do not hire people that don't like comics, nor should you let them work in your store unless you absolutely had to. The former owner of my LCBS let his wife work the store, and she was often on the verge of being openly hostile towards customers as she didn't like comics and didn't even want to be there, but she *HAD* to see the money coming in so she insisted on being there anyway. I can't tell you how bad his business was hurt by her presence. The new owner is trying hard to recover from the damage she did to the place.

Just wanted to thank you guys for all the help. I didn't get the store. I was beaten by another buyer (three of us were in a race to the deadline of today) by an HOUR!! The price for the store was $50,000 for all the accounts, fixtures, and inventory which alone amounted to $250,000+. The store made 45,000 to 50,000 profit (ie after everything was paid for) a year for the last five years and that was on cruse control. I really think, considering the way things went down, I just wasn't meant to have it. Thanks again for all the suggestions and help.