Chris Bell has too much freakin' money!!

[Bonds25]

I just changed the title (didn't mean to slander you necessarily). I am just amazed and floored at the insane money you've spent in the last 4 months! The books you are winning are nice, but they're certainly not rare (in most cases), and most will probably decrease in value 20-50% in the next few years as more and more copies arrive on the scene.

 

Would you mind sharing with us your buying strategy, as I'm sure we'd all be fascinated to hear why you're paying such crazy money for these comics.

 

I hardly catogarize this type of rhetoric as friendly discussion of high prices being paid. Frankly I hardly care, but I get tired of board memebers flaming other folks with nobody stepping to their side.

 

My original title was meant in jest. I wish I was in Chris' boat as far as throwing money into comics, but I personally think it's dumb to pay 10-50x guide for newer books that are NOT rare. If you all think that doing this is a great idea, super. I don't.

 

Of course, if this is all for his personal collection and he has no intention of ever selling, that changes things a bit. But I still think it's crazy to pay these insane multiples of guide, whether you've got tons or money, or if you have no money. Flame away!

[Warlord]

Deathlok-

 

On this one you are not going to get awaty that easy. You can get buyer history for about 60 days. After that items drop off. To get six months buying history on a guy you have to be pretty dilligent. That is not a one minute job- no way.

If this collector has the means to buy these comics, I'm not sure who would really care. What is scarier to me than a guy that buys all these comics is a "disinterested" party that would actually go through the trouble to catologue all his purchases.

 

I was thinking the same thing. I'm more disturbing by the "stalking" of the guy's purchases than the actual purchases he made. It's his money, what do I care how much he spent over the last 6 months? And why would someone go to the trouble to track down every purchase he made AND add up the amounts? That's just...weird.

 

I don't think everyone else is as obsessed, but the original poster...whew.

 

It's not that difficult to get a listing of someone's Ebay history. Takes less than a minute to copy and paste the detail. So there is no stalking going on. That shouldn't even have been brought up.

 

You are right, it was not a one minute job. It took me more like 2-3 minutes. ! Would have been one minute if only Excel was a little more flexible or if I ever took the time to put my data into a real database and built some access tools...

 

BTW, I was not the original poster. Just thought I'd add some info to the original poster's expenditure speculation.

 

[Warlord]

If this collector has the means to buy these comics, I'm not sure who would really care. What is scarier to me than a guy that buys all these comics is a "disinterested" party that would actually go through the trouble to catologue all his purchases.

 

I AM "disinterested" in tracking the sales of any one individual. But I happen to have the data. For instance, my records show you've made 6 CGC purchases YTD under the 4GemWorks ID.

 

I AM interested in ALL CGC sales on eBay. I'm tracking CGC sales on eBay for the Official Crash Watch '04 thread. Watch for the June report in another week or so...

 

TGC of 2004

[COI]

 

This is EXACTLY the kind of thing that makes me understand why some buyers make their feedback private. This is an absoluetly ridiculous display of privacy invasion, and it surprises me that none of you find it disturbing. Talking about a few purchases is one thing, but listing someone's purchasing habits on a public board, in this manner, is a total disgrace.

 

You may think I'm over-reacting, but I'm not. I used to work in private security, and I can't tell you how much S#!T can happen to someone because of a lack of discretion. And please don't come back with "it's on Ebay, so it's public record anyway", because even though that's true, you don't have to draw this kind of attention to it.

 

Honestly, those of you who reading this who don't see anything wrong with it need to grow up and realize that there are a lot of dangerous people in the world, and as unlikely as it may be, this kind of thing could get someone hurt. Think I'm overreacting? On top of what I've seen in the security business, I lost 65K worth of gold watches, a business I dabbled in briefly, after my home was invaded and I was held at gunpoint while it was ransacked. And how did they know I had the watches? Word of mouth.

[COI]

No comment. All this is fishy to me.

 

Why is it fishy?

 

Exactly. What's so fishy about someone not feeling the need to explain his buying habits?

[tth2]

This is EXACTLY the kind of thing that makes me understand why some buyers make their feedback private. This is an absoluetly ridiculous display of privacy invasion, and it surprises me that none of you find it disturbing. Talking about a few purchases is one thing, but listing someone's purchasing habits on a public board, in this manner, is a total disgrace.

 

You may think I'm over-reacting, but I'm not. I used to work in private security, and I can't tell you how much S#!T can happen to someone because of a lack of discretion. And please don't come back with "it's on Ebay, so it's public record anyway", because even though that's true, you don't have to draw this kind of attention to it.

 

Honestly, those of you who reading this who don't see anything wrong with it need to grow up and realize that there are a lot of dangerous people in the world, and as unlikely as it may be, this kind of thing could get someone hurt. Think I'm overreacting? On top of what I've seen in the security business, I lost 65K worth of gold watches, a business I dabbled in briefly, after my home was invaded and I was held at gunpoint while it was ransacked. And how did they know I had the watches? Word of mouth.

 

Sorry COI, but I gotta disagree with you on this one. By participating in eBay, where one's bids and transaction history are publicly displayed, a person is accepting the fact that that information can be publicly reproduced, collated, etc. elsewhere. The eBay ID is supposed to provide some anonymity, but obviously that doesn't work very well when everyone knows who the bidder is. Chris' publication of his contact details in his postings on these boards certainly doesn't help to hide his identity.

 

Anyway, I don't see why this is any different from the fact that I can go onto the SEC's website and copy data on Michael Eisner's compensation package from any Disney proxy statement (hell, even a complete reproduction of his employment contract) and post it anywhere I want to. By making it public under the SEC's rules, he's waived any right to control further dissemination of that information.

[sterlingcomics]

Privacy is something that is being pulled on both ends. On one side, I see a government act like HIPPA going to extremes to protect patient confidentiality, then we have something like the Patriot Act that threatens to give government POTENTIAL to access information they shouldn't otherwise have. Anyway, OT...

 

I agree with tth that the information is there for the taking, but I agree with COI that perhaps there's an ethical issue probing for the info.

[Warlord]

And please don't come back with "it's on Ebay, so it's public record anyway"...

 

Why not?

 

It's on Ebay, so it's public record anyway.

 

 

Or how about this? -- Someone bidding $100K+ on a comic on eBay (and talking about it on a comic forum) is certainly not keeping a low profile in the first place.

[FFB]

Is this how OCD manifests itself on internet message boards?

 

If this collector has the means to buy these comics, I'm not sure who would really care. What is scarier to me than a guy that buys all these comics is a "disinterested" party that would actually go through the trouble to catologue all his purchases.

 

I was thinking the same thing. I'm more disturbing by the "stalking" of the guy's purchases than the actual purchases he made. It's his money, what do I care how much he spent over the last 6 months? And why would someone go to the trouble to track down every purchase he made AND add up the amounts? That's just...weird.

 

I don't think everyone else is as obsessed, but the original poster...whew.

 

It's not that difficult to get a listing of someone's Ebay history. Takes less than a minute to copy and paste the detail. So there is no stalking going on. That shouldn't even have been brought up.

Deathlok-

 

On this one you are not going to get awaty that easy. You can get buyer history for about 60 days. After that items drop off. To get six months buying history on a guy you have to be pretty dilligent. That is not a one minute job- no way.

 

Secondly, on reflection, rather than belittling the gut for spending his own money, we ought to be grateful. This type of ourchasing probably does a good job overall of cementing higher prices across the board for books we all own...you know, the "trickle down" theory...

 

PS: Just to make sure i Wasn't setting myself up, I checked the history of said buyer. You get ALL THE WAY BACK to MAY 25th...So for somebody to have six months record would be quite stalking venture indeed.

 

I reformatted your post, because I hate when people repsond at the top of the quote.

[dolphinsrwj]

:signofftopic sterling that is one cool avatar you got there

[Sal]

2238490027 AMAZING SPIDERMAN #129 CGC 9.8 PUNISHER HIGHEST GRADE ! US $8980.00

 

yeeeeoooowwwwtch

[the blob]

well, i'm not going to read the whole thread, but what i i do see, aside from the big ticket items, is him picking up a lot of nice 9.2 - 9.6 magazines for not significantly more than the cost of slabbing. some of the prices paid for less expensive items i would probably be willing to pay.

 

i don't know about mr. bell, but to some people, spending $150K in 6 months on your hobby is nothing. to us, it seems like a lot of loot, but that's a couple (or one) of paintings by a fashionable (living) artist or a drawing by picasso (and there are huge numbers of those). donald trump probably spends $150K a month taking helicopters around the NYC area.

[namisgr]

Some of these purchases were flipped, and others were attempted to be flipped, just a year or so after they were made. Chris Bell's books and mags were a feature of the last Heritage signature auction, and there certainly were alot of gorgeous items.

[Affordable 2nd Thoughts Inc.]

Almost a year goes bye and you guys activate this thread again? Let it rest friends... Thank You.

[sterlingcomics]

I agree. Hi Chris.

[namisgr]

Almost a year goes bye and you guys activate this thread again? Let it rest friends... Thank You.

 

Can't take a compliment? >>Chris Bell's books and mags were a feature of the last Heritage signature auction, and there certainly were alot of gorgeous items. <<

[Affordable 2nd Thoughts Inc.]

Almost a year goes bye and you guys activate this thread again? Let it rest friends... Thank You.

 

Can't take a compliment? >>Chris Bell's books and mags were a feature of the last Heritage signature auction, and there certainly were alot of gorgeous items. <<

 

I do appreciate you kind comments my friend.

I was refering to the initiation of the thread again.

Take Good Care!

[jediknight]

I can't believe that someone went and catalogued all the comics this man bought (on page 3)! It's like gettin' depantsed in front of your whole church!

[jediknight]

If this collector has the means to buy these comics, I'm not sure who would really care. What is scarier to me than a guy that buys all these comics is a "disinterested" party that would actually go through the trouble to catologue all his purchases. Why not put on a rubber glove and give him a prostrate exam while you are at it. Who knows what else you might discover. [ Back in 2000 when the stock market was going haywire one of the discount brokers had a funny commercial. Looking to treat a patient's lower region pains, the surgeons discover that the patient actually has money coming out the whazoo..Maybe this guy has the wherewithal to buy these books and not have it impact his standard of living...Has anybody thought of that?

 

Couldn't have said it better!

[jediknight]

I'm just startin' page 6. It's takin' a while because it's so darn Jerry Springer. If you haven't read through this entire thread you need to. It is hysterical the way they track this poor guy's buying then say they aren't stalkin' im'. The whole thing about layin' out for all to see how this guy spends his $$$ is totally dysfunctional and Jerry Springer and I'm eatin' it all up!