General discussion thread - keep the other threads clean 29 29

[WilliamG.Staggers]

Hey guys, Im new to the boards and I thought I'd come here for some advice. Im considering purchasing a CGC 9.9 Itchy and Scratchy comics #1 but before I send an offer, what do you guys think is a fair price for this book from 1993. CGC 9.8's usually go for around $40-$50.

[KPR Comics]

 

 

Exactly. But for me,

Overpriced book + overpriced shipping + tacking on 3% (which, frankly is a Seller's cost in my view) = my perception that they are firm in their price and most likely no purchase from me.

[Turtle]

Hey guys, Im new to the boards and I thought I'd come here for some advice. Im considering purchasing a CGC 9.9 Itchy and Scratchy comics #1 but before I send an offer, what do you guys think is a fair price for this book from 1993. CGC 9.8's usually go for around $40-$50.

 

There's a limited market for this as not many people collect slabbed Simpsons books, so nailing down a "market price" would be tough.

 

I wouldn't buy the book as an investment...buy it because you want to own it. Figure out how much you would be happy to pay and offer that. Maybe the seller will go for it maybe they won't. Either way, you won't have any regrets.

 

 

[Dick Pontoon]

Now that a package can be shipped First Class with a weight up to 16 oz instead of 13 oz with the new postal rates, shipping comics via Media Mail makes less sense than ever.

 

As long as it's not 17 oz or above.

 

Right on, Jeffbro!

[Scturo]

Media mail still not ok per USPS for comics.

 

 

Media Mail is still not approved for any literature with advertisements

 

While this is true, it is not enforced universally across all post offices. Some don't care, (they never ask if what you're sending is comics) some do.

 

Use Media Mail at your own risk.

 

And be prepared if you do to screw the buyer over when the post office says here is a new bill that you need to pay.

 

If you state up front that the buyer is responsible for shipping, then you don't have to worry about it. They decide how it gets shipped, and whether they want to risk sending it media mail.

[WilliamG.Staggers]

I would be buying it in order to keep for my long term collection. I agree that there aren't many slabbed bongo collectors out there which has always confused me because of the popularity of the simpsons in general. Thanks for the advice!

[RockMyAmadeus]

I have a seller question. I have some comics I want to sell and have tried locally without any takers. So now I will have to sell them online but with Regional Priority not available, I am unclear how to ship them now. I see a lot of sellers on ebay are still using Media Mail. Is that viable for comics again?

 

I started poking around at UPS but that is very expensive. These are cheap moderns that no one wants.

 

Media mail still not ok per USPS for comics. (I hope this doesnt cause an RMA rant). It looks like they are trying to get regional back as an option online.

 

Not correct. If it's not in the DMM, it's not regulatory.

 

Ranty enough for you?

 

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

I have a seller question. I have some comics I want to sell and have tried locally without any takers. So now I will have to sell them online but with Regional Priority not available, I am unclear how to ship them now. I see a lot of sellers on ebay are still using Media Mail. Is that viable for comics again?

 

I started poking around at UPS but that is very expensive. These are cheap moderns that no one wants.

 

Regional Rate is available through ebay

 

Media Mail is still not approved for any literature with advertisements

 

That's correct.

 

Which is why it's ok to use Media Mail for most comics.

 

"Ads" that are no longer in effect aren't ads. They are reference material.

 

Try as you might, no one is buying a set of 143 toy soldiers for $1.09 from the company that sold them.

[jsilverjanet]

I have a seller question. I have some comics I want to sell and have tried locally without any takers. So now I will have to sell them online but with Regional Priority not available, I am unclear how to ship them now. I see a lot of sellers on ebay are still using Media Mail. Is that viable for comics again?

 

I started poking around at UPS but that is very expensive. These are cheap moderns that no one wants.

 

Regional Rate is available through ebay

 

Media Mail is still not approved for any literature with advertisements

 

That's correct.

 

Which is why it's ok to use Media Mail for most comics.

 

"Ads" that are no longer in effect aren't ads. They are reference material.

 

Try as you might, no one is buying a set of 143 toy soldiers for $1.09 from the company that sold them.

 

that's how I always looked at it.

[RockMyAmadeus]

I have a seller question. I have some comics I want to sell and have tried locally without any takers. So now I will have to sell them online but with Regional Priority not available, I am unclear how to ship them now. I see a lot of sellers on ebay are still using Media Mail. Is that viable for comics again?

 

I started poking around at UPS but that is very expensive. These are cheap moderns that no one wants.

 

Regional Rate is available through ebay

 

Media Mail is still not approved for any literature with advertisements

 

That's correct.

 

Which is why it's ok to use Media Mail for most comics.

 

"Ads" that are no longer in effect aren't ads. They are reference material.

 

Try as you might, no one is buying a set of 143 toy soldiers for $1.09 from the company that sold them.

 

that's how I always looked at it.

 

Frankly, I don't understand all the pushback about it. Bureaucratic semantics are constantly used to hurt people...why can't it be used to help them?

 

It's a solid argument, and precisely the kind that bureaucrats use all the time to deny people benefit. An ad is an advertisement...that is, it is announcing something, either an event, or something for sale, or what have you. If that something is past, and no longer in effect, the ad is no longer an ad. At that point, it becomes reference material, even if it's advertising a product that can still be purchased.

 

After all...why doesn't Coke just recycle the same ads from years past? It would save them a ton of money. And, some companies do that...the M&Ms "bell ringers" holiday TV ad, for example, which they've used for 20+ years. But for an ad that is no longer used AS an ad by the company announcing the product, it's no longer an ad, and thus, not bound by the restrictions of Media Mail.

 

And that's true, no matter what some clerk at the window, or Postmaster, or even a USPS website "notice" says. If it's not in the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM), it carries zero regulatory weight.

 

The spirit of the Media Mail restriction was 1. to ensure a cheap method of shipping educational materials (and comics are educational materials, are they not..?), while at the same time 2. keeping publishers from sending out their new, advertisement paid-for periodicals using this cheaper service.

 

Since USED comics fulfill both of those, they satisfy the requirements and restrictions and can be shipped Media Mail. Granted, new-ish comics with still valid ads create a bit of a grey zone, but we're only talking about comics published in the last 6 months or so. The vast majority of comics, of course, were published more than 6 months or so ago.

 

If the USPS wants to change the DMM, they're certainly free to do so...but until such time, there's a perfectly legitimate loophole that is available to shippers of collectible, used (not NEW) comic books.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Hey, look....guess I had a "rant" in me after all.

 

[jaybuck43]

RMA:

Here is an old ad for Milky Way bars from 1948.

The image is 68 years old. I can still go out and purchase Milky Way bars.

 

Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) 207.4.12.1, provides that the term "advertising" includes all material for the publication of which a valuable consideration is paid, accepted, or promised, that calls attention to something for the purpose of getting people to buy it, sell it, seek it, or support it.

 

Note how no time limit is given. Not every comic book ad is "expired" so to speak. Yes the x-ray specs are no longer valid, and the little army men because those places went out of business, but there are also dozens of other ads for things like Doc Martins, Baby Ruth bars, Milky Way's, Converse shoes, Sears, etc that are all still advertisements. They may not be the companies current marketing campaign, but per the DMM it is still advertising because its purpose is to get people to buy it and valuable consideration was paid to put it there.

[Bio-Rupp]

But a 68 year old Milky Way is going to really suck.

 

[Iceman399]

But a 68 year old Milky Way is going to really suck.

 

 

I thought they were like scotch

[comix4fun]

RMA:

Here is an old ad for Milky Way bars from 1948.

The image is 68 years old. I can still go out and purchase Milky Way bars.

 

 

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

RMA:

Here is an old ad for Milky Way bars from 1948.

The image is 68 years old. I can still go out and purchase Milky Way bars.

 

And here's what I wrote above, in answer to that very point:

 

But for an ad that is no longer used AS an ad by the company announcing the product, it's no longer an ad, and thus, not bound by the restrictions of Media Mail.

 

Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) 207.4.12.1, provides that the term "advertising" includes all material for the publication of which a valuable consideration is paid, accepted, or promised, that calls attention to something for the purpose of getting people to buy it, sell it, seek it, or support it.

 

Note how no time limit is given. Not every comic book ad is "expired" so to speak. Yes the x-ray specs are no longer valid, and the little army men because those places went out of business, but there are also dozens of other ads for things like Doc Martins, Baby Ruth bars, Milky Way's, Converse shoes, Sears, etc that are all still advertisements. They may not be the companies current marketing campaign, but per the DMM it is still advertising because its purpose is to get people to buy it and valuable consideration was paid to put it there.

 

It doesn't matter that no time limit is given. It doesn't need to, because it's not up to the DMM to determine a time limit for ads. The ads themselves do that.

 

No, not every comic book ad is "expired"...only the ones that have expired, which includes all of them older than, say, 6 months or so.

 

It does not matter if the product being advertised is still available. Mars, Inc., does NOT use that ad to advertise its products anymore, and thus, that ad is expired and no longer an ad. It's purpose WAS at ONE POINT in time to get people to buy the product being announced, but that is no longer the case for that particular former ad.

 

And that gets you out of the morass of trying to figure out which ad is "still an ad", and which is not, in determining which product is "still on the market." It doesn't matter. If the ad itself is no longer in current use, then it's no longer an ad.

 

But even if it DID matter, it still wouldn't hold up, because you cannot buy the 68 year old version of a Milky Way bar, which has undergone significant packaging changes since then, and, no doubt, compositional (read: recipe) changes, as well.

 

I mean, if you want to parse, let's parse all the way down to the bottom.

[RockMyAmadeus]

In other words...that valuable consideration was paid to be in effect for a certain period of time: that is, until the next ad comes out.

 

They were neither designed, nor intended, to be ads in perpetuity, and you'd have a hard time convincing anyone that that Milky Way ad from 1948 is intended to get people to go out and buy Milky Way bars in 2016.

[revat]

In other words...that valuable consideration was paid to be in effect for a certain period of time: that is, until the next ad comes out.

 

They were neither designed, nor intended, to be ads in perpetuity, and you'd have a hard time convincing anyone that that Milky Way ad from 1948 is intended to get people to go out and buy Milky Way bars in 2016.

 

too late, I just bought a new one after seeing the old ad

[comicdonna]

I'm gonna buy one tomorrow.

[comicdonna]

You beat me by 0 seconds.