Make hay while the sun is shining.

I made it through the week without reorders. So I'm done with August. Next week, starting around Tuesday, I can start ordering with a fresh budget for September.

It was hard not to pull the trigger -- especially since I ran out of Settlers of Catan again. I resorted to selling my own copy; and I could've sold 3 or 4 more copies, plus extensions.

Meanwhile, I still have an adequate supply of 2010 magic, even though this has been sold out at the wholesale level for several weeks, even though the resupply is going to be heavily allocated, and even though many retailers are charging more than retail price.

I've kept the fact that I have them at regular price pretty much on the downlow. Another one of my sayings is, "It is better to have the product at a higher price than it is to not have the product at all."

But I'm really reluctant to charge more than retail for anything, anymore, no matter how short the supply. I will if I have to -- if I get to my last couple of boxes, for instance.

But I'm most curious as to why I haven't had a run on magic. I figure most of my blog readers don't play magic, and most of my magic players don't read the blog, so I'm safe musing about it here.

My sales are right on line with projections right now -- actually, probably 10% better. I'm hoping that August won't do what June and July did, and sag drastically in the middle of the month. In two or three weeks I'll know whether I succeeded at turning a good profit or not -- and I'm hoping that if I do, it will motivate me to continue the process on into the fall, and especially into Christmas.

We're at that wonderful part of summer where people are just buying stuff -- mostly tourists, for whom everything in the store is new and interesting. It's a good time to lay off the reordering, and make some money, and then sit down at the end of the process and decide what I really want to reorder and what I can do without.

Also, people are in a bit of a summer routine now, and we aren't throwing as many distractions at them -- fairs and festivals and what not.

I, too, have settled into a routine. Been getting along fine with the customers. Again, there has been a bit of damage -- my Kurt Cobain action figure has been dropped so many times that the neck of his guitar broke, several torn book covers -- but I suppose it could be worse. There is still a bit of price resistance going on that wasn't there a couple of years ago -- but when you get 135 people in the door, like I did yesterday, then you can watch the people who refuse to pay your price walk off with a shrug. I really can't do the price they're asking.

I still think it's a little odd that they won't spring for a 10.00 book that they are looking for. Even if they found it used, it would cost them 5.00 or more. And, I'm really not exaggerating when I say to them, "I carry this book new because I rarely see it used." Maybe it's the thrill of the hunt. But I unless they are extremely lucky, for most of these books they will have to visit a dozen stores before they find a copy, if that. Shrug. It's their time and money.

It's beginning to look like my fall and Christmas budget will allow me to buy a few thousand dollars worth of new books, over and above the maintenance budget. I'm looking forward to picking the best books I can find. I'm a sucker for beautiful covers; even though once they reach my store I don't have enough room to display them, dammit. I still haven't run out of classics, cult, and quirky books to buy....not really all the much guessing, yet. There always comes a point when you need more product, but you aren't sure what's good and what's not. But I'm not there yet with books. Which is fun.

Got to go to work early for my last POS session. (That just doesn't seem to be happening -- my own fault and seeds for a blog another day...)