When You See a Piece For Sale From Someone You Won't Buy From... 1 1

[Dr. Balls]

No one will ever know! You know you want it! It adds to your "collection"!

Still can't do it. Time to move on...

[comix4fun]

On 2/16/2024 at 10:51 AM, Dr. Balls said:

No one will ever know! You know you want it! It adds to your "collection"!

Still can't do it. Time to move on...

Always an easy call for me. A lot of comic dealers, art dealers, hobby dealers treat their customers like trash, treat ethics like they are for other people, and assume the addicts will keep buying no matter what they do.....
No piece is important enough to deal with folks on my personal black list. 

When I see a piece like that, I lament that it was lost in a fire....

[Dr. Balls]

On 2/16/2024 at 10:11 AM, comix4fun said:

Always an easy call for me. A lot of comic dealers, art dealers, hobby dealers treat their customers like trash, treat ethics like they are for other people, and assume the addicts will keep buying no matter what they do.....
No piece is important enough to deal with folks on my personal black list. 

When I see a piece like that, I lament that it was lost in a fire....

Yeah, that is for sure. I only had two dealers (one now that Cadence imploded) that I have this rule for. And I'm fortunate that my desire to not deal with them is customer-service based, not because I got ripped off. I am also thankful it's not a real significant piece, I'll likely forget it's for sale by this afternoon.

[Rick2you2]

On 2/16/2024 at 12:20 PM, Dr. Balls said:

Yeah, that is for sure. I only had two dealers (one now that Cadence imploded) that I have this rule for. And I'm fortunate that my desire to not deal with them is customer-service based, not because I got ripped off. I am also thankful it's not a real significant piece, I'll likely forget it's for sale by this afternoon.

The US entered into treaties with the USSR, and they did some good. Even if someone is “bad”, I think you have to weigh the pro’s and con’s. Of course, if it isn’t that major, that’s another factor.

[comix4fun]

On 2/16/2024 at 11:20 AM, Dr. Balls said:

Yeah, that is for sure. I only had two dealers (one now that Cadence imploded) that I have this rule for. And I'm fortunate that my desire to not deal with them is customer-service based, not because I got ripped off. I am also thankful it's not a real significant piece, I'll likely forget it's for sale by this afternoon.

Customer service issues, personality difference, etc. are one level....maybe you prefer not to give that person/operation the benefit of your business. Maybe they can improve. Maybe they eventually mature. I can see maybe that's not the end of the story.

Dishonesty, shady descriptions, entirely unethical or immoral practices (like seeing the dealer rip off an out of touch or older collector by lying about valuation, or intentionally misattribute a piece to defraud a collector) are more what puts pieces in the "lost in a fire" category. 

There's nothing about acquiring a piece of art that's curing cancer, saving the starving children, or bringing us closer to world peace....so it's never been worth it to me to start compromising myself and rewarding a scumbag with my cash/business. I'd think of it every time I looked at the art. In the end it's just art, and never worth trading integrity for it. 

[MAR1979]

On 2/16/2024 at 12:52 PM, Rick2you2 said:

The US entered into treaties with the USSR, and they did some good. Even if someone is “bad”, I think you have to weigh the pro’s and con’s. Of course, if it isn’t that major, that’s another factor.

USSR actually had less rhetoric and far greater truth telling capabililty than the dude from Boston and the San Mateo bros for example.

Edited February 16 by MAR1979

[dirtymartini1]

Sometimes acquiring the art is a small portion of the joy/enjoyment you get lookin at it once it’s framed on the wall or in the itoya. I can def see how a sour interaction can sully a piece and change your pov on it after the fact of getting it.

[Will_K]

For some art reps or dealers, I'm sure they won't do business with certain people as well.

[J.Sid]

Great thread. I used to think I would be strong, but then a grail-ish piece from my childhood showed up for sale from "Seller/Dealer/Website X"

It was bad. I held out for a long while. But it was one of those stupid scenarios where they raised the price a couple times after it didn't sell. In the end I swallowed my pride and paid up. It was during the pandemic surge and I didn't want the price to get raised even higher!

[Dr. Balls]

On 2/16/2024 at 7:51 PM, J.Sid said:

Great thread. I used to think I would be strong, but then a grail-ish piece from my childhood showed up for sale from "Seller/Dealer/Website X"

It was bad. I held out for a long while. But it was one of those stupid scenarios where they raised the price a couple times after it didn't sell. In the end I swallowed my pride and paid up. It was during the pandemic surge and I didn't want the price to get raised even higher!

I imagine if the art is right, it makes you rethink your perspective towards who you're buying it from. Especially when it has that deeper meaning to it.

[Dr. Balls]

On 2/16/2024 at 6:40 PM, Will_K said:

For some art reps or dealers, I'm sure they won't do business with certain people as well.

Yeah, I wonder how that works - if you're a "problem customer" and you want to buy a piece of art from a dealer that you've bought from before - and he doesn't want to sell to you - how does that play out? The seller gets the request/PO, sees the name of the Problem Customer and then tells them to pound sand?

[Xatari]

Likely. There are definitely some people with whom I won’t do business any more. I’m sure the same goes the other way. Personalities don’t always align, and some practices I do not condone.

I still hope to support the artists in the end, but sometimes the middleman ruins the opportunity. In my own collecting, I have chosen not to support individuals whom I believe don’t have the hobby’s best interest in mind. We all have a choice in how we spend our money. 

In the end, I will miss out on certain pieces, but there are always other pages out there that will satisfy the chase. 

[Rick2you2]

On 2/16/2024 at 10:04 PM, Dr. Balls said:

Yeah, I wonder how that works - if you're a "problem customer" and you want to buy a piece of art from a dealer that you've bought from before - and he doesn't want to sell to you - how does that play out? The seller gets the request/PO, sees the name of the Problem Customer and then tells them to pound sand?

Use a straw man. Let someone else buy it for you and reimburse him. 

[buttock]

There's never a shortage of things to buy.  My girl gets tired of me saying, "you don't understand, I've been wanting this for 20 years".  Move on and buy something else.  

[Terry E. Gibbs]

Kind of just did it. Paid maybe 2-3 times what it would go for on ebay, even if I was not bidding but best artist ever on one of my two favourite characters, one maybe the second best page (had the best). Money burned as will maybe only ever get back 3-40% but is a take to the grave page. If it is one of " those pages" you all know you will go after it, no matter who has it.

Afterwards you drink heavily to try and erase the memory of all the junk you had to go through, but you will still do it.

Edited February 17 by Terry E. Gibbs

[PhilipB2k17]

On 2/16/2024 at 12:52 PM, Rick2you2 said:

The US entered into treaties with the USSR, and they did some good. Even if someone is “bad”, I think you have to weigh the pro’s and con’s. Of course, if it isn’t that major, that’s another factor.

Not a good analogy. If a business continually takes advantage of its customer base (for various reasons) the market should dictate what happens: People stop doing business with them. If that happens, they have to either change their business practices, or stop gaming the tax laws by pretending to be dealers. 

[KirbyCollector]

I stopped buying from a certain dealer after he took a hard political stance a few years ago. I'd rather support dealers who don't tell me what I should think -- or who to hate.

Edited February 20 by KirbyCollector

[zhamlau]

On 2/20/2024 at 12:08 PM, KirbyCollector said:

I stopped buying from a certain dealer after he took a hard political stance a few years ago. I'd rather support dealers who don't tell me what I should think -- or who to hate.

The last 20 (and 4 in particular) years have beaten the desire to care about what any one else says or thinks out of me. I understand now we’re all just silly emotion driven people, from the “experts” to the layman. It’s best to just accept people are a little broken now and not take them so seriously. 

[KirbyCollector]

On 2/20/2024 at 12:15 PM, zhamlau said:

The last 20 (and 4 in particular) years have beaten the desire to care about what any one else says or thinks out of me. I understand now we’re all just silly emotion driven people, from the “experts” to the layman. It’s best to just accept people are a little broken now and not take them so seriously. 

I agree with you, but when you are giving thousands of dollars to someone, and someone takes a highly public stance, you are funding that POV. I'd just rather deal with someone whose politics are unknown.

[Rick2you2]

On 2/20/2024 at 11:19 AM, PhilipB2k17 said:

Not a good analogy. If a business continually takes advantage of its customer base (for various reasons) the market should dictate what happens: People stop doing business with them. If that happens, they have to either change their business practices, or stop gaming the tax laws by pretending to be dealers. 

But, it can’t and doesn’t, in restricted markets. They can be restricted in ways like patent protection, or cable TV, which is only now cracking a bit with streaming, but not if you still want cable. The market only listens to its customer base to gain a market advantage. And with OA, every product is unique. I’m not sure what the reference to tax laws is.