What do you think about comic book stores who purposely overbook on varaints?

[akanni23]

I would like to know what is the best way to handle this. I ordered 2 copies of The Walking Dead appreciation variant from Discount Comic book Service. Now, listen because cause this is important they published the variant as being avaliable and let people order and pay for them in advance. Now, close to 2 months later they claim they only received 8 and now refunding the money. They gave this announcement after July orders went in, so I emailed them and asked them if I could cancel my July order since I was not getting the TWD varaint and Christina the owner said she would charge me a 25% restocking fee. Now, this is my point I have no problem with some books being canceled, sometimes the publisher delays the books or cancels it all together, that is not the store's fault. But, I find it in poor taste when a store like DCBS purposely overbooks a variant so they can sit on the money for 2 months. I could have pre-ordered it elsewhere or even bought it off Ebay, but now my money is still sitting with them and i am not ever going to buy any more books from them. Can anyone help me with some tips on how to get varaints without getting screwed over like this? It really makes me made because they promoted the books like they would receive plenty and now my money and probably many others money sits as a credit at the store where they hope you will buy more from them.

[Prince Namor]

I don't think they did it just to sit on your money for two months. That doesn't make a lot of sense.

They did, however, do it in the hopes of getting a larger order of these books.

 

Sometimes you get it, sometimes you don't. I've gotten some through them and NOT gotten some through them. Got my Neal Adams Batman variant. DIDN'T get my J Scott Campbell Black Cat.

 

The only way you can for SURE get one is to open a Diamond account yourself and order within the guidelines for the variants.

 

Other than that, you probably have scramble like the rest of us, or pay more and go through BeachBum's 9.8 service, to get exactly what you want. It's worth it if you want something specific; and he's as top notch of a guy to deal with as there is here.

 

 

[seanfingh]

he's as top notch of a guy to deal with as there is here.

 

 

QFT

[akanni23]

Than you very much. Does BeachBum's 9.8 service have a website? It is worth paying more to me. I paid $25 per book and on Ebay they are selling for about the same. But, my $50 is tied up in store credit at DCBS and that is what really makes me mad. They will not put it back on your credit card you have to use buy books to use it. As for sitting on the money, think about this what if you you had 200 people pay $25 each you there is a lot of ways to make money off of $5000 advanced payment and then issue store credit.

[PokerKid]

If you think this is a regular part of their business pattern and it bugs you, switch companies. If I thought a company was purposely playing games with my money, I would not do business with them any more. If you think it is just luck of the draw, then try to make backup plans on tough books and move on.

[akanni23]

I do think they are a rip off and here is why... I have several stores I do business with but they are the only one who published they would have the book. All the other stores said it was a varaint and very hard to get. They told me they would be happy to sell me a copy if they had any left (honest). DCBS pushed it and let people order as many as they wanted for $25 they did not even limit it to one book. So, I went with them and ordered my other books through them as well so I could save on shipping. To be honest, I thought i might only get 1 of the 2 but, to get none is not acceptable to me. I believe in holding everyone to the same standard, I can buy comics anywhere, what makes good companies are the honest ones. I could have taken my $50 and bought it off Ebay but now my money sits with DCBS. So, yes I am moving on with plenty of places to go.

[MrBedrock]

So the 25% restock fee is being charged because you canceled your entire order?

And you are canceling your entire order simply because they were unable to deliver two variant copies of a single issue?

 

From the sounds of it you are a whiner. But that is just my opinion.

 

The store you dealt with certainly committed a mistake. They didn't completely spell out the "we cannot guarantee delivery on books published on a limited basis" rule. But you already knew that rule being as you are a variant collector and know how the variant deal works. You chose them because the rule wasn't spelled out. Maybe they should have held your hand through the whole process. Maybe they should have gone to the bathroom for you as well. And so you are trying to punish them by sticking them with a stack of comics which they cannot return and you are trying to drag their name through the mud on a comic message board.

 

I rant because I am a retailer. These are the dumb- things that we retailers have to deal with on a daily basis. We have to bite our tongues. These are our customers after all. I certainly would never say any of this to any of the customers I see in the shop. But you are an anonymous knucklehead posting on a fringe message board.

 

Congratulations...you got my goat (thumbs u

 

 

[MrBedrock]

I would like to know what is the best way to handle this.

The best way to handle it would be to shut up, get over it, pay for the other books you ordered, and then take your business elsewhere if you are still unhappy.

 

 

[jessebrook1]

Im sure this has been asked before but, are varaints really worth hunting down?? DO you think that they will have any value??

 

The only variants i have been trying to get are the American Vampire books and i am starting to grow tired of hunting them down.

[seanfingh]

So the 25% restock fee is being charged because you canceled your entire order?

And you are canceling your entire order simply because they were unable to deliver two variant copies of a single issue?

 

From the sounds of it you are a whiner. But that is just my opinion.

 

The store you dealt with certainly committed a mistake. They didn't completely spell out the "we cannot guarantee delivery on books published on a limited basis" rule. But you already knew that rule being as you are a variant collector and know how the variant deal works. You chose them because the rule wasn't spelled out. Maybe they should have held your hand through the whole process. Maybe they should have gone to the bathroom for you as well. And so you are trying to punish them by sticking them with a stack of comics which they cannot return and you are trying to drag their name through the mud on a comic message board.

 

I rant because I am a retailer. These are the dumb- things that we retailers have to deal with on a daily basis. We have to bite our tongues. These are our customers after all. I certainly would never say any of this to any of the customers I see in the shop. But you are an anonymous knucklehead posting on a fringe message board.

 

Congratulations...you got my goat (thumbs u

 

 

Richard,

 

What is your position on them taking the $ for the variants and then giving store credit back? That is the only part of the story that sounds sort of shady to me.

[Poe]

Ignore MrBedrock, he is an . But that is just my opinion.

 

You got screwed. They promised you something and didn't deliver. You entered into a transaction you never would have if not for their assurance you would get the variants. They are 100% in the wrong and trying to stick you with a restocking fee is douchebaggery at it's finest.

 

If you paid via credit card I would call the credit card company and get the charge reversed.

[MrBedrock]

There will always be folks who want to have everything related to the books they collect.

We call them completionists. That's why the publishers continue to produce variants. It is another way to milk a few extra dollars out of an existing property. And obviously some speculate on the relative scarcity of those variant issues. Whether or not any individual variants will have value down the road is for the people who collect them to decide. I wish I had a crystal ball for that. But past history and my intuition tell me that, from an investment standpoint, you'd probably be better served buying other things.

But if you dig them buy away. And enjoy.

But please don't chastise a retailer because he/she is unable to deliver on a limited print variant issue. Blame the publisher. From a retail perspective the variant market is screwed up enough as it is.

[MrBedrock]

Ignore MrBedrock, he is an . But that is just my opinion.

 

You got screwed. They promised you something and didn't deliver. You entered into a transaction you never would have if not for their assurance you would get the variants. They are 100% in the wrong and trying to stick you with a restocking fee is douchebaggery at it's finest.

 

If you paid via credit card I would call the credit card company and get the charge reversed.

Thanks for the kind words.

A question from one to another...

So if you go into a store with a list of things to get, but they are out of one of the items on your list, you refuse to buy anything from them?

 

[MrBedrock]

So the 25% restock fee is being charged because you canceled your entire order?

And you are canceling your entire order simply because they were unable to deliver two variant copies of a single issue?

 

From the sounds of it you are a whiner. But that is just my opinion.

 

The store you dealt with certainly committed a mistake. They didn't completely spell out the "we cannot guarantee delivery on books published on a limited basis" rule. But you already knew that rule being as you are a variant collector and know how the variant deal works. You chose them because the rule wasn't spelled out. Maybe they should have held your hand through the whole process. Maybe they should have gone to the bathroom for you as well. And so you are trying to punish them by sticking them with a stack of comics which they cannot return and you are trying to drag their name through the mud on a comic message board.

 

I rant because I am a retailer. These are the dumb- things that we retailers have to deal with on a daily basis. We have to bite our tongues. These are our customers after all. I certainly would never say any of this to any of the customers I see in the shop. But you are an anonymous knucklehead posting on a fringe message board.

 

Congratulations...you got my goat (thumbs u

 

 

Richard,

 

What is your position on them taking the $ for the variants and then giving store credit back? That is the only part of the story that sounds sort of shady to me.

As a retailer I am going to do everything I can to make a customer happy. Would I give credit or refund? Probably.

 

But there are a ton of unknown variables here. How big was the entire order? I have folks who pick up hundreds of dollars of books a week. If this monthly order was large that makes a big difference. Retailers have no recourse if a customer cancels a large new issue order. we order those books non-returnable. So here is a guy who is canceling an entire order because one book, which he knew was going to be tough to get, was undeliverable by the retailer. He could be sticking that retailer with potentially a hundred dollars or more of now over ordered and unreturnable product because he was unable to receive two $25.00 comics which the store did offer a refund for. That sucks for the retailer. But the retailer has to bend over backward and take it so you guys on this message board don't slam him. I feel for him...so I rant.

[Poe]

Ignore MrBedrock, he is an . But that is just my opinion.

 

You got screwed. They promised you something and didn't deliver. You entered into a transaction you never would have if not for their assurance you would get the variants. They are 100% in the wrong and trying to stick you with a restocking fee is douchebaggery at it's finest.

 

If you paid via credit card I would call the credit card company and get the charge reversed.

Thanks for the kind words.

A question from one to another...

So if you go into a store with a list of things to get, but they are out of one of the items on your list, you refuse to buy anything from them?

 

If you promised a buyer something and then didn't deliver would you then charge them 25% of their money for your mistake?

 

I hope not.

 

[MrBedrock]

Ignore MrBedrock, he is an . But that is just my opinion.

 

You got screwed. They promised you something and didn't deliver. You entered into a transaction you never would have if not for their assurance you would get the variants. They are 100% in the wrong and trying to stick you with a restocking fee is douchebaggery at it's finest.

 

If you paid via credit card I would call the credit card company and get the charge reversed.

Thanks for the kind words.

A question from one to another...

So if you go into a store with a list of things to get, but they are out of one of the items on your list, you refuse to buy anything from them?

 

If you promised a buyer something and then didn't deliver would you then charge them 25% of their money for your mistake?

 

I hope not.

This guy promised to buy a bunch of comics. The retailer was unable to deliver one. So the buyer reneged on all. Do you conduct your business that way?

 

I hope not.

[DarkKnightReturns]

[mrmitchgro]

What the OP should do:

 

1. Get your money back for the variants. I'm pretty sure it's illegal to give you store credit in lieu of cash if they don't have the product in stock for you to buy.

 

2. Don't cancel your other comics. I understand you're angry at what happened (justifiably so, if they were taking orders without limit), but you're going to buy those comics anyway right? The store is completely within their rights to charge a restocking fee, because as MrBedrock said, you did agree to buy these and they are non-returnable to the publisher. So why waste 25% out of spite? Plus, since they're only offering you store credit, you'd actually be losing 100% of your money, since #3 is...

 

3. Never do business with this company again. If they're going to bait and switch you like that, there are plenty of other places to go.

 

Pretty easy right? (thumbs u

[Transplant]

I'm almost always siding with Richard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you know I'll be expecting larger discounts in the future for this.

[towards2112]

I'm almost always siding with Richard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you know I'll be expecting larger discounts in the future for this.

 

Put the pinch on him for burritos, he has a source. (thumbs u