• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

LOCKED - disruptive thread - [CLOSED] Ebay/Auctiva is busted and I gotta sell some comics!
5 5

131 posts in this topic

19 minutes ago, SOTIcollector said:
19 minutes ago, SOTIcollector said:

 

So it appears that the buyer posted an unqualified "take it", and then after that you posted that you were pulling the book from sale because you thought you'd make more money by going a different route.  That hardly seems fair to the buyer. Typically on the boards, both buyer and seller are expected to honor a "take it" agreement.  

he'll get first crack at it when it comes back a 9.8 it prob will ... even if grader is in a rush to get home .. and if the grader   isn't in   Rush to get home it might get a 9.9 .. then he saves 10% off a $1000 book ...or 10% off whatever a 9.9 is worth 

Edited by Paddy_McShillihan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Paddy_McShillihan said:

he'll get first crack at it when it comes back a 9.8 it prob will ... even if grader is in a rush to get home .. and if the grader   isn't in   Rush to get home it might get a 9.9 .. then he saves 10% off a $1000 book ...or 10% off whatever a 9.9 is worth 

That's assuming the buyer is interested.  The 10% wouldn't matter to me.  I wouldn't be interested in buying anything from a seller who refuses to sell after a deal has been made.  Period.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, SOTIcollector said:

So it appears that the buyer posted an unqualified "take it", and then after that you posted that you were pulling the book from sale because you thought you'd make more money by going a different route.  That hardly seems fair to the buyer. Typically on the boards, both buyer and seller are expected to honor a "take it" agreement.  

I don't disagree with you on that honor arrangement, however it's not quite how this incident rolled out.  

Miraclemet approached me via private message @ 11:14AM, expressing general interest with the sale as whole with no mention of any book in particular, inquiring only if any of my books had been pressed. 

I responded 46 minutes later at 12:00PM saying it depends on the books and which ones he wanted. 

He responded 42 minutes later at 12:42PM with an attempt to open negotiation on a bundle deal with the message, "Was thinking about a bundle of Avengers #8 and IH141".

I responded one hour and one minute later at 1:43PM informing him that the Avengers 8 was indeed pressed, and the Hulk was not, and in that message told him that I had decided to pull it from sale and CPR it.

He responded to that message 15 minutes later at 1:58PM indicating "he'd buy the 141 if I was willing to sell" despite me expressing my intent to pull the book in the previous private message with him.

After leaving the 1:58PM message, timestamps indicate he then quoted the ad in the thread at 1:59PM with a "take". 

At 2:15 PM I responded to his 1:58PM private message reiterating I was pulling the ad, and I then I went to make the necessary edits. I did not see his 1:59PM "take" until I later reading his public follow-up message within the thread "never mind, I guess it's getting pulled" at 2:16PM

He then replied again to me via PM at 2:18PM saying he "should have just bought it instead of asking. lesson learned". 

I replied via PM at 2:27PM indicating that if he had jumped at buying it prior to my 1:43PM response to him, I certainly would have honored it. I expressed sympathy for him not getting what he wanted, and in return offered him not only first crack at the book at whatever it comes back at, but also an additional 10% off. If it comes back 9.2, he can have it for $270 or less. He gets first shot at it regardless, at that price, even if FMV at 9.2 goes up. Might I add, the current GPA90 value on that book is above $300.

At 2:30PM, I publicly reiterated my offer in the thread of a 10% discount.  

At 3:29PM he replied via PM telling me that going forward I should indicate in the ad itself whether a book has been pressed or not so that people can just pull the trigger on a buy w/o having to check in with me first. I haven't responded to that, and while he's not wrong, I want to say a few things about that, and I'll do so publicly.

Had I made the pressing status of those books known in advance, It would not have changed the outcome. The message received at 12:42 PM indicated a desire to open a dialog about a bundle deal for the two books and not an express commit to buy. The answer about the Hulk would have been the same from my end. It's not unimportant to note that Miraclemet slapped down his "take" 16 minutes after I had already told him I was going to pull the book from sale and 1 minute after he confirmed receipt of that intent at 1:58. 

Just a general comment regarding the amount of info I put into the ads... Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't believe most sellers even bother providing as much as I do, ie: links to census data, current FMV's from two different price tracking websites, and most importantly the CGC grader's notes, which would normally have to be paid for. In addition, with few exceptions for some very hot books, pricing is already below GPA/GoCollect FMVs and those buying bundles are getting even more reduced from the asking price.

Added to all of this, I'm now starting to receive blowback regarding the $12 shipping rate per book and an expectation that I should honor that price even when combining multiple slabs in the same box. I take excessive pride in making sure the items are VERY well protected. nested boxes, pool noodles, yards of bubble wrap, reinforced walls, and lots of tape to put these boxes together to make sure they're safe. These aren't flat-rate boxes and I'm shipping them priority mail with restricted insurance and signature confirmation. My cost to ship a single $600 slab across the country is around $35, two slabs @ $1200 value jacks that price on my end to around $55. Asking for $12 per book to offset that cost isn't unreasonable. Those who think $35 to ship a slab is lunacy, remember, we're talking about books in excess of $500 value. Anyone ever try to file a claim with USPS for a book over $500? Ever had someone successfully chargeback a purchase they say they never received, despite a signature confirmation? That's the reason I put restricted delivery services on $600 books. To me, asking $12 a slab for the level of packaging and security received in exchange is a super small ask.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

45 minutes ago, agamoto said:

timestamps indicate he then quoted the ad in the thread at 1:59PM with a "take". 

At 2:15 PM I ...went to make the necessary edits. 

This.

Beyond this, you've posted a lot of details that have nothing to do with this.

By your own admission, you removed the book from sale after his "take".  Since then, you've been given a number of opportunities to do the honorable thing, but you've stuck to your guns and indicated that you'll do no such thing.  Noted.   Thank you, and have a nice day.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, agamoto said:

 My cost to ship a single $600 slab across the country is around $35, two slabs @ $1200 value jacks that price on my end to around $55. Asking for $12 per book to offset that cost isn't unreasonable. Those who think $35 to ship a slab is lunacy, remember, we're talking about books in excess of $500 value

Lmao dude if it costs you $35 to ship one book, then that's on you. You can't try to pass on your poor cost management to your buyers and then get upset when they don't like it

Link to comment
Share on other sites

52 minutes ago, Unstoppablejayd said:

The pm dealing means nothing here.. the book was available and a take it was presented.. the book should be sold . if it was not the person you were speaking to via PM what would you have done?

Excellent question

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, agamoto said:

At 3:29PM he replied via PM telling me that going forward I should indicate in the ad itself whether a book has been pressed or not so that people can just pull the trigger on a buy w/o having to check in with me first. I haven't responded to that, and while he's not wrong, I want to say a few things about that, and I'll do so publicly.

...

Just a general comment regarding the amount of info I put into the ads... Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't believe most sellers even bother providing as much as I do, ie: links to census data, current FMV's from two different price tracking websites, and most importantly the CGC grader's notes, which would normally have to be paid for. In addition, with few exceptions for some very hot books, pricing is already below GPA/GoCollect FMVs and those buying bundles are getting even more reduced from the asking price.

 

Was that second paragraph meant to be the response about pressing? I agree I appreciated your extensive info on the books conditions and market values, which is why I thought it odd that you left out pressing info which you also knew. Why be so giving of one type of info on the book, but hold back other info? It was just weird and inconsistent. I still don't think I understand your reasoning on withholding the pressing info. 

And you cant know what I would have done (regarding an immediate take of the IH141), just like I couldn't know if you were really going to pull it. Trying to figure out intent is tough, so it's best to stick to actions that have actually occurred rather than try to predict what actions might have occurred. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, SOTIcollector said:

This.

Beyond this, you've posted a lot of details that have nothing to do with this.

By your own admission, you removed the book from sale after his "take".  Since then, you've been given a number of opportunities to do the honorable thing, but you've stuck to your guns and indicated that you'll do no such thing.  Noted.   Thank you, and have a nice day.

 

Your take on this is entirely asinine, but you be sure to have a great day too. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, KCOComics said:

This is about to turn into a train wreck. 

I'll take a stab at playing peace keeper.  @agamoto is new to the boards and some mistakes were made. Perhaps "agree to disagree" and move on. 

I don't know @SOTIcollector personally, but I appreciate his posts / knowledge.  He's an active part of this community and there is no need to belittle him for trying to protect the boards.  

As much as I enjoy a cgc mob stampede, I think this was a mistake that doesn't need to escalated. The facts are out, people can make their own judgments. 

 

 

 

98EBC56C-CEA9-4FA0-AFEB-FFB2FD19F565.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, miraclemet said:

I'll just say that the sequence and timing @agamoto posted are accurate. 

I will only add two comments

1) I have had the "I think I'm going to pull it and resubmit it" line used on me before in an effort to pressure me to "take" a book and to fend off an offer under asking price. Just to 100% transparent, your exact words were "After having another look under the loupe, I think I'm going to pull it and CPR it anyway.", in which I did respond that I'd buy it "if you're willing to sell it". As a side note the AV8 I asked about you also used a pressure tactic (mentioning you had someone interested in running a Facebook waffle for the AV8 that would net you more than your asking price) which also made me think the "pull it and CPR it" was a pressure tactic. 

2) 15 minutes later (1:43 to 1:58) the book was still available in the thread, and you had not pulled it, so I assumed the "I think I'm gonna pull it" was mere strategy, so I went ahead and took it in the thread. Then, 33 minutes after your first mention of pulling the book, you edited the listing to pull it (1:43 to 2:15) 

The problem is words vs actions. I assumed your action (or actual IN-action) of leaving the book up, meant that it WAS still available and meant more than the PM words that you "think" you're going to pull it. 

Anyone could have "taken" it until 2:15, right? Would you have honored that "take it" despite your personal desire to pull it? And if so, why was the rest of the world still eligible to take it while I wasnt? 

I can't speak to your own experience with sellers, but I can assure you, neither statement was intended as a pressure tactic, just statements of fact. I'm new to the forum, and new to selling comics in general other than on ebay or having third parties sell for me at Heritage and on Facebook. I thought this avenue might be more enjoyable and profitable, so far that's not been the case.

My point here is that I told you I was going to pull it, yet you chose to drop a "take" down on it anyway before I had an opportunity to pull the ad. In fact, I was right in the middle of altering the ad when I had to deal with a client at 1:44PM and I have the phone records to prove it, not that I think it would matter to anyone here if I produced those call records, but as soon as I was finished with my client, I made the changes. If I'm going to be told that changing the ad status should have taken priority over my career responsibilities, I'm going to tell you, scoticollector and any other tom, or harry who agrees to saw off.  Given your description of your past transaction history with bad actors, I'm guessing there are already several people in the chorus muttering some form of the words "Life gets in the way, sure, we've heard that one before." I'd hope this place hasn't become that cynical. 

Let me present a similar scenario... I've sold several books now with no "take" made in the thread indicated by the buyers. Are you guys all telling me that if I agree to a sale with someone privately, (and I'm not talking about a negotiation here, I'm talking about a committed buy where price is agreed to and invoice has been sent), then anyone else who comes along with a "take" during the brief window in time before I'm able to change the status of a book to "sold" means I must rescind that sale, tear up the invoice and give the deal to the guy in the thread all because the original buyer didn't drop a "take" on the thread? If that's the case, then that too is ridiculous. If that is not the case, then someone please tell me why the window of time required for me to alter the ad indicating it's sold is perfectly fine in that instance, but not in a situation where I wish to close the sale for any other legitimate reason? 

No, I would NOT have honored any other "take" after I made the decision to pull it, just as I would not honor a "take" on any book which I had already committed to selling to someone else privately yet hadn't had time to alter the ad to indicate it's closure. As mentioned to you in PM, I certainly would have honored your take it if you had committed to buying it PRIOR to me telling you I was pulling it, but you didn't come to me committing to anything, not in your first message, and not in your second, third or fourth. You were clearly angling towards a bundle deal and a likely price discount, with zero commitment expressed. 

As you admitted yourself privately, you should have dropped your "take" first. That definitely would have been in your favor and like I told you, I would have respected that, regardless of the outcome of your questioning even though it seems my answers made you lose interest in the Avengers book between 1:43 and 1:59PM. You could have easily rescinded your "take" after getting your answers, right? Or is that "take" also somehow binding on you as well? If that is the case, then that's kind of silly too. If the purpose of the "take" is to bind a deal, then I also must consider words and actions here as well.  

From my perspective, your actions appear as if you're taking advantage of the rigidity of the rules so that I am forced into a scenario where I can either take a much smaller reputation hit and settle the deal in your favor or take a massive reputation hit by not honoring your take and perhaps lose selling privileges altogether.

The reaction from the peanut gallery lends a lot of credence to that hypothesis, but I don't want to believe you'd do that sort of thing.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
5 5