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Painful Lesson
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174 posts in this topic

23 hours 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. 

"Fairly confident" isn't enough. The owner of the booth practically has to see him do it himself, witnesses help. You have the right to ban him but he will ask why? And he will deny it. I'd just tell him that he is "suspect", that you feel uneasy with him there and to move on. I have kicked people out of my booth and "banned" them for a lot less. If you know for sure or he has been caught red handed, spread the word. If not, keep your mouth shut. I suspect you are right but in this country, you are innocent until proved otherwise.

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23 hours ago, jaeldubyoo said:

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..

The point is not how much he's purchased from you it's how much he's stolen from you.

Hire a couple of helpers from now on; tell the organizer and every dealer that sets up at this con what happened and to beware of this guy; ban him from your booth.

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4 minutes ago, Ride the Tiger said:

I also wonder why 2 witnesses watched as a crime was committed but said nothing till it was way too late.

Absolutely.

To the OP. 

I have sympathy for you. You have been screwed simply for having a trusting nature.

If you are 100% sure of your facts I would confront the guy and tell him what you know. Tell him you are going to the Police unless he pays up or returns the stolen gear. Call his bluff.

If he digs in and brazens it out, lay him out, walk away and put it down to experience.

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At best he mistakenly swapped bags while inspecting 2 copies of the same issue and at worst he is and has been purposefully doing this to you and others for a long time now.  

Regardless of which, he is a known liability that needs to be watched closely by any dealer he visits. 

If you have his contact info, I would reach out, inform him of what you and others saw happen and do 1 of 2 things:

1. ask that he kindly pay half of what he owes on the original price.

2. inform him that because of what happened you cannot trust doing business with him and will be informing other dealers of his reputation 

the latter might prompt him to initiate a negotiation of #1 above.

to be honest, once someone like this is found out whether he did it wittingly or unwittingly, it is socially (possibly criminally) negligent on your part not to warn your fellow dealers and allow it to happen to someone else.  don't you wish those other 2 witnesses had spoken up BEFORE you sold him those comics?

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Tell him you have 2 witnesses and his prints on the bag and you want the book or the money or you're taking it to the police.  That should do it.  One thing about thiefs they arec always scared of finally getting caught.

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5 hours ago, NoMan said:

Dubas*s thief screws over everyone. Trusting OP gets screwed, customers all ways getting the evil eye and feel uncomfortable: Is this guy a thief

Sorry this happened. 

One bad apple spoils the bunch but honestly, hopefully this doesn't sour the OP's opinion of most people.  The majority of people are pretty decent, but there's always a few jerks in the world...  You just need to be aware they exist and deal with them accordingly if you run into them. 

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9 minutes ago, Wolverinex said:

One bad apple spoils the bunch but honestly, hopefully this doesn't sour the OP's opinion of most people.  The majority of people are pretty decent, but there's always a few jerks in the world...  You just need to be aware they exist and deal with them accordingly if you run into them. 

Times infinity, sometimes we need a wake up to become aware again if we're not careful, but we shouldn't become too cynical because that's a bad thing too....

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18 hours ago, Robot Man said:

"Fairly confident" isn't enough. The owner of the booth practically has to see him do it himself, witnesses help. You have the right to ban him but he will ask why? And he will deny it. I'd just tell him that he is "suspect", that you feel uneasy with him there and to move on. I have kicked people out of my booth and "banned" them for a lot less. If you know for sure or he has been caught red handed, spread the word. If not, keep your mouth shut. I suspect you are right but in this country, you are innocent until proved otherwise.

Nonsense. Innocent until proven guilty applies in a court of law. Not the court of public opinion. If you are sure he is the thief, I'd confront him very publicly. If nothing else, you will help out your fellow dealers.

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Some people don't realize that inflation is a byproduct of profit loss.

When I worked in customer service, people would complain about prices that I have no control over. I would just say, "well if people stopped stealing Red Bull by the case, etc, your pocket might be a bit heavier".

Now, theft doesn't always result in inflation, but the dealer here is out hundreds. He suffers from profit loss and collectors potentially suffer from inflation and also less product distribution. It kinda pisses me off.

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3 minutes ago, TwoPiece said:

Some people don't realize that inflation is a byproduct of profit loss.

When I worked in customer service, people would complain about prices that I have no control over. I would just say, "well if people stopped stealing Red Bull by the case, etc, your pocket might be a bit heavier".

Now, theft doesn't always result in inflation, but the dealer here is out hundreds. He suffers from profit loss and collectors potentially suffer from inflation and also less product distribution. It kinda pisses me off.

Loss prevention guy told me the large bulk of store losses is employee theft.  And he said we always catch them.  Security guards are a bit notorious for ripping places off they are supposed to guard.  I worked in a lab and we never had any theft but someone got the idea we needed security guards.  Within a week all the stereo equipment had been stolen.  They thought they were clever-they took our high tech stuff and replaced it with their crappy old stereo equipment-and thought nobody would notice.

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I'm literally sick to my stomach. I went thru my inventory and discovered many cheap comics in bags that were labeled with comics for much more. They included 4 X-Men 94, vf or better. I'm finding more and more. In one day, I've lost thousands. 

Now I can't be sure how many people were doing it. I know it's my fault for being so cavalier with my comics, but ...

I've been collecting comics for over 40 years and I love comics. This is enough to give it all up.

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Just now, jaeldubyoo said:

 

I'm literally sick to my stomach. I went thru my inventory and discovered many cheap comics in bags that were labeled with comics for much more. They included 4 X-Men 94, vf or better. I'm finding more and more. In one day, I've lost thousands. 

Now I can't be sure how many people were doing it. I know it's my fault for being so cavalier with my comics, but ...

I've been collecting comics for over 40 years and I love comics. This is enough to give it all up.

Don't know what to say. No point in mumbling platitudes. I'm incredibly sorry for you man.

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On 3/19/2019 at 7:00 PM, jaeldubyoo said:

I would rather handle it discreetly. In this hobby, reputation is everything. I'm not out to destroy somebody's reputation. 

Give me a break, man. A thief is a thief. Time for him to go to jail or pay up. 

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