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my last, last i tell you, attempted transaction with metropolis

Started by Straw-Man,

379 posts in this topic

Straw-Man

Straw-Man

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well then 'normative judgements' or no, I think you're being a drama queen, with all due respect. So they said no. So what?

 

so your saying i'm royalty? we don't have much of that down in the states, but, hell, i'll give it a try.

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Socratic Wonder

Socratic Wonder

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well then 'normative judgements' or no, I think you're being a drama queen, with all due respect. So they said no. So what?

 

so your saying i'm royalty? we don't have much of that down in the states, but, hell, i'll give it a try.

 

All hail King Billy hail.gif

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Straw-Man

Straw-Man

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well then 'normative judgements' or no, I think you're being a drama queen, with all due respect. So they said no. So what?

 

so your saying i'm royalty? we don't have much of that down in the states, but, hell, i'll give it a try.

 

All hail King Billy hail.gif

 

from a Californian? before you coronate me, know i'm no demo crat [to my amazement, the first try went spoon].

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143ksk

143ksk

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Posted
well then 'normative judgements' or no, I think you're being a drama queen, with all due respect. So they said no. So what?

 

so your saying i'm royalty? we don't have much of that down in the states, but, hell, i'll give it a try.

 

All hail King Billy hail.gif

 

from a Californian? before you coronate me, know i'm no demo crat [to my amazement, the first try went spoon].

 

I'm pretty sure most kings aren't...

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Straw-Man

Straw-Man

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Billy are you and I long lost brothers? For some strange reason I'm agreeing with everything a boardie has been saying (posting on the boards and not by PM) hold on got to go Rescue Me is back on.

 

'trooper, if so, according to the last couple posts, you're a prince of a fellow!!!!!

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metropoliscomics

metropoliscomics

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Dear Billy & Forum members,

 

I just read through this posting and wanted to take a moment to respond.

 

Billy, I thought you and I had a pretty solid relationship. If you had a problem with my company I would have hoped you would come to me privately to discuss it. Since this has become a public issue I will address it here. First, let me say that I appreciate your patronage and the conversations we have had over the years, think you are a nice guy and hope that we can salvage something positive from this.

 

The way I understand this situation is this- you are upset because we would not come down to the price you wanted and Frank made a mistake in telling you he would meet you half way when in fact he wasn’t. Anybody who knows Frank knows he is a very good guy and an extremely sincere and earnest man. I don’t believe he meant any disrespect in what he wrote-simply a poor choice of words. For this I apologize. Also, Frank has only so much leeway when it comes to pricing and follows the general guidelines we have set forth for him. When you do in fact take a look at what happened, we did offer you $15 off the price of the book and then an additional $8.00 in shipping which equals $23.00. I don’t think you characterized Frank’s attempts fairly when you called them insulting. He offered a lower price and free shipping (Free shipping is something many collectors truly appreciate as it has monetary value).

 

If we would have met in the middle as Frank mentioned (assuming you would have been happy with that price) - the price would have been $682.50 plus $8.00 for shipping= $690.50…. $9.50 less than what we offered the book to you for… I am puzzled…

 

I can appreciate that you feel your offer was fair, and I am by no means calling it a low ball offer, but that doesn’t mean I should be forced to accept it. I think that is a fair and reasonable statement. If it is not, then any time someone offers you a price for a book and they think it is a reasonable offer you would then have to sell it-otherwise you would be just as “unreasonable” as we are. When you are ready to sell please show me all of your comics. I would like to see if the same rules hold true when the shoe is on the other foot. *Billy, hopefully I will be able to buy some books from you at Pons Con next year.

 

As for the book, I happen to think that the Frazetta Famous Funnies are awesome books and do sell for a premium…. And for my company they sell well. Other than the very early issues of the run, I would argue the Frazetta issues are some of the most popular FFs for collectors.

 

I just checked the GPA stats on this book and found that one sold in the same grade for $862.50, which is more than my asking price $715.00. I should also note that the sale on GPA was from March 2003. I also would note that I sold a FN+ in 2002 for $675.00.

 

I feel it is unfair to compare one particular issue to another but that is what you did by stating what you bought other Famous Funnies for. The 215 is worth much more than 209-211 in comparable grades as it is more difficult to find and arguably has a better cover. Billy, from what you are saying here you are throwing away our business relationship of over 17 years for either $9.50 (as stated above) or $50.00 (my price of 700 minus your offer of $650= $50.00). I am just puzzled as why you didn’t come to me with this directly instead of going off half-cocked and trying to make my company look bad. I am not saying I would have agreed with you or we would have been able to do a deal but we would have been able to talk about. Here you have presented a situation in a way that is unfair and it causes my company to look bad simply for not accepting your asking price. As I am writing this I am shaking my head trying to figure out why this has happened….

 

I have also read a post about the Aces High #3 Gaines file copy I am offering. We priced the book at $675 which is slightly over the last GPA recorded sale of $632.50 from jan of 2006. Many look to GPA as a market indicator and I am pleased to say we do supply GPA with market pricing. Yet the interested party thinks our asking price was outrageous. How is that price outrageous if GPA reflects the market and we were within $42.50 of a year and a half old sale price? Once again I am puzzled…

 

 

In all fairness I do understand the frustrations mentioned here by Forum members in regards to our make an offer option. It is not perfect. We have a rather large inventory, approximately 100,000 comics, and some books are marked as “make an offer” when they shouldn’t be. We are working very hard to remedy this situation. We are manually adjusting the way books appear to customers on a site, which is very cumbersome and time consuming. We are also working on new programming that will give other options and greater selection to our customers.

 

We have considered taking the option off the site until we fix everything but have found it to be very successful. We do accept many offers and close deals everyday when customers make offers.

 

Another obstacle we sometimes face is we run into the problem of consignors telling us they want to hear offers but then won’t discount at all when the time comes. This makes us look like we offering false hopes but there is really nothing I can do to make a consignor sell for less if they decide to change their minds.

 

The truth is we care about our relationships with our customers. We realize there is a lot of competition out there and we realize you have many choices. When you see our massive selection of inventory please understand this does not come about by us waving a magic wand. We work 7 days a week to bring you a selection that is 2nd to none. I recently bought a deal for $22,000 that was worth $24,000.00. After you consider all of the expenses involved in selling these books we will at best break even in the short run. Why did we do it? To have books on our site that you won’t find anywhere else. We spend millions of dollars each year on vintage comics for this very reason. When I am at a convention and other dealers reject what I consider to be a reasonable offer I do not get upset about it and post disparaging remarks about them. If I did I would be writing tons of posts about it as it happens all the time.

 

Of course this is a business for us, as it is to many collectors and dealers, but it is also a passion. I still get excited when I see a stack of 60s Marvels or 1930s Tecs. I love comics.

 

We want to work with you when we can and when we see it makes sense for us. We have been committed to the comic market for many years and want to help make it a fun, safe and…. profitable place for us all.

 

If anybody would like to share any good or bad experiences with me in the hopes of rectifying the situation please feel free to email me at vincentz@metropoliscomics.com (Billy you already have my email address) or call me toll free at 800-229-6387 ext. 14.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Vincent Zurzolo

COO

Metropolis Collectibles.com

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action1kid

action1kid

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Quote;//it causes my company to look bad simply for not accepting your asking price

 

I was wondering why you took the message board route 1st too.[which of course you have every right to do but, If the issue is that important to you[and clearly it is] You should present it to the owners themselves[steve or Vincent] if you are not satisfied with an associates responce to it.If the issue is important to me I will only talk to the boss of the company.I will not religate it.It is Steve and Vincent who I have been dealing with for over 20 years[[just like you]] not frank[no disrepect] Our long intertwined relationship can often make them see my needs and point of view .

They have diffenatly worked with me on deals before and there were times when they couldnt and they have always explained why if they couldnt.My point is if its important, talk to the boss.Than you can truely make an asessment of the company since they are the company.

,

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tb

tb

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Quote;//it causes my company to look bad simply for not accepting your asking price

 

I was wondering why you took the message board route 1st too.[which of course you have every right to do but, If the issue is that important to you[and clearly it is] You should present it to the owners themselves[steve or Vincent] if you are not satisfied with an associates responce to it.If the issue is important to me I will only talk to the boss of the company.[...]

 

Agreed. Credit to Vincent for taking the time to read and reply to threads like this one. I spent time reading through the first part thinking that perhaps there was an important problem I had to be aware of...

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mr.schomburg

mr.schomburg

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I totally agree with your right and experience to sell the book at what ever price you would like to sell it at. My issue is that as a collector when you make a reasonable offer, and it isn't accpepted its fustrating. You get attatched to the ideal of owning that book, because most if not all dealers who offer a buy it now, with a make offer will discount at least 10%. Then it becomes an issue of you vs. them, the big guy vs. the little guy, and princible. Now that may not be completely rational, but in my opinion very valid, and one I can relate to. I think Billy is exactly that, a long time customer who feels and rightly so in my opinion to recieve a 10% discount, and to bust balls over a small amount(it goes both ways Stephen) was offensive to him. Of course I am speaking for him, and based only on my own conjecture. So in my opinion, why wouldn't you, being that you offered a "Make offer" button take a 10% discount on a book to a long time customer? If you figure that out, then you will solve your problem, in my opinion.

Paul

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action1kid

action1kid

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My reaction to that is that there are books you can discount and there are books you cant discount to be sure.Certainly a long term relationship with a customer is something to be considered.All the more reason to reach that one individual you have that long term relationship with.Insist on talking to the boss.

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MrBedrock

MrBedrock

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I can appreciate that you feel your offer was fair, and I am by no means calling it a low ball offer, but that doesn’t mean I should be forced to accept it. I think that is a fair and reasonable statement. If it is not, then any time someone offers you a price for a book and they think it is a reasonable offer you would then have to sell it-otherwise you would be just as “unreasonable” as we are. When you are ready to sell please show me all of your comics. I would like to see if the same rules hold true when the shoe is on the other foot. *Billy, hopefully I will be able to buy some books from you at Pons Con next year.

 

Vincent,

I have been reluctant to pipe in here, as most know that Billy and I are close friends and I figured I would come across as biased. But this line of reasoning you have chosen really gets under my skin. If we are to go by your fair and reasonable argument (if the discount is good for you then it should be good for me), then please, when you come by my table at any future shows, do not expect nor ask for any more than a 2% discount. Everyone else is probably going to get a bigger discount than that, even if I have never dealt with them. But you guys will be pencilled in for a 2% discount, max. It is only fair and reasonable in light of my past purchasing history with Metropolis.

I realize this is nowhere near the issue Billy is upset about, or you are responding to. But since you brought it up, I just felt like I should respond.

Richard

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metropoliscomics

metropoliscomics

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Richard,

 

Now I have to pipe in.

 

Metropolis offers books at 75% off guide, 50% off guide, 25% off guide and 0% percent off guide. It depends on the book. In fact, we have have 65,000 GA, SA and BA books discounted off of guide. More discounted books than other dealers have books.

 

I will gladly buy a book a book for $1000 and price it at $1100. I do this because I know it is a book that will sell. Unfortunately, these books I cannot discount.

 

You take the opportunity to you use my discount on 1 book and choose to draw a conclusion about Vincent and myself. Seems kinda unfair. And incorrect.

 

Famous Funnies #215 is a book I do not discount. 209-211 - no problem discounting these books as they are very common. In fact the #215 CGC 8.0 that we have for sale at $800 has a GPA average of over $1000. Seems pretty reasonable to me.

 

Billy Parker was given a token discount on a book we don't discount AND was given free shipping as a postive gesture. Somehow that rubbed him the wrong way.

 

Having found myself trying to buy books from you in the distant past, I do recall times when the discount you were able to offer me was 0%. Not 2%. 0%. Did I take it personally? No.

 

You know, it is this type of nonsense that has moved me further and further away from the comic book community. People have wondered why they never see me at shows anymore. Now you have your answer.

 

Stephen

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Straw-Man

Straw-Man

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Dear Billy & Forum members,

 

I just read through this posting and wanted to take a moment to respond.

 

Billy, I thought you and I had a pretty solid relationship. If you had a problem with my company I would have hoped you would come to me privately to discuss it. Since this has become a public issue I will address it here. First, let me say that I appreciate your patronage and the conversations we have had over the years, think you are a nice guy and hope that we can salvage something positive from this.

 

vincent, name me a conversation we've had. give me the topic you remember, and please don't say "timelys," or run to your want list service, pull a book off my FORMER list, and claim you recall a conversation we had about one or more of them. honor system here.

 

 

if we would have met in the middle as Frank mentioned (assuming you would have been happy with that price) - the price would have been $682.50 plus $8.00 for shipping= $690.50…. $9.50 less than what we offered the book to you for… I am puzzled....

 

i had already gone to the boards when it was only a shipping break and an invite for a counter-offer. frank came back with the "halfway" only after i told him i was through with your company. that's the second email posted. hope i've unpuzzled you.

 

*Billy, hopefully I will be able to buy some books from you at Pons Con next year.

 

i've got to prepare for a trial that weekend. i don't know the weekend, or the case, but i'm sure to be preparing for a trial that weekend.

 

 

I just checked the GPA stats on this book and found that one sold in the same grade for $862.50, which is more than my asking price $715.00. I should also note that the sale on GPA was from March 2003. I also would note that I sold a FN+ in 2002 for $675.00.

 

sounds like i did y'all a favor; now you can adjust your price upward where it should be, i take it.

 

 

and, finally, let me make my last statement on this subject, and try to get the thread back to my point. to analogize: i practice personal injury defense law. negotiations happen all the time in such a practice. when i make a good faith offer to an earlier demand [like my offer here, as vincent admitted--"not low ball"], if i in return get a counter knocking off the stamp or so [a counter like franks, in other words], and also asking me to come back to him with a new counter, we in the practice would call that an invitation to "bid against ourselves," something we feel insulted by. i would bring that occurrence to my firm's coffee room and tell the tale and let everybody know how they should deal with that particular atty. because not only would it have demeaned my offer, but i might infer the guy thinks i must be such a fool that i would be enticed by the stamp waiver and come back with more of my client's money. in this case, i simply substituted the boards for the coffee room [it's kinda how i look at the boards]. I do NOT feel anyone HAS to sell me a book at my price. believe me when i say i've had many offers rejected by metro-- but i never came on the boards with a one of them. this one rubbed me the wrong way, and then it was compounded by the math of the "meet halfway" offer. there, i'm done, and will move on to bigger and better funny-books.

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