My Favourite Story from C2E2 0

[Guardian Comics]

       Walking down the aisles and I see a guy with a bunch of keys and most of them weren't priced stupidly but one stuck out to me.  Hulk #181 CGC 7.5 priced at $4,200.  We strike up a conversation and I mention that I think the #181 is priced wrong, and someone probably inverted the $4,200 when it should have been $2,400.  He says oh yeah you are right, I think that was my partner.  He grabs the post it note, and crumples it up.  Come walking by an hour later, and there is a new Post it Note with a new $4,200 price tag...it was awesome.

Jim

[CKinTO]

Haha - when there are 7.5's sitting on the Bay with $2,400 BINs untouched, I don't understand what kind of customer they're hoping to attract with THAT level of overpricing... Who would buy a book of this level without looking at comps / GPA?

[1Cool]

I think we have discussed before the intentional high pricing of hot key books at Cons to attract the casual buyer who may never buy the book but will ogle the keys and buy something else.  The seller would of course love to sell the key books but to part with the eye candy they want a premium price.   

[seanfingh]

One year at Gem City there was a guy with a small set up who had an 8.0 WBN 32.  My recollection is that GPA was around $200-225.  The guy had $500 on it.  I started asking him about it and he gave me a big sales pitch about how it was really poised to explode, and I agreed with him and told him I really wanted it.  It was a white pager and may have had upgrade potential. I think I went to $275 and he wasn't even close to even thinking about it, let alone pulling the trigger.  It seemed like he really, really didn't want to sell it but had it priced in case insane money came along.  That was probably 2011 or 2012. I just checked GPA and he would be $250 light in this market.   

[mattn792]

1 hour ago, Guardian Comics said:

       Walking down the aisles and I see a guy with a bunch of keys and most of them weren't priced stupidly but one stuck out to me.  Hulk #181 CGC 7.5 priced at $4,200.  We strike up a conversation and I mention that I think the #181 is priced wrong, and someone probably inverted the $4,200 when it should have been $2,400.  He says oh yeah you are right, I think that was my partner.  He grabs the post it note, and crumples it up.  Come walking by an hour later, and there is a new Post it Note with a new $4,200 price tag...it was awesome.

Jim

Dude should have really gone for it and put up $5200 on his new price tag. 

C2E2 was awesome this year, can't wait to be let down by WW Chicago again!

[blazingbob]

1 hour ago, 1Cool said:

I think we have discussed before the intentional high pricing of hot key books at Cons to attract the casual buyer who may never buy the book but will ogle the keys and buy something else.  The seller would of course love to sell the key books but to part with the eye candy they want a premium price.   

[Ant-Man]

This year, I overheard a woman trying to buy a single $1 book with a credit card. The seller would/could not (don't remember), but she was quick to note that she didn't have any cash. I suppose you could get away with not having cash at a convention, but not if your buying $1 items, one at a time.

[Iceman399]

2 hours ago, Guardian Comics said:

       Walking down the aisles and I see a guy with a bunch of keys and most of them weren't priced stupidly but one stuck out to me.  Hulk #181 CGC 7.5 priced at $4,200.  We strike up a conversation and I mention that I think the #181 is priced wrong, and someone probably inverted the $4,200 when it should have been $2,400.  He says oh yeah you are right, I think that was my partner.  He grabs the post it note, and crumples it up.  Come walking by an hour later, and there is a new Post it Note with a new $4,200 price tag...it was awesome.

Jim

I thought we agreed the guy selling a hulk 181 sealed in the inner well and no case was the winner.

[Bronty]

30 minutes ago, blazingbob said:

Yeah.   Its just such a bad idea wouldn't you agree Bob?   Unrealistic pricing just turns people off.   I can't see walking up to a guy's table, asking about a book, having the price come back double what I am expecting, and hanging around the table long, let alone buying anything

[blazingbob]

11 minutes ago, Bronty said:

Yeah.   Its just such a bad idea wouldn't you agree Bob?   Unrealistic pricing just turns people off.   I can't see walking up to a guy's table, asking about a book, having the price come back double what I am expecting, and hanging around the table long, let alone buying anything

My response was more based on this "The Seller would of course love to sell the key books but to part with the eye candy they want a premium price".  

If I wanted to bring books to shows for "showings" I would basically setup as a museum and charge admission.  I would probably make more money at a show if I just charged customers that are just curious a fee for taking pictures of the book.

I'm there to sell books,  unfortunately as I've said before I don't know what each person's idea of "unrealistic" is.  Could be I'm priced over OSPG.  Could be I'm way over GPA.  Could be I don't use 90-120 day GPA pricing.  Unless buyers and sellers communicate it is not that easy to come up with a person's expectations.  

I'll use an example of what people might consider unrealistic.

If I put a price of $4250 on a House of Secrets #92 9.0 with offwhite/white pages or better and nice registeration am I unrealistic?

Last sale was $3750.

Before you reply I was asked for this book 5-10 times the FIRST day.

 

Edited April 13, 2018 by blazingbob

[Bronty]

4 minutes ago, blazingbob said:

My response was more based on this "The Seller would of course love to sell the key books but to part with the eye candy they want a premium price".  

If I wanted to bring books to shows for "showings" I would basically setup as a museum and charge admission.  I would probably make more money at a show if I just charged customers that are just curious a fee for taking pictures of the book.

I'm there to sell books,  unfortunately as I've said before I don't know what each person's idea of "unrealistic" is.  Could be I'm priced over OSPG.  Could be I'm way over GPA.  Could be I don't use 90-120 day GPA pricing.  Unless buyers and sellers communicate it is not that easy to come up with a person's expectations.  

I'll use an example of what people might consider unrealistic.

If I put a price of $4250 on a House of Secrets #92 9.0 with offwhite/white pages or better and nice registeration am I unrealistic?

Last sale was $3750.

Before you reply I was asked for this book 5-10 times the FIRST day.

 

 

A premium is one thing, I believe you pay a bit of convenience tax at a show.    Meaning that no, I don't think your 4250 example is unrealistic or even unexpected.     However, there are also times when dealers price things at 3x FMV (not speaking about you, just making a general observation) and as a buyer it just turns me off of the whole table.

[RockMyAmadeus]

3 hours ago, Guardian Comics said:

       Walking down the aisles and I see a guy with a bunch of keys and most of them weren't priced stupidly but one stuck out to me.  Hulk #181 CGC 7.5 priced at $4,200.  We strike up a conversation and I mention that I think the #181 is priced wrong, and someone probably inverted the $4,200 when it should have been $2,400.  He says oh yeah you are right, I think that was my partner.  He grabs the post it note, and crumples it up.  Come walking by an hour later, and there is a new Post it Note with a new $4,200 price tag...it was awesome.

Jim

My favorite story was about the cars that got towed away, and the one guy who was smart enough not to park in a no-parking zone. Oh, and how to pronounce Pho.

 

[chrisco37]

10 minutes ago, Bronty said:

 

A premium is one thing, I believe you pay a bit of convenience tax at a show.    Meaning that no, I don't think your 4250 example is unrealistic or even unexpected.     However, there are also times when dealers price things at 3x FMV (not speaking about you, just making a general observation) and as a buyer it just turns me off of the whole table.

Right.  A $500 higher sticker price on a book that is already expensive, and on fire, isn’t crazy.  How else do books rise in value other than people paying more than the last sale?   And there is probably some wiggle room built in. 

It’s a bit different than pricing a book at $7500 when the last sale was $3750. 

 

 

[blazingbob]

Well to the GPA less 10% retail customer devotee $4250 is unrealistic.  

[chrisco37]

Sure, but you’re always going to have those types.  But, you’re also going to have the customers that realize that this particular book is super hot.  They may not want to pay the $4250 (when last sale was 3750), but they would be ok with meeting in the middle at 4.  

[Robot Man]

1 hour ago, blazingbob said:

My response was more based on this "The Seller would of course love to sell the key books but to part with the eye candy they want a premium price".  

If I wanted to bring books to shows for "showings" I would basically setup as a museum and charge admission.  I would probably make more money at a show if I just charged customers that are just curious a fee for taking pictures of the book.

I'm there to sell books,  unfortunately as I've said before I don't know what each person's idea of "unrealistic" is.  Could be I'm priced over OSPG.  Could be I'm way over GPA.  Could be I don't use 90-120 day GPA pricing.  Unless buyers and sellers communicate it is not that easy to come up with a person's expectations.  

I'll use an example of what people might consider unrealistic.

If I put a price of $4250 on a House of Secrets #92 9.0 with offwhite/white pages or better and nice registeration am I unrealistic?

Last sale was $3750.

Before you reply I was asked for this book 5-10 times the FIRST day.

 

Wow, really? I really gotta look at my SA and BA swill once in a while... To say I'm out of touch would be an understatement.

Now consider Bob's point of view. Super hot book in high grade with a slightly higher price on it? Doesn't sound totally crazy to me. Besides, he knows some low baller is going to point it out to him and kick him down on a key. Besides, it's his book, if you don't like it move on down the line or just go to the flea market like I do...

[batman_fan]

My personal take on buying at cons is if someone has a book I really want and I feel comfortable with the price then I buy it.  I don't look at guide or GPA.  If someone has a book I really want and I don't feel comfortable with the price I ask if there is any room on the price.  If we get to a price I feel comfortable with I buy it.  If they have a book I am mildly interested in but don't like the price I move on.

[Robot Man]

3 minutes ago, batman_fan said:

My personal take on buying at cons is if someone has a book I really want and I feel comfortable with the price then I buy it.  I don't look at guide or GPA.  If someone has a book I really want and I don't feel comfortable with the price I ask if there is any room on the price.  If we get to a price I feel comfortable with I buy it.  If they have a book I am mildly interested in but don't like the price I move on.

Exactly, me too. If it's worth what I want to pay cool, if not, there is always something else pretty to spend my money on.

[adamstrange]

2 hours ago, blazingbob said:

If I wanted to bring books to shows for "showings" I would basically setup as a museum art dealer.

FTFY

[Red84]

My view is people can ask whatever they want for a book. What's especially weak to me is that when confronted about the price the guy made up an excuse and claimed it was an error, rather than just standing behind his decision, only to put the same price back on the book later. That's the embarrassing part.