Ridiculously Rare DC Giveaways And Premiums 5 5

[Ian_Levine]

Gotta link?

 

So tell me..... where they say "I have never seen this item up for sale (I am the original owner) and have no idea how to price it. So I have set what I hope is a fair opening bid", do the board members consider a thousand dollars to be a FAIR opening bid for a 1980s Trade Paperback

Despite previous controversies, I genuinely welcome your opinions on this. I believe it to be unfair. If you all disagree, then I'm willing to be proved wrong.

 

Just look it up in Overstreet.

It guides at twenty two dollars in near mint.

[awe4one]

I agree with you here Ian. The price is absurdly excessive.

 

Jim

[Ian_Levine]

I agree with you here Ian. The price is absurdly excessive.

 

Jim

 

Thankyou

I appreciate that.

I was worried everyone was gonna call me a cry baby.

I feel it was absurdly excessive too, and I was torn between walking away from it, and paying far too much for something that guides at twenty two dollars, PURELY for the convenience of taking it off the wants list of giveaways and promos.

[chromium]

And I'm afraid it's going to get worse....

 

One of the first things I asked you when you made your first appearance on these boards was if you weren't afraid of people driving up the prices to insane levels because you had just made your want list public...

 

I figured it was going to happen when you were down to your last ten..well seems some people can't even wait until then. The price for that TPB is ludicrous, in fact the seller shouldn't have bothered writing the description, or even the title.

His shortcut would have been to simply call the auction Ian Levine, here's something you need.... as I believe the only reason he put a $1000 reserve on it, was because somehow he knew you would end up buying it.

 

Maybe you should consider walking away a few times from auctions that are merely set-ups for squeezing as much sterling out of you as possible...

 

[PedigreeMan]

Knowing I needed it towards completing my collection, I really feel I've been held to ransom.

 

Ian, do you know for certain that the seller was aware you needed it? Could this have just been a case of "let's throw it up on eBay with a ridiculous reserve to test the waters and see what it's worth?" Unless you're 100% positive about the seller's motivation, statements like, "Quite frankly I think it's extortion" and "Pure highway robbery!!!" could get you sued for libel / slander!

 

Whatever the case, this was clearly an instance when you should have walked away. Seeing as how you were bidding against yourself, I don't think that book would have gone for more than the $22 it's listed at in the guide were you not aware of its sale. If the seller truly had no clue as to your needing the book, you could have then swooped in privately after the auction ended (without meeting reserve) and offered what you felt to be "fair" market value for it. On the other hand, if the seller was truly trying to extort you, your walking away would have put all of the power into your hands. At the very least it would have shown other would-be "extorters" that you are not afraid to walk away from books on your list and thus make them think twice about setting such high reserves in the future. At best, your refusing to meet the seller's reserve may have actually enabled you to open a negotiating track with him that would have netted you the book for substantially less than you ended up paying for it.

 

Ian, your quest is still a marathon, and despite your wanting to sprint to the end you need to keep a slow and steady pace. Otherwise you're going to stroke out!

 

Oh, and you do know they have medicine out there now to control OCD, right?

Alan

[Ian_Levine]

Ian, do you know for certain that the seller was aware you needed it?

 

Yes because there was tons of stuff about this particular comic over on the Comics Price Guide forum. I just expected them to start it with a fair reserve of a hundred, to give everyone a reasonable chance of bidding on it.

Starting it out with a minimum reserve of a thousand just smacks of greed. The comic is just the six original issues stuck together (you can pick up all six for five bucks). The only thing that's unique is the cover.

[kryptonitecomics]

I think it was robbery as well Ian. I'll state it here for the record:

 

If I am able to acquire one of the books on your list...you can have it for cost + shipping. I would hope others would do the same for me if I was seeking a book and it wasn't on their want list.

[Ian_Levine]

I think it was robbery as well Ian. I'll state it here for the record:

If I am able to acquire one of the books on your list...you can have it for cost + shipping. I would hope others would do the same for me if I was seeking a book and it wasn't on their want list.

 

I don't think it was SPECIFICALLY aimed at me, although they knew in advance that I needed it. I think the pricing was motivated by sheer avarice, knowing someone like me might pay such a ridiculously inflated starting bid if they truly needed it, rather than trying to determine a fair market value for it.

Funnily enough, if it had started at a hundred dollars, and loads of people had bid on it (which is exactly what happened with "Superman And The Great Cleveland Fire") and I'd ended up paying a thousand in a fair bidding war because other people were upping thier bids in a genuine attempt to obtain something rare, then I would have felt much more comfortable. This was a case of putting in a high maximum bid of five hundred dollars because I figured NO-ONE would pay more than that, and then discovering that it nowhere near met the reserve. Consequently, I cannot help but feel fleeced.

 

But what really sticks in my throat is their claim that their starting bid was a fair one.

THAT'S A JOKE !!!!!!!!!!!

[Darthdiesel]

Don't like the price, don't bid It doesn't get any easier than that...

 

Some of us with a patient temperament would just wait until nobody won it at that price and then work it out with the seller using the fact of the no-sale as leverage for asking for a lower price. The seller is under no obligation to give you the book at your 'estimated fair market value' price all that matters is what the seller can get away with in pricing and obsessive buyers like you with more wallet than sense just affirm the seller's worldview of the comic market and his skewed exorbitant pricing. NExt time someone finds this $22 TPB will be expecting to sell it for close to what you bought it for, hurting the next DC collector... think about that instead of focusing on your own sense of "injustice" - I laugh at the context you use the word in...

 

same old Ian... congrats on knocking your list down by 1. Instead of finding and revelling in the positive, you once again take that experience and focus on the negative and come out and bash the seller. PLease make sure you share this misery with your pals on the comicspriceguide board as I'm sure they'd love to hear your rants on one of their own firsthand.

[Ian_Levine]

Don't like the price, don't bid : It doesn't get any easier than that...

 

But it's not that easy at all.

If I don't bid at their starting price, I may never come across another copy. I only know of three in the whole world. Yes it's seriously rare but it's still not worth a thousand. Even if there aren't any other copies around. So I'm forced to pay something I think is unfair.

And as I said earlier, these are discussion points about comics, and whether you agree with me or not, I think this is a very valid discussion point for these boards.

[Ian_Levine]

PLease make sure you share this misery with your pals on the comicspriceguide board as I'm sure they'd love to hear your rants on one of their own firsthand.

 

Oh I already did so.

[Darthdiesel]

So I'm forced to pay something I think is unfair.

 

wait it out Ian and when no one bids at that insane price, then work it out privately on the side. With your tons of DC rare duplicates, I'm sure even your brusqueness would have not prevented you from acquiring a $22 TPB

 

it's not like there was a gun to your head telling you buy that specific copy or you'd die...

 

and as I said earlier, these are discussion points about comics, and whether you agree with me or not, I think this is a very valid discussion point for these boards.

 

I'm discussing here too

[Ian_Levine]

I'm sure even your brusqueness would have not prevented you from acquiring a $22 TPB

it's not like there was a gun to your head telling you buy that specific copy or you'd die...

 

 

Unfortunately, Darth, this was a special giveaway prize in a DC contest. They bound the six issues of the Man Of Steel Miniseries together with a special cover created specially for these copies. I know of three copies of this. I do not know of any more in the world. If it hadn't been so rare, this situation wouldn't have arisen. No one would have bid more than ten bucks for the regular Man Of Steel Trade Paperback. Even so, Overstreet lists this special Giveaway edition at $22 in near mint. The problem then, of course, is actually FINDING one at that price. It''s a bit like Supergear - the same thing applies. Which is why I initially offered five hundred for this - but it didn't halfway meet the reserve. Yet it was still twenty five times guide, remembering if it guided at $22 in near mint, that this copy isn't near mint anyway.

[DaethWalker]

Well, if it had been me, I'm sure if noone had met the $1,000 reserve, I would have contacted the next hishest bidder, which would have been you at $500 ... if, you hadn't bid against yourself.

 

Also, as mentioned, you have plenty of dupes in your collection now, I'm sure if you had gotten in touch with the seller and offered a SA or GA DC worth between $500 and $1,000 guide, you could have made an easy trade.

 

I mean, if I was in that seller's position, I'd much rather have a comic that I know other's would be interested in, rather than one that only a few even know exists.

[FlyingDonut]

Got to agree with Darth here. The seller thought he is dealing from a position of strength, because he knows you must have this book! But you're the only legitmate bidder for it, because everybody else in the world says "You've got to be [!@#%^&^] kidding me, a $1000 price for a stupid Man of Steel trade? I don't [!@#%^&^] think so!"

 

What you should have done is what Darth said - left your bid at $500, and waited to see if it sold. If it didn't meet the reserve, you could have contacted the guy and said "hey, I'm probably the only guy in the world who wants this book, lets trade some stuff that I know you can sell" or, if it did sell to some other slappy, done the same thing. You need to think about jumping in on it with both feet, because you probably could have given the guy more than he wanted in trade.

[BachelorOfComix]

Why all the drama all the time? Why are you always the victim? Why is the world always coming to an end when a transaction doesn't go your way?

 

I don't see a problem. No one forced you to bid. In fact, no one else bid. Are we to believe that if the seller set a $10,000 reserve, you would have hit it? If you're uncomfortable paying $1000 for it, you shouldn't have bid so high. Case closed. End of story. 'Nuff Said.

[Ian_Levine]

But you're the only legitmate bidder for it, because everybody else in the world says "You've got to be [!@#%^&^] kidding me, a $1000 price for a stupid Man of Steel trade? I don't [!@#%^&^] think so!"

 

The story has a much happier ending.

 

The sellers, Matthew Sewell and his wife Alisa, have offered to knock $250 off the bid price, taking it down to $750.

 

Although it's still more than I initially intended to pay, I think the gesture is a very kind and very sincere one. These are clearly genuine and stand-up people, and not a lot of people would have done this once the bid went through.

 

So I would like to publicly apologise to them for anything I said about being held to ransom. I have never met them before, and although I think the reserve price was too high, I admire and respect them immeasurably for offering a compromise.

 

I feel far far better now about purchasing this item. It has restored my faith in e-bay sellers. Although I don't feel it was wrong to bring up the subject on these boards, now that I've seen what genuine people they are, I really wish to acknowledge their generous gesture on here.

 

I end the day with a smile instead of acid indigestion.

 

So once again, I want to thank them for offering to compromise, and leave everybody much happier with the deal.

We can all learn from their generosity.

 

Thanks

 

Ian Levine.

[BachelorOfComix]

I feel far far better now about purchasing this item. It has restored my faith in e-bay sellers.

Most likely only until the next transaction? It's like Deja Vu all over again.

[PUNYHUMAN]

[Ian_Levine]

Why all the drama all the time? Why are you always the victim? Why is the world always coming to an end when a transaction doesn't go your way?

 

I think that's a very mean spirited posting.

These boards are a means for us all to discuss purchasing comics. People discuss dealers and injustices on here.... LOTS OF PEOPLE in fact. Look at the amount of threads about Comic Keys or the level of anti-Chuck Rozanski feeling (someone who I've never met but whose employee, Aaron Krieger, has been very kind and helpful to me).

 

I saw what I perceived to be an initial injustice and I openly asked for feedback from the board members. What was there about my postings that immediately led you to rubbish my very sentiments again ? Why when other people discuss a dealer on e-bay is it healthy discussion, but when I do it's me playing the victim

Or HEAVEN FORBID am I playing the victim again because I'm asking the question ?

In which case please forgive my arrogance in asking the question at all.

 

I am SO sorry, BOC, for disturbing your thoughts.

Please forgive me for causing you offense.

Next time I will just press the delete button and send some private messages to my friends on here instead, rather than subject you to my bleats of victimisation and my shocking attempts to present you with another unpleasant case of deja-vu.