Robot Man Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 3 hours ago, mrwoogieman said: Offer him more than he asks for on the first box. That'll upset his apple cart! Actually not as funny as it sounds. I did that with a dealer I regularly buy from at a flea market. Sometimes, I would negotiate lower, sometimes, I would pay his price straight up. One time, I gave him 50% more than he was asking for something. From that time on, I was "the man" to him. He will hold stuff back for me and usually let me set the price. Has paid off in spades! mysterio 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 3 hours ago, Raze said: i understand wanting not to be "cherry picked" but the all or nothing is the best way. ask him flat out how much he wants for all of it even the drek then view the whole collection and if he's price is right take it if not counter offer. when i look at a collection I'm very upfront with how i buy and i DONT just buy the keys my offer is for the whole collection. thats rude because now they have nothing but junk to offer to the next person that they call to sell and is now a waste of time for all parties. also id love to hear how people come across collections ethier hear or PM. maybe we can share ideas....if were not in the same state I never "kiss and tell". This kind of information is something I have worked on for close to 40 years. Sorry... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FineCollector Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 I'm setting the over/under on the first short box at $30. Who's in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bird Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 7 minutes ago, Robot Man said: I never "kiss and tell". This kind of information is something I have worked on for close to 40 years. Sorry... Stingy Canucks! I have been amazed at how hard it is unearthing collections. And how easily they walk into the LCS. Even a new LCS near me has been killing it. The problem as I see it is that those collections are not for sale until suddenly they are, and any early incidental contact with the collector will be ignored...until they want to sell. And then they will go to a LCS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 2 minutes ago, Bird said: Stingy Canucks! I have been amazed at how hard it is unearthing collections. And how easily they walk into the LCS. Even a new LCS near me has been killing it. The problem as I see it is that those collections are not for sale until suddenly they are, and any early incidental contact with the collector will be ignored...until they want to sell. And then they will go to a LCS. I know the owner of a comic store who does not sell back issues. When collections come in, he refers them to me and I give him a commision. Raze 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bird Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 2 minutes ago, Robot Man said: I know the owner of a comic store who does not sell back issues. When collections come in, he refers them to me and I give him a commision. yeah, that would be ideal. Good job. I tried to encourage the new (and newly graduated from college) owner of one LCS to call me if anything was too big for him but he hasn't. He passed on a shortbox of Star Wars #1 shortly after that first discussion and I had to work hard to remind him of my offer without showing my, shall we say, disappointment. But good for him as that shop has been open two years or so now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted November 15, 2017 Author Share Posted November 15, 2017 I'm back. Not as many books as I hoped for, but it worked out much better than you folks were thinking. I'll call it a long single, with the possibility of getting into second. Nice house, in a nice neighborhood, nice seller. Easy to work with in person. he showed me one room that had lots of comics, very disorganized but nothing caught my eye. Next room had 30 new BCW short boxes, piled two high. Told me to pick any one and go through it. After about fifteen possible dollar box books, was a decent BA run. Roughly 35 Marvel twenty and twenty five cent books, VFish overall. Couple twelve cent DCs, some offbrand twelve cent comics, Wolverine Mini #3 in real nice shape, dozen thirty five-forty cent FFs and Defenders, couple of early DH Star Wars books, ,bunch of fodder, more fodder, five twelve cent Hulks in VGish, couple of Watchmen and Crisis issues , bunch of NM X-Men pre-200. He wanted $60. I took it, partially because it had a brand new BCW box . I used to use a better box than BCW but those are a fraction of an inch longer and don't fit onto the shelves properly. An ice breaker. Picked another box and pretty much the same, less Defenders and bunch of C.A. Conan's This box he asked $50 and I took it. Then he said to pick any two boxes, sight unseen for $100. I hesitated and he said any four for $150. When I agreed, he said he was going to have to finish another time. I paid $260 for six short boxes. Now I get to really examine them and see if it was worth it. 95% bagged and boarded with maybe third in Mylites or mylar. grebal, nepatkm and Jimbo749 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raze Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 27 minutes ago, Robot Man said: I know the owner of a comic store who does not sell back issues. When collections come in, he refers them to me and I give him a commision. Same here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1950's war comics Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 56 minutes ago, Robot Man said: Actually not as funny as it sounds. I did that with a dealer I regularly buy from at a flea market. Sometimes, I would negotiate lower, sometimes, I would pay his price straight up. One time, I gave him 50% more than he was asking for something. From that time on, I was "the man" to him. He will hold stuff back for me and usually let me set the price. Has paid off in spades! @Robot Man that is brilliant !!....you are savvy ..... and shrewd !!!! FoggyNelson 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFifthHorseman Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 29 minutes ago, shadroch said: ...decent BA run. Roughly 35 Marvel twenty and twenty five cent books, VFish overall. Couple twelve cent DCs, some offbrand twelve cent comics, Wolverine Mini #3 in real nice shape, dozen thirty five-forty cent FFs and Defenders, couple of early DH Star Wars books, ,bunch of fodder, more fodder, five twelve cent Hulks in VGish, couple of Watchmen and Crisis issues , bunch of NM X-Men pre-200. He wanted $60 Not a bad pickup! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumantorch Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 48 minutes ago, shadroch said: I'm back. Not as many books as I hoped for, but it worked out much better than you folks were thinking. I'll call it a long single, with the possibility of getting into second. Nice house, in a nice neighborhood, nice seller. Easy to work with in person. he showed me one room that had lots of comics, very disorganized but nothing caught my eye. Next room had 30 new BCW short boxes, piled two high. Told me to pick any one and go through it. After about fifteen possible dollar box books, was a decent BA run. Roughly 35 Marvel twenty and twenty five cent books, VFish overall. Couple twelve cent DCs, some offbrand twelve cent comics, Wolverine Mini #3 in real nice shape, dozen thirty five-forty cent FFs and Defenders, couple of early DH Star Wars books, ,bunch of fodder, more fodder, five twelve cent Hulks in VGish, couple of Watchmen and Crisis issues , bunch of NM X-Men pre-200. He wanted $60. I took it, partially because it had a brand new BCW box . I used to use a better box than BCW but those are a fraction of an inch longer and don't fit onto the shelves properly. An ice breaker. Picked another box and pretty much the same, less Defenders and bunch of C.A. Conan's This box he asked $50 and I took it. Then he said to pick any two boxes, sight unseen for $100. I hesitated and he said any four for $150. When I agreed, he said he was going to have to finish another time. I paid $260 for six short boxes. Now I get to really examine them and see if it was worth it. 95% bagged and boarded with maybe third in Mylites or mylar. I think the saving grace of this deal is that he was a dealer and has a good idea of what he would pay for this stuff. He might try to get a little more but he's rational about the market. Sounds like you did ok. Let us know what else you find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Pontoon Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 Looking forward to the pix! BlowUpTheMoon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted November 16, 2017 Author Share Posted November 16, 2017 Run of Captain Marvel 3-11, a 6.0 Shazam 28 and another that is about3.0., 35 X-Men from 144-195, wolverine 2,3, Special Marvel Edition 16 in about 6.0. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Cool Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 Sounds fun - sounds like he is playing the old mystery box sales thread on you. No idea what is in the boxes and gets your hopes up with a couple quick peeks and in the end you end up wondering if you would have bought them if you would have known what was in the boxes. Life is a gamble but as always - the house always wins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhutton2 Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 Sounds like the experience was all right in the end and his prices OK for the books. I was expecting an experience that was going to be frustrating and a waste of precious time for you, but the seller seems reasonable from your description of how things went. Warmest Regards, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlowUpTheMoon Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 12 hours ago, Pontoon said: Looking forward to the pix! +1 greggy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted November 16, 2017 Author Share Posted November 16, 2017 (edited) 3 hours ago, 1Cool said: Sounds fun - sounds like he is playing the old mystery box sales thread on you. No idea what is in the boxes and gets your hopes up with a couple quick peeks and in the end you end up wondering if you would have bought them if you would have known what was in the boxes. Life is a gamble but as always - the house always wins. That's pretty ironic ,seeing how I make my living beating casinos out of their ill gotten gains. Edited November 16, 2017 by shadroch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo749 Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 41 minutes ago, shadroch said: That's pretty ironic ,seeing how I make my living beating casinos out of their ill gotten gains. What game has potential for this? Video poker with "perfect play" like Bob Dancer? I actually have a copy of his old video poker training software. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted November 16, 2017 Author Share Posted November 16, 2017 (edited) VP, with near perfect play can get you close to even. Add in cashback and comp club points and you turn the game positive. The real money is in exploiting casinos loyalty clubs. Not too difficult to do, once you learn how clubs work. In some cases, losing $1,000 today will get you $50 in freeplay and a meal each week for a year. Blackjack is exploitable, but VP is your best shot. Lots of double, triple and even ten times points day in Vegas. Lots of over 55 specials as well. Today, I'm eating lunch in a place that gives a free lunch for cycling $20 thru a video poker machine. Nice fried clams, fries and a beer for an expected loss of less than fifty cents. Edited November 16, 2017 by shadroch Jimbo749 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Cool Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 Can you make a living (over $30k in my book) doing that? Sounds like a lot of work with a lot of risks but I guess it does sound fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...