San Diego Comic Con: Can selling exclusives recoup travel expenses?

[Tenbrouck]

I will be in California for a conference and have purchased a Thursday ticket for the San Diego Comic Con. My airline ticket (round trip) is $339, hotel is $160, and there still is rental car, food, and other amenities still to pay for. I'm looking at a close to $800 trip, at least.

IF I buy some exclusives at the Convention, can I recoup SOME of the travel costs? Has anyone done this? And if so, any suggestions or tips?

[Avatar_of_Chaos]

Plenty of people have done it. Some have failed, others prospered.

[shawnspookcity]

Just chalk up $800 to having a nice time in San Diego and don't worry about spending your entire day trying to get a few exclusives to sell.

[ChrisM]

It will certainly depend on which exclusives you get.

[Avatar_of_Chaos]

the other issue being the added expenses of acquiring the items you're looking to offload as well as shipping them back home.

and even then there's still the lagtime associated with turning over your items.

[Spawnomite]

Good luck.

[zurita54]

Once you factor in time spent in line, entrance fee, and the money for the exclusives you're better off just enjoying your time here since you are on a business trip anyways.

[crowinghorse]

Simple answer - no. Not unless you spend your entire time hunting the hard to find exclusives - ie: waiting in lines all the time, etc.

Just go to have a good time...it's well worth the money.

[Spawnomite]

Simple answer - no. Not unless you spend your entire time hunting the hard to find exclusives - ie: waiting in lines all the time, etc.

Just go to have a good time...it's well worth the money.Ditto

[Naughty Messiah]

No, the scalpers are there in force. They have tons of people buying tons of items for them. You could waste all your time trying. It's up to you.

It's easier and cheaper to just buy stuff on Ebay than at the actual con. :rolleyes:

[Shamrock]

Wait, if you're there for a conference, couldn't you write off a lot of your travel and hotel expenses as work related?

[Filthyrich]

Wont cover the total cost but it will lighten the blow. Like crowning horse said you dont wanna be in lines all day but if your gonna be buying stuff for your personal collection you might as well grab a few extras

[Aviator]

Like everyone slse said, it's really not worth it. You're going to have to spend all day waiting in lines if you want to recoup that much money, and with the number of scalpers it's not a guarantee. Might as well enjoy yourself instead of hating your trip.

[JayDouble]

Simple answer - no. Not unless you spend your entire time hunting the hard to find exclusives - ie: waiting in lines all the time, etc.

Just go to have a good time...it's well worth the money.

Ditto

Agreed.

You could spend the whole time at one place trying to get exclusives; ie Hasbro or Mattel. Also being there one day won't allow you the time to get everything, it's not humanly possible. I say go and enjoy the show.

[classic]

ive tried to help people before and trust me its a waste of your time. just go and have fun and do what you want to do. it sucks having to wait in lines and waste time for people you dont even know, and then when you do sell them the figures they complain about not getting c+s. no one ever realizes the amount of work that goes into it to get them figures and most are always so unappreciative.

[lownax]

I went last year for the first time, and would have to agree with everyone here. Between Hasbro and Mattel you won't be able to get enough to break even. Both of their lines are 2-3 hours long. Who's to say they won't do raffle tickets this year? If so, you won't be happy.....Good Luck!

[Manga_Spawn]

Basically if you are already going to buy some exclusives you can buy a couple of the ones you are trying to get. Then by selling those you can sometimes cover the money you spent on toys. You would have to get some of the much higher end exclusives and ebay them while you are at the con. This means a ton or work and your entire day wasted in lines. I tried to get stuff for people but now I just go for myself and sell any doubles on ebay. People here always give you crap and you can waste your entire trip sitting in a line when there is so much more to do.


My guess is that this will be your first trip to SDCC and so you really have no clue what you are in for. Thursday is the slowest day of the con but even then there are thosands of people there and hundreds if not thosands of booths. There is no way for you to get numerous exclusives and see much of the con in one day. I say go and enjoy your trip. Plan out what exclusives you want to get, get there early and get them first then just walk around and enjoy the con. Trust me you will be overwhelmed just sit back and enjoy and plan to go the full time next year.

[Matches Malone]

You must be willing to club baby seals and behead puppy dogs to achieve this.

[THE OCTOPUS]

Basically if you are already going to buy some exclusives you can buy a couple of the ones you are trying to get. Then by selling those you can sometimes cover the money you spent on toys. You would have to get some of the much higher end exclusives and ebay them while you are at the con. This means a ton or work and your entire day wasted in lines. I tried to get stuff for people but now I just go for myself and sell any doubles on ebay. People here always give you crap and you can waste your entire trip sitting in a line when there is so much more to do.


My guess is that this will be your first trip to SDCC and so you really have no clue what you are in for. Thursday is the slowest day of the con but even then there are thosands of people there and hundreds if not thosands of booths. There is no way for you to get numerous exclusives and see much of the con in one day. I say go and enjoy your trip. Plan out what exclusives you want to get, get there early and get them first then just walk around and enjoy the con. Trust me you will be overwhelmed just sit back and enjoy and plan to go the full time next year.
.
yep

[BIGMAC2570]

have a blast..every year I want to make the trek to go to 1 of these, but the wife and kids would never understand the meaning of going..

I had to pull teeth 1 year just to get the wife to attend the NFL HOF with me..the kids on the other hand love it.

[Naughty Messiah]

I still have a bunch of SDCC "exclusives" I want to sell from years past. Just click the link in my sig... very cheap! (Shameless plug)

You can't get rid of these things... :rolleyes:

[Mack]

have a blast..every year I want to make the trek to go to 1 of these, but the wife and kids would never understand the meaning of going..

There's plenty of other things to do in San Diego. Just send them up to Disney Land and go to the Con :D