Haggling. An ingrained part of the hobby? 1 1

[universal soldier]

I have no problem asking for a reasonable discount when purchasing multiple books at a con. I will do a quick check of value and as long as the books are not insanely priced, I come up with a amount that works for me. Sometimes dealers will counter back and if it still works, then we make the deal. My rule of thumb is asking myself if my offer is reasonable  (somewhere between 15-30% off asking) and not insulting. Locally, there are a few shops that make it known that there is wiggle room and other shops I only visit when they have a 20-30% off sale. I've never really purchased a "big" book at a con since I find prices to be on the higher end and mostly firm. I do kick the tires though...

[Ken Aldred]

I angered a comic mart and trading card dealer over here in the mid 90s so much with this bit of negotiation that he was still fuming about it in the mid 2000s.

I offered him £22 for a set of 4 books, and he started screaming his head off in despair about how attendees were always asking him for discounts, and refused to sell them to me.

I went back about half an hour later and he made a point of telling me that he’d sold them to someone else. I asked for how much, and it was for £22. 

Clearly, there were other issues in play here, and I must’ve done something previously to really annoy him.

In the mid 2000s I was looking through a box of the same titles and he made a point of telling me that those books had sold again earlier during the mart. I felt a bit sorry for him. Get over it, please.

That said, holding a grudge over such a triviality for a decade was quite petty.

Quite a well-known and respected British dealer.

 

Edited September 12 by Ken Aldred

[Ken Aldred]

On 9/11/2024 at 6:03 PM, southern cross said:

What's this PC,  for the personal collection?

Do collectors have a non personal collection they're keeping.

I was thinking they might have a second, digital comic book collection.

That would also explain it.

Edited September 11 by Ken Aldred

[joeypost]

If dealers have crazy high sticker prices, I throw out crazy lowball offers. 

[LowGradeBronze]

If the prices at a fair look odd and taking 10pc off lands you on a round number, you know they have inflated their price and their strategy is to let it go for the round number. Knowing that, you can try and chip off a little bit more, see where it gets you! The worst is they say 'no.' 

@Ken Aldred Can you let us know the initials of the well known dealer? Or at least the letter their first name begins with? (It's not D McA is it?)

[Ken Aldred]

On 9/12/2024 at 5:08 PM, LowGradeBronze said:

If the prices at a fair look odd and taking 10pc off lands you on a round number, you know they have inflated their price and their strategy is to let it go for the round number. Knowing that, you can try and chip off a little bit more, see where it gets you! The worst is they say 'no.' 

@Ken Aldred Can you let us know the initials of the well known dealer? Or at least the letter their first name begins with? (It's not D McA is it?)

PM sent.

[The Less Blob]

My haggling usually comes when I'm buying a stack of books, rarely for a single item, not that I've never asked "would you take $100" for something marked at $120. And yes, it is part of this game, but annoying when someone thinks they're doing you a favor offering $2 for an item marked at $3.

[The Less Blob]

A long time ago in the 90s back in the St. Paul church show days in Manhattan I was perusing a regular dealer there (for all I know he is on these boards, although he is probably in his 70s now), skinny long hair guy, blondish hair, I think his skinny wife would come too....  and that day I decided it might be fun to go for some early SA Wonder Woman comics so I pulled out a few and literally before I could even make an offer (and before I said any words that would indicate I was trying to haggle) he told me no, he doesn't discount, thos are expensive (like I couldn't afford them?), was really obnoxious about it. This was the first and last time I went to his table (which had nobody else there). I was a regular at those shows and typically dropped about $500-1000 (I used to be single and made money), which was real money then, I wasn't just chasing dollar box books. It was weird and quite offputting. I'm not going to pay your mortgage, but if you're one of my regular tables at a show I'm going to spend $100-400, guys like me add up over the course of a day, don't tell me to F off before I've even opened my mouth.