Comic Store Etiquette

[Wally's Comics]

Comic Store Etiquette is an oxymoron!

 

 

 

 

[Darkowl]

 

So Jay & Bob's Secret Stash?

 

I was there about 12 years ago, and it was just a regular ol' comic shop. Nothing great. I suspect that the TV show has made them make some changes to create a more professional place.

 

In my Chicagoland store thread, there were a couple that had the elements of a really professional store, but were missing just one thing or another that would put them over the top (and that usually had to do with selection and some display issues). It can be done, and the extra work would certainly translate into extra sales.

 

I'm sure the TV show has magnified everything about the store. I am surprised, however, when a customer walks in asking for a particular book, and lo and behold, they have it.

 

 

I see what you're trying to say, but I would assume they don't record or show the customers who come in asking for a book that the shop doesn't have.

 

I was just thinking the same thing.

[PovertyRow]

I've never had a store try to change or alter prices at the counter. I think MD has a law about pricing as advertised/labelled. Don't most states?

 

http://www.nist.gov/pml/wmd/metric/upload/US-Pricing-Laws-All-States_2.pdf

 

Here's a link to a PDF document that compiles retail pricing laws as of 2009. Most states don't appear to have legal protections, but Maryland's are relatively extensive. I wonder if they would claim some exemption based on the fact that the comic itself has a price clearly printed on it by the manufacturer that is not the current selling price, therefore it may not be safe to assume that the white sticker on the bag is the current selling price?

 

I think a lot of these headaches would be solved by comic shop owners acting like they were actual businesses and posting their policies. Very rarely do I see a sign explaining pricing policies.

 

California's is quite extensive. An interesting entry says:

 

. (a) It is unlawful for any person, at the time of sale of a commodity, to do any of the following:

(1) Charge an amount greater than the price, or to compute an amount greater than a true extension of a price per unit, that is then advertised, posted, marked, displayed, or quoted for that commodity.

(2) Charge an amount greater than the lowest price posted on the commodity itself or on a shelf tag that corresponds to the commodity, notwithstanding any limitation of the time period for which the posted price is in effect.

 

I wonder if I could get an AF15 at cover price?

[kav]

My buddy owns a comic store and he gave me the other side of the story of why many comic store owners are so rude. People calling up asking 'how much is X Force #33 worth? people coming into the store pretending they have Action #1, AF 15 etc 'at home'. Guy after guy coming into the store with drawings of Wolverine and offering to post it in store and sell it and 'split the profit'. People coming in saying I'm looking for a comic for my son-do you have the one where Spiderman fights that guy? on and on day after day it wears on some people and they get cranky.

[sd2416]

My buddy owns a comic store and he gave me the other side of the story of why many comic store owners are so rude. People calling up asking 'how much is X Force #33 worth? people coming into the store pretending they have Action #1, AF 15 etc 'at home'. Guy after guy coming into the store with drawings of Wolverine and offering to post it in store and sell it and 'split the profit'. People coming in saying I'm looking for a comic for my son-do you have the one where Spiderman fights that guy? on and on day after day it wears on some people and they get cranky.

He's not talking about you, is he?

[Wally's Comics]

My buddy owns a comic store and he gave me the other side of the story of why many comic store owners are so rude. People calling up asking 'how much is X Force #33 worth? people coming into the store pretending they have Action #1, AF 15 etc 'at home'. Guy after guy coming into the store with drawings of Wolverine and offering to post it in store and sell it and 'split the profit'. on and on day after day it wears on some people and they get cranky.

 

all of this has to be taken into consideration when opening a comic shop.

 

There are going to be A Lot of nerdiculous mouth breathers that ain't got the sense god gave a goat!

 

 

[kav]

My buddy owns a comic store and he gave me the other side of the story of why many comic store owners are so rude. People calling up asking 'how much is X Force #33 worth? people coming into the store pretending they have Action #1, AF 15 etc 'at home'. Guy after guy coming into the store with drawings of Wolverine and offering to post it in store and sell it and 'split the profit'. People coming in saying I'm looking for a comic for my son-do you have the one where Spiderman fights that guy? on and on day after day it wears on some people and they get cranky.

He's not talking about you, is he?

Why would my friend tell me a story about myself?

It doesn't make logical sense.

[shadroch]

can I add to the list?

Last year I called a comic shop that was only an hour + away I always try and call before the long arse drive to a new shop.

 

me

"I collect golden age Nedor/ Better/ Standard comics do you have any in stock?"

 

pimple face

"um sir we have all types of comics from most publishers I am sure we can find something you will like"

 

me

can you check please its a long drive for me to come to your place

 

pimple face

not at the moment we are very busy but if you leave your number I will happily call you back.

 

 

 

 

3 days later I received a call telling me they had a few issues of "The black terror in stock"

 

Tried to call them back "twice" and got a busy signal each time

 

drove up the next day and you guessed it nothing even remotely golden age. as for the black terror comics it was the modern stuff.

 

/sigh

 

oh well since i'm here lets look at their "Wall of Great comics"

..... seriously this is "The good stuff"? X-men 200 was the best issue they had

 

so the only positive thing I can say is I got to go to In&Out that day. the shop was a waste of my time. I don't mind that they didn't have golden age books. I just wish they wouldn't have gotten my hopes up.

 

Is it me or have LCS Wall of goodness gone WAY down hill since we were kids. I mean the drek they put on display hardly seems worth bagging for the most part.

/rant off

 

 

Back then, the Wall of goodness was the only way the owner had to sell his books. Today, rather than wait for the right person to walk into his shop, those books end up on the internet. When I had my store, my insurance policy would not cover any item over $1,000 in my shop when it was closed. Luckily, I rarely had any as thousand dollar books were scarce back then.

[jimjum12]

..... I know several store owners well.... and they often tell me that they display the older stuff only because it's cool ...... they say GA books rarely sell to regular customers anymore, and that much of the CA and MA stuff that we used to scoff at is what actually sells for them. There's a LOT of collectors who just wouldn't dream of spending over 20 bucks for one comic. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[Ken Aldred]

The worst pricing experience I've ever had was in a book exchange here in the UK where they had two dozen or so boxes of comics and a clear 'all 25p each' sign. The proprietor, being aware that I was a collector, rushed over to me and demanded that I pay double the price. I walked out immediately, and since this experience in 1994 I've never set foot in there again. Not that desperate, even if he was.

[kav]

The worst pricing experience I've ever had was in a book exchange here in the UK where they had two dozen or so boxes of comics and a clear 'all 25p each' sign. The proprietor, being aware that I was a collector, rushed over to me and demanded that I pay double that price. I walked out immediately, and since this experience in 1994 I've never set foot in there again. Not that desperate, even if he was.

I don't know what the laws are there but here if something is priced, they cannot make you pay more for it. Merely grab the books you want and slap down the cash and say later dude.

[Ken Aldred]

The worst pricing experience I've ever had was in a book exchange here in the UK where they had two dozen or so boxes of comics and a clear 'all 25p each' sign. The proprietor, being aware that I was a collector, rushed over to me and demanded that I pay double that price. I walked out immediately, and since this experience in 1994 I've never set foot in there again. Not that desperate, even if he was.

I don't know what the laws are there but here if something is priced, they cannot make you pay more for it. Merely grab the books you want and slap down the cash and say later dude.

 

I don't think it's allowed over here, either.

[Magneto]

nerdiculous mouth breathers

 

[aggr1103]

That's when I had enough. On the way out I saw a picked-over sticker on the display case for Magic cards. Basically it said: "The price you see on the card is subject to change at the time or purchase."

 

This is pretty telling of the shop IMO. I've only recently started buying and selling Magic cards in the past year, but the one thing about Magic is that its a very volatile market with cards increasing in price dramatically based on their performance at big weekend events. I've seen this done at other stores where they put a baseline price on the card and then use StarCityGames pricing to determine whether to sell it for more or less than the marked price.

 

Comic stores that also sell Magic sometimes do the same thing with back issues, at least in my experience. They use Overstreet as a baseline and then look at sites like mycomicshop or mile high to determine at what price to sell.

[kav]

"price of item subject to change after you purchase it. no time limit on this policy"

[rtecbot]

Price changes right when u walk out the door

[manetteska]

That's when I had enough. On the way out I saw a picked-over sticker on the display case for Magic cards. Basically it said: "The price you see on the card is subject to change at the time or purchase."

 

This is pretty telling of the shop IMO. I've only recently started buying and selling Magic cards in the past year, but the one thing about Magic is that its a very volatile market with cards increasing in price dramatically based on their performance at big weekend events. I've seen this done at other stores where they put a baseline price on the card and then use StarCityGames pricing to determine whether to sell it for more or less than the marked price.

 

Comic stores that also sell Magic sometimes do the same thing with back issues, at least in my experience. They use Overstreet as a baseline and then look at sites like mycomicshop or mile high to determine at what price to sell.

 

The store, though it had a lot of comics, is mostly a gaming store. This is what I read on a few reviews and after talking to another store owner that knows the place.

 

I didn't see the sticker until I was in the second round of "pricing by the seat of your sweatpants", but it basically underpinned the idea that squeezing the customer is always more important than the customer.

 

I have gone into other stores that directly quote eBay prices for their comics. Not only completely ignoring the whole condition-thing, but also ignoring the fact the eBay sellers don't even get eBay prices.

[kav]

My Youngblood #1 is worth $1200! There's one on ebay selling for that!!

[slym2none]

MINE!

 

 

 

-slym (rushing out to sell blood as he types this)

[wardevil0]

My buddy owns a comic store and he gave me the other side of the story of why many comic store owners are so rude. People calling up asking 'how much is X Force #33 worth? people coming into the store pretending they have Action #1, AF 15 etc 'at home'. Guy after guy coming into the store with drawings of Wolverine and offering to post it in store and sell it and 'split the profit'. on and on day after day it wears on some people and they get cranky.

 

all of this has to be taken into consideration when opening a comic shop.

 

There are going to be A Lot of nerdiculous mouth breathers that ain't got the sense god gave a goat!

 

 

 

That's totally understandable; I've never owned a comic shop and still get irritated with these kinds of shenanigans. Sometimes the comic shop is the common thread for people who have insufficiently developed their social graces, and you should expect that before you stand behind the register. Even so, that's no reason to be cranky with those of us who are competent and capable. If I spend an hour or more rummaging through longboxes filling my wantlist, the shopkeeper should be happy to take my money for the posted price. This is how the bills get paid. As long as I'm not tearing the place up it's revenue for the store.

 

Could they possibly sell the items I picked out for more later? Sure. The newsstands that sold AF15 for 12 cents in 1962 should've held onto them until now to sell for a fortune! Except that they would've gone out of business within the year for not generating revenue...