Ever been denied a purchase of 2 of the same $3 book at a LCS?

[Dukes40]

DC comics Presents #26 7.0-7.5 (clerk said 8.0 but no way) $30

X-Force #2 7.0-8.0 $4.

X-Factor #24 7.0-8.0 $10

Web of Spiderman #118 8.0 $3.50

Web of Spiderman #119 x2 8.0, 1 was maybe 8.5 3.50 (both unbagged, missing inserts)

Web of Spiderman #120 8.0 $3,50

misc supplies. action figure holders. $6-10 or so

 

Since I like being contrary, I'll play devil's advocate...

 

Is it so odd that he refused you a deal? 1st New Teen Titans, 2nd Deadpool, 1st Archangel, and another first Spidey book. He doesn't have to deal on that, keys sell themselves. He was already put off by your "eclectic" collecting focus, and I don't doubt you were a real charmer while asking for a deal too.

 

 

??

[Dukes40]

To play devil's devil's advocate.

 

I own a shop and someone actually WANTS to buy 8.0 moderns, and any Spidey's from that God-awful clone saga (much less 8.0's), and I am giving him a discount AND putting his picture on the wall as Customer of the Month!

 

no kidding, that's not exactly what i thought but along the same lines.

 

I was buying them for my kids to read and 'pretend' collect..

 

The Dc comic presents 26 was for me, I'm guilty.

 

 

 

1- How do you 'pretend' collect? You either keep them or throw them away.

 

2-haha, "guilty". Like buying something from them is bad. I love how some stores act, like "if you're not buying to read and keep, and NOTHING else, then we won't sell to you." I mean, I understand not letting people buy the whole wrack on realease day, but after a few weeks, you NEED to move the stuff. And after a few DECADES......

But ya, like once you buy something, you can do whatever you want with it. If the employee was enquiring just because they wanted to know what was special about the issue, fine, but if they're testing or grilling you to judge whether you're allowed to buy something....

[Dukes40]

I have had so many similar situations happen to me I can't count them anymore.

In most cases I just shop elsewhere, sometimes I never shop in the location again.

 

I have had a LCS refuse to sell me a book that was in his display case at full asking because he had "sold one of them earlier that day and that is his last copy." This is a store I frequent and buy things at weekly. I know the owner so well we USED TO play pool together and have drinks occasionally.

 

I have had a LCS pull a book from my file that is on my pull list so they could jack up the price due to the book getting hot. They claimed they didn't get enough copies to fill all the file orders BUT they had a copy hanging on the wall at 100 bucks behind the cash register the day the comic was released.

 

A local collectibles store owner asked me one day what I was looking for. I answered " an original Divine Right board game". He happened to have one, while slightly beat it was complete. At that time I had seen these games for sale sometimes on Ebay for 120-150 bucks so I offer him upper end 150. He says: " It will cost you 300.00. I know you want it, and I know you will pay that if you want it."

 

My tolerance for this type of behavior is zero and I just shop somewhere else.

So should you.

 

Ridiculous.

[Dukes40]

Yep - last time I was at my LCS it was clearly implied that me buying comic books to sell on the internet was something the owner did not like. So, I have taken my business completely online and have not been back since.

 

It's a little annoying because I don't buy multiple copies. If a book like Django Unchained would be hot, I'd buy a copy and he'd say 'You don't collect this' and give me this look about it. If he's so concerned about where his comics go after a customer makes a purchase - he doesn't need my business.

 

WHAT?!?!

 

Man, he should see the mish-mash of stuff I read. Like, "you don't collect this"??? It's a mini-series!

 

So, you can't try anything? Or get random issues? Geez.

[Dukes40]

to be specific I asked him if they do deals on bulk purchases, not the one I was making.

 

We were not at a con, sir.

 

for those of you whom don't live in the northeast. don't attend cons,

 

This stuff is literally EVERYWHERE, up here in the northeast.

 

These books aren't that special...

 

Thanks society for your time!

 

Unless you're talking about a conglomerate like midtown or a big shop like forbidden planet, where the employees may have no discretion, I've never encountered a smaller shop not willing to round down a little at the least for a bulk purchase. this is just common sense...and yes, you don't haggle at the grocery store, you do haggle at an antique shop, which is a closer comparison to buying used comics.

 

Myths, Legends, and Heroes in Ottawa. The OWNER will NEVER budge on prices. Even when buying $150-200 worth of back issues (10-15 issues).

[Flatliner1313]

So he refused to sell you a $3.50 book, and lost $70 in business.

 

How much more could he honestly expect to have gotten for that web of Spider-Man?

Where do these people get their business sense?

[Dukes40]

I have to admit that I have gotten this at one of my favorite shops...the owner has seen that I have 2 copies of the same book fished out of the dollar box and asked me if I waned both (he didn't say I couldn't, just pointing it out)...and one vintage book, for a while i was buying a copy of it every time I came in because he had a bunch of them and had priced them at like 20% of guide and it was a cool book...after the 6th time I bought a copy over the course of 12-18 months he says "gee, haven't you bought like 6 of these already????" and cut me off...he has it as some sort of loss leader up on the wall I guess to get people who are in there thinking about buying a stack of abck issues --- mind you, i didn't want to fuss and fret about being cut off because he gives me a hefty discount based on, among other things, me being perceived as a collector, not coming into his store to flip stuff (and let's face it, despite my intentions, i still buy 10-20X as much as I sell)

 

Silver Snail in Ottawa handles it very well.

 

I used to grab multiples on release date sometimes, but the owner would sort of be visibly miffed about it. He would still let me though, and said he would never not let me buy multiples, but said he would rather not do this. After talking with him, he said he'd rather not sell multiples on release day, but gave a very good answer.

Reason being, though, is because it messed up his orders (ie. he'd order X amount of extras for the shelf). So, come next reorder, he would see that he sold so many shelf copies, and would then bump his orders accoringly if needed. He just didn't want to start ordering too many extra copies if he didn't need to. I found this TOTALLY fair and reasonable, and very logical. I mean, I could always get a subscription if I wanted, and order as many copies as I wanted.

Anything that was a week old was fair game though, as he wanted to clear stuff out.

[Mental-migration]

To play devil's devil's advocate.

 

I own a shop and someone actually WANTS to buy 8.0 moderns, and any Spidey's from that God-awful clone saga (much less 8.0's), and I am giving him a discount AND putting his picture on the wall as Customer of the Month!

 

no kidding, that's not exactly what i thought but along the same lines.

 

I was buying them for my kids to read and 'pretend' collect..

 

The Dc comic presents 26 was for me, I'm guilty.

 

 

 

1- How do you 'pretend' collect? You either keep them or throw them away.

 

 

You obviously don't have any kids

[Dukes40]

Threads like this remind me that I shouldn't be shocked when LCSs close.

 

I remember one experience with Comics Galore, used to be in Western Springs Illinois, and LaGrange before that. Walked in one day and saw a Venom 1 gold on the wall. I had ignored it up until then, but it just so happened that my buddy was after one. I asked to see it, so he pulled it down. The sticker price was $20, so I called my friend. He offered $15, which was turned down. This was a book that had literally been on the wall for THIRTEEN STRAIGHT YEARS. He also bent the book in half putting it back in the bag, stressing the hell out of the spine.

 

The shop closed soon after and his inventory was dumped on the curb because he couldn't find a buyer quickly enough. I am sure the Venom gold was among the boxes.

 

It's because a lot of dealers don't want to let go of the prices from the good old days. It's like they can't deal with the loss of the potential profit they could have had. They don't realize that something worth $50 in 1993 might only be worth $12 now.

 

NO, Gambit #1 gold is not still a $75 book.

[Dukes40]

I have to admit that I have gotten this at one of my favorite shops...the owner has seen that I have 2 copies of the same book fished out of the dollar box and asked me if I waned both (he didn't say I couldn't, just pointing it out)...and one vintage book, for a while i was buying a copy of it every time I came in because he had a bunch of them and had priced them at like 20% of guide and it was a cool book...after the 6th time I bought a copy over the course of 12-18 months he says "gee, haven't you bought like 6 of these already????" and cut me off...he has it as some sort of loss leader up on the wall I guess to get people who are in there thinking about buying a stack of abck issues --- mind you, i didn't want to fuss and fret about being cut off because he gives me a hefty discount based on, among other things, me being perceived as a collector, not coming into his store to flip stuff (and let's face it, despite my intentions, i still buy 10-20X as much as I sell)

 

The owner has whined becuz he has to pay the expensive rent.

 

 

As does every store ever in existence.

[Dukes40]

he would have paid $30 for one of those "keys" and $10 for the other...copper age "keys" like those, in those grades at those prices take A LONG time to move

 

and x-force 2 is still a dollar box book, particularly in that grade.

 

pretty sure i have a stack of Web 118-120 pulled out of dollar boxes

 

Like I said, devil's advocate.

 

You have to cater to your customer base, and realize what kind of store you're dealing with. Take two types of stores:

 

One store buys actively, and keeps on top of the prices of key books. They pay little attention to lesser books, and have their buying focus on the best books they can find because they have a few key customers who drop lots of coin (and plenty of pretenders looking for a bargain to flip).

 

Another store is a mom and pop shop that gets most of their back issues from random walk ins. They survived the 90's, but treat the store more like a newsstand than a comic shop. The big dollar buyers don't bother coming in anymore. They sell to kids, and people who don't own a current price guide. Their customers still want Venom, random #1's, and shiny covers.

 

To the active store, X-Factor 24 is only a key book for flippers and newbies, and a chore to grade at VF. At the mom and pop shop, that's one of few keys in their piles of drek. The active store's price goes down everytime they sell one because they're running out of new customers to sell them to. The mom and pop shop doesn't know when they'll see another copy, and raise the price every time it sells.

 

One store will cut you a deal, the other store won't. The OP simply picked the wrong one.

 

(thumbs u

[Dukes40]

The problem with LCS owners has always been that the vast majority of them are collectors who think it would be nifty to open up a shop. It doesn't matter whether it is comics or new cars, any business needs to be a business first... not a hobby. In fact... if you are a collector in most cases you probably shouldn't open any business in the area that you personally collect.

 

I'm thinking I should put up a big banner on the outside of my store... FLIPPERS WELCOME! Much of my business model actually caters to dealers and flippers... buy from me at a decent price that I'm happy with, turn around and double your money at shows or on the net. I don't care. In fact I love it! Make yourself lots of money and come back and spend more with me.

 

Any dealer that can't see a win-win on this shouldn't be in business (and probably won't be for long).

 

+1

This is exactly it.

 

Here's the scenario:

 

Owner #1: Customer comes in and pulls three copies of Brigade #3 (1992) out of a .50 box and goes to the counter. The owner thinks, "Sweet! These babies are finally out the door!"

 

Owner #2: Customer comes in and pulls three copies of Brigade #3 (1992) out of a .50 box and goes to the counter. The owner eyes him suspiciously, wondering, "Am I missing something here?" Tells the customer, "There's a 1 book limit on each title..." The other two copies of Brigade #3 (1992) sit there for THE REST OF ETERNITY.....

 

Ya, Owner 2 thinks there has to be something to it. There might be, or there might not. Either way, like, it's up to them to figure out what there stuff is worth. It's not like you're pulling a fast one. They set prices based on their research, or expert opinion.

 

I mean, I had NO idea why Uncanny X-Force #4 is worth $40. I STILL sort of don't know why. But I mean, it would be my fault for selling it cheaper to someone.

I can't think of any other industry, where dealers almost shame customers for not letting them know what their stuff is worth, or getting angry that they're not "honest" when they buy their items.

[Dukes40]

When I was at Midtown last week, I brought four copies of the Betty variant of Afterlife up to the counter. The clerk said, I'm supposed to ask you if you know you have four copies of the same book. I said that's weird, he said I know, and then he said, so do you know you have four copies of the same book? and I said yes I do. And then he rung me up.

 

 

Other stores do that too. It's just to make sure that you didn't grab multiples by accident, and that you actually wanted to get them. Makes sense.

[Dukes40]

When I was at Midtown last week, I brought four copies of the Betty variant of Afterlife up to the counter. The clerk said, I'm supposed to ask you if you know you have four copies of the same book. I said that's weird, he said I know, and then he said, so do you know you have four copies of the same book? and I said yes I do. And then he rung me up.

 

 

This has happened to me before. I think its not so much to shame or guilt you, but just to make sure you meant to grab all four. Like for instance, in some cases someone might accidentally put an extra copy of something in your pull box and you might not catch it. So some stores have the policy JUST as a final control to help out the customer to just ask the question.

 

 

As it relates to the OP, I've had the opposite experience before with Nowhere Men #2 back when Nowhere Men was HOT HOT HOT. I went to my LCS, saw 3 on the shelf, grabbed them. At the counter, the owner was like, "we've got more of them if you want them, if you can wait a minute, we've got more in the back" I wait and he brings out 7 more. Then he says "At our other branch, I think we have like 8-11 more". I know the other branch, its about 8 miles away but on my way to my gf's house, so I go there the next day to scoop them up. The owner remembers me from the day before, and cuts me a small discount on the rest. ANd this owner actually has a fairly large internet store too, and was happy to sell to me. Now I go in there all time looking for leftover hot comics and end up buying other random stuff there (or new comics I want). I think owners need to realize that moving new comics (3 months old or newer) is really the key to having a successful shop. Anything older that you move for even remotely near market value is just a bonus. And trying to rely on coppers or overcharging for 3d variants isn't the path to enlightenment. But each owner has to decide for themselves, as they're the ones at risk.

 

I think they need to start bundling their sets/runs/mini-series of back issues as well, if they want to move them.

 

I don't know how hard it was to track down #7 and #8 of Avengers Celestial Quest.

I mean, I JUST wanted to read the story. I don't even think those are worth anything. But like, EVERY store I went into, they had like 1-6, or 1,3,5,6, or something.

 

And it's like that in most stores. You see the same back issues all the time, same gaps. If I'm going to pick up a block of back issues, it's very had to justify buying some at one store, and then seeing if another store has the rest. The conditions are usually different, they may or may not have them, then you're stuck with 3/5 comics you wanted, but can't read the story, etc etc.

 

 

[Dukes40]

When I was at Midtown last week, I brought four copies of the Betty variant of Afterlife up to the counter. The clerk said, I'm supposed to ask you if you know you have four copies of the same book. I said that's weird, he said I know, and then he said, so do you know you have four copies of the same book? and I said yes I do. And then he rung me up.

 

 

midtown usually has a "1 copy per customer" rule for any "hot" book, at least lately. i guess they did not designate the afterlife books as "hot" enough for this policy?

 

perhaps they don't want people buying 4 of the same issue, deciding that it wasn'ta good speculation move, and then trying to return them a few days later under the guise of "ooops, I didn't know they were the same"?

 

can comics be returned? I've never heard of that.

 

Depending on circumstances, relationship with store, etc.

 

I've had it were I've bought one, got home, and found it was either the wrong issue, or I already had the comic.

 

I've gone back, explained the issue, and asked if I could exchange it for the correct one.

 

Some stores will, some stores won't.

 

[KEY ISSUES Comics]

I'd ask to speak with the owner and explain the situation. If he/she agrees with the clerk's behaviour I'd simply shop elsewhere, but it's IMPORTANT to let them know that.