kbmcvay

Only if he lies about it.

But how can he possibly cover his replacement cost by doing so?

Not even then.

I understand what he's doing and it's fine, he can do what he wants. If he wants to raise prices and lie about it that's his business and his choice. He can do whatever he wants and people can choose to buy from him or not. I think he is an unscrupulous character for a myriad of reasons and I'm happy to not buy anything from him.

It all kind of goes together...Like a cross between Pinocchio and Steve Donnelly.

I agree with this completely. I thought you said he couldn't lower the price at all because of replacement costs earlier with the $3K example.

Agreed.

Exactly. I agree fully.

Also, is Mr. Mustache the only dealer with replacement cost considerations? If not, then why is every other dealer I've worked with willing to negotiate to close the deal on 4-5 figure pieces? Are Albert Moy and Glen Brunswick on the verge of going out of business by not standing firm?

All of these valuations are completely arbitrary. He can try to maximize revenue all he wants but if nobody buys the page does replacement cost even matter since he's stuck with it? Let me ask you a question: does anybody think that FF Annual 4 page is worth $28,500 in today's market? Is a replacement cost of $28,500 warranted for that page? The "replacement cost" doubled overnight when he raised the price on this page arbitrarily? Also, if his prices are so reasonable why not take some of this stuff that sits forever to auction? His valuations are so perfect that he is sure to get what he wants, right?

You assume it is below replacement cost. How can you know this? It's an example based purely on revenue.

Yawn. Why don't you start an investigation on it? I don't think anybody has even mentioned Moy in a critical manner in this thread and I actually was very complimentary of him in this thread and others. You're right it is easy to thrown stones at Mr. Mustache because his website is garbage, he's a jerk in real life and his pricing practices are what they are. If he bought a page for $100 and then priced it at $3,000 and somebody offered him $2,700 for it he would turn them down because in his mind he was losing $300 not making $2,600. 90% of something is better than 100% of nothing which is what it is when it doesn't sell. Ever. He can do what he wants and some people will buy from him but I never will.

I guess he learned that if something doesn't sell for $14,000 just double the price because eventually some sucker will come along to buy it maybe some day (this particular example is still unsold many years after being listed on his site at the original price). Original Comic Art by Jack Kirby | Fantastic Four Annual 4 P14 | Nostalgic Investments From the margin notes "There are just not enough Kirby/Sinnott Fantastic Four pages to go around to all that want them." This may be true but nobody is banging down the door to buy this page. They weren't at $14K and they still aren't. "How often are you going to see the Human Torch battle the Golden Age Human Torch?" Every time you visit your website by clicking on that link is how often because even if it sells by some miracle it will likely never be removed from your website. I wish he'd learn how to have a website that loads properly so you can see all of the artwork as opposed to what it does now which is show random pages by an artist and then repeats half of those pages again when you go to the next webpage of artwork. I also wish he would clear off sold thumbnails so when you click on them it doesn't give you an error that it doesn't exist. Page Not Found | Nostalgic Investments Even better, actually remove the stuff that is sold and solve the problem completely.

He also has some stale jokes in the descriptions of these stale pieces too.

I just moved out of the area. Was in Leesburg until June.

When Paul was the Walrus he would have looked great with the 3rd Donnelly bro's 'stache on his upper lip.

I can only speak for myself but I've never bought a page from Romitaman or any of the 3 Donnelly Brothers (Rich, Steve, Burt Reynolds) and I'm confident I never will. If people want to buy from these guys that's their business and plenty of people do (like the $100k Italians). I've bought from plenty of dealers that I have had good experiences with (I want to buy a page, you want to sell a page, let's make a deal) and I'll name them: Glen Brunswick, Albert Moy, Anthony Snyder and Will. Politeness and good customer service matters.

I pretty much said it too based on what the OP wrote. Seemed obvious to me. My first experience with Mr. Mustache was around 2005 at the Baltimore Comic Con where he was bragging about buying the Fawcett Crowley collection for $3 million. My opinion of him is he is an arrogant, smarmy person who is ethically challenged. Plenty of smart people are poor and plenty of rich people are dumb. Burkey says he went to West Point (I have no reason to believe this isn't true) so he must be pretty smart. That didn't stop him from bragging about ripping people off on this very board with his shill bid antics. This was incredibly stupid on his part. Arrogant people say stupid stuff all the time regardless of how smart or dumb they are. Both Burkey and Mr. Mustache fall into this category. As far as raising prices goes Bechera does it all the time. He has a bunch of Kirby FF pages that he has pumped up the price on multiple times. When I pulled the trigger and got one I didn't buy it from him even though he has plenty. He says on his website all prices are firm and if somebody wants to pay a 40%-100% markup on a price from a few months ago they can be my guest. I don't like getting fleeced by a guy who treats people like trash when they ask him a question at a con.

If bolts were included I hope they had +2 enchantment bonus.

Were you the other party in this transaction?

He's just waiting for the right customer to come along.

I think Mr. Mustache is blatantly lying here. He raises prices on things on his website all the time and unless every single one of those things was gifted to him they were bought. By him.

They were speaking Pig Italian.

My experience as well. Tons of activity in the last minutes of the auction.

Like always I think it depends on the dealer. Albert and Anthony will probably be willing to make a deal like they always have in my years of dealing with them. Bechara is basically a Donnely Brother with a mustache so his pricing will be firm.