Krydel4

Wonder Woman being pushed on a swing. Definitely represents a different time in the world. As does the interior.

Alright. You didn't actually directly answer the questions I posed other than that you would want a discount on my high grade key collection to do me a favor and take it off my hands 😆. It's okay. From this thread as I can pretty much discern what they would be. Matthew 5-7. If you wish to further chastise me there is a PM function. As I said Peace Out.

And that is something a reputable and experienced dealer cannot provide? Therein lies the crux of what I was asking. But I have more than enough replies to this thread that it has given me a better idea of where the hobby stands now and where it is going. Peace Out.

I have a question for you. It seems like you are a dealer so here it is. I have a hot book that you want that the last 5 GPA sales are escalating...$400, $425, $450, $475, $500. And I bring it to you and say my price is $500. You will buy it from me for $500? No offer or negotiation? And conversely I bring that same book and the last 5 GPA sales are descending $500, $475, $450, $425, $400. I say I want $500. Will you still buy it from me for $500 as that is a GPA price that the book sold for? No offer or negotiation? And if I brought you my entire collection that only contains high grade keys to you CGC slabbed and based upon up to the minute GPA sales values my Collection at $50000 you would buy it for that price? No negotiation? I'm interested to hear your thoughts. Cheers.

It's the dealers prerogative to pay the money to get a book slabbed. I am perfectly happy to buy unslabbed books. Collectors were perfectly happy to buy unslabbed books for decades before CGC. Dealers were perfectly happy to sell unslabbed books for decades before CGC. If a dealer wishes to send a book to CGC then the cost is on them not me. If a book has a FMV of $30 and grading/fees/pressing costs $60 and the dealer prices it $110 what exactly am I paying for? More than 50% of the purchase price is for a piece of plastic that makes it impossible to actually enjoy the books intended purpose of conveying a story in 30 pages. CGC is on the right track with selling invisible comics cause just owning the slab seems to be endgame now. It's mind-boggling that a premium is given to something that restricts your ability to use the item for its intended purpose, when it should be the other way around.

Love Steranko on these. All his covers AOS really have that 60s James bond opening titles vibe.

Good Natured Bashing. Interesting way to put that. Don't really think those words go to together but to each their own. I merely put out a question to the board. I have received back some well thought out and cordial responses and some that were other. I have not at anytime tried to bash or put down anyone else's opinion but have tried to ask questions about it. As one other poster put it I touched a nerve. So be it. I would like to continue this discussion so please feel free to respond to any of the other questions I posed in this thread. Cheers.

Why should a slab premium exist? It should be all about the book, right? If you are a dealer are you saying CGC grades better than you and if so are you seceding your right to have an opinion on a grade to them? Should I not trust your opinion on a grade of a raw book if I go to buy a book from you and I should disregard however many years of experience you've had in the business because you're not CGC?

Cheers for your response. I am in agreement with you. It was to my original point the manner in which the (non) transaction was carried out and his general apathy towards the whole situation. Also I didn't debate CGCs grading with him I merely pointed out the flaws in the book. I never gave my opinion on what I thought the grade was and I still made an offer based off of what 9.6s had sold for from GPA (and it was higher that the last 3 sales). I don't wish for Cons to become rows upon rows of spartan tables with a fixed price list and boxes of books you can't even see with no care about what your selling other than getting its fixed price. I would like to think the hobby is still more than that for dealers and buyers but maybe I'm wrong.

Most of the posters think I was going to egregiously over pay for a common book at $92 anyway. And then some are giving me $#!+ over trying to negotiate a lower price for said book. And some of them are the same posters. It's all quite hilarious.

Exactly my point. I chose to use the tool to come up with an offer I thought was fair. He thought that GPA was the be all and end all of what the price should be. End of interaction and I went elsewhere.

So if I have a hot book that the last 5 GPA sales are escalating...$400, $425, $450, $475, $500. And I bring it to you and say my price is $500. You will buy it from me for $500? No offer or negotiation? And conversely I bring that same book and the last 5 GPA sales are descending $500, $475, $450, $425, $400. I say I want $500. Will you still but it from me for $500 as that is a GPA price that the book sold for? No offer or negotiation? And if you still will I would definitely sell to you.

Oh no. I've learned my lesson. No offers. No negotiation. GPA Sticker price only. Making offers is bad. I would expect the dealers to adhere to that as well.

Thank you for your responses. Especially the dealers. It is good to know that when I go to sell my collection many years down the road that based on these responses I will get 100% of my asking price as they would never make an offer that was less then that. Great piece of mind to have. Cheers.

He was a really young guy. And like I said I hadn't seen him before and I had been to all of the Cons in my area since restrictions lifted. I wouldn't have made an offer if I wasn't interested. But like I said the response and attitude put me off. I didn't mention anything about the condition of the book until after I made my offer. Maybe it was his first Con as a seller , maybe it wasn't. Didn't get to find out. Didn't want to after his response. The money wasn't an issue but I have been trying to help people out when I can especially after the Covid put businesses thru as I had one of my favorite places have to close because of it and it made me more acutely aware of the how precarious some businesses are.

If he had said that I probably would have bought the book and then hopefully had a conversation regarding the books merits. But that would have meant doing that pesky customer relations stuff. From what I gather from others at the con he didn't make a sale that day.

As I said it was not a whinge over $12 it was about the attitude and setup. If he had the right attitude and had a conversation with me then I probably would just purchased his book anyway to help him out. I was the only one at his table at the time and most people were walking past him cause his setup was unwelcoming. It wasn't about the money. Cheers.

Thank you for the offer but I prefer the hunt. My Topic and post example was not meant to be a whinging post but more of a comment and thought starter on the general attitude and setup I've encountered among new dealers at the last few cons I've been to over the last year since things started up again from Covid shutdowns. Obviously, it hasn't happened that way. My apologies if I inadvertently offended anyone. Cheers.

Marvels 1. I have a 9.8 that I display because it's the closest I'll get to having an original Alex Ross piece. It's the only book I've ever left in a slab. He priced it at $92 (GPA Sale was in 2021) plus tax. Last 3 Sales were at the time were $53, $60, $35 (2022). I offered $80. I've never actually read the series. I've got issues 2,3,4 and I want to read the whole thing when I've assembled the series. No spoilers please.

I guess I don't know what to expect. I pointed out the flaws. I never said to him what I thought the grade was just that with those flaws it couldn't be a 9.6. I made an offer higher than 3 of the 4 most recent sales for a 9.6 (and it was higher than the most recent sale). I was trying to buy the book not the label which was obviously my mistake and was met with the attitude. Maybe the seller could have said "Well the label says 9.6 and I'm not a grader and there was a sale for this price so that's what I'm firm selling it it." I don't have a problem with that and maybe I would have walked away with a neutral experience instead of the negative and at another con checked out his stuff again. Again that's a primary market not a secondary one. I would expect them to laugh as that would be inappropriate in that setting and context. And I would hope for some civility and less name calling regardingthe Shmoe comment. Thank you. See above regarding what I offered and my reasoning behind it. Again, I asked a simple question in the Topic header and some have answered it and given their opinion. Thank you for your on topic responses. Appreciated. Cheers.

No. I would have purchased it with the price equivalent of a 9.2 which is what I believed the book was. I also was not expecting him to take my first offer. I've never had a dealer take my first offer.

I'm not. A seller can put any price on their books. In my estimation it was not a 9.6. for the reasons I mentioned and it was overpriced based upon recent sales data that he was trying to use to price his book. I didn't. I walked away cause I wasn't going to purchase an overgraded copy. Thank you everyone for your responses. It's helped me come to some understanding of the current dealer environment. I've had 3 takeaways based upon the question I asked in the Topic header: 1. That dealers do not have to know or have knowledge of grading or how to grade. That 3rd party grading companies are now the arbiters of all grading in the hobby and are infallible and any questioning of their grades is heretical. 2. Customer Service and/or creating relationships with customers is unnecessary and annoying. 3. Pricing is solely the based off of 3rd Party data algorithms that create prices within a vacuum, that are absolute and never subject to environment, context, or circumstance. It's definitely a Brave New World for collectors. ✌️

It would be nice to have in my collection. The cover is creative and looks cool. I'm a fan of the character and creative team and would like to read the story. What other reasons are there to purchase a comic book?

GPA price he had was the highest not the latest (which was lower). I said I didn't think the book was a 9.6 based upon the defects present and if he could do a bit better and gave my offer based upon those 3 other books and his price. My offer was 90% of his asking. He could have negotiated and ended up at 95% or I may have just bought for his price. But 🤷‍♂️

Nope. I've bought books before right off the wall that have been priced at a fair price. No negotiation.