Mile High is BUYING!

[RockMyAmadeus]

$25 for Conan 275 is not bad...but my guess is that they'll push your NM copy down to VF for the purposes of paying less ($12.50) for it..that doesn't seem bad considering a number of VF or so copies have been selling in the $15-$20 range. sure, they'll charge $150 for it, but whatever.

 

anyway, this list and lonestars is nice for educational purposes. milehigh's is easier to quickly glance at.

 

honestly, at the end of the day i don't care what they charge for something, just what they'll pay.

 

And does anyone think for a second that Chuckles doesn't screen books like this for CGC potential when they're actually 9.8 potential copies?

 

Of course he does.

 

So he pays you $25 for it, then ship it off to CGC, pay $20 to slab it, then lists it for $1,000 on his site, so someone can buy it for $400 with his "deep, deep discounts"

 

(meanwhile, of course, admiring his collection of pottery. )

[Boozad]

i don't understand what you're hopping up and down about, there are a zillion places to buy old comics other than shops (here, ebay and shows to name a few), nobody is forcing you to overpay....if a comic at the shop is overpriced it will sit on the wall or the box, fade, get damaged, gather dust, etc. eventually, MAYBE, the shop owner will say to some customer...hey buddy...spend $100 and anything in that box is half off or 75% off and maybe someone goes for that. who knows. nobody has a gun to your head.

 

I never understand comments like this.

 

At no time did I say anything about not having alternatives, or anybody having a gun to anyone's head, or overpriced books sitting gathering dust, or ANYTHING even remotely like that.

 

The behavior and attitude of Chuckles is GROSS. It's beyond arrogant and disgusting, and reflects poorly on the entire hobby.

 

It's utter hypocrisy to go on at length about how "strict" they are when grading the comics THEY want to buy, and how they WILL reprice YOUR books if they feel YOU have overgraded them, and then send out thousands....if not MILLIONS...of comics graded "NM" that wouldn't grade better than 6.0 at CGC.

 

It's hucksterism at its worst. It is NOT honest and ethical business behavior.

 

This is behavior better suited for a traveling carnival, not the biggest retailer in the comics business. It's bad enough to price EVERYTHING (overgraded, too) at 2-3-10-20 times MARKET VALUE...but then to turn around and offer pennies for said books, and then have the NERVE to issue stern warnings about YOUR grading?

 

Hypocrisy at its finest.

 

What does all that have to do with "well, no one's FORCING you to do business with them"...?

 

 

You both have points. Chucks business model is sickening at best and personally I would be loathe to do business with him. The fact that the industry is so transparent these days when it comes to pricing books just highlights how flippant his attitude is.

 

But having said that, it's easy for people who see it the same way as I do to not buy from there, enlighten those in the dark about his practices and let the feet do the talking. The less people buy from there the more he suffers, the more he puts his prices to (over)compensate, the more people stop buying from him and so on and so forth.

 

At some point he will bring about his own downfall through greed and something maybe a little short of contempt. What really sticks in my throat is the fact that Overtsreet - publications intended to enlighten comic-buyers and sellers - allow someone who overgrades and overprices to have any input into their material.

[The Less Blob]

your post went well beyond chuckles, you were ranting about the owner of the LCS who overcharges and overgrades (and who probably nets about $10 an hour from his business if he's lucky) and other sellers. "when are we going to stand up to them" or something like that...well, you stand up to them by buying elsewhere. virtually no collector with a clue buys from milehigh other than when the discounts are right and/or buying cheap stuff and getting free shipping. the tone of your post is that somehow we're being opressed by all of this. i, for one, am happy that the biggest seller out there (is he?) is obscenely overpriced, it helps make my prices seem more reasonable!

 

honestly, i have no idea who is buying his overpriced stuff unless they're getting a 75-80% discount off his "regular" prices. anyone who can log on to his website can visit ebay or lonestar or whatever. maybe europeans like him for shipping reasons, i have no idea really.

[chrisco37]

What really sticks in my throat is the fact that Overtsreet - publications intended to enlighten comic-buyers and sellers - allow someone who overgrades and overprices to have any input into their material.

 

I think since he "discovered" the Church collection, he's "grandfathered" in. He'll always have that going for him (regardless of how right or wrong he is on anything).

 

His "grading rule" is a big joke. Laughable, at the very least. As RMA said, it's total hypocrisy. I'm still banned from buying as I had the audacity to return a "NM" TTA #57 that wouldn't have graded out at 4.0. I had just gotten back into collecting and didn't know much about CGC at the time, and even then I knew it wasn't close to NM. At the time, if I had rec'd a 7.5 or so, I probably would've been tickled pink.

[bill999]

I imagine he will pay $10K for a Hulk #1(1962) in 9.2 grade if he is feeling generous???

[The Less Blob]

i can't blame a dealer for trying to mark up back issues 300-500%+++++. At least for stuff under $10, that's definitely always my minimum goal when I'm buying something I plan to sell. Doesn't always work out so well, but I try. Of course, if I make it, it's on the paying end. Setting an arbitrarily high price gets you nowhere. The profits are made when you find a good deal. I bought a short box of books today and i guess the market will decide if I got a good deal.

 

the dealer who has a box of nice SA walk in his door and tells the seller they're worth 20 cents a pop, now that's mean. of course, as my friend who owned an LCS told me, sometimes it totally backfires to be fair. One time he actually made a good offer on some stuff he REALLY wanted and the seller was totally clueless as to its worth, thought he'd be walking out the door with $20, not $2000 and decided that the stuff must be worth a fortune and walked out the door.

 

"So he pays you $25 for it, then ship it off to CGC, pay $20 to slab it, then lists it for $1,000 on his site, so someone can buy it for $400 with his "deep, deep discounts""

 

Isn't that what half the people on this board spend their free time trying to do?

 

 

[The Less Blob]

looks like i'm going to have to work hard to hit that 300% goal with the last batch of oldies i picked up. they sure looked nicer when i was buying them!

[RockMyAmadeus]

your post went well beyond chuckles,

 

(it would help if you quoted what you are referring to, when there are multiple posts in the same thread by the other respondent.)

 

you were ranting about the owner of the LCS who overcharges and overgrades (and who probably nets about $10 an hour from his business if he's lucky) and other sellers. "when are we going to stand up to them" or something like that...well, you stand up to them by buying elsewhere.

 

Already said that. And how much a local owner makes is utterly irrelevant to this conversation. The collectibles business is TOUGH, and not for incompetents and wusses. No one is owed or guaranteed success. If a seller cannot make a go of it honestly and ethically, he/she belongs in another business.

 

Here's a start: don't overpay for what you cannot sell. Howard Harris, owner of Greg's Comics in Mesa, AZ, has been in business for 20 years. He knows his clientele, and he knows what will sell. When someone walks in with a VG/F copy of Amazing Spiderman #4, he doesn't offer half guide. He offers based on what he can sell it for. If the seller balks, Howard tells them to shop around, and if no one else makes an offer, come back. Here's the kicker: no one else is buying anything, so there are no other offers. The seller can sell on eBay, or they can sell to Howard...who doesn't then jack up the price beyond what he thinks the item is really worth (usually 60-75% of Guide.)

 

It's not rocket science, but even with a gargantuan crash in the mid 90's, it seems the hobby can't shake the hangers-on who still think comics = $$$$$$.

 

And yes, one of my posts was indeed aimed at dealers like him who do *almost* the same thing...few manage to rise to the level of greed, contempt, and hypocrisy that Chuckie does, though.

 

Did my post hit too close to home?

 

virtually no collector with a clue buys from milehigh other than when the discounts are right and/or buying cheap stuff and getting free shipping. the tone of your post is that somehow we're being opressed by all of this. i, for one, am happy that the biggest seller out there (is he?) is obscenely overpriced, it helps make my prices seem more reasonable!

 

Um.

 

Yikes.

 

I take it you're a dealer, then? If so, and you took my post personally, maybe there's a reason...because it certainly had nothing to do with you.

 

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

i can't blame a dealer for trying to mark up back issues 300-500%+++++. At least for stuff under $10, that's definitely always my minimum goal when I'm buying something I plan to sell. Doesn't always work out so well, but I try. Of course, if I make it, it's on the paying end. Setting an arbitrarily high price gets you nowhere. The profits are made when you find a good deal. I bought a short box of books today and i guess the market will decide if I got a good deal.

 

the dealer who has a box of nice SA walk in his door and tells the seller they're worth 20 cents a pop, now that's mean.

 

No it's not. If the seller can only sell them for 50 cents, there's nothing "mean" about it. That's business. If the seller can sell them for $500, that's also business.

 

Do you think Wal-Mart is "mean" when they pay 17 cents for a plastic bowl which then then put on the shelf for $3.98? How about the Chinese factory workers who make $1/hour to make that bowl? Is that "mean"...?

 

How much should anyone make as a "fair" profit in any business?

 

(The answer SHOULD be "whatever the market will bear.")

 

It is up to the seller to decide if he/she wants to sell for 20 cents each. It's not as if anyone's holding a gun to anyone's head, after all.

 

of course, as my friend who owned an LCS told me, sometimes it totally backfires to be fair. One time he actually made a good offer on some stuff he REALLY wanted and the seller was totally clueless as to its worth, thought he'd be walking out the door with $20, not $2000 and decided that the stuff must be worth a fortune and walked out the door.

 

Which is why, in the art of negotiation, never make your move first.

 

So he pays you $25 for it, then ship it off to CGC, pay $20 to slab it, then lists it for $1,000 on his site, so someone can buy it for $400 with his "deep, deep discounts""

 

Isn't that what half the people on this board spend their free time trying to do?

 

 

Fixed the quotes for ya.

 

And you completely ignored the context of that statement. Chuckie has a built in caveat: he's not really going to PAY the "NM" price unless something has a shot at a 9.8 or so. Otherwise, he'll just "downgrade" your books and pay you the VF (or lower) price. For books that might legitimately grade 9.4 at CGC, does anyone really think he'll pay "NM" prices? Maybe he will.

 

And maybe pigs will come roaring out my arse and fly off to Buenos Aires.

 

There's nothing wrong with doing the above, provided you're not doing the OTHER half of it, as well.

[Boozad]

And maybe pigs will come roaring out my arse and fly off to Buenos Aires.

 

I knew I wasn't the only one who had that problem :banana:

[slym2none]

Any potential good deal on the part of the seller selling to Mile High is entirely and thoroughly mitigated into oblivion by the caveats Chuckles has in place.

 

So not worth the risk.

 

So, I shouldn't unload my 3 copies each of Dark Tower 1 & 2 to him @ $2 each? I won't be able to get that anywhere else.....

 

 

 

 

-slym

[slym2none]

does anyone think for a second that Chuckles doesn't screen books like this for CGC potential when they're actually 9.8 potential copies?

 

Of course he does.

 

So he pays you $25 for it, then ship it off to CGC, pay $20 to slab it, then lists it for $1,000 on his site, so someone can buy it for $400 with his "deep, deep discounts"

 

(meanwhile, of course, admiring his collection of pot )

 

Fixed that for ya.

 

 

 

 

-slym

[Flaming_Telepath]

"So he pays you $25 for it, then ship it off to CGC, pay $20 to slab it, then lists it for $1,000 on his site, so someone can buy it for $400 with his "deep, deep discounts""

 

Isn't that what half the people on this board spend their free time trying to do?

 

 

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

"So he pays you $25 for it, then ship it off to CGC, pay $20 to slab it, then lists it for $1,000 on his site, so someone can buy it for $400 with his "deep, deep discounts""

 

Isn't that what half the people on this board spend their free time trying to do?

 

 

 

Context, people, context.

 

[Green]

"So he pays you $25 for it, then ship it off to CGC, pay $20 to slab it, then lists it for $1,000 on his site, so someone can buy it for $400 with his "deep, deep discounts""

 

Isn't that what half the people on this board spend their free time trying to do?

 

 

[JWKyle]

OK I'm going to sound like a mark but a while back i sold my Mircle man comics to Lone Star The way they work whatever they buy your comics for in that grade they list for sale on there site. When I sent these in I put them in the vf- to Nm- range grading each issue and on some they disagreed with my grades. My VF was a VF/NM in there eyes so they paid me more money. They have a nice system and the fact that they scan there 10 dollar and above books is cool too.

 

Anyone who uses the phrase when you (Extrapolate the numbers) is just trying to rip you off and make you think you did good business. GO buy some more Golden age books for 10 cents each to bring to market.

[The Less Blob]

I take it you're a dealer, then? If so, and you took my post personally, maybe there's a reason...because it certainly had nothing to do with you.

_______________________

 

hardly. like most people here i sell on ebay, here or wherever. i've sold a whopping $80 in comics on ebay and via yardsale in the last month.

 

if you're interested, the ebay sales were each purchased for $1 each from a street vendor and sold for $17 and $25 respectively. the yard sale comics were mostly acquired for free or for 25 cents each (sometimes 12.5 cents each) and mostly sold for 50 cents. i was trying to get $1 each for them but quickly gave up. of course, none of this takes into account all the other krap I have purchased that isn't for sale (yet) and probably isn't as profitable as those street vendor purchases....my last bulk purchase from a street vendor, as i've already noted, sure looked better on the street than when I brought them home and actually examined them! oh well....

 

needless to say, i've had much (30-40X) bigger months, but i am definitely not a "dealer" as in I live off this income. i just know that shops need to have a pretty fantastic margin on back issues because they get hammered elsewhere (a 50% discount on new issues isn't so great when file customers are getting a 10-25% discount, you're getting stuck with overstock and so on)

[Gatsby77]

I realized I could never be a comic book dealer when I ran the numbers and discovered to survive I would have to pay 1/9th of Overstreets.

 

That's possible in my area since Craigs List offers such bulk deals about 3-4 times a year.

 

But take a $20 book, say New Mutants 98 (I don't know what the "current" value of it is, but for this example, assume $20).

 

I go in with the assumption that if it's "worth" $20, I'll be able to sell it for maybe $8 (40%). To compensate for my time and storage costs, I'm only able to pay $2.50-$3.00 for it. Granted, I know that's more like 15%, but that's for a key. If it were a New Mutants # 83, ("worth" say $3), I assume I _might_ eventually be able to sell for $1, $.30-$.35 is far too generous.

 

The reality is, even assuming somebody will pay $12 ($8 plus $4 shipping) for a $20 book is misguided.

[Gatsby77]

Another example: guy in my area has Brave & Bold 29, JLA 1-3 for sale in raw "fine." Two years ago, I offered him $900 based on a then-going rate on Ebay of $1400 (I assumed they were all 4.5s rather than 6.0s). He laughed & said he was looking for more like $2k. Said he would take them to some shows.

 

Two weeks ago they showed back up (clearly unsold), this time with an asking price of $1800. Granted, JLA # 1 has increased in the past two years, but I still question the price, as I base "value" on "replacement value" and CGC copies of 5.0s elsewhere are still less than his asking price.

 

I also don't get why he didn't CGC them in the ensuing two years.

[bounty_coder]

I also don't get why he didn't CGC them in the ensuing two years.

 

...Maybe they got resto that he's aware of ...but trying to pass off.