Does Expertise/Experience no longer matter to be a dealer? 8 8

[Sigur Ros]

On 4/16/2022 at 3:55 PM, Krydel4 said:

I pointed out the defects. He said the slab says 9.6

Thus, the problem with all this erratic grading we've been seeing the past few years.

[Bird]

On 4/16/2022 at 6:10 PM, Krydel4 said:

I didn't lose out on anything as I got 3 great books at a price point the dealer and I were happy with and he got nothing.

not knocking you, I negotiate as well. But you cannot characterize you getting a win and him a loss by adding an additional transaction on your side and not on his. Maybe he sold other books just as you bought other books.

I used to do well with a pile of money and asking for multiple purchase discounts. Now even Harley will say no if it is SA keys because they will sell to someone else. If you pick the right books perhaps a discount is available but maybe not even then. Doesn't make them wrong, just not right for you.

[Jeffro.]

On 4/16/2022 at 9:05 PM, Krydel4 said:

Thank you everyone for your responses. It's helped me come to some understanding of the current dealer environment. I've had 3 takeaways based upon the question I asked in the Topic header:

1. That dealers do not have to know or have knowledge of grading or how to grade. That 3rd party grading companies are now the arbiters of all grading in the hobby and are infallible and any questioning of their grades is heretical.

2. Customer Service and/or creating relationships with customers is unnecessary and annoying. 

3. Pricing is solely the based off of 3rd Party data algorithms that create prices within a vacuum, that are absolute and never subject to environment, context, or circumstance. 

It's definitely a Brave New World for collectors. ✌️

I would respectfully suggest you re-read the thread because I don't think you got the message out of it that you think you did.

[Jeffro.]

On 4/17/2022 at 7:58 AM, Artboy99 said:

On 4/17/2022 at 7:39 AM, chrisco37 said:

You can buy the trade for $20 and have the entire series if all you want to do is read it.   

Why buy slabs at any sort of premium?  

Yes I still am baffled by that.

I'm completely dumbfounded by it. I just don't get it. Must be nice to have that kind of scratch

Edited April 17, 2022 by Jeffro.

[badback83]

Again, why buy a slab for a book that is plentiful, just to immediately crack it?  
 

Does the thrill of a shard of plastic possibly breaking off the case and lodging in your eye make you feel alive?
 

I don’t get it bud. 

[Ken Aldred]

On 4/17/2022 at 3:36 PM, Green Hell said:

No, that was Ruins by Waren Ellis, a parody of Marvels 

A very cheerful comic.  Laugh a minute.

[Bird]

On 4/17/2022 at 11:40 AM, Ken Aldred said:

A very cheerful comic.  Laugh a minute.

how about druid! IIRC something like "we burned his body in a trash can"

[Jaylam]

Let's turn this argument around and see how it flies.... I got a 7.5 that I think looks like a 9.4 that I'll sell ya for the 9.4 price. Any takers?

[thehumantorch]

On 4/16/2022 at 9:06 PM, Krydel4 said:

Marvels 1. I have a 9.8 that I display because it's the closest I'll get to having an original Alex Ross piece. It's the only book I've ever left in a slab. He priced it at $92 (GPA Sale was in 2021) plus tax. Last 3 Sales were at the time were $53, $60, $35 (2022). I offered $80. I've never actually read the series. I've got issues 2,3,4 and I want to read the whole thing when I've assembled the series. No spoilers please.

Why would you buy a graded copy, hell according to you a over-graded copy, of a very common modern that is barely worth the grading cost to crack it out to read?  Buy a raw copy out of someone's dollar box.

[Ken Aldred]

On 4/17/2022 at 5:00 PM, Bird said:

how about druid! IIRC something like "we burned his body in a trash can"

Yup. Ellis is no Keith Giffen.

[Ed Hanes]

On 4/16/2022 at 12:55 PM, Krydel4 said:

At a show I went to recently, there was a Vendor who had a table, 3 full Slab Short boxes, a printout of the Slabs in the boxes with their grade and GPA prices and a Square payment terminal. I perused the print out taped to the table. Asked to see the book as he had the lids on the boxes. He got it out (putting the lid back on), I looked at it, the grade given on the slab was pretty soft as it was given a 9.6 and their were visible spine ticks, blunted corner and a crease on the back ( I had to ask him to take it out of the slab bag it was in). I made an offer that was within 15% of the GPA price he had listed as I thought the book was at best a 9.0-9.2 given the visible defects I could see. He smirked and said the price is as listed. I pointed out the defects. He said the slab says 9.6, the price is what the GPA for a 9.6 is. No Counter offer. I handed it back and walked away. The dispassionate way he went about this really rubbed me wrong. It just makes me feel that now the hobby has given power away to a third party its irrevocably become less human. It felt like I was making a stock trade. Anyone ever encounter something like this? Should we just have automated bot dealers?

good luck in your ventures

Edited April 17, 2022 by Ed Hanes

[Semicentennial]

On 4/16/2022 at 9:27 PM, Krydel4 said:

He was a really young guy. And like I said I hadn't seen him before and I had been to all of the Cons in my area since restrictions lifted. I wouldn't have made an offer if I wasn't interested. But like I said the response and attitude put me off. I didn't mention anything about the condition of the book until after I made my offer. Maybe it was his first Con as a seller , maybe it wasn't. Didn't get to find out. Didn't want to after his response. The money wasn't an issue but I have been trying to help people out when I can especially after the Covid put businesses thru as I had one of my favorite places have to close because of it and it made me more acutely aware of the how precarious some businesses are.

Very generous of you to try to help people out in need especially after Covid.  Wouldn't you think a really young guy selling at a con, who you've never seen at a con, should have been given the benefit of the doubt that maybe he was just new to the game and just learning the ropes?  It seems you expected the seller to kiss your to try to get your sale.

[Ken Aldred]

Back to the thread title of ‘Does Expertise/Experience no longer matter to be a dealer’…

Again, this confusion is nothing new or anything to do with an influx of new players.

Going back to the mid-80s, I bought a GSXM 1 and Hulk 181 from a very well-known dealer who one would’ve thought to be highly reputable, based on the reasoning that he was an Overstreet advisor, counsel for an industry bible.  The books were trash, the grading incompetent, the response I received back after complaining was appalling and cliquey.
 

I’m certain to be asked who I’m referring to, and the clue is that he was Canadian. 

Edited April 17, 2022 by Ken Aldred

[oakman29]

On 4/17/2022 at 3:03 PM, Ken Aldred said:

Back to the thread title of ‘Does Expertise/Experience no longer matter to be a dealer’…

Again, this confusion is nothing new or anything to do with an influx of new players.

Going back to the mid-80s, I bought a GSXM 1 and Hulk 181 from a very well-known dealer who one would’ve thought to be highly reputable, based on the reasoning that he was an Overstreet advisor, counsel for an industry bible.  The books were trash, the grading incompetent, the response I received back after complaining was appalling and cliquey.
 

I’m certain to be asked who I’m referring to, and the clue is that he was Canadian. 

Oooooooh that Greggy again.......😂🤣

[oakman29]

Canadians always have such a chip on their shoulders huh Roy.😎🤘

[Kramerica]

On 4/16/2022 at 7:01 PM, thehumantorch said:

It's a rare buyer who'll pay sticker price on a fairly priced graded book.  95% of the time you'll get an offer lower than your sticker.  Many sellers price over GPA so they have room to negotiate.

I disagree. I don't think you have that many hagglers. Maybe 75% but the epidemic isn't that bad. Now, when you get into picking up 2 nice books from a Dealer then a certain discount will come into play or be requested. Even 75% sounds high and makes a Con sound like one big headache full of parsimonious hamburglers. But 95%? No way. 95% of the people visiting a booth aren't asking for a discount right out of the gate and trying to barter. That's.....madness. There'd be a line to speak to the seller.

Maybe online where the seller has stated they are accepting offers which is an open offer to haggle but even then, there are just as many instances where the seller asked $X and someone grabbed it at that price outright.

But back to Cons....There can't be that many people angling to save a buck. The effort alone in the hangle discourages a large amount of the population and another large part just don't care about the haggle. They just pay the sticker price. No muss no fuss. I see plenty of people visit a booth, see a nice book and say "I'd like that one please" and pay what the dealer is asking. It's not a 5% minority. It can't be. Here on the Boards in the marketplace it can't be 95% either. It's inconceivable. We can't have that many cheap-o's in our hobby.

Maybe in Canada? 

Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to the Marketplace to find a book I like and post a without asking for $4 off.

Edited April 18, 2022 by Kramerica

[oakman29]

On 4/17/2022 at 9:09 AM, Jaylam said:

Let's turn this argument around and see how it flies.... I got a 7.5 that I think looks like a 9.4 that I'll sell ya for the 9.4 price. Any takers?

I'm with you here. I have this book, had it graded at SDCC one year. I could have sworn it was at least a 9.4+, came back an 8.5 white. No pressing, and was a purchase in around 85 or so. Here's a photo of it. Just a perfect book, so how did it get an 8.5?

The world may never know......

Edited April 18, 2022 by oakman29

[Kramerica]

On 4/17/2022 at 5:59 PM, oakman29 said:

I'm with you here. I have this book, had it graded at SDCC one year. I could have sworn it was at least a 9.4+, came back an 8.5 white. No pressing, and was a purchase in around 85 or so. Here's a photo of it. Just a perfect book, so how did it get an 8.5?

The world may never know......

Darn fingerprints again. Bet you bought it and were reading it while you had your 3 Muskateers bar.

[Jaylam]

On 4/17/2022 at 8:59 PM, oakman29 said:

I'm with you here. I have this book, had it graded at SDCC one year. I could have sworn it was at least a 9.4+, came back an 8.5 white. No pressing, and was a purchase in around 85 or so. Here's a photo of it. Just a perfect book, so how did it get an 8.5?

The world may never know......

8.5's are tricky. It can be a nearly perfect book but if there is any kind of stain or moisture mark or a miniscule tear on it, 8.5 is usually the top grade a book will get with defects like that. Do you have the grader notes on this one? 

[oakman29]

On 4/17/2022 at 6:59 PM, Jaylam said:

8.5's are tricky. It can be a nearly perfect book but if there is any kind of stain or moisture mark or a miniscule tear on it, 8.5 is usually the top grade a book will get with defects like that. Do you have the grader notes on this one? 

No I dont have grader notes, but I can personally verify that there are no tears, no stains, nothing. It doesnt really matter anyway, it is a book that will only leave my possession after I'm gone from this world .