My first experience with Popscomicbooks

[G.A.tor]

hello all...

I wanted to start a "new" thread, because I wanted the post to be "fresh" without any previously stated arguments for or against popscomicbooks.

Let me preface this by saying that this is my first dealing with them, and I wanted to give an accounting of that dealing, so that each may form their own opinion...I know that others have reported on these boards some negative issues with them and given warnings and some have responded with positive statements, so I simply wanted to report my thoughts/experience (again, one transaction does not a history make, but if this first one is any indication, then I suspect I will have more!) for anyone on the board to view. After all, the main function of this board is to discuss comic books, and with that comes discussion about buyers and sellers of our collecting medium.

Here is the book I bought...cgc5.5 More Fun 54, detached CF, white pages.

I made an offer to Tina at pops, via an ebay auction listing, she responded and countered, we discussed via email, and we agreed on a price. Now, let me say that Tina's responses from the very first one, were both professional, and very cordial, not to mention extremely timely. I will also add that I can be kind of "specific" (i.e. "pain in the bottom") in setting up a deal with someone that I have never done business with, and Tina responded to each of my inquiries with honesty and professionalism.

Once the deal was made (again, neither of us had any previous dealings together), we established how payment was to be made, when payment was to be made, when and how the book was to be shipped, etc. Each stage went off perfectly (almost "too" easy), and Tina was extremely helpful and flexible in how the deal would be worked out to each of our mutual satisfaction.

That said, I was extremely impressed with her, and very pleased with the purchase. I am not posting this to start any debates, and I understand most of the issues with them have come from raw book purchases (and this was a cgc book...but in their description, they stated they thought the book looked nicer than the cgc grade, and having it in my hands, I would agree). Finally, I wanted to add that they shipped the book extremely well packed. I simply wanted to give credit , where credit was due, and to publicly post (and I was not in any way asked to do this) my experience. I have publicly praised/supported/recommended Metro and C-Link, etc, in the past, and I felt that this was worthy of some discussion. Based on this single transaction, I would feel confident in recommending them as a source for cgc graded material. I hope to make a raw purchase from them sometime soon, and will post those results as well.

thanks

rick

[comic_lot]

Thanks for the information Rick. And more importantly, congratulations on acquiring a classic book!

[comicdonna]

Nice book Rick! I'm glad to hear the transaction went smooth.

[JJBEE2001]

Good to hear! I've posted this before, but I've dealt with them once & it was a pleasant experience. Tina was very quick in answering my emails & the book arrived in a timely manner & as described. Sorry to hear that some other people have had bad experiences.

[skypinkblu]

I don't post a lot on here, but I have been collecting for a while, and I do post on the Ebay comics chatboard...quite often...I just couldn't let this pass by.

 

That is a lovely, classic book, congratulations.

 

My one and only experience with them, was way before they had all the rhetoric that is posted on their auctions. I received a book graded as Fine (by them) that when I received it, just happened to have a 3 inch tear across the front cover. Since I always think these things are just errors...probably...I called her...or maybe it was her mother, I don't remember the name. I was treated to one of the nastiest encounters I can ever remember, called just about every name in the book that meant stupid, plus a few "cuss" words.

 

Now...I don't usually have those types of encounters with people...most people think I try too hard to be nice... the truth is, most people deserve it...but in this case, I'm not sure if I'd bid on one of their books if it said "free". Especially after reading all the terms, that basically call most people "stupid".

 

However:) It's nice to see you got a bargain, enjoy and I hope all your future encounters with them are as positive...

 

For me, the private feedback, private auctions, miles and miles of text, tells me they haven't changed.

[G.A.tor]

hello all..

thanks for the kudos, the 54 was definitely on my top 10 wanted list...was no "bargain" but was fairly priced and well serviced...

I am going to try to replace the scan with a better one (for some reason, my camera did not take as pleasing of a shot)

thanks

rick

[Silver Surfer]

Rick congrats on the purchase, I'm sorry I had to pass on this book. I will support Rick's comments about his dealings with Tina, very imformative, quick to respond and extra helpful.

[G.A.tor]

Rick congrats on the purchase, I'm sorry I had to pass on this book. I will support Rick's comments about his dealings with Tina, very imformative, quick to respond and extra helpful.

hello all...

i want to thank surfer for passing (he had first shot at it between us) ,it opened the book up for me...it is a beaut

rick

[Point Five]

Great book, and very glad it went well!

 

With that said, I'd approach buying a raw book from them with extreme caution...honestly I'm pretty surprised you would even consider it. I don't doubt there have been good experiences, but there are numerous tales here and elsewhere of them selling overgraded books or books with undisclosed major flaws, and returns being refused outright. Please be careful...

[Filter81]

I don't post a lot on here, but I have been collecting for a while.

 

Hi Sharon!

 

Welcome to the boards!

[esquirecomics]

Great book, and very glad it went well!

 

With that said, I'd approach buying a raw book from them with extreme caution...honestly I'm pretty surprised you would even consider it. I don't doubt there have been good experiences, but there are numerous tales here and elsewhere of them selling overgraded books or books with undisclosed major flaws, and returns being refused outright. Please be careful...

 

I believe everyone who has contacted me to complain about this seller had transactions that involved raw books.

 

For something to be wrong with a CGC book, other than perhaps a cracked slab that wasn't reported, would really involve something fraudulent, i.e., tampering. This, to be fair, is not an accusation I have heard about this seller.

 

That said, and for all the positive experiences some people, such as Rick have had (and congrats on a great book, it was this VERY issue that prompted me to collect More Fun), I would still seriously recommend avoiding this seller.

[jmg3637]

I am very glad you had a good experience with them on such a big $$$$$ book.

I assume that it was because the book was CGC. It is exactly for this reason that CGC was created.

 

They as much as told you that they would have graded the book MUCH higher if it had not been graded. My more fun 57 was implied to be a 7.0. I had it graded and it came back from the other guy as a 3.5

[Dr_Neff]

Nice score on the more fun - i never heard of popscomics so good luck everybody and happy collecting -

[whomerjay]

Great book, and very glad it went well!

 

With that said, I'd approach buying a raw book from them with extreme caution...honestly I'm pretty surprised you would even consider it. I don't doubt there have been good experiences, but there are numerous tales here and elsewhere of them selling overgraded books or books with undisclosed major flaws, and returns being refused outright. Please be careful...

 

 

 

For something to be wrong with a CGC book, other than perhaps a cracked slab that wasn't reported, would really involve something fraudulent, i.e., tampering. This, to be fair, is not an accusation I have heard about this seller.

 

 

http://toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs?User=popscomicbooks&Dirn=Received+by&ref=home

 

read first neg

[G.A.tor]

 

That said, and for all the positive experiences some people, such as Rick have had (and congrats on a great book, it was this VERY issue that prompted me to collect More Fun), I would still seriously recommend avoiding this seller.

Hello all...

I believe it was Mark's thread posting his MF run that really got me pumped up too...I have been a DC GA collector since 1988, but had never really been overly motivated to pursue MF...but seeing some of those beauts (another real positive of this board) got me rolling!, and next to the 52, the 54 is one of my favorites in the run, and one of my top favorites of any DC run! So, to be able to purchase a great copy, was a pleasure for me.

thanks

rick

[G.A.tor]

I am very glad you had a good experience with them on such a big $$$$$ book.

I assume that it was because the book was CGC. It is exactly for this reason that CGC was created.

 

They as much as told you that they would have graded the book MUCH higher if it had not been graded. My more fun 57 was implied to be a 7.0. I had it graded and it came back from the other guy as a 3.5

hello all...

Just to clarify, I believe that the book does look better than a 5.5 grade. I don't think Pops said "much" higher, but I do recall the auction stating they thought the book looked better than the assigned grade, and I have to agree. The White pages alone, got my juices flowing on this book! I am a fan of restored books, or lower "grade" books that look nice (I love a spine split that takes a fn or better looking book, but makes it a much more affordable lower grade). To me, it is all about the comic, and how it makes me feel to own, and to share with my collecting partner (my 4 year old son).

Only purpose of this post, was to detail my transaction with them, start to finish, good or bad, etc...no hidden agenda for me, other than to offer an accounting and let folks form their own opinions, etc

rick

[Ivanko]

Great book, and very glad it went well!

 

With that said, I'd approach buying a raw book from them with extreme caution...honestly I'm pretty surprised you would even consider it. I don't doubt there have been good experiences, but there are numerous tales here and elsewhere of them selling overgraded books or books with undisclosed major flaws, and returns being refused outright. Please be careful...

 

 

 

For something to be wrong with a CGC book, other than perhaps a cracked slab that wasn't reported, would really involve something fraudulent, i.e., tampering. This, to be fair, is not an accusation I have heard about this seller.

 

 

http://toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs?User=popscomicbooks&Dirn=Received+by&ref=home

 

read first neg

 

[Point Five]

http://toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs?User=popscomicbooks&Dirn=Received+by&ref=home

 

The complaints in their feedback and the language they used to respond paint an extremely unflattering picture. I think it has to be pretty clear why their feedback was private for so long.

 

I can 100% understand the temptation to deal with less-than-stellar sellers, so this is not meant in any way to slight the gent who started the thread. All of us here are looking for very hard-to-find books, and when we see one it's difficult not to jump. At the end of the day stuff like this is of course a personal decision, and if a grail of mine came up I would certainly find it very difficult to resist. Nevertheless, based on the evidence, personally I would avoid dealing with "pops".

[esquirecomics]

http://toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs?User=popscomicbooks&Dirn=Received+by&ref=home

 

The complaints in their feedback and the language they used to respond paint an extremely unflattering picture. I think it has to be pretty clear why their feedback was private for so long.

 

I can 100% understand the temptation to deal with less-than-stellar sellers, so this is not meant in any way to slight the gent who started the thread. All of us here are looking for very hard-to-find books, and when we see one it's difficult not to jump. At the end of the day stuff like this is of course a personal decision, and if a grail of mine came up I would certainly find it very difficult to resist. Nevertheless, based on the evidence, personally I would avoid dealing with "pops".

 

Apparently "*spoon*" is their favorite word.

[sacentaur]

The complaints in their feedback and the language they used to respond paint an extremely unflattering picture. I think it has to be pretty clear why their feedback was private for so long.

 

I can 100% understand the temptation to deal with less-than-stellar sellers, so this is not meant in any way to slight the gent who started the thread. All of us here are looking for very hard-to-find books, and when we see one it's difficult not to jump. At the end of the day stuff like this is of course a personal decision, and if a grail of mine came up I would certainly find it very difficult to resist. Nevertheless, based on the evidence, personally I would avoid dealing with "pops".

 

Very well said, P5...

 

STEVE