Obligations to Comic Show dealers?

[Lt. Eckhardt]

There are certain dealers I like to buy from based on reputation, selection, and past experience. There are other dealers I prefer to avoid. I also try to fill in runs (usually on his sale days) from my LCS before I hit ebay or conventions because I have a great LCS and I want it to stay in business.

 

Obligations we as buyers absolutely have to dealers at conventions:

 

Bathe.

Ask if you can remove a book from the bag before removing the book from the bag.

Keep that ^@$%& tape away from the book you just removed from the bag.

Remember that they are in business and while some haggling is acceptable, stupid lowball offers are a waste of everyone's time.

Don't bend/mangle books in boxes while looking through them.

 

We are also obligated to bathe for John Byrne when we go to conventions as well as for the dealers!

[seank]

a three-part answer.

 

 

no, i don't feel "obligated" to buy. from anybody.

 

i do feel that if, say, Dale Roberts and Crazy Ed (to use an example of a dealer who I do not have any sort of "relationship" whatsoever good or bad with) had the same book in the same grade and Dale was 10% more expensive, I would buy from Dale.

 

i do feel "obligated" to never look in the inventory of certain dealers and wouldn't buy from them if they needed money to save their dog's life

 

Sal, I agree with you on the 2nd point. There are some dealers I stay clear of. And there are some who are very nice but I rarely find the price point/grading I want. For instance, Harley Yee has always been very nice but I rarely buy anything from him. Heck, I almost want to not visit his booth as he'll probably just think "here he is again, browsing away". The stars rarely align for me to purchase from him.

 

Harley's prices are high, but he has some nice books you either don't see elsewhere or in really nice condition. I typically buy at least one book from him every Wondercon. And despite what's been said here, he will negotiate prices.

[Pirate]

only book i ever bought from harley was a shanna #1 a few years ago. He cut the price in half which came in under guide. Crazy Ed is only dealer i run from and I mean run.

[Speedy-D]

a three-part answer.

 

 

no, i don't feel "obligated" to buy. from anybody.

 

i do feel that if, say, Dale Roberts and Crazy Ed (to use an example of a dealer who I do not have any sort of "relationship" whatsoever good or bad with) had the same book in the same grade and Dale was 10% more expensive, I would buy from Dale.

 

i do feel "obligated" to never look in the inventory of certain dealers and wouldn't buy from them if they needed money to save their dog's life

 

Sal, I agree with you on the 2nd point. There are some dealers I stay clear of. And there are some who are very nice but I rarely find the price point/grading I want. For instance, Harley Yee has always been very nice but I rarely buy anything from him. Heck, I almost want to not visit his booth as he'll probably just think "here he is again, browsing away". The stars rarely align for me to purchase from him.

 

Harley's prices are high, but he has some nice books you either don't see elsewhere or in really nice condition. I typically buy at least one book from him every Wondercon. And despite what's been said here, he will negotiate prices.

Yes, he'll definitely work with you on a price. He has a strange manner that seems a bit stand-offish, but I haven't actually gotten a bad vibe from him. The last few shows I went to, he had specific comics I was looking for in the grades I like, and he got them to me at a reasonable price.

[Green]

only book i ever bought from harley was a shanna #1 a few years ago. He cut the price in half which came in under guide. Crazy Ed is only dealer i run from and I mean run.

Crazy Ed is hilarious to me. I love to humor him and keep him going. Too funny.

[c-mack]

i like the dealers i buy from now...good people...so i tend to not look else where

[The Troll King]

I like Harley and I've had some nice conversations with him the few times I've seen him but his prices are a little high for my tastes. I had 2 books that are nice high grade golden age (one of which is a pedigree) and together they are probably worth retail of about $375

 

Harley only offered me $50 in trade for them.

[MCMiles]

I feel obligated to stay out of the way when they are trying to get set up, or at the very least ask if it's ok to look through the boxes.

 

I don't see how some of these guys just start flipping box lids and pulling books out of mylars. I don't care how well you know the dealer, it just seems a bit rude and disrespectful.

[G.A.tor]

a three-part answer.

 

 

no, i don't feel "obligated" to buy. from anybody.

 

i do feel that if, say, Dale Roberts and Crazy Ed (to use an example of a dealer who I do not have any sort of "relationship" whatsoever good or bad with) had the same book in the same grade and Dale was 10% more expensive, I would buy from Dale.

 

i do feel "obligated" to never look in the inventory of certain dealers and wouldn't buy from them if they needed money to save their dog's life

well, dale is certainly a cool dude, but come on man, crazy Ed... no way you can resist his speil on spidey 300 and how great of a buy it is

[Schmakt]

*sigh*

Crazy Ed... man, that guy got to me once a few years ago (like 10) at HeroesCon. I got a nice copy of Man-Thing #1 to go with my Swamp Thing #1 and a good run of ToD... definitely bought more than I wanted tho at a higher price than I intended to pay.

 

I mostly avoid him now too just cuz I'm a sucker.

 

I don't really feel obligated to buy from anyone when I walk in the door. If, however, someone agrees to hold something for me, I am definitely obligated to go back and let them know what's up, whether I buy it or not.

[skypinkblu]

only book i ever bought from harley was a shanna #1 a few years ago. He cut the price in half which came in under guide. Crazy Ed is only dealer i run from and I mean run.

Crazy Ed is hilarious to me. I love to humor him and keep him going. Too funny.

 

 

 

Crazy Ed I got flim flammed once, I was so eager to get away I bought something just to end the conversation.

 

Now I go so far as to avoid the AISLE he's in...once he gets you he practically holds on to you physically.

[chrisco37]

If you make eye contact and start a conversation, he's got you.

[TupennyConan]

I feel obligated to stay out of the way when they are trying to get set up, or at the very least ask if it's ok to look through the boxes.

 

I don't see how some of these guys just start flipping box lids and pulling books out of mylars. I don't care how well you know the dealer, it just seems a bit rude and disrespectful.

 

Holy !!!

 

The con weasel !!!

[VintageComics]

I feel obligated to stay out of the way when they are trying to get set up, or at the very least ask if it's ok to look through the boxes.

 

I don't see how some of these guys just start flipping box lids and pulling books out of mylars. I don't care how well you know the dealer, it just seems a bit rude and disrespectful.

 

Holy !!!

 

The con weasel !!!

 

Do people actually do that?

 

I mean just start rifling through stuff without even asking?

 

[Boboset]

I try to buy from John Hauser at every con I go to. He was always at the small local con I used to go to in my hometown of Milwaukee and he's such a nice guy to talk to. Even if I wasn't buying anything from him he would always take the time out of his day to have a friendly chat with me.

 

I stay as far away from Black Cat comics as humanly possible. I was at the Chicago Comic con 2 years ago and I wanted to buy one of his wall books. He was openly saying that every single wall book he could knock 10% from sticker price. The book I was interested in was $400 and with the discount would be $360, right?

 

Apparently, the dork can't do his math correctly and he got all worked up when I offered him his quoted $360. He got seriously mad at me to the point of yelling and I was being nothing but polite. I hate that guy.

 

If he said said something like, "I can't do 10% off that book, the best price I can do is $380(or even $400)" I would have bought the book no questions. He didn't do that, he acted like a child. I ended up buying that same book in roughly the same condition for $300 from some other dealer.

 

I've never purchased a book from Harley but he's really friendly. I don't collect anything that's considered rare so I have no need to endure his 'high' prices.

[TheDanimal]

I don't feel obligated but I like to deal with people that are honest and reasonable. I have a few dealers I use. I branched out a little at this last convention with mixed results.

 

Sometimes it's about the book and price. I'm doing this for my collection so try not to take anything too personal...

 

Some dealers are praised for being so "nice" but I don't think that's always the case. Not everyone has a warm personality though many dealers do.

 

Unless they're a total jerk, I try not to take it personal.

[Boboset]

I'm quite happy to pay more than I have to to a certain dealer, simply to support him, rather than get $20 off by shopping with someone else.

 

It's actually something I do with other retail experiences, too. I live in a village and two miles down the road is a large market with stuff at (sometimes much) cheaper prices. Despite this, I'll support local commerce and the little guy even if it costs me more.

 

That is awesome.

I recently moved to a smaller town and I try my hardest to support the local shops as opposed to getting better deals at such places like Wal-Mart. It's not always easy though.

[joeypost]

I took pity on Richie Evans at Mega-Con this year and purchased from him. Rick is way too expensive so I stay far away from him. With the exception of New Force I buy from everyone.

[MCMiles]

I took pity on Richie Evans at Mega-Con this year and purchased from him. Rick is way too expensive so I stay far away from him. With the exception of New Force I buy from everyone.

and

[Mr. Zipper]

Fortunately there are a lot more good guys to support than bad guys to avoid.

 

The one guy I avoid like the plague is Rich Muchin. Not only does he sell restored books without disclosure, he's rude, obnoxious, arrogant and dismissive to boot. Plus, he never appears to comb his hair.