HooDeeDoo vs Motor City Comics

[HooDeeDoo]

I had an interesting little chat with Motor City Comics today. I have no idea what his name is - he's the short balding guy with the beard. I got the impression he's the owner.

 

To give you a little background, I mentioned in a post a few months ago that I was at the New York show and saw three raw high grade Kirby Two-Gun Kids (they graded them two VF/NM and one VF+) that I was interested in. I wanted to buy all three and when I asked how much they'd do if I took all three, I was told (by someone other than the guy I spoke with today) that the books had an "ND" on them therefore there was no discount. I am not someone who haggles over prices when it comes to inexpensive books, however, since these were raw and were priced at 1.5x guide, I felt the prices were a little aggressive (but not ridiculous) and was hoping they'd give me a few bucks off if I took all three - if they had said, "We can't really do much, we can only give you ten bucks off for all of them", I would have pulled the trigger and bought them. However, the prices were firm and I thought that was a little silly. The guy was perfectly nice about it but I passed on them. The show was slow and I thought them being firm wasn't what I would have done in their position. I knew they would still be there at the next New York show.

 

Cut to today.

 

I was curious to see if they were still there after being to San Diego, Chicago, Michigan, and who knows how many other shows.

 

Surprise, surprise.....there they all were - including two other VFs I didn't want.

 

I really hadn't bought anything at the show and thought I might try again to see if they would make a deal on them since the books had been to several shows and no one wanted them.

 

oops, bad idea.

 

The guy I first mentioned saw me looking at them and mentioned that someone had ragged on him on the Forum about the books and then asked if it was me who had done the ragging. I fearlessly said "yes", and then he proceeded to give me grief about it. I stood my ground and said that I thought it was stupid that he wouldn't even slightly budge on the prices since he had been dragging them around and no one wanted them. He said someone would eventually buy them (personally, I doubt it - people aren't tripping over themselves to buy medium high grade westerns at multiples of guide) and that furthermore (and here's the kicker and the point of this story) that they were priced as they were because he overpaid for them (and that's a quote) in the first place and that he can't afford to give a discount on them. Fortunately, one of his guys needed to ask him a question so the conversation didn't devolve into a full-fledged argument that I ultimately would have won.

 

The point I never got to make (clearly) to him was that it's not in a collector's interest to be a dealer's enabler. If you don't have the good sense not to overpay for a book, it's not my job as collector to bail you out. I'm not trying to be pissy here, I'm serious. As collectors, we need to say "no" more often. Dealers don't drive the market, BUYERS do. I see stupid prices all the time, and the books just sit and sit and sit and sit. There are dealers who take the "someone will eventually buy it" attitude, but unless you've got an amazing cash flow, that's a fiscally deadly attitute to adopt.

 

The major dealers don't have a twice yearly sale (like all other retailers) so their business model is based upon turnover of stock. If you're not selling books, you're not making money. Plain and simple. If you're inflexible on price, it's going to be tougher to sell books, and the harder it becomes to sell books, the harder it is to turn stock, and the less stock you turn the less money you make.

 

That concept appears to be lost on Motor City. Until they adopt a more "collector friendly" approach to their business, they won't have mine.

 

(Let the screaming begin.)

[murph0]

So the guy read a thread that you wrote on HERE.. and somehow knew it was you that wrote it when you went to look at the books? Wow, looks like those books must be generating QUITE the amount of interest.

 

Brian

[Darthdiesel]

are those two guns now "mysteriously" in the FN rather than Vf range after today?

[joe_collector]

I agree totally. Out of all the dealers who are on EBay, Motor City seems to be the one still living in the past, where there was no CGC, no EBay, no Heritage auctions, and there was no true show competition.

 

So I see them constantly listing books at ultra-high starting bids, getting no takers, and then proceeding to relist ad infinitum. The kicker is that the books they have are usually not ultra high-grade, are available elsewhere for much, much less, and they seem to have zero faith in the marketplace to determine prices.

 

Contrast that with dealers like Showcase, who usually start their auctions off low and just let the buyers determine prices. Even Heritage auctions (of mid to mid/high-grade) usually end at lower than Motor City lots start at.

[HooDeeDoo]

So the guy read a thread that you wrote on HERE.. and somehow knew it was you that wrote it when you went to look at the books?

 

When he saw me looking at them, he then mentioned that someone had given him grief on the Forum. A light went off in his head and he asked me if I was actually the one who had written the post.

 

Oddly, he never chose to respond on the Forum to my original post.

 

 

 

[Aman619]

hey HooDee - - I think you're off base on this. Sure its frustrating when Michael (thats the Motor City owner's name, guy with the beard) when he states unequivocally 'ND' means NO DISCOUNT. He's been that way for all the years I've known him. And yes his prices are very aggressively high on many books.

 

But that only shows he does enough business anyway and his style has worked for him for a long time. He's not the only one who feels they must overcharge for books they overpaid on. And sure, he's dragged them unsuccessfully around from show to show .... but clearly he's not desperate enough yet to sell them at a loss.

 

And, really, even though you only want the books at a fair price, if he doesnt want to sell them yet, its his decision and his loss, right? It means he's doing well enough with the rest of his inventory to wait for the perfect customer for them. Im not disagreeing with you that this shouldn't [!@#%^&^] you off...just that in th escheme of things its just a "cosa d' biziness" No big deal.

 

What issues were they, anyway?

[joe_collector]

And, really, even though you only want the books at a fair price, if he doesnt want to sell them yet, its his decision and his loss, right?

 

Exactly, and if his customers want to vent their frustration with his business tactics, that's their decision and right as well.

 

He doesn't have to change is business practices, just like HooDeeDoo doesn't have to stop outlining his issues with them.

[Aman619]

Im not saying thers anything wrong with venting his frustration on these boards. It might even get Mike to react if only to protect his reputation. But not being able to come to an agreement with a dealer at a show is just not a rarity worth noting, IMO

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

See, thats just not good business sense. I don't see the wisdom of dragging them around after they've been passed on over and over. Take the offer, take the loss (which can't be that much), and sink it back into something that you can turn for a profit.

 

 

 

[joe_collector]

But not being able to come to an agreement with a dealer at a show is just not a rarity worth noting, IMO

 

Sure, but those whole "ND" thing has been brought up by many forum members in the past.

 

Maybe HooDeeDoo should print up business cards with a big "NS" on them, and give them out to MotorCity.

 

"What does that mean?"

 

"No Sale!"

[HooDeeDoo]

Im not saying thers anything wrong with venting his frustration on

 

Let make one thing perfectly clear: I'm not frustrated, p-o'ed, mad or any of those other emotions. I'm merely making an observation about something I found surprising.

 

Furthermore, just because a dealer has been doing business a certain way for a long time doesn't mean that they're doing it right. Don't they say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome?

[Aman619]

Yeah but Motor City DOES discount ND books..... hed prefer not to, but he does. (you didnt hear it from me...)

[Timely]

I just bought a VG Avon book from Motor City off of ebay. The book looked right for the grade but I noticed the book had 4 extra staples (two on the top and two on the bottom) on the back cover. That defect was not mentioned in the description. I've emailed them twice with no response as of yet. Rather than send it back I asked for a partial refund. Let's see what happens!?!

 

Timely

[blazingbob]

Am I doing it right?

[HooDeeDoo]

Am I doing it right?

 

Bob, like the old Carly Simon song says: "Nobody does it better. Makes me feel sad for the rest. Nobody does it half as good as you. Baby, you're the best."

[Aman619]

you mean Mr Bob Everything at 50% Off Storms?

[drbanner]

Am I doing it right?

 

Bob, like the old Carly Simon song says: "Nobody does it better. Makes me feel sad for the rest. Nobody does it half as good as you. Baby, you're the best."

 

 

 

 

NTTAWWT...

 

[clobberintime]

Huuzah! Good for you - I have dealt with that exact guy before in Charlotte and Orlando and he is a pain - like a few others I have dealt with. How do some folks stay in business?

[fantastic_four]

Bob, like the old Carly Simon song says: "Nobody does it better. Makes me feel sad for the rest. Nobody does it half as good as you. Baby, you're the best."

 

Since I know that Carly's song was used in a Bond film and was meant to allude to how much sexual prowess Bond has...I must say that sounded really, really suggestively gay.

[joe_collector]

I must say that sounded really, really suggestively gay.

 

Take it to PM, hot pants.