How important is honesty from the seller when buying a collection? 1 1

[shadroch]

After two years down here, I finally found a decent mostly BA collection for sale. It's about 2,000 books but fully a third are well read Marvels, DCs in 3.0 or worse shape, or Archies, Charlton and Whitmans in VGish shape.  There are few keys- no X-Men, No Hulk 180/181 and there are runs like Marvel Team Up from  65 to 100,except for #95, and Thor from 259-350, but no 337.

It's obvious the books were picked over but the seller denies it. He also claims to have bought books off the rack that are older than he is.  The books are bagged and boarded but they weren't for years  and most are 8.0-8.5 at best. The few SA books are 4.0-6.0 and nothing stands out. The Copper books mostly are Marvels that are part of longer runs, Thor, FF, Spidey.... and seem to have been carefully cared for, but no keys.   That they are organized is nice, and they are in newer boxes with lids that won't need replacement, but the owners lack of honesty  is bothersome.

Does this ever come up when buying collections or books?

[sckao]

Considering you are probably not the first person the seller has offered the books to... Are you really surprised the keys and minor keys are gone? The others who passed on the entire collection probably just made a separate deal for those keys. Sounds like the simplest answer. 

The kicker would be if RECENT minor keys made keys due to the MCU are gone. Then that would be recently picked over evidence.

 

[miraclemet]

some sellers try too hard to be salesmen... and it doesnt land. 

I'll look past it if the price is right. 

I'll also express dissatisfaction to the potential seller if I drove 4 hours to see "thousands of Siver Age comics that havent been touched in 50 years" and show up to 2 long boxes of picked thru bronze age trash that smell like smoke and mildew. 

That why picture evidence before making a long drive is key. 

[wombat]

If he bought the books off the rack ask him where the keys are. Was he sick that month?

But at the end of the day I don't think it matters. Make a fair offer and be done with it. 

 

[djzombi]

On 8/19/2021 at 2:39 PM, miraclemet said:

I'll look past it if the price is right. 

 

This right here.  

[kav]

Say c'mon dude I'm not a dolt.  just be clear with me so we can maybe move forward with the deal.

[MattTheDuck]

In the past few months, I have run across a lot of collections that were almost 100 percent filler.  With few exceptions (an ASM 361 and Thor 337 in great shape, an Avengers 196 and Avengers Annual 10 that were pretty trashed), these collections did not include a single "key" book in any condition.  I looked at a collection of Spider-man books that was advertised as "late 60s to early 90s" where there were probably 6 Silver Age books, all trashed, no 121 or 122, and a trashed 129.  As I noted at the time, I saw a collection at which I bought a run of X-Factor books starting at #1 and ending at #20.  But there was no #6, the first appearance of Apocalypse and the only really important book in that run.

These experiences are hard to explain beyond the seller either deciding to keep the key books and therefore not having them in the long boxes, or having not actually purchased new comics at the time the keys came out, but rather buying the filler runs later and balking at the cost of the keys.

This latter explanation is kind of similar to the way I collected in the 70s.  I was buying books off the racks in the mid-70s, and then discovered there were places you could buy "back issues."  I started where I was, worked backwards and bought what I could find.  I don't remember ever balking at the price of a comic (but of course the most expensive one I bought in those days cost $30.  Most were under $2).  But if I were one of these sellers, you might say my Silver Age collection "lacked keys" if you reviewed it in 1978.  The only Silver Age keys I can claim are FF 48-50 and Avengers 57 in mid- to lower-grade, despite having long runs of ASM, Avengers, FF and JIM/Thor.  I never saw an AF 15, ASM 1, FF 1, or other keys and didn't have the brains to seek them out.

[BabaLament]

I don't have massive bankroll, so when buying a collection, I end up working on the lower end of the sales spectrum. As such, I rarely find great keys or runs; but most sellers are upfront about if its been picked over or filtered out. From my experience, if its a bunch of raw books in cardboard moving boxes, I can expect lower quality, but its probably not been picked over. If its all in new/clean bags & boards, its been picked over, keys & runs removed, and I'm looking at a pile of dollar bin charcoal starter. The best/worst scenario are boxes full of yellowed/sticky old bags that haven't been touched in decades: the books are/were protected, but nobody wants to put in the time/effort/gross-factor of going through it. There are always good books in that kind of mess, though it usually gets a "I don't know what's in it, I haven't gone through it" from the seller. So its a question of being willing to deal with it. 

[Bird]

I agree that honesty matters from a seller. It may not be a deal-breaker but if on the fence I pass as to not reward unnecessary deception.

[ninanina]

When I read your description of what was available, it reminded me of a bunch of books I constantly see on e-bay selling for way under guide...many would have to be grouped just to justify the shipping charges tacked onto the sell price. Good collection if you want fillers for runs you may want to complete down the road.

[Aman619]

It’s funny, maybe sad, that when I read this thread title I assumed the honesty in question was about the dealer/buyers offer relative to the actual value. Like, why do buyers lowball and try to steal a collection..   if sellers are no longer sheep, and stretch the truth now, we’ll, I guess they may have learned the hard way.  Just get to a number and if it’s too high, walk away 

[bob jr]

On 8/19/2021 at 4:35 PM, kav said:

Say c'mon dude I'm not a dolt.  just be clear with me so we can maybe move forward with the deal.

This right ^^^ here 

[Motor City Rob]

I don't think it matters at all. Look at the collection and if you like the price...buy it. That's always worked for me. 

[jimbo_7071]

On 8/19/2021 at 1:25 PM, shadroch said:

After two years down here, I finally found a decent mostly BA collection for sale. It's about 2,000 books but fully a third are well read Marvels, DCs in 3.0 or worse shape, or Archies, Charlton and Whitmans in VGish shape.  There are few keys- no X-Men, No Hulk 180/181 and there are runs like Marvel Team Up from  65 to 100,except for #95, and Thor from 259-350, but no 337.

It's obvious the books were picked over but the seller denies it. He also claims to have bought books off the rack that are older than he is.  The books are bagged and boarded but they weren't for years  and most are 8.0-8.5 at best. The few SA books are 4.0-6.0 and nothing stands out. The Copper books mostly are Marvels that are part of longer runs, Thor, FF, Spidey.... and seem to have been carefully cared for, but no keys.   That they are organized is nice, and they are in newer boxes with lids that won't need replacement, but the owners lack of honesty  is bothersome.

Does this ever come up when buying collections or books?

It doesn't sound like there's anything in there that's even collectible. You can find collections like that wholesale for $30 a long box.

[theCapraAegagrus]

Honesty is paramount.

[shadroch]

On 8/20/2021 at 4:25 AM, jimbo_7071 said:

It doesn't sound like there's anything in there that's even collectible. You can find collections like that wholesale for $30 a long box.

Wasn't planning on paying $30 a box. 

[Cat]

There's honest sellers and then there's 'honest' sellers. Know which type you're dealing with and you'll be okay.