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FYI - Harley's Catalog

83 posts in this topic

I would feel comfortable paying a little more from these guys because they are the real deal.

 

893applaud-thumb.gif I base my comic buying decisions on that phrase right there. I have bought comics from dealers knowing I can get them somewhere else for less money. I am a big believer in supporting standup, honest dealers who have shown themselves capable of delivering a product as promised.

 

POV - Thanks for the heads up on the catalog. I did not know Harley gave one out.

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I didn't say MY price. I said offering a reasonable discount. Time was in the hobby that the standard discount was 10 percent. Nowadays dealers are reluctant to give ANY discount. Maybe they are paying more for their inventory. That I understand. But it seems to me that dealers have gotten tighter on their prices and are less willing to deal at all. And Harley is the king of the no discount.

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I rarely buy from dealer's catalogs anymore as Ebay sucks up all my extra cash, so they stopped sending me their catalogs, but back in the pre-web catalog days I used to look forward to Harley's catalog, as there was almost always something for me to buy. In the 90s I thought his prices on alot of SA and Timelys were a bit steep, but very fair when it came to the atom-age

stuff I usually bought. His grading was solid, and for every book I bought that was slightly overgraded, I recieved one that was slightly undergraded. On the few occaissons there was a problem he had missed with a book, he took it back, no hassle, or if I still wanted to keep it, repriced according to what I thought it was worth. It was tough to get much more than a 5% discount out of him , it's true, but once at a con I offered him a bunch of low-grade Lulu dupes I had picked up in a large lot, handed him a list with my grades and estimated guide value, and he gave me half guide in trade credit without even looking at the books.

 

For me, Harley is one of the good guys.

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Thanks for the FYI POV. Too bad most of his hg inventory is grossly overpriced. foreheadslap.gif

 

That is putting it mildly. I actually laughed out loud about a dozen times while reading through the catalogue last night. I'd much rather deal with him in person at a show. He seems more willing to deal on pricing there.

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I rarely buy from dealer's catalogs anymore as Ebay sucks up all my extra cash, so they stopped sending me their catalogs, but back in the pre-web catalog days I used to look forward to Harley's catalog, as there was almost always something for me to buy. In the 90s I thought his prices on alot of SA and Timelys were a bit steep, but very fair when it came to the atom-age

stuff I usually bought. His grading was solid, and for every book I bought that was slightly overgraded, I recieved one that was slightly undergraded. On the few occaissons there was a problem he had missed with a book, he took it back, no hassle, or if I still wanted to keep it, repriced according to what I thought it was worth. It was tough to get much more than a 5% discount out of him , it's true, but once at a con I offered him a bunch of low-grade Lulu dupes I had picked up in a large lot, handed him a list with my grades and estimated guide value, and he gave me half guide in trade credit without even looking at the books.

 

For me, Harley is one of the good guys.

 

Harley is definitely one of the good guys, but his pricing in this catalogue was a little ridiculous on a lot of stuff I looked at. As some people noted, though, Harley is a pretty solid grader and he WILL discount books if you negotiate with him.

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I've been buying from Harley for at least ten years, probably longer. His prices are aggressive, but he has a no-questions-asked returns policy. He's probably the hardest working man in comics, travelling everywhere for cons, including overseas. He's usually the first booth I head for at the SD Con. Here's what I picked up from him on preview night last Summer...

 

exciting35.jpg

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I've only been to one show that Harley was at and I've never seen his catalog or even talked to him. I looked at the books he had on the wall behind him at the convention and just about myself when I saw the prices. What was really strange was that 80% it wasn't even HG stuff, just a bunch of silver age in F - VF at like 3 times guide!?

 

If I talked him down to a 50% discount I still would have to have been a sucker to pay those prices. I was at that convention for three days and I don't recall seeing him sell one book. Other dealers were selling plenty of mid grade stuff at guide or slightly less, but not Harley, nope, he wanted 3x guide for common mid grade books. screwy.gif It was one of the strangest things I've seen at a convention and there is some pretty crazy stuff to see at conventions.

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I've only been to one show that Harley was at and I've never seen his catalog or even talked to him. I looked at the books he had on the wall behind him at the convention and just about myself when I saw the prices. What was really strange was that 80% it wasn't even HG stuff, just a bunch of silver age in F - VF at like 3 times guide!?

 

If I talked him down to a 50% discount I still would have to have been a sucker to pay those prices. I was at that convention for three days and I don't recall seeing him sell one book. Other dealers were selling plenty of mid grade stuff at guide or slightly less, but not Harley, nope, he wanted 3x guide for common mid grade books. It was one of the strangest things I've seen at a convention and there is some pretty crazy stuff to see at conventions.

 

Well said. What I don't understand however is how he manages to stay in business. I thought venues like ebay would have put him out of business a long time ago.

 

And remember, this is the dealer who took a fair, brittle Action 1, cracked it out of the slab and sold it to Ian as a non-brittle good. That's what I call integrity!

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I have bought books from him, and yes he charges more. Having said that I should also mention he does pay more than most dealers. He pays more, so he charges more. The economy works this way.

 

If you don't like his prices, stay away, but remember this fact. He takes books back with no questions asked. He is one of the good guys. Why buy an overgraded book on ebay and get stuck with it. How many times has that happened to any of us. At least with Harley I can get in touch with him to make things right.

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I am not sure why a dealer would be referred to as a Cheap SOB because he didn't haggle to your price level? Could it be that maybe he doesn't want to sell the book at that price and that he has a say in the matter also?

 

This is not directed at you, I am wondering why collectors always get upset when a dealer doesn't agree to your price?

 

Why bother getting upset, wish him the best with his price and maybe there can be a deal down the road.Its funny to me to get upset at anybody for not coming down to your price offer.Maybe the dealer needs the Margin he is asking for, there are operating costs for him.Or maybe he just really likes the book,sometimes a dealer is a little bit collector also!

 

Davidking623

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I have bought a slew of books over the past 15 or more from Harley. Yes, he does have some strange prices. But in the fields I bought from him (pre-code horror and pre-hero Marvel) his prices have always been pretty average. And as far as taking books back - have done that several times over the years. Heck - I bought a book from him at Wondercon last year and he took it back because I had forgotten I had bought the same book the day before.

 

But all I intended in this thread was to make folks aware his cat was out. Simply a cat of that size I would have thought would be of interest to collectors, if for nothing more than a reference. confused-smiley-013.gif

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But all I intended in this thread was to make folks aware his cat was out. Simply a cat of that size I would have thought would be of interest to collectors, if for nothing more than a reference. confused-smiley-013.gif

 

It's appreciated Pov.

 

But...I think you being so overly sensitive to the comments on this thread. It has been a fairly rational discussion on dealer pricing.

Why have you been touchy lately... confused-smiley-013.gif

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I haven't bought too much from Harley over the years. Actually just a Batman 42 at the Wondercon two years ago. It was a solid 6.5/7.0 and was priced pretty damn reasonable I thought ($350). Still have the book. If I see something at his table this year I need, you can bet I will buy it.

 

Also, I love to look at catalogs, but don't buy out of them anymore. I prefer- doing it in person or from a decent scan.

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