There are two kinds of comics I'm selling when I'm on eBay or iOffer or even through my own Steve's Comics For Sale site: Books I bought recently, read and for whatever reason, didn't care for or older books I've decided to weed out of my collection, either for the above reason or just for space reasons. In either of these cases, I'm not looking to gouge anyone or get rich off of another comics enthusiast; I'm just looking to get rid of some books I no longer care to own, hopefully giving them to a good home where someone WILL appreciate them, and maybe get a buck or two for my trouble with which to turn around and buy more comics for myself.
Pretty simple concept, right?
Now there are three kinds of people who annoy the crap out of me when I'm trying to accomplish the above goals. I've encountered the first type of person in all three of the above online marketplaces. This is the person who bids on an item or even outright expresses an intent to buy it, then never delivers the payment. What is the point of this? Do these faux buyers really think a seller is going to ship the merchandise without receiving payment first? That seems rather naive. But if that's not their goal, what is?
The next two types of infuriating people are actually other sellers, and so far, I've only encountered them on eBay, likely because that site is much more popular and well known than iOffer or my personal site. These are the people who I guess think they're being sneaky. And maybe they are, because I suppose it is possible someone is buying their wares. But whenever I see these two practices, I immediately seek the item I was looking at somewhere else.
These people lure you with a "false" deal, either by "padding" the shipping costs or setting a reserve price below which they will not sell an item.
Now the reserve price option on eBay can be a good thing. I try to never list an item for a starting amount unless I'd be comfortable selling it for that amount. Of course, I hope multiple bidders will drive the price higher, but if only one person bids and the item goes for the starting price, I'm OK with letting the item go for that. For something like original art, however, I person might not want to let a piece go for less than his or her original purchase price. What I dislike with a passion are people who will create an auction with a reserve price of something like $500 or more, but start the bidding out at 99 cents. I realize a lot of people like to start auctions out under $1 to draw attention, but if you WON'T sell something for less than $500, why start so low? It seems mildly dishonest to me.
Far worse are the shipping padders. People who will list an item to start at a bid of 99 cents, often even calling attention to that fact, but the shipping costs, not always immediately visible, are clearly exaggerated. For instance, someone starts the bidding on a single loose action figure at 99 cents, but if you look closely, the shipping charge is $20 to $30. I've sold some figures, both MOC (mint on card) and loose and there is absolutely no way the shipping cost is that high unless the item is traveling overseas. These people are being dishonest in offering the item for such a low cost when they know they will more than make up for the cost of the item in the shipping overage. I don't know why anyone would bid on such an item with such an obviously dishonest gimmick employed. Yet I see these items listed all the time, sometimes with bids having been made.
I just don't get it. Anyone out there have any insights?
Friday, July 23, 2010
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Excuses. Excuses,
Short (and late) post today as I've been out of town part of this last week. I'm already waaaaay behind on my comics reading of late, and this most recent trip away did not offer any reading time at all.
The stack of out-of-continuity trades and back issues I buy (really a series of stacks (and in further reality, there are so many stacks, they almost make a wall)) has grown so large it appears quite menacing in its threat to tip and bury me. Not to be outdone, the stack of more current books has also grown of late to a rivaling size, at least in part because I've started adding new purchases to that stack regardless of whether or not they are in current continuity because I was running out of places to stack up those out-of-continuity books separately.
Why do I have so many? Because the hobby is addictive. We've talked in the past about how podcasts have led me to try some new things. Well, most new books I've tried have led me to other discoveries.
For example, I've long been aware of Mark Evanier's DNAgents comic from Eclipse. This title debuted in 1983 and was often compared favorably to the uber-popular New Teen Titans, which we all know I love. Well, a while back, I found a large lot of DNAgents comics for a decent price and bought them. This being several months ago, they got dropped onto the bottom of the current buys stack, and I recently came to them again in said stack as I slowly whittle it down.
Before my recent trip, I managed to read the first four issues of the DNAgents title. I was also VERY vaguely aware of another Mark Evanier title, also by Eclipse, called Crossfire. Well, after reading those first four issues of DNAgents, I discovered that they had several crossovers with the Crossfire title. So many, in fact, that I've decided to look for some of these Crossfire issues and hold off reading the rest of the DNAgents books until I find and have the Crossfire ones available, too.
With buying habits like those, you can see how my collection grows so quickly, and why my wife "loves" my hobby so much. See ya next time, kiddie cops!
The stack of out-of-continuity trades and back issues I buy (really a series of stacks (and in further reality, there are so many stacks, they almost make a wall)) has grown so large it appears quite menacing in its threat to tip and bury me. Not to be outdone, the stack of more current books has also grown of late to a rivaling size, at least in part because I've started adding new purchases to that stack regardless of whether or not they are in current continuity because I was running out of places to stack up those out-of-continuity books separately.
Why do I have so many? Because the hobby is addictive. We've talked in the past about how podcasts have led me to try some new things. Well, most new books I've tried have led me to other discoveries.
For example, I've long been aware of Mark Evanier's DNAgents comic from Eclipse. This title debuted in 1983 and was often compared favorably to the uber-popular New Teen Titans, which we all know I love. Well, a while back, I found a large lot of DNAgents comics for a decent price and bought them. This being several months ago, they got dropped onto the bottom of the current buys stack, and I recently came to them again in said stack as I slowly whittle it down.
Before my recent trip, I managed to read the first four issues of the DNAgents title. I was also VERY vaguely aware of another Mark Evanier title, also by Eclipse, called Crossfire. Well, after reading those first four issues of DNAgents, I discovered that they had several crossovers with the Crossfire title. So many, in fact, that I've decided to look for some of these Crossfire issues and hold off reading the rest of the DNAgents books until I find and have the Crossfire ones available, too.
With buying habits like those, you can see how my collection grows so quickly, and why my wife "loves" my hobby so much. See ya next time, kiddie cops!
Thursday, July 01, 2010
It's Beautiful. I Don't Know What Else To Say.
I've recently finished reading the first Kabuki trade collection written and illustrated by David Mack, Circle of Blood. The title character is an assassin in modern Japan. Kabuki has not had a typical nor a happy childhood, but her journey of self-discovery, as told in this six-issue arc, is both compelling and breathtakingly illustrated.
Kabuki is one of those books I've often heard people comment on favorably, but never tried before. Finding a decently priced copy of this initial trade for sale online helped convince me to correct that oversight.
And I'm not quite sure what else to say about the book.
A few dozen pages into the story, I didn't think I was going to like Kabuki overall. I hadn't planned to trash the book or anything; as I've said before, I do not believe a book can't have merit just because it isn't my favorite. Too many people like Kabuki for my lone opinion to make this or any other a "bad" book.
But as I continued reading, I found myself liking the tale more and more. Just not in ways I'm finding it easy to put into words.
I'm not a big fan of stories revolving heavily around the Japanese society, martial arts, the Yakuza and such. That's likely at least part of the reason why I've never picked up a copy of Kabuki before this. No special dislike for the culture or people, either, mind you, but no special fascination or interest for it. But this is truly a universal tale which could be told using another culture as a backdrop very easily.
Mack's art and writing in this book are, as I said, simply wonderful and somewhat ground-breaking, too. This book doesn't look like a conventional comic in either its layout or design. Mack uses the words and art together so that text becomes part of the art and the art truly helps advance the story in ways beyond how sequential art is typically utilized.
There are issues with readability that stem from that, however. The lack of a traditional panel layout means it can be hard to know where your eye should go next on some pages, but these instances are very few in this book. More prevalent are a few legibility issues which may not have been present in the original issues of this book. For instance, white text is often printed on black backgrounds, but the muddy effect this can cause makes the text hard to read in a few spots. Also, there are some pages where the text is so far to one side of the page that the large size of this collected volume makes it hard to see all of the text close to the spine.
So I ended up liking Kabuki's story in Circle of Blood. I did. Some stories, a reader likes so much, he or she wants to know what happens to the characters next, even if more tales utilizing those characters were never written. But this arc reads quite well as a done-in-one. I know Kabuki's tale continues, but I am content to simply stop with the last page of this volume and not read more of her journey. At least at this point. Maybe someday, I'll change my mind.
Does that mean the story is bad or failed to engage me? I don't think so; I liked it too much to believe that. But it didn't engage me to the point that I want to buy the second or third collections right now. That doesn't usually happen.
Kabuki is one of those books I've often heard people comment on favorably, but never tried before. Finding a decently priced copy of this initial trade for sale online helped convince me to correct that oversight.
And I'm not quite sure what else to say about the book.
A few dozen pages into the story, I didn't think I was going to like Kabuki overall. I hadn't planned to trash the book or anything; as I've said before, I do not believe a book can't have merit just because it isn't my favorite. Too many people like Kabuki for my lone opinion to make this or any other a "bad" book.
But as I continued reading, I found myself liking the tale more and more. Just not in ways I'm finding it easy to put into words.
I'm not a big fan of stories revolving heavily around the Japanese society, martial arts, the Yakuza and such. That's likely at least part of the reason why I've never picked up a copy of Kabuki before this. No special dislike for the culture or people, either, mind you, but no special fascination or interest for it. But this is truly a universal tale which could be told using another culture as a backdrop very easily.
Mack's art and writing in this book are, as I said, simply wonderful and somewhat ground-breaking, too. This book doesn't look like a conventional comic in either its layout or design. Mack uses the words and art together so that text becomes part of the art and the art truly helps advance the story in ways beyond how sequential art is typically utilized.
There are issues with readability that stem from that, however. The lack of a traditional panel layout means it can be hard to know where your eye should go next on some pages, but these instances are very few in this book. More prevalent are a few legibility issues which may not have been present in the original issues of this book. For instance, white text is often printed on black backgrounds, but the muddy effect this can cause makes the text hard to read in a few spots. Also, there are some pages where the text is so far to one side of the page that the large size of this collected volume makes it hard to see all of the text close to the spine.
So I ended up liking Kabuki's story in Circle of Blood. I did. Some stories, a reader likes so much, he or she wants to know what happens to the characters next, even if more tales utilizing those characters were never written. But this arc reads quite well as a done-in-one. I know Kabuki's tale continues, but I am content to simply stop with the last page of this volume and not read more of her journey. At least at this point. Maybe someday, I'll change my mind.
Does that mean the story is bad or failed to engage me? I don't think so; I liked it too much to believe that. But it didn't engage me to the point that I want to buy the second or third collections right now. That doesn't usually happen.
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