InvstmntComcSuply

Isn't that the sort of intention behind the Probation List. As Sharon describes it - a place for naughty buyers/sellers who need a time out.

 

I think more and more it is being used as a tool to force a deal when there really wasn't one.

 

I don't think there were clearly defined terms laid out here. Communication was lacking on both the part of the seller and the buyer. Seller never mentioned insurance until later, and when it was first mentioned that the buyer would be responsible for the cost, he was clear in his response - "pass."

 

It's not like the seller clearly said shipping WILL be $40 - $60 and you are responsible for insurance.

 

I don't think the PL is a place for would-be transactions that failed based on a lack of clarity regarding terms of a would-be deal. I think the PL is for clearly defined terms that were acceptd and a party breaks those terms and cancels a deal without an explanation.

 

Additionally, not every nomination IS a valid nomination. That is why this thread is called the Probation Discussion thread. To give the accused a chance to present his side. Xela came forward and said he didn't understand the terms of the shipping and what he'd have to pay and hat was included. There clearly wasn't a deal.

 

Is he lying? Is there any indication that he KNEW what the actual shipping costs were and what was included? No. bcc has not provided any of that evidence (such as actual PMs or statements made) to support his nomination.

 

 

Well, we are not getting anywhere here. You are welcome to your opinion. There was clearly a deal and there was NO misunderstanding of costs when he said he would take it. There was no misunderstanding of any kind. Xela changed his mind and handled it very poorly and his actions since have only solidified my opinion of him.

 

 

As for your speculations and recreations on what might have been said in the actual PMs, I've already laid it out pretty succinctly and clearly. If you just gotta have it word for word for your own edification I'll be glad to send you every PM if I can figure out how to do that but it is just as I first laid it out.

 

I also don't see any benefit in speculating about what went on in a PM.

If neither side posts the PM exchange, but they don't deny the other's summary, then there was an agreement that was off by $3.

I think the buyer was under the impression that he'd be on the hook for no more than $10 for shipping costs with the book being insured. When presented with a much grater cost, he made it clear that he was out. There was never truly a "meeting of the minds" and a completed deal.

The buyer was given an estimate and agreed to take it.

Estimate was accurate.

The contract is good.

My point is that shipping costs are the costs to move an item from point A to point B. If shipping costs are agreed upon with no mention of insurance, then insurance is on the seller.

Insurance is always at the sellers risk/repsonsibility unless specifically agreed upon otherwise. A deal can not be struck, then followed up with a "Oh and insurance adds another $10 to your bill".

I replied I would do $450 but wouldn't pay postage to the UK as it could be $50-$60. I'd pay the 1st $20 and he would have to pay the rest.

 

I replied back that after packing the books and checking on usps.com that shipping was $63 for Priority Express International insured for $400;

Only issue is, insurance is seller's responsibility, not buyer's, unless specifically agreed

Can people stop buying from people who don't post grades in sales threads so that more people will post grades in sales threads? (I'm aware that just pics/scans are enough per the rules.) I just don't understand why otherwise knowledgeable experienced sellers won't post an estimated grade? Are there that many disputes and returns? Or just that many people who don't care? And I feel like its getting worse, and people just keep on buying....

 

I know I personally just assume its a VF (or worse) and that's why no grade is posted. Am I the only one who feels this way? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!

 

That is all.

 

Thanks.

I have always assumed that scans were representative of the grade. If there are defects that are not visible in the scan they should be mentioned.

I am pretty sure he has just given the book away to you if you agree to pay slabbing fees and then disclose the restoration notes. and I know for a FACT he has not refunded the original purchaser.

.

I was afraid of that with this quote: "The comic was bought and sold in complete good faith." and "I intend to everything I can to maintain the integrity of my transaction with the Buyer of #57"

I won THE AVENGERS #57 in an eBay auction about three years ago, from a Seller who does a lot of business on the site and moves a lot of Silver and Bronze books. While I am still endeavoring to find that sellers information, I will tell you that that Auction was fiercely competitive, the book brought tons of interest, and I was stoked when I won. I still paid a pretty penny for the book, I assure you. There was no mention of any restoration work having been done to the comic, and as far as I've been concerned ever since, I bought what I paid for.

 

. I don't know if the seller I first bought from knew that this might be a restored book, but as a very popular eBay seller with great ratings and stellar sales, I had no reason at that time to doubt any claims they made.

It sounds like you might have done a lot of business with this "stellar" seller.

I HIGHLY recommend that you pull any other books bought from this person and have someone with a good eye for restoration look at them before selling them. I seriously doubt any seller "who does a lot of business on ebay and moves a lot of Silver and Bronze books" misses the restoration on that book.

While this might be minor compared to the color touch/trim issue, but what about the DC Comics Presents #49 which was claimed as Black Adam's 2nd appearance. The book is probably his 4th or 5th Bronze Age appearance. I can understand him not knowing how to detect restoration but what about character appearances?

or

DREADSTAR #01 (1982)

SECOND APPEARANCE: DREADSTAR

 

So you are saying you don't know anything about restoration because you don't collect slabbed books?

 

You sell books, you should not be doing that unless you learn something about possible problems.

 

This might be a good opportunity to point out that we as a community should not assume that everyone selling on the boards possesses adequate restoration detection skills. In my limited sampling, I have found more undisclosed restoration on board purchases, than I have on ebay purchases.

 

While I don't think possession of such skills should be a requirement of selling on the boards, I would be extremely annoyed if the seller did not address it succinctly and timely, once it was brought to his attention.

 

 

 

"The seller says this "outside of being aware of a general process called "Comics Restoration," the in's and out's of restoring comics, right down to terms like trimming and color touch, were foreign concepts to me until the Discussion post-AVENGERS #57."

 

There was certainly a time none of us knew what it was. When I first sold a book on eBay I had no idea about page counts. I was just doing a friend a favor. But when someone told me I had missed a centerfold, I apologized, refunded and started learning about page counts.

 

So he knew the term before. Now that he knows there was a problem, he should just refund and start learning.Simple, and no need for a zillion words.

At this point, I will pretty much discount everything the seller says. There was no logical reason for all the obfuscation, so it leads me to one of two conclusions, neither of which are good for the seller.

So you are saying you don't know anything about restoration because you don't collect slabbed books?

 

You sell books, you should not be doing that unless you learn something about possible problems.

This might be a good opportunity to point out that we as a community should not assume that everyone selling on the boards possesses adequate restoration detection skills. In my limited sampling, I have found more undisclosed restoration on board purchases, than I have on ebay purchases.

While I don't think possession of such skills should be a requirement of selling on the boards, I would be extremely annoyed if the seller did not address it succinctly and timely, once it was brought to his attention.

Best fit for modern books IMHO is:

 

 

Standard Full back/Standard Mylite 2 bag combo.....then slid into a silver/gold Mylite 2 with a Silver/Gold Fullback.

 

Example:

 

Preacher 1, which I subbed to CGC at the Big Apple Con, this is a thicker modern book.....

 

(Crease all Mylite2's before inserting comic)

 

I placed the book on top of 2 standard fullback boards (slightly curved sided facing up, to cradle the spine).....book was slid into a Mylite 2 standard bag.

 

I then slid in a BCW silver age (same size as full back standards, just thinner) to ensure a snug fit.

 

Apply 2 small pieces of Scotch gift tape, as far away from the spine as possible.Seal the book tightly.Gift tape pops right off M2 bags, do not use regular scotch tape.

 

I then placed the preacher 1 onto a silver/gold fullback, slid her into a silver/gold Mylite.

 

For silver age books....go a size up.

 

As was mentioned in another thread, when you made the same suggestion, it is a bad idea to use a non-buffered board such as the BCW (or any other coated board for that matter) with an alkaline buffered throughout board such as the Gerber fullback boards. You are paying for the archival quality of the buffered board, then reducing it's effectiveness, by adding in an additional acidic load from the BCW board. The point of using the buffered Fullback boards is that you do not have to change them nearly as much (if at all for moderns) as traditional comic boards.

BCW recommends changing their boards every 2-3 years. Even though the BCW boards are labeled acid free, the only part that is truly acid free by the time you get them is the coating.

The only alkaline buffered throughout boards sold regularly into the comic market are from Gerber and Bill Cole.

Just one question:

 

What buyer doesn't want the best possible copy/s?

 

So why ask.

I find this odd also.

When someone is selling thousands of copies to hundreds of individuals, usually the person communicating is not the person who is packing, and if they are, god help them, as there will be no way they are going to get them out in a timely fashion and pay attention to anything anyone has emailed them anyway.

It is most effectively done in assembly line fashion and you are just going to get the books on the top of the stack when your packing slip/label is next. Thus, even more reason for Larry to cull anyone with what he feels are overly high expectations.

... I remembered that Larry was making posts like this on his Google+ page in reference to his Spider-Gwen variants:

 

"I'll screen gorgeous copies for you!"

 

"I'll screen my copies for the best for you guys."

 

It sounded like he was going to be screening the books anyway, so asking him to send me the best books possible didn't seem out of line. I'll definitely be careful about how I word things when dealing with sellers in the future.

I am sure you meant nothing by it, when you mentioned it. But from many seller's perspective the statement is a red flag. Clearly Larry is one of those sellers. Now take the assumed increase in risk and multiply that by the increase in cost of shipping to you internationally and you can understand his reaction. (just not the delayed implementation)

The word "potential" was used for a reason.

 

At not point did I state that I expected to get books guaranteed to grade at 9.8. I was just looking for ones without visible flaws. That isn't unreasonable. And do you think I want to be returning things to the US from Canada? Of course not. That's why it doesn't hurt to ask a seller to make sure he's sending you high-grade comics when he's got a stack of 3,000 or so to pick from.

It does not hurt to ask, before accepting the seller's offer.

However, this is happening more and more often, after the purchase. Point in case, I doubt he guarranteed that in the thousands of books he would be selling, there would be "no visible flaws".

It is no different than buyers who ask for special packaging, after they pay.

I don't get a lot of those, since I am mostly selling supplies, but I do get a few and can only imagine how many requests, collectible sellers get.

It is unreasonable to add terms to a purchase, after the fact. Even if you, as a buyer feel that it is a "request" and non-binding. By stating your expecation, you are reinforcing the idea in your own mind, that it will be heeded. And, many other buyers with the same statement, won't look at it as a "request" at all.

Grading companies shouldn't be handing out 9.4s to trimmed books, regardless of the label color. The book hasn't been restored, it's been doctored. They should treat all trimmed edges as if the missing edge had been chipped, torn, stained or otherwise damaged, so depending on the size of the trim, 7.0 would probably be about as good as it gets, and for a book like that X-Men #1 where it looks like at least an 1/8th of an inch was taken off all sides, a 5.0 at best. The GL is now an apparent 2.0.

There appears to be 1/4" missing on the right edge of the GL76 along with 1/8" off the top and bottom.

I understand buyer beware with that since it is raw, but how does all 3 edges trimmed and amatuer color touch qualify for "Slight" restoration on the graded (albeit from another company) X-men #1?

There is no problem with buying for resale.

Advertising in someone else's sales thread, is another story

Probably no bad intent, just a major case of foot in mouth

A while back there was a sales thread on the Boards for an extremely unique, esoteric book in a CGC slab I was interested in. The seller mentioned he had submitted the book to CGC after getting it pressed by ?? (Not Joey or Matt) . I remembered seeing a raw copy that sold on the Boards and easily found it. Anyway, after comparing the raw and slabbed pics, it was obvious the book had a spine realignment. Anyway, that is one presser (again NOT Joey or Matt) I would stay away from.

BTW, I kept my mouth shut about it, both publicly and privately, until now I guess.

There is a book for sale now that the OP says is pressed. I would like to know who, as why are the edges curled if the book was pressed?

 

You've gotta be talking about the GSX 1. If that books been pressed, it was done so very poorly, regardless of who did it.

 

My first post assumed the press job looks great.

 

If the press job looks crappy, questioning who performed the press in the thread is threadkrapping.

 

(the above should not be taken as indicative of my opinion of the quality of work done to any books currently being sold)

 

At the end of the day, if the seller openly states that the book has been pressed, he/she should be expected to answer a question as to who did the press job.

 

If it's raw, then questions should be answered in the thread (not threadkrapping IMO).

What exactly is the purpose for asking "Who did such a crappy press job on your book" in the thread; or even "who did the press" when it is clearly poor work?

There is a book for sale now that the OP says is pressed. I would like to know who, as why are the edges curled if the book was pressed?

 

You've gotta be talking about the GSX 1. If that books been pressed, it was done so very poorly, regardless of who did it.

My first post assumed the press job looks great.

If the press job looks crappy, questioning who performed the press in the thread is threadkrapping.

(the above should not be taken as indicative of my opinion of the quality of work done to any books currently being sold)

There is a book for sale now that the OP says is pressed. I would like to know who, as why are the edges curled if the book was pressed?

This would definitely be a PM conversation.

Seller can then decide whether or not to add it to the thread.

is it fair to ask in a thread who pressed a book? I would think that is something people would like to know.

My initial thought to this was; it should be a PM question.

However, upon reflection, a PM response has little value if the seller is a relative unknown, touting a highly regarded presser. Conversely, the information is more valuable to the PMer when the seller states he "did it in his shed".

I hate the velcro dots

I had some where the adhesive was not strong enough and they either stuck to each other when opening, fell off or shifted slightly, leaving adhesive behind.

Additionally they take up a lot of space due to the height of the hook and loop fasteners. You can probably fit 120 books with tape or post-it tab fasteners in the same space as 100 books with velcro.

I am quite sure it's sonically sealed although I could be wrong.

 

You would be great on a bomb squad!

So, the posts are not sonically welded, they just snap together?

 

 

 

The case is sonically welded together - not just snapped together.

 

I know the inner wells are sonic sealed. The tracks on the outer edges/seams of the Barex sheets are the tell and is present for grip during the sonic sealing process.

 

The outer case however, due to the hard plastic, materials used, and design, which relies on a seated 4-post system, would more likely be bonded through heat adhesion and pressure, but I'm not sure if sonic sealing is necessary or even involved.

This is also how I assumed it worked, with only the inner wells sonically sealed

If you are quoting GPA and saying that prices are going up then yes you should include it, since you know that they are not ALL going up, as you know of the percentage sale.

 

Why do you assume Roy knew there were copies which sold for less? He did not say it.

He was replying to Roy's example

 

If I know that a copy of Brand X # 1 CGC 9.7sold for a percentage of GPA at a dealer's website or another auction house,and I have a copy for sale should that be included?