Collectors Comics in CA- Anyone here familiar with them? Got a problem.... 0

[twmjr1]

I bought a book from this dealer two weeks ago, and they have not sent it, and will not respond to email. The book is still listed on Ebay. I bought it by outside communication with the dealer, so Ebay will be no help. Neither will Paypal, as I did a "friends and family" transfer. Anyone here know this dealer, or have any advice? Thanks!

[fifties]

You did everything wrong.  A reputable dealer will not try to skirt eBay's seller fee, nor PayPal's money handling fee.  

I looked on the net, and apparently they may be located in San Diego, but I couldn't get an address.  If you can, then you can threaten them with getting a visit by law enforcement, to explain the penalty for mail fraud.  I've done that twice with eBay sellers (actually not warning them, just contacting their local police department.  In both cases, I got my winnings quite fast afterward).

If you can't find them, you might have to consider this a lesson in experience, sorry.

[FrontStands]

https://collectorscomics.com/#/

I'm pretty sure they wouldn't try to rip you off. 

Have you tried emailing? 

david@collectorscomics.com

(My bad, I just noticed what you said about the email.) I've sent messages back and forth with them. They normally took a few days.

Edited June 27, 2022 by FrontStands

[KCOComics]

The good news is, they seem legit. Lots of sales, lots of feedback and some real quality stuff. 

The bad news is, your situation doesn't seem unique even to those who went through eBay. Many complained about failure to ship and poor communication. 

[KCOComics]

it seems they do allot of consignments without having physical possession of the book, so that may be what your dealing with. 

This is their address: 

Collectors Comics
9830 N Magnolia Ave #202
Santee, CA
92071

 

 

[Turnando]

Doing it outside of ebay was a mistake, imo.

Not because I think this seller will rip you off but because now you are a special order.  Outside of the regular that they handle all day every day.  

Probably saved a few bucks.  Now pay the price for being a bargain hunter.  Maybe they forgot your order.  Wouldn't surprise me, you skirted the system.

I'm sure they thought twice about taking the offer.  In my experience as a provider of goods and services most people looking to save a buck by asking me to do a deal outside the system end up being whiners or worse and I regret giving them a break.

People who just can't go with the flow and do it the way everyone else does are interesting to talk to but NOT fun to do business with.

They gave you a break.  So give them one.

Edited June 27, 2022 by Turnando

[GermanFan]

I am also a bargain hunter. I made a lot of offers outside of Ebay. A little bit nervwrecking when a couple of hundred bucks are sent without protection. But so far I never got burned.

Astonishingly many people are honest.

Edited June 27, 2022 by GermanFan

[Pantodude]

I've had a couple of regular marketplace and recent auction transactions with them, and it all went well, with good communication.  There was an occasion when a book I had bought and paid for (from the marketplace) turned out to be no longer available, but I was quickly refunded.   Good luck. 

[telerites]

I know you will tire of it but never do friends and family - one, it goes against PP policies and obviously you lose protection.  I cannot imagine a reputable dealer asking for that.

But regardless try pinging them on FB or their other social media streams. 

[LDarkseid1]

I've also bought books from them without issue, and that's David's company from the youtube channel Comic Book Investments. I don't think they would ever do anything malicious in nature, pretty reputable guys. Must be some other reason causing problems.

[Dark Knight]

Yeah I've bought from them too on ebay.  No problems at all.  

[twmjr1]

They finally made contact with me, gave me a tracking #. 

[Dr. Balls]

I just had a recent purchase with them, and it was via email (found the book on Ebay, contacted them directly) no problems or communication issues. Great packing, prompt shipping, paid via PayPal for protection.

I don’t think there is any problem going outside Ebay to save 10%, especially on a $1000+ book. I don’t think sellers are less ethical doing that, either. When Ebay charges 10-15% to sell something, and then 10% on shipping fees and then 10% of sales tax - you’re going to get people skirting their system. That’s just human nature.
I’m all for Capitalism, but the day you make me pay to facilitate sales tax collecting in a state I don’t live in - and Montana has no sales tax - I’ll dedicate some time and effort into getting out of it.

[LDarkseid1]

On 6/28/2022 at 9:31 AM, Dr. Balls said:

I just had a recent purchase with them, and it was via email (found the book on Ebay, contacted them directly) no problems or communication issues. Great packing, prompt shipping, paid via PayPal for protection.

I don’t think there is any problem going outside Ebay to save 10%, especially on a $1000+ book. I don’t think sellers are less ethical doing that, either. When Ebay charges 10-15% to sell something, and then 10% on shipping fees and then 10% of sales tax - you’re going to get people skirting their system. That’s just human nature.
I’m all for Capitalism, but the day you make me pay to facilitate sales tax collecting in a state I don’t live in - and Montana has no sales tax - I’ll dedicate some time and effort into getting out of it.

Seriously, it's ridiculous that they apply the fee to shipping and sales tax. Talk about greedy business practices.

[Dr. Balls]

On 6/28/2022 at 10:37 AM, LDarkseid1 said:

Seriously, it's ridiculous that they apply the fee to shipping and sales tax. Talk about greedy business practices.

I agree, but I also accept that by using their platform, they are going to try and stuff it up my rear as much as they can.

Offering a “shipping discount” and then adding 10% to the discounted price? Shady.

Charging me 10% on a variable rate buyers are charged for their local sales tax? Shady.

Ebay is shady. Biggest game in town, but still shady. And I love companies innovating and coming up with cottage industries for people to make money. I absolutely love that about our society, but there’s a fine line until you cross over into shady practice - and Ebay is way into that area.

[Sauce Dog]

I have not bought from them yet, but when I did inquire via email about some big books last year ($3k+) asking for more information or even a back scan (some of their scans were very blurring and cropped oddly) they never got back to me (not just a single request, sent a few for different books over the course of a few months)

[LDarkseid1]

On 6/28/2022 at 9:59 AM, Dr. Balls said:

I agree, but I also accept that by using their platform, they are going to try and stuff it up my rear as much as they can.

Offering a “shipping discount” and then adding 10% to the discounted price? Shady.

Charging me 10% on a variable rate buyers are charged for their local sales tax? Shady.

Ebay is shady. Biggest game in town, but still shady. And I love companies innovating and coming up with cottage industries for people to make money. I absolutely love that about our society, but there’s a fine line until you cross over into shady practice - and Ebay is way into that area.

I'm starting to notice independent companies pop up with auctions, on top of the already established companies that have them. Don't know if that might become more prevalent, and a competitive way to go a different route than Ebay. But I mean, there's no shortage of competition to Ebay if we're being honest, so definitely don't have to use them. It just feels at least, that the market and potential buyers base is soo much more expansive with them. Regardless, at least they don't have a monopoly on the market. On top of their shady ways to charge, that would just pis* me off haha.

Edited June 28, 2022 by LDarkseid1

[LDarkseid1]

On 6/28/2022 at 11:40 AM, Uncle Satan said:

You're wrong, that's shady 

Well it really depends on the ebay seller. With some sellers, maybe smaller independent sellers I wouldn't disagree with you. But Collectors Comics and many other established dealers promote their companies on ebay, and are easy to find off Ebay regardless. So there's certainly nothing shady about buying through them directly, and skirting the Ebay fees. Now if Ebay wants to change their model so that companies can't promote their businesses' contact info in the body of descriptions, then that's their right. At the moment though, they allow it. So if my choice is buy through ebay and get hit with the additional 14%-15% fees or buy through a reputable dealer directly, I'll choose the direct path.

[telerites]

On 6/28/2022 at 1:42 PM, Uncle Satan said:

Comiclink was asking for it a while back

I thought they were giving and still are not charging 3% if you pay by check or money order instead of a credit card.

That is the way I always pay to save the cc fees.

But I never paid using PP with CL so I don't know but if they were, they shouldn't and I would blame any buyer who opts to lose protection and go against policy to us F&F to buy for goods.

 

 

[Dr. Balls]

On 6/28/2022 at 12:40 PM, Uncle Satan said:

You're wrong, that's shady 

I disagree with you - but that's ok, because you disagree with me. 

Waaaay back in the olden days of Ebay - it used to cost 25¢ to list an item. And in that listing, you could put advertisements, hyperlinks and HTML coding that took viewers outside of Ebay to your website, where you sold additional items outside of Ebay. I'm talking about 1999/2000 and earlier. Of course, Ebay changed that because they realized that they were losing people to outside sales. Ebay has always been a platform where you compare prices, and search for a cheaper price. Going into Target and looking up a product on Amazon for the cheapest option is not shady, it's how people shop.

And let's be honest, when you do a search for a comic book on Ebay and that it sells for $60 and FMV is only $30, you just say "Whelp, I guess I better pay $30 more because it's the ethical thing to do for all parties involved!" No. You either wait for one that is priced at FMV, or if you want it bad enough, you open up creative negotiations. Like approaching them outside of Ebay.