Have you ever found something wrongly priced

[Eternal]

Have you ever been going through a back bin and found a gem in there that had no prices on it, face price it was selling for, or a comic that was selling for way more than it was priced at on the book. Just wondering what it was and if you told the dealer or bought it and hoped he did not notice.

[JLA_ALL_THE_WAY]

I was going to throw this in the "Mile High can't grade" thread, but it seems more appropo here.

 

Bach in '88 I flew from Cali to Denver to check out someone's Silver Green Lantern collection. Total bust there. But I stopped off at a Mile High shop & looked around. They had some really nice stuff at not-so-really-nice prices. Everything seemed to be priced at the NM grade regardless of actual condition.

 

Then I came across a Justice League of America #21. You know, the first JSA meeting? The book was definitely NM. The price- $21, which was a price for Fine back then (I remember because I thought to myself "I just got Blackjack!"). NM was $58. Not that big of a deal at the time, but looking at how they grade/price now, I see this as a terrific buy!!

 

Even better when you consider the book is now a CGC 9.2 OW-WH.

Thanx, Chuck.

 

Rick

[Bugaboo-migration]

So you took advantage of some employees mistake? Man.....Chuck is always getting the shaft.

[Rickdogg]

I rarely go bargain hunting since ebay usually has everything I want I found a Hulk #330 in NM condition for 50 cents a year ago

[ninanina]

Late 80's/early 90's when all the McFarlane Amazing Spidermans were hot and getting big bucks, I found a run on early 300's for $2.00 or $3.00 a piece in NM. Still have them. I think at the time everyone else was selling them for $12 - $15 ea. When I brought them to the counter to pay for them, the owner gave me the old "Oh these are a lot more money now, I can't sell them for that." Because I insisted he honor his price, I got them. I was prepared to walk away if he didn't honor the price on the bags. Apparently, he priced them just after they became back issues, and never changed the prices once they became "hot".

[Rob]

I posted on here before about how I found a VG ASM 23 for 6¢. It was in a bin at a used bookstore, in which all comics were 1/2 cover price. They sold it to me too. BV $80, I got $40 on eBay.

 

We have a huge comic chain in Phoenix called Atomic Comics. They advertise in Wizard sometimes. They have mainly newer comics, and alot of 80's-90's back issues. At their front counters, they have some silver age. No keys, just low to mid grade common books. They are ridiculously priced. I was there last week, and was checking out their VG to F late-60's books (Batman 199, X-Men 68, etc.) I didn't have my Overstreet with me, but their prices just seemed too high. $60-$100 for each of them. I told the kid behind the counter that they were priced way too high. He said, "The guy who prices our older stuff doesn't use Overstreet. Their prices are based more on what we paid for them."

 

WHAAAAAT??? So if you pay $60 for a VG Batman 199, you're gonna sell it for $80? I was so frustrated, but had no one to vent to, until now. Don't use Overstreet? I love these collectors/dealers who have to remind us of the obvious: "Overstreet is just a guide. The values are merely what someone will pay." Well, of course it is. But Overstreet is the industry standard of what most people are willing to pay!!!

[blowout]

Picked up a copy of ASM #46 (1st shocker) VF for $7 from a comic shop a year or so ago. Seemed like a fair price to me.

[notch_top]

I have a great one...

 

Last year at San Diego the All Star 3 CGC 9.6 when asked how much it was just for kicks.

 

$16,500

 

 

Huh?

 

The dealer did not sticker price each book, instead quoted prices from an inventory.

 

Missed a zero at $165,000

 

I routinely see this kind of thing happen at cons, as most dealers are not very organized and there is generally alot of traffic at the big shows.

 

Generally it is not a $150k mistake however...

 

 

 

 

[Rob]

That would have been one to pick up. If you had $16,500.

[JLA_ALL_THE_WAY]

So you took advantage of some employees mistake? Man.....Chuck is always getting the shaft.

 

Well, If I didn't believe in God, then I'd say Karma was coming back to bite him in the behind.

 

Chomp...Chomp

 

Hey Dogg, got a graemlin impersonating Pac-Man?

 

Rick

[Rickdogg]

[aardvark88]

Was at a fleamarket selling comics about 8 yrs ago. A collector walks in with about 20 silver DCs. I asked him how much he wanted for raw vg to mid-grade non-key Atom & Brave Bold 28. He proceeds to pull out his Wizard & asks for the nm price. I told him I couldn't afford his hi-prices. Asked him to regrade & reprice the B&B 28. After diligently consulting the mighty Wizard, he quotes me a price that sounded low, so I paid him.

When I got home, I pulled out my Ostreet. Seems like he quoted me the price for a vg JLA 28. Sold it a few months later to Jason Ewert who flipped it at Chicago con.

[aardvark88]

Bought a DD 168 sticker priced $2 at a fleamarket. May have been a pricing gun typo as it was worth $20 at the time.

[MikeS]

I was in a comic store back in the early 90s that had a big box of mostly newer stuff all at 1/2 cover price. Inside of the box was a World's Finest 44 (or thereabouts) - a strong VG condition. I picked it up and took it to the counter and asked how much it was. The guy at the counter (obviously not the owner - just a teenager behind the counter) didn't want to sell it to me for so cheap. He said that they were all a minimum of a quarter - not that it was posted that. I tried to sound a little disappointed and was like "well, okay, guess I'll pay the 25 cents".

 

[JLA_ALL_THE_WAY]

All right Dogg!!

 

Totally tubularly wicked awesome graemlin!!!

 

Now all we need is a sound byte to go with it!

(Get it? Sound BYTE)

 

Rick

[ArAich]

[14 of spades]

not a comic story - but i heard about this when i used to collect baseball cards.

 

some 12 year old kid walked into a card store. saw a nolan ryan rookie card with sticker price 1200. he asked the person behind the counter (a newbie hire, and not a collector), "so it's 12 bucks?". the guy said - "i guess". the kid paid 12 bucks and left with the nolan ryan rookie. (the sticker was actually $1200)

 

shop owner later found out - and wanted to go after the kid. called the cops on the grounds of theft etc. eventually, the shop owner and kid worked out a compromise. they auctioned the card off and gave the funds to charity.

[joe_collector]

That is the most bizarre story I have ever heard; especially as the cops would never get involved (the store sold the card). and the kid's a minor to boot. Any cop I know would hear that story and then probably take the store owner behind for a good beating, just for wasting their time.

 

Gotta be some sort of urban myth that's gone awry from too many tellings.

[Crowzilla]

Late 80's/early 90's when all the McFarlane Amazing Spidermans were hot and getting big bucks, I found a run on early 300's for $2.00 or $3.00 a piece in NM. Still have them. I think at the time everyone else was selling them for $12 - $15 ea

 

At my old store, I would get a lot of customers who would tell me stories like that.

We had a policy of never repricing anything once we stickered it in the store, and that was for at least two good reasons:

 

1) If I couldn't sell it at the old price, what makes me think I can sell it for more just because Wizard says so? Plus, we still have paid the same amount for it, so I can't justify it that way.

 

2) People will always remember the store where they found the fantastic bargains (as well as the ones who ripped them off, of course), and are much more likely to come back and do more hunting and be good regular customers.

 

 

[Crowzilla]

No, that Nolan Ryan story is a true one.

It actually made the AP wire reports and everything

at the time. The owner was trying to make a theft

by deception case, I believe.

 

What I found hard to believe was that, (if I remember correctly)

the kids parents were actually encouraging this kind of behavior.

Something along the lines of - they were glad he got it for that,

serves the shop owner right, and you have to be on the

lookout for good deals, etc.

I know if my kid came home and told me that, we'd march right

back to the store and give the card back (any yes, we'd keep the

GL #76 we bought at a garage sale for $2)