WPPJames

Don't have to be a retiree to not get some of the "new" stuff. Wife and I were at a brewery yesterday and wanted to order some food. Due to COVID no menus. So you have to scan the bar code on the table to see it. We were initially like deer in headlights. But eventually got it all worked out. And the chicken wings were worth the effort.

Ok then. I guess I missed that. I haven't read every post in this now 300 page thread. And have no prior history with shad. Just seems like his "snark and condescension (sic)" is being met with a lot of anger and hostility. And what the hell is a muppet? I thought it was a Jim Henson creation.

That seems *way* overly harsh. I'm not as active, obviously, as any of you guys with your 15k+ posts. Maybe I'm missing something? But why can't a person have an opposing opinion? And he does make some good points. No one is going to go after a shill bidder or someone who over grades. Or cracks out books and lists them at a higher grade. This thread will probably make little difference in Mr. Beatle's business practices. But if it helps even a few, and I think it already has, then its worth the effort some of you guys have put forth. Hell, if it even makes the guy's day a tab bit less rosy it was worth it. Also, I value having people like shadroch make their opinions known on all kinds of different forums. Once you get 20 people stating their agreement on something the value kinda gets lost afterwards. At that point you get more value from the lone dissenter even if you don't agree with him/her. It's way too easy for a forum (or anything, corporate businesses / departments perfect example) of sometimes getting stuck in a kind of herd mentality without realizing it. And for the record herd mentality is not the same thing as herd immunity.

I was the true winner on all of these. But the board software upgrade screwed me over. Yeaaa... that's the ticket (apologies to Jon Lovitz)

Apparently at least 3

So how many people do you think have two browser tabs up. One with the "Take It" emoji already in a reply message box and another being constantly refreshed waiting for the opportunity to tab back and hit that Submit Reply button

Totally (well, 99%) agree. My point was just that "everyone just repeat after me: don't buy raw books on feebay, don't buy raw books on feebay, don't buy raw books on feebay" was a bit extreme and overly absolute. No way in hell I'd buy an expensive raw book off of Ebay. As this thread has pointed out, even a positive prior experience with the seller isn't enough as they can be above board on their inexpensive books and then screw people on the expensive ones they list.

$2,249.01. Although I may be valuing those cool old beer cans too highly.

I had a number in mind, but I lost focus and forgot it. That was an hour ago.

You are good at this and relentless. If I ever accidentally p*ss you off James, please give me the opportunity to make it right ASAP 😀 We have neighbors who's trash keeps finding its way into our yard and shrubbery 😡 Can I hire to you to somehow go after them? Or do you only work your magic within the comic industry.

Where would you suggest people buy raw books? You can go to major retailers like MCS, but often they won't have what you want in stock and/or in the grade you are after. And almost always more expensive. Nothing wrong with buying raw on Ebay. You just have to do your own diligence, be willing to accept some risk and expect to occasionally not be happy with what you get. I haven't purchased (or sold) nearly the amount of books on Ebay as most of you, but of the say 200 or so I bought there I've only had an issue with two having defects not shown and/or detailed in the listing. That's because I pay zero attention to what the sellers grade their own books at. I look at the photos and make my own determination and bid accordingly. As long as I receive what's shown in the scans and described in the listing I'm perfectly happy. Even if the book were to grade lesser than the stated grade at a later time. Not to mention, some people just don't like slabbed comics. And many, if not most, of the comics sold on Ebay aren't valuable enough to pay to get slabbed.

So help my feeble brain out. The guy has another Ebay account that he uses to drive up bids on his "real" account. If no one falls for that and he's the high bidder he then retracts his bid?

Damn impressive. I'm glad you are on the side of good instead of evil. You could cause some real damage if you were the Lex Luther of comic selling 😀

None stating it here but probably a few hands being raised at home.

If I were to win a prize could I swap it in for one of those awesome old beer cans? Unfortunately I no longer have my unopened Billy Beer can. Any of you guys remember those? I think I am to my brothers what Billy was to Jimmy.

Now that is ultimate sleezeball. Nice job @James J Johnson!

That's always your best bet anyway. Banks / credit card companies almost always side in favor of their customer. I, unfortunately, have had to initiate quite a few chargebacks over many years and only once was the case not ruled in my favor. And that one was a lesson in how not to do business with a moving company.

That's true. I've been taken advantage of based on my ignorance when I was just starting out (not that I don't still retain a sizable amount of ignorance). Unscrupulous sellers obviously negatively effect the entire hobby and market. If I'm just getting into comics and get screwed right off the bat, I very well may wonder if it's a hobby I want to continue pursuing.

I don't disagree with any of this. I'm just saying in general (not talking about you) buyers need to use their own judgement more instead of just taking for granted what an Ebay seller states as a grade. IMO, there are more books being sold on Ebay that are overgraded (some blatantly) than ones graded within the realm of possibility.

I get that point. But what about the buyer who waits 6 months before even submitting to CGC? A return policy can't be unending. The buyer has time to look at the book in hand and decide for himself if he thinks the grade estimate was inaccurate and can return it within 30 days. I take exception to any sales where defects are not clearly shown and/or described. But if you get a book that looks exactly like it did in the sale scans, then you bought into the overgrading as well and need to take a least a little person responsibility. I'm making this as a general statement, not applying specifically to the book being discussed here. As it appears there were undisclosed defects.

If his return policy is 30 days and he truly honors that (I have no way of knowing) then what's the main issue? You had 30 days to do due diligence after you received it. A seller can't be expected to have a "unlimited days" refund policy. EDIT: That was a tad harsh. If the book had defects not shown in the scans or disclosed verbally, then yes he sold in bad faith. My statement above applies to refund time periods in general, not specifically to your case.

Totally agree with that. And have experienced it. MCS is great to buy from for raw books due to their conservative grading. But selling or consigning raw books to them is a recipe for disappointment. They aren't doing anything wrong. If they buy your book and grade it as a 4.5 they are going to list it for sale at the same grade. Just more conservative graders.

In both cases they are knowingly selling a book at a major overgrade. I really don't see much difference. But I'm obviously in the minority here. Either way, both scummy and unacceptable.

Disagree. A person who regularly deals in comics has at least a basic idea on how to grade. They might be a hopeful/poor grader if they overgrade by a little bit. But when regularly listing books in the FINE range as NM, they are just knowingly and purposely lying. Of course it takes two to tango. A lot of buyers deep down know the book isn't anywhere close to the grade listed, but are just greedy and/or delusional enough to buy into it. And if worst comes to worst, will just attempt to resell it to someone else at the same inflated grade. "Hey I bought it as NM. Nothing wrong with me selling it as NM. I'm not doing anything wrong".

Scummy, but is it really much worse/different than listing a raw never CGC graded book for sale on Ebay at an obviously laughable WAY overgrade. As in you are an experienced seller and knowingly and repeatedly list your FN books as NM. And of course still maintain your 100% perfect feedback rating. At least this scammer is putting out a bit of effort.