• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Done With Metro

Started by cheetah,

159 posts in this topic

cheetah

cheetah

Posted
Posted

For those who care, Metro just told me they are no longer selling Edgar Church books through their web site and will only be selling them through auction. I've requested prices on some of their books recently only to have them removed from the web page.

 

Given that a lot of the Mile High auction prices have been as a result of me being the underbidder, I'm not going to play the game of make Fishler and Zurzolo money but never actually getting any of the books I want. For those who have repeatedly told me over the years about dealing with these guys, you are right and I have had my fill. For those that have Church books in an upcoming auction, best of luck but I won't be buying any of them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cat-Man_America

Cat-Man_America

Posted
Posted

This issue may get addressed directly since all the Metro guys are registered here and the GA board is a fairly high profile public forum for big ticket book buyers. I'm sure that they'd at least discuss your dissatisfaction with this policy although I'm not sure that there's a remedy.

 

Like Flex said, it's dispiriting. :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites
telerites

telerites

Posted
Posted
I have had mixed results in dealing with them as well. From nondisclosed defects to ridiculous prices I can't blame you at all.

 

Not trying to dump anymore on them but I certainly won't buy raw any longer. Bought a GA book listed as unrestored and it came back as trimmed after having it graded. For me, that is the hardest restoration to detect. The book cost $375 not inclusive of shipping/insurance.

 

I have to admit, Metro did refund my money for the book cost but I was out Metro's shipping to me, my shipping back to Metro and all the grading fees. When I returned it, I left it slabbed. This is stated in their policy so again, I'm not trying to grossly dump on them but it was disappointing.

 

As to Jeff's post, I'm surprised they are not going to sell Mile Highs on their website any longer. Seems like they generate a lot of traffic and don't move on their prices so why not continue to offer there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jimbo_707

jimbo_707

Posted
Posted

I thought all their raw Church books were overgraded and overpriced (even for the stated grade), so I wasn't planning to buy any of them any time soon, anyway. Any time I see a book on their site that's reasonably priced, I pretty much assume it's a consignment item.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Flex Mentallo

Flex Mentallo

Posted
Posted

Purely for information, as of now an advanced search of Metro's web site yields 11 hits for Edgar Church.

 

ComicConnect? Zero.

 

The two that I had in my watch list have been "removed by the seller."

 

They had steadily moved very near the top of my "to buy" books (though admittedly I wasn't really close to being ready). Now they are not.

 

However I'm a minnow by their standards, whereas Jeff is relatively speaking a collecting leviathan who has done tons and tons of business with them.

 

I find their approach to this somewhat baffling. Essentially they've lost a great customer.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tsp99

Tsp99

Posted
Posted
I have had mixed results in dealing with them as well. From nondisclosed defects to ridiculous prices I can't blame you at all.

 

Not trying to dump anymore on them but I certainly won't buy raw any longer. Bought a GA book listed as unrestored and it came back as trimmed after having it graded. For me, that is the hardest restoration to detect. The book cost $375 not inclusive of shipping/insurance.

 

I have to admit, Metro did refund my money for the book cost but I was out Metro's shipping to me, my shipping back to Metro and all the grading fees. When I returned it, I left it slabbed. This is stated in their policy so again, I'm not trying to grossly dump on them but it was disappointing.

 

As to Jeff's post, I'm surprised they are not going to sell Mile Highs on their website any longer. Seems like they generate a lot of traffic and don't move on their prices so why not continue to offer there.

 

I agree with most of the sentiments here. I also bought two larger dollar GA books from Metro and to my dismay they were both trimmed (per CGC). Metro made it right, but as you can imagine there was quite a bit of frustration on my part. They should still offer Church books on their site. To not do so just smacks of greed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ComicConnoisseur

ComicConnoisseur

Posted
Posted
I have had mixed results in dealing with them as well. From nondisclosed defects to ridiculous prices I can't blame you at all.

 

Not trying to dump anymore on them but I certainly won't buy raw any longer. Bought a GA book listed as unrestored and it came back as trimmed after having it graded. For me, that is the hardest restoration to detect. The book cost $375 not inclusive of shipping/insurance.

 

 

I agree with most of the sentiments here. I also bought two larger dollar GA books from Metro and to my dismay they were both trimmed (per CGC). Metro made it right, but as you can imagine there was quite a bit of frustration on my part. They should still offer Church books on their site. To not do so just smacks of greed.

I wonder how many of these Church books have been coming back trimmed? Maybe that`s the reason why they decided to remove them? hm

Link to comment
Share on other sites
G.A.tor

G.A.tor

Posted
Posted
I have had mixed results in dealing with them as well. From nondisclosed defects to ridiculous prices I can't blame you at all.

 

Not trying to dump anymore on them but I certainly won't buy raw any longer. Bought a GA book listed as unrestored and it came back as trimmed after having it graded. For me, that is the hardest restoration to detect. The book cost $375 not inclusive of shipping/insurance.

 

 

I agree with most of the sentiments here. I also bought two larger dollar GA books from Metro and to my dismay they were both trimmed (per CGC). Metro made it right, but as you can imagine there was quite a bit of frustration on my part. They should still offer Church books on their site. To not do so just smacks of greed.

I wonder how many of these Church books have been coming back trimmed? Maybe that`s the reason why they decided to remove them? hm

I'm not sure I've ever seen A trimmed mh?
Link to comment
Share on other sites
venum68

venum68

Posted
Posted

OK, I'll put my two cents in on this one. I agree completely with Cheetah. Metro lists the book for sale with no price (only a link to inquire), then you call to ask for a price and they take a week to tell you the book is going into an auction and is not for sale. Now, I have no problem with them selling their books only in an auction( they own them, they can sell them however they want). My issue is: why list them for sale if they have no intention of selling them? It's like going to a restaurant and trying to order the lobster and they tell you, " Sorry, those are for display only". It's a tease and it tends to upset the customer. I assume they are trying to increase interest on the site. But if they are previewing the books for a future auction, why not put them in a future auction preview? From my experience with them, I get the feeling that they don't care whether you buy from them or not. That's too bad for them, because that type of business model only works for so long.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mmehdy

Mmehdy

Posted
Posted
OK, I'll put my two cents in on this one. I agree completely with Cheetah. Metro lists the book for sale with no price (only a link to inquire), then you call to ask for a price and they take a week to tell you the book is going into an auction and is not for sale. Now, I have no problem with them selling their books only in an auction( they own them, they can sell them however they want). My issue is: why list them for sale if they have no intention of selling them? It's like going to a restaurant and trying to order the lobster and they tell you, " Sorry, those are for display only". It's a tease and it tends to upset the customer. I assume they are trying to increase interest on the site. But if they are previewing the books for a future auction, why not put them in a future auction preview? From my experience with them, I get the feeling that they don't care whether you buy from them or not. That's too bad for them, because that type of business model only works for so long.

 

 

It is a shame when a company get too big to forget the little guy.. Bad long term policy.......but max short term profit for them......

Link to comment
Share on other sites
miraclemet

miraclemet

Posted
Posted
I assume they are trying to increase interest on the site. But if they are previewing the books for a future auction, why not put them in a future auction preview? From my experience with them, I get the feeling that they don't care whether you buy from them or not. That's too bad for them, because that type of business model only works for so long.

 

that's probably the least nefarious reason for listing them (promotion of them being in the auction and getting eyes on the website).

 

You assume the books are already slated for auction. A less trusting person might think that they use inquiries to their website to determine which books have enough interest to drum up enough bidding to warrant them being in an auction. Books that didn't drum up inquiries stay on the website and get an asking price added, since there is not enough interest in them (since there were no inquiries) to justify risking them at auction.

 

but someone would only think that if they didn't trust the seller to be completely above board.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sacentaur

sacentaur

Posted
Posted
For those who have repeatedly told me over the years about dealing with these guys, you are right and I have had my fill.

 

Welcome to the club, Jeff! :golfclap:

 

I know too many collectors (myself included) who have suffered the indignity of too many 'Metro experiences'. For collectors like you (us), it takes an epiphany such as this to finally gain our freedom from them.

 

For what it's worth, I've enjoyed the hobby *much* more since I halted all contact with Metropolis; I hope you can feel the same.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Go to topic listing