• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Shill Alert2....

Started by dm226,

469 posts in this topic

shadroch

shadroch

Posted
Posted

Not a fan of the shill.Curt is a major a-hole,unless he ends up on the Yankees.

I'm going with the theory that Dan's shills were a infrequent mistake. Anyone that shilled on a regular basis couldn't possibly be as inept.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Norrin_Radd

Norrin_Radd

Posted
Posted
Okay this thread just went to 893censored-thumb.gifmakepoint.gifmakepoint.gifmakepoint.gifscrewy.gif

 

Oh contraire. It just shows that we have a sense of humor about these things.

 

 

FD = good

 

FD + shilling = bad

 

FD has hopefully learned his lesson (or he'll be less obvious 893scratchchin-thumb.gif)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ogami

Ogami

Posted
Posted

I did read the whole thread and I would like to add this to the debate (and yes, I know I'm this side of the STOP sign and not the other).

 

There has always been and will always be a natural tension between dealers and collectors. There are very few people who can straddle both worlds successfully.

 

Collectors buy collectibles out of a passion for the thing itself. They tend to be impulsive, compulsive, anal retentive types who lose themselves in what they collect and find joy in the owning, hunting, purchasing, and community that surrounds the thing itself. They often pay unreasonable amounts of money to own a particular collectable for any number of reasons, bragging rights not the least of which.

 

Dealers are first and foremost, buisnessmen. At the end of the day, they are capable of seperating emotion and buisness and placing a very real figure on a very real collectable. They are better at feigning disinterest in order to procure collectibles at cheaper prices, and truth be told, they understand the realities of collectibles better than collectors. They KNOW that there will almost always be another one, right around the corner. Collectors may know this intellectually, but emotionally is another story.

 

Dave Sims calls this the economic theory of supply and desire (as opposed to demand). He argues that in collectibles, it's not so much that there's fourteen more out there, but that the collector wants THIS ONE.

 

Ebay feeds on this collector's mentality. I can find fifty Amazing Spider-Man #14's on ebay right now, but can I get one tonight, before my buddy does? Or can I get the one that I trust the seller on, knowing that there will be more movement on this particular book? Dealers know all about the psychology of collecting; they overhear our conversations every time we babble on and on to them about how we "have to have" book x.

 

Shilling, when done right, is about knowing the motive of the buyer and pushing the amounts right up to the point you think he/she will yeild. Of course it's dishonest. Of course it's steaing. Of course it's wrong. And of course FD knew exactly what he was doing.

 

My LCS store owner is a great guy. We are actually becoming friends and I think he is a man of impeachable qualities, but at the end of the day, he's a dealer and I'm a collector. His goal is to make as much money as he can from me, and my goal is to give him as little as possible. There is a natural tension between collectors and dealers and none of us (especially the collectors) should ever forget that.

 

Hi. I'm Nate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Foolkiller

Foolkiller

Posted
Posted

My LCS store owner is a great guy. We are actually becoming friends and I think he is a man of impeachable qualities, but at the end of the day, he's a dealer and I'm a collector. His goal is to make as much money as he can from me, and my goal is to give him as little as possible. There is a natural tension between collectors and dealers and none of us (especially the collectors) should ever forget that.

 

Hmmmm.... I've actually become very good friends with two LCS owners in particular and a couple of show dealers. I view our business transactions as separate from friendship in the case of the show dealers... but with the LCS owners, I get better discounts than most other customers (even their biggest customers) and I have refused it on things like new books. If they have room on things like HCs, TPBs and back issues, I get deep discounts. I've had them make special trips to their warehouse to get things that are really $20 items and then they sell it to me for like $5. There's no tension. I don't mind giving the LCS owners a fair price. I try not to be the nickel and dime guy to show dealers. I feel I'm treated very fairly as well by the ones I frequent, and there's no tension there at all.

 

I understand what you're saying, and it's probably pretty true. But I also know many dealers who haven't treated me with the almighty dollar alone in mind.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ogami

Ogami

Posted
Posted

These have been my expereiences, 21 years as a collector, but by no means universal.

 

I do think the natural tension exists and that dealers and collectors view collectibles in dramatically different ways.

 

And that dealers can profit from collectors in the ways that I mentioned.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ogami

Ogami

Posted
Posted

And in case anybody wants to know who the new guy is, I'm Nate and all my information, phone number, real name and all can be seen on my ME page under the seller i.d. "littlemonkeycomics".

 

I got nothing to hide. (much)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
OldGuy

OldGuy

Posted
Posted
And in case anybody wants to know who the new guy is, I'm Nate and all my information, phone number, real name and all can be seen on my ME page under the seller i.d. "littlemonkeycomics".

 

I got nothing to hide. (much)

 

Welcome to the boards!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Aces

Aces

Posted
Posted
And in case anybody wants to know who the new guy is, I'm Nate and all my information, phone number, real name and all can be seen on my ME page under the seller i.d. "littlemonkeycomics".

 

I got nothing to hide. (much)

 

Yes!

 

Welcome to the Boards!

 

Bad thread to get started out on... smirk.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Red Hook

Red Hook

Posted
Posted
These have been my expereiences, 21 years as a collector, but by no means universal.

 

I do think the natural tension exists and that dealers and collectors view collectibles in dramatically different ways.

 

And that dealers can profit from collectors in the ways that I mentioned.

 

I agree very much with your theory......I've referred to it as a naturally adversarial relationship, or put it in another way, the dealer sees the collector as a necessary evil, and the reverse is true. And I don't hold it against dealers, as long as we understand each other, and there is no dishonesty involved.

 

I said in another thread that the average collector, who thinks he is partaking in a hobby, is at a disadvantage when dealing with the seller who treats it as a business. But that's the way it is.

 

Red

Link to comment
Share on other sites
14 of spades

14 of spades

Posted
Posted
if you can't see the difference between wanting to forgive somebody that a community has a long history with and a person noone knows a single thing about, then i'm afraid no explanation is going to help you

 

confused-smiley-013.gif

 

again...

 

why do we have to forgive the newbie? what did he do wrong?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
Go to topic listing