CKinTO

The other big thing that a rewards system does is help you track in more detail what each customer is buying. Forget selling the info to 3rd parties - that data can be super valuable to your store. Given you’re newer, this probably sounds daunting, but eventually you’d have lots of customer purchasing history data which could really help you 1) identify all your top customers, 2) analyze the data to find out preferences, maybe make new title suggestions based on their history, etc. 3) a whole bunch of other interesting insights I can’t think of right now very “big data”-like! You get a lot of that from pull lists, but having a good customer data management system is even better as I have to think there’s a good chunk of decent customers who don’t have pull lists (maybe I’m biased because I don’t have on, as I enjoy going to my LCS every Wed and hand-picking minty copies of my books).

I like the idea of a reward system as a customer - I live in both NY and Toronto (split time) and thus have 2 LCS’S: in NY, it’s Midtown Comics and they do $20 off your next purchase for every $100 you spend. In Toronto, it’s Silver Snail and they do $5 every $100 you spend (and after $500, you get $30, a bonus $5), but also do US cover price (in CAD) for new comics and all trades (generally a 20% discount).. These are both probably the largest comic book shops in their respective cities, and so I’d expect pretty much every other store to have “worse” rewards than those. Overall though, I agree with others that a well-thought out rewards system will be net positive to the store. As a customer, 1) I try to do all my spending at those stores, and 2) often buy more than I would otherwise.

Have purchased a number of books now from Andy - 1 in person (high 3-figures), 2 via the forums and shipped (each mid-3 figures). He is an absolute pleasure to deal with, and in my opinion, a model seller: - Very quick to respond to communications - Ships promptly (usually day of or next day once payment confirmed), confirms when it's shipped, and provides Tracking Number without having to ask for it - Slabs packaged very securely - 2 separate slabs have come to me in perfect condition Don't hesitate to deal with him - he has a long history in the industry (immense knowledge) and is a great guy overall. An absolute asset to the comic book community!

And they still haven't made a decision! No designation on either book yet... I generally think it'll be DNM2 1st Cameo, TT12 1st Full Appearance.

I agree and I had this question before. I think the way they'd do it is based on invoice - when books are returned, they're grouped by invoice so all of your books would be together (ie. not like all the books get intermingled with others). When I've subbed multiple invoices at cons (ie. SS and Blue Label), but had both ship together, the books have always been grouped by invoice (with copy of the invoice slipped into the top book). Now this does not include risk if the company subs the same book themselves and does a switcheroo for the higher graded version - nothing you can do there but trust it doesn't happen.

I think it says Paradise Comics c/o Customer Name, and they include customer's e-mail address so they know how to reach you. When you submit through a facilitator, to be clear, the facilitator is submitting on your behalf, but the book gets sent directly to you right? If so, I can see why CGC may be more willing to give you the info... But in this situation, like a few others has said, I can see why CGC might be more hesitant to just give out the info given it's under Paradise's account and books are being sent to the store, and then they call the customer. Anyways, clearly there's something going on with Paradise. I think it's a reasonable concern that they may be having some financial issues post-renovation, and might be tight from a cashflow perspective (and thus, books are being held by CGC, graded or ungraded, until Paradise goes current on payments). However, if Paradise wants to continue doing business with people, they really need to provide more information to their customers on the reason for the delay. Especially if they're posting pictures on social media of new books being sent off for grading!

To be clear, people have their invoice numbers. It's just the fact that it was subbed through Paradise, that technically, the "name" of the account is Paradise, not us. So CGC will not give out any information on status to anyone other than a Paradise rep (even though they're your books).

I've got a mix of mylars and the other poly-bags (not the ones that come with the slabs, which are awful). I like that: 1) mylars look clearer (similar to how mylar makes raws look "clearer" than poly-bags), especially if you have the new-style slabs that are already "clearer" than the older version, and 2) are waterproof so that if for some reason you get floods / water damage, more likelihood your slabs remain dry (given slabs aren't airtight). Now #2 is pretty low-probability so not a big factor. Bottom line, I've currently got <100 slabs, so small dollar difference to get the Mylar. For people with 1000's of slabs, I can see it being a bigger consideration...

Agreed, another great episode! This really is a high quality, high production-value series - I continue to enjoy this!

I agree with the above - better to leave it in the bag it's in. That being said, I sometimes have the opposite problem - I already have my higher end raws in Mylite2s + Fullback, and sometimes I wonder if it's worth removing and putting into a normal poly-bag to send to CGC (given I won't see it again). At the end of the day, my cost for M2+FB = <$1, meaning it's well worth it to lose the value of the mylar than potentially risk having a grade drop (especially if it's high-grade, drop from 9.8 -> 9.6 -> 9.4 more than trumps any savings in lost mylars). That being said, I've rebagged comics quite a bit (usually from poly -> mylar+fb) and here's my routine: - Take the tape off the bag! (100% of the time, don't risk leaving it on because you feel like you can do it safely!). Also be careful taking the tape off that you don't put too much pressure on the board / book while removing tape. I always put a little tab (by folding end of tape onto itself) at the end so it's easy to take off - Take the board/book out at same time (I typically reach my hand in and hold the board with one hand, and then pull the bag off from the bottom with my other hand (pinching the tiny amount of bag available below the board/comic, not touching the bag area that's above the comic in case you put a slight dent / finger bend into the bottom of the front cover). Now you have just the comic on top of the board - I put the new board to the left side of the comic/board, and then slowly slide the book from one board to the other (to the left, towards the spine), by gently tilting the board slightly to the left (ie. not touching the comic itself). Now you have the comic on the new board - I slide the comic + new board into the new bag horizontally and slowly (don't just flip up everything vertical and have the comic/board slide down, as the book may slide faster than the board and you get a little bit of impact on the bottom)

I really love this idea - I'm also a huge believer in being intentional about how to "maximize happiness" in experiences, and delayed gratification is a great example of this. I wish I had the discipline to do this - maybe I'll try it the next time I do a sub. For me, I slab primarily for longevity of my keys for my personal collection. I like to know that it's a certain grade, and that if I needed to sell, I could do so (hopefully) more easily (and for full value) than if I kept raw. While I do some slabbing myself, given the availability of key raws of the types of books I'm interested in, I find it's generally cheaper to just buy keys already slabbed.

*Ouch* that hurts... After having subbed a few times, I quickly realized that grading is a skill that takes awhile to develop... and for keys, it's often easier to just buy them already slabbed then try to get a "good deal" on a raw, and sub yourself. Some select few can do well with that approach, but I think a lot more people end up losing in the long run.

Yes, truly. It's all downhill from there...

May be obvious, but I think it's a variant (forget if it's an incentive, or a store variant) for the upcoming Weapon H #1 book... saw it somewhere, can't recall where now.

Agree with a lot of the sentiments here. In terms of reading, my comic book purchasing falls into 2 buckets: 1) going to my LCS every Wed and picking up a few books that I like, follow, and READ. 2) going after slabbed keys for my personal collection. If I want to read my slabs, fortunately a lot of what I collect is available digitally (either through Marvel Unlimited, or through Comixology). For example, it's been great to be able to actually read silver age / bronze age keys via Marvel Unlimited, and I don't have to crack books out of the slab!

Agreed that this was an awesome episode, and I also definitely didn't see that ending coming! Really enjoying this show

I think as certain moderns have risen in value, a 9.6 (and even 9.4 for certain books) do have some interest and value (especially as the 9.8 becomes out of reach). Books like BA12, NYX3, ASM300, NM98 all have value and interest I would say down to 9.4, after which it does drop off quite a bit. No question for modern non-keys (don't know why these get slabbed really), or semi-keys, it's really 9.8 or bust.

I do think that's part of human nature - that what we really like is the thrill of the chase. But once we get it, the happiness is short-lived, and we're on to the next thing. I try to be self-aware of that, and keep things in perspective when I'm hunting for my next big book purchase. I try to keep in mind that I don't "need it", and that once I get it it'll pretty much be back to normal and on to the next book... I think as a result of this awareness, I try to collect my main books keeping 2 things in mind: 1) Given I know it won't "make me happy", I try to be more disciplined when it comes to price paid. Not getting it unless it's also a good deal (especially for books that are fairly easily obtainable) 2) Try to extend the "happiness" I get from my books, by having readily accessible photos of the slabs on my phone (in an album). I end up going through all my slabs (and key raws) every couple days (or whenever I'm thinking about it), and I think seeing it in person helps me remember all the different books I have, and I get a little *jolt* of happiness seeing them. If I didn't, I agree I rarely take my books out of their storage boxes, so I wouldn't see them nearly as often

Will take the yellow label, and combine with my Witchblade 1 Natali Sanders please, thanks Dre!

Those are some super sweet books! I agree with you, it would've been extra sweet to get gold on a couple of those covers, but still a really nice set of books!

Wow, that's pretty shady... guy with 0 transactions, obviously one to avoid, but sketchy behavior.

Agreed - top one looks strange... if it’s the whole pack, something may have happened to the package to cause it (maybe some liquid / moisture got in?) I don’t think the materials have changed - i just got a new 50pack recently (standard size) and definitely looks more like the bottom photo than top.

I probably wouldn't buy at this point (TAH22 or TT12) as they're both $40-50 raw books in NM+ on eBay. But may be worth holding on to (vs selling) if people already have copies.

Agree on the DC side, Batman Who Laughs has biggest potential to get its own book (or continue the story in some way). He’s been huge. On Marvel side, Weapon H is getting his own book (TA Hulk 22 still holding its value), so has a chance to breakout if the book does well.

A virgin cover just means there’s no trade dress or writing on the cover, ie. it’s just the cover image, and there’s no book title, issue number, barcode, or anything else to block the main cover image.