BrianHoward

Not really, especially considering I posted proof of the 3 unique sales... When you are using a fixed photography display and the items are visually identical (on quick glance through a monitor) it's not hard at all to produce seemingly duplicate staged shots.. We set up runs the same way, on the same display. Odd that you're not wanting to recognize this, but apparently you've got your reasons...

Sorry but it's actually pretty easy to set up the same shot when you use a fixed photography display such as we do. We also do not simply say "look at the pictures".. We assign an average grade for every run we sell and photograph every book. The Average grade is stated in the title and description... Since it seems we still cannot get the benefit of the doubt despite our track record, feedback and assurances, I hope this helps put this claim to bed..

If anything we are selling was relisted it would be due to non payment. Look at these, you can see that these 3 are the same run, but not the same books. If you look at the pics or the custom sku#, you will see the books are different as is the sku. We have a warehouse and a huge volume of batman comics... We have 8 more of these runs right now for anyone interested who wants to help spare us the suspicion of selling an item or run identical to something we have sold in the past...

No, there are no shenanigans.... We sell these runs regularly, we assemble these runs or sell them intact when they com that way. Most of what we sell on Neatstuff are comic runs and lots... If you see something relisted, it is due to non payment. Ebay does not force bidders to pay and we as sellers have no other option than to relist unpaid items. I'm sorry that you had any concern here, we do hope our 100% positive feedback rating and 25+ years in the hobby serves as some assurance to bidders. I wish you would have reached out to us prior to making a public thread with a false implication in the title. This is a disappointing and unfortunate way to address this question. Looking at the other thread OP posted in about this, if you compare the auctions in question you can see the books are not identical in each listing. We have a huge warehouse and a massive load of batman comics. We have 8 more of these runs ready if anyone is interested. Brian

neatstuffcollectibles I will contact my ebay rep and send him a link to this thread.

He's trying to scam us too... Won a run of ASM #300 - #400.. Months after it was delivered he wrote us claiming that ALL of the keys were missing and more.... He claimed the package was sitting with his doorman for months because he was out of town. I know there is no way we didn't include those books (due to our procedures), but gave him the benefit of the doubt that someone at his location may have tampered with the package. I was trying to assist him still. Then just 2 weeks ago he won a run of X-Men #12 - 66... He wrote us right after receiving the run and claimed that issue #35 was missing. In light of what he said on the other run and the fact that I had our shipping dept. record itemization and packing of this order I knew right away he was lying. This thread was great confirmation. Beware indeed.

Thanks for that. All I'll say is AVOID any buyers named Willem Devoch (or any variation) from the Netherlands. He tried to game me for 13k in lots. The only reason I didn't get totally screwed was because of Ebay Global Shipping.

As a seller, I do like it. International shipments typically came with special instructions, requests for declarations, and other time consuming variables. I've sent many things through Ebay Global shipping and haven't had many problems. It's also another layer of protection for sellers. I had one buyer try to scam us and an expensive statute get damaged. In both cases ebay had to work it out with the buyer, which they did.

Another gimmick from this POS

We have a couple of really great cover examples from both up right now.

Sparkle City Comics is currently offering an incredible assortment of fresh to market pieces of Original Art. Artists include: Frank Cho, Adam Hughes, Greg Land, Josh Middleton, Jim Silke, Mike Ploog, John Buscema and so many more!! Comic Art Auction Event

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Sorry about that. We were still having problems with our scans so I had to end all of the auctions. Everything will be relisted Sunday evening.

If our super lenient return policy doesn’t assure you please feel free to reach out and ask for pics. Others have and we have no problem accommodating. We have since changed our scanning software to vuescan as per the recommendations we got from here. Thanks for the clarification on that call. I don’t want people thinking that is how we operate. It’s not.

Greg & Mike Carbonaro were at times Independent Contracted buyers. They did not work exclusively with us, many dealers and others have utilized their services. I would never ask a buyer to cold call someone like was described. I’m not saying it didn’t happen, just that if it did it would not have been with my knowledge, instruction or approval. This was no way related to any purchases from us and Independent contractors do not have access to our customer records. Greg was doing deals with board member dealers and collectors before we knew who he was. Sorry if anyone got the wrong impression, but any cold calls like that would not have been directed by me. Neither of them are affiliated in any way with Neat Stuff or Sparkle City. That has been the case for years.

Yes, there clearly was an issue with the scans. I'm not sure what happened, but thankfully someone took me up on my request to continue this discussion directly and reached out to me.. With his help we have already implemented changes that should hopefully fix this. We will do our best to be more diligent in the future. If anyone sees a problem like this in the future, please contact us directly through ebay. We do have a very lenient return policy and, of course, anyone who is not pleased with the book they receive can return it. Please let me repeat, so that any concern can be alleviated and perhaps we can stop beating this issue: In addition to our already very lenient return policy, Anyone who has purchased a book from us and is not happy with it due to the scan problem can return it for a full refund PLUS reimbursement of return shipping.

Sorry if I did not express myself clearly. I was responding to your question about why didn't we correct the issue rather than post as-is.. We check scans on the computer before posting auctions and they seemed fine. Yes, there is clearly an issue with the scans. We do have a very lenient return policy and, of course, anyone who is not pleased with the book they receive can return it. I'm not sure what happened, but thankfully someone took me up on my request to continue this discussion directly and reached out to me.. With his help we have already implemented changes that should hopefully fix this. We will do our best to be more diligent in the future.

Thank you for your post, I believe my previous response, the one directly preceding your post, covers this. To reiterate, We didn't "fix" the scans because they appeared to be fine when we reviewed them before posting. We did check and they looked good before being posted. Not sure what happened, but thankfully someone took me up on my request to continue this discussion directly and reached out to me.. With his help we have already implemented changes that should hopefully fix this. We will do our best to be more diligent. Any further discussion, please contact me directly... I won't be responding to anymore comments here: brian@sparklecitycomics.com Good luck with your sales!

This will be my last post. I'm more than happy to answer questions or discuss business practices, etc.. but directly: brian@sparklecitycomics.com We did look at them before they went up, they looked fine. We even re-checked the settings because the scans last week weren't great. In addition we're in the middle of a massive Star Wars auction event through our Neat Stuff Collectibles account, so not a lot of extra time to triple check, etc...

Next time please email me directly and ask for new pics! I'll never know how to accommodate you unless you notify me. Worst case I'll take some pics with my phone or call you and describe it.

Side note: If there are any Scanner experts that want to help me trouble shoot this issue I'd be more than happy to compensate you for your efforts (in money or comics). Please email me: brian@sparklecitycomics.com

I had 2 friends contact me to let me know that "they're smearing you on the boards"... I log in and see this exchange: While it may not have been your intention for your comment to come across as an accusation, clearly some of interpreted it as such. To such an end that one reader claims he will never bid "on anything"... Not "I'll never bid on CGC books"... He will never do business with us because he believes we are intentionally doctoring images to deceive people... on graded books. I apologize if I have offended you with my post. I do not post here to call anyone out or anything of the sort.. Simply to set the record straight. If your remarks were not an accusation, I will take your word for that but let you know that it doesn't read so clearly for myself or the others who alerted me to this thread. I care very much about customer feedback and I want our customers to be happy with every aspect of our offerings, but the way to share any criticisms or concerns is direct with the person in question. Not on a public message board where they may or may not ever see it (but anyone who google searches their business for the next 50 years will)...

I'm sorry you feel this way, but having witnessed sellers getting dragged through the mud here over and over (and having been victim to this myself many times) I'm admittedly not so neutral on such public and damaging discussions. I ABSOLUTELY want customer feedback and want to provide the most accurate and comforting scans possible, but a public forum is not the way or place to do that... Direct communication is more efficient and appropriate. I never would have even seen this if 2 different people didn't send me the link because "the boards are smearing you"....... Sorry if my tone or approach rubbed you the wrong way, but it was not directed towards you in any way. I hope this explanation provides a bit of context.

Our scans are not intentionally "amped up" These are CGC graded books and for some reason we had issues with our current scanner and hard plastic encapsulation. This seems to only happen on CGC books.. If we were manipulating scans to make books look better (which we are not), why would we only do it on the books that have 3rd party grades already established... They are 3rd party graded so that should help reassure buyers as to what they are getting.... Perhaps one day someone will reach out to us directly with this feedback rather than launch public accusations on a message board.

The first advice I ever received when I got into collection OA was "buy what you like and don't look back". These are unique pieces so if it's something I really want OR part of a deal with someone I really like, I don't mind stepping up and paying a premium.. It may be the only chance I get.