YouTube video about MyComicShop and ComicLink 9 9

[mycomicshop]

Watching the rest of the video, few other comments:

- He speculates that a book showing up multiple times as sold from HA means that the first sale didn't go through due to non-payment. I would not expect that HA is reporting to GPA based solely on an auction ending without requiring that the item actually be paid for.

- Similarly, he says he's getting set up to report to GPA. If so, I hope that HE will only report actual paid/complete sales to GPA, rather than reporting to GPA as soon as he receives a not-yet-paid order for something.

- Appreciate him including us in a big 4 with HA, CL, and CC!

-This sale was a BIN sale, not auction, so there's no way ComicLink could have "bid up" this item to $114K as he speculates. The results of all our recent auctions are publicly viewable at https://www.mycomicshop.com/auctions/list so if this AF15 had been an auction item it would be in one of those auctions there. Regular bidders in MCS auctions will know there has not been an AF 15 CGC 5.5 auctioned with us recently.

I understand the source of Detective Dave's confusion and no ill will for him getting this wrong, but next time I hope he and any other youtube sleuths will reach out to me directly if they're confused by something. I'm reachable here on the boards, conan@mycomicshop.com, and 512-808-7099.

[Motor City Rob]

On 11/23/2022 at 11:33 AM, mycomicshop said:

Watching the rest of the video, few other comments:

- He speculates that a book showing up multiple times as sold from HA means that the first sale didn't go through due to non-payment. I would not expect that HA is reporting to GPA based solely on an auction ending without requiring that the item actually be paid for.

- Similarly, he says he's getting set up to report to GPA. If so, I hope that HE will only report actual paid/complete sales to GPA, rather than reporting to GPA as soon as he receives a not-yet-paid order for something.

- Appreciate him including us in a big 4 with HA, CL, and CC!

-This sale was a BIN sale, not auction, so there's no way ComicLink could have "bid up" this item to $114K as he speculates. The results of all our recent auctions are publicly viewable at https://www.mycomicshop.com/auctions/list so if this AF15 had been an auction item it would be in one of those auctions there. Regular bidders in MCS auctions will know there has not been an AF 15 CGC 5.5 auctioned with us recently.

I understand the source of Detective Dave's confusion and no ill will for him getting this wrong, but next time I hope he and any other youtube sleuths will reach out to me directly if they're confused by something. I'm reachable here on the boards, conan@mycomicshop.com, and 512-808-7099.

Some fair points. Any thoughts on how to fix how you report through GPA? If this would have shown up on GPA as a May sale and not a November sale, I think that would eliminate all of the questions.

[THE_BEYONDER]

I’m just glad MCS chimed in.  I’m not ready for the disenchantment I would feel if they were found to be involved in the kind of shenanigans that CL & HA partake in.

[mjoeyoung]

There at least two big holes in his argument that called it into question.  The first was shipping, MCS has 99.9% of the time shipped my orders on the day, or next day I've paid for them.  The second was that this was obviously a non-auction sale.

On 11/23/2022 at 10:01 AM, Motor City Rob said:

Some fair points. Any thoughts on how to fix how you report through GPA? If this would have shown up on GPA as a May sale and not a November sale, I think that would eliminate all of the questions.

I myself have never thought about how books purchased on payment plans would affect the GPA.  In this kind of environment when values are increasing or decreasing in a relatively short timeframe, it does skew the accuracy of the "current" value.

[mycomicshop]

On 11/23/2022 at 11:01 AM, Motor City Rob said:

Some fair points. Any thoughts on how to fix how you report through GPA? If this would have shown up on GPA as a May sale and not a November sale, I think that would eliminate all of the questions.

Currently we report date shipped, and orders are reported to GPA as soon as they ship. That means that when new sales from us show up on GPA, they show up labeled with the same date they first appear.

An alternative would be that instead of reporting the date shipped, we report the date an order was first turned in, or in the case of an auction, it could be the date the auction ended. If we did that, we still wouldn't be reporting sales to GPA until the sale was final and shipped, so it would just mean that sales would be showing up retroactively some time prior to when they first appear in GPA. For non-time payment orders it wouldn't be enough of a difference to matter much, but for time payment orders you'd have sales showing up in GPA several months after the sale took place, that hadn't been in the GPA record since then. Maybe that's preferable, but it also introduces a different type of confusion, since if you do it that way new data points can be added to earlier months after users have already made decisions based on where GPA was for those months without that data point present.

I'll find out if GPA has a preference.

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 11/23/2022 at 12:22 PM, mjoeyoung said:

There at least two big holes in his argument that called it into question.  The first was shipping, MCS has 99.9% of the time shipped my orders on the day, or next day I've paid for them.  The second was that this was obviously a non-auction sale.

I myself have never thought about how books purchased on payment plans would affect the GPA.  In this kind of environment when values are increasing or decreasing in a relatively short timeframe, it does skew the accuracy of the "current" value.

I never knew that MCS was holding GPA data for the duration of time payment plans.   It makes sense in that the buyer hasn’t actually paid, but it definitely messes with GPA data.   If someone buys a book for $5000, and that sale doesn’t show up until months later....it confuses the current value.   Especially if the book is trading at $3500 by the time the $5000 sale is paid for.

[lostboys]

Maybe the guy bought the book and not the grade?

[VintageComics]

On 11/23/2022 at 12:26 PM, THE_BEYONDER said:

On 11/23/2022 at 12:22 PM, mjoeyoung said:

There at least two big holes in his argument that called it into question.  The first was shipping, MCS has 99.9% of the time shipped my orders on the day, or next day I've paid for them.  The second was that this was obviously a non-auction sale.

I myself have never thought about how books purchased on payment plans would affect the GPA.  In this kind of environment when values are increasing or decreasing in a relatively short timeframe, it does skew the accuracy of the "current" value.

I never knew that MCS was holding GPA data for the duration of time payment plans.   It makes sense in that the buyer hasn’t actually paid, but it definitely messes with GPA data.   If someone buys a book for $5000, and that sale doesn’t show up until months later....it confuses the current value.   Especially if the book is trading at $3500 by the time the $5000 sale is paid for.

People keep looking at GPA expecting it to be some sort of authority. It's not. It's just a mirror reflecting the past. Sometimes it has smudges on the mirror. Sometimes there's some lint on it. Sometimes the mirror has a bend on it and doesn't reflect perfectly.

The Guide used to be used as a general Guide with people LOOKING FORWARD and making their own decisions as to how much to pay for a book AFTER the Guide was printed.

GPA is now being used as a risk mitigation guide so people can AVOID paying too much. 

This has caused a lot of fear and volatility to enter into the marketplace, and one thing we've learned for sure over the last 2 years, is that the majority can't think objectively or rationally and fear rules most people. 

So they want someone to do all the work for them, tell them exactly what to do without having to really think for themselves and just reap the benefits with little effort. 

If people focused on averages rather than single sales this would be a much better hobby for everyone, collectors and investors included. 

Hyperfocusing creates volatility and that is not good for anyone. 

------------------------------------------

This is Mark Wilson's son? Well, then he should know better than to publicly accuse respected organizations of collusion and fraud so frivolously before really getting his facts straight.

Way too many holes in his theory for someone who is not a noob in comics. 

Finally, there are many people in the hobby who can be accused of fraudulent behavior but I have no problem saying that MCS or Comiclink are not on that list. 

I've had many, extensive dealings with both of them in various capacities and both have been honorable and have acted beyond reproach in my experience, even when they didn't have to. 

It takes a long time to build something good and very little effort to tear it down. Influencers should choose their words carefully. 

 

Edited November 23, 2022 by VintageComics

[namisgr]

On 11/23/2022 at 10:52 AM, Stefan_W said:

It just looks to me like someone bought their own book from MCS and took the hit on commission to try to juice up the price enough to make some extra cash. Pretty basic math.

Using made up numbers, say there is a 10% commission on $114k which works out to $11,400. If the value of the book was 80k and it goes for $110k at the next auction because of an "OMG the book is spiking in GPA" kind of thing the person makes an extra $30k minus the $11,400, so $18,600.

Your calculation neglects the second commission (from the 'next auction').

[Pantodude]

On 11/23/2022 at 11:33 AM, mycomicshop said:

This sale was a BIN sale, not auction,

Ah, okay.  Thank you.  But, if you could say, when was the date of the BIN?   

Edited November 23, 2022 by Pantodude

[manetteska]

On 11/23/2022 at 11:01 AM, Motor City Rob said:

Some fair points. Any thoughts on how to fix how you report through GPA? If this would have shown up on GPA as a May sale and not a November sale, I think that would eliminate all of the questions.

I mean if we're going to open up GPA data and flag anything that looks weird or possible incorrect, we'll be here for a while.

People need to understand what GPA is and what GPA isn't (and where/who the data comes from and where/who it doesn't come from),

As Conan said I'm sure if the sale popped into GPA in November with a May sold date people would be asking questions then as well.

[COI]

It's okay to get things wrong, but this guy should've reached out to MCS or Comiclink for comment first, before publishing his suspicions. Especially since he's a dealer himself and has his own auction site. I'm sure he would want that courtesy extended to him if it were a sale on his site that was in question.

Hopefully, someone will link him to this response; if he's operating in good faith, he will either take the video down, or publish a follow-up. These creators on social media need to stop being so reactive just to make content. This is the reason why there's so much bad information on the internet. 

 

[mycomicshop]

On 11/23/2022 at 1:56 PM, Pantodude said:

Ah, okay.  Thank you.  But, if you could say, when was the date of the BIN?   

BIN was purchased May 23. 

[Bronty]

On 11/23/2022 at 3:24 PM, mycomicshop said:

BIN was purchased May 23. 

Its almost like when detectives just ask the parties involved a reasonable question, they get a reasonable answer.   Its shocking.

[buttock]

On 11/23/2022 at 9:33 AM, mycomicshop said:

Watching the rest of the video, few other comments:

- He speculates that a book showing up multiple times as sold from HA means that the first sale didn't go through due to non-payment. I would not expect that HA is reporting to GPA based solely on an auction ending without requiring that the item actually be paid for.

- Similarly, he says he's getting set up to report to GPA. If so, I hope that HE will only report actual paid/complete sales to GPA, rather than reporting to GPA as soon as he receives a not-yet-paid order for something.

- Appreciate him including us in a big 4 with HA, CL, and CC!

-This sale was a BIN sale, not auction, so there's no way ComicLink could have "bid up" this item to $114K as he speculates. The results of all our recent auctions are publicly viewable at https://www.mycomicshop.com/auctions/list so if this AF15 had been an auction item it would be in one of those auctions there. Regular bidders in MCS auctions will know there has not been an AF 15 CGC 5.5 auctioned with us recently.

I understand the source of Detective Dave's confusion and no ill will for him getting this wrong, but next time I hope he and any other youtube sleuths will reach out to me directly if they're confused by something. I'm reachable here on the boards, conan@mycomicshop.com, and 512-808-7099.

You are doing a great job of handling this professionally, and are giving him far more patience than he deserves.  

I guarantee you this guy doesn't want people dredging up his family history and certainly not in such a speculative and uncritical manner as he is using.  

[Msgarmar]

Another explanation for the why the buyer would take a huge loss - money laundering. Buy a hugely popular book you know you can flip and resell and you aren’t worried about taking a loss. They just need that legit check.

Edited November 23, 2022 by Msgarmar
Reworded

[VintageComics]

On 11/23/2022 at 4:02 PM, Msgarmar said:

Another explanation for the why the buyer would take a huge loss - money laundering. Buy a hugely popular book you know you can flip and resell and you aren’t worried about taking a loss. They just need that legit check.

People throw things up for sale that they recently bought for many reasons, but one of the main reasons is cash flow. 

We see it on the boards ALL THE TIME. Just bought something...need to sell it. 

And auction houses can give aggressive cash advances for quality stuff so there is even further incentive if the buyer had the attention of a squirrel and wanted to chase another shiny object. 

I mean, have you looked around this hobby for more than 5 minutes? Everyone does it. 

[Stefan_W]

On 11/23/2022 at 2:55 PM, namisgr said:

Your calculation neglects the second commission (from the 'next auction').

You would pay that either way. 

[Flanders82]

I kind of feel sorry for this guy. He's still young and has already burned so many bridges with his idiotic videos.

Edited November 23, 2022 by Flanders82

[SpineTic]

Follow up video..