The reluctant seller

[Artboy99]

I have 3 people that say they want to sell me there comics....or do they?

 

1. The first is a workplace acquaintance that has ASM 19-194 in fine + condition. I made him a serious offer and he figured it out with a calculator in hand and determined it isnt a bad offer. He then said all he has to do is get them from out of his garage. It has been 2 YEARS!!!

 

2. Another co-worker. He has an 8.5 Hulk 181 that he wants to sell me. We have even agreed on the price: 350 dollars. Cheap by todays standards yes...well I didnt tell you when I made the offer :PP.

 

3. Friend of mine got married and just had his first baby. We talked about me buying his ASM issues 250+. I asked how much, he said 1 dollar an issue. I said fine and showed up at his house to pick them all up and had 250 dollars in my pocket. Well, he couldnt find all the books that day, so I said I would come back. Now that he has found them he only has 98 of the books from 250 up and now he wants 2 dollars each ( they are at best fine condition so to me they are readers ). I guess he figures I am willing to spend 250 dollars for his comics regardless of how many of them I buy.

 

Anyone else run into this type of seller? The reluctant tantalizer? I talk to all of them all the time and yes we still talk about me buying. It just never happens.

 

 

Artboy99

[Calamerica]

Do what I do:

 

I make One Time Cash Offers

 

This makes them put up or shut up. 8 out of ten times they shut up. The 9th one tries for a bit less a Selling price after s/he gets kicked out of the LCS's; the 10th one is your transaction.

 

Been there done this CAL

[Artboy99]

Do what I do:

 

I make One Time Cash Offers

 

This makes them put up or shut up. 8 out of ten times they shut up. The 9th one tries for a bit less a Selling price after s/he gets kicked out of the LCS's; the 10th one is your transaction.

 

Been there done this CAL

 

So what you are telling me to do is ignore their constant mentions of me buying their collections and buy the books elsewhere since I made cash offers to all 3.

 

Artboy99

[HouseofComics.Com]

Lotta comic collectors at that workplace!

 

I remember your story about the guy with the run from #19 up from a long time ago.

 

I wouldn't bring it up again with them but if any of them brought it up I'd shame them on their previous behavior. "Oh, the comics you offered to me for $1 each and then welched on the deal?"

 

Marc

[joe_collector]

Lotta comic collectors at that workplace!

 

Man, you must *not* work in IT.

[wrcomics]

I have 3 people that say they want to sell me there comics....or do they?

 

1. The first is a workplace acquaintance that has ASM 19-194 in fine + condition. I made him a serious offer and he figured it out with a calculator in hand and determined it isnt a bad offer. He then said all he has to do is get them from out of his garage. It has been 2 YEARS!!!

 

2. Another co-worker. He has an 8.5 Hulk 181 that he wants to sell me. We have even agreed on the price: 350 dollars. Cheap by todays standards yes...well I didnt tell you when I made the offer :PP.

 

3. Friend of mine got married and just had his first baby. We talked about me buying his ASM issues 250+. I asked how much, he said 1 dollar an issue. I said fine and showed up at his house to pick them all up and had 250 dollars in my pocket. Well, he couldnt find all the books that day, so I said I would come back. Now that he has found them he only has 98 of the books from 250 up and now he wants 2 dollars each ( they are at best fine condition so to me they are readers ). I guess he figures I am willing to spend 250 dollars for his comics regardless of how many of them I buy.

 

Anyone else run into this type of seller? The reluctant tantalizer? I talk to all of them all the time and yes we still talk about me buying. It just never happens.

 

 

Artboy99

 

I did meet an old lady locally who had a collection left to her from husband who had passed away several years ago. Nice Silver Age superhero books- Sups, Bats, ASM, etc. all nicely bagged and boarded. I never actually SAW the books but was presented a list and asked how much I would offer. "Sight unseen", I said, "$2/book on the 60s books, but I could make a better offer if I could see the collection." She told me (in a nice way) that her daughter looked some of them up in a book and this one was worth $400 and that was worth $200 and so on. I replied, "Not to be rude ma'am but those figures are best for appraisals and insurance. Very rarely are those prices realized in the market and those prices are for NM condition books which may or may not apply." I never heard from her again, but I assume she is still sitting on those books waiting for Overstreet or Wizard to ring her up and pay book value for her collection.

[SuperBird]

won an eBay auction for Superman 17 (golden age). The seller emailed me 2 days later that they decided they did not want to sell the comic! Got my money refunded at least...

[ft88]

It happens all the time. The seller is in a bad situation, they know they have something on value but no knowledge of what they have. If they sell, they know they have been rooked (and probably have) and so they just keep saying no.

 

The only collections that sell are those where the seller just wants to "get rid of them" The most efficient way would be to sell on consignment but the hassle there seems to be too big a hurdle so once again it just becomes easier to keep 'em, if there's no other motivation.

[the blob]

Wow, you actually have 3 friends/co-workers who collect comics? Do you work for Marvel or something? Since graduating from college I think I've only been friends with one person who had the disease (who I didn't know through the comic shop) and we weren't such great friends. One of my roommates in college was an avid collector, but at that time I had absolutely no interest in comics.

 

The answer is: the few bucks they were getting must not be such a big deal to any of them. Also, your eagerness to conclude the deal probably makes them think they agreed to too little $.

[Darrell F]

I have a co worker who is into comics. He is just getting back into them after about 10 years off so he still has a lot of catching up to do.

[joe_collector]

Wow, you actually have 3 friends/co-workers who collect comics?

 

That is NOT what he said. He stated that he had 3 co-workers who owned some old comics. Totally different.

 

At work, virtually no one actively collects comics circa 2006, but there are plenty who have old comics sitting around, possibly from a collection that's sat for a decade or two, from their childhood or through family members. One guy brought a few in, but they were all low-grade late-60's/early-70's that belonged to his older brother, and this guy had never collected at all.

 

Collectors may be dwindling, but the comics are still out there.

[skybolt]

Wow, you actually have 3 friends/co-workers who collect comics?

 

That is NOT what he said. He stated that he had 3 co-workers who owned some old comics. Totally different.

 

At work, virtually no one actively collects comics circa 2006, but there are plenty who have old comics sitting around, possibly from a collection that's sat for a decade or two, from their childhood or through family members. One guy brought a few in, but they were all low-grade late-60's/early-70's that belonged to his older brother, and this guy had never collected at all.

 

Collectors may be dwindling, but the comics are still out there.

 

None of my co-workers collect comic books, and are only interested in talking about the financial side if I mention my collection. When I tell them that all I care about is owning these books for many years and just getting most of my money back, they look at me like I'm

[infinite_comics-migration]

won an eBay auction for Superman 17 (golden age). The seller emailed me 2 days later that they decided they did not want to sell the comic! Got my money refunded at least...

 

Could you give us their Ebay name so we can make sure not to bid on their auctions? Thanks.

[Artboy99]

Lotta comic collectors at that workplace!

 

I remember your story about the guy with the run from #19 up from a long time ago.

 

I wouldn't bring it up again with them but if any of them brought it up I'd shame them on their previous behavior. "Oh, the comics you offered to me for $1 each and then welched on the deal?"

 

Marc

 

Since I work with the guy, I talk to him everyday. He works out of a different location though. Everyday he says " Yeah yeah, I have been working on that garage to get to those comics, keep on me about those ok? I want to get the deal done". Then he and his wife have their second baby so I know it will be delayed again.

 

Artboy99

[blazingbob]

Did it ever occur that maybe the sale of the books isn't as important to them as to you? Out of sight, out of mind. When people approach us it's important, to them it's a moment of their life. Welcome to the life of being a dealer.

 

It's up to you to "close the deal" or follow up with the them, not the other way around.

[chrisco37]

How 'bout a new "rants & raves"?

 

You're slacking, Bob.

[the blob]

Well JC, fine, at some point it looks like they collectED comics. one doesn't stumble up ASM 19 - 194 by accident. Sounds like some collecting was going on.

 

And one doesn't accumulate 250 Spidey books either by accident.

 

The well preserved Hulk 181, well, I guess that could be random.

[the blob]

They all might have the disease, even if it's in remission. I didn't touch my comics from ages 14-21 and then I started up again in law school.

[joe_collector]

Well JC, fine, at some point it looks like they collectED comics. one doesn't stumble up ASM 19 - 194 by accident. Sounds like some collecting was going on.

 

Of course, but again, that is NOT what you said.

 

If you wonder why I'm being so specific about this, it's because many of the knobs on here just LOVE to jump in and start screaming that "there is no way there are so many active collectors", which obviously is not what we're talking about here.

[ft88]

I just came from seeing another 70's collection of about 6000, 20 cent to 60 cent comics pretty much every title. We're talking Welcome back Kotter type titles in addition to the usual suspects. All loose and bumping around the boxes. But still in decent shape. She had me and a local dealer look at them and then mailed a box to another dealer to get a third parties opinion. Kudos to her for doing it right but I have to say i am not that excited about "buying them all" Sure the X-men run will be nice and a quick turnaround but how do you go about flipping 4000 books like Micronauts and Team America?

 

Starts to feel like Neat Stuff after awhile.

 

Ed