Why I'll Probably Order Never Another Book From Mile High (a Little Long)

[theddybear-migration]

Full Disclosure. Although my post count is very low I have been reading these boards daily since 2007. I sell quite a few comics through Amazon and I dabble a bit in speculation. I have collected and sold comics since 1992. Here's my story...

 

I've always been a huge valiant fan. I've gone very big on many of the new issues and that hasn't gone so great. Sunday night the 8th I was looking at my news feed and saw the Valiant movie news. I got excited and started running through key first appearances in my mind. I started to scoop some up through various websites even though I had a fair size hoard of most already. I also see in my email that Chuck has sent out another of his almost daily emails with a discount code and his observations that his online business is not growing like his stores in the Colorado area. Almost complaining. So I decide to check out his prices.

 

For the most part his prices, even with a 60% off code are way out of line. Remember this is Sunday night before anything had really taken off at all. I notice that Shadowman 8 is 8 dollars before the code still pretty high considering they were 2 to 4 dollars on ebay at the time. I have no idea if it will go up but I pull the trigger on 20 issues to get my total high enough to get over the free shipping threshold and to get 20 from one place. Shadowman 8 was post unity and has a high print run probably 80K or higher so I wasn't expecting a huge increase.

 

I wait on the shipment. I email twice to his "backissue" email address see what is going on with the order and got no reply. The comics never went out of stock on his website although he raised his price each day. First to somewhere in the 20, then 30s, then 50s and as of this morning he has raised the price to 80 dollars. This may be the craziest price for a single comic I have ever seen consider on ebay there are buy it nows from between 8 and 15.

 

The comics arrive yesterday or should I say comic arrives yesterday. They randomly decided to send me only one copy. This ticked me off because I've been caught by comics that got hot and ALWAYS filled ever order. Most recently this happened when I sent another guy 17 copies of five ghosts 1 for 5 dollars each when they were going for 20 on eBay. I look closer at the invoice and on top of that they charged me shipping of 8 dollars And insurance of 3. The insurance amount was for the amount my whole order should of been which of course they didn't ship. They managed to turn my original 20 comic order into a single 4 dollar order into a single comic 15 dollar order.

 

I called their shop and talked with the most defeated customer service rep I have ever encountered. He explained he could credit back the shipping and the insurance but he had no control over what the "comic guys" decide to ship. They did have the other copies but weren't going to sell them for that price. He said they do this all the time never tell anyone what they are doing or say why they did it. I actually felt sorry for him because he said he has to field calls and emails like mine all day long.

 

I know mycomicsshop, all ebay sellers, all amazon sellers, most the guys on atomic avenue, CCL, the regular LCS and myself would never do this. I've tried to give Mile High the benefit of the doubt when they get beat down here but to try and get 80 dollars for a comic that is only now hitting 15 on ebay, to randomly deny orders because you don't like what you sold the item for, and then to send out code word emails complaining that your online business isn't going like it should is deplorable. These kind of horrible business practices just ran me off. Anytime something might go up I can expect them to not ship my order so why waste my time looking at his books. I wonder how they ever sell anything.

 

Just wanted to warn anyone who might consider giving them a chance, don't waste your time.

 

 

 

[Unca Ben]

That is terrible.

It makes me wish you could contact Chuck R. himself and get his response on the matter.

That would be an interesting read. Maybe.

[spidrvacc]

Ridiculous. Once the order is placed it a done deal. While not illegal its still unethical to do. Mycomicshop had ultimate fallout for $7.99 and it stayed there even when on Ebay they were going for $25+ . I order 2 and they sent me 2 . no issues. Has happened a few times and mycomicshop has always come through. This is why I never buy anything from Mile High.Just really bad to do .

 

Would be awesome to see if Chuck knows or do his comic guys just do what they want and he is insulated from the day to day biz.

[Dr. Balls]

to send out code word emails complaining that your online business isn't going like it should is deplorable. These kind of horrible business practices just ran me off. Anytime something might go up I can expect them to not ship my order so why waste my time looking at his books. I wonder how they ever sell anything.

 

I've had intermittent Mile High problems, never anything that burned me financially - but a few that frustrated me to the point of not ordering from them anymore. I'm sure they sell things once or twice to customers - like me - who put up with it and then migrate somewhere else. I like Mile High (bought comics from them when I lived in Denver as a kid) so there's some nostalgia there - but Chuck's bed is what he's made of it. Poor customer experiences will kill his business, and the idea of charging whorehouse prices that come down to realism with coupons is a marketing ploy from, like, 10 years ago. People are savvy to that, and generally turned off on such a blatant attempt to rip people off.

 

Mile High has built up enough momentum over the years to keep them going despite making gigantic, obvious and avoidable mistakes - but eventually the way they do business will erode their customer base to the point of no return, and there will be no way to weather the storms at that point.

[Silver]

Ridiculous. Once the order is placed it a done deal. While not illegal its still unethical to do. Mycomicshop had ultimate fallout for $7.99 and it stayed there even when on Ebay they were going for $25+ . I order 2 and they sent me 2 . no issues. Has happened a few times and mycomicshop has always come through. This is why I never buy anything from Mile High.Just really bad to do .

 

Would be awesome to see if Chuck knows or do his comic guys just do what they want and he is insulated from the day to day biz.

 

I think it is more than just unethical; I think he could make a legal case here. There was an offer and there was an acceptance; that makes a contract. Mile High is in breach of contract, aren't they?

[jaybuck43]

Ridiculous. Once the order is placed it a done deal. While not illegal its still unethical to do. Mycomicshop had ultimate fallout for $7.99 and it stayed there even when on Ebay they were going for $25+ . I order 2 and they sent me 2 . no issues. Has happened a few times and mycomicshop has always come through. This is why I never buy anything from Mile High.Just really bad to do .

 

Would be awesome to see if Chuck knows or do his comic guys just do what they want and he is insulated from the day to day biz.

 

I think it is more than just unethical; I think he could make a legal case here. There was an offer and there was an acceptance; that makes a contract. Mile High is in breach of contract, aren't they?

No. If you want to pay my hourly rate I can also explain why

[Prince Namor]

I'm amazed anyone here still orders from them at all after Chuck R's plea for business due to those inconvenienced by the New York Flood from Hurricane Sandy who were unable to make purchases during the crisis.

 

But... ya know... cool books.

[BEAUMONTS]

I'm amazed anyone here still orders from them at all after Chuck R's plea for business due to those inconvenienced by the New York Flood from Hurricane Sandy who were unable to make purchases during the crisis.

 

But... ya know... cool books.

 

+1 (thumbs u

[october]

My last two orders off of eBay from them were cancelled, and a credit issued as an apology. So I bought another book and tried to use the credit, and received no response. What a joke.

 

I am done with them.

[Logan510]

With their inventory they could be making better money with the website if they did a few things:

 

1) Get some people in there who know how to grade and can do so with some consistency. I've ordered 5 NM copies of the same book and have had them range from 8.5 to 9.8 candidate. Right now it's basically a crapshoot.

 

2) Realistic FMV pricing.

 

 

3) Update the website. it's not the worst I've seen, but it could be a lot better.

[bababooey]

Full Disclosure. Although my post count is very low I have been reading these boards daily since 2007. I sell quite a few comics through Amazon and I dabble a bit in speculation. I have collected and sold comics since 1992. Here's my story...

 

I've always been a huge valiant fan. I've gone very big on many of the new issues and that hasn't gone so great. Sunday night the 8th I was looking at my news feed and saw the Valiant movie news. I got excited and started running through key first appearances in my mind. I started to scoop some up through various websites even though I had a fair size hoard of most already. I also see in my email that Chuck has sent out another of his almost daily emails with a discount code and his observations that his online business is not growing like his stores in the Colorado area. Almost complaining. So I decide to check out his prices.

 

For the most part his prices, even with a 60% off code are way out of line. Remember this is Sunday night before anything had really taken off at all. I notice that Shadowman 8 is 8 dollars before the code still pretty high considering they were 2 to 4 dollars on ebay at the time. I have no idea if it will go up but I pull the trigger on 20 issues to get my total high enough to get over the free shipping threshold and to get 20 from one place. Shadowman 8 was post unity and has a high print run probably 80K or higher so I wasn't expecting a huge increase.

 

I wait on the shipment. I email twice to his "backissue" email address see what is going on with the order and got no reply. The comics never went out of stock on his website although he raised his price each day. First to somewhere in the 20, then 30s, then 50s and as of this morning he has raised the price to 80 dollars. This may be the craziest price for a single comic I have ever seen consider on ebay there are buy it nows from between 8 and 15.

 

The comics arrive yesterday or should I say comic arrives yesterday. They randomly decided to send me only one copy. This ticked me off because I've been caught by comics that got hot and ALWAYS filled ever order. Most recently this happened when I sent another guy 17 copies of five ghosts 1 for 5 dollars each when they were going for 20 on eBay. I look closer at the invoice and on top of that they charged me shipping of 8 dollars And insurance of 3. The insurance amount was for the amount my whole order should of been which of course they didn't ship. They managed to turn my original 20 comic order into a single 4 dollar order into a single comic 15 dollar order.

 

I called their shop and talked with the most defeated customer service rep I have ever encountered. He explained he could credit back the shipping and the insurance but he had no control over what the "comic guys" decide to ship. They did have the other copies but weren't going to sell them for that price. He said they do this all the time never tell anyone what they are doing or say why they did it. I actually felt sorry for him because he said he has to field calls and emails like mine all day long.

 

I know mycomicsshop, all ebay sellers, all amazon sellers, most the guys on atomic avenue, CCL, the regular LCS and myself would never do this. I've tried to give Mile High the benefit of the doubt when they get beat down here but to try and get 80 dollars for a comic that is only now hitting 15 on ebay, to randomly deny orders because you don't like what you sold the item for, and then to send out code word emails complaining that your online business isn't going like it should is deplorable. These kind of horrible business practices just ran me off. Anytime something might go up I can expect them to not ship my order so why waste my time looking at his books. I wonder how they ever sell anything.

 

Just wanted to warn anyone who might consider giving them a chance, don't waste your time.

 

 

Maybe you tipped your hand with your scorched earth approach to specutarding....

Congratulations you did their research for them by ordering 20 copies, not only did he not send you your easy_money_flip_books...he's making more money off each and every copy he didn't ship to you....thanks to you cleaning out all the low priced competition.

Should he have filled your order? Sure.

Do I care about them not doing it?

Nope - this whole "I heard it first, I clicked first, I was in the store at 9 am Wednesday and ______ wouldn't let me clean out his supply" mentality is silly and so is crying about it.

 

 

[bababooey]

[jsilverjanet]

[entalmighty1]

I don't see how that place makes money at all. Everything I've ever looked at from them has been at least 25% more expensive than it should be. They don't even have scans of the books they're selling on ebay, so you just have to take them at their word on condition. No thanks.

[Wilson3d]

I don't buy from them anymore either. I know grading can be subjective but I feel like every time I buy from them I end up buying a book that is at least a full grade under what I paid for.

[theddybear-migration]

I don't think I was crying about not getting the books as much as them charging me the shipping cost and insurance for all 20. What they did wasn't illegal. I would guess they have well over 500 of that issue in stock so I wasn't cleaning him out.

 

If they are so worried about it make a limit on their website don't allow anymore than X of any one issue to any one customer. I deal with local shops all the time that have that rule and have no problem with it and never violate it.

 

I guess what I can't believe is is he's charging 80 dollars for a 15 dollar book now. Where's the line what if I bought 20 at 80 would he again decide I knew something and refuse to sell them to me at that price and raise his price to 160. Deadpool has a movie coming out would he sell me 20 of his New Mutants 98 for 2500.00 (real price just looked it up) or decide that since I wanted those they must be worth more and raise his price to 5000.

 

Anyway just thought I would post my experience and wanted to be honest that I do speculate on books. I get burned about as much as I do well. Like it or not that's a big part of the hobby and has been since Howard the Duck 1.

[Doktor]

This is why I only buy from them if I'm doing so through their ebay store on $1-$3 filler books.

[bababooey]

I don't think I was crying about not getting the books as much as them charging me the shipping cost and insurance for all 20. What they did wasn't illegal. I would guess they have well over 500 of that issue in stock so I wasn't cleaning him out.

 

If they are so worried about it make a limit on their website don't allow anymore than X of any one issue to any one customer. I deal with local shops all the time that have that rule and have no problem with it and never violate it.

 

I guess what I can't believe is is he's charging 80 dollars for a 15 dollar book now. Where's the line what if I bought 20 at 80 would he again decide I knew something and refuse to sell them to me at that price and raise his price to 160. Deadpool has a movie coming out would he sell me 20 of his New Mutants 98 for 2500.00 (real price just looked it up) or decide that since I wanted those they must be worth more and raise his price to 5000.

 

Anyway just thought I would post my experience and wanted to be honest that I do speculate on books. I get burned about as much as I do well. Like it or not that's a big part of the hobby and has been since Howard the Duck 1.

I agree that they shouldn't have overcharged the other stuff...the crying pic was directed at many many people who share similar stories not just at you. I'm offering a different opinion than most express here.

 

Not sure I follow the NM 98 comparison to this book - if he's selling a "$15 dollar book" pulls it down, relists it for $80 and someone buys it - isn't the market logic that it's now an $80 book?

Aren't most here drinking the kool-aid that presumes that those who pay the highest price for something are establishing the "market" price or does that only count when the book is in plastic?

 

Also sorry if the "waaah" pic bugged you it was a general reference to all the whining...I could have went with this one...

 

 

[theddybear-migration]

Nah, I'm good. I just wanted to establish that I really don't have a problem with limits being set on purchases but I think that should be disclosed before the purchase not arbitrarily after the fact.

 

I don't know if anyone has paid 80 for the book. I sure hope not. My point on the NM 98s being if someone tries ordering high numbers of anything is he going to decide the market can bear more and he will cancel orders and double his price. I doubt anyone has paid 2500 for it either but it someone wanted all he had is it now a 5000 book. Where is the line.

 

To your point on market highs, is he attempting to get absolute market high on everything he sells ever to the end of canceling order after order because he might get more from some sucker out there. If someone bought 5 X-force 1s at 2 dollars is he canceling 4 of them because he might get 3 dollars on on upcoming order. If that is his business model he better sell off some pottery and keep buying warehouses.

 

[Ken Aldred]

Doesn't seem too different to Mile High's strategy in the early 90s regarding pre-Unity Valiants.