From around 2010 on I went to every show I could in the DFW area (comic, anime, toy) where Chris and I would set up a booth to sell the various leftovers of our old Comic Book Store or new stock bought from Japan and (or) retail resell. It started earlier than that (like 2000) but most of our show-going was from 2010 on. As a side note, my other friend/co-worker Chris (not long haired Chris but short haired Chris) would help as well.
In the DFW area there were only like 4 shows a year for most of this time. Chris and I even went and did a couple of shows in Arkansas to fill in the gaps.
When the pandemic hit I basically gave up and just kept to selling on Ebay.
Fast forward to last year when I started looking for local shows again… wow.
I started a spreadsheet to keep track of them so I would know which ones to try to get in on. By the end of 2024 I had about 23 shows in the DFW area alone listed. I thought it was time to try my hand at it again. I have done one so far and have signed up for 2 additional ones for later this month and next.
Shows provide a few of things:
- A chance to rotate stock.
- A chance to network (something I struggle with).
- A chance to make a little profit (and I mean LITTLE).
- Hang out with my friends (the Chris’).
- Convert my assets into cash (which is handy).
One of the big issues with shows is that some are very expensive. The small, one day ones are the best. They are cheap and you only loose about half or 3/4 of your day. The bigger ones are expensive (once we did the big Comic one in Dallas and blew 1,400 on a booth for 2 days and didn’t make the money back).
I’m hoping to do a few this year and get back into the reselling thing for fun and profit.