Ask Gator 13 13

[Tri-Color Brian]

1 minute ago, N e r V said:

All within driving distance...

 

Take your pick. You can stay for awhile or leave anytime you want something different.

Is that Mount Laguna with the snow?

[NoMan]

If you have time Gator and you feel like doing so could you please tell the worst story you have about someone coming in to sell drek (but they think it's their kids college tuition), you declining and their reaction. A thread over in General got me thinking of this. For whatever reason I never tire of hearing these "breaking bad news to comic collector" stories. It's my guilty pleasure. Thanks. 

Edited November 1, 2018 by NoMan

[N e r V]

13 minutes ago, Tri-ColorBrian said:

Is that Mount Laguna with the snow?

 

Cuyamaca actually. I used to camp there a lot. Training trips for bigger camping trips.

 

 

Edited November 1, 2018 by N e r V

[Robot Man]

55 minutes ago, N e r V said:

I agree. Lived on the east coast for a bit and been to all 50 states to know the one thing I never miss in the “cold” states is their weather. Snow is fun for about a week or two then it’s not.

Best to live in a state IMO where I can visit snow without living in it...

I agree. The older I get, the cold just goes right through me. And the option is just about as bad or worse, hot and humid. Sweating suks.

I'd rather live where I have plenty of options within driving distance. 

[sfcityduck]

1 hour ago, N e r V said:

You can stay for awhile or leave anytime you want something different.

"Relax," said the night man
"We are programmed to receive
You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave!"

[N e r V]

49 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

I agree. The older I get, the cold just goes right through me. And the option is just about as bad or worse, hot and humid. Sweating suks.

I'd rather live where I have plenty of options within driving distance. 

You have rust to consider too, robot man...

 

[G.A.tor]

10 hours ago, NoMan said:

If you have time Gator and you feel like doing so could you please tell the worst story you have about someone coming in to sell drek (but they think it's their kids college tuition), you declining and their reaction. A thread over in General got me thinking of this. For whatever reason I never tire of hearing these "breaking bad news to comic collector" stories. It's my guilty pleasure. Thanks. 

One that happened fairly recently. 

A nice lady says she has a box of very valuable comics in her trunk she wants to sell. They are her sons and he’s Away from home but says it’s time to sell. 

In my store we actually have 10/$1 boxes. Full of old valiants, defiant, topps some image and the likes. It’s just books no one in this area wants or collects. 

So I go to her trunk and retrieve her long box and take in the store. I open it up and immediately the mind races to “have to explain this again”

out of curiosity I ask her how much she wants for the box. She calls her son and puts on speaker and he says a store should be able to get $20k so try for $15k. But take 12k at the least. 

Now there are 250 comics , 100% of which I sell 10/$1.  They are worthless to me. I couldn’t even pay $5 for the box because already have multiples of unsold issues. 

I politely explain this and offer to take box back to her car.  She seems shocked. She calls her son (again on speaker ) telling him “the guy says they are not even worth $10”. The son goes off on a profanity laced tirade about how I’m trying to rip her off, what a scum bag I am etc. 

after she hangs up I politely remind her I’m not trying to rip her off because I can’t/won’t buy. 

She cant believe it and questions my offer again. “Can’t I even do $1,000?”

so I tell her to randomly pick out 10-20 issues. And then I proceed to take her to my 10/$1 boxes and show her multiples of each and every comic she pulled. “Are you sure these are the same”..so I put side by side, show her the indicias etc. 

i think after a few minutes I finally convince her I’m being truthful etc. 

i carry the box back to her car and she calls her son and all I hear her say to her son is “you are an insufficiently_thoughtful_person making me come here”...

true story

Edited November 2, 2018 by G.A.tor

[NoMan]

3 minutes ago, G.A.tor said:

One that happened fairly recently. 

A nice lady says she has a box of very valuable comics in her trunk she wants to sell. They are her sons and he’s Away from home but says it’s time to sell. 

In my store we actually have 10/$1 boxes. Full of old valiants, defiant, topps some image and the likes. It’s just books no one in this area wants or collects. 

So I go to her trunk and retrieve her long box and take in the store. I open it up and immediately the mind races to “have to explain this again”

out of curiosity I ask her how much she wants for the box. She calls her son and puts on speaker and he says a store should be able to get $20k so try for $15k. But take 12k at the least. 

Now there are 250 comics , 100% of which I sell 10/$1.  They are worthless to me. I couldn’t even pay $5 for the box because already have multiples of unsold issues. 

I politely explain this and offer to take box back to her car.  She seems shocked. She calls her son (again on speaker ) telling him “the guy says they are not even worth $10”. The son goes off on a profanity laced tirade about how I’m trying to rip her off, what a scum bag I am etc. 

after she hangs up I politely remind her I’m not trying to rip her off because I can’t/won’t buy. 

She cant believe it and questions my offer again. “Can’t I even do $1,000?”

so I tell her to randomly pick out 10-20 issues. And then I proceed to take her to my 10/$1 boxes and show her multiples of each and every comic she pulled. “Are you sure these are the same”..so I put side by side, show her the indices etc. 

i think after a few minutes I finally convince her I’m being truthful etc. 

i carry the box back to her call and she calls her son and all I hear her say to her son is “you are an insufficiently_thoughtful_person making me come here”...

true story

thanks. i simply can't believe people are this delusional. as in, where are they getting their information it's worth 20k? How can someone just pull something out their a** and think it's a fact? How? How? How, I ask you. 

[Superman2006]

3 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

3 hours ago, Tri-ColorBrian said:

3 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

How many snowmen are you going to be making this winter? How often will Jack Frost be nipping at your nose? How often will the weather outside be frightful while the fire inside is delightful? 

None of the above...  I hate snow and frost, and I'm afraid of frightful weather...

I remember some years ago getting caught in a sudden ice storm (it had not been in the forecast).  I realized I would have to creep home for several miles along the (untreated) highway.  Had a couple of my then very young kids in the car.  Of course, the first thing one of them said was, "Daddy, I have to go the bathroom." 

If you have boys, an empty Gatorade bottle, and an extra set of parental hands, it's pretty easy to MacGyver a solution to that problem. If you don't have a bottle, or just boys, then it might get a bit tougher to MacGyver a solution to that problem.

[Tri-Color Brian]

1 hour ago, NoMan said:

thanks. i simply can't believe people are this delusional. as in, where are they getting their information it's worth 20k? How can someone just pull something out their a** and think it's a fact? How? How? How, I ask you. 

Ebay!  Probably DTAs books...

[Mmehdy]

Great story, G.....

[batman_fan]

I am at a place where I don’t even offer people money. I just tell them I either already have what they are offering or I don’t collect it. Most ask what it is worth and I refer them to Ebay but tell them to be careful on condition and a quick google search of comic book grading should help them. I quit giving prices because they invariably expect me to pay that amount. I let one guy shame me into giving him a number for three short boxes so I said $20. He said sold. I tried to explain I wasn’t really interested in them even at $20. I still have those three boxes today ...

i bought those books in 1999 

Edited November 2, 2018 by batman_fan

[woowoo]

1 hour ago, batman_fan said:

I am at a place where I don’t even offer people money. I just tell them I either already have what they are offering or I don’t collect it. Most ask what it is worth and I refer them to Ebay but tell them to be careful on condition and a quick google search of comic book grading should help them. I quit giving prices because they invariably expect me to pay that amount. I let one guy shame me into giving him a number for three short boxes so I said $20. He said sold. I tried to explain I wasn’t really interested in them even at $20. I still have those three boxes today ...

i bought those books in 1999 

I buy them from you for 30.00 but you have to add a Mint Formula 51 in the box you know my address

[batman_fan]

7 minutes ago, woowoo said:

I buy them from you for 30.00 but you have to add a Mint Formula 51 in the box you know my address

[Mr bla bla]

7 hours ago, NoMan said:

thanks. i simply can't believe people are this delusional. as in, where are they getting their information it's worth 20k? How can someone just pull something out their a** and think it's a fact? How? How? How, I ask you. 

Human nature ...

[G.A.tor]

Today I’m working on getting the comics side fixed. 

Pic 1...when we opened in this location years ago

pic 2....after carpet tear out (no power)

pic 3....today 

[comicdonna]

It's looking real good, Rick.  

[batman_fan]

6 hours ago, comicdonna said:

It's looking real good, Rick.  

+1. Looks much better. I can only imagine how much sweat and tears are on the floor but glad to see you getting it back together 

[D Stuart]

On 11/1/2018 at 12:23 PM, Tri-ColorBrian said:

Pftttt...I'm a reptile enthusiast and I turn rocks and other stuff looking for critters.  I see lots of scorpions, but they don't bother you if you don't bother them.  The last time i got a scorpion sting was when I lived in CA and accidentally washed one that had crawled into my pants.  The dead scorpion stung me when I put them on.  LOL  It didn't even hurt as much as a bee sting. 

It's also nice to drive around AZ and NOT have to wash your windshield every hour due to smashed bugs on it. Yes, I've been to Florida many times...the only good months are February and March.

I also like Missouri D Stuart...but only in April and early May.  You can have your chiggars...and all the other no-see-ems in your woods...

Indeed! The ticks have just been awful the last several years.  Hope this winter is particularly brutal to knock them back a bit.  

[G.A.tor]

On 11/2/2018 at 3:33 PM, batman_fan said:

+1. Looks much better. I can only imagine how much sweat and tears are on the floor but glad to see you getting it back together 

When I walked into the store Thursday the 11th at about 6am and started sloshing through the store I knew it was trouble. I called Richard /bedrock because I knew he had just been through wet floors in his store and he confirmed what I already dreaded...get the wet carpet out. 

Our store is 3200 sq feet. So I went until about 2am that night unloading racks, moving them section by section , cutting out the wet carpet , all to the light of my cell phone (no power of course) and then started again at 6am after 3 restless hours of sleep and by 5pm had 90% of the wet carpet out of the store. Took me 33 hours but I got it done and likely saved the majority of the undamaged product. 

So relative to that, putting the store back is “easy” but still a chore!

Edited November 4, 2018 by G.A.tor