Timeless: Robert Yeremian, owner of The Time Capsule, a comic book and collectibles store in Cranston, holds copies of Phantom Lady No. 17, circa 1948, and the first Spider-Man comic book, together worth about $5,000.
COMPANY PROFILE
The Time Capsule
OWNER: Robert Yeremian
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Collectibles store
LOCATION: 537 Pontiac Ave., Cranston
EMPLOYEES: 4
YEAR FOUNDED: 2003
ANNUAL SALES: WND
Comic book aficionado and eBay expert amasses an impressive inventory
Today, Robert Yeremian is the owner of The Time Capsule, a Cranston store catering to vinyl enthusiasts and comic book collectors. But not long ago, he made his name with a warehouse full of used goods and an account on eBay, where he was one of the top sellers.
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In fact, Yeremian has spent more than half of his life building his business. He started at age 15, when he got his first Rhode Island business license and began to sell comics. He hit conventions across the region, selling collectibles and planting the seeds for his future.
“I haven’t had a job since I was 17,” the 34-year-old Yeremian said. “I’ve been self-employed since then.”
Today, the walls of his shop are lined with 50 years’ worth of memorabilia – records and comic books going back to the first issue of “Spider-Man.”
That piece, which he is selling for $2,500, is just one of the million comics that he estimates he has gone through since he first began dealing.
“It would take somebody 20 years to get to the level I am at today,” he said.
Yeremian opened his first store, Time Capsule Comics, after graduating from the University of Rhode Island. The store was in Warwick, and similar to his current business.
But planning to start fresh in Los Angeles, Yeremian sold Time Capsule Comics and his entire inventory in August 1998. That October, he discovered eBay.
Moving back to Rhode Island shortly thereafter, Yeremian started trading on eBay from his home. When business started booming, he rented a house and hired a few employees. Soon, he needed a warehouse.
With thousands of online auctions ending every week, Yeremian was doing so much business through the Web site that he had 10 employees and a storage area he said was as big as the Pontiac Avenue block his current store sits on.
His sales were high enough to land him in the top 25 sellers on eBay. The status caught the attention of the company, which began flying Yeremian out to places such as Las Vegas for “Power Seller” conferences.
There, he found himself in a class of his own, sharing the spotlight with vendors who mainly dealt computers, electronics and jewelry.
“When I was at my peak, there were no other large-volume sellers who were doing the kinds of items that I was doing,” Yeremian said.
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, however, people’s purchasing habits changed, he said. The market went soft, and with the high cost of operating the warehouse and maintaining his staff, Yeremian decided to bow out of the online bidding wars. He liquidated his collection, “walked away with a couple grand, and took time off to relax,” he said.
In November 2003, Yeremian jumped back into business with The Time Capsule in Cranston. He added records and movies to his stock while continuing to do what came naturally – selling comic books. He still sells collectibles on eBay, which he said makes up the majority of the business. And he looks to add inventory as often as possible, visiting homes of people looking to unload their collections. He’s looking for the same as other dealers: hard-to-find valuable items in good condition.
“The people who took care of their items walk out of here the happiest,” he said. “People who bring me in a box of comics that are all wet and ripped up, I’m not even going to make them an offer.”
But after seeing most of the state’s comic book stores close – 11 in Warwick alone since he opened his first store – Yeremian has learned that he can’t get bogged down in inventory.
Collecting habits change and items that used to go for $15 – like Spawn action figures – can go for as little as 8 cents today. Today, Yeremian still sells off items in bulk without worrying. He’ll buy a collection of 45-rpm records and let his local customers go through it before unloading the records to a store in another part of the country.
And if nobody wants them, he’s got a buyer in New York who will take them at bulk to make bowls, clocks and other paraphernalia. That is the nature of the collectibles business.
“There’s always something to buy tomorrow,” Yeremian said.
