YouTuber kicked out of 2 Comic Shops, Leaves Negative Reviews 1 1

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 2/17/2023 at 1:30 PM, jcjames said:

Strap-on instantly comes across as a self-entitled narcissistic jerkk. 

Wearing a camera into someone else's place of business (that they pay rent, utilities and maintenance on) unannounced, just so you can record your interactions and snarky opinions and then monetize them for yourself on your own "channel", i.e. earn money for yourself by showing what another person's brick-and-mortar business and inventory looks like, and then actually insulting their personal appearance, choice of music, inventory supplies, etc. 

And THEN have the nerve to USE their place of business and location to fish for customers that are only in your radius of sight because of what the person you're insulting paid for!  

GTFO you vain, twerpy, little self-centered POS leech. Go build and create something real yourself, rather than just strap-on a camera to record yourself sucking off the hard work, investments and risks that actual grown-up business-owners do to earn their livings.   

 

[the blob]

On 2/16/2023 at 7:23 PM, Jesse-Lee said:

"Prices books at the register" is what almost got me kind of kicked out of a comic shop. I found 3 books I wanted - one was a run filler I needed marked at $2, one was a $12-15 book marked $5, and one was a $30-40 book marked $12 - 1 DC and 2 Marvels, all different titles. The owner took the books from me and said he had a new policy of double-checking prices because "too many people are ripping [him] off" and it was suspicious that I was buying such "random" books. He looked up the $5 book first, and when he saw it going on eBay for $15, he went into accusation mode. He asked if I knew it was "under-priced," and I said yes, that's why I pulled it. He told me that too many people were trying to "F" him (along with a whole bunch of other stuff, it was a long tirade), and if I wanted it, I could pay $15 or I could leave. I said I'd pass. But then he weirdly asked if I wanted the other 2 books, and without looking them up, he rang me up. My hackles were up, but I wanted the books, so I paid and left - the $12 book was an X-men 244 newsstand. It was so strange - I've never gone back there and never will.

That said, I did see this video yesterday and was immediately turned off by the YouTuber - there's a way to be a good person about things, and I think some of these YouTubers have "main character energy" as my kids would say; they're the star of their show and everyone else is there to serve them. I watch a few comic YouTubers, but my favorite is Very Gary - he has good content, and I've bought a few books off his Whatnot and always had really good experiences.

Ripping him off by paying the marked price? Update the prices on your books dude or sell them online if you don't have the local clientelle to pay those prices. That X-Men 244 newsstand may sit for years if marked at the ebay newsie price, not enough folks care. I invest 2 hours digging through your dollar box books and find the treasures, DO NOT re-price them on my after I have done the work. It is often why I usually buy some more marginal books too and fatten the stack a but, I figure if I only buy the gems they might just say "thanks for finding these for me" and re-price them, but if they're mixed in with other stuff, maybe not.

 

With that said, there were $50 books my old shop would not be able to sell for $5 to their regular super hero collecting customers and, shockingly, there were not a lot of folks going in there looking for flips. He used to put high grade Winnie the Pooh 1s out for $1 each. He had about 30-40 different gold key/whitman books and had 25-50 copies of each. Even then it was easily $25 on ebay. Literally nobody but me would buy them. 

 

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by the blob

[the blob]

On 2/16/2023 at 7:58 PM, jay_pepe_todd said:

I peeped the reviews of the place and the owner's response to any negative reviews are really out there. He sounds......super intense and aggressive. A little like he has issues with emotional regulation....The youtuber was 100% wrong in trying to sell in the shop, but looking at the owner's response to multiple people who say his practices make them uncomfortable lead me to believe that he was probably also acting like a jerk that day. 

What, a comic shop owner who isn't the gold standard for emotional maturity?

[jcjames]

On 2/17/2023 at 11:49 AM, THE_BEYONDER said:

Well, I got it out of my system at least. 

 

[thehumantorch]

On 2/17/2023 at 11:30 AM, jcjames said:

Strap-on instantly comes across as a self-entitled narcissistic jerkk. 

Wearing a camera into someone else's place of business (that they pay rent, utilities and maintenance on) unannounced, just so you can record your interactions and snarky opinions and then monetize them for yourself on your own "channel", i.e. earn money for yourself by showing what another person's brick-and-mortar business and inventory looks like, and then actually insulting their personal appearance, choice of music, inventory supplies, etc. 

And THEN have the nerve to USE their place of business and location to fish for customers that are only in your radius of sight because of what the person you're insulting paid for!  

GTFO you vain, twerpy, little self-centered POS leech. Go build and create something real yourself, rather than just strap-on a camera to record yourself sucking off the hard work, investments and risks that actual grown-up business-owners do to earn their livings.   

 

How do you really feel?

[Ken Aldred]

On 2/17/2023 at 5:58 PM, thehumantorch said:

The question for me is, why would I want to be influenced and why would I watch someone labeled as an influencer?

Basically my disinterest about influencers.  Why would I want to be manipulated, controlled, led on, potentially misled, whatever words you substitute, by one distant opinion?

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by Ken Aldred

[jcjames]

On 2/17/2023 at 12:21 PM, thehumantorch said:

How do you really feel?

[Bookery]

For me, the issue isn't that he criticized shops... certainly it wouldn't be my style with some of the way these business are run/look.  Reviews, good or bad, are a centuries-old tradition.  The real problem is the unannounced video-taping.  Even then, if he came into my shop, asked permission, and I was the only one in the place, I would probably allow it.  I don't have anything to hide.  However, if customers were in the shop, I wouldn't allow it (unless he specifically got their approval as well).  I do not agree with the nature of some of the criticisms, however.  It's fine if you don't care for the clutter, or the prices, or a lack of organization, or even the attitude you received from staff.  But I'm not sure it's germane to make fun of their appearance or taste in music or even social skills unless they are being overtly rude.  Surprisingly, many of us shop owners haven't won any pageants nor moved into comics retailing after our stint as models.  I mean, c'mon... making fun of us in that way is sort of like shooting fish in a barrel... 

[the blob]

You shouldn't try to sell your books in someone else's shop. Period. Do it in the parking lot.

Once I was in my main shop a guy comes in with at least $200-250 worth of SA books (this was 25 years ago), he asks for $20, my shop owner would only give him $10. He walks out and I offer him the $20. My shop owner was not very happy with me ("nothin for nothin if you ever do that again...."), he was convinced the guy was desperate enough that he would come back and take the $10. Anyway, I was mainly just interested in the main key in the pile (the magneto/Thor JIM), so I gave him the rest of the stack I had bought and kept that one. I guess he got over it given that I am his son's god father.

[MAR1979]

On 2/17/2023 at 2:33 PM, Ken Aldred said:

Basically my disinterest about influencers.  Why would I want to be manipulated, controlled, led on, potentially misled, whatever words you substitute, by one distant opinion?

 

Every generation has Sheep and Lemmings

Edited February 17, 2023 by MAR1979

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 2/17/2023 at 3:24 PM, MAR1979 said:

Every generation has Sheep

[THE_BEYONDER]

[Bookery]

On 2/17/2023 at 3:02 PM, the blob said:

You shouldn't try to sell your books in someone else's shop. Period. Do it in the parking lot.

And not even in the parking lot if the lot is part of the rent or ownership of the shop.  I pay $10k per year in property tax... you don't get to do business on my property for free. And, as I said before... you may see me turn down a given batch of books... but you have no idea if that's a one off, or whether I have an ongoing relationship with that seller.  To insert yourself into the business of a customer you would have had no way of meeting if you weren't reaping the benefits of my physical location and all of the advertising and good-will it has built over decades is a big no.  You want to be a wheeler-dealer... get your own shop, run it the way you want to, file all of your tax forms (110 of them per year in my case), and in general put in the work.  

[THE_BEYONDER]

Since you’re following along, I’ll toss in my unsolicited opinion.

  You seem to have followers that enjoy your content, so I decided to give your latest video a try.   The video basically ends when you’re asked to turn off the camera.  You then wonder why you didn’t get any good stuff or enjoy yourself.

If the goal is to get books & enjoy yourself....maybe leave the camera in your bag.

Edited February 17, 2023 by THE_BEYONDER

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 2/17/2023 at 4:18 PM, Ironic said:

This reminds of the time someone (Ewart?) tried to sell a customer books at Blazing Bob's convention table. It did not end well

Do tell @blazingbob 

[Gaard]

On 2/16/2023 at 12:20 AM, Semicentennial said:

but to get kicked out from two stores within an hour for the same reason was his own fault.

When I read this, I was reminded of something I read a long time ago...

"If you see an ahole in the morning, ok, you saw an ahole.

If you see aholes all day long, chances are you're the ahole."

 

[Transplant]

On 2/17/2023 at 3:22 PM, THE_BEYONDER said:

Do tell @blazingbob 

Was the first story that came to mind, but the blazing one is full of so many.  Or full of something, I can't tell.

[ttfitz]

On 2/17/2023 at 9:25 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

You have nothing to apologize for. In fact, I think it was your duty to share this with the hobby.

[Dave2739]

On 2/17/2023 at 4:14 PM, THE_BEYONDER said:

Since you’re following along, I’ll toss in my unsolicited opinion.

  You seem to have followers that enjoy your content, so I decided to give your latest video a try.   The video basically ends when you’re asked to turn off the camera.  You then wonder why you didn’t get any good stuff or enjoy yourself.

If the goal is to get books & enjoy yourself....maybe leave the camera in your bag.

And if you are reading this Stinky Goose, I see that you are now selling Strap On shirts. I don't think you are quite getting it when you embrace the name, but you do you.

[toro]

Geez, I hope the guy comes to my LCS.  He would hate it. Not much is in order and you have to dig through boxes.  But his customers like it, they like him and he's been in business over 30 years and he is also old school and hates CGC.  I think he would probably politely ask him to leave and then break his camera and kick his behind out.