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Strange things are afoot at the LCS.

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Have you ever seen or heard anything really strange at your LCS? I've been trying to go to the local comic shops when I'm out of town and I seem to be running into very strange people. Here are a couple of the most recent ones and feel free to add any of your own:

 

I went to a shop in Canton, Ohio last week and their prices were crazy high. I ask the owner how he priced his books because I couldn't believe even the guide had a Conan 37 in FN/VF for $60. He said he has his mother in law come over to the shop and he ask her to look over the books and give them a 1 to 10 grade. She has no experience in grading but he thinks she has a better eye then him. He then looks at the guide prices and picks a price that sounds good. He said he has no interest in learning to grade since she does that for him. I'm not anticipating going back to that one.

 

I went out of my way to check out a shop in Cincinnati this afternoon. The place was your old school comic shop with poor lighting and terrible lay out. I swear the manager had his head down on the counter when I came in and had this miserable expression like he was contemplating suicide or something. I didn't see much of interest but I did ask him if he was ok and he said "he was just trying to get motivated". Hope that guy's day got better.

 

Have any stories from your LCS?

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I get my Mother in Law who knows nothing about comics to grade my books then price em high using guide.

Can't think of a worse business model.

Conan 37 in VF is $20 on ebay all day long

Even seen em go for $5

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He did have a Black Friday sale from 12:00 - 3:00am where all his books were half off. He said he had a line outside when he opened the door. I pointed out that the books in his store after the sale did not sell even at half the post price. He didn't seem too concerned.

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I walked into a store on Saturday at 3:05.

 

"oh we're just heading out"

 

ugh ok.

 

"is there anything you're looking for?"

 

Not really, just in town for a con doing the comic book tour I said while standing in the store awkwardly as a kid played Magic Cards by himself. When I say kid I mean 30 something.

 

He has a Grimm Fairy Tales #1 on the Wall, a New Mutants 87 and a Ms Marvel 1 among others.

 

"how much is the Grimm Fairy Tales #1?" none of the books were priced"

"10 or 15"

"ok I'll take that"

"what about that Ms.Marvel #1?"

"I don't know, throw me a price"

"how about $20 for the pair?"

 

He declines, says he wants $80. Fine.

he than tells me he has a Walking Dead #1 hidden in the back room, I ask how much it is he says

"don't you want to know what grade it is?"

Sure, what grade is it?

"9.6"

Oh, so its CGC Graded?

"No. I just compare it to this CGC 9.8 Wolverine #1 (2013) I have. Thats how I grade all of my books. "

I ask how much, he says to give him an offer. I offer him $850 (Before even seeing the book)

 

He than told me to leave.

 

 

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I went to a shop in Canton, Ohio last week and their prices were crazy high. I ask the owner how he priced his books because I couldn't believe even the guide had a Conan 37 in FN/VF for $60. He said he has his mother in law come over to the shop and he ask her to look over the books and give them a 1 to 10 grade. She has no experience in grading but he thinks she has a better eye then him. He then looks at the guide prices and picks a price that sounds good. He said he has no interest in learning to grade since she does that for him. I'm not anticipating going back to that one.

 

That is, at the same time, the best & worst story about an LCS I have ever heard.

 

:D

 

 

 

-slym

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huh. That seems a little harsh to tell someone to leave. It's not like $850 is a ridiculous offer for a raw copy....

 

I walked into a store on Saturday at 3:05.

 

"oh we're just heading out"

 

ugh ok.

 

"is there anything you're looking for?"

 

Not really, just in town for a con doing the comic book tour I said while standing in the store awkwardly as a kid played Magic Cards by himself. When I say kid I mean 30 something.

 

He has a Grimm Fairy Tales #1 on the Wall, a New Mutants 87 and a Ms Marvel 1 among others.

 

"how much is the Grimm Fairy Tales #1?" none of the books were priced"

"10 or 15"

"ok I'll take that"

"what about that Ms.Marvel #1?"

"I don't know, throw me a price"

"how about $20 for the pair?"

 

He declines, says he wants $80. Fine.

he than tells me he has a Walking Dead #1 hidden in the back room, I ask how much it is he says

"don't you want to know what grade it is?"

Sure, what grade is it?

"9.6"

Oh, so its CGC Graded?

"No. I just compare it to this CGC 9.8 Wolverine #1 (2013) I have. Thats how I grade all of my books. "

I ask how much, he says to give him an offer. I offer him $850 (Before even seeing the book)

 

He than told me to leave.

 

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Have you ever seen or heard anything really strange at your LCS? I've been trying to go to the local comic shops when I'm out of town and I seem to be running into very strange people. Here are a couple of the most recent ones and feel free to add any of your own:

 

I went to a shop in Canton, Ohio last week and their prices were crazy high. I ask the owner how he priced his books because I couldn't believe even the guide had a Conan 37 in FN/VF for $60. He said he has his mother in law come over to the shop and he ask her to look over the books and give them a 1 to 10 grade. She has no experience in grading but he thinks she has a better eye then him. He then looks at the guide prices and picks a price that sounds good. He said he has no interest in learning to grade since she does that for him. I'm not anticipating going back to that one.

 

I went out of my way to check out a shop in Cincinnati this afternoon. The place was your old school comic shop with poor lighting and terrible lay out. I swear the manager had his head down on the counter when I came in and had this miserable expression like he was contemplating suicide or something. I didn't see much of interest but I did ask him if he was ok and he said "he was just trying to get motivated". Hope that guy's day got better.

 

Have any stories from your LCS?

 

I live in Ohio - there are some good shops here, but man, I've been in ones like you describe as well.

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He has a Grimm Fairy Tales #1 on the Wall, a New Mutants 87 and a Ms Marvel 1 among others.

 

"how much is the Grimm Fairy Tales #1?" none of the books were priced"

"10 or 15"

"ok I'll take that"

"what about that Ms.Marvel #1?"

"I don't know, throw me a price"

"how about $20 for the pair?"

 

He declines, says he wants $80. Fine.

he than tells me he has a Walking Dead #1 hidden in the back room, I ask how much it is he says

"don't you want to know what grade it is?"

Sure, what grade is it?

"9.6"

Oh, so its CGC Graded?

"No. I just compare it to this CGC 9.8 Wolverine #1 (2013) I have. Thats how I grade all of my books. "

I ask how much, he says to give him an offer. I offer him $850 (Before even seeing the book)

 

He than told me to leave.

 

 

I'd be more offended by the offer for $10 for Ms. Marvel than $850 for Walking Dead (shrug)

 

What was the store?

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He has a Grimm Fairy Tales #1 on the Wall, a New Mutants 87 and a Ms Marvel 1 among others.

 

"how much is the Grimm Fairy Tales #1?" none of the books were priced"

"10 or 15"

"ok I'll take that"

"what about that Ms.Marvel #1?"

"I don't know, throw me a price"

"how about $20 for the pair?"

 

He declines, says he wants $80. Fine.

he than tells me he has a Walking Dead #1 hidden in the back room, I ask how much it is he says

"don't you want to know what grade it is?"

Sure, what grade is it?

"9.6"

Oh, so its CGC Graded?

"No. I just compare it to this CGC 9.8 Wolverine #1 (2013) I have. Thats how I grade all of my books. "

I ask how much, he says to give him an offer. I offer him $850 (Before even seeing the book)

 

He than told me to leave.

 

 

I'd be more offended by the offer for $10 for Ms. Marvel than $850 for Walking Dead (shrug)

 

What was the store?

 

I agree. I think a good offer on the Ms Marvel #1 would have helped. I can't believe you didn't even get the Grimm Fairy Tales #1. Sorry, I think you missed out on a good opportunity.

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Our local comic store was shut down after a mysterious fire then it was discovered they were siphoning electricity from the neighbors in their new store.

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I used to hang out/work at one of my local comic stores for years. I was underage at the time.

 

Owner thought that the end of the world was coming (soon) and that he had visions of himself dying in a fire trying to save some people. Odd cause he was miserable and hated people. maybe he was saving some of his army.

 

He also thought that he was some sort of big leader with mind control powers.

 

There was a cool comic store down the street. Apparently the owner there had got in trouble for diddling some kids from what I understand. Heard about that way later.

 

Those were the better stores.

Good lord!

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He has a Grimm Fairy Tales #1 on the Wall, a New Mutants 87 and a Ms Marvel 1 among others.

 

"how much is the Grimm Fairy Tales #1?" none of the books were priced"

"10 or 15"

"ok I'll take that"

"what about that Ms.Marvel #1?"

"I don't know, throw me a price"

"how about $20 for the pair?"

 

He declines, says he wants $80. Fine.

he than tells me he has a Walking Dead #1 hidden in the back room, I ask how much it is he says

"don't you want to know what grade it is?"

Sure, what grade is it?

"9.6"

Oh, so its CGC Graded?

"No. I just compare it to this CGC 9.8 Wolverine #1 (2013) I have. Thats how I grade all of my books. "

I ask how much, he says to give him an offer. I offer him $850 (Before even seeing the book)

 

He than told me to leave.

 

 

I'd be more offended by the offer for $10 for Ms. Marvel than $850 for Walking Dead (shrug)

 

What was the store?

 

I agree. I think a good offer on the Ms Marvel #1 would have helped. I can't believe you didn't even get the Grimm Fairy Tales #1. Sorry, I think you missed out on a good opportunity.

 

I paid right after the Ms.Marvel offer and did get the GFT #1. However, The Ms.Marvel was next to the Grimm Fairy Tales #1, and since GFT #1 sells for $70 and he said it was $10 or $15, I thought a $10 starting offer wouldn't be too bad.

 

The Store was Millenium Comics in Windsor. I did a review on there facebook and the store owner started responding about how I was no longer welcome in the store.

 

I have now learned not to do anything on the internet.

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