General discussion thread - keep the other threads clean 29 29

[manetteska]

35 minutes ago, Ricksneatstuff said:

1 hour 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.  

Cutting to the chase, and ignoring the sob portion: You bought a book, didn't like it, and instead of returning it (as I agree the eBay grade was not accurate), you instead do everyone a favor and list the poorly-graded book for a 50% profit?

Edited February 28, 2019 by manetteska
crossed out

[Red84]

4 minutes ago, manetteska said:

Cutting to the chase, and ignoring the sob portion: You bought a book, didn't like it, and instead of returning it (as I agree the eBay grade was not accurate), you instead do everyone a favor and list the poorly-graded book for a 50% profit?

To be fair, while he is asking significantly more, he did correct the grade in his sale from the incorrect 7.5 as listed by the ebay seller. 

 

EDIT - this was my 5,500 post! 

Edited February 28, 2019 by Red84

[manetteska]

4 minutes ago, Red84 said:

8 minutes ago, manetteska said:

Cutting to the chase, and ignoring the sob portion: You bought a book, didn't like it, and instead of returning it (as I agree the eBay grade was not accurate), you instead do everyone a favor and list the poorly-graded book for a 50% profit?

To be fair, while he is asking significantly more, he did correct the grade in his sale from the incorrect 7.5 as listed by the ebay seller. 

 

True; I had another phrase there but took it out. Seems the replacement wasn't great either. Crossed out in newly edited post.

[Ricksneatstuff]

1 minute ago, manetteska said:

Cutting to the chase, and ignoring the sob portion: You bought a book, didn't like it, and instead of returning it (as I agree the eBay grade was not accurate), you instead do everyone a favor and list the poorly-graded book for a 50% profit?

I am not referring to that book when I say "pass on the savings" - I am referring to the books I end up taking a loss on.

Ignoring the "sob portion"?? What sob portion is that? I don't have a thing to be unhappy about. Life is good. Comics have been fun. I can buy or sell what I want when I want just like you or anyone else. When I bought books from you did I buy them from you for what you paid? I would hope not. You could have sold me a Fox romance for $225 that you bought a few months or years earlier for $30. Who cares? You set a price and people will pay it or negotiate or not pay it. It was your risk to buy something and it is your reward or loss if you sell it.

If a guy here gets a BIN where he buys a $1500 book for $50 are we to expect him to sell it for $55 here to make a profit we deem reasonable? Of course not. The market will decide where all of it ends up.

I recently bought a comic from someone for $3,750 that I found out afterwards they bought from someone else for $250 a few weeks earlier. Did I get mad? Nope- not at all. I even told the guy "good deal man, I hope that money helps you get the next thing you need." He set a price and I paid it. The guy who sold it for $250 wasn't happy about it from what I hear but now he knows not to sell it for $250.

[Bird]

Like I said earlier, huge markups seem to work for him. He isn't the only one doing it, he just does it on a larger scale as he admits. It just seems unseemly to me with the large $ amounts. But if you do it and get what you ask then that is tremendously reinforcing and leads to doing it more. As we can see. 

[entalmighty1]

You guys act like Rick sells literally every single book he lists.  There's plenty of threads where the books go back in his boxes.  Either pay it or don't.  I get frustrated when I miss out on books, just like everybody else does, especially when I see them for sale again pretty quickly.  That doesn't make it wrong, it just makes it inconvenient.

I've bought plenty from Rick, and there's a bunch of stuff he lists that I feel is overpriced.  I don't get mad, I just don't buy it.  I guarantee he'll say the same about me.  I want way too much for my Planet Comics 8, and he didn't buy it from me.  Who cares?  I can lower the price or keep the book.

Look at October's recent thread, look at Foolkiller's threads, or Dale's threads...I bet they could list a poodle, call it a VG/F, and 6 people would take it before they realized they just bought a dog.  It's all about things being priced right for the right person.

[Naphtha]

4 minutes ago, entalmighty1 said:

I bet they could list a poodle, call it a VG/F, and 6 people would take it before they realized they just bought a dog.

[telerites]

I don't understand why someone complains about flipping at higher prices.  A seller can ask whatever they want and if they find a buyer at the asking price, I just cannot see any fault in the transaction.  I don't think a buyer is being coerced into buying the book.

This, of course, is predicated on the seller giving full disclosure of condition and adequate pics/scans.  

[Mystafo]

You just keep on doing you, Rick!

While I understand and agree with some things being said on both sides, it's really hard to argue with the "just don't pay more than you think you should" logic here.

[Top City Comics]

33 minutes ago, entalmighty1 said:

Look at October's recent thread, look at Foolkiller's threads, or Dale's threads...I bet they could list a poodle, call it a VG/F, and 6 people would take it before they realized they just bought a dog.  It's all about things being priced right for the right person.

 I think that may have actually happened to me in October's thread last week...

Good thing I was 5th in the line of takers!! 

[skypinkblu]

2 hours 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.  

 

As I said, you couldn't flip the books if there weren't buyers and no one twists arms, you are an extraordinarily talented sales person and you obviously enjoy it.  I just don't really understand why you (and not only you) delete the prices once the books are sold? 

 I'd love to have that information when I shop   somewhere else, you and a few others sell books no one else sees (until a week after you make the sale when I see another copy and I'm racking my brain to remember).  At least on comiclink  I can copy the prices or place a tracking bid. 

I guess I could spend all day copying sales threads, but I'd get very bored after about 10 minutes...maybe 5;)

If you think it's valuable proprietary information, publish a list of sales, I'd probably subscribe the same way I would to GPA.

Maybe I could start a thread...board price guide and everyone could post stuff? Does anyone think it would be useful, or totally lame?

 

Edited February 28, 2019 by skypinkblu
parenthesis

[Ricksneatstuff]

10 minutes ago, skypinkblu said:

 

As I said, you couldn't flip the books if there weren't buyers and no one twists arms, you are an extraordinarily talented sales person and you obviously enjoy it.  I just don't really understand why you (and not only you) delete the prices once the books are sold? 

 I'd love to have that information when I shop   somewhere else, you and a few others sell books no one else sees (until a week after you make the sale when I see another copy and I'm racking my brain to remember.  At least on comiclink  I can copy the prices or place a tracking bid. 

I guess I could spend all day copying sales threads, but I'd get very bored after about 10 minutes...maybe 5;)

If you think it's valuable proprietary information, publish a list of sales, I'd probably subscribe the same way I would to GPA.

Maybe I could start a thread...board price guide and everyone could post stuff? Does anyone think it would be useful, or totally lame?

 

I think that would be cool. I wish there was an online database that included raw sales with links to the books that were sold.  

[entalmighty1]

12 minutes ago, skypinkblu said:

 

As I said, you couldn't flip the books if there weren't buyers and no one twists arms, you are an extraordinarily talented sales person and you obviously enjoy it.  I just don't really understand why you (and not only you) delete the prices once the books are sold? 

 I'd love to have that information when I shop   somewhere else, you and a few others sell books no one else sees (until a week after you make the sale when I see another copy and I'm racking my brain to remember).  At least on comiclink  I can copy the prices or place a tracking bid. 

I guess I could spend all day copying sales threads, but I'd get very bored after about 10 minutes...maybe 5;)

If you think it's valuable proprietary information, publish a list of sales, I'd probably subscribe the same way I would to GPA.

Maybe I could start a thread...board price guide and everyone could post stuff? Does anyone think it would be useful, or totally lame?

 

THIS.

[skypinkblu]

1 minute ago, Ricksneatstuff said:

I think that would be cool. I wish there was an online database that included raw sales with links to the books that were sold.  

All we'd need to do is set up a google spreadsheet and post a link in a thread, then people could just post their own sales and buys...if they want to...no coercion, but if the bigger board sellers buers don't join in, it would be a waste of time.

 

[Bird]

I can’t believe you even know where you saw the book in which thread although I guess Rick has things that most people don’t I can never remember where I saw a book

[skypinkblu]

6 minutes ago, Bird said:

I can’t believe you even know where you saw the book in which thread although I guess Rick has things that most people don’t I can never remember where I saw a book

I've always had  a good memory for minutia. I used to remember page numbers, I was really good at trivial pursuit;) ...but let me walk into a store with a shopping list...I don't even remember where I put the list;) It's getting worse as I get older, lol. Now I don't remember the page numbers or the lists;)

[telerites]

10 minutes ago, skypinkblu said:

All we'd need to do is set up a google spreadsheet and post a link in a thread, then people could just post their own sales and buys...if they want to...no coercion, but if the bigger board sellers buers don't join in, it would be a waste of time.

 

I think some data is better than no data, Sha.  But the more the better.  It would take some effort from the seller/buyer to be willing and disciplined to post the information.  I am not sure how you limit double posting if the seller and buy post the same book but not a biggie as it should be easily identifiable as the same transaction.  I guess the fields would be title. condition (which would show CGC or raw), sold price, and date.

It is grand idea but unless continually propped up for remembrance and willingly populated, it will get lost and die out.  

[skypinkblu]

2 minutes ago, telerites said:

I think some data is better than no data, Sha.  But the more the better.  It would take some effort from the seller/buyer to be willing and disciplined to post the information.  I am not sure how you limit double posting if the seller and buy post the same book but not a biggie as it should be easily identifiable as the same transaction.  I guess the fields would be title. condition (which would show CGC or raw), sold price, and date.

It is grand idea but unless continually propped up for remembrance and willingly populated, it will get lost and die out.  

I'm going to think about it, and maybe if there are others interested, we could get together in a PM and figure something out. If it doesn't work, at least it won't cost us anything.

[DR.X]

8 minutes ago, skypinkblu said:

I've always had  a good memory for minutia. I used to remember page numbers, I was really good at trivial pursuit;) ...but let me walk into a store with a shopping list...I don't even remember where I put the list;) It's getting worse as I get older, lol. Now I don't remember the page numbers or the lists;)

First of all you forgot to call me last night and give me Shannon's number. Second, make sure you never play me in Trivia pursuit. I'll destroy you.

[manetteska]

How do you think “sold by PM” sales will go as far as reporting? That’s a good portion of GA sales. Think 50% reported? More/less?