Mile high comics prices 3 3

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

On 11/24/2023 at 1:42 AM, darkstar said:

It's mostly just a graveyard for run-fillers and drek. It would be different if he charged a premium as the go-to seller for a particular genre or even a niche, but he isn't the source for anything in demand. Unless you are looking for a newsstand edition of a particular issue his website mostly just serves as an artifact of the internet as it used to be. 

This.

There used to be a monthly thread here back in the day detailing Chuck's latest email bulletin, each one more zany than the last. Does anyone know if he still puts those out?

Personally, I can honestly say I haven't so much looked at his website in about 20 years.

I'm sure he doesn't care. I know I don't.

[Readcomix]

His premium pricing model is not new. He was higher than other mail-order houses in the early 80’s when he was taking those Marvel centerfold ads.

My MHC experience then was I sent some books in trade, then I placed an order for a few seemingly well-priced outliers, usually low-grade early silver, and got maybe one book and a “Trade Credit Memo” that expires in six months. Then you try to pick something else…lather, rinse, repeat….I still have the expired trade credits somewhere…. I was done with Mile High Comics by 1980 or so.

[mattn792]

On 11/23/2023 at 10:11 PM, Paul (GG) © ® ™⚽️💙 said:

This.

There used to be a monthly thread here back in the day detailing Chuck's latest email bulletin, each one more zany than the last. Does anyone know if he still puts those out?

Personally, I can honestly say I haven't so much looked at his website in about 20 years.

I'm sure he doesn't care. I know I don't.

Oh he definitely still puts out the emails, almost on a daily basis.  In a recent one, he railed about ending tours of his Pueblo pottery museum on the 2nd floor because too many people who requested them didn’t know anything about pottery.  Because why take a chance at educating when you can stick your nose up in the air instead?

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

On 11/24/2023 at 4:31 AM, mattn792 said:

 In a recent one, he railed about ending tours of his Pueblo pottery museum on the 2nd floor because too many people who requested them didn’t know anything about pottery.

Wow!

I wonder if he ever sold a comic book to a rube?

[davidking623]

I bought a lot of CGC books in the early to mid 2000 from Mile High most of which were a little under half of Hulk 181 7.5 8.0 8.5 9.0 mostly and Bronze FF 9.4 9.6 . flipping is fun and still is fun .

[Hamlet]

On 11/23/2023 at 10:19 PM, Readcomix said:

His premium pricing model is not new. He was higher than other mail-order houses in the early 80’s when he was taking those Marvel centerfold ads.

My MHC experience then was I sent some books in trade, then I placed an order for a few seemingly well-priced outliers, usually low-grade early silver, and got maybe one book and a “Trade Credit Memo” that expires in six months. Then you try to pick something else…lather, rinse, repeat….I still have the expired trade credits somewhere…. I was done with Mile High Comics by 1980 or so.

Yeah, my favorite part of those ads was that he mostly charged NM prices but the condition was stated as “VG or better”.  Even in the mid-80s that seemed like a pretty bad way to try and buy comics.  I never ordered anything from him.

[ttfitz]

On 11/23/2023 at 8:02 PM, shadroch said:

Chuck used to sell new comics in his many stores, but as the industry changed, so did his operations.  At one point, he ran one of the biggest subscription services, while his wife ran one of the largest new comic distributorships.  I believe he stopped selling new books years ago. At one point, he was a big buyer of recent surplus stock so he was selling recent books, that were a few weeks old.

According to his website, his NICE subscription service is still up and running.

https://www.milehighcomics.com/nice/index.html

[shadroch]

On 11/23/2023 at 8:29 PM, Spyder! said:

Um, no. He is a thief who fleeced the Church family out of a small fortune. 

The Church children sold their father's property while he was in the hospital.  Selling something that doesn't belong to you is theft.

[ttfitz]

While I don't disagree with a lot of the criticism of Mile High, one thing people around here don't seem to recognize is that he's got a pretty large selection of (relatively) inexpensive comics available. As mentioned earlier, the website is awful to navigate, but he appears to have a minimum of around 20,000 individual issue numbers available at under $5, so under $2 with the frequent "codeword" sales.

[Buzzetta]

On 11/23/2023 at 5:55 PM, shadroch said:

He's been a major dealer since the mid-70s, and revolutionized the industry when he started selling the Church books at multiples of guide.  He's forgotten more than you'll learn in the next decade.

Some are questioning whether or not his business model is sustainable over the long term after he passes away.  He MIGHT have made enough money not to really care about what happens after he passes and only needs the business model to sustain him in his remaining years.  

[stormflora]

On 11/23/2023 at 11:11 PM, comicstock said:

My wife and I stopped by Mile High 5-6 years ago.  It's in a hugh warehouse facility, definitely nothing fancy.  Inside there are dozens and dozens and dozens of steel racks, each 4-6 levels high.  I guess easily a million books.  There was a couple of glass showcases with some Golden Age and keys but nothing stupendous. 

Oh hey, I think I bought some comics from you a few days ago, lol. If your username is the same as your eBay account, that is. Tom & Jerry.

[stormflora]

On 11/24/2023 at 12:09 AM, ttfitz said:

While I don't disagree with a lot of the criticism of Mile High, one thing people around here don't seem to recognize is that he's got a pretty large selection of (relatively) inexpensive comics available. As mentioned earlier, the website is awful to navigate, but he appears to have a minimum of around 20,000 individual issue numbers available at under $5, so under $2 with the frequent "codeword" sales.

From what I've seen, there's definitely an overall upcharge on everything, but that's the cost you pay for having a wider selection to choose from. You're really supposed to only buy when there's a sale, like the current Black Friday one.

On 11/24/2023 at 12:15 AM, Buzzetta said:

Some are questioning whether or not his business model is sustainable over the long term after he passes away.  He MIGHT have made enough money not to really care about what happens after he passes and only needs the business model to sustain him in his remaining years.  

As consumers, we aren't really seeing the big picture. He runs a business. Business functions to make money. If business has existed for all this time, chances are, it's making money.

As for why, I think it's because of the physical customers, rich collectors, and huge mail orders from whales.

Edited November 24, 2023 by stormflora

[Buzzetta]

On 11/24/2023 at 1:19 AM, stormflora said:

From what I've seen, there's definitely an overall upcharge on everything, but that's the cost you pay for having a wider selection to choose from. You're really supposed to only buy when there's a sale, like the current Black Friday one.

As consumers, we aren't really seeing the big picture. He runs a business. Business functions to make money. If business has existed for all this time, chances are, it's making money.

As for why, I think it's because of the physical customers, and huge mail orders from whales.

Oh, I am talking about the recent (last few years) dramatic shift in pricing and the concerns others outside of MHC have about long term viability.   I agree with you about the consumers not seeing the overall big picture.  As Chuck has aged, his outlook on life might have changed as well.  

[stormflora]

In other news, decided that I'm not going to buy from MHC after all. Don't like how PayPal isn't an option, and I'm not sure what to expect buying slightly overpriced Good graded issues. Found some testimonials searching around talking about how MHC overgrades Silver Age and older comics, which isn't promising to know. So I wouldn't be surprised if their Good is actually a Fair. Maybe with actual photos I'd be more inclined to purchase, but without any, it's a pass from me. I'm not going to buy blind.

[Buzzetta]

On 11/24/2023 at 2:56 AM, stormflora said:

In other news, decided that I'm not going to buy from MHC after all. Don't like how PayPal isn't an option, and I'm not sure what to expect buying slightly overpriced Good graded issues. Found some testimonials searching around talking about how MHC overgrades Silver Age and older comics, which isn't promising to know. So I wouldn't be surprised if their Good is actually a Fair. Maybe with actual photos I'd be more inclined to purchase, but without any, it's a pass from me. I'm not going to buy blind.

Have you taken a look at MyComicShop?

[stormflora]

On 11/24/2023 at 3:14 AM, Buzzetta said:

Have you taken a look at MyComicShop?

I've bought from MCS plenty of times. But they don't have what I need at this time, within my budget. At least, not until their Cyber Monday sale.

[Ken Aldred]

On 11/24/2023 at 1:26 AM, Falcon760 said:

I'd certainly pay a premium for a NM copy of a good book I've been looking for, even a modern book for convenience sake, but the problem is that the grading is not correct.  Comics sold as "NM" aren't NM.  So basically they're charging a premium for books that may or may not be in the condition they're listing.  In my opinion, they just don't really care either way, and you can't really check because there are no pictures.  It's just not worth it to shop there.  Ever.  

With premium comics you need the safety net of buying with confidence on the grade. Simple common sense and caution, especially for those of us on a budget who literally can’t afford repeat mistakes, or the fuss.

[stormflora]

On 11/24/2023 at 3:44 AM, Ken Aldred said:

With premium comics you need the safety net of buying with confidence on the grade. Simple common sense and caution, especially for those of us on a budget who literally can’t afford repeat mistakes, or the fuss.

Yeah, that's the whole reason why graded comics exist. They guarantee you will get what it is you pay for. Otherwise, anyone who claims NM/M on anything other than some Modern Age comic is more than likely to be overgrading, unless it's a file copy from a reputable seller. But even if it is, chances are, they would be getting it graded already, which means you are not likely to get anything better than a VF/NM-. Sellers aren't stupid; they know they can make more than you since they can cherry pick issues.

To be fair though, it is a viable tactic to buy VF/NM- copies to heat press and hope that it brings up the grade a bit.

[DougC]

Chuck has done some despicable stuff like blaming hurricane victims for not buying comics and much more... but if you are looking for a modern he will have it.

About five years ago I was looking for a 9.8 copy of X-Men Forever Apha Bookmarket Variant; this was an impossible issue at the best of times back in 2009 and even today your not going to find NM+ copies (I own all three that have been graded). I had feelers out everywhere and finally sucked it up and emailed MHC who had copies ready to sell locally. Obviously you cannot trust their grading so I took a trip and was very surprised with their customer service. They had about 20+ copies IIRC and allowed me to inspect and select the 5 best, afterwords they gave me a tour and talked about their inventory. Surprisingly Chuck will blind buy bulk (I took this from inference) from around the country which will not be gone through for multiple years as some of it is even stored paletted in 50ft trailers. Inventory overall was a huge problem as even if they go through something to select pull value, by the time they are finished what is "value" has changed again.

People on the CGC forums are not MHS target audience; I have their newsletter subscribed on one of my email accounts and anything that is close to a raw key is snapped up quickly at their outrageous prices. I do not know who is buying X-Men(1991) #1s for $20 but someone is.

Edited November 24, 2023 by DougC

[Chip Cataldo]

DougC just posted one example but I'd be curious as to what other stuff Chuck has that is "difficult to restock" and not available anywhere else. As big as MHC is, it's not bigger than eBay as far as selection and probably just as much of a crapshoot with grading. Doug was lucky enough to be able to inspect and select as far as grading but most won't have that option.