Post by G on Mar 2, 2009 9:04:08 GMT -5
Back in the days when I did conventions, I got to know a few of the other dealers a little bit. One character who was hard to forget was a rather amusing laid back dude by the name of Sap. How could you ever forget a guy named Sap? Still makes me laugh when I say it.
Anyway, Sap was pretty laid back but kinda shrewd in his dealings of comics. I typically found my original dealings with him kind of difficult in pricing and it took sparring back and forth and bartering with him to get a deal I liked. Usually in the end, it worked out good for me. But I always felt like he would rip me off if I let him. Key was, don't let him. And typically he worked with you and it generally worked out on both sides.
During the comic boom of the early 90s I think Sap got involved with some other guys and opened a store. Comic Chest in Virginia Beach. I remembered stopping by a few times and enjoying it. But for one reason or another, I didn't make it there much. I think for me, the biggest reason is it wasn't convenient for me to get to. When I had my hiatus from comics in the late 90s and came back around 2001, it was a few years before I remembered Comic Chest. Finally I decided I was going to return to the store. This was probably around 2003, 2004.
When I pulled up and walked into the store, I was surprised to see how many comics were there. My 1st impression was the store was decently organized and not grungy like a lot of stores. I wouldnt say it was spotless, but it was a whole lot better than a lot of places I frequent. I was excited to go looking through all these boxes. It seemed there was at least twice as many comics as I had remembered. I was impressed. I started looking and seen a few books I wanted but I was noticing no comics had a price!
As I became skeptical, I began observing what else was going on. There was a few other customers in the store and one finally made his way to the cashier to check out his small stack of comics. I watched with astonishing curiosity to see what would happen.
To my amazement, the person at the register pulled out a price guide and one by one started looking up prices of each and every comic!
Ive heard that they would discount whatever price was listed, but still, this probably left long conversations at the register and haggling over prices. Something I wasn't in the mood to do. After noticing this is the way it was going to be, I promptly and sadly exited the store and left. I have never returned.
There is just something that bothers me about doing things this way. Maybe it is because I remember working countless hours on my own comics before a convention and one by one pricing each and every one. Knowing it takes work to price comics, I might have seen it as just being lazy. But another thing bothered me more. I dont know about you, but when I look through comics, I like knowing the worst case scenario in terms of price. And that to me is the advertised price which I can clearly see. When I see the price on the book, I know whether or not I can accept that. So even if the guy at the counter doesnt give me a further discount, I know what the worst case already is. I kind of pride myself for having a decent idea of how much a lot a comics are worth, but hey, nobody has a complete memory of the price guide. And to pull out a comic and now haggle on where or not a book is in VG or FN or VF to me seems to place the dealer on saying "Thats a VF" when I could be thinking...."Uh, I think thats more like a FN". If you already have a price on it, its up to me to agree with your grading and your pricing for that grade. I dont feel the need to haggle with you over it on the spot. I just find the situation uncomfortable at best. Im all for dumpster bins that say things like "All books in these boxes $1". Hey, you didn't price each and every book individually. But then again, I know worst case what Im paying and its up to me to agree with the price over the grade Im looking at.
I wish I could have given this store more of a chance. I dont even know if it still exists. I occasionally ask about it and when I have, I have heard they do still exist. After about 15 years now, they must be doing something right. So maybe the hang up is mine only and I should have given the store a bigger chance. When things get right, I might go back again one day and check it out again. The potential to be a good store is certainly there. And maybe they have changed their pricing ways. I certainly hope so.
But if they havent, I can still see me reluctantly just walking out again without buying anything like I did last time and not returning for years again. If I had to place a grade on this store, it would be something like an incomplete.
Anyway, Sap was pretty laid back but kinda shrewd in his dealings of comics. I typically found my original dealings with him kind of difficult in pricing and it took sparring back and forth and bartering with him to get a deal I liked. Usually in the end, it worked out good for me. But I always felt like he would rip me off if I let him. Key was, don't let him. And typically he worked with you and it generally worked out on both sides.
During the comic boom of the early 90s I think Sap got involved with some other guys and opened a store. Comic Chest in Virginia Beach. I remembered stopping by a few times and enjoying it. But for one reason or another, I didn't make it there much. I think for me, the biggest reason is it wasn't convenient for me to get to. When I had my hiatus from comics in the late 90s and came back around 2001, it was a few years before I remembered Comic Chest. Finally I decided I was going to return to the store. This was probably around 2003, 2004.
When I pulled up and walked into the store, I was surprised to see how many comics were there. My 1st impression was the store was decently organized and not grungy like a lot of stores. I wouldnt say it was spotless, but it was a whole lot better than a lot of places I frequent. I was excited to go looking through all these boxes. It seemed there was at least twice as many comics as I had remembered. I was impressed. I started looking and seen a few books I wanted but I was noticing no comics had a price!
As I became skeptical, I began observing what else was going on. There was a few other customers in the store and one finally made his way to the cashier to check out his small stack of comics. I watched with astonishing curiosity to see what would happen.
To my amazement, the person at the register pulled out a price guide and one by one started looking up prices of each and every comic!
Ive heard that they would discount whatever price was listed, but still, this probably left long conversations at the register and haggling over prices. Something I wasn't in the mood to do. After noticing this is the way it was going to be, I promptly and sadly exited the store and left. I have never returned.
There is just something that bothers me about doing things this way. Maybe it is because I remember working countless hours on my own comics before a convention and one by one pricing each and every one. Knowing it takes work to price comics, I might have seen it as just being lazy. But another thing bothered me more. I dont know about you, but when I look through comics, I like knowing the worst case scenario in terms of price. And that to me is the advertised price which I can clearly see. When I see the price on the book, I know whether or not I can accept that. So even if the guy at the counter doesnt give me a further discount, I know what the worst case already is. I kind of pride myself for having a decent idea of how much a lot a comics are worth, but hey, nobody has a complete memory of the price guide. And to pull out a comic and now haggle on where or not a book is in VG or FN or VF to me seems to place the dealer on saying "Thats a VF" when I could be thinking...."Uh, I think thats more like a FN". If you already have a price on it, its up to me to agree with your grading and your pricing for that grade. I dont feel the need to haggle with you over it on the spot. I just find the situation uncomfortable at best. Im all for dumpster bins that say things like "All books in these boxes $1". Hey, you didn't price each and every book individually. But then again, I know worst case what Im paying and its up to me to agree with the price over the grade Im looking at.
I wish I could have given this store more of a chance. I dont even know if it still exists. I occasionally ask about it and when I have, I have heard they do still exist. After about 15 years now, they must be doing something right. So maybe the hang up is mine only and I should have given the store a bigger chance. When things get right, I might go back again one day and check it out again. The potential to be a good store is certainly there. And maybe they have changed their pricing ways. I certainly hope so.
But if they havent, I can still see me reluctantly just walking out again without buying anything like I did last time and not returning for years again. If I had to place a grade on this store, it would be something like an incomplete.
