Adventures in Craigslist comic shopping 2 2

[ramrodcar]

Sometimes it's not the seller that's the problem. This past January I went and visited a guy I found through Craigslist selling his father's estate who was a hoarder, so it wasn't just comics but action figures, etc.... The seller was cool and patient, the problem was the other two guys who came while I was there, to look at the action figures. The two guys who came together tried to intimidate and denigrate the seller (who's selling his dad's stuff), with the seller not backing down, which then turned into screaming of expletives, punching of walls, and slamming of the front door (and subsequent kicking of said front door) by the buyers. Apparently the buyers were told beforehand no cherry picking the action figures, you must buy everything or nothing at all, but they didn't like being told that in person. The one buyer flipped out screaming "I only have 500, I want to only buy 500$ of stuff", and turned confrontational when told no and to leave.

Anyways pretty scary stuff, I was just about to hit send to dial 911 when the kicking of the door stopped and the the seller came back and explained what happened. People are CRAZY, mess can happen anywhere, gotta be careful. When possible, try and meet in public, even better call your local police department and ask if you can use their lobby to transact. Much of the time, they oblige.

 

[Cat]

On 6/17/2022 at 9:14 AM, ramrodcar said:

When possible, try and meet in public, even better call your local police department and ask if you can use their lobby to transact. Much of the time, they oblige.

 

Just don't do this if it's a drug deal. Very important tip. 

[Dr. Balls]

I recently reached out to two Craigslist sellers on their 'collectible comic books' post - where they had 'many popular titles'.

First one, I sent a direct email stating I would pay 65 cents for every comic (they claimed to have 300 comics, and I was feeling like gambling a little bit) to which they said someone offered them $900. (Hilariously and expectedly two weeks later, they are still for sale).

I sent an email to the other guy who's post showed up a few days later asking if they were all 90's comics as in the pictures (Hulk 2099, X-Men 1, etc), and got the response of 'what are you looking for? We have everything priced at market value'.

At a different point in life, I probably would have engaged the question and had more energy about it. But after so many dealings with generic responses, etc from people over the years - I just thought 'meh.' I'm leaving it alone. The seller probably thinks New Warriors #23 in NM is worth $4 just like it says in Overstreet, despite it being a rolled up FN.

[manetteska]

On 6/17/2022 at 2:56 PM, Dr. Balls said:

I recently reached out to two Craigslist sellers on their 'collectible comic books' post - where they had 'many popular titles'.

First one, I sent a direct email stating I would pay 65 cents for every comic (they claimed to have 300 comics, and I was feeling like gambling a little bit) to which they said someone offered them $900. (Hilariously and expectedly two weeks later, they are still for sale).

I sent an email to the other guy who's post showed up a few days later asking if they were all 90's comics as in the pictures (Hulk 2099, X-Men 1, etc), and got the response of 'what are you looking for? We have everything priced at market value'.

At a different point in life, I probably would have engaged the question and had more energy about it. But after so many dealings with generic responses, etc from people over the years - I just thought 'meh.' I'm leaving it alone. The seller probably thinks New Warriors #23 in NM is worth $4 just like it says in Overstreet, despite it being a rolled up FN.

All of this.

And in my area, whether CL or FB marketplace, if it's a good deal it's usually gone within a day or less. Or you think you have it, only to receive a message stating, "Sorry, I sold it to someone else" on the drive over to purchase it.

There are rare instances where good deals linger, but those take more work to suss out than looking at ad pictures alone.

[Dr. Balls]

On 6/17/2022 at 3:52 PM, manetteska said:

All of this.

And in my area, whether CL or FB marketplace, if it's a good deal it's usually gone within a day or less. Or you think you have it, only to receive a message stating, "Sorry, I sold it to someone else" on the drive over to purchase it.

There are rare instances where good deals linger, but those take more work to suss out than looking at ad pictures alone.

In all my cumulative "dealings" over adulthood with car parts, comics, records, magazines and trading cards - the best deals, the solid deals, and the deals you walk away from with a good feeling that you did 'ok' - are the ones where you actually find them by talking with people who know people, etc. The 6-degree thing. Those deals far outweigh the deals I have made online.

[kav]

On 6/17/2022 at 12:56 PM, Dr. Balls said:

I recently reached out to two Craigslist sellers on their 'collectible comic books' post - where they had 'many popular titles'.

First one, I sent a direct email stating I would pay 65 cents for every comic (they claimed to have 300 comics, and I was feeling like gambling a little bit) to which they said someone offered them $900. (Hilariously and expectedly two weeks later, they are still for sale).

I sent an email to the other guy who's post showed up a few days later asking if they were all 90's comics as in the pictures (Hulk 2099, X-Men 1, etc), and got the response of 'what are you looking for? We have everything priced at market value'.

At a different point in life, I probably would have engaged the question and had more energy about it. But after so many dealings with generic responses, etc from people over the years - I just thought 'meh.' I'm leaving it alone. The seller probably thinks New Warriors #23 in NM is worth $4 just like it says in Overstreet, despite it being a rolled up FN.

I know someone who owns a comic shop and when people call him about buying their collection he refers em to A1 comics.  he's learned that its not even worth his time.

[Beastfeast]

On 6/17/2022 at 7:22 PM, kav said:

I know someone who owns a comic shop and when people call him about buying their collection he refers em to A1 comics.  he's learned that its not even worth his time.

as a blanket policy, that's a terrrrrrrrrible business decision.  

[kav]

On 6/17/2022 at 4:35 PM, Beastfeast said:

as a blanket policy, that's a terrrrrrrrrible business decision.  

well after 10 years of box after box of drek comes in and people get angry at him and saying he's trying to 'rip them off!' he just went with that decision and couldnt be happier.

[Beastfeast]

On 6/17/2022 at 7:36 PM, kav said:

well after 10 years of box after box of drek comes in and people get angry at him and saying he's trying to 'rip them off!' he just went with that decision and couldnt be happier.

Imagine all the collections you miss by having a blanket policy of referring EVERY collection that walks in your door to another shop.  Are there any dealers here who do the same?  Because that's insane.  

Edited June 17, 2022 by Beastfeast

[Dr. Balls]

On 6/17/2022 at 5:22 PM, kav said:

I know someone who owns a comic shop and when people call him about buying their collection he refers em to A1 comics.  he's learned that its not even worth his time.

When I had my shop, I had the policy that if you walked in with a box of comics, I'd pay 30 cents each and buy the whole thing. (this was the 90's and mostly 90's stuff walked through the door). The guy might have had a $20 Lady Death book, but he also probably had 10 copies of Glory #3 in there, too. That worked out well most of the time, and I was able to profit off the decent books, and the drek got put into the 10-for-a-dollar bin. Ahh, the good ole days...

[kav]

On 6/17/2022 at 4:40 PM, Beastfeast said:

Imagine all the collections you miss by having a blanket policy of referring EVERY collection that walks in your door to another shop.  Are there any dealers here who do the same?  Because that's insane.  

after 10 years of nothin but drek and angry ppl you might feel different.

[Dr. Balls]

On 6/17/2022 at 5:40 PM, Beastfeast said:

Imagine all the collections you miss by have a blanket policy of referring EVERY collection that walks in your door to another shop.  Are there any dealers here who do the same?  Because that's insane.  

I don't think I could override my natural curiosity to want to look in the box - even if 98% of the time it's Strawberry Shortcake and lower grade 80's Justice League.

[Beastfeast]

On 6/17/2022 at 7:42 PM, kav said:

after 10 years of nothin but drek and angry ppl you might feel different.

Just so we're clear - in 10 years of having a brick and mortar store, every single collection that came in was so bad that he now doesn't even look?  Because that person is lying to you.  

[Dr. Balls]

On 6/17/2022 at 5:42 PM, kav said:

after 10 years of nothin but drek and angry ppl you might feel different.

Oh yeah, the people who think their collection is going to buy them a car. Boy are they angry when you offer up the monetary equivalent of a tank of gas.

[kav]

On 6/17/2022 at 4:43 PM, Beastfeast said:

Just so we're clear - in 10 years of having a brick and mortar store, every single collection that came in was so bad that he now doesn't even look?  Because that person is lying to you.  

dang

[Galen130]

On 6/17/2022 at 5:44 PM, Dr. Balls said:

Oh yeah, the people who think their collection is going to buy them a car. Boy are they angry when you offer up the monetary equivalent of a tank of gas.

For a lawnmower….

[Artboy99]

On 6/17/2022 at 4:17 PM, Dr. Balls said:

In all my cumulative "dealings" over adulthood with car parts, comics, records, magazines and trading cards - the best deals, the solid deals, and the deals you walk away from with a good feeling that you did 'ok' - are the ones where you actually find them by talking with people who know people, etc. The 6-degree thing. Those deals far outweigh the deals I have made online.

This by a landslide.

[Artboy99]

On 6/17/2022 at 5:44 PM, Dr. Balls said:

Oh yeah, the people who think their collection is going to buy them a car. Boy are they angry when you offer up the monetary equivalent of a tank of gas.

I experienced this recently. In my post previously in this thread I was meeting @thehumantorch in the middle of the day at a public place McDonald's parking lot to go over books we have and a guy walked up to us to ask what we were doing. Once he saw comics he pulled a Classics Illustrated book out of his jacket pocket and proceeded to ask us what it was worth. Seeing how he was handling it, and noting where it came from (his inside jacket pocket) I said it was worth about $5. He then became angry, and said he couldn't believe we were only offering him $5 for the comic that he said was worth a million dollars! We corrected him, told him we never made an offer and we don't want it then the conversation turned ugly. He had a gun, everything we had was now his...etc.

 

[kav]

On 6/17/2022 at 6:20 PM, Artboy99 said:

I experienced this recently. In my post previously in this thread I was meeting @thehumantorch in the middle of the day at a public place McDonald's parking lot to go over books we have and a guy walked up to us to ask what we were doing. Once he saw comics he pulled a Classics Illustrated book out of his jacket pocket and proceeded to ask us what it was worth. Seeing how he was handling it, and noting where it came from (his inside jacket pocket) I said it was worth about $5. He then became angry, and said he couldn't believe we were only offering him $5 for the comic that he said was worth a million dollars! We corrected him, told him we never made an offer and we don't want it then the conversation turned ugly. He had a gun, everything we had was now his...etc.

 

yep I've witnessed this.  often accompanied by the indignant "BUT ITS 40 YEARS OLD!!!!"

Edited June 18, 2022 by kav

[kav]

"Lemme know when ya got somethin 70 years old.  Or older."

Edited June 18, 2022 by kav