ref: what push your limits of patience when at a show or LCS

[MeatierMan70-migration]

My biggest pet peeve has already been mentioned, but I'll reiterate, HYGIENE!

Deodorant and soap are cheap, please use them accordingly.

Also, please price your books.

No need for a grade, because I can make that determination for myself.

 

[followtheleader]

A third party that wants to appear as the friendly comic stud by saying that he'll buy the comic if you don't (in an effort to get you to purchase it). And then doesn't when you don't buy it. AHAHAH

 

Pat

[KolmarAvenue]

All of these...either at a con or lcs. probably the worst though for me is when books aren't priced, and the dealer promises to hook me up the more I spend, and then they start to add up the books from Wizard, Overstreet, and that online guide. And wants 95-150% of the going rate. Just wasted time.

 

Also, when the lcs constantly has boxes of recent back issue purchases in full view on gaming tables, but "haven't been sorted yet" so you can't browse them and you never see them in the "regular" back issue bins. Always the same stuff in the bins. I enjoy my lcs for the most part, but that's my peeve with them.

[KolmarAvenue]

oh, and overpacking boxes. have to take out a stack of 30 books just to browse the box.

[JohnT]

oh, and overpacking boxes. have to take out a stack of 30 books just to browse the box.

 

 

I can't for the life of me understand why people who are trying to make money don't understand the concept of making it convenient for potential buyers to actually view their product! So many times I just walk away from a dealer because you can't flip through the boxes.

 

I'll add my pet peeve: overpriced comics. I can understand asking for more than the going rate on Ebay...after all the book is right there in my hands and I'm willing to pay for the convenience of not having to wait to have it shipped. But at least demonstrate some basic understanding of the market, and don't ask for twice as much as I can get the books elsewhere!

 

When you add in the fact that a good percentage of dealers who ask too much also don't grade well...

[sckao]

Re: Overpacking the boxes

 

This is a byproduct of the transit process. I.E. the comic books need to be tightly packed for travel or they will get damaged from flopping back and forth. Of course, once the boxes are brought in and set up on the tables, there needs to be slack space for browsing... hence the problem.

 

One solution: I use large bubble wrap and spare backing boards at the ends of my boxes generally if they're in any order. That way I don't need to pull books out in a domino fashion (and put them into the next box and so on). It also gives me emergency packing materials. (You can bend some old backing boards into a curve and use the tension to hold back the books if you have over 6" of slack space. Stick the bubble wrap into the center.)

 

 

 

 

[comicalgems]

All of these...either at a con or lcs. probably the worst though for me is when books aren't priced, and the dealer promises to hook me up the more I spend, and then they start to add up the books from Wizard, Overstreet, and that online guide. And wants 95-150% of the going rate. Just wasted time.

 

Also, when the lcs constantly has boxes of recent back issue purchases in full view on gaming tables, but "haven't been sorted yet" so you can't browse them and you never see them in the "regular" back issue bins. Always the same stuff in the bins. I enjoy my lcs for the most part, but that's my peeve with them.

 

My lcs lets me go through these boxes and will price them on the spot if I'm interested in something. Usually it means that once he prices it there's no wiggle though as it hasn't spent any time in the bins, on the wall, in the display or whatever.

 

I also once had a shop manager (there's a chain of stores in the midwest, I'm sure some of you know which one I'm speaking of) show me a Hulk 181 on a Friday night before a big sale advertised as a buy one get one free sale that started the next day on all back issue comics who quoted me a price of $700 and then promptly told me that the book would not be available during the sale. (He didn't have another book comparable at the time anyway). But the fact that he openly was holding back from this big sale was a little irritating. Of course, being the book that it was in the grade that it was, we promptly snatched it up.

[pink181]

All of these...either at a con or lcs. probably the worst though for me is when books aren't priced, and the dealer promises to hook me up the more I spend, and then they start to add up the books from Wizard, Overstreet, and that online guide. And wants 95-150% of the going rate. Just wasted time.

 

Also, when the lcs constantly has boxes of recent back issue purchases in full view on gaming tables, but "haven't been sorted yet" so you can't browse them and you never see them in the "regular" back issue bins. Always the same stuff in the bins. I enjoy my lcs for the most part, but that's my peeve with them.

 

My lcs lets me go through these boxes and will price them on the spot if I'm interested in something. Usually it means that once he prices it there's no wiggle though as it hasn't spent any time in the bins, on the wall, in the display or whatever.

 

I also once had a shop manager (there's a chain of stores in the midwest, I'm sure some of you know which one I'm speaking of) show me a Hulk 181 on a Friday night before a big sale advertised as a buy one get one free sale that started the next day on all back issue comics who quoted me a price of $700 and then promptly told me that the book would not be available during the sale. (He didn't have another book comparable at the time anyway). But the fact that he openly was holding back from this big sale was a little irritating. Of course, being the book that it was in the grade that it was, we promptly snatched it up.

 

are the store initials VS?

[skypinkblu]

 

Topless male dealers. Frankly guys, your best years are behind you. I don't care how hot it is keep the shirt on. And remember your superpowers guys over 40, you are invisible to women in their 20's.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've never seen one either, ...and I'm not in my 20's, so they should be visible.

 

I've sorry about asking about that book 3 times, Bob...but you distract me, and I forget;)

 

Seriously, my biggest peeve is dealers who put boxes of books I want to go through, under the tables in a busy aisle, so if you do look through them, you get stepped on. Graham Crackers has some neat stuff under their tables, but you can get maimed while looking;)

[comicalgems]

All of these...either at a con or lcs. probably the worst though for me is when books aren't priced, and the dealer promises to hook me up the more I spend, and then they start to add up the books from Wizard, Overstreet, and that online guide. And wants 95-150% of the going rate. Just wasted time.

 

Also, when the lcs constantly has boxes of recent back issue purchases in full view on gaming tables, but "haven't been sorted yet" so you can't browse them and you never see them in the "regular" back issue bins. Always the same stuff in the bins. I enjoy my lcs for the most part, but that's my peeve with them.

 

My lcs lets me go through these boxes and will price them on the spot if I'm interested in something. Usually it means that once he prices it there's no wiggle though as it hasn't spent any time in the bins, on the wall, in the display or whatever.

 

I also once had a shop manager (there's a chain of stores in the midwest, I'm sure some of you know which one I'm speaking of) show me a Hulk 181 on a Friday night before a big sale advertised as a buy one get one free sale that started the next day on all back issue comics who quoted me a price of $700 and then promptly told me that the book would not be available during the sale. (He didn't have another book comparable at the time anyway). But the fact that he openly was holding back from this big sale was a little irritating. Of course, being the book that it was in the grade that it was, we promptly snatched it up.

 

are the store initials VS?

yup

[Reno McCoy]

You know what else sort of bothers me? The fact that customers don't understand the idea of personal space. I sometimes dread going into the LCS on a Wednesday, knowing that I'll be standing in the back corner, looking at the new comics with 2-3 guys who will stand right in front of you even though you were there first. If I'm not standing within arm's reach of the comics, I can assure you that someone will step in front of me. Reaching in front of me without saying "excuse me" is one thing, but actually stepping in front of you and actually standing there, inches away, now that bothers me.

 

In part I guess I should blame the LCS for putting up there new book racks in the corner, but still. C'mon people. Wait your turn, or at least recognize that you're invading someone's personal space.

[pink181]

All of these...either at a con or lcs. probably the worst though for me is when books aren't priced, and the dealer promises to hook me up the more I spend, and then they start to add up the books from Wizard, Overstreet, and that online guide. And wants 95-150% of the going rate. Just wasted time.

 

Also, when the lcs constantly has boxes of recent back issue purchases in full view on gaming tables, but "haven't been sorted yet" so you can't browse them and you never see them in the "regular" back issue bins. Always the same stuff in the bins. I enjoy my lcs for the most part, but that's my peeve with them.

 

My lcs lets me go through these boxes and will price them on the spot if I'm interested in something. Usually it means that once he prices it there's no wiggle though as it hasn't spent any time in the bins, on the wall, in the display or whatever.

 

I also once had a shop manager (there's a chain of stores in the midwest, I'm sure some of you know which one I'm speaking of) show me a Hulk 181 on a Friday night before a big sale advertised as a buy one get one free sale that started the next day on all back issue comics who quoted me a price of $700 and then promptly told me that the book would not be available during the sale. (He didn't have another book comparable at the time anyway). But the fact that he openly was holding back from this big sale was a little irritating. Of course, being the book that it was in the grade that it was, we promptly snatched it up.

 

are the store initials VS?

yup

 

They just had a big sale. Another problem is the store managers have no set standards. you find a high dollar book and can find anything else, do you settle for a cheap book out of the binds? I tried to work a deal of half the price of the book in books out of the common bin but they would not do it. They are real bad about stuffing book bins to full and no organization to either sometimes

 

[comicalgems]

All of these...either at a con or lcs. probably the worst though for me is when books aren't priced, and the dealer promises to hook me up the more I spend, and then they start to add up the books from Wizard, Overstreet, and that online guide. And wants 95-150% of the going rate. Just wasted time.

 

Also, when the lcs constantly has boxes of recent back issue purchases in full view on gaming tables, but "haven't been sorted yet" so you can't browse them and you never see them in the "regular" back issue bins. Always the same stuff in the bins. I enjoy my lcs for the most part, but that's my peeve with them.

 

My lcs lets me go through these boxes and will price them on the spot if I'm interested in something. Usually it means that once he prices it there's no wiggle though as it hasn't spent any time in the bins, on the wall, in the display or whatever.

 

I also once had a shop manager (there's a chain of stores in the midwest, I'm sure some of you know which one I'm speaking of) show me a Hulk 181 on a Friday night before a big sale advertised as a buy one get one free sale that started the next day on all back issue comics who quoted me a price of $700 and then promptly told me that the book would not be available during the sale. (He didn't have another book comparable at the time anyway). But the fact that he openly was holding back from this big sale was a little irritating. Of course, being the book that it was in the grade that it was, we promptly snatched it up.

 

are the store initials VS?

yup

 

They just had a big sale. Another problem is the store managers have no set standards. you find a high dollar book and can find anything else, do you settle for a cheap book out of the binds? I tried to work a deal of half the price of the book in books out of the common bin but they would not do it. They are real bad about stuffing book bins to full and no organization to either sometimes

 

Well, when I hit their sales and stores on a regular basis I could be certain of the three stores in my city (there were only three back then) that at at least one of them I couldn't get much of a deal EVER. The dude just had no desire to wiggle on price, which now that I know their managers are paid based off what their store has for profits so it makes a little more sense now.

 

In fact one time I had to walk on one of their sales because he was matching $80 books with $2.00 books for the Buy One Get One Free. I said "Wait a minute, aren't you going to give me credit for equal value" and he's all like "Well no, we take your most expensive book then give you your lowest priced for free" and then I said "That's not how they did it at the other stores" and he said "Well then they did it wrong" and so I left my several thousand dollars worth of comic purchases on the counter and left.

 

The other two, I could go into the store and even on days when they weren't having the sale I would get the same discount as long as I met $X.XX.

 

Another store I had a good relationship with...no chain, just one store, but large enough that it had back issue comics and several other departments. Store gives you a $25 credit towards future purchases if you spend over $100...well generally people come in there and spend about $20 or less and they keep a little file card on their customers so it takes some time to earn that credit. Anyway, the manager had made a deal with me to let me have comics at 50% off sticker price with no additional discount given and he told the lady who rang me up not to give me the additional discount. So after she rings up all these comics, she then applies the $25/$100 credit (that's supposed to be used on later purchases) to the purchase and says "If you're spending this much then I think you deserve a discount, I don't care what he says"

[alecholland]

The thing that probably bothers me the most about conventions is the fact that they let dealers cherry pick the comics before the convention opens to the public.

 

I understand this to a certain degree, because I'm not buying in bulk like many dealers. However, it still bugs me when I see Mile High Chuck with 3 long boxes of BA books already picked out when I'm just walking in the door. Especially when I had to pay extra to get in early myself.

 

This happened at a con 3 years ago. Chuck had a huge stack of Werewolf By Night books that someone was selling in 3 for $5 boxes. They even gave him an additional discount, in spite of the fact that they were already at almost giveaway prices.

 

The other thing that bothers me, although to a lesser degree, are the discounts I've seen dealers give each other at shows. Again, I understand this partly because they may be buying in larger quantity than me, but I've seen dealers give each other huge discounts on single books and small stacks of books almost as often.

 

For example, two years ago at my local con (Planet Comicon), I was in a dealers booth who had a very nice selection of precode horror books. Again, there were several books that I would have bought were it not for the fact that a dealer was grabbing everything he could get his hands on, even out of the box that I started looking through at the time. He made the seller an offer of $150 for the stack which looked to me to be around $600 worth of books. The seller wanted $300 for the books, but the other dealer said, "Come on, (insert name of seller), you know I've got to be able to make some money off of these." So, the seller let him have them for $150. I thought about telling the guy that I'd give him $300 for them, but they'd already made the deal and I didn't want to look like a jerk.

 

For me, it almost isn't worth going to cons anymore, because I feel like I'm always just getting the leftovers.

[alecholland]

All of these...either at a con or lcs. probably the worst though for me is when books aren't priced, and the dealer promises to hook me up the more I spend, and then they start to add up the books from Wizard, Overstreet, and that online guide. And wants 95-150% of the going rate. Just wasted time.

 

Also, when the lcs constantly has boxes of recent back issue purchases in full view on gaming tables, but "haven't been sorted yet" so you can't browse them and you never see them in the "regular" back issue bins. Always the same stuff in the bins. I enjoy my lcs for the most part, but that's my peeve with them.

 

My LCS lets me go through boxes all the time that haven't been sorted yet.

 

I bought a huge stack of BA Thor books from him about 3 weeks ago from a collection he'd just bought that he hadn't gone through yet. He even let me tell him how much they were worth and then gave me a discount based on the value I told him.

[Designer Toast]

I'm a little late to this thread, and I'm sure this has been mentioned, but I simply cannot tolerate rude employees/store owners. I had to stop going to one store because the guy working there was one of the most unfriendly pieces of work I've encountered in a shop.

 

And the personal space stuff I won't tolerate from anyone. I've had that happen where people will start digging in the same box of moving a pile of books I've started - I'm polite but clear to them that is not going to fly with me.

 

Anyone here almost get into a scrap with someone at a show?

[Dick Pontoon]

I was going to punch GACollectibles in the face once, only he’s so skinny I was afraid he’d dry up and blow away.

[pink181]

At one show I was waiting politely for a comic on the board at the back of his booth while the dealer was helping someone. when another dealer came up and grabbed it and off the board and told the dealer whose booth it was to hold it for him

[Foolkiller]

The thing that probably bothers me the most about conventions is the fact that they let dealers cherry pick the comics before the convention opens to the public.

 

I understand this to a certain degree, because I'm not buying in bulk like many dealers. However, it still bugs me when I see Mile High Chuck with 3 long boxes of BA books already picked out when I'm just walking in the door. Especially when I had to pay extra to get in early myself.

 

This happened at a con 3 years ago. Chuck had a huge stack of Werewolf By Night books that someone was selling in 3 for $5 boxes. They even gave him an additional discount, in spite of the fact that they were already at almost giveaway prices.

 

The other thing that bothers me, although to a lesser degree, are the discounts I've seen dealers give each other at shows. Again, I understand this partly because they may be buying in larger quantity than me, but I've seen dealers give each other huge discounts on single books and small stacks of books almost as often.

 

For example, two years ago at my local con (Planet Comicon), I was in a dealers booth who had a very nice selection of precode horror books. Again, there were several books that I would have bought were it not for the fact that a dealer was grabbing everything he could get his hands on, even out of the box that I started looking through at the time. He made the seller an offer of $150 for the stack which looked to me to be around $600 worth of books. The seller wanted $300 for the books, but the other dealer said, "Come on, (insert name of seller), you know I've got to be able to make some money off of these." So, the seller let him have them for $150. I thought about telling the guy that I'd give him $300 for them, but they'd already made the deal and I didn't want to look like a jerk.

 

For me, it almost isn't worth going to cons anymore, because I feel like I'm always just getting the leftovers.

 

Interesting point, and certainly the way I used to feel. Dealer to dealer transactions often involve discounts, but I've seen just as often dealers wanting to hold the line with other dealers and not give deep discounts or any at all...

 

As for most of the deals being snapped up... sometimes true and sometimes not. While I am in early now at almost all shows I attend, I get plenty of deals and great books after the general public has arrived. Still, I totally feel how frustrating it can seem if all the dealers snap up the best deals first.

[nickwire]

as far as other customers are concerned, its bathing, sad but true. as far as vendors, its over stuffing boxes so much you cant see any books without pulling a stack out, too many books is a massive turn off for me when looking for dealers