Which comic dealers do you stay away from?

[Speedy-D]

I wish I knew who y'all are talking about. There are dealers I love seeing at each show, who remember me, are courteous, grade well, all that good stuff. I just don't know their names.

quite a number of them have pics in the Overstreet in the advisors section

 

Interesting! I just went to take a look, but the pics in my digital copy of the guide are so low res I can barely make them out.

[nearmint]

Just out of curiosity, how would people feel if some of the dealers on the boards started a thread called "customers you hate to deal with"? I actually think it may be a more interesting read.

 

I think it would be hilarious.

[Primetime]

Just out of curiosity, how would people feel if some of the dealers on the boards started a thread called "customers you hate to deal with"? I actually think it may be a more interesting read.

start it

[Primetime]

I wish I knew who y'all are talking about. There are dealers I love seeing at each show, who remember me, are courteous, grade well, all that good stuff. I just don't know their names.

quite a number of them have pics in the Overstreet in the advisors section

 

Interesting! I just went to take a look, but the pics in my digital copy of the guide are so low res I can barely make them out.

get a hard copy

[Allen James]

(thumbs u

[Speedy-D]

Just out of curiosity, how would people feel if some of the dealers on the boards started a thread called "customers you hate to deal with"? I actually think it may be a more interesting read.

start it

That'd be awesome as long as I'm not mentioned.

[Allen James]

It's been a while since I set up but can I give the generalzation of the one that asks for every book on your display, especially the top row, and then proceeds to tell you how their great uncle fred used to have everyone of them when he was a kid but traded them all away to neighborhood kids for an RC cola and moon pie, buys nothing for an hour then walks away.

 

No wonder dealers get to be anti social, right?

[Speedy-D]

There was a buyer the other day who was running around all morning, cutting in front of folks, practically screaming at the dealers for a Hulk 118. I don't think he made too many friends.

[esquirecomics]

Excellent point that should be taken into consideration. I'm pretty sure I didn't coin the phrase "comic nerd" and I don't think that label would be thrown out there if everyone were social butterflies.

 

First, thanks to Capt Comics I have confirmed you are a "he" so I can use that without hesitation now.

 

Second, if Rick likes you Allen, then you must be an alright guy. (thumbs u

 

Third, I am a part-time dealer, and sometimes less than that if my day job is too busy, but I've set up at shows across three decades and soon to be in my fourth (for those trying to figure out the math, no, I'm not saying I'm 60 or so years old, I'm talking about being at shows in the 80s, 90s, 00s, and soon to be the 10s, i.e., four decades, ). It definitely is not easy to do, which does not excuse bad behavior or rude attitudes. It may offer an explanation, but doesn't excuse it.

 

Finally, there are jerks in this hobby like anywhere else, no matter what the day is like. And there are full-time dealers in this hobby that are terrible at what they do, IMHO, no matter what the day is like. But I know a lot of jerks who are lawyers (probably more actually!) and definitely a lot of lawyers who I think are terrible at what they do. One thing I have learned over time is that the people who are true jerks or truly bad at what they do, whether comic dealers, lawyers, doctors or waiters, are that way to the majority of people most of the time, and you eventually come to learn that. Which is why I stated above to not let first impressions control your ultimate opinion, just let it guide you.

 

And your comment above is not something to be forgotten because there are also a lot of jerks who are collectors and a lot of weird people. We've all seen them at cons, and we often don't know who people are that are posting on this board until time passes and we get to know them a little bit or meet them at cons or have someone vouch for them. And it could be, and I'm not pointing to anyone who commented in this thread as an example, that the person saying a dealer is a jerk was actually the real jerk.

[Mac Man]

It's been a while since I set up but can I give the generalzation of the one that asks for every book on your display, especially the top row, and then proceeds to tell you how their great uncle fred used to have everyone of them when he was a kid but traded them all away to neighborhood kids for an RC cola and moon pie, buys nothing for an hour then walks away.

 

No wonder dealers get to be anti social, right?

 

 

One of the things I enjoy most about going to the local shows is just chatting with the dealers--sometimes I buy and sometimes I don't, but the conversations are something I always look forward to. I guess I just love hearing peoples' comic stories and maybe sharing a few of my own.

[Allen James]

Exactly right and maybe sometimes those "big" dealers lose sight of those experiences when all they do is 1k plus people shows. You get to know a whole lot more people at the big shows but you make actual friends locally. Being someone who doesn't have a lot of money and usually has more problems than i care to, when i do get to go to these shows, dealer or buyer, I truly enjoy being there.

 

I think if someone sees and talks to an individual at two or three shows a year and never asks for their name or anything about them is just making a huge mistake. I don't want to be a facebook friend or anything but when i pick out and buy golden age each time, you might want to know me a little.

 

That's about it for me with this one, starting to beat a dead horse and then I'm starting to get that warm fuzzy feeling inside. I felt better when we were "staying away from dealers". Any more sweet talk and i'm gonna start making googly eyes at myself in the mirror and that makes for a long night!

 

Has anyone made a thread about Det 27, 31 or Action 1? Now that's where my curiosity lies.

[Allen James]

although i was trying to get 30k posts on this thread alone. ah well there always another

[Mac Man]

Well, to answer your question: I stay away from comic dealers who don't know how to grade and won't budge on prices when you're able to backup where your more accurate grading comes from. Those are the dealers who I walk away from (and then usually advice fellow collectors to avoid!).

[Timely]

Any of you guys remember John Mclaughlin of the Book Sail in California.

Now he was one memorible dealer...

 

I especially liked how he allowed his cats to pee all over many of his Mile Highs!

 

West

[Doohickamabob]

I bought two group purchases of approximately a couple dozen comics from a dealer whose name I won't reveal, but let's just say it rhymes with "Pilver Grage Schmollectables."

 

The comics arrived in a box, and they were all stacked on each other with no backings/slipcovers. One group's grade was advertised as being in a range from VG+ to FN/VF, but about half of the comics were lower than that. Another group was advertised as being from GD/VG to FN+, and several of those comics were FAIR or worse, with pages missing, coupons cut out, back covers missing, pages torn in half and loose in the comic, etc.

 

I pulled out all the most egregiously screwed-up comics and set them aside, then calculated their value based on average price per comic for the total cost of both lots. I sent them back with a carefully worded letter explaining the situation. To the credit of "Pilver Grage Schmollectables," he issued a refund in the amount I requested, although he did not say a word. But credit where credit is due: The guy actually gave a partial refund. So that is in his favor.

 

I feel a little dubious even talking about it now, and do not want to attract any bad karma. But what bothers me about the whole transaction is that this seller either knew the comics were in worse-than-advertised grade, didn't bother to look them over, or didn't know how to grade. I find the last two possibilities unlikely, so I get the sense that the dealer intentionally fudged the grading for a better sale.

 

I can think of a few reasons why a dealer might do this. One, it would allow him to unload some lousy-grade books easily, as he might figure nobody would want to go through the whole process of returning a large lot that contained several books they wanted to keep. Two, there's a plausible deniability aspect: "There were so many books I didn't have time to look through them all." Three, it's quick money without detailing a bunch of flaws. Unfortunately, none of the advantages are shared by the buyer.

 

Anyway, live and learn, and Caveat Emptor. I've seen this same seller put up some nice CGC-graded books for auction, and I'd consider buying from him again with that safeguard.

 

Probably the best thing to do if you aren't sure about a dealer is to buy a few lower-price items from him first to test the waters. If the grading sucks, absorb the expense and don't buy from them again.

 

I did a lot of stupid buying early on, and I'll bet some day I'll go through some of my comics and discover some of their inner wrap pages were never there. (Ugh...) Ever since that first happened to me, I always check the page count on Grand Comics Database (comics.org).

[vacliff]

Crazy Ed. He kind of scares me.

[Allen James]

 

Holy cat pee! I'm not familiar with Mclaughlin. West, is that true about the cats? As much crazy mess as I've seen I can't even imagine that. Were there any "big" books used as kitty litter?

[capt_comics]

Crazy Ed. He kind of scares me.

 

 

 

[sacentaur]

 

Holy cat pee! I'm not familiar with Mclaughlin. West, is that true about the cats? As much crazy mess as I've seen I can't even imagine that. Were there any "big" books used as kitty litter?

 

He was an eccentric character (Mclaughlin, not West ).

[ChasingKingKirby]

Neat stuff may pay $30,000 for an ad but they sure don't know how to grade comics!!!!!!!!!!

 

I stay away from Richard Muchin at shows. I don't care what he is selling and how bad I need it. He doesnt put prices on his comics and when you ask him how much something is, he gets an attitude.

 

Terry O'neil may be an Overstreet advisor but he sold me two books through his catalog that were restored and he didnt indicate it and when I have seen him at shows, he has an attitude too. Is it really that hard to be a nice guy and sell comics?

 

Richard is just a different personality. Takes a little to get use to him. Very knowledgeable about books and the hobby though.

 

 

I cannot understand how anyone can excuse Richard Muchin. He will eagerly sell you a restored book as unrestored! Isn't this inexcusable in our hobby? I traded him a X-men 1 ® about a year ago, it was low-grade with multiple minor amateur restorations (CT, Staples Cleaned, Tear seals etc.) and it was slabbed 2.0. I saw the book at a recent show raw on his table for 1300 bucks. No mention of it being Restored. Is that really okay?