I am seeing a growing number of retailers who appear to be buying exclusives from other retailers and then selling them at a huge mark-up. I assume the reason certain hot books sell out in seconds is (a) generally high level of interest and (b) bots hoovering up multiple copies.
I hate the idea of (b) by anyone. A shady practice from the world of sneakers and other collectibles is driving books out of the hands of real collectors. However, it somehow seems worse that retailers are doing it alongside normal business.
Store variants typically don’t retain value over time so I really don’t get frustrated with bots over comics. Also, I view comics very differently from sneakers, sportscards, etc. You can easily buy other variants on open orders and even ratios well before release at established prices without having to feel the frustration of missing out on a particular book. Just have to be willing to do your own research.
Sure if you miss out on a store variant that you really wanted its frustrating but just wait a few months or so and buy cheaper. Most of them simply don’t retain value. That’s not always the case but it seems to be more often than not.
And as for the unscrupulous retailers, just don’t do business with them. There are tons of retailers you can otherwise buy from (online and offline).
That’s ok. Just don’t buy any at their prices and they can get stuck with them, just like the incentives they sell at high prices. Expecting ethical behavior from retailers is insane. However, not all of them are that way.
My complaint is that the grand majority of exclusives have cover art on par/subpar with open order books. Hive, Comics Elite, and the like are filled with trash. If other retailers want to try to roll profits on garbage and fomo, then best of luck to them. Advertisers on social media only talk about the store’s winners, but they stay silent on the bulk of garbage. The problem will solve itself.
I don’t buy many, but occasionally a cover jumps out at me.
Loved that Wonder Woman Black and Gold #1 by Warren Louw. I think the sets originally sold for under $40. Seen one store on eBay that had sold 120 of them.
Not really familiar with bots, but surely stores can block or cancel orders of that size if there are hundreds of people waiting on the site to purchase one or two?
