I think what got me on this trip the most is the letter Diamond sent me saying that they don't sell to hobbyists. It was like they were essentially calling me a liar. I had just talked to the representative about my issues and rather than working with me in a business like manner, they just said we don't believe you, end of story. Good way to start a working relationship.

Can't you buy those from elsewhere like another comics shop?

As for Diamond, the onus is on you to do your homework ahead of time.

From the manufacturer.
http://www.bagsunlimited.com/
http://www.egerber.com/

Oh, and I've seen other folks recommend
Charles Abar's Warehouse
1011-C Bransten Road
San Carlos, CA 94070
650-592-0875
for bags, on the basis of price. I'm not sure where you're based and what shipping will do to you.

Also, you should be looking into other distributors. FM, Southern Hobby, GAMUS -- there are a variety of hobby and game distributors, some of which will carry things you'll find handy. Diamond is very good at what they do, but they are not a one-size-fits-all-needs distributor.

Plus, you might find it prudent to open accounts with traditional-book-wholesalers such as Koen Book Distributors , The Distributors , Ingram Book Company , Bookazine , or Baker & Taylor , from whom you might want to occasionally acquire graphic novels and books of interest to your customers.

Additionally, The American Booksellers Association , trade organization for independent booksellers, does offer information and services that some comics retailers find very helpful, perhaps particularly the assistance they offer to those just opening a store .

Yes, if you're going to run a direct sales comics shop, you're going to need an account with Diamond Comics; they're the 800-pound gorilla of the industry. But there are other baskets in which you can place a few eggs, and it'd probably be a good idea to do so when you get the chance.

Not to rain on your parade, but you really sound like you need to form some sort of business plan. You are not signing a lease until you have product, just where will that store be?

Obvouisly there are many distributors and though Diamond is a sizable fish, there are plenty of others out there who you should be doing business with. Diamond is purely covering their own ass and every other retailer out there had to go through similar things. I'm sure they are still suffering with accounts going belly up and the constant excuses that they hear every week from the same handful of "professional" retailers.

Do some math before you completely commit. If you sell THROUGH $1000 worth of merchandise per week, you are taking in $400-500 profit per week. This is before all bills and everything else that comes into play. And that is a complete sell through, which will NEVER happen. If you put 40 hours a week into your store, you will probably fail. So figure it more like 50+ and do the math. Its not pretty.

Not having a store front = not having a store, no matter how you try to justify it.

Rather than calling Diamond unfriendly you should be thanking them for perhaps nipping your "career" early in the budding stages. Culling all the pertinent points from your three threads I find:

• You are a College Business Junior about to open a full time business while still in school
• You wish to open a store in a week or so
• You don't know where that store will be yet
• Those fixtures you've bought will have to do no matter what the layout
• You have no new stock to sell
• You assume your collection is actually worth whatever guide you are using says it is
• It's all Diamond's fault

What year are you in at that college of yours anyway?

You see a two month lead-in, rather than being necessary, as throwing money away. Unless you are taking over a previous comicshop, or even a used bookstore, you will need at least six weeks to get all those annoying little details done. They might seem on paper to need only a few hours work, but electricians, phone companies, sign hangers, suppliers et al sometimes have different schedules than you might think. If you are worried about two months' rent I don't think you've looked far enough down the tunnel. It's very rare for a new business to turn a profit right out of the gate. You might be thinking that you'll be the exception to the rule, but judging by your lack of homework...

Call it a bad dream. Call it "an imaginary story".

But call it off.

Yes, I am Junior in college and what is negative about that. I attend an accelerated program, which is basically all online, thus allowing me to do my studies away from the school. You know kind of like when ever I have extra time of my own.

I will open my store within two weeks. Why? Because I have did all of my homework ahead of time. When you are studious you tend to do stuff like that.

I have a store. You must have missed that part.

I have fixtures. Missed that part too. Regardless, a book shelf is still a book shelf even in a different enviroment. The same for a counter, a table, a display case, and on and on.

I normally work about 60 hour weeks doing a job that I hate, so I think this will be a breeze. I am so naive it's sad isn't it.

How can you make a statement of the value of someone's inventory if you have not seen it? That is like believing in god or something. Besides that a collection increases and decreases in value as you add in the effect of demand and demand is currently going up. Damn, I learnt something from skool.

I have no new stock because of Diamond. I would argue this some more, but the point is gone now, because my stock will be on it's way shortly.

Why might I be worried about two months rent? What sucessful business throws money away for any reason? Obviously, I have enough funding to waste money like this because I just did, but I really don't think I should've had to.

Lastly, what the hell did I do, piss off a bunch of Diamond employees?

One more thing. I have enough funding for several years, so CALL IT DONE.