Moderns that are heating up on ebay! 71 71

[Mike's Rack]

I have no problem with limits as long as they are stated. I usually preorder my books but some slip through the cracks. I rarely ever buy more than one copy at my LCS. However, once I grabbed the last four copies of a new book, the owner gave me static, shamed me for buying them all and lectured me on having them in-stock for other customers (no limit was posted), he let me buy the books but continued the lecture as I checked out.

 

I never went back. Collecting comics is a hobby for me and if enjoying the hobby in his store causes me stress then I'm not coming back.

[jjoseph7772]

I asked my store their policy a while back about buying multiples. She said if people want one, then they should ask me to hold it for them and I do. Whatever is left on the shelf is free for all. Then she told me, whatever you pick up in multiples we(her and her hubby)either ask you or try to figure out why so we know whats hot. So she basically told me Im helping her by buying multiples.

[Holden Caulfield]

I had a stack the other day at a LCS and was asked to put all but one of each back which seems fair.

 

IMO.... limits are a bad business practice. I'm a paying customer, cash in hand, right in front of you ready to buy a product you are offering to the public. If you insist on a limit, put a sign up saying "LIMIT ONE" or adjust the price to keep someone from buying a stack at cover. If someone told me to put them back, it would be my last visit to that store.

 

I can't stand lazy store owners that don't track the market and when you get to the register have an epiphany and say, "Oh yeah, I need to mark this up" or "Oh yeah, you can't buy but one of those." I would be like, "Oh yeah, I forgot why I would rather buy from someone I trust online..."

 

(thumbs u completely agree!

[mangbus]

If I really have a good feeling about a book, I just get my LCS to order me 5,10, 20, etc and I prepay for it (and usually get a good discount.) Same as ordering online. As long as I ask before the final order cutoff, he doesn't care.

 

 

Why would a shop deny you the opportunity to order and prepay for comics? They are assuming 0 risk. They have your money already. You assume the risk.

 

Flip side, they order 100 extras in hopes it blows up so they can take care of the influx of new customers (or do whatever they want with them.) They assume all the risk. You assume none. Most owners want hot titles on the shelf so that when a 1st time customer walks in, they have product to offer them and can try to convert them to a subscription. By taking the whole stack, they see you as eliminating that possibility (whether they say it or not.)

 

A lot of speculators want the shop to assume all the risk before it is deemed 'hot' and then swing in and scoop up the profits the moment it heats up.

 

Nothing wrong with either side. It's just something that needs to be realized.

 

 

 

[nikocb]

For those of you saying you don't mind limits as long as they are posted..

Where do you prefer it be posted?

Right below the book on the shelf?

In the general area of the new releases (eg. "All new releases are limited to 2 copies per customer")

Or at the register?

 

Just curious..thanks!

[ItsJustRyan]

Best approach I have heard on this: Limit two on any book the week it comes out. Once it is a full week old, free-for-all. Take the whole stack if you want. This encourages everyone to make the weekly trip, as they should be able to pick up just about any new book if ordered properly. If you wait more than a week, you might be SOL.

 

Went to a store near me the week that WD 97 came out. He still had 3 copies of WD 93 at cover, and I tried to buy them. He would only sell me two....of a book that has been sitting on his shelf at this point FOR FOUR FULL MONTHS!

 

I will never go back to that store. Clearly, the owner is allergic to money.

Well said...

[Mike's Rack]

For those of you saying you don't mind limits as long as they are posted..

Where do you prefer it be posted?

Right below the book on the shelf?

In the general area of the new releases (eg. "All new releases are limited to 2 copies per customer")

Or at the register?

 

Just curious..thanks!

I like this.

[ThoseBackPages]

my shop who never posts limits, actually put a backboard with "One per customer" under the stack of Spiderman #1 last week.

[ItsJustRyan]

For those of you saying you don't mind limits as long as they are posted..

Where do you prefer it be posted?

Right below the book on the shelf?

In the general area of the new releases (eg. "All new releases are limited to 2 copies per customer")

Or at the register?

 

Just curious..thanks!

I think that is a good policy. Someone mentioned it this limit for the first week. Man, this thread has derailed (and I'm partially to blame... )

[THB]

My LCS is way cool. I get to pick out my books on Tuesday and then come in to buy them on Weds. I will let him know in advance if I want multiples of something and they put no limit on me. Often we will talk about why I want more and he gets the chance to bump up his order. So its a win/win. He sells more books because he has them. He has my business because out of all the shops in town he was willing to work with a collector who sells some comics on the side and not treat me like some kind of lowlife. I will never understand the mentality of biting the hand that feeds you. BTW they don't have back issues just what they have not sold and usually if it gets to the 9 month mark it goes into the .50 bin. Variants are priced to move and they move to 50-75% off once they hit the 9 month mark.

Edited January 15, 2013 by THB

[Mishmashman]

I think that is a good policy. Someone mentioned it this limit for the first week. Man, this thread has derailed (and I'm partially to blame... )

 

I hardly noticed... this discussion is fascinating!

[the blob]

 

One of the guys who works at one of my shops was telling me how awesome the SW 1 was and he loved the cover, etc. For his sake I hope he ordered 50 copies with his employee discount because he has been severely burned lately on some of his speculation attempts, even paying wholesale he's wound up selling them back to his boss for 50 cents a pop (and that's his boss being generous, because he'd pay 5 cents to anyone else). sadly, if he had just waited a little longer on some of them...I wound up buying a bunch of Guardians of the Galaxy 25s out of the 3 for $2 box about 12 months ago that he had speculated on when they came out and I guess had given up on.

 

You need to believe in the comic you want to speculate on. I usually don't buy a book unless I enjoy it or can buy it at cover price and see its currently selling for more than $10 on eBay. Buying in bulk on hopes and dreams is unwise.

 

 

i think he really believed it was an awesome book, just dunno if he had the cajones to buy a stack of them after having really bad luck the last year or two..missed out on TOT, Saga and many of the other hot books. Bought a bunch of kick-arse volume 2s and various spin-offs and brubaker noir books.

[the blob]

I had a stack the other day at a LCS and was asked to put all but one of each back which seems fair.

 

IMO.... limits are a bad business practice. I'm a paying customer, cash in hand, right in front of you ready to buy a product you are offering to the public. If you insist on a limit, put a sign up saying "LIMIT ONE" or adjust the price to keep someone from buying a stack at cover. If someone told me to put them back, it would be my last visit to that store.

 

I can't stand lazy store owners that don't track the market and when you get to the register have an epiphany and say, "Oh yeah, I need to mark this up" or "Oh yeah, you can't buy but one of those." I would be like, "Oh yeah, I forgot why I would rather buy from someone I trust online..."

 

 

I have talked to mine a few times about this and he made a very excellent point and think some others have eluded to preordering.

 

If a LCS orders in 20 copies of Star Wars 1 and you come in and buy all 20 that means that come number 2 the store may order in 20 copies based on 1 selling out but only 1 customer will pick it up as YOU were the only one who had a chance to read number 1 and thus 19 sit on the shelf. I agree that if you want to limit it make it be known. That said after a week of the comic being out I would totally agree its pretty much a free for all.

 

this certainly makes sense for the first 3 or 4 days it is on the rack. by then your regulars and once a week customers will have had the chance to buy and read the book, maybe get into it, whatever.

[WebSlinger]

Well like I said, if you can work with the LCS and you know if you go there weekly if he is nice or not. My guy knows that I feed him hundreds of dollars a month, so he knows what I collect and he never puts a limit on what I buy, but like I said, pick up a preview and order ahead, and pay ahead, and all will be fine. If they won't work with you then move on....and if you only have the one shop, buy online...and there are many good people her to buy from right here on these boards, just look around, and they will treat you right. My 2cents anyway.........

[the blob]

i normally don't take more than 2 anyways, don't want to gut the store stock...i did ask what his policy was for taking more than 2 of a week old comic. "What are you trying to do, make a profit off of those????"

 

jeez, 2 copies is hardly a massive speculation play. all 30 copies off the rack is another story.

 

there seems to be a comic shop owner mentality (among some) in which they cannot stand the fact that someone might make a profit off a sale from them. this is the same mentality that bemoans ebay and it being harder to get guide for vintage books and the crash of the market in the 90s, etc. when they were only willing to pay 2-5% of guide for books even during the good times. Did they really expect the values of these items as collectibles to hold up if folks didn't have a venue to get a fair and reasonable price for them and had to rely on shop owners (or buying a table at a show) to buy their books. It is amazing that comics maintained their status as a collectible for 30 years before ebay when the main venue for 99% of collectors to sell their stuff was to get ripped off by the local shop.

[WebSlinger]

Oh, and once and a while they save a variant or two for ya!,

[ItsJustRyan]

Something that I know my LCS guy does that drive me nutty... he hoards new releases himself and says they are sold out. When Bravest Warriors came out I was in the shop and asked about it. He said, QUOTE... "It's sold out but I can let you have one for $30. That's what they are going for online." No thanks dude. I told him I just wanted to check it out and see what the hype was over (only wanted to buy one copy). He said, QUOTE... "Well, that's what the second print is for....... "

I'm starting to wonder why I still go there?? Oh yeah, it's the only game in town.

[THB]

I had a stack the other day at a LCS and was asked to put all but one of each back which seems fair.

 

IMO.... limits are a bad business practice. I'm a paying customer, cash in hand, right in front of you ready to buy a product you are offering to the public. If you insist on a limit, put a sign up saying "LIMIT ONE" or adjust the price to keep someone from buying a stack at cover. If someone told me to put them back, it would be my last visit to that store.

 

I can't stand lazy store owners that don't track the market and when you get to the register have an epiphany and say, "Oh yeah, I need to mark this up" or "Oh yeah, you can't buy but one of those." I would be like, "Oh yeah, I forgot why I would rather buy from someone I trust online..."

 

 

I have talked to mine a few times about this and he made a very excellent point and think some others have eluded to preordering.

 

If a LCS orders in 20 copies of Star Wars 1 and you come in and buy all 20 that means that come number 2 the store may order in 20 copies based on 1 selling out but only 1 customer will pick it up as YOU were the only one who had a chance to read number 1 and thus 19 sit on the shelf. I agree that if you want to limit it make it be known. That said after a week of the comic being out I would totally agree its pretty much a free for all.

 

this certainly makes sense for the first 3 or 4 days it is on the rack. by then your regulars and once a week customers will have had the chance to buy and read the book, maybe get into it, whatever.

 

 

Maybe....the second issues have already been ordered by then. If someone wants that number one in the interim they will find it and make sure they dont miss out on the next issue. Remember the ones hitting the shelves are the ones that are not on subs. You would think they want to sell them. For those of you with one shop near you...... I feel for you.

[ItsJustRyan]

there seems to be a comic shop owner mentality (among some) in which they cannot stand the fact that someone might make a profit off a sale from them.

Bingo.

[the blob]

Well like I said, if you can work with the LCS and you know if you go there weekly if he is nice or not. My guy knows that I feed him hundreds of dollars a month, so he knows what I collect and he never puts a limit on what I buy, but like I said, pick up a preview and order ahead, and pay ahead, and all will be fine. If they won't work with you then move on....and if you only have the one shop, buy online...and there are many good people her to buy from right here on these boards, just look around, and they will treat you right. My 2cents anyway.........

 

i have never been asked to leave anything on the rack. i did get a nudge from one of my shop owners when I snagged the last 4 or whatever copies of 27 #1 off the rack, having beaten another guy to the rack by about 2 seconds, that maybe I could spare a copy to shut up his whining, so I gave in. but the same owner also asked an employee to pull a book out of his pull to sell to me because the employee had bought like 10 copies for speculation purposes and there was nothing left on the rack.