Tales from the Comic Box - Rookie Adventures in Buying/Selling/Cons 5 5

[thehumantorch]

He may not want you to come by his place because he's worried about his collection being stolen.  Don't understand why he wouldn't want to meet you at Tims or in a parking lot.  Perhaps you could put them aside and meet him at the next show?

[AJD]

The one time I let someone come to my place for comics the guy was really weird. I ended up offloading stuff quite cheaply to get him out the door. (Might have been his plan, I guess, but he didn't seem that calculating.) I'd stick with your original plan.

[FineCollector]

I'd never let anyone in my house, even you shady buggers!   The convenience isn't worth the risk that someone's just scouting houses to break into, even in Ottawa/Gatineau.

Public places might not be comfortable for everyone, some people have anxiety issues that they cant control.  If it's hindering a deal, they should just tell you, and not be embarrassed.

[Wall-Crawler]

6 hours ago, thehumantorch said:

He may not want you to come by his place because he's worried about his collection being stolen.  Don't understand why he wouldn't want to meet you at Tims or in a parking lot.  Perhaps you could put them aside and meet him at the next show?

I responded.

I politely said I don't have people I don't know come to my house.  I said if he doesn't want to meet for like 15 min at ANY public space and if he don't want me to swing by his place, I can set them aside for him for the next local show in October and that way he  can see a lot of my other stock.  

I also gave him an out and said if he wasn't interested anymore that was fine too, just to let me know.

[Wall-Crawler]

8 hours ago, Wall-Crawler said:

I responded.

I politely said I don't have people I don't know come to my house.  I said if he doesn't want to meet for like 15 min at ANY public space and if he don't want me to swing by his place, I can set them aside for him for the next local show in October and that way he  can see a lot of my other stock.  

I also gave him an out and said if he wasn't interested anymore that was fine too, just to let me know.

Update: Deal is dead

I forgot one detail...I had been to this guy's house before to look at an action figure collection and he basically wasted my time. Was more of a show and tell session. 

He writes back "I find it strange someone who has been to my home acts weird when I mention dropping by theres (uhmm, you invited me to yours under false pretenses to sell, you are now inviting YOURSELF to mine). I'm a military guy not some random. Anyway. Have a good one, ill spend my money elsewhere".

I basically reply back saying well, if the above is true, so is the reverse in that you won't have me just DELIVER it to your house or in a public space where we can share a coffee or whatever and again it was not personal and sorry he feels this way.  I then tell him if he changes his mind, I'll buy the coffee.

He writes back: "I won't. Later".

 

If anything this just solidifies my "policy" of not having people come to my house.

[revat]

9 minutes ago, Wall-Crawler said:

9 hours ago, Wall-Crawler said:

I responded.

I politely said I don't have people I don't know come to my house.  I said if he doesn't want to meet for like 15 min at ANY public space and if he don't want me to swing by his place, I can set them aside for him for the next local show in October and that way he  can see a lot of my other stock.  

I also gave him an out and said if he wasn't interested anymore that was fine too, just to let me know.

Update: Deal is dead

I forgot one detail...I had been to this guy's house before to look at an action figure collection and he basically wasted my time. Was more of a show and tell session. 

He writes back "I find it strange someone who has been to my home acts weird when I mention dropping by theres (uhmm, you invited me to yours under false pretenses to sell, you are now inviting YOURSELF to mine). I'm a military guy not some random. Anyway. Have a good one, ill spend my money elsewhere".

I basically reply back saying well, if the above is true, so is the reverse in that you won't have me just DELIVER it to your house or in a public space where we can share a coffee or whatever and again it was not personal and sorry he feels this way.  I then tell him if he changes his mind, I'll buy the coffee.

He writes back: "I won't. Later".

 

If anything this just solidifies my "policy" of not having people come to my house.

That is very very strange.  He already has had you over to his house before, so he knows you're unlikely to murder him and wear his skin.  And even less likely to somehow rob him for $50 CDN. Why the hell wouldn't he want a free personal delivery???? Is he just insulted that you won't have him over?

I would choose free personal delivery in a heartbeat if it was someone who had been to my house before and they were offering, as would most reasonable people I think.  The fact that this guy doesn't see things that way makes me not want to let him know where I live.  And who turns down Tim Hortons????? Nobody I would want in my house.

[Wall-Crawler]

27 minutes ago, revat said:

That is very very strange.  He already has had you over to his house before, so he knows you're unlikely to murder him and wear his skin.  And even less likely to somehow rob him for $50 CDN. Why the hell wouldn't he want a free personal delivery???? Is he just insulted that you won't have him over?

I would choose free personal delivery in a heartbeat if it was someone who had been to my house before and they were offering, as would most reasonable people I think.  The fact that this guy doesn't see things that way makes me not want to let him know where I live.  And who turns down Tim Hortons????? Nobody I would want in my house.

I know right???

I'm in a small town which is great as it allows for these easy personal meets but it is also BECAUSE it is a small town that I want to limit people who know exactly where I live and what I may have.

When I do local shows I never answer reporter or potential customer questions like "what is the most valuable book you have" or "what is your collection worth" etc. I always redirect or flat out say "ask a different question".

The other thing is the guy does not know my personal situation, like what if I was caring for someone who was ill? I'm not but the fact is this snowflake can't see past his own sense of "insult" as to the many potential reasons why I essentially don't want a stranger at my house.

[thehumantorch]

19 minutes ago, Wall-Crawler said:

I know right???

I'm in a small town which is great as it allows for these easy personal meets but it is also BECAUSE it is a small town that I want to limit people who know exactly where I live and what I may have.

When I do local shows I never answer reporter or potential customer questions like "what is the most valuable book you have" or "what is your collection worth" etc. I always redirect or flat out say "ask a different question".

The other thing is the guy does not know my personal situation, like what if I was caring for someone who was ill? I'm not but the fact is this snowflake can't see past his own sense of "insult" as to the many potential reasons why I essentially don't want a stranger at my house.

Forget him.  For some reason there's a problem and he's taking it personal.  Stay professional and move on.

[Wall-Crawler]

1 hour ago, thehumantorch said:

Forget him.  For some reason there's a problem and he's taking it personal.  Stay professional and move on.

Oh I have (moved on). Just never had a reaction like that before. On to the next thing...

 

Edited August 29, 2017 by Wall-Crawler

[spreads]

14 hours ago, FineCollector said:

I'd never let anyone in my house, even you shady buggers!   The convenience isn't worth the risk that someone's just scouting houses to break into, even in Ottawa/Gatineau.

Public places might not be comfortable for everyone, some people have anxiety issues that they cant control.  If it's hindering a deal, they should just tell you, and not be embarrassed.

Maybe this guy is banned from Tim Hortons ahaha......before I didn't care about letting strangers into my place it was more of a gut feel about the person I chatted with.  This changed after I let a couple people go through cheap boxes and they took way too damn long going through boxes, eventually you just want them to leave! Lol!

Now that I live with my girlfriend she doesn't want strangers coming into the place, and I also don't want to deal with scheduling kijiji flakes that don't show up - which there are a ton.  Why do you even bother to meet anyone, just tell them to swing by the next show you do?  You can even offer to hold comics.  Then they can view them there if they decide they don't want to buy, if he/she doesn't like those terms then the person is probably mentally unstable to some degree and you couldn't get a deal anyway!

Im sure we all have load of stories of these types of people on online, but things would derail your thread quickly.

[Wall-Crawler]

37 minutes ago, spreads said:

 Why do you even bother to meet anyone, just tell them to swing by the next show you do?  You can even offer to hold comics.  Then they can view them there if they decide they don't want to buy, if he/she doesn't like those terms then the person is probably mentally unstable to some degree and you couldn't get a deal anyway!

Why do I bother to meet anyone? I do like two main local shows a year.  The November show I did last year might not go ahead this year (more to come).  The other two are an hour and a half away, one in June, the other in October. I have guys who don't want to wait that long or they may have wanted something at the show but were strapped for cash at the time, etc.  I accommodate these guys as they regularly show up when I set up.  Also, it is a small town, pretty easy to arrange a meet like 99.99% of the time.

This was the exception.

I did offer to hold the books for the guy until the next local show I did, which will be in October. 

I have tons of funny and shady stories about going to peoples houses and some of the weirdo's along the way.  Just thought this one was a little unique given the guy really, really wanted to come to my house. Which was a "extra" strange, at least to me.

Regardless of his attitude, still dealt with him as professionally as I could.

[spreads]

Ya, if you got the vibe maybe this was all part of the long con and he never wanted to buy anything at all!  I'm personally not overly worried someone will rob me, I've been to a very large dealer's house and was surprised he accepted people into his home given what he has, but maybe he goes by intuitive as well.

I have a rule that I never go anywhere to meet anyone I haven't dealt with before; they come close to me on my terms.  I consider my time more valuable than a sale, so I never risk a kijiji flake unless I can meet someone conducive to my schedule.  I think the most frustrating online experience I had was some crook (with a different name) that would immediately ask if someone that was just posted was still available?  Often he wouldn't respond to follow-up emails, it's possible because he knew I was on to him (the buyer scammer that would say he sent payment for items he never did), but after kijiji changed it to no longer be able to identify email addresses I couldn't rule him out.  I went as far as to contact the company about this person who was trying to scam people, but they just washed their hands with it....

[Wall-Crawler]

Wow. Facebook just reminded me of a "memory" that it was 5 years ago this June that I started this "More Fun Comics" side gig on eBay which later led to my Facebook Page and started down the path of also setting up at local shows.  5 years. Crazy.

While I still have a lot to learn, selling has enabled me to build my own personal collection a lot faster and help out with a few extra things.  Yes, it is a lot of work but still work I enjoy.  It also made me learn a lot faster about many other aspects of the comic dealing biz, from grading to shipping, etc.

Thanks to everyone who has provided me with advice and/or constructive criticism in this thread and via PM and/or purchased from me. I appreciate it and thanks for your ongoing support. Keep the advice coming!

The pic of part of one of the very first collections I bought...I can't find the 2nd pic (or remember my Photobucket password ) that included more of the keys like 1st Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Ghost Rider and other books like Bats 227...

Edited September 4, 2017 by Wall-Crawler
grammar

[Wall-Crawler]

Just over a month to go to my first "video game centric" show is creeping up fast! Here is the site:  http://northerngameexpo.com/

Problem is, I will be travelling a lot for work in the upcoming weeks so it will be fun to get it all ready! So I have started planning and sorting...

@thehumantorch I have decided I will be doing a "mix' of sorts this time .

I have 16 x 4 space to work with so I was thinking several long boxes on the "sides" with an "open" area in the centre of the table where I can lay books flat and display items.  I am just trying to figure out the "ratio" now but this is what I am thinking...

16 ft of space will give me room for roughly 23 long boxes.  I was thinking though of breaking it up so that I have 6 long boxes on the right and left sides (12  total) with the centre being opened up to display books/lay them flat, so about 8 feet to work with there.  I was thinking one row of boxes would be my cheaper $2 stock (or 3 for $5), the centre would comprise of sets and singles, display items and the last row of boxes would be more popular titles like Avengers, Bats, Spidey, X-Men type of thing. I'm also thinking of trying a Zenescope box for the heck of it.

I would also have my small wall book display and a small shelving unit behind me as well and potentially a extra boxes of comics to refill, etc.

[thehumantorch]

Sounds good. 

We like to keep flat on the table books in the center where we can see them to discourage theft.  And generally we don't like to put anything valued at more than about $40.

[Wall-Crawler]

17 hours ago, thehumantorch said:

Sounds good. 

We like to keep flat on the table books in the center where we can see them to discourage theft.  And generally we don't like to put anything valued at more than about $40.

Thanks for info!

I am really interested to see how this one goes given focus is on gaming...Started a little blitz on Facebook to start getting word out.  Fortunately regardless, set up cost is pretty low.  

The last thing I am deciding is whether to spend Saturday night or just drive down on Sunday morning as the show is from 12 -5 and is only an hour and a half away so thinking I might just drive that morning but do I really want the added stress? Likely will just make a day of it on Saturday and do some other stuff and stay overnight.

[revat]

On ‎9‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 11:36 AM, Wall-Crawler said:

Thanks for info!

I am really interested to see how this one goes given focus is on gaming...Started a little blitz on Facebook to start getting word out.  Fortunately regardless, set up cost is pretty low.  

The last thing I am deciding is whether to spend Saturday night or just drive down on Sunday morning as the show is from 12 -5 and is only an hour and a half away so thinking I might just drive that morning but do I really want the added stress? Likely will just make a day of it on Saturday and do some other stuff and stay overnight.

my vote is to drive Saturday morning.  seems like it'd be more stressful to drive Friday night after work.  Doesn't sound like a huge show so you probably don't need more than an hour to set up.  So you leave at 830 or 9am, which means you probably get up around 730am, which isn't really prohibitively early, and you still have plenty of time for gas/food along the way.  The only downside conceivably I see would be not checking into your hotel before the show, but I think typically that's not an issue unless u have special circumstances.

[thehumantorch]

5 hours ago, revat said:

On 9/10/2017 at 0:36 PM, Wall-Crawler said:

Thanks for info!

I am really interested to see how this one goes given focus is on gaming...Started a little blitz on Facebook to start getting word out.  Fortunately regardless, set up cost is pretty low.  

The last thing I am deciding is whether to spend Saturday night or just drive down on Sunday morning as the show is from 12 -5 and is only an hour and a half away so thinking I might just drive that morning but do I really want the added stress? Likely will just make a day of it on Saturday and do some other stuff and stay overnight.

my vote is to drive Saturday morning.  seems like it'd be more stressful to drive Friday night after work.  Doesn't sound like a huge show so you probably don't need more than an hour to set up.  So you leave at 830 or 9am, which means you probably get up around 730am, which isn't really prohibitively early, and you still have plenty of time for gas/food along the way.  The only downside conceivably I see would be not checking into your hotel before the show, but I think typically that's not an issue unless u have special circumstances.

It's a one day Sunday show so I don't think he's thinking about driving Friday night after work.  I would suggest driving down Sunday morning, it's not that far and the show doesn't open early.  Keeping expenses down applies directly to the bottom line.

We just got back from a one day Sunday show.  Set up began at 7 a.m. Sunday.  It's a 3 hour drive away.  I hated to pay for a hotel but hitting at the road at 3:30 a.m. Sunday wasn't attractive and the drive home in the dark after such a long day would be tough.

[revat]

11 minutes ago, thehumantorch said:

It's a one day Sunday show so I don't think he's thinking about driving Friday night after work.  I would suggest driving down Sunday morning, it's not that far and the show doesn't open early.  Keeping expenses down applies directly to the bottom line.

We just got back from a one day Sunday show.  Set up began at 7 a.m. Sunday.  It's a 3 hour drive away.  I hated to pay for a hotel but hitting at the road at 3:30 a.m. Sunday wasn't attractive and the drive home in the dark after such a long day would be tough.

Yes then Sunday then, got my days wrong. I'd make it a one day trip, trying to eat breakfast and dinner at home (saves money and more family time)

[thehumantorch]

1 minute ago, revat said:

Yes then Sunday then, got my days wrong. I'd make it a one day trip, trying to eat breakfast and dinner at home (saves money and more family time)

Absolutely.  A seller should figure out what the added expense will be, pull out an equivalent value of easy selling books, and imagine burning them.