Dealer changing the price

[The Less Blob]

i know, i know, nobody has a gun to my head forcing me to read this, but after 57 pages, please Lord, let this thread end....

 

Why does this thread bother you so much?

 

oh cuz i feel like an insufficiently_thoughtful_person for opining and what not before i found out a deal had actually gone through and the OP wound up getting the book anyway

[originalisbest]

Is this a discussion about how much profit is too much profit?

 

I was hoping it can turn into a pressing thread!

[mysterio]

I was just asking in general. Imagining that all the Con dealers I've seen showing up again and again for decades aren't crying over mispricing instantly or temporarily white-hot books. Imagining it's probably a way of life for them, since their main focus is meeting needs and keeping stock churning. But, again, all in my imagination and wondering.

 

As far as I can tell, a dealer's job is to earn a living selling comics in an ethical manner.

 

There is usually a balance needed between 'churning inventory' and making a profit.

 

Sure, you can churn inventory at an incredible rate but if your margins are too thin and can't support yourself, how useful is that?

 

Most dealers try to find a balance between selling too fast (inventory is hard to find) and selling too slow (they need to support themselves by their sales) and price is the mitigating factor, especially for popular books.

 

It's why hot books go up in price. Harder to replace so prices rise.

 

well said, I agree.

 

To the original issue: I had a Hulk 271 in my dollar box for several years that did not sell. Before the Guardians of the Galaxy movie news it wasn't an easy book to sell. I had a buyer pick it out of my dollar box along with some other books at a show 2 years ago. I noticed it was in his pile, I sold it at a dollar and said "getting a good deal on that one".

I have noticed the buyer comes back to my table every year and browses my bargain boxes. He also bought a key book off of me 2 years later: a Marvel Preview 7 at my full asking. Sometimes it is wiser to sell a book for less.

 

This is 100% the correct way to handle this. A dealer is responsible for their pricing. If you miss something, chalk it up as a learning experience and a small short term win for the buyer. But that may very well turn into a long term win for the dealer who gets a repeat customer. Venom could have been turned into a happy repeat customer, and no 60 page thread gets generated. The dealer has a right to reprice books, but no right to the perceptions that repricing may generate.

[jaeldubyoo]

Sometimes it's a matter of what you can do (legal) as opposed to what you should do (ethical). It really depends on how you view the situation and whose account you believe. I believe the dealer did nothing illegally since the comic was still in his possession and he can charge whatever he wants. However, whether he is under a moral obligation to sell at the original price is the real question. For me, it is dependent on whether the buyer actually walk off after the initial negotiations broke down. If the price was hiked during the initial negotiations, then I would have serious concerns. If he walked away, then he needs to start from square one as far as I'm concerned. From what I can see, they struck a compromise and the buyer ended up with the comic.

[romanheart]

Would the dealer have changed the price anyway if there was not a serious offer on the table? Would he have double-checked the book price before finalizing any deal on a book? Is that his normal mode of operation?

 

[Venom]

I had never walked away from the booth when the price was changed, the price was 300 while the dealer looked down at his phone for 5 minutes, and when his head was raised it was now priced at 800. During this time he was still in possession of both copes of my NM 98. This will be my last post on this topic.

[CBT]

Well, nuff said for me. I certainly will never buy anything from Major Comics. I realize some people here are friends with them, or got good deals from them in the past etc.

 

But as far as I am concern, what they did is very wrong, and unacceptable.

[Bomber-Bob]

I realize some people here are friends with them, or got good deals from them in the past etc.

 

In cases like this, where a specific incident is reported, I never understood the mentality of giving your personal kudos about the dealer. What does one's experience have to do with another ? He just robbed a hundred old ladies out of their life's savings but he was such a good neighbor, a quiet man. Sounds good enough for me.

[originalisbest]

I had never walked away from the booth when the price was changed, the price was 300 while the dealer looked down at his phone for 5 minutes, and when his head was raised it was now priced at 800. During this time he was still in possession of both copes of my NM 98. This will be my last post on this topic.

 

Yikes and ouch, that's pretty pathetic dealer behavior. Full stop.

[Sqeggs]

 

I don't think anyone would quarrel with a dealer repricing books during a show.

 

Sounds like a few people would.

 

Some people did have a problem with it in the thread and that's why it was being discussed.

 

I haven't read the whole thread, but would people actually object to a dealer changing prices on books during a show? Seems hard to expect a dealer -- particularly a part-time one with significant inventory -- to ignore market information he may have picked up during a show.

 

I would draw a sharp line between that type of behavior and changing a price once a customer has expressed some interest in a book, much less -- as apparently was the case here -- after negotiations over a book have begun.

[mysterio]

I had never walked away from the booth when the price was changed, the price was 300 while the dealer looked down at his phone for 5 minutes, and when his head was raised it was now priced at 800. During this time he was still in possession of both copes of my NM 98. This will be my last post on this topic.

 

That seems quite clear.

[Davenport]

I haven't read the whole thread, but would people actually object to a dealer changing prices on books during a show? Seems hard to expect a dealer -- particularly a part-time one with significant inventory -- to ignore market information he may have picked up during a show.

 

I would draw a sharp line between that type of behavior and changing a price once a customer has expressed some interest in a book, much less -- as apparently was the case here -- after negotiations over a book have begun.

Managing inventory/pricing while "Open" seems normal enough.

 

Price-bumping at the point-of-sale (ie; someone's buying it) seems like anti-customer / anti-reputation behavior.

Point-of-sale really isn't the time to research how derelict you've been, letting your customer know and requesting they pay for it.

[CBT]

I haven't read the whole thread, but would people actually object to a dealer changing prices on books during a show? Seems hard to expect a dealer -- particularly a part-time ( they run the montreal comic convention, not a part-timer) one with significant inventoryit's a wall book, brought to the third largest con in NA, and put on display with a price, not something in the back of a store-- to ignore market information he may have picked up during a show.he didnt pick up on it, a customer tried to buy something

 

No one objects to that, people are objecting to someone attempting to pay the sticker price, and while waiting at "the cash register", having the dealer stop you while he looks up your book on ebay and triples the price.

 

 

 

 

[CBT]

Managing inventory/pricing while "Open" seems normal enough.

 

Price-bumping at the point-of-sale (ie; someone's buying it) seems like anti-customer / anti-reputation behavior.

Point-of-sale really isn't the time to research how derelict you've been, letting your customer know and requesting they pay for it.

 

+infinity and beyond

[Chaseman210]

I had never walked away from the booth when the price was changed, the price was 300 while the dealer looked down at his phone for 5 minutes, and when his head was raised it was now priced at 800. During this time he was still in possession of both copes of my NM 98. This will be my last post on this topic.

 

That seems quite clear.

 

+1

 

[mackenzie999]

I think the "answer" to this, if such a thing is warranted or can even be said to exist, is simple. Until a seller accepts payment, they are free to manage their inventory however they see fit. Those who keep them in business, buyers, are also free to avoid sellers whose practices are disagreeable to them.

The actions of this seller earn them a spot on my do-not-buy-from list, but I accept that they are breaking no actual rules, just violating what most here seem to consider common courtesy.

[1Cool]

He said she said crud still going on. The dealer brought out a lesser grade book and said "this is the $300" copy which says they mixed up the price of the copies. Maybe his check on GPA prompted him to check out the book and say "no way that VF should be $300" and he corrected his mistake. The negotiation was still ongoing so I would not fault them for putting the correct price on the book at that point.

 

What if the buyer saw a huge announcement that the Inhumans movie hype was cancelled while negotiations were ongoing. All priced were instantly cut in half. Would the dealer be able to demand the buyer pay the original $300 even though the book is now going for $150? The buyer would demand a reduction or walk away? Seems to be a double standard is being forced on the dealer in this case.

 

 

[Buzzetta]

I had never walked away from the booth when the price was changed, the price was 300 while the dealer looked down at his phone for 5 minutes, and when his head was raised it was now priced at 800. During this time he was still in possession of both copes of my NM 98. This will be my last post on this topic.

 

That seems quite clear.

 

+1

 

Like I said - I never thought they "left"

 

Still waiting for the dealer to answer my question. They have answered others but have ignored mine. Interesting

[thehumantorch]

I had never walked away from the booth when the price was changed, the price was 300 while the dealer looked down at his phone for 5 minutes, and when his head was raised it was now priced at 800. During this time he was still in possession of both copes of my NM 98. This will be my last post on this topic.

 

Unfortunately it now becomes a situation of your word against his and there's no way to prove who's telling the truth. But I can't see a strong reason for you to lie and I can see 500 reasons for the dealer to mark up the price of his book so I know where I stand.

 

 

[Sqeggs]

I haven't read the whole thread, but would people actually object to a dealer changing prices on books during a show? Seems hard to expect a dealer -- particularly a part-time ( they run the montreal comic convention, not a part-timer) one with significant inventoryit's a wall book, brought to the third largest con in NA, and put on display with a price, not something in the back of a store-- to ignore market information he may have picked up during a show.he didnt pick up on it, a customer tried to buy something

 

No one objects to that, people are objecting to someone attempting to pay the sticker price, and while waiting at "the cash register", having the dealer stop you while he looks up your book on ebay and triples the price.

 

 

 

 

That's pretty much what I said.

 

I was responding to Roy's point that some people in the thread were objecting -- beyond the particulars of this case -- to dealers repricing books once a show opens. That kind of repricing seems perfectly acceptable to me.

 

Trying to get a buyer to pay more than sticker price once the buyer has expressed interest in a book is the objectionable part, in my view.