General question

[fantastic_four]

Maybe I'm wrong, it seems like Brent Moeshlin's site has been trying to do that with zero consignment costs, but isn't he back to charging 10% now?

 

I was partially right--looks like Brent is charging 7% now instead of 0%. I knew he wouldn't be able to afford getting books in and sending them out for 0%...

[hockey&comicsguy]

A offer of 40% off a asking price is a bit much. A buyer wants to get a good deal. But offering 40% less can make a potential buyer feel like there really low balling the dealer. So why bother making the offer if they think the offer will automatically rejected??

That same buyer will then be shy about buying from you. They will see every offer they send as a "auto reject" scenario. So why bother?

 

The other side of the equation isn't very good for a dealer either. The seller got the book at 40% off of the asking price. There now going to think that same discount will apply the next time. Then your setting yourself up for that buyer to look elsewhere. Just my

 

WTF are you to give advice about buying and selling? Jesus Christ...

 

Tiger Woods preaching monogomy couldn't be funnier.

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure he's playing the waiting game. He's going to continue to pop in from time to time and post, hoping that eventually people will get tired of pointing him out and his indiscretion will be forgotten. I've commented as many times as I can following his posts. Keep up the good work.

 

 

As for Bob...top notch. I always get a reasonable discount but I have also only asked for a reasonable discount.

 

I think Bob's site is one of the better ones actually. I wouldn't say it's as good as maybe Ritter's or Metro's (aside from the not yet processed annoyance). But compared to so many others that just blow, Bob's is pretty good.

 

Scans. Just in general, I think a dealer should have scans of any book with an ask price of say, $100.00, maybe even $50.00. Heck, people put scans of everything here on the boards, even $1.00 and $2.00 books. JMHO.

 

 

[october]

Bob, just my

 

I haven't bought from you as I won't pay $44 to ship a $35 book Priority International. It just doesn't cost that much.

 

Actually, I'll defend Bob here. Flat rate boxed shipping via Priority Mail International (if that's what Bob's using) costs $41.28, so $44 is very fair.

 

I can honestly say I don't think I've ever paid $40+ for one slab to be shipped to the UK.

 

If he's using Priority Mail International, that's the price.

 

That's the Flat Rate price. Why do that to ship one slab that hardly weighs anything?

[marvelcollector]

 

I don't know about that. I think your claims are wrong, I have always got FMV prices from Bob.

 

It seems to me this is true for 80-85% of the books I have looked at/ bid/ purchased.

 

The rest do seem to be oddly somewhat overpriced. Maybe they're on consignment...

[DNAgent]

Great posts...

My only qualm with Bob's site is when you click 'ASM' for example, you get ASM 1-600 or something. 'Better' for me would be to seperate a bit as those looking for ASM1-100 likely aren't the same as those looking for 300 and up...but all must load the whole run you have for sale when looking for #1 or #500...

 

Another reason I prefer dealing with Bob is that he does not press or press on the sly, it just adds to his character and I just trust and want to give business to those types of dealers.

[lizards2]

Great posts...

My only qualm with Bob's site is when you click 'ASM' for example, you get ASM 1-600 or something. 'Better' for me would be to seperate a bit as those looking for ASM1-100 likely aren't the same as those looking for 300 and up...but all must load the whole run you have for sale when looking for #1 or #500...

 

That brings up a source of irritation for me - if you actually click on a book from the middle, and then go back, the whole thing loads again and you're left at the top again. I'm saying this from memory - I just tried it to verify, and I don't have patience for the ASM group to load.

 

 

[WesW]

I bought a Cap # 20 in 4.5 from you for a good price. I always check your site for Timelys, so I would say find more Timelys to sell .

 

[Monstro]

Not just more scans, but zippier ones. Your scans make your stock look dull:

 

Bob's scan:

 

 

 

My scan:

 

 

There is no way the book actually looks like your scan though Bob. Bob's scan is an accurate depiction of what the book actually looks like. To me, enhancing a scan is as completely dishonest as offering one book and selling a different one.

 

This is one of Bob's scans, looks pretty friggin good to me

 

[MisterX]

Bob, how about instead of using "Bid Now," which can be confusing, you steal Superworld Ted's "Make Me an Offer"?

 

I may be in the minority, but I don't really expect to see scans of low price/low grade books. It simply isn't worth the dealer's time to do so (unless he has a large staff or lots of free time).

 

Also, picking up on what Dale said, you could do a year-end blowout every December to move books that have been sitting around not selling. Hmm, that's another idea you could steal from Superworld Ted.

 

 

[Sal]

basically, everything that Shin said.

 

i've never thought your site was particularly user-friendly, Bob. at least not from the standpoint of a user who is not familiar with the workings or who does not already have the page(s) that they need bookmarked.

 

 

 

ideally, you would have everything scanned and at the price you want to sell it for. maybe 10% movement on a book, but i wouldn't assume that any dealer can do better than that on anything, especially if i know said dealer accepts consignments. i personally do not like asking for discounts, as i am often more worried about being insulting to a person trying to earn a living than i am about getting a book. i would rather either go the auction route or be happy with the price from the jump

[FlyingDonut]

Bob, just my

 

I haven't bought from you as I won't pay $44 to ship a $35 book Priority International. It just doesn't cost that much.

 

Actually, I'll defend Bob here. Flat rate boxed shipping via Priority Mail International (if that's what Bob's using) costs $41.28, so $44 is very fair.

 

I can honestly say I don't think I've ever paid $40+ for one slab to be shipped to the UK.

 

If he's using Priority Mail International, that's the price.

 

That's the Flat Rate price. Why do that to ship one slab that hardly weighs anything?

 

The cheapest you can send to the UK is $31, and I would imagine that packaging to the UK will bump it up a bit, plus its just much much easier to use Flat Rate over taking it the post office and weighing it.

[joeypost]

basically, everything that Shin said.

 

i've never thought your site was particularly user-friendly, Bob. at least not from the standpoint of a user who is not familiar with the workings or who does not already have the page(s) that they need bookmarked.

 

 

 

ideally, you would have everything scanned and at the price you want to sell it for. maybe 10% movement on a book, but i wouldn't assume that any dealer can do better than that on anything, especially if i know said dealer accepts consignments. i personally do not like asking for discounts, as i am often more worried about being insulting to a person trying to earn a living than i am about getting a book. i would rather either go the auction route or be happy with the price from the jump

 

I would have to agree with Sal and Shin here Bob. I work in the software industry and have done many a usability study. Most participants stop looking after 2-3 mouse clicks. They hate waiting for things to load. What might be easier moving forward is to streamline the home page to mainly text (loads faster) and when listing books provide a link to a large scan. This way the potential buyer only views the scans he is interested in and does not have to wait for them all to load.

 

Personally, I have never had an issue with your pricing and 95% of the time your counter offer was close to what I figured it would be. Thats on the website, in person I like to haggle until you tell me to get lost.

[Boozad]

Bob, just my

 

I haven't bought from you as I won't pay $44 to ship a $35 book Priority International. It just doesn't cost that much.

 

Actually, I'll defend Bob here. Flat rate boxed shipping via Priority Mail International (if that's what Bob's using) costs $41.28, so $44 is very fair.

 

I can honestly say I don't think I've ever paid $40+ for one slab to be shipped to the UK.

 

If he's using Priority Mail International, that's the price.

 

Well the prices have either gone up, or a lot of sellers have lost money on shipping to me.

[SharpComics.com]

Bob,

Here is the answer. You CAN'T sell to everyone. No matter what you do, how you change your site, how you price your books, you will never make everyone happy. What changes you make to please some people, will certainly put off others. You can lower your prices and probably sell more books, but you will lose money on the sales that you have been making. And also, you will not be able to pay as much for books and consequently, won't have as good of inventory.

 

This is what you CAN do. You can treat people as fairly as possible (which I think you do), price your books where you can maintain a balance of competitive prices, having respectable inventory, and making enough profit so that you can maintain the type of life you desire.

 

Utilize the competition(auction houses or auction sites) to YOUR advantage. If you have a book that is likely to go nuts, put it in there. Make extra money off that book, so you can discount another. If you have extra stuff that you have carried for 3 years, get rid of it. The fact is, the auction houses are sucking up the extra money that people used to have. They buy 1 or 2 books because that is what they can't find on the auctions at a discount. And books are so expensive, alot of people can't buy runs anymore.

 

My advice, make some money, have fun, be nice to people, buy lots of books and get a warehouse, cause the is always going to pile up.

 

And thats the bottom line.

 

 

 

Well said Dale, well said. (thumbs u

 

Brad

 

(ps. looking forward to Giordano's in April )

[namisgr]

 

There is no way the book actually looks like your scan though Bob. Bob's scan is an accurate depiction of what the book actually looks like. To me, enhancing a scan is as completely dishonest as offering one book and selling a different one.

 

If you've ever consigned or sold a book to Bob and seen a scan of it posted on his site, you'd know that the book doesn't look like Bob's scan of it.

[musicmeta]

I've bought a couple of books from you and have been VERY HAPPY! Right now I don't see any books that I'm looking for on your site...and I like your site.

[VintageComics]

Bob, Louise and I have been arguing. Are you a red head or a blonde?

 

 

[Jeffro.]

Bob, just my

 

I haven't bought from you as I won't pay $44 to ship a $35 book Priority International. It just doesn't cost that much.

 

Actually, I'll defend Bob here. Flat rate boxed shipping via Priority Mail International (if that's what Bob's using) costs $41.28, so $44 is very fair.

 

I can honestly say I don't think I've ever paid $40+ for one slab to be shipped to the UK.

 

Maybe some sellers are eating part of the shipping cost?

 

[EDIT] - or as you already said.

[jools&jim]

 

Absent past experience with an on-line dealer, my only criteria for pulling the trigger on an internet deal is the seller's reputation. The slickest, most user-friendly website in the world doesn't mean a thing to me if I know (or have heard) that the seller is anything less than 100% fair and above board. High marks for customer service are a big plus as well.

 

Of course, the only reliable way to know this up front is to be plugged in--via shows and forums like this--to the collecting community at large. Otherwise, every deal is pretty much a shot in the dark. So while this forum obviously doesn't reach every collector or potential customer in the hobby, it is a valuable PR tool: by posting here regularly (as Bob and Dale, et al., do), dealers are able demonstrate their integrity, knowledge, and accessibility.

 

The way I see it, dealers who are more broadly connected to the hobby (rather than merely to a network of other dealers, or to a select group of high-rollers only) are also more likely to treat all their customers courteously and fairly. Accountability to the wider marketplace is the key, and being present in discussions like this, on forums like this, is a great way to build confidence and trust.

 

And I'm proof that it works! For example, I had seen Dale and Bob at shows many times (years ago), but had never bought anything from either of them (in person or on-line) until I discovered this forum, read their posts, and had their reputations as fair-dealers confirmed by other boardies whom I also knew and trusted. As a matter of fact, I'm planning to place another order with Bob this weekend (if the power stays on here in the mid-Atlantic), and I also received a book I bought from Dale just last week...

 

 

 

 

[fantastic_four]

Bob, Louise and I have been arguing. Are you a red head or a blonde?

 

 

Which of you took the position that the carpet probably doesn't match the drapes?