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Painful Lesson
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174 posts in this topic

Chalk it up to being too trusting, disorganized, and not being more careful.

I’ve collected for over 40 years and am now selling a lot of my comics. I’ve been selling at the local con since last year, a total of 3 times. The last time I discovered how vulnerable I was to thievery. And not just inventory shrinkage. A good customer took advantage of my trusting nature and really shafted me, What he did was switched comics in different priced bags. Without really looking, I took his money for what the prices on the back of the bags. I later discovered an empty bag with a price tag of $550. One of my Incredible Hulk #180. There were other empty bags, So I know he cheated me out of more stuff. A couple of people mentioned to me that they observed him switching comics, but I really didn’t want to believe it. Stupid me.

 

I just had to vent.

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Pay attention to the body language of your customers-if they keep looking over at you instead of being focused on the books like a legitimate customer-ask them to leave.

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Sounds like you are very nonchalant about your booth and your books.  Selling a high value book for the price on a bag is a really dumb rookie mistake.

It's not like you were the victim of a sophisticated scam, a trusted customer took advantage of you. He will only get away with it if you let him.

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He already got away with it. Hard to prove it unless you catch him in the act. Confronting now him will only result in a lie on his part. If he did it once and got away with it, he will probably try it again. Wait till he shows up again and give him a chance to do it again. Once he does you’ve got him. Ban him from your booth and spread the word. Really suks but be a lot more careful in the future. Helpers in your booth work well too. 

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6 minutes ago, shadroch said:

Sounds like you are very nonchalant about your booth and your books.  Selling a high value book for the price on a bag is a really dumb rookie mistake.

It's not like you were the victim of a sophisticated scam, a trusted customer took advantage of you. He will only get away with it if you let him.

You're right. When it comes to selling, I've been incredibly naive. But this guy bought $thousands of books from me in the last 2 cons I sold at..

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Just now, Robot Man said:

He already got away with it. Hard to prove it unless you catch him in the act. Confronting now him will only result in a lie on his part. If he did it once and got away with it, he will probably try it again. Wait till he shows up again and give him a chance to do it again. Once he does you’ve got him. Ban him from your booth and spread the word. Really suks but be a lot more careful in the future. Helpers in your booth work well too. 

 

I have 2 witnesses that observed him doing it. I understand it would be difficult to prove. But I did keep the empty bag which must be full of his fingerprints, just in case. Besides, I wouldn't be surprised if he was reading this thread. I seriously don't think he'll show his face at my booth again.

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4 minutes ago, jaeldubyoo said:

 

I have 2 witnesses that observed him doing it. I understand it would be difficult to prove. But I did keep the empty bag which must be full of his fingerprints, just in case. Besides, I wouldn't be surprised if he was reading this thread. I seriously don't think he'll show his face at my booth again.

If you have 2 witnesses and prints you have enough for an arrest.

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2 minutes ago, kav said:

If you have 2 witnesses and prints you have enough for an arrest.

I would rather handle it discreetly. In this hobby, reputation is everything. I'm not out to destroy somebody's reputation. I just wished he would come clean and settle up.

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1 minute ago, jaeldubyoo said:

I would rather handle it discreetly. In this hobby, reputation is everything. I'm not out to destroy somebody's reputation. I just wished he would come clean and settle up.

He wont

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If you feel fairly confident it was him, do you have to catch him in the act to ban him from your booth?

A genuine question.  I don’t sell at cons so I don’t know what the etiquette is for banning someone from buying from you. 

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2 minutes ago, jcjames said:

Keep the empty bag with the $550 sticker and if he ever shows up again say, "hey I've been keeping this since the last time you were here and wondered if you wanted it" and hand him the bag. 

Then tell him to gtfo and that word has been spread. 

:taptaptap: >:(

 

Best idea yet.  

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32 minutes ago, Number 6 said:

If you feel fairly confident it was him, do you have to catch him in the act to ban him from your booth?

A genuine question.  I don’t sell at cons so I don’t know what the etiquette is for banning someone from buying from you. 

I reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.

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1 minute ago, miraclemet said:

except he will admit he was at the booth which explains the prints...

Moving on to question #2 sir-how do you explain the 2 individuals that saw you remove a book from the empty bag with the $550 price tag and place it in another bag you removed the contents from?  

The thing with evidence is it doesnt stand alone the evidence facts are placed side by side to construct the story of the crime.

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