Hulk #181 in fine...overstreet value?

[ZephyrWasHOT!!]

...and dis-infects on it's way down. Besides, anyone's toilet sprays a micro-fine mist of assmatter every time it's flushed. One cannot get away from such things.





-slym

And that's...One to Grow On.....

Mmmmm....microfine mists....

[daydreamscomics]

Thats exactley how i found that Magnus #0 at the NY show. The guy didn't look at the little stach, just asked for a count. It's great that he's so trusting, but he missed out on a few bucks that way.

On the other hand i was reading what Daydream had to say about seeing a book that should ot have been in your .50 cent bins. Do you guys agree that the seller has no obligation to honor what his signs say? I mean if The sign on the box says .50 cents, Couldn't an argument be made for a "seller beware" situation? I've spent hours digging through $1.00 bins and occasionally I find something really nice. If the seller refuses to honor his advertising, I've just done his job for him by pulling the gems from the trash. It's happened to me often enough to know how frustrating it is. What do you guys think?

i would definitely call foul on such antics. it'd be like me refusing to sell a kid an archer & armstrong 0 gold that he pulled out of our stock that was priced at $4. it's my fault for not finding it in the first place. i can say with all honestly that the hulk 181 thing wouldn't happen at our store, because we are fairly organized when it comes to back issues. i've dug through our stuff so many times i know what good stuff we actually have. the only time it would become a problem is if someone tried to switch price tags. but we keep all our higher priced books on a list with updated prices, so we'd know if that happened.

i say, know what you have, or accept getting burned. taking an hour or two to rumage through boxes you just bought seems like a good idea in my book. it's his own fault he let that book slip through is fingers.

[Valiant OCD]

Thats exactley how i found that Magnus #0 at the NY show. The guy didn't look at the little stach, just asked for a count. It's great that he's so trusting, but he missed out on a few bucks that way.

On the other hand i was reading what Daydream had to say about seeing a book that should ot have been in your .50 cent bins. Do you guys agree that the seller has no obligation to honor what his signs say? I mean if The sign on the box says .50 cents, Couldn't an argument be made for a "seller beware" situation? I've spent hours digging through $1.00 bins and occasionally I find something really nice. If the seller refuses to honor his advertising, I've just done his job for him by pulling the gems from the trash. It's happened to me often enough to know how frustrating it is. What do you guys think?

i would definitely call foul on such antics. it'd be like me refusing to sell a kid an archer & armstrong 0 gold that he pulled out of our stock that was priced at $4. it's my fault for not finding it in the first place. i can say with all honestly that the hulk 181 thing wouldn't happen at our store, because we are fairly organized when it comes to back issues. i've dug through our stuff so many times i know what good stuff we actually have. the only time it would become a problem is if someone tried to switch price tags. but we keep all our higher priced books on a list with updated prices, so we'd know if that happened.

i say, know what you have, or accept getting burned. taking an hour or two to rumage through boxes you just bought seems like a good idea in my book. it's his own fault he let that book slip through is fingers.

I knew I liked you........................

[cinlach@aol.com]

when my brother andrew was younger and into comics i took him to a local store to look around and spend his birthday money...i mean the kid had around $200 bucks so he was in high spirits.

he's about 9 and walks up to the counter, looks at the "good stuff" behind the counter and finally asks "can i see that book?"

the guy behind the counter, looks down from his CBG and says "no, you can't afford that anyway and i'm not pulling it down for you to look at."

well apparently he wasn't aware andrew was with me and either didn't see me or counted on his "imposing presence" to keep me at bay...it didn't work.

i snapped the CBG out of his hands, threw it in the floor behind me leaned in real close and said, "let me tell you something...there's NOTHING in this store that child can't afford. now hand him that book before i come get it myself."

he, of course, got up quietly and handed andrew the book.

andrew was almost in tears from what the dude had said to him and i was HIGHLY *SQUEE*.

he tries to apologize to me and i was in no mood to hear it, "listen to me *SQUEE*, do i look like i'm about to cry...apologize to him."

he apologized and gave me the old "kids come in here all the time and look at stuff and never buy" routine. i told him to go *SQUEE* himself, gave the book back and told him we were spending our money elsewhere.

don't give me the "kids look and never buy routine", i work in a comic store man. just because their kids doesn't mean they're broke, stupid or deserving of catching *SQUEE* from your virgin *SQUEE*.

i learned my lesson when a kid about 8 called into the store and asked "how much is fantastic four #1 worth because i have one?" i rolled my eyes, assumed it was a reprint or somesuch and said, "well it depends on the condition it's in...i'd have to look at it in order to tell you."

i hung the phone up, safe in the knowledge i'd never hear from the kid again, until he and his grandfather pulled up about an hour later with the nicest copy of fantastic four #1 i'd ever seen.

yeah, so lesson learned.

a customer is a customer...regardless of age, gender, or reading/buying tastes. if you *SQUEE* enough of them off then there'll be no one left to come and buy your *SQUEE*.

funny thing is this, the aforementioned store went out of business less then a year later.

thank you god.

[Daniel Jackson]

...and dis-infects on it's way down. Besides, anyone's toilet sprays a micro-fine mist of assmatter every time it's flushed. One cannot get away from such things.





-slym

And that's...One to Grow On.....

Mmmmm....microfine mists....

Do you remember the Hass doing one of those "One to grow on" segments?

[ZephyrWasHOT!!]

...and dis-infects on it's way down. Besides, anyone's toilet sprays a micro-fine mist of assmatter every time it's flushed. One cannot get away from such things.





-slym

And that's...One to Grow On.....

Mmmmm....microfine mists....

Do you remember the Hass doing one of those "One to grow on" segments?

Ayup.

Mr T did one, too.

[dave]

stop.

[davidb]

Yep. Mine's posted a sign like that, too - basically says that if it sits in your hold box for three weeks and goes up (like the IC lead-ins did) they can jack the price up. Really nice attitude, especially considering that:

1) They're the only shop in the county.
2) They're right outside an army base.

Still better than one that closed literally in the middle of the night. I was looking through some (overpriced) Silver Age stuff and they said "Don't pay too much attention to the prices. Those are base prices." Really turned me off and I didn't go back. Sorry, but ripping soldiers off isn't something that makes a fan out of me.

When I get moved, there aren't any stores in the immediate vicinity, so I'm definitely going to start ordering online. By the way, if any of you are interested, that store's up for sale. $200,000.

Don't you wish you had a billion dollars, and could open up a store RIGHT NEXT DOOR to scum like this, and drive them right out of business?

Actually, Zeph, that's one thing I'd absolutely love to do. I figure I could blow about 10 grand to pick up a couple of nice collections off Ebay for back stock, and then set up in a storefront somewhere. Unfortunately, I don't have the startup capital.

[davidb]

Same here - kind of. I've been getting a run of Infinite Crisis, and I'm going for a complete set of the Perez covers. The store didn't pull #5 for me. So I ask the owner (not the usual guy who's there when I get my books) if he has any #5s left. He points at the big pile of Lee covers he has. I tell him that I'm looking for the other cover. He points up at the wall where he's already jacked the price up to $6. I got it, but I'm still waiting. I'm looking for a new job in a different area, and once I get it I'm never going back there. Makes any guilt about some of the Valiants I've gotten from him (Solar 50-60 for $2 each, same for X-O 61-68. Magnus 60-64, Turok 40-47, etc.) go away completely.

That damn book came out THIS WEEK!!

Godd damn THIEF.

That bugs me, too. Especially since the guy who's usually in there is so cool to me. I picked up a Rann-Thanagar War they'd accidentally pulled and actually left the store and went out for lunch with a friend of mine. We got back to the store to pick up my car and I realized that I wasn't getting that mini (this was like #4, so it was pretty useless without the rest of the run). I took it back in and asked if I could swap it out. He joked a little and then we swapped out for another book from my pull bin.

Actually, when I was dealing with him, I let him know that those later numbered Valiants were worth quite a bit. His response? "You're the only one who's even looking for them" and he gave them to me for the same discounted price.

Plus the owner has a bad habit of holding whatever books you get up and banging them against the counter to line the bottoms up. Can't stand that!

[slym2none]

Plus the owner has a bad habit of holding whatever books you get up and banging them against the counter to line the bottoms up. Can't stand that!

I have actually put back a LARGE stack of books and gotten new ones because of that very "problem." The guy thought I was crazy, but I'm sorta like ZWH, there is no need for ANY new comic to be in less than 9.2 shape, and the one time I did it the guy banged up almost every comic spine in his hand (about 30 books.)

When I was on that side of the register, I always handled people's books like I handle my own - very carefully.





-slym

[comxfan]

a customer is a customer...regardless of age, gender, or reading/buying tastes. if you *SQUEE* enough of them off then there'll be no one left to come and buy your *SKREE*.

I used to set up at a local flea market selling comics. There were 2 other dealers in the place. Whoever was looking at the books was who I talked to, no matter how young, etc.
One time as a 10 -12 year old child was picking out some books, I was doing my usual "what do you read, what are you looking for" conversation to get to know the customer. His mother kept watching me. Kind of freaked me out at first, didn't know why she kept her eye on me so close (I thought maybe she was worried I was a perv or something).
The boy handed me the stack of books he had found, and I looked at him and told him how much I would let him have them for. The mother looked at me and said, "You are the only dealer I have seen that treated my child as the customer. Thank you for treating him so nicely." She then told her son if there was anything else he was wanting in my booth, pick it up and she would buy it for him.
As they walked away with his books, I heard her say "Next time, we need to get all your books from him."

One of my favorite and proudest moments from the day!

You never know how much a person has to spend by their appearance, and never forget that while young children may not have much money, if they keep collecting, they turn into big kids with more money!

Also, treating everyone with respect also makes customers into loyal customers, and most times friends. After 20+ years of flea marketing in my area, I have friends everywhere!!

Jaime

[cinlach@aol.com]

You never know how much a person has to spend by their appearance, and never forget that while young children may not have much money, if they keep collecting, they turn into big kids with more money!

Also, treating everyone with respect also makes customers into loyal customers, and most times friends. After 20+ years of flea marketing in my area, I have friends everywhere!!

damn straight...if someone is looking at your wares, treat them with the same courtesy, respect and kindness you'd expect if you were shopping with them.

i went to a convention in charlotte a few years ago with a friend of mine. he was looking to finish his green lantern run.

now when i say "run" i mean every single green lantern appearance...ever.

ever.

so as he's shopping for one of the early appearances he runs up on a dealer who has several.

chris has over 4k in his pocket and he's looking to spend it.

he asks the dealer if he can see a book, the dealer hands it to him. chris looks at it, sets it aside and asks to see another. the dealer hands it to him as well. chris looks at it, sets it with the first one and asks to see another. the dealer then proceeds to tell chris he's not going to keep handing him books all day and that he most likely can't afford the stuff he's already got.

chris, thanks him for his time, returns his books and leaves.

he then finds the books from another dealer, only more expensive then the first. he spent almost 2 grand on high grade silver age dc green lantern appearances that day.

as we were walking around the con, he says to me "let'e head over here for a second".

we arrive at the first dealers table, chris opens his bag, plops down the books, tells the dealer he missed a hell of a sale and proceeded to tell him some of the other books chris was looking for that only this dealer had. of course, chris wouldn't be buying them from him because he was an *SQUEE*. as we prepared to leave my friend remarked "so me and my remaining $2000 are leaving...maybe if you hadn't been such an *SQUEE* you'd have fewer books to pack up when you leave. i'm here every year and i never forget an *SQUEE*...i will never buy from you even if i end up costing myself more money from this point on. you'll get nothing from me but a satisfied smirk as i pass your tables on my way to spend money with someone else."

i bet the next time someone asked to see showcase #10 that guy was as polite as a man can possibly be.

impolite dealers do eventually get what they deserve...and when it happens it's absolutely glorious.

[cinlach@aol.com]

by the way...1400 b!tches!

[Daniel Jackson]

by the way...1400 b!tches!

Congrats!!

[400yrs]

by the way...1400 b!tches!

That's a lot of b!tches!