Moral compass!!!

[comics-rock]

Hey guys,

 

The past couple of years have been finacially devastating. Dog died, $7,000 vets bill for 24 hours service, wife in a car accident whilst 8 1/2 months pregnent, cost me $9,000 and she couldn't work for 20 months cos of the injuries, etc, etc....just a crappy run of luck.

 

Anyhow, shes back at work now and I have money saved...things are going well again. So I decided to go looking for a collection. Go to look at a semi-decent ASM run to get my collection back on it's feet (54 - 440, not the best conditions, but it's a start). The guy tells me over the phone he's stuggling for cash. I turned up at his place and they have nothing....sat on the floor. No furniture, small TV in the corner of the room etc. They're sat on the floor as I'm grading. I felt like ...OK, we weren't that bad, but we were living off credit cards for a couple of years, going without etc...

 

Question is, should I feel guilty. I got 'raped' of my collection selling comics like GR #1 CGC 8.0 for $70 on ebay, Metal Men # 1 CGC 5.0....I got $60..($60 *spoon* dollars!!!!...I mean I got a 10th of what my 12,000 comics was worth. What do you guys do...how do you work out what your gonna pay. I know he's been offered $400 (dollar a comic), and I'm definatly willing to pay double that, but I'm in a position now where I rather walk away (cos I feel like ) than get a bargin, but that again leaves him without a buyer and he'll probably go back to the $400 guy.

 

Is it OK that when we fall on hard times, we have to sell prized comics, then when things pick up go lookin for someone else whse fallen on hard times???

[silverage12c]

Glad to hear things turned around for you, and I hope they do for this other fellow, too.

 

If he has been offered $400, and you are able to pay him $800, do you think the $800 cash will help him pay some bills? If he accepts this offer, then I think you've made a fair deal with him.

 

I would not feel guilty or "immoral" buying this lot for $800 at all. It's not as though you're trying to quick-flip them and resell for 5x your cost. You will be reading/bagging/boarding.

[Foolkiller]

When buying a collection, I take the emotion out of it. I offer what I would normally offer no matter what. What is the collection worth, what can I resell it for, or if I'm not reselling and want the books only for myself, what is the quality of the deal?

 

It's too bad many have fallen on hard times... and I would certainly not use that as leverage to drive a price down -- but I think you have to analyze it as, what I would I normally pay, and go with that.

[Mio]

Sounds like you will feel guilty if you low-ball it. So don't. Pay what you think is a fair price and you'll both be satisfied.

[Comicsarefun]

I would pay $1200 to $1500 easy for that run.

 

You go get it for $800, then we can talk and come to some deal. Then you take 50% of the profit for your trouble and expertise, and you walk the other few HUNDRED bucks back to the family and plop it down in their laps with your best wishes for the holidays.

 

And yes, I am very serious. As long as the Bronze and Silver average VG or so, we can easily come to an agreement.

 

 

[nik]

That is a tough one. If I am in a good financial situation at the time and can help the guy out, I would probably end up giving him more then what it would be worth.

[comics-rock]

I would pay $1200 to $1500 easy for that run.

 

You go get it for $800, then we can talk and come to some deal. Then you take 50% of the profit for your trouble and expertise, and you walk the other few HUNDRED bucks back to the family and plop it down in their laps with your best wishes for the holidays.

 

And yes, I am very serious. As long as the Bronze and Silver average VG or so, we can easily come to an agreement.

 

 

the whole point is I don't wanna sell it. i want my collection back. don't need the money. the run starts off bout 4.0 - 5.0's, some 7.0's....100's an 8.0....128 and 129 are soild 7.5 - 8.0....then in the late 100's and early 200's got some higher grade 9.2 - 9.4's....298 9.6 - 9.8, 299 same and 300 ahs a small but nasty chip bottom lc...possibly a 9.4...

[Comicsarefun]

Sounds like an easy $1500 run. It is a tough call.

 

By the way, I thought no one was poor in Canada...does not the Gov. help when people are down and out? High taxes, state medicine and all that???

 

 

[comics-rock]

Sounds like an easy $1500 run. It is a tough call.

 

By the way, I thought no one was poor in Canada...does not the Gov. help when people are down and out? High taxes, state medicine and all that???

 

 

only if your unemployeed, don't want to work or a criminal!!!

[homerwannabee]

Give him at least a $1,000 so you can say you gave him 4 figures.

[comics-rock]

Give him at least a $1,000 so you can say you gave him 4 figures.

 

just sent him an offer and it's just shy of that anyway......don't feel to bad about it now.....

[Comicsarefun]

Pay him in metal!

 

[conditionfreak]

You offer what you are willing to pay. Either he accepts your offer or he and you move on.

 

In tough times, "things" (just like gasoline now) sell for less, regardless of what they previously were perceived to be worth. Collectibles are only worth what a person can get for them. If they are worth more than you are paying, then he, being a comic book collector, knows this for sure.

 

Yes, sometimes collectors of comic books have "fire sales" because of hard times. These fire sales are what other collectors look for and relish.

 

I for one, am not one of those people who believe that you should pay more than you have to, UNLESS YOU WANT TO (it's your money, do with it as you will), but you do not have to feel crappy about making a deal that you believe is in your favor. That is what we do in the commodity business. Go to someones LCS and see the price on a Silver Age comic book and try to haggle them down. In almost every case, you can buy that Silver Age book for less than the original asking price.

 

Why. Because cash is king. To this person who has this collection, right now in this time of his life, it sounds like cash is king. You may have regrets and he may have regrets, but that's life. Sometimes you are the dog and sometimes you are the fire hydrant.

 

Pay what you and him agree on (heck, I don't understand why you are not offering $450, but if it makes you feel better about yourself, then do what you will with your money), and if you get one heck of a deal, then you are the dog. If you think that somewhere down the road, this same seller would not be the "dog" if you were having hard times, you are most assuredly wrong. "We" have had this discussion on these boards before, concerning the age old question of "what do you pay or offer to the little old lady that calls you up and wants 500 bucks for her deceased husbands comic book collection and you figure it is worth 50 grand".

 

Some argued that you should pay her much much more than her asking price. Some argued that you should take her under your wing and help her maximize her profit. Some stated that you should pay the 500 bucks and be done with it. Some could not even come to a conclusion what one should do.

 

I have no problem saying that when I am presented with a item I want and I feel that the seller is asking way below what the item is actually worth, I pay them what they are asking and I am done with it. I admit that I would feel terrible about myself if I haggled with a seller under these conditions, trying to get an even lower price than they were asking if the item/s were in my estimation worth a whole lot more than their "asking" price, but I recognize that life is not like eutopia and sometimes you take a hit and sometimes you hit the take.

 

Pay the guy the 800 and be done with this comic book deal. If you want to help the guy out afterwards, with getting some furniture or whatever, then do that by all means. In this same situation, I would. I would investigate my circle of friends and gather some furniture we all have around that we really ain't using and get it to this seller. If I could not get some that way, I would go to a second hand store and buy him some decent but cheap furniture or whatever else I thought I could swing and he could use. But be advised, many (of course not all) people living as you described, have little through fault of their own. Drinking problems. Gambling problems. Drug problems, etc. (again, not all). And if you help them out, the items or money you get to them will be gone again. I spent a life time seeing people in these types of situations and EVERYTIME someone was in this dire of straights, there was a problem with them and their life style. Sometimes it was not a direct fault of that specific person, as it could be their husbands fault or their parents fault, and for sure, I symphasize with those women and children and did whatever I could to help them. But there are organizations and government entities that help with those kind of situations. Child welfare services. Battered womens services. Legal services, etc. But I have seen so many couples using drugs and selling everything they own, furniture, comic books, and sometimes even their own children, to get some drugs, that I guess I am just jaded and perhaps overboard with my feelings for those that are "without" lifes basic normal necessities. EVERY McDonalds, White Castle, Big Boy, Arby's, Wendy's and what ever fast food restaurant, is hiring. It may not be what you want to do to make money, and it may not be as much as you are "used" to making, but it is a job. If I come across a couple that neither one has a job, and hasn't had one for quit a while, then I am suspect of their life wtyle. Of late, there have been several on this forum that have lost jobs, but it isn't too long down the road that they are posting they are now gainfully employed. If one goes for years without a job, and they are healthy, then they are a bum. Period.

 

Back to the subject:

 

Charity and business deals are too entirely different things. If you have ever been on hard times, I doubt that the local gas station let you pay less to fill up your car. I doubt that the local Wal-Mart let you pay less for what you wanted or needed. I doubt that the local comic book store sold you this weeks new comics for half price (of course though, WTF were you doing buying comic books anyway in times like that).

 

But, I could be wrong. I have been a time or three.

[ArAich]

Honestly...if I were to come across a situation as yours I would have him tell me what he needs to get for the collection. That way if it's in the range you were going to offer then you can leave with a clear concense(sp?) if you actually purchase them...

[Paratrooper]

con-science

[ArAich]

I knew it was wrong...hence the (SP?) ...

[Scrooge]

Well, Parapooper made a funny

[conditionfreak]

conscious - 5 dictionary results

 

con⋅scious   /ˈkɒnʃəs/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [kon-shuhs] Show IPA Pronunciation

 

–adjective 1. aware of one's own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc.

2. fully aware of or sensitive to something (often fol. by of): conscious of one's own faults; He wasn't conscious of the gossip about his past.

3. having the mental faculties fully active: He was conscious during the operation.

4. known to oneself; felt: conscious guilt.

5. aware of what one is doing: a conscious liar.

6. aware of oneself; self-conscious.

7. deliberate; intentional: a conscious insult; a conscious effort.

8. acutely aware of or concerned about: money-conscious; a diet-conscious society.

9. Obsolete. inwardly sensible of wrongdoing

 

[Paratrooper]

Check the sentence he was using the word in. He meant conscience:

 

Conscience ability or faculty that distinguishes whether one's actions are right or wrong. In plain English, it is a person's inner sense of what is right or what is wrong morally. It leads to feelings of remorse when one does things that go against his/her moral values, and to feelings of rectitude or integrity when one's actions conform to our moral values. It is also the attitude which informs one's moral judgment before performing any action. The extent to which such moral judgments are based in reason has been a matter of controversy almost throughout the history of Western philosophy.

 

 

[conditionfreak]

con⋅science   /ˈkɒnʃəns/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [kon-shuhns] Show IPA Pronunciation

 

–noun 1. the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one's conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action: to follow the dictates of conscience.

2. the complex of ethical and moral principles that controls or inhibits the actions or thoughts of an individual.

3. an inhibiting sense of what is prudent: I'd eat another piece of pie but my conscience would bother me.

4. conscientiousness.

5. Obsolete. consciousness; self-knowledge.

6. Obsolete. strict and reverential observance.