General discussion thread - keep the other threads clean 29 29

[Dick Pontoon]

44 minutes ago, manetteska said:

I agree the eBay seller is not the greatest, but in this instance my focus is on the board member. My earlier comments relate to him only.

So, the gripe is the book sold on ebay and now a seller here is asking more money? Who is the seller? Where is the thread?

[entalmighty1]

25 minutes ago, MadJimJaspers said:

Ebay seller lists a raw X-men 94 NM under auction. Ebay seller uses spam account to start a bid war with me to get the price high (I know this because the counter bidder had 0 stars). After receiving the book, I gave it a once over before putting it into my short box. I was moving at the time from AZ to CT so it wasn't high priority and the book honestly looks like a 9.4 from the front.

After the move, I was organizing my collection and decided to pull it out before sending it in to CGC. I opened the issue to find staining on interior pages that had permeated from the front cover. Staining was hidden on the front due to the dark colors of the cover. All in all, the purchase will cost me ~$600. I imagine this book was sold on the boards for what it really is, which is a ~7.5ish at $300. Furious, but I understand my neglect at not being thorough. 

EBay seller is Sparklecitycomics or what he goes by on the boards, vintagecomics

I don't think those are the same people.

[manetteska]

2 minutes ago, Pontoon said:

So, the gripe is the book sold on ebay and now a seller here is asking more money? Who is the seller? Where is the thread?

That is the nuts-and-bolts, yes, but there is more nuance to it.

I understand "a seller can put any price he/she wants on a book, etc etc" and that is not my point. I also understand he is not the only one to use the boards in this way but he specifically has caught my attention multiple times across multiple pre-boards venues.

The idea of the boards as a "community" is no longer relevant, but situations like this turn members here into pure dollar signs.

https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/447354-new-books-now-frazetta-baker-schomburg-cole-decarlo-action-batman-joker-cover-science-fiction-gga-crime/?do=findComment&comment=10586009

[Naphtha]

3 minutes ago, entalmighty1 said:

I don't think those are the same people.

You might be right, I found an old thread months ago that talked about the ebay seller in question.

[entalmighty1]

4 minutes ago, MadJimJaspers said:

You might be right, I found an old thread months ago that talked about the ebay seller in question.

Roy (VintageComics) is pretty highly regarded as a grader as far as I know, so it just doesn't fit his MO to miss something like, or purposely hide it.  I've never been dissatisfied with a purchase from him.

[KPR Comics]

Hands up if you are 100% confused.  

Guy buys a book advertise on ebay as a 7.5.  Posts on here as a 5.5.

What am I missing?

[Naphtha]

1 minute ago, KPR Comics said:

Hands up if you are 100% confused.  

Guy buys a book advertise on ebay as a 7.5.  Posts on here as a 5.5.

What am I missing?

Its the opposite I believe. The seller is sparklecity comics. Buys a book on here as a 5.5 and lists it on eBay as a 7.5 with neglect to obvious flaws. 

[KPR Comics]

2 minutes ago, MadJimJaspers said:

Its the opposite I believe. The seller is sparklecity comics. Buys a book on here as a 5.5 and lists it on eBay as a 7.5 with neglect to obvious flaws. 

But it's still for sale on the boards 

Edited February 28, 2019 by KPR Comics
typo

[Naphtha]

3 minutes ago, KPR Comics said:

But it's still for sale on the boards 

I have no idea anymore. I dont see a problem with finding a good sale on ebay and accurately grading to sell here. I DO have a problem with someone buying accurate grades here and scam flipping on eBay.

That was the point of my story and plenty of people do it.

Edited February 28, 2019 by MadJimJaspers

[KPR Comics]

I think you reversed it.  The ebay auction ended on the 17th.  It was advertised as a 7.5

The board listing is active and advertised as a 5.5.

 

[Dick Pontoon]

22 minutes ago, manetteska said:

30 minutes ago, Pontoon said:

So, the gripe is the book sold on ebay and now a seller here is asking more money? Who is the seller? Where is the thread?

That is the nuts-and-bolts, yes, but there is more nuance to it.

I understand "a seller can put any price he/she wants on a book, etc etc" and that is not my point. I also understand he is not the only one to use the boards in this way but he specifically has caught my attention multiple times across multiple pre-boards venues.

The idea of the boards as a "community" is no longer relevant, but situations like this turn members here into pure dollar signs.

https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/447354-new-books-now-frazetta-baker-schomburg-cole-decarlo-action-batman-joker-cover-science-fiction-gga-crime/?do=findComment&comment=10586009

Thanks for the link.

This is true, but it has been less of a community than it was for many, many years.

To play devils advocate, even in the early days of there were members who only participated on the boards to sell stuff, even flipping books from previous board sales. It is what it is.

[manetteska]

11 minutes ago, Pontoon said:

39 minutes ago, manetteska said:

47 minutes ago, Pontoon said:

So, the gripe is the book sold on ebay and now a seller here is asking more money? Who is the seller? Where is the thread?

That is the nuts-and-bolts, yes, but there is more nuance to it.

I understand "a seller can put any price he/she wants on a book, etc etc" and that is not my point. I also understand he is not the only one to use the boards in this way but he specifically has caught my attention multiple times across multiple pre-boards venues.

The idea of the boards as a "community" is no longer relevant, but situations like this turn members here into pure dollar signs.

https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/447354-new-books-now-frazetta-baker-schomburg-cole-decarlo-action-batman-joker-cover-science-fiction-gga-crime/?do=findComment&comment=10586009

Thanks for the link.

This is true, but it has been less of a community than it was for many, many years.

To play devils advocate, even in the early days of there were members who only participated on the boards to sell stuff, even flipping books from previous board sales. It is what it is.

I'm sure there were and I would have avoided buying from them as well. The member in question has also done the "buy book from the boards, receive book, immediately list for sale on the boards w/ markup" dance.

Just passing along info; do with it what you will.

[skypinkblu]

1 hour ago, MadJimJaspers said:

Ebay seller lists a raw X-men 94 NM under auction. Ebay seller uses spam account to start a bid war with me to get the price high (I know this because the counter bidder had 0 stars). After receiving the book, I gave it a once over before putting it into my short box. I was moving at the time from AZ to CT so it wasn't high priority and the book honestly looks like a 9.4 from the front.

After the move, I was organizing my collection and decided to pull it out before sending it in to CGC. I opened the issue to find staining on interior pages that had permeated from the front cover. Staining was hidden on the front due to the dark colors of the cover. All in all, the purchase will cost me ~$600. I imagine this book was sold on the boards for what it really is, which is a ~7.5ish at $300. Furious, but I understand my neglect at not being thorough. 

EBay seller is Sparklecitycomics or what he goes by on the boards, vintagecomics

Absolutely not the same people. They don't even live in the same country.

 

[Bird]

1 hour ago, KPR Comics said:

I think you reversed it.  The ebay auction ended on the 17th.  It was advertised as a 7.5

The board listing is active and advertised as a 5.5.

 

I think he was addressing the high markup from buying it at $901 on ebay and selling it at $1350 here.

I too have noticed this high % yield in a book purchased in the last few months at $5750 and offered here at $6750. He seems to do well enough here, so maybe I am doing it wrong. 

Edited February 28, 2019 by Bird

[KPR Comics]

Thanks, Bird.  Got it now.  I was mixing up posts and focusing on the "undisclosed issues", which is not the case w/the Thunda book.

[skypinkblu]

No one would sell at these huge mark ups if they had no buyers. I think some people feel that unless you research for 12 hours and know the going rate, all is fair in love and comic book selling.

It's one reason i WISH people would leave their prices up when they sell a book. Editing them doesn't help the next guy and frankly ...seems to be part of some kind of agenda that I'm not comfortable with.

Saying people need to research is fine, but hiding the facts so it's hard for them to research...not so fine.

[Ricksneatstuff]

57 minutes ago, MadJimJaspers said:

I have no idea anymore. I dont see a problem with finding a good sale on ebay and accurately grading to sell here. I DO have a problem with someone buying accurate grades here and scam flipping on eBay.

That was the point of my story and plenty of people do it.

I figured this whole thing out right from _____________ and Lightning 

I buy books that I think are cool when I see prices where I can buy them for less than I think they are worth and then I sell them for (in most cases) still a little less than I think they are worth. I don't know if anyone has noticed but I am not doing that with books that don't appeal to me- I only do it with stuff I enjoy having my hands on. It would be easier and less trackable to do it with bronze and silver books but they do not appeal to me as much. Often I buy a book here with no intention of selling it and then get another copy in between the time I bought it and the time it arrives at my doorstep- at least sometimes that happens. I don't know if anyone has ever noticed but pretty much every penny goes right back into buying even more comics here and on other venues from the very same community of people that are right here- that is a BIG factor in this- the money from my selling stays swirling within comicdom. This ain't for my rent. This is a small community. I am under no illusion that my buying and selling is a mystery to anyone. There is NO difference in my mind between what I am doing though and what anyone is doing who sells books to buy more except I do it quicker and more frequently than most. 

Also, for what it's worth, many times I end up selling books for exactly what I paid or often even less than I paid. I don't gloat over the "wins" and I try not to cry over the losses. I don't know if anyone notices the times I buy a book here on the boards and then later end up selling it for as low as half of what I paid because of undisclosed resto or some other problem that I didn't see when I bought it. I recently sold a Contact 12 for a few hundred less than I paid because I missed there was a missing page. It is not worth the hassle in most cases to burden the original seller with the return. I will just take the loss because I can afford it and pass on a savings to someone else.

In the case of Thun'da 1 I won a fair and square auction with a tracking snipe that was well below market value even if the book was 5.5-6.0, which is where it really fell- not 7.5. I even bought another Thun'da in the mean time from a boardie (more money for the comic people here) just to go with it. I looked at it and decided I didn't like the back cover defects and priced it at what is still a fair price. I thought about grading it and waiting for it to come back and selling it but thought it would be better to leave it up to the next owner who might like to see the Frazetta art inside.

The fun of buying and selling is a massive part of what I like about comics. I remember as a kid with baseball cards buying and selling and trading- fun stuff! The "flipper engine" is on in comics and it is not turning back- even when I had a shop 25 years ago I had guys constantly coming in doing the same thing. It is part of the current that keeps the waves going. I just appreciate when it stays inside the playground. I see a lot of young guys who get into this excited about the economic growth aspect of the hobby. They buy books and sell books aggressively with the goal that one day they will have a Cap America 1 and Batman 1. COOL!!!! I was a middle aged guy who came back to this hobby with the same kind of ideas. I guess I just don't see the harm.

That is my perspective on the topic anyway. Happy hunting to all.  

[VintageComics]

20 minutes ago, skypinkblu said:

2 hours ago, MadJimJaspers said:

Ebay seller lists a raw X-men 94 NM under auction. Ebay seller uses spam account to start a bid war with me to get the price high (I know this because the counter bidder had 0 stars). After receiving the book, I gave it a once over before putting it into my short box. I was moving at the time from AZ to CT so it wasn't high priority and the book honestly looks like a 9.4 from the front.

After the move, I was organizing my collection and decided to pull it out before sending it in to CGC. I opened the issue to find staining on interior pages that had permeated from the front cover. Staining was hidden on the front due to the dark colors of the cover. All in all, the purchase will cost me ~$600. I imagine this book was sold on the boards for what it really is, which is a ~7.5ish at $300. Furious, but I understand my neglect at not being thorough. 

EBay seller is Sparklecitycomics or what he goes by on the boards, vintagecomics

Absolutely not the same people. They don't even live in the same country.

Hey gang.

My name is Roy and I'm VintageComics

Sparklecitycomics is Brian.

We're 2 totally different people.

I can see how the confusion can happen.

Anyway, just wanted to clear that up.

[Naphtha]

7 minutes ago, skypinkblu said:

No one would sell at these huge mark ups if they had no buyers. I think some people feel that unless you research for 12 hours and know the going rate, all is fair in love and comic book selling.

It's one reason i WISH people would leave their prices up when they sell a book. Editing them doesn't help the next guy and frankly ...seems to be part of some kind of agenda that I'm not comfortable with.

Saying people need to research is fine, but hiding the facts so it's hard for them to research...not so fine.

Especially in GA sales where no matter how much you research, you can still have nothing to go off of.

 

[Naphtha]

16 minutes ago, Ricksneatstuff said:

I figured this whole thing out right from _____________ and Lightning 

I buy books that I think are cool when I see prices where I can buy them for less than I think they are worth and then I sell them for (in most cases) still a little less than I think they are worth. I don't know if anyone has noticed but I am not doing that with books that don't appeal to me- I only do it with stuff I enjoy having my hands on. It would be easier and less trackable to do it with bronze and silver books but they do not appeal to me as much. Often I buy a book here with no intention of selling it and then get another copy in between the time I bought it and the time it arrives at my doorstep- at least sometimes that happens. I don't know if anyone has ever noticed but pretty much every penny goes right back into buying even more comics here and on other venues from the very same community of people that are right here- that is a BIG factor in this- the money from my selling stays swirling within comicdom. This ain't for my rent. This is a small community. I am under no illusion that my buying and selling is a mystery to anyone. There is NO difference in my mind between what I am doing though and what anyone is doing who sells books to buy more except I do it quicker and more frequently than most. 

Also, for what it's worth, many times I end up selling books for exactly what I paid or often even less than I paid. I don't gloat over the "wins" and I try not to cry over the losses. I don't know if anyone notices the times I buy a book here on the boards and then later end up selling it for as low as half of what I paid because of undisclosed resto or some other problem that I didn't see when I bought it. I recently sold a Contact 12 for a few hundred less than I paid because I missed there was a missing page. It is not worth the hassle in most cases to burden the original seller with the return. I will just take the loss because I can afford it and pass on a savings to someone else.

In the case of Thun'da 1 I won a fair and square auction with a tracking snipe that was well below market value even if the book was 5.5-6.0, which is where it really fell- not 7.5. I even bought another Thun'da in the mean time from a boardie (more money for the comic people here) just to go with it. I looked at it and decided I didn't like the back cover defects and priced it at what is still a fair price. I thought about grading it and waiting for it to come back and selling it but thought it would be better to leave it up to the next owner who might like to see the Frazetta art inside.

The fun of buying and selling is a massive part of what I like about comics. I remember as a kid with baseball cards buying and selling and trading- fun stuff! The "flipper engine" is on in comics and it is not turning back- even when I had a shop 25 years ago I had guys constantly coming in doing the same thing. It is part of the current that keeps the waves going. I just appreciate when it stays inside the playground. I see a lot of young guys who get into this excited about the economic growth aspect of the hobby. They buy books and sell books aggressively with the goal that one day they will have a Cap America 1 and Batman 1. COOL!!!! I was a middle aged guy who came back to this hobby with the same kind of ideas. I guess I just don't see the harm.

That is my perspective on the topic anyway. Happy hunting to all.  

Agreed, buy to sell comes with the hobby. For some, the thrill of it beats storing books.