I Feel Bad For Shop Owners 0

[F For Fake]

I buy my trades and HC's at Instocktrades or Tales of Wonder, because the prices usually beat Amazon and they're well packed. But I still throw my LCS a lot of business in the form of new comics, back issues, and supplies. I think there's enough money in the hobby to go around. 

[kav]

1 hour ago, justafan said:

I respectfully disagree for likely the very reasons you hate Ebay:

1. convenience fee of having it in stock at a store vs ebay online: I still have to wait at least 2-3 shipping days to receive my items.  No matter how fast their shipping might be, I still can't enjoy it right now vs at a shop where I can enjoy it right there (after paying of course unless you're one of those people that start eating the snacks you intend on purchasing while in the checkout line.)

2. Certainty fee of condition in store vs ebay: Yes and No.  This can also apply to graded items as well.  Yes, if you buy a graded book on ebay you can be certain that the grade represented on the label is what is assigned to that particular slab and possibly the book on the particular day it was graded.  But No, you cannot be certain of the actual condition of the book in the slab, the slab or holder itself, the hidden defects that don't/won't always show up on scans/photos (especially if intentionally hidden/photoshopped).  I've received many graded books with defects that were only visible with the slab in hand such as: faint stains, popped staples, spine wear and fingerbends that breaks color (yes, even on a 9.8's with no grader notes), cracks on the CGC case, 1-2 posts broken, label swapped, and of course hidden SCS damage.

2b. The other side of this is that when you buy in a store even after inspecting for condition satisfaction YOU can at least try to control the preservation of the condition you bought it in from the store to your house.  With ebay it's a roll of the dice with the shipping service and seller packing.  I've gone through so many ebay purchases where I've asked all the right questions, had the seller send multiple photos, verified the condition of the item and paid extra for higher shipping only to have the comics ruined so often in transit that I seriously considered not buying anything on ebay to prevent further reduction of the population of HG books.

3. Accuracy fee of item in store vs ebay: 1st print, newsstand, direct, 1st edition, with Tattooz, coupon intact, white pages, 1st generation, 2nd generation, good knockoff vs bad knockoff.  Sorry but unless the item is sealed in a black mystery box in the store, you will still guarantee the accuracy of the item in store far better than you can only relying on the word of the seller that the item and photos listed is what you will actually get from ebay.  I've received direct editions when the seller listed a newsstand copy thinking they were the same, or 3rd printing when listed as 1st and using a stock photo, or the wrong item entirely.  Sure ebay allows for hassle free returns (unless the seller is a real piece of work), but now I'm inconvenienced by having to go through a return process that could take up to 5 days to resolve and repack and ship the item back to the seller costing me time and money.

No, when it comes to buying an item in store vs online where condition, accuracy, and instant gratification are important I find I'm willing to pay a bit more in store for the convenience, certainty, and accuracy of what I'm getting.  For all else, nothing beats online shopping.

 

Dont forget the stories of guy buys book at store, discovers restoration, tries to return it and store says too bad.  On ebay return would be no problem.

[the blob]

5 hours ago, kav said:

Dont forget the stories of guy buys book at store, discovers restoration, tries to return it and store says too bad.  On ebay return would be no problem.

Not if you find resto after it comes back from cgc 2 months later. 

[justafan]

15 hours ago, kav said:

Dont forget the stories of guy buys book at store, discovers restoration, tries to return it and store says too bad.  On ebay return would be no problem.

Yes there will be exceptions, definitely, and as long as you can do it within the ebay 45 day return period.  Not sure if anyone has ever been successful at a return beyond 45 days for something like undetected/unlisted restoration, YMMV on that one.  If you respond quickly they usually don't have a problem.  If you hold onto the book for a 2 months and then come back to them it gets iffy.  Then again, if I'm buying a raw book for big money and I am not good at detecting restoration, I have no business buying that book online or in a store.  I've had a couple of dealers willing to give me their word and offer full refund including restoration check fees but even then I found it more convenient to just buy it already graded at a premium and yes, online with less hassle.  But if they had that same book already graded, I would have bought from them instead.  So yes, contrary to what I'm saying about convenience and all that, the Walmart like guarantee of a no-questions-asked type of return with free return shipping is one of the biggest benefits of buying online, though many stores do offer it as well.