Things happening.

So I've been trying to think of how to talk about this.

First of all, things are going very well. Very well indeed. We've done surprising business--tourists are still coming to town and, if anything, are spending more than usual. Every category was up last month except comics. Comics just haven't gotten up to speed yet--less comics coming in means less comics sold.

The plague has affected the comic industry more than the other things we do--and having to adjust to a new distributor for DC comics hasn't helped. Diamond Comics has changed the way they ship, which has quadrupled our postage. I'm not sure this is sustainable in the long run. Right now, we're doing so well in other categories that we're all right, but really--it's cutting into the profit margins on comics in a major way.

Right now, I'm taking a wait and see attitude.

Books have truly taken off. We're selling at basically twice the level of last year. I've set up accounts with three new distributors, giving us better discounts. I'm enjoying the process--I do have a lot of knowledge about books, not just about books I've read. But I'm constantly surprised myself by how many books I've read. I must have spent every spare moment reading when I was young.

Shipping is immediate and free with book distributors, which is another reason to concentrate on them for the moment.

So the big change has to do with the rest of the iceberg.

Our landlord has decided to change the plumbing downstairs. They informed me that I needed to clear out my biggest storage room.

Some of you have probably heard of the legendary "Basement Comics." I also held onto a large number of sports cards and a ton of used books. Mostly this stuff is out of sight, out of mind.

There is value there--if we had the time and infrastructure in extract it. I've been trying for years to think of a way to do so. Just putting them out for sale would mean letting ourselves get "cherry-picked" to death, leaving the vast bulk of the material still there. I let people peruse the comics over the years with the understanding that they wouldn't cherry-pick, but every single person pushed the limit and usually went beyond what I was comfortable with, so about 10 years ago I quit letting people down there.

I've been ripped off over the years because the comics weren't locked away. I've had neighbors (no one currently) and random strangers (neighbors leaving the side door open despite my objections) taking stuff out of there. It was pretty disheartening.

Like I said, there is a lot of saleable stuff down there--if I was internet savvy, if I had the time and energy. But I've devoted my time and energy to making the store work. If I've had any extra time and energy, I've devoted it to making what I'm doing work even better.

The store is entirely functional and sustainable at reasonable effort selling mostly new material, without buying collections. 

Frankly, I'm not interested in the steep learning curve it would take to sell online.

So that said, I decided to approach others about taking all the stuff out of the basement.

I figure I have the equivalent of 175 long boxes (300 ct) of comics once everything was consolidated, or over 50,000 comics. I also have about 25 long boxes upstairs and in the hallway, which I'm keeping.

I've found a purchaser of the entire downstairs comic collection at a price I think works for both of us.

Meanwhile, I probably have a couple hundred thousand sports cards downstairs, which I'm letting someone take--with the understanding that if he finds value in it, he'll pay me later. Years ago, I sold (for next to nothing) 600,000 commons to someone who was going to wallpaper their restaurant. These are mostly 80s and 90s cards, so not worth much in the current market.

I have a ton of non-sports cards too, but I think I might be able to still do something with those.

Finally, I have what I consider a "starter set" for a complete used bookstore. All the shelving and enough books to get going. I figured that once I retired, if I got bored enough, I might do a small used bookstore to keep me busy.

I did offer the books to a guy who has a Powell's sized store in another city but he wouldn't take them for any amount of money--even free. (Not sure whether I would have let them go for free, because of the above daydream.) Used books are a drug on the market right now.

If anyone wants to open a used bookstore in another town, just let me know.

We have a second storage room that is out of the way of the plumbing. With the comics and cards gone, we have plenty of room to store the rest.

It's a bit of a relief. The downstairs has always been nagging at me. This is a nice clean break, and I'm not going to look back.