Dealers with un-priced comics

[Diamonddave]

I tend to just walk past dealers at shows who don't put prices on their stuff. The few times I have asked to look at a particular book and asked for the price, I've usually been given ridiculously high numbers.

+1

At WW Chicago 2014 I encountered that at a booth, no prices on any slabbed wall books. I ask about a B&B 28 4.5 and the owner gives me "$8000" with a straight face. Venom Lethal Protector Black Error 9.0? "$1900".

 

 

[revat]

Surprised at the hate towards unpriced books. I've found the best deals in unpriced boxes. In fact, keep hating that way I keep getting deals.

So how does this work you pull out an unpriced book and the dealer doesn't look it up anywhere he just pulls some random low price out of his spoon?

 

I've done this before

 

step 1. Wait for dealer to be busy talking to someone, not a customer, hopefully one of his buddies, or preferably a pretty girl.

 

step 2. hand him a stack of priced books (assuming he has these), 3-5 at least, then point to the wall book (or 2) and,

 

step 3. make an offer on the whole lot, on the lower side, 40-50% of OSPG. And hold EXACTLY that amount in cash (he'll be happy to not have to make change or take CC#), in an obvious way as if you're ready to hand him the money.

 

step 4. Make eye contact with whoever the dealer is talking to. at this point, hopefully the dealer is either too lazy or doesn't want to lose face in front of his buddies or the pretty girl by taking the time to look up the price. So he'll counter with something higher, but not too much higher because he doesn't want to embarrass you or just get the price wrong in front of other people.

 

step 5. Take the counteroffer deal, which is hopefully just 50-60% of OSPG at most.

 

 

[kav]

I thought we were discussing dealers with unpriced books

[revat]

I thought we were discussing dealers with unpriced books

 

oh i was assuming the wall books were unpriced.

 

if all the books are unpriced, you can still do the same thing.

[kav]

I like that strategy

[kav]

Matter of fact you could go to con with hot chick and work as a team-she flirts like crazy and if his attention strays she starts to leave motivating him to make quick deal!!!

[1Cool]

No dealer can have all their books memorized. They either work off a concealed price sticker, list in hand or if they are crazy - ebay sales or Price Guide.

[kav]

A1 Comics has all their books priced so when they go to con its not an issue

[jimbo_707]

I remember once I was in Key West on vacation. I saw a Hawaiian shirt that I liked and asked the price. The guy in the store told me $60. I told him that was too much because I'd seen similar shirts just down the street for much less (which was true). He ended up selling it to me for something like $35. While I was still in the store, a couple from a cruise ship walked in and asked the price of the same shirt. The same guy told them $85, and they paid it without question.

 

That's right. They paid $85 for a shirt identical to the one I had just purchased for $35.

 

It was fairly obvious that the guy was just trying to read people--how wealthy they were, etc.--and get as much out of them as he could. That's why he didn't have price tags on his shirts.

 

If a comic dealer doesn't have prices on his books, it's for the exact same reason. You're not going to get a bargain from that sort of dealer, so if that's what you're looking for, don't even bother. The key is to gauge the dealer's true bottom line, just like he's trying to gauge your max. If you see a book you want, don't even ask the price. Just offer what you think it's worth--towards the low end of FMV, not a ridiculously low amount--and if the dealer says no, walk away. If he doesn't try to bring you back--at least with a reasonable counter-offer--it means he's waiting for a sucker and won't part with the book for anything close to a fair price.

[kav]

Good advice

[1Cool]

A guy at the Akron con had a small number on the back of the board. Turns out that's the percentage he paid compared to his asking price. I told him he probably shouldn't be telling people about his system.