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Is it bad form to ask a seller if a book is pressed in the For Sale area? Or keep question to PM?
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96 posts in this topic

10 hours ago, Joshua33 said:

Shouldn't be a question any seller would take exception with. Pretty straightforward. Yes, no, or... I dont know the press history.

There's a fourth category: I didn't have it pressed, but I suspect it had been pressed when I bought it.  Between certain features of a book's appearance, and knowledge about the person who sold the book, one can often draw the conclusion that a comic was likely to have been pressed, or unlikely to have been pressed.

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People have a right to be nervous though with these questions considering all the amateur pressers evidenced on various Facebook groups.  Everyone and their uncle thinks that they have what it takes and they are going to squeeze gold from paper.  It's like watching everyone jump up and head out west during the Gold Rush.

There are quite a few of them that exhibit a considerable degree of arrogance combined with entitlement and inability resulting in butthurt as to why their raw book advertised as a 7.0 went down to a 6.5 instead of going up to a 9.4.

I might be the smartest out of all of them in that group though.  Know why?  I don't press my own books let alone even own a press. 

Edit: for clarification - I am not against pressing - There are only a handful of people that I consider total pros that I would entrust books to press.  

Edited by Buzzetta
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It's true, everyone and their mother is pressing books these days, and it's scary. I was talking to a guy that I used to buy from, when one day he told me about his pressing process. I'm not a pressing pro myself, but I've learned enough over the years to know I don't have the patience to do it correctly, and he FOR SURE isn't doing it correctly. Needless to say, I'm not buying from him anymore. Everyone on FB is suddenly a professional book presser, because they saw a Youtube video and bought a t-shirt press. It's the wild west out there these days. 

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19 hours ago, BobBain said:
19 hours ago, entalmighty1 said:

Yeah, that's totally normal.  :screwy:

It is.  I'm not interested in the bs that other people might be.
Having a book pressed is no different than having it in a bag and board.  It's just another manner of preserving it.

Right. Because your reality (and in your case I use that term lightly) is the only thing that matters. Total nonsense. Best of luck with any future sales on this board. 

Edited by Jeffro™
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15 hours ago, Buzzetta said:

My personal favorite is when people ask me if a book is pressed and I tell them that I purchased the book already slabbed.

Their follow up question?

”Do you think the book was pressed?”

🤦🏻‍♂️

Your follow up answer should be something like:

”The book is currently being pressed between the plastic case”

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1 hour ago, Catwomancomics said:

Your follow up answer should be something like:

”The book is currently being pressed between the plastic case”

@BuzzettaYou should just say No, I don’t think it has been pressed.  That is what buyers want to hear (so they can press it themselves and get an upgrade).  Will lead to a faster sale for you.

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1 hour ago, Heronext said:

@BuzzettaYou should just say No, I don’t think it has been pressed.  That is what buyers want to hear (so they can press it themselves and get an upgrade).  Will lead to a faster sale for you.

And that is a problem. There are so many misinformed and uneducated dopes that think that squeezing a book with a t shirt press is going to guarantee them a grade bump that they blame the person who sold them to slab rather than their own inexperience and ineptitude.

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6 hours ago, namisgr said:

There's a fourth category: I didn't have it pressed, but I suspect it had been pressed when I bought it.  Between certain features of a book's appearance, and knowledge about the person who sold the book, one can often draw the conclusion that a comic was likely to have been pressed, or unlikely to have been pressed.

Right. I've had books that definitely looked pressed. I have sold those as "pressing history unknown, looks pressed to me."

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I think honesty is the best policy. If you're 100% sure it hasn't been pressed, say that. If you aren't sure, but feel pretty confident that it hasn't been (you picked it up from an old school OO collection, whatever) then say "I can guarantee it hasn't been pressed since I've owned it, and I don't believe the original owner was familiar with pressing." And if you have no idea, say that. As long as you're totally up front with a buyer, I don't see how they can fault you once they make a decision based on full disclosure, good or bad.

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7 minutes ago, F For Fake said:

I think honesty is the best policy. If you're 100% sure it hasn't been pressed, say that. If you aren't sure, but feel pretty confident that it hasn't been (you picked it up from an old school OO collection, whatever) then say "I can guarantee it hasn't been pressed since I've owned it, and I don't believe the original owner was familiar with pressing." And if you have no idea, say that. As long as you're totally up front with a buyer, I don't see how they can fault you once they make a decision based on full disclosure, good or bad.

Or, and stick with me for a moment here, you can be like Bob from Page 1 and respond with:

":censored: off."

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3 minutes ago, TwoPiece said:

Or, and stick with me for a moment here, you can be like Bob from Page 1 and respond with:

":censored: off."

While that may be satisfying in the short term, I like to cultivate potential relationships in which I may profit in the future off of jerks.

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As others have said I think it should be sent via PM to not derail the sales topic as a whole.  Also if you are aware of the pressed status you could just put it in the overall topic also.  And if you don't know, just be honest, no need to be shady up in here.

2 hours ago, TwoPiece said:

I see that you've met Hollywood...

(tsk)

At least he didn't end his post in the 3rd person.

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2 minutes ago, F For Fake said:

While that may be satisfying in the short term, I like to cultivate potential relationships in which I may profit in the future off of jerks.

Bob obviously didn't think this through. You have shown me the way...

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2 minutes ago, Crops068 said:

As others have said I think it should be sent via PM to not derail the sales topic as a whole.  Also if you are aware of the pressed status you could just put it in the overall topic also.  And if you don't know, just be honest, no need to be shady up in here.

At least he didn't end his post in the 3rd person.

"Kav not to mock Hollywood who doesn't understand that Cal thinks he's being mocked."

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5 minutes ago, TwoPiece said:

Bob obviously didn't think this through. You have shown me the way...

I used to say "I'll sell to anyone as long as their money is green."

Nowadays I guess it's more along the lines of "I"ll sell to anyone as long as their invisible string of 0's and 1's is accepted by my digital holding room for invisible 0's and 1's."

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20 hours ago, Casablanca said:

Agree. It's pretty simple actually for me.  If i ask a seller a question( non-disparaging of course) and they take umbrage with the question or they don't answer, i go elsewhere. Money talks, BS walks. 

Sounds like the BS talked, so the money walked lol 

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6 hours ago, Jeffro™ said:

Right. Because your reality (and in your case I use that term lightly) is the only thing that matters. Total nonsense. Best of luck with any future sales on this board. 

Every reply; "Were these pressed, and will they be bagged and boarded?"

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