Purchasing Raw vs. Slabbed at a Convention 1 1

[Bomber-Bob]

44 minutes ago, Artboy99 said:

The dealers at my local shows all ask for it. Then the book gets repriced 10% above what I had the book at and it goes on their wall.

Even worse: customer in other dealers booth asking for a book he doesn't have. Comes to my booth, "gimme a deal gimme a deal." Buys the book from me, then goes back to his booth to sell it to the waiting customer. Some people do not play well with others.

 

I stopped giving deals to other dealers.

Interesting. Sounds like dealers are the worst customers ! I can understand a dealer buying bulk wanting a discount. However, to buy something to immediately flip to a waiting customer sounds like something that should be frowned upon. 

[Kevin76]

2 hours ago, Bomber-Bob said:

Interesting. Sounds like dealers are the worst customers ! I can understand a dealer buying bulk wanting a discount. However, to buy something to immediately flip to a waiting customer sounds like something that should be frowned upon. 

Dealer has the power to say no  

[blazingbob]

Remember,  we are the worst customers.  Because as we know in this day of technology and vulcan mind melds customers know exactly where the book they are looking for is.  

[alexgross.com]

16 hours ago, Artboy99 said:

I am also wondering why buyers expect discounts off of key books that are fairly priced?

you've seen a key at a convention that was fairly priced?!? 

[1Cool]

11 hours ago, Bomber-Bob said:

Interesting. Sounds like dealers are the worst customers ! I can understand a dealer buying bulk wanting a discount. However, to buy something to immediately flip to a waiting customer sounds like something that should be frowned upon. 

I think it really depends on your relationship with the other dealer.  If you both have an agreed on 20% "dealer" discount that goes both way then it work great.  Selling to another dealer does have its perks even if it is at a discount since they almost always pay in cash and generally don't mess around with 5 $2 books instead they typically buy up short boxes of books they need and hand you a stack of cash.  I personally have a problem selling to other dealers when I think they are doing the quick flip but it really depends on the books.  If they have a buyer looking for Nick Fury books and I've got a stack of books that I paid $1 each for then I'm happy to blow out some books at a discount.  If the guy is looking for a 20% discount on my two hottest books then I usually say no or ask him to come back after the Con is over. 

[Artboy99]

1 hour ago, www.alexgross.com said:

you've seen a key at a convention that was fairly priced?!? 

Yes, on my own wall.

Just recently had a customer that wanted to buy:

ASM 300

ASM 252

SW 8

NM 87

And I totaled it up, he was wanting all of them at 50% off. No thanks.

Edited September 19, 2017 by Artboy99

[blazingbob]

This isn't about the "quick flip".  It comes down to that dealer has the customer and the other dealer doesn't.  So what if he flips it right away.  That customer may just buy from him.  If he doesn't buy it from that dealer then maybe the guy doesn't buy it from anybody.  End result NO SALE.  This result,  both dealers made money.  

[Artboy99]

1 minute ago, blazingbob said:

This isn't about the "quick flip".  It comes down to that dealer has the customer and the other dealer doesn't.  So what if he flips it right away.  That customer may just buy from him.  If he doesn't buy it from that dealer then maybe the guy doesn't buy it from anybody.  End result NO SALE.  This result,  both dealers made money.  

I would rather the other dealer just send the customer to my booth.

Then when he has something I don't I will return the favor.

[1Cool]

2 minutes ago, Artboy99 said:

I would rather the other dealer just send the customer to my booth.

Then when he has something I don't I will return the favor.

I do this all the time but I'm not sure if the other dealers think about it enough to send people over my way.  I always get asked for Golden Age books and instead of running over and trying to broker a deal I just send the buyer over to the guys I know have Golden Age at the Con.  People ask for ASM 129 - I send them to the couple guys who have the book on their wall. 

[alexgross.com]

if you want to buy a silver age key at a convention, you will surely pay more than if you buy it on a CL or CC auction. as the dealers here have already mentioned, they have lots of costs in attending conventions, and that will surely be reflected in their prices, especially for the most sought after books, the keys. conventions are awesome for finding run books that are raw, you can really inspect them closely. but don't waste your time trying to find a great deal on hulk 1, af15, or anything like that at a convention, unless you want to pay extra. 

[blazingbob]

Really?  Last couple of AF #15's I sold were a bit less then what the auction houses sold them for so I'm not sure where you are pulling this from.  Buyers were pretty happy.  So were the consignor's considering the amounts I got them on the books I've sold recently.  

Add that my consignment rates over 10K are lower then the auction houses and the buyers got pretty close to what those bargain auction houses got.  All with the simple me and them negotiation.  No speculation of shill bidding.  

Edited September 19, 2017 by blazingbob

[Dick Pontoon]

I always get a kick out of the anti-dealer sentiment that crops up on the boards here and there. Just like people in every other aspect of life, there’s good ones and bad ones. Once you’ve figured out who the guys who know how to grade and price are, stick with them and just ignore the others. If buying at cons is so terrible, why are there so many Forumites who travel to different shows? Here’s a sampling of some of my buys over the last few years. Those who know me know I’m a cheapskate. I didn’t overpay on these and bought them at prices that both parties felt good about without any protracted negotiations. While we are on the subject, Bob showed me a very nice lower grade FF #4 one year at a nice price, but I’d just picked up the Hulk #2 and was low on funds.

 

[1Cool]

It is an interesting question - are slabbed key books more expensive at Cons compared to on E-Bay or private websites?  With Baltimore coming up this week it may be informational for people to look at some random slabs and compare the prices to similar books on-line.  Auctions can be all over the place so I think the apples to oranges comparison is online BINs vs Con prices.  Report back what you see (I know I will).

[chrisco37]

I know that Bob Storms prices are same on website as they are at a show.  I typically send Bob a want list/books to bring a month or so before Bmore each year.  Sticker is same as the website.

[kimik]

18 hours ago, Artboy99 said:

The dealers at my local shows all ask for it. Then the book gets repriced 10% above what I had the book at and it goes on their wall.

Even worse: customer in other dealers booth asking for a book he doesn't have. Comes to my booth, "gimme a deal gimme a deal." Buys the book from me, then goes back to his booth to sell it to the waiting customer. Some people do not play well with others.

 

I stopped giving deals to other dealers.

The most fun is with the odd dealer (I won't mention names) that goes from booth to booth looking for a specific book, asks for your best price, and then makes the rounds trying to haggle a couple of times at each table that has it. In those cases, I just pull the book and say it sold. If they ask for what price, I tell them a price lower than what they were offering me for it.

Most dealers are good to deal with and I expect them to mark the price up even after I give a bit of a discount. If I am happy with the price then I hope they make some $$$ on it and come back to buy more during the show. 

Edited September 19, 2017 by kimik

[blazingbob]

57 minutes ago, chrisco37 said:

I know that Bob Storms prices are same on website as they are at a show.  I typically send Bob a want list/books to bring a month or so before Bmore each year.  Sticker is same as the website.

But just remember because I have 12 books in my ebay store the convention buyers are entitled to the "ebay discount" even if the book isn't in my ebay store.

I'm also supposed to give them the "Admission discount",  the "customary 1st beer at the show discount",  the "VIP signature signing discount" and the end of the day "Last beer for the road discount".

Bob's Magic Money Tree rains cash 

Edited September 19, 2017 by blazingbob

[alexgross.com]

4 hours ago, Pontoon said:

I always get a kick out of the anti-dealer sentiment that crops up on the boards here and there. Just like people in every other aspect of life, there’s good ones and bad ones. Once you’ve figured out who the guys who know how to grade and price are, stick with them and just ignore the others. If buying at cons is so terrible, why are there so many Forumites who travel to different shows? Here’s a sampling of some of my buys over the last few years. Those who know me know I’m a cheapskate. I didn’t overpay on these and bought them at prices that both parties felt good about without any protracted negotiations. While we are on the subject, Bob showed me a very nice lower grade FF #4 one year at a nice price, but I’d just picked up the Hulk #2 and was low on funds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

yes, everyone here says how great bob is, and i certainly believe them. i wish i saw him at wondercon (CA) every year, but i haven't. i've seen a lot of the dealers that are known from overstreet ads and online at that show, and my statement is based on that. i won't start naming names, but pretty much every dealer i've seen there asks prices a good deal over GPA for key books. saw a poor looking hulk 1 cgc 3.5 about a year and a half ago there and the dealer was asking 13k for it, when it was worth at most 9k. and this is a well known and well liked dealer. I'm not anti-dealer. but that's been my experience, and there are more stories like that one.  i'm glad to know that bob is apparently more fairly priced than most of these others. 

[fastballspecial]

I hope some are paying attention because this is becoming a clinic and how to buy and sell books in general. Veterans here
with tons of experience are giving out advice they should charge for. 

 

[chrisco37]

2 hours ago, blazingbob said:

But just remember because I have 12 books in my ebay store the convention buyers are entitled to the "ebay discount" even if the book isn't in my ebay store.

I'm also supposed to give them the "Admission discount",  the "customary 1st beer at the show discount",  the "VIP signature signing discount" and the end of the day "Last beer for the road discount".

Bob's Magic Money Tree rains cash 

I love that you apply all the various discounts to my purchases.  I think the last few shows, you've actually had to cut me a check to take the books from you.  

[Sweet Lou 14]

2 hours ago, blazingbob said:

But just remember because I have 12 books in my ebay store the convention buyers are entitled to the "ebay discount" even if the book isn't in my ebay store.

I'm also supposed to give them the "Admission discount",  the "customary 1st beer at the show discount",  the "VIP signature signing discount" and the end of the day "Last beer for the road discount".

Bob's Magic Money Tree rains cash 

All these years and I never knew you are open to discounts in exchange for beer.